Most Of Our Lives Aren't

The Arts Don't Exist In Isolation.

It's A Fundamental, Social Attitude That The 1% Supports Symphonies And Operas And Doesn't Support Johnny Learning To Program Hip-hop Beats. When I Put It Like That, It Sounds Like, 'well, Yeah,' But You Start To Think, 'why Not, Though?' What Makes One More Valuable Than Another?

People Use Irony As A Defense Mechanism.

Maybe It's Naïve, But I Would Love To Believe That Once You Grow To Love Some Aspect Of A Culture-its Music, For Instance -you Can Never Again Think Of The People Of That Culture As Less Than Yourself. I Would Like To Believe That If I Am Deeply Moved By A Song Originating From Some Place Other Than My Own Homeland, Then I Have In Some Way Shared An Experience With The People Of That Culture. I Have Been Pleasantly Contaminated. I Can Identify In Some Small Way With It And Its People.

I've Been Asking Myself: 'why Put Together These Things - Cds, Albums?' The Answer I Came Up With Is, Well, Sometimes It's Artistically Viable. It's Not Just A Random Collection Of Songs. Sometimes The Songs Have A Common Thread, Even If It's Not Obvious Or Even Conscious On The Artists' Part.