Recent Posts

1701

Living Room / Re: [GAME] Find something beautiful on Google Maps

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 07:17 PM »

Sounds like fun!

1702

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 06:41 PM »

The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box



Not bad. But also a good example of what happens when you have a real budget ($25M est.) and a talented "name" cast - but not enough story to make it memorable. This is sort of an Indiana Jones in the Victorian Era attempt.

Although they toss the trigger word "steam" into the promotional copy, this is definitely NOT a Steampunk tale. Either the marketing people have no idea what Steampunk actually is - or they hoped to piggyback on it in hopes it would generate some buzz with the Neo-Victorian sci-fi crowd.

Excellent but far too brief performances by Michael Sheen, Sam Neil, and the ever intriguing Ms. Leana Headley. And an entirely lackluster and stilted performance by Welsh heart-throb Aneurin Barnard as the chief protagonist Mariah Mundi. Maybe it's just me, but something about the look and costuming of his character made me think of something out of a vampire movie:



I mean seriously...doesn't he look like something out of a 19th century Twilight episode?



Of course if Lena Headley (who is lurking in the background here) ever felt inclined to bite me on the neck...I...um...

Bottom line: an enjoyable (albeit predictable) and very nicely produced adventure romp with all the elements that make for a great costume flick - except a decent script.

From the way it was titled (The Adventurer {colon}) I get the feeling the stage was being set for what the producers hoped would become a profitable and long running franchise. However, considering how badly the first instalment tanked at the box office, I'm fairly positive this will be the first and last movie in this "series." And no great loss if it is.

An ok movie if you've nothing better to do.

1703

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 06:12 PM »

Did you guys see the SNL spoof on wes anderson?  So accurate!  lolol!

-superboyac (June 08, 2014, 04:26 PM)

Awesome! And spot on the sugar.

Woulda missed that if you hadn't shared it. Thx!

1704

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 01:37 PM »

+1 for Grand Budapest Hotel. 

1705

Site/Forum Features / Re: Long time members with over 50 posts, report for disbursement duty

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 12:25 PM »

Ok if we just send credits out of our own pocket? I appreciate the nudge since I haven't doled out any credits in a long time. But I've actually got $10 of my own to spare right now.

1706

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommend less known macro apps and text expanders

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 12:17 PM »

I've always been perplexed as to why text expanders are usually so expensive. Maybe it's because they are used so frequently in the medical and legal professions where people don't blink an eye at high software prices.

-Innuendo (June 08, 2014, 10:39 AM)

I think it's less that, and more that a 'phrase expander' is a niche product with a relatively small market. So the average pricing is higher.

There's also the issue of support. With niche products, there's usually a higher cost to provide technical support where the average customer is in a professional service job. With profession clients there's always a requirement for higher levels of support plus a more rapid response time. Both are factors that could account for a higher price tag.

Most professions don't blink at higher price tags because time is money to these people. As long as the support is there - and problems get resolved rapidly - the initial cost of software isn't a significant concern. At least most times. Because the professionals know they'll recoup any expenses back in billing as long as their ability to complete their tasks remains unimpaired.

1707

Non-Windows Software / 76 Windows managers available for evaluation on a single CD!

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 11:27 AM »

A short while ago I was trying to remember the name of a certain distro that had several WMs available, and that was intended to allow a user to evaluate them in a handy manner.

I couldn't remember the name of it then. But Distrowatch just refreshed my memory. It's called: LinuxBBQ and packs 76 (and counting) different desktops to try.

From the website:

What is LinuxBBQ?

         LinuxBBQ is a multi-purpose operating system based on the Debian GNU/Linux "sid" branch,
                        spiced up with kernels and tools from siduction, grml and LinuxMint.
                        The BBQ offers different flavours and desktops to build up from ("Roast Your Own") that
         can be customized and remixed by the user. Community contributions are consequently implemented.
         Furthermore, special purpose desktop solutions are being actively developed and released.
         The editions - coming in different setups of WM/DE and applications - are designed
                        to be configured and customized by the end-user.
         
                        Redistributable ISOs that are bootable from USB, CD or DVD can be easily produced in short time.

Why LinuxBBQ?

