I almost crashed the car

This is so for more than the general reason.

On NPR this afternoon, I heard that some so-called art collector just paid over $25,000 for three paintings done by a trained monkey. The commentator made, of course, the obligatory comparison to Pollock and Kandinsky (perpetuating further misconception about the meaning of the convergence of the abstract and expressionist painting genres and its meaning in the context of human history ["Ignorance is Strength" the new motto of the Art & Culture beat reporters at NPR!]) but the looney collector? He has the audacity to say that the painting primate is evocative of early Hokusai. By early, I assume he was referring to that early lost "pooping in the diaper" period of one of the most versatile and prolific painters ever (the Japanese guy, not the chimp).

Surely there was no better use for that money than to celebrate the triumph of the human artistic spirit thusly. Oh wait... I forgot we are talking about a freakin' monkey.