Pointers, standards, schools, Bond...James Bond, Sex, and other Programming Stuff

[handy]

Thanks to all concerned for the wonderfully enjoyable read.

@ amingv: I think your signature is beautiful, did you create that?

If your sign is to burn, burn with it all: your shirt, your yard, your health
and if you must burn anyway, then burn well, with virtue;
but oh my love, oh my love have the care not to burn your heart, oh my love, oh my love...

[kragen]

Some geeks do have girlfriends (but I have yet to meet one), and not all geeks are male.

Careful,

Not all female geeks are heterosexual

[amingv]

@ amingv: I think your signature is beautiful, did you create that?

If your sign is to burn, burn with it all: your shirt, your yard, your health
and if you must burn anyway, then burn well, with virtue;
but oh my love, oh my love have the care not to burn your heart, oh my love, oh my love...

Regretfully I can't attribute it to myself, it's a verse (beautiful indeed) from the song "Verbos en juego" ("Play on verbs") by Silvio Rodriguez that I roughly translated to English.
I find it interesting that almost no one seems to know him (he's a cuban artist, not that his nationality matters at all in this regard) but find that verse beautiful, which supports my theory that "art is the end, the artist is just the means".

Great, handy! Now you have forked this thread even further! ( j/k)

[handy]

Regretfully I can't attribute it to myself, it's a verse (beautiful indeed) from the song "Verbos en juego" ("Play on verbs") by Silvio Rodriguez that I roughly translated to English.
I find it interesting that almost no one seems to know him (he's a cuban artist, not that his nationality matters at all in this regard) but find that verse beautiful, which supports my theory that "art is the end, the artist is just the means".

Great, handy! Now you have forked this thread even further! ( j/k)

I'll continue to fork it now, by mentioning my huge respect for Cuban musicians (at least). Have you seen the movie that Ry Cooder made happen (& participates in) called Buena Vista Social Club a most enjoyable expose of Cuba, its society & of course musicians. An anthropological extravaganza I say.

On art: I find it an incredibly difficult concept to define; I consider much of what I do when configuring ArchLinux to suit myself to be the same as when I am improvising music, it is a personal creative endeavor. It may or may not be enjoyed by other people, the same as my music.

I am a programmers RRRs wipe, but I have spent time over 15 years ago, intensely (is there any other way) programming, & that too was a creative release (all be it so much slower & usually (frustration) less intense) as improvising whilst playing music.

Which brings to me the question: Is art defined by which part(s) of the brain are used at the time of the creation process?

Is the creative act of programming using the same parts of the brain as improvising (composing) music?

Thinking on it I think they are not the same parts of the brain, (for me at least). Designing the program & the intellectual development of the development are certainly using parts of the brain in composition, but is it the same as musical composition?

Who gets to say what art is, is still a question.

Who cares what is & is not called art is certainly another.

[amingv]

No, I don't remember seeing that movie.

When I was a kid I would take out some pots and start hitting them with whatever was at hand, until someone else would come and put an end to the deafening noise. Of course I wasn't creating "noise", I was creating "music", but a 5 year old doesn't have the time to ponder if art must be pleasing to hear or just pleasing to make.
Even worse, a 19 year old doesn't have the brains to do it, and has only come to the vague conclusion that "it's somewhere in-between", only half-believing himself.

Another thing, did the person who stopped the pot-beating not enjoy it, or would he just rather have himself/someone else do it? Maybe it broke his concentration while he wash doing what he believes is art (which in turn annoys the daylight out of the 5 year old).

Originality comes to mind as a factor, Beethoven is held in high regard, but if I played any of his symphonies to perfection people would just mildly care, I wouldn't be an artist such as him.

Music and code come (in my opinion) from the same place, which is no place at all.
Think about it, people stare at something for one hour and see the same thing, until someone else comes and sees something different, then he produces something else as a result which could be branded as art because anyone who hears it can see beyond sight, it is art whether it came from his hypothalamus or his frontal cortex. Mercy knows this has happened both in code and music (though not the only source of inspiration).

Like the 5 year old, nobody gets to say what art is; like the adult, nobody gets to say what art it's not.

[handy]

When I was a kid I would take out some pots and start hitting them with whatever was at hand, until someone else would come and put an end to the deafening noise. Of course I wasn't creating "noise", I was creating "music", but a 5 year old doesn't have the time to ponder if art must be pleasing to hear or just pleasing to make.

As a 5 year old your brainwave patterns are still quite slow, you haven't yet moved to the beta pattern which is where most adults spend their days. So, probably everything is in the creative brain departments at that age?

Even worse, a 19 year old doesn't have the brains to do it, and has only come to the vague conclusion that "it's somewhere in-between", only half-believing himself.

The 19 year old rock musician is only thinking about pusssy & the total belief that they are going to be a star.

Another thing, did the person who stopped the pot-beating not enjoy it, or would he just rather have himself/someone else do it? Maybe it broke his concentration while he wash doing what he believes is art (which in turn annoys the daylight out of the 5 year old).

My question was about which part(s) of the brain are used when someone is being artistic, though I did without realising at at the time also bring the art critic into the equation. I somehow think that the art critic's brain wave pattern & usage is different than the artists.

Originality comes to mind as a factor, Beethoven is held in high regard, but if I played any of his symphonies to perfection people would just mildly care, I wouldn't be an artist such as him.

He created the music & was a virtuoso apparently. An improviser, though he may not be Beethoven, is composing on the spur of the moment as he plays.

Music and code come (in my opinion) from the same place, which is no place at all.
Think about it, people stare at something for one hour and see the same thing,

I don't agree with that statement.

until someone else comes and sees something different, then he produces something else as a result which could be branded as art because anyone who hears it can see beyond sight, it is art whether it came from his hypothalamus or his frontal cortex. Mercy knows this has happened both in code and music (though not the only source of inspiration).

It is not the seeing that puts art out for the art observers & critics to see, it is the manifestation of an artwork. I think a huge number of people have artistic creations going on, they just don't manifest it in 3D.

Like the 5 year old, nobody gets to say what art is; like the adult, nobody gets to say what art it's not.

Art critics think they can, though they are mostly BS artists who do their creating via the written word. I know about that, I live on forums...