         We believe the entirety of the Linux landscape has its worth to the general Linux community,
                        and it would be silly to exclude a certain WM/DE or application based upon little more than
                        prejudice and hearsay. So, we allow users an easy way to try them all out,
         but each with a setup that will work (and work well) on nearly every computer out
                        there (with some unavoidable exceptions of course), and we encourage users to "Roast Your Own".
                        Naturally, this means the inclusion of proprietary elements. We are well aware this goes against
                        the grain of the common FOSS ideas, but frankly, we care more for actually getting a working system
         than for sitting behind our wifi-less computers as the victors of idealism.

Note that this isn't a distro that's intended to be used "as is." But it can serve as the base in order to "roast your own" Linux banquet. It's more of an experimental or educational evaluation platform and toolbox. The maintainers warn:

Why is LinuxBBQ not recommended for me?

         We do not say that LinuxBBQ is the best distro under the sun - quite the opposite.
                        It will most probably not fit the average users needs.
                        There are many, many reasons not to come to BBQ-Land.

         1) LinuxBBQ is more or less default Debian Unstable  
         2) You will probably not have "plug-and-play" out of the box, for example
                           your printer needs to be set up via CUPS (and CUPS is also not pre-installed) - in our
                           opinion not everybody needs to have all services and daemons ticking in the background.
                           If you need additional services, you will have to set them up by yourself.
                           Of course the BBQ staff is happy to help you.
                           But think twice if you want to get your hands *greasy*.
         3) You have to edit configuration files to make things look like you want them and you will
                           need to spend countless hours customizing the look & feel. Believe us, you will probably
                           want to go back to the "fast-food" distros, and enjoy the defaults there.
         4) The BBQ philosophy is: provide the meat, let the user season. So, you will have to download
                           your favourite applications. They are partly coming from experimental sources and carry much
                           higher version numbers than what you find in Debian Stable. If you don't want to run the
                           newest GIMP, Inkscape, Iceweasel browser or WINE, look somewhere else.

Definitely not for the complete novice. However, those with some Linux experience under their belts can have a lot of fun, and possibly learn a few things sampling all the goodies LinuxBBQ brings to the table.


More at the LinuxBBQ website. Find it here.

1708

Living Room / Re: The Dreams thread...

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2014, 08:24 AM »

Randall Munroe nails it. (Like always.)

1709

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2014, 10:14 PM »

Monsters



From the opening title cards:

Six years ago... NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A space probe was launched to collect samples but broke up during re-entry over Mexico. Soon after new life forms began to appear and half of the country was quarantined as an INFECTED ZONE. Today... The Mexican & US military still struggle to contain 'the creatures'...

I was pleasantly surprised to discover just how good a minimalist and mostly improvised movie shot on a "zero" budget ($800k est.) could be. Some details about the production of picture from IMDB:

Gareth Edwards created all the films visual effects himself using only his home computer and store bought visual effects programs. Edwards claimed that advancements in computer technology is what made it possible for him to create the films visual effects on such a low budget, saying; "You can go in the shop now and you can buy a laptop that's faster than the computers they made Jurassic Park (1993) on."

The film was shot opportunistically, with little to no outline of scenes and their direction. The two actors were given a general outline of scenes and simply interacted with one another and the other cast members, all whom are not actors. All the scenes and shots were opportunistic as well.

The film was shot entirely on location: any settings featured in the film were real locations often used without advanced permission, and all the films extras were just people who happened to be there at the time.

The film was shot using prosumer level recording equipment, with an on set crew of only seven people: director and camera operator Gareth Edwards, sound operator Ian Maclagan, line producer Jim Spencer, production manager Verity Oswin, a driver, and the two stars (dating each other at the time, now a real-life married couple) Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able. Because they were such a small crew using so simple equipment, the entire production team could fit into one van.

Especially impressive performance by Whitney Able as the character Samantha Wynden.



Reccomended.

1710

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2014, 12:46 PM »

When speaking of "rules" or "inspiration" and the dynamic between the two it's important to define terms. And it's something I don't think I can do with any hope for accuracy. It's another one of those "a hundred of things need to be said all together" things for me. Possibly because I'm too far into it, and it's become so embedded in my thought process, I no longer have much hope of being able to still experience or understand music from the perspective of a non-musician. I've "passed into The West," so to speak.

