My Impromptus today is headed “Perils of populism, &c.” What are some of those perils? Well, I’ll give you one. In university music departments, you have to subtract classes on classical music and add classes on hip-hop and so on — because classical music is “elitist.” As I say in my column, “Art involves judgment, taste, discrimination. And those things are . . . dicey.”
Let’s have some reader mail. In a recent column, I spoke of local government, which can be just as pestiferous as governments at higher levels. More so? A reader writes,
Passing over the too-easy target of homeowners’ associations, l recall the flag regulation many years ago of Lakewood, Wash., next to the Army’s Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force base.
Lakewood notified the owners of a military surplus store, The Foxhole, that they were violating the restrictions on decorative flags. Lakewood had ruled that the limit was five, The Foxhole was flying six. The Foxhole’s response was that they flew the U.S. flag, the service flags of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, and the POW/MIA flag, and which one did Lakewood think should be removed? The issue was dropped.
Good.
Last week, I had a post that touched on the wisdom, or non-wisdom, of owls. Well:
Jay,
I have in fact made inquiries about this in the past. I read somewhere that, despite their sagacious mien, owls are handicapped by the fact that most of the space in their skulls is taken up by their enormous, world-beating eyes, leaving precious little space for the little gray cells.
So, a couple years ago, on a trip to England, we added a fun activity for the kids by going to the Cotswold Raptor Center, where they rehab and train all sorts of magnificent birds, and will even have them land and perch on your heavily begloved arm. While one of my kids had a colossal owl on his arm, I asked the trainer, “Is it true that owls are actually not very bright?” She laughed and said, “Well, they’re dear but simple creatures.” So, c’est le hibou. (Which word I had to look up. Interesting word — I sort of assume it’s onomatopoeic!)
That said, in my heart, I believe they are obviously profound contemplatives who hold secret wisdom of which we are not worthy . . .
Yes.
One more quick note: The heading of my post here plays off a novel by Evelyn Waugh, Put Out More Flags. WFB once described him as the finest “prose stylist,” in English, of the 20th century. If you have not treated yourself — treat yourself.