I have been suffering from a persistent toothache from a wisdom tooth... it's "impacted" see here for an explanation and here's a picture (aaaaarrrrrggghhhh !)
So, whilst waiting to see a dental surgeon at the hospital last Saturday, I was catching up on some reading, including the most recent entries on the ever-readable David Byrne "Online Journal" (don't call it a blog!).
Just imagine my ironic chuckling as I sat in the waiting room reading the following, with toothache, waiting to see a DENTAL SURGEON whilst in the background an eazy-listening-musak cd played chunes from the popular songbook in ver-so-luvverly synth, drum-machine and panpipes arrangements...
NOTE: This is from the entry from June 5
"One can not only hear the music one chooses all the time if one wants, which seems like a good thing, but one can also seek out music from far-flung places, scenes and from times very different than one's own. At least in recorded form it’s more or less all out there.
I find this overwhelming. Probably as a musician I find music either one or the other — completely invisible, inaudible — even sometimes when it’s playing loud — or completely intrusive — impossible to ignore. As a musician there are times when even quiet background music in a bar or restaurant is completely distracting and impossible to ignore. It’s like the effect of having a TV on in room is for most people — it tends to demand attention. All conversation either stops or has to deal with the TV program. Music is like that for musicians.
In this way the easy access to and ubiquity of music is oppressive. It often feels like a passive aggressive assault. I’d pay extra for silence."
