The arts in my town - wine and broadway musicals

[Nuzzolese]

The arts in my town are all about pretentious snobs who think they're classy because they like musicals and drink wine. I'm just bitching. Why do people think drinking wine makes them classy? People around here love it, and I'm almost sure most of them don't know anything about wine.

And then there's the self-importance. Any time I go to some artistic performance here, there is always that moment when the rich family and the arts council person will get on stage and kiss each other's asses and go on and on about their families and share stupid anecdotes and act like they cured cancer. Is it like this in your town, too? Is this what the arts community is like wherever you go? Gag!

See, it's a small enough town here that these people feel like they can be so familiar and down-home with the public, and think they're big fish; but it's a big enough pond, or town, that they have overblown notions of their own importance.

I used to live in a smaller town and the arts councils and board members were a lot more humble and down to earth. The only asses they kissed were the guest artists, and the fund-raisers were more quiet and realistic. But then again, maybe they didn't do as well raising money. I bet in a larger city they don't share so much stupid information about themselves, thinking the general public worships them like this. Or do they?

And my town knows nothing about arts, they're firing the symphony conductor who was fantastic, and I think it's because they want more stupid musicals to be played instead of real music.

I think it's so silly how some things come to be considered "high brow" or cultured. Wine, olive oil, anything seemingly European, or representative of what they think New Yorkers do; it's so bourgeouise!

I don't mean to sound like a snob because I don't think "the arts" should be so exclusive and up tight. I think they should just casually be a part of society. I don't think anyone should feel special by being a part of something artistic, and I don't think anyone should feel intimidated by it either. Perhaps I'm blaming a symptom instead of the real problem. Maybe this is just how the world is.

In fact, I think the people I'm complaining about are the real snobs. They act so gracious in public, when they're on stage with the microphone, introducing a guest or a performance. But in reality these people are rude and self-important face to face. (In my experience)

[b i o n i c]

ungh!

[Nuzzolese]

I don't know anything about wine either but I know it doesn't make you classy to drink it.

[b i o n i c]

you can put a glass of wine in a gorillas hand, its still a glass of wine

[mickill]

I think you should just give these snobs a chance.

[Audio.]

I cringe when I see wine at a gallery. I guess most people are there for the wine :o

other than that.... eh fuck em.

[taquitos]

people always drink wine and eat cheese at galleries here.

you would think they would eventually get tired of their little game, but they don't.
i think people in tennessee are just trying too hard to make up for being from tennessee.

we should just have whiskey and moon pies.

[Nuzzolese]

I think you should just give these snobs a chance.

But I'm going to the arts thingies, what more can I give them?

In a new low of self-worshipping pseudo cultural nonsense, the president of the ballet company sang lyrics from A Chorus Line into the face of the big money contributer on stage before they let us see the second act of the ballet. This was after telling us about her grandmother's birthday and her son's soccer achievements. But I know this is the kind of woman who parks her SUV at the curb outside the post office, hazard lights blinking, messing up traffic in the parking lot, keeping her gigantic sunglasses on as she goes in to return stamps for not being sticky enough.

But I guess this is what you have to do to get arts to the public, to get the money you have to kiss ass and to enjoy the arts you have to watch it. I guess.

I just hate the richies in my town, they're so full of themselves and so without class. I'm still angry over how Aaron Schock and his posse ruined my birthday breakfast by taking over my favorite breakfast place. I had to go to Bob Evans!!

[TAL]

I have two weeks left behind the big desk at the gallery.

[Myu-to]

They prolly work at Barnes & Noble too.

[jabumbo]

the arts in this town seem pretty chilled out, although i don't go into most of the art galleries because most of it is that funky modern shit that i can't figure out anyway.


i've never been to any real event where some rich punk came up on stage though. unless it was some community play put on by the school or something

[b i o n i c]

i say be their friend

[marsdaddy]

You have to drink wine to enjoy broadway musicals. If nothing else, it numbs the pain of sitting in those seats to 2 hours.

[Nuzzolese]

They prolly work at Barnes & Noble too.

no, no, they go to Barnes and Noble to hang out all day because it makes them feel like they're hip and intellectual, shopping on their laptops and drinking overpriced coffee, bringing their dogs in like this is France or something, and leaving books and magazines all over the place.

[marsdaddy]

...bringing their dogs in like this is France or something, and leaving books and magazines all over the place.Don't forget letting their kids smudge books after amping them up on a hot chocolate and cookie.

