You know what I love  that nobody else seems to?  Harmonicas.

Harmonicas are like The Flash of the music world.  They look like they only have one thing to offer, but they can do so many things with their simple and unique gifts.   So naturally, this clip sends me over the moon.

You have a normal guy, with a normal instrument, in a prestigious setting. But it all works because Buddy Greene has worked long and hard on something he cares about.

Greg Rucka, a novelist and comic writer, was at an opening weekend for Batman Begins with Tim Sale, a comic book artist.  As Sale was sketching out a Robin picture for a fan, Rucka said something I hope I never forget.

“There is something magical about watching someone do what they’re are great at.”

That’s it.  That’s why the woman in the first song who nods her head and mouths, “yeah”, gets me.  She understands the simple joy of a skilled performer pulling something off.

Need another instance of (pitch) perfect-ion?

As the song goes, it is amazing, just the way it is. The setting is simple. The instruments are non-existent. No special effects.  Yet I still get goose bumps because it is a great execution.  The only thing I want from this clip is more.  And let’s face it, Brittany Snow’s beautiful and layered voice whups Bruno Mars.

Okay, a little more special effects here. 😉 But the man ran up a building! To see it on screen after so many comic books made me squeal. (And then he went and ran on water the same episode. I went nuts.) Nobody else could have done it. In that brief moment, he was perfect.

The Legend of Bagger Vance calls it “authentic swing”.  Sports movies like Happy Gilmore or For Love of the Game might refer to it as “being in the zone”.  It comes down to simply doing something you excel at.  All your practice, talents, and experiences are on display at a task that you perform like another.

That, to me, is beautiful.  It is why people find it so easy to get crushes on performers; because they are perfect in that moment.

Whiplash, Chariots of Fire, even How to Train Your Dragon shows that it takes work. But nothing is quite as great as those little moments of individual perfection.