Briefly defined, music [emphasis in original] is the rational organization of sounds and silences passing through time. Tones must be arranged in some consistent, logical, and (usually) pleasing way before we can call these sounds “music” instead of just noise.

Seriously? We’re still using a value judgement in the definition of an art form? Rational, logical, and pleasing are a matter of cultural inheritance and personal taste. Also, “just” noise? Dr. Wright, what the heck is wrong with noise? Some people like it so much they make music out of it! Definitions like this remind me of early DSM definitions of homosexuality as a psychological disorder. Over 40 years after Stonewall, the Psychology world has since corrected their initial mistake. Almost 60 years after Cage’s 4’33″, at least some musicologists like Dr. Wright are still working things out.

[Dr. Craig M. Wright] is the author of numerous scholarly books and articles on composers ranging from Leoninus to Bach. [hyperlinks added]

Whoa! All the way to Bach? That’s a little edgy for me. Can we pull it back to Lully?

Tech-wise, GoDaddy is good enough for me, and it’s relatively cheap. The other side of that is their system of upselling. They make you click through page after page of crap you don’t need when checking out. If you use them, you seriously need to be careful not to spend hundreds on crap you don’t need. That kind of bothers me. It’s not how business should work, and I resent that they try to take advantage of people who don’t know any better. They’re like the bad auto mechanics who prey on a customer’s lack of car knowledge just because they can, providing unneeded oil changes, belt replacements, filter replacements, etc. I’m no computer wiz, but I know that I don’t need an SSL certificate for this site. I’ll tell YOU what I need. Also, GoDaddy’s ads make me feel sleazy.