The Marconi Experiment Blog

Al Gore came back to Congress and was (mostly) welcomed as a hero with an important message. That feeling wasn’t quite expressed by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), who chose to lecture, berate and attempt to bait Gore, rather than using his alloted time for questions and discussion. Like many on the rabid Republican Right, he had not interest in discourse, only in attack. But God bless that pint-sized dynamo Barabar Boxer, who is now Chairperson of the Senate Environment Committee. (more…)

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of obscenity (”I know it when I see it”) pretty much sums up art. One person’s artistic expression is another person’s irrelevant trash. I’m not sure if art is defined by the artist or the public (whatever public it may be that’s doing the defining).

Down in Florida, that bastion of sense and culture in America, a piece of work in a museum exhibit has the Sons of the Confederacy’s panties in a wad. (more…)

On the morning of her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, Patti Smith showed up on the OpEd page of The New York Times. Is this a sign that rock and roll has truly grown up, or another indication that rock and roll has gone mainstream. That was actually what Patti Smith was musing about. (more…)