There are days when NPR seems to function as nothing more than the public relations arm of the Democratic National Committee, but even on those days commercial radio is still a soul-sucking wasteland of crudity and vapidity. And I am not always in a humor to listen to the tapes I keep in Lumi. I have a long-standing aversion to silence; so, whatever am I to do? I find succor from the least likely of sources, East Lansing, a blighted burg usually lambasted here at The Secret Base by the not even slightly affectionate nickname "Evil Lansing." WKAR 90.5 FM, based on the Michigan State campus, is an NPR station, but with the exception of Morning Edition and All Things Considered their broadcast day is given over to that which used to be the bedrock of most of the nation's NPR stations, classical music.

Last week, I heard something curious on WKAR, a reference to this academic year (2007-08) being the "Year of Arts and Culture" at Michigan State University. My first reaction was nostalgia at being reminded of the "Year of the Humanities and Arts" (YoHA) held at the University of Michigan during my freshman year (1997-98, a convenient decade ago). My second reaction was confusion. This is not just my usual vociferous MSU-bashing, but does anyone else find this, shall we say, peculiar? A Year of Arts and Culture... at an institution that proudly boasts the Spartans as a mascot? The ancient Spartans of the Peloponnese, those implacable Dorian soldier-fanatics, were fierce critics of the very concept of art and, as it is meant in this context, culture, disdaining both as the decadent values of their hated rivals, the Athenians. And it is from these people that the faculty, staff, and students of Michigan State University are supposed to draw inspiration. Does this not seem quite at odds with the notion of a Year of Arts and Culture?

And now back to our regularly scheduled vociferous MSU-bashing: leave it to the Spartans to achieve through daftness such a refined degree of irony.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "I Want My City Back" from A Jackknife to a Swan (T.L.A.M.)

The Shade of Things to Come
Wednesday: Nemo me impune lacessit.