WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE ARTS

MUSIC APPRECIATION
It’s true. I am completely out of touch with what is going on in the world of popular music. Today as I logged out of MySpace I noticed a list of top music searches. There were ten names on the list and I only recognized one. The one I recognized was Miley Cyrus, and the only reason I knew her is that I have a great niece who is about 5 years old and this performer is one of her favorites. Plus I believe she’s the daughter of that old country singer actor guy, Billy Ray Cyrus. My niece’s other favorite is Hannah Montana, which is name I see often in the Wal-Mart.
The other names on that list – Lil Wayne, Akon, T.I., Katy Perry, Plies, Chris Brown, T. Pain, Shwayze, and Rihanna – are all a mystery. To remedy this cultural deficit I am going to listen to Top 40 radio for the next three days. I’m going to take notes and I’m going to try and understand the appeal of the things I’ll hear. So now you’re warned and if you don’t hear from me after that time send a search party into that vast wasteland known as Popculturedom.

ART APPRECIATION

The other day I finished reading a book about a guy who made a career out of selling real and fake Salvador Dali paintings, drawings and so forth. It was called “Dali and I” and it was quite interesting especially the parts about when the guy went to some nasty Spanish jail when he was convicted of fraud. But the book raises a lot of questions about Art and what it is and how it is marketed. Not that I buy Art. My wife and I have bought a few things over the years by local artists. They are all scenes from nature, recognizable and, to us, nice to look at. In some circles they might not even be considered Art. So abstract art, surreal art and other types of similar stuff doesn’t really connect with me. Some things may be interesting to look at but to my mind, which again must have another sort of cultural deficit, it isn’t really Art. Occasionally I’ll find myself in a museum or art gallery and after I check to see if there are any pictures of naked ladies, I’ll look over the other stuff. Never once did I stand in front of some huge canvas full of colorful lines and squiggles by some guy named Pollack or Klee and gaze in wonder or amazement. At least I have no wonder, other than wondering how this crap could be called Art and no amazement other than the amazement that they’re asking several hundred thousand dollars for it. So I guess my affection for pictures by some of the Wyeths, Winslow Homer and yes I’ll even throw in Norman Rockwell, makes me kind of a boring and pedestrian guy when it comes to Art appreciation. Unlike my lack of knowledge of the current pop music genre, I’m not going to try and rectify my failings in the appreciation of Modern Art. The folks that make it and appreciate it will get along just fine without me, I’m sure.


LITERATURE

Now literature I know something about. That’s because I read. I read lots and lots of stuff. I read novels, histories, topical non-fiction, essays, poetry, newspapers and magazines. Even blogs on the internet are fuel for the factory that is my mind. (How’s that for a pretentious little line?) The library is a regular stop on my weekly chore list.
Even when I was a wee child I loved the library and all the books it held. When I was in high school I frequently had my nose in some novel when I should have been absorbing the intricacies of Algebra or Geometry. Now that I’m an old retired guy I read anywhere from three to five books a week. Sometimes I’ll read a particular type of book for a week or two and then switch. Sometimes I’ll take a scattershot approach and read a bunch of wildly different things. But, to me, there are few things more satisfying than finding a good book and losing myself in its words and ideas. The problem I’m running into as I age is the retention of the titles and authors in my memory. So if you ask me what I read last week I can tell you what the books were about but I won’t remember the name of the book or the author. That’s embarrassing. When I go to the library I sometimes have to read a line or two of the first page to see if I’ve already read something. So far I haven’t got something all the way home only to find that I’ve read it. But that day will probably come. Anyhow, if you need any expert advice on books and literature just ask away. And I’ll tell you in an intelligent way to read that book, you know, the one about this or that, by that guy, or woman, and the title is something that starts with “The”.

MUSIC APPRECIATION REVISTED

Okay I’ve listened to that damn Top Forty station for almost an hour now and I can’t take it any more. Those girl singers with their breathy voices and stupid vocal embellishments are making my ears hurt. And those dopey songs sung by post adolescent guys named Justin and Josh are just as bad. Between those boys and girls and some of the un-melodic and un-intelligible bands on that station I’ve had it. The world of pop music will have to join the world of Modern Art and get along without me. Right now I have to listen to a good Bluegrass CD as an antidote to all that other junk.

Have a fine day.