[Audio.]

yeah whats deal with that? I come to barnes & nobles or borders to get myself a drawing book but to get to that I first have to pass thru the posers who bought starbucks coffee next door while reading a news paper of some fucking boring boring book about some bullshit like handing "good" advices. Then I go pass the most empty section which is the diet and nutrition area where I later have to shimmy my way thru a lot of otaku kids which is like a valley of them sitting over floor reading manga and comics. Either way, its annoying to get thru just to get my fucking art book. The best thing of it is that I dont have to wait in a big line to buy a book since no one there buys shit.

[Nuzzolese]

Don't forget letting their kids smudge books after amping them up on a hot chocolate and cookie.

I don't care about that, kids are kids, they're not snobby. I never complained about kids. Stop putting words in my mouth!

[Nuzzolese]

yeah whats deal with that? I come to barnes & nobles or borders to get myself a drawing book but to get to that I first have to pass thru the posers who bought starbucks coffee next door while reading a news paper of some fucking boring boring book about some bullshit like handing "good" advices. Then I go pass the most empty section which is the diet and nutrition area where I later have to shimmy my way thru a lot of otaku kids which is like a valley of them sitting over floor reading manga and comics. Either way, its annoying to get thru just to get my fucking art book. The best thing of it is that I dont have to wait in a big line to buy a book since no one there buys shit.


Did everyone look up at you and watch you pass by? Those bookstores are like a singles bar. I really think people go there to meet the love of their lives. They sit there and pretend to read but anyone who passes by gets copped a visual feel from curious and expectant eye contact.

[Audio.]

haha nah i dont think I got any of that vibe. I very very much knew they were just being posers. You can tell the way they position themselves usually in some corny fashion. Its funny to see them get that kind of attention just from a guy like me who is just trying to look for a book to study and not just sit on my ass with legs cross over the other while drinking coffee (does coffee upset anyone's stomach?) while talking on the cell phone out loud informing the store of their business success, reading (talk, drink, read at the same time wtf?) and wearing sun glasses inside the store. Only thing missing is him listening to his ipod while smoking marble. BUY A BOOK!

[jabumbo]

dunkin' donuts coffee is far superious (and cheaper) than starsucks

[Dorothy Wood]

rich people don't know anything about culture, they just think they do. they only co-opt culture. it's pretty sad when you think about it too hard.

it's all politics in the high end. the only people making real art or doing real performances are doing it on their own for their peers, or just for the sake of doing it.

as for wine, it's kind of fun to learn about, and good wine is nice. I didn't even think there was much of a difference until I went to some wineries in california with a bunch of friends. after a few tastings, we got pretty drunk but still tried to pretend we were fancy adults. then we ate some thai food in the house we rented and played cards and acted like idiots. I don't remember anything I learned, or the names of anything. and I'm not about to start buying $100 bottles of wine, but I can appreciate it more than I used to I guess.

anyway, I once saw a really fancy couple driving a very expensive car in schaumburg and I was like "if I had as much money as those people, I sure as fuck wouldn't live in schaumburg, illinois."

all these people are just trying to justify their existence through superficial means. it's pretty gross. I ignore it these days, I used to spend way too much time getting upset about it.

I saw one of my clients in vogue recently and the little blurb was like, "she's the best lady ever" or something like that. but she's seriously a lunatic. she's very nice to me, but she is bat shit insane and has horrible taste. the next time I see her though, I'm going be all, "omg, I saw you in vogue" (because it is pretty neat), and she'll drop a couple grand.

oh, life.

[paul jones]

the farts in my town are mostly from winos and maaaaaaaaaaaaan they smell.who invented musicals? Was it some music people who thought films were boring without them so instead of say the king saying to his queen that he was just off to the toilet to have a shit he would sing it..." Oh dearest dearest queen of mine,I'm off to have a shit so fine" or something like that,anyway so yeah,rich people drive landrovers and don't hang out in the poundstore or Aldis but maybe they do...in disguise cos really they're well into being tight with thy're riches then they all get together on a hill somewhere in the country side,hanging out with their landrovers and showing each other stuff like the cat food they got really cheap at Aldi's or the storage tubs they fot for a pound each at the pound store

[Nuzzolese]

You have Aldis over there, too!? That is blowing my mind.

Have you noticed that SNL these days is really musical? I think the current cast is made up of former musical theater people. Evbery other skit has a stupid song, and the song itself is supposed to be the joke. It's either that or making really whacked out exaggerated faces and gay jokes. I'm talking about all those interchangeable dark-haired white guys and Andy Sandberg.