However...

Bobby McFerrin refers to what I'm calling "rules" by the term "expectations" - which I think may be much closer to what passes for "rules" than a "rule rule" would. At least in music.

So Mr. McFerrin? If you would be so kind:

 

1711

General Software Discussion / Re: How to do the dirty on google, or almost? Could we learn something here?

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2014, 10:49 AM »

One could speculate endlessly on how Google does the voodoo that determines ranking and page landing. An entire industry has grown up attempting to outfox Google in such a way as to raise one's ranking without getting excluded for trying to do so. They call it "SEO optimization."

IMHO it is a complete waste of time and effort to try to figure out how Google works - or how to game it. Google offers paid advertising programs such as AdWords and AdSense which can be beneficial to rankings in the long run. So there's always that factor at work. But doing anything (other than not making your pages hard for a spider-bot to index) will only bite you in the ass eventually. As Google becomes aware of loopholes, they close them. And sometimes Google also sees fit to "punish" (without recourse - and at Google's sole discretion) sites that appear to be deliberately taking advantage of such loopholes.

Want to really know for certain how Google does its thing? Go get a job with Google programming their search software.

1712

Living Room / Re: The Dreams thread...

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2014, 09:56 AM »

About half the time, the dreams I have are very chaotic replays of various moments in my life. One time there was even a commercial in the middle of one of them. No joke. A voice said: we interrupt this program for a special announcement and a commercial for shaving cream (go figure) began.

The other half of the time I get a recurring lucid dream of a city, which I've been exploring for several years now. I don't know its exact location. But I'm guessing it's on the northeastern seaboard. Most likely somewhere in Massachusetts based on various regional details.. And it's in the late 40s or early 50s near as I can tell based on the technology and fashions. Or at least a place very similar.  I'll probably use it as the basis for a story some day. There's some low-key but very serious crisis in progress because the city has experienced something that is only obliquely referred to as a "near incident" which nobody ever willingly talks about - and which it is not wise (the government being authoritarian bordering on fascist) to seem too curious about. My subconscious hasn't decided exactly what this near incident was. But whatever it was, it's caused a gradual but radical change in the psychology of the entire population. And from what I can gather (in the dream) the 'incident' isn't completely over yet. The sky has perpetual resemblance to the peppered gray static you'll see when tuned to a dead TV channel on an old analog receiver because of it. And the weather is usually a November-y "cold and damp," although it rarely rains, and it seldom (very lightly) snows.

Guess I'm wedding some of H.P. Lovecraft, the movie Dark City, the USA post-9/11, and apocalypse scenarios from the Science Channel into a long running series in my brain theater.

It's not my fault! I want a good Lovecraft movie or TV series to get made. Based on one of his big stories like At the Mountains of Madness or Shadow Over Innsmouth. And I'm not gonna wait forever Hollywood! If you won't make the bloody picture - I will! Even if it's only in my own head.

"I'll see you in my dreams..."

1713

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2014, 09:14 AM »

Since I'm on a Nillson jag, also check out his album Pandemonium Shadow Show. I'm impressed at how well this holds up considering RCA Studios penchant for overproduction and cathedral-esque reverb on vocal mixes back in that era.

I personally think his cover of the Beatles She's Leaving Home and his interpretation of Without Her are easily as good as the originals. Not a small feat when it comes to a Beatles song. And on the original front 1941 and Sleep Late, My Lady Friend are spot on brilliant despite the over the top production.

Lyrics for 1941

Well, in 1941 a happy father had a son
And by 1944, father walks right out the door
And in '45 the mom and son were still alive
But who could tell in '46 if the two were to survive

Well, the years were passing quickly but not fast enough for him
So he close his eyes through '55 then he opened them up again
When he looked around he saw a clown and the clown seemed very gay
And he set that night to join that circus clown and run away

Well, he followed every railroad track and every highway sign
And he had a girl in each new town and the towns he left behind
And the open road was the only road he knew
But the color of his dreams were slowly turning into blue

The he met a girl, the kind of girl he wanted all his life
She was soft and kind and good to him so he took her for his wife
And they got a house not far from town and in a little while
The girl had seen the doctor and she came home with a smile

Now in 1961 a happy father had a son
And by 1964 the father walks right out the door
And in '65 the mom and son were still around
But what will happen to the boy when the circus comes to town?

