The Hall of Fire

Where's nel?

She starts a thread, then leaves as soon as we get deep into the discussion.

Oh, yes. I've heard of that at convenience stores and such places. Wonderful idea. But somebody will eventually present the practice as unconstitutional due to its insensitivity to the cultures of certain ethnic, educational and age groups who find such music offensive and culturally threatening. So...

No. I am talking about cultural war at its most primitive and bloodthirsty level. Bolero in one car, and Prokofiev in another? You call that living dangerously? You young classical fans today! Bunch of babies. In my day, you weren't even in the battle till somebody pulled an uzi. Life was tough then...

Oh, please.

By "blaring out" I mean, "playing so loudly as to overpower the ear-piercing and bestial noise being played by the neighboring juvenile delinquent, and to inspire said delinquent to respond with colorful language, expressive hand gestures or lethal weaponry."

Holby would be as happy to have it with the sound turned off.

Oh, of course.

But usually that sort of thing is done in self-defense.

Let's see... It never has Britney Spears on the cover. It never involves musicians who are regularly involved in shootouts or Girls Gone Wild videos. It's never performed on American Idol. It's never heard blaring out at traffic lights. It's never heard at the end of movies based on video games. It'...

I feel the same way, yov. It's part of our nature to want things to be "real." That's why so many people, in these days of perfect cinematic CGI, still prefer to see miniature models and people in costumes. Ask around, and you'll find that most people liked Yoda better as a Muppet. That th...

Prim: As for concert hall etiquette... When the impressionist composer Satie performed, he actually wanted his audience to let their minds (and bodies) wander. He was the originator of what we'd now call "background music," and was perhaps the only serious artist ever to compose music mean...

Howdy there, I'm Oedipus Tex You may have heard of my brother Rex Oedipus Tex, that's what I said But my friends just call me Oed Now, that's what I call serious music. Just for the record, I have Schickele's autograph on my Biography Of P.D.Q. Bach. No, you can't see it. Everybody, please stay on ...

More often than not.

I am listening to Ligeti at this moment.

Nice work, but you can't dance to it.

Well, I don't know if they will like it or not. The only pieces I have online at the moment are cartoon illustrations, and I don't know whether they will think this is a good direction for me to follow.

But if they take it, I'll let you know.

Wampus: the picture is sized 40” x 48”, but it can be enlarged to as much as (roughly) nine by twelve feet without losing detail. And of course it can be reduced to any size, though it ought to be kept as large as possible for proper effect: it must absolutely dominate its environment. If you want a...

Here's another painting, designed to suggest night life and fun in New Orleans and featuring an abstracted form of the city's symbol, the fleur de lis. The image was created on my desktop and then transferred via the giclee process onto a stretched canvas, exactly like a traditional painting. It was...

They aren't much, but they're something. Following are photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. All were taken (not very well, in some cases) by me, in my immediate neighborhood, minutes after the winds and rain had subsided enough for people to leave their homes and as...

Well, ten minutes ago the power we lost in Hurricane Gustav (on Monday, mind you) returned…and what did I do, first thing? Take a hot shower? Catch up on my soap operas? No! I came here, in keeping with my contractual obligations. And immediately I found a thread devoted to…abstract Christian art! W...

Thanks, Tosh.

Unfortunately it looks like Hurricane Ike may be giving us the eye now. let's hope it fizzles out first.

Dignified? Not very, without electricity. We're living like cave people here.

Much appreciated, all the same!