Just heard it was four and a half years after John Cage got the idea before he actually had it down on paper. My wife reckoned he was probably having trouble getting a grant.
Last Edited by on Aug 25, 2012 2:41 PM
John Cage was apparently an expert on mushrooms. He lived in Rockland County, NY, where I'm from. My mother recently told me a story. Apparently she called his home one day, out of the blue, without invitation, and asked to speak with him. She told him that she'd heard he was an authority on mushrooms. She said that she'd found an unusual mushroom in the woods near our house, and she described it to him.
"Oh," he answered, "that's a ............," and he named it. "It's safe to eat," he said--or so she told me.
"Mom!" I shouted. "You didn't eat a mushroom based on THAT, did you?"
Yes, she did.
John Cage: abstract musician and death-dealing mushroom expert.
edited to add: of course, when you google "john cage mushrooms," all sorts of stuff comes up.
http://www.mundusloci.org/fungus/culture/cage2.htm
Last Edited by on Aug 25, 2012 8:33 PM
What key is that four minutes and 33 seconds in? I was lucky enough to meet John Cage at a reception at UCSD when the University held a conference on his work. He was an ethereal presence, but he had very real genius and he was not a phony. ---------- Ted Burke http://youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu ted-burke.com
fair call fellas, my ill informed opinion (which I must apologise for expressing as it clearly violates forum creed) was based on a quick google search on 4/33.
It seemed to me that anyone who would seriously write and perform (and I assume charge money for) a piece of music which was a defined period of silence, either took himself way too seriously or was having a lend.
I am familiar with zen, but think that for it to be truly zen it would only have been done once, spontaneously, not repeatedly in front of many audiences.
its an interesting idea, but no more interesting or clever in my opinion as some of the bullshit that my mates and I talk about after a few cold (and hot) ones. ---------- Lucky Lester