🚀 go-pugleaf

Goodness, what a lot to answer. Long time no posting eh? I've been on leave and other things. I think I'll have to do an 'eeny meeny miny moe' here .... (oh crumbs, don't say I've got to hunt the Internet now to get that spelling correct!).

      If you had written ""this fashion [of using lowercase] looks absolutely
      awful most of the time", then I wouldn't have a problem with it. Is that
      such a hard concept to grasp?




Well, don't you think that is being rather pedantic? I mean, when is it appropriate to add the word 'most'? Is that a clear concept? (As clear as capitals for proper names?). Are you stating it should be added no matter how small the degree? For example, it could be only one piece of jazz, or one lower case proper name liked. As a percentage of all the jazz and lower case proper names disliked that could amount to a liking of about 1% or less. Would it be right in such a case to then add the word 'most' just for that 1%? Is that not a debatable and fairly irrelevant point?

I think all this discussion about missing out the word 'most' and tending to imply that you actually *have* used bad grammar as opposed to *advocating* it is really 'red herrings'. The main question here is 'How can a proper name have just lower case letters (no capitals whatsoever), even for art's sake?'. No capitals means no proper name does it not?

As for your arguments that 'iPod' and 'InDesign' are as bad as 'london' well, you see, you're doing it again, you're trying to counteract my 'boundaries' argument by going all strict on me. Remember, 'iPod' was brought up after that quotation of mine about not seeing a proper name if it did not have an initial capital and I stand by my explanation of accepting 'iPod'. The capital 'P' is close enough to the start of the word I think to make it look like a proper name. I think that shows artistic adaptability within my rules, not inconsistency. Surely you must see that 'iPod' and 'InDesign' still look like proper names as opposed to 'london' which just looks like an ordinary word, no distinguishing features at all, no proper name status, nothing to make it stand out in the crowd, or even stand out on its own.

In answer to my question "Does anything go in the name of art?" you reply:-

      I've not spent a lot of time considering this, but off the top of my head,
      I'm not bothered by anything that doesn't inflict harm on unwilling participants.
      Certainly, Tracey Emin's bed I consider art. I assume that, had you been
      around at the relevant periods, you would have found good company in those
      who were outraged by Manet's "Le D�jeuner sur L'Herbe" or Stravinsky's
      "Rite of Spring".




Well, unless you think otherwise after more consideration on the matter, I reckon this says a lot about both our views on this subject. I've got nothing against the avant-garde, in fact I love it, when it's done well. I've spent many a time gazing at some weird things in art galleries, but conversely also writing in the visitors book about some works "If that's art, what isn't?". Interestingly there's been a music festival on here that sometimes has some wonderfully weird choral music that is used in competition pieces to show up the choirs' flexibility and technique and I think it's great. I don't know the Manet piece you mention but I certainly know the Stravinsky and loved that first time, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been one of the ones jeering in the crowd at its' first performance.

However, as I've stated before, I do have boundaries. And surely you must have boundaries yourself (other than the non artistic ones you mention) otherwise art just becomes a farse, like the Turner Prize has become (to the general public) here in the UK. Would you not have told that old Emperor, about his now famous new clothes, "Now come on your Royal H-ness, put something on will ya! You'll catch your death"?

Damn .... I've typed out another long one. I promised I wouldn't do that. Sorry folks.

PS. If I've missed something you feel I should answer let me know.