Pablo Massa wrote in response to me:

>>That's what I properly call intolerance.  There is a big difference between
>>saying "I don't like Ricky Martin and don't want to listen to the guy, he
>>is a plague and his records should be banned and burnt" and between saying
>>"I don't like Ricky Martin but there is a place for ALL kinds of music in
>>the world - thank God, I am not forced to listen to all kinds of music at
>>home".
>
>Hmm.  Have you noticed that it's very difficult *not to hear* Ricky Martin
>nowadays?.  Mass media will do everything legal (or even illegal) in order
>to make you buy a record of RM.

Well, classical music companies will do everything legal (or even illegal,
who knows) in order to make us buy records by Cecilia Bartoli (who I love)
or Neville Marriner.  So what? They want to earn money, that's their job.

>They will spread it all over the world, and you will not be safe anywhere:
>watching TV, listening radio, browsing at Internet, going to a party,
>talking to your friends...  When someone tells me about Ricky Martin, I
>would like to be able to answer honestly "I don't know who is that guy".
>But unfortunately, mass media have stolen us our right to ignore who is
>that guy.  So, is there really a place for all kinds of music in the
>world?.  Perhaps, but one could also say that certain kinds of music
>have bigger places than others.

To complain about this is like complaining about rain: it is a waste a
time and energy.  And by the way: Ricky Martin's music is pop music,
cleverly and well made and produced, and sometimes I am in the mood to
listen to a pop song.

>That's a legitimate reason for a reaction, I believe (no matter how
>good/bad may one judge the music of RM to be)

Legitimate? I don't know.  Is this important? I think it is a fruitless
thing to complain about Ricky Martin's music being so dominant.  Would you
like to live in a world where there is Bach playing all the time: in TV
commercials, in the radio, at the Internet, on parties, in elevators? A
nightmare.

>Just as your understanding of my statement. For "opposite" I meant the
>following: I prefer sometimes that musical beauty finds me, instead of
>finding it by myself.

Whatever "musical beauty" may be... For some people it is Ricky Martin.

>>For me real beauty covers ugly and disturbing things, too.
>
>I suppose you mean that you find beauty *at* some ugly or disturbing (but
>supportable) things.  I'm sure you would not find anything beauty at a
>complete hearing (840 times!!) of Satie's "Vexations".

Well, I wouldn't bet on that.  For me "beauty" is a term completely without
meaning because it is so subjective.  Let us just say that we are able now
to enjoy art that is not "beautiful" at all.  I find some pleasure, depth,
comfort and intellectual satisfaction in listening to music other list
members call a "plague" and utterly ugly.

Or the Taoist would just write a little poem:

Every song of every bird,
every music of every composer
is alright with me.

>>>My granny used to say: "don't trust someone who is friend of everybody".
>>
>>You misinterpret my poem because your reading and thinking is very
>>non-Taoist.
>
>Agree.  However, misinterpretations of poems don't exist.  Every
>interpretation is necessary and beautiful in its own way.

Simply not true.  As a teacher of German and English literature I assure
you: misinterpretations of poems do exist.  Some interpretations are sheer
nonsense since their findings can't be proved by the text.  But that's
off-topic.

>>I am not friend of everybody: I just don't have enemies and
>>do not need some
>
>Well, you are my friend.  Don't you remember that proverb of Blake?: "true
>friendship is opposition".  ;-)

So I have deepened our friendship with this reply ;-)

>>and I see use and necessity in every kind of music but do
>>not have to listen to it at home.
>
>I think different.  I don't see any use in music, and I just see the
>necessity (my necessity, of course) only of the music that I enjoy now.
>But these are only opinions.  They may change tomorrow, as myself.

Hey, you are a Taoist after all!  This was a statement that would make
Lao-Tse smile!

Robert