Great post Marc. And Stuart, that's a nice shirt, it brings out the colour in your nipples.

It's true that there's a little bit of spoiled childness lurking behind the lamentation that an artist can't consistently produce stellar work. Okay, you won the Nobel Prize for literature, went into hiding to avoid death threats that were a reaction to your art, and continued to write moving fiction that seamlessly melds Eastern and Western storytelling traditions with humour and candor but...what have you done for me lately, Mr. Rushdie?

You asked, “What gives us the right to expect intellectual immortality of them when we so often dream of not having to work so hard at what it is we do? “ and you’re right, it is unfair. But I guess because I find what a musician, visual artist, or writer does is far more interesting than what I do, I expect a little more. There's also a precedent that the artist sets with his baby.

I have to back up Stuart's critique of your claim that art was never about wealth. Were it not for the patronage of some very wealthy people, there would be precious few paintings hanging in the great galleries of the world. Agree that any worthwhile artistic effort is not going to be motivated by commercial concerns but the impact of money, and the realization by some that compromising one's standards may lead to an increase in sales (hello Treble Charger, Liz Phair) is a very real phenomenom. What I find most frustrating is the lack of commercial success of really great bands relative to the success of the countless braying jackasses (Simpson sisters, minute 14 just ticked by) whom I am subjected to every time I open a paper, turn on a radio, or turn on a television.

All this talk of JS gets me thinking not about Johann Sebastian but Jeremy Sandell...how come he never posts? Gotta send him another invite.

Thanks for the jazz lists, Brian and Derek. I had that Mobley disc in my hand a few weeks ago and decided not to buy it, for no reason in particular. Clearly, that was an idiotic decision that should be rectified in the near future.

Hope to see you all very soon, white teeth stained pink by multiple glasses of Spanish red.