Pandemonium Shadow Show was the first product of Nilsson's three-year, $50,000 recording contract with RCA Records, and was recorded in their Hollywood studio. Unlike virtually all his earlier records, Show employed the full potential of Nilsson's voice in the recording studio, turning him into what was described as a "chorus of ninety-eight voices". The album debuted to little public attention in the US and England, although it was an immediate hit in Canada, where "You Can't Do That" was a top 10 hit. Beatles publicist Derek Taylor heard "1941" on his car radio waiting for his wife at the supermarket and, enjoying the track, ordered a case of copies, sending them out to various industry people he believed would be interested including The Beatles, who later invited Nilsson to London and helped further his career -

1714

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2014, 07:35 AM »

For Nillson I still think he reached his creative apogee with The Point. Great little tale. I loved his illustrations, and the music was marvellous. Especially the songs: Polli High (vintage Nillson that one!) Are You Sleeping and the Point of View Waltz. I particularly like the opening line in the P.O.V. Waltz:

And suddenly
The strangest things are happening...
I hope it's not the last time

Not a bad philosophy IMO.

Last I looked, somebody had the full animation up on YouTube. (This one with Ringo Starr. God knows why. The original with Dustin Hoffman as the father and narrator was far better IMO.) Might want to watch or grab it while you can.

 

1715

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 09:57 PM »

Three more additions for intelligent pop: Cat Stevens, Nillson, and Harry Chapin.

And add in some intelligent pop ladies: Loreena McKinnet, Kate Bush, Chrissy Hynde, and Margie Adam. (@SB -check Margie out here.)

1716

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 09:09 PM »

Dude, Chris Squire's bass sound was what sold me on Rickenbackers back in the day.

-Edvard (June 05, 2014, 07:20 PM)

In my case it was Greg Lake and a Gibson L9S Ripper. (Couldn't afford one of those either - but I bought one anyway in 73!)

 

I really like the Ric sound too. (Even if I'm not wild about the build quality or workmanship as this repair guy's vid discusses.) But funny thing...it's the only iconic bass of that era I've never had in my collection.



If I ever did get a Ric, I'd hold out for a 4005 hollowbody. And since they're now going for $10k on average in playable condition, I think I can safely say I'll never own one. Especially since Guild has reissued their Starfire Bass which provides a very similar sound and vibe (plus a much better neck) for around a grand.

1717

Non-Windows Software / Re: LINUX: Linux Lite - viable 1st Linux alternative for XP and Vista users

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 06:25 PM »

1. How do I get rid of the Floppy Disk icon on the desktop.

-Stoic Joker (June 05, 2014, 02:31 PM)

in the desktop setting cpanel deselect 'show mounted volumes' should remove it unless the Hyper-V does something weird that confuses LL.

2. What are my chances of getting the sound working? The system seems to think it is playing sounds. Youtube video made virtual audio level meter bounce ... But no (noise comes out) sound can be heard.

-Stoic Joker (June 05, 2014, 02:31 PM)

Chances should be pretty good. Check sound and make sure nothing is muted. (Which I'm guessing you probably already have.)

If still problematic, the Pulse Audio Volume Control will give you full control of your playback streams and available devices. Check the playback, output devices and configuration panels. The help manual has a section on sound configuration too.



FWIW I really dislike PulseAudio. I much preferred using ALSA for sound.

If none of the above get it to work, it's likely something with Hyper-V and your real hardware. Or LL getting confused about what Hyper-V is telling it.

Does sound work booting off a DVD or flash drive? That would help identify where the problem is occurring.

1718

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 05:40 PM »

a few newer prog bands

-CWuestefeld (June 05, 2014, 04:30 PM)

Liking prog invites stares and condescending snickers where I live. Annoying because I place at least half my musical roots firmly in the psychedelic and prog rock camp.