Those people in Schaumberg probably live there so they can afford a gigantic house, and to go for all their shopping in Chicago.

My mother SO wants to be like these people. It's all for show, it's all insincere. She and my dad are part of an insufferable club of six couples who take turns putting on artsy events every month, and they just have no clue about what they're doing.

This month my mom wants to rent a party room in the trendy vegan/organic restaurant in town (which is actually run by drug dealers but she doesn't know that, or want to believe it, or care!) And she wants to have classical music performed live, so she asked me if I could help her with that and when I asked her what kind of music she was going for, she just said "oh, classical, anything." She had no idea. I bet she couldn't tell Bach from Stravinsky but she wants to look classy having a live string quartet.

It's so funny, people wanting to feel artistic and sensitive, but not actually wanting to understand the art, just wanting to be associated with it, just wanting to come across as the kind of person who appreciates it.

I'd rather be a bumpkin who actually, honestly enjoys something than a sophisticated metro couple who fakes it just for appearances.

I bet I sound pretty annoying in this thread, like I'm so above them and that only I really understand art. I don't. I'm a loser. I'm totally commercial.

[Nuzzolese]

I very very much knew they were just being posers. You can tell the way they position themselves usually in some corny fashion. ...legs cross over the other while drinking coffee (does coffee upset anyone's stomach?) while talking on the cell phone out loud informing the store of their business success, reading (talk, drink, read at the same time wtf?) and wearing sun glasses inside the store. Only thing missing is him listening to his ipod while smoking marble. BUY A BOOK!

ha! perfect

[Myu-to]

no, no, they go to Barnes and Noble to hang out all day because it makes them feel like they're hip and intellectual, shopping on their laptops and drinking overpriced coffee, bringing their dogs in like this is France or something, and leaving books and magazines all over the place.
This made me laugh. Thanks.

[Nuzzolese]

Once a woman put her lap dog on the counter while she dug through her purse. I was horrified! But I remained utterly professional. I scanned the dog and placed it in a shopping bag.

[b i o n i c]

You have Aldis over there, too!? That is blowing my mind.

Have you noticed that SNL these days is really musical? I think the current cast is made up of former musical theater people. Evbery other skit has a stupid song, and the song itself is supposed to be the joke. It's either that or making really whacked out exaggerated faces and gay jokes. I'm talking about all those interchangeable dark-haired white guys and Andy Sandberg.

Those people in Schaumberg probably live there so they can afford a gigantic house, and to go for all their shopping in Chicago.

My mother SO wants to be like these people. It's all for show, it's all insincere. She and my dad are part of an insufferable club of six couples who take turns putting on artsy events every month, and they just have no clue about what they're doing.

This month my mom wants to rent a party room in the trendy vegan/organic restaurant in town (which is actually run by drug dealers but she doesn't know that, or want to believe it, or care!) And she wants to have classical music performed live, so she asked me if I could help her with that and when I asked her what kind of music she was going for, she just said "oh, classical, anything." She had no idea. I bet she couldn't tell Bach from Stravinsky but she wants to look classy having a live string quartet.

It's so funny, people wanting to feel artistic and sensitive, but not actually wanting to understand the art, just wanting to be associated with it, just wanting to come across as the kind of person who appreciates it.

I'd rather be a bumpkin who actually, honestly enjoys something than a sophisticated metro couple who fakes it just for appearances.

I bet I sound pretty annoying in this thread, like I'm so above them and that only I really understand art. I don't. I'm a loser. I'm totally commercial.

no no! please help your mom put on this event, throw the musicians a little something extra to jumble their pages around, mess up a few time signatures.. play the songs wrong. there have to be some cool musicians out there down to make a few musical jokes. tell them there'll be cheese and wiiiiiiine

[Nuzzolese]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ttUHppgNqs

I can't watch youtube at work so I'm hoping this is the clip I wanted to share with you all: An outtake from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events with Cedric and Dustin Hoffman. I hope it's the one with "Avant Johnson"

[paul jones]

You have Aldis over there, too!? That is blowing my mind.

.


yeah,they've been here a while,at least when you came over that time.I used to get my cars biscuits there because they were the cheapest around.There's something magical about the place.It's more quiet and relaxing than say a huge place like ASDA(UK name for WAL MART).

[Myu-to]

Once a woman put her lap dog on the counter while she dug through her purse. I was horrified! But I remained utterly professional. I scanned the dog and placed it in a shopping bag.
If that's true then you would be awesome.