tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12102555.post5840739695990947553..comments2009-03-24T13:34:51.449-05:00elvez1975http://www.blogger.com/profile/01422806096899928461noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12102555.post-10201703036639498272009-03-24T13:34:00.000-05:002009-03-24T13:34:00.000-05:00Ahhh, Jamie. You are a hoot! Wagner does indeed suck. His anti-semitism is completely irrelevant in this context, though (just because Hitler was an idiot on so many levels, doesn't mean he didn't lift the German economy out of a rut). It's probably the bombastic and simplistic quality of his music. And if publius is going insist on making the meaning of "suck" contingent on how the subject relates to everything else, then let's rephrase: Wagner sucks compared to everything else. <BR/><BR/>Really, the metric is an innate human aesthetic, which can identify when something is not working towards perfection, and instead insists on depravity. If that's not a good enough answer to publius, perhaps we can apply said cheese grater to his balls and ask whether what he's experiencing is painful, and if he says yes (and he will), ask "Painful, you say? Painful compared to what?" and keep on grating. I'm fairly certain there exist more painful experiences than being cheesegrated (like listening to Wagner), so why stop?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12102555.post-82182773571006385872008-07-01T21:46:00.000-05:002008-07-01T21:46:00.000-05:00OK. Fine.<BR/><BR/>"I don't like Wagner."<BR/><BR/>Wait. Let me be more specific. How's this?<BR/><BR/>"I don't like Wagner because he sucks - by which I mean I'd rather shave my balls with a cheese grater than listen to the &$^#%!(%&$#* Ring Cycle."<BR/><BR/>Does that pass muster?<BR/><BR/>And by the way, I logged on originally to say...<BR/><BR/>What happened to not being MIA? (That's to the author of the blog, not the commenter...)Jamiehttp://dwi.austindefense.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12102555.post-20685819719788121202008-06-25T10:47:00.000-05:002008-06-25T10:47:00.000-05:00^^<BR/><BR/>"wagner sucks"? by comparison to what? by what standard? quite a broad statement, and pretty ridiculous to boot. it's like saying "shakespeare sucks" or "picasso sucks". you're welcome to that opinion, but saying "wagner sucks" makes you sound like a small-minded reactionary. "i don't like wagner" would be a more reasonable statement, though why anyone would care i have no idea.<BR/><BR/>anti-semite he may have been, but to write off tristan und isolde and the ring cycle because you don't like someone's politics is downright...well, republican.<BR/><BR/>daniel barenboim has it right...you engage in a dialogue about the guy, but you don't toss his music out because he was, as the original post pretty much correctly had it, a jackass.<BR/><BR/>http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/aug2001/wagn-a01.shtml<BR/><BR/>and yes, mahler is quite good as well, though he and wagner are about as close to apples and oranges as you can get.publiushttp://www.tentfort.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12102555.post-79419690701617464642008-05-22T11:31:00.000-05:002008-05-22T11:31:00.000-05:00Wagner sucks. Mahler is at least bearable. PLus, I don't <I>think</I> he was anti-semitic, but I'm not sure on that one.Jamiehttp://blog.austindefense.comnoreply@blogger.com