Excellent 1hr+ BBC Rock Britannia documentary on prog can be found on YT. It gets the details correct. Where it began, how it grew,  and also pretty convincingly discusses how prog ran off the rails for awhile. I suggest either watching it fairly soon or downloading (315Mb in medium MP4) if interested. Because it keeps getting pulled.

Nice to see some of these old men still have what it takes to do real prog:

Go Chris!

Oh yeah - additional intellectual groups and artists: Pink Floyd. Brian Eno. Allan Holdsworth. And Julie Cruise's epic Floating Into the Night album.

1719

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 02:05 PM »

That's why we turned them into rules - sort of a crutch for the creativity impaired.

-Vurbal (June 05, 2014, 11:37 AM)

FWIW I think some "rules" are actually liberating. And creativity by itself is vastly over-hyped in my opinion. A musical idea is cheap. Most of us can crank out a dozen or more on demand. Finding one that's worth doing something with, and knowing how to do something with it, is an altogether different thing. Therein lies (to me) the difference between creativity and art. Creativity is just the raw material - not the finished piece. Or the process leading to it. You need both. But music isn't just about being creative.

1720

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 01:37 PM »

It's typically overlooked that when "breaking the rules" out of sheer ignorance pays off there's often some behind the scenes work involved by people who apply a touch of informed wizardry.

-Vurbal (June 05, 2014, 11:37 AM)

That's pretty much how the best band I was ever in worked. We had somebody (the lead singer) who was very creative and original - but totally clueless. He was our wild-card factor. The rest of us would take his good ideas and chord progressions (he had made up his own chord shapes - which he played badly)  and turn them into workable songs. We used to call it "the process" - or "assaying." It was a good symbiosis. A neat (occasionally brilliant) idea he lacked the knowledge to do something with got turned into a complete song. And we got that oddball riff or idea we might not have come up with ourselves since we knew better. It was a workable arrangement.



I sometimes suspect most song writing duos work in a similar manner. One is the wildcard - musical but largely untrained. The other is the so-called "real musician." And in the best of such teams, those roles get switched back and forth.

1721

General Software Discussion / Re: How to remove CDFS partition from a USB Stick

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 01:15 PM »

Throw it away. The time you'll spend removing the partition is worth more than a bit of USB memory.

-katykaty (June 05, 2014, 11:25 AM)

Um... Guys can't do that! When challenge vs. practical ... Practical loses.

-Stoic Joker (June 05, 2014, 12:58 PM)

Seriously!  

He's right KK...we can't do that. And we won't let him either! We can sometimes put our own problems on the backburner. But somebody else's challenge? 'Fraid not.

1722

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 09:49 AM »

One of the big problems I have with the "Alternative" scene especially beginning around the '90's is that the word itself was in reverse, a negative. Supposedly people wanted "Alternatives to crap" ... but what if the alternative to "overpolished stadium rock crap" is ... "semi-melodic uncrafted crap"?

-TaoPhoenix (June 05, 2014, 09:24 AM)

My feeling is there are two ways to break a "rule" in music: through a conscious decision - or - out of sheer ignorance.

The first way has a much better chance of securing a good outcome even if serendipity is never completely absent from musical invention.

Crap, on the other hand, remains crap no matter what you do with it.

1723

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 09:00 AM »

I have heard him say that in a few interviews - that the lyrics just flowed for most of those early classic tracks.

-tomos (June 05, 2014, 08:42 AM)

Then too, just because they flowed out of him doesn't mean they survived as originally penned once they got worked into a song.

Most of the writing I do gets brain dumped initially. Fortunately, very few people will ever have to read any of it in that form.

Dylan always leaves me sceptical. And I'm always doubtful about most attempts to play the ingénue. Especially when I consider how much working and reworking the few poets I know do. They'll spend weeks getting a single word just right.

1724

General Software Discussion / Re: How to remove CDFS partition from a USB Stick

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 08:36 AM »

So you'll also need to grab a copy of Chip Genius to determine which chip and flavor of Umptool you need. Google it.

-40hz (June 04, 2014, 07:30 PM)

No need for to Google, it's covered by link 3 from your video posted above.

-Stoic Joker (June 04, 2014, 10:06 PM)

I missed that. Thx!

