Notes From The Den 1-12-09 NOTES ---------- “The CD Library Project” continues on Lazlo’s Den every Monday thru Friday at 8pm ET, with Lazlo playing a song from every album in his vast library. ------------------------------ The first BlowUpRadio.com & Lazlo’s Den Free Concert of 2009 will take place on Saturday January 31st at Buddie’s Tavern (277 Johnsons Ln, Parlin (Sayreville), NJ), and feature sets from The Tea & Whiskey, Finding Fiction, and Joshua Van Ness. ------------------------------ Hey Den-ziens, In an effort to figure out what NJ music you want to hear on BlowUpRadio.com’s webcast, I put a new poll question up on BlowUpRadio.com. BlowUpRadio.com should play music by defunct NJ bands... - as frequently as current NJ bands - less frequently than current NJ bands - not at all (if I can't see them live why play them) Let me know your thoughts by answering the poll on BlowUpRadio.com. Of course if you’d like to give me more detailed thoughts, I welcome your e-mails. ~~~ “The CD Library Project” (I‘m still looking for a better name. If you have an idea, e-mail me), continues on Lazlo’s Den every Monday thru Friday at 8pm ET. I am just over a week into playing a song from every CD in the library, and I’ve gotten all the way to the letter B…from my NJ band collection. This is going to take a while, and that’s fine with me. Some of these albums I haven’t played in a long time and it’s good to hear these songs again, and in many cases remember stories about the band or song. Of course, that doesn’t mean that New Music Tuesday is disappearing during the project. I have received a lot of new CDs and can’t wait to play them for you on Tuesday. ~~~ The first BlowUpRadio.com & Lazlo’s Den Free Concert of 2009 will take place on Saturday January 31st at Buddie’s Tavern (277 Johnsons Ln, Parlin (Sayreville), NJ), and feature sets from The Tea & Whiskey, Finding Fiction, and Joshua Van Ness. ~~~ Now it’s time for this week’s Pissed Off! What is art? Of course there is the obvious, Monet, DaVinci, etc. Then there’s the absurd…like back in 1991 when I was going to college in Philadelphia and for my art appreciation class I had to go and look at several specific pieces of art at the Philadelphia Museum Of Art. Two of the pieces still stand out to me, because I had always thought of the museum as holding highly respected works of art, but these pieces of “art” were clearly something even I, of little natural talent, could do. The first was a broken snow shovel…yes, a simple wooden handled, red plastic shovel blade, snow shovel…broken into two pieces and each piece was hung in a specific direction. Years later when Homer Simpson became an outsider artist by getting angry and destroying things, I immediately thought of this shovel “art”. The second was a plain white wall, with a straight vertical line chipped off, and the plaster in a neat pile on the ground beside it. Now the Philadelphia Museum Of Art may call these “works of art“, but I beg to differ. At the same time I respect that some people consider it art, just like I consider some comic books to be art, but others will discard comics as not being true art. What is true art? I guess it is in the eye of the beholder. Why am I even having this conversation? A friend of mine is involved in a “pinup photo” contest, and asked if I could make mention of it here in the newsletter. I am more than happy to promote local art, be it music or otherwise, but I had to stop and think about whether or not this is art or just an objectification of women. So I went to the Free Dictionary (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/art) and looked up the definition of art: 1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature. Well, a pinup photo is a natural beauty…although some supplement their beauty with unnecessary augmentation, and I guess it is also altered based upon the clothing worn and choice of backdrop. 2. a. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium. Sense of beauty, check. 2.b. The study of these activities. Studying the human body…too obvious. 2.c. The product of these activities; human works of beauty considered as a group. Again, too obvious. 3. High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value. So art is beauty, and many find pinup photos to be beauty, so hence I guess it is art. Of course you can decide for yourself, go to http://www.kittenkoffinzombies.com/contest.php And make sure you check out the photos of Miss Heather. The photos were taken by Nerve Tonic’s lead singer, Eugene DeRobertis. If you like what you see then vote for Miss Heather. Having looked at all the contestant’s photos, I can honestly say Miss Heather’s were my favorite, and had pure artistic integrity. ~~~ That's all for this week. Thanks for reading. Peace, Lazlo www.LazlosDen.com