FWIW, I've never had much luck with Umptool in the past when I needed to fix something seriously screwed up. I don't know if I'm unlucky, clueless, or the tool was just a little too behind the curve when I needed it.

1725

Living Room / Re: What modern music (today) is considered to be both pop AND intellectual?

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2014, 08:30 AM »

I do notice that with musicians - they often chose music that I wouldn't chose, and as a music lover, I wonder why. But I suspect it's like me with the singing - they have an ear for something that I don't have, because I don't understand the music in the way they do.

-tomos (June 05, 2014, 05:34 AM)

It's not you.

The paradoxical thing about becoming a musician is you can no longer "just listen" to music once you do. In certain respects, to become a musician is to deny yourself the very thing you want to give your listeners - the unadulterated pleasure of simply enjoying a song.

Perhaps that's the real sacrifice an artist pays for his or her art, whether it's music or one of the many others such as painting, sculpture, or poetry. Knowing how "the trick" is done removes much of the wonder one experiences when watching a performance even while it elicits admiration for the performance itself. And admiration, while enjoyable, is not the same pleasure you get from wonder. Wonder comes from innocence - admiration comes from knowledge and experience.

One of the reasons many musicians attempt to master multiple instruments; or explore unrelated musical genres and cultures; or create (or join) radically different music ensembles is to recapture that sense of wonder and innocence. To be able to "just listen" once again. And ignorance (the healthy kind) plays a key role in that.

I'm one of those people that experiences music as a form of mathematics. I really think Pythagoras was onto something. And for me at least, learning music was akin to mastering what mathematics I have mastered. It began with learning about time and tones - which was much like learning to  count and write numbers. Then on to scales and time signatures, which was very like arithmetic. Then chordal structure and harmony and song forms, which seemed to me to have a strong resemblance to algebra. Last came a focused study of music theory and psycho acoustical concepts which was almost like Calculus - and felt like I had been handed the proverbial pair of Seven League Boots. I finally saw "The Man Behind the Curtain." It was my satori moment. Suddenly music - all music - made absolute and perfect sense to me.

But there's a danger lurking in too much understanding. Because there's a fine line between art and artifice. When you've heard a lot, and played a lot, things can start to seem more and more the same. Which is to say you can suddenly stop hearing what you’re listening to. Analysis soon replaces aesthetic. And it's all too easy to fall back on repetition and formulaic thinking when inspiration deserts you.

You'll see that all the time with musicians that came up very fast. Their first album was great. The second album - either equally good or slightly better. Their third album...um yeah...that third album...looks like sophomore slump setting in.

Usually, at that point you either never hear that musician again - or he/she starts reworking their previous songs and ideas. And that leads to a certain sameness - or formulaic feel - to what comes after. Sometimes, this musician gets lucky and has a following that adores what they do and just wants more and more of the same. Many early Metal bands benefited from that sort of fanbase, and more power to them. We should all be so fortunate. Because most musicians are left to muddle on as best they can.

The key to it all IMO is maintaining a sense of balance. Use your brain - and above all make the effort to master the craft. Art without some modicum of discipline soon degenerates into trash. No art form is so pure as to not have some element of craft to it. But trying too hard can be equally bad.

The challenge is not to get so smart and crafty (i.e. "slick") that the sense of what it's all about gets lost in the process. Because most people - even untrained people - do have an innate sense of what it's all about. And they can easily recognize a good song, even if they don't consciously know why.

I think when music tries to be intellectual, it takes away from itself musically. Intellect and music don't really mix. Lyrics can be intellectual, but even there I'm not so sure - I guess it depends on your definition of 'intellectual'.

By "intellectual" music, I think what SB was talking about was well-crafted music that dealt with subject matter that speaks to needs a bit higher up Maslov's hierarchy than most of what passes for "popular" music does.

Were Dylan's early lyrics intellectual? I don't think so, he says they just poured out of him.

Agree. Those who knew Dylan, or followed his career, soon reached the conclusion he was another one of those people who (to put it politely) had a great deal of trouble keeping his story straight. After reading multiple accounts of what he put people through during his recording sessions and while on tour, I think there was very little that "just poured out" of Bob Dylan other than his unfocused rage at the entire universe.