Michael at 2 Blowhards has a great idea: great stuff you don't get.

Here's my list:

Wagner
War and Peace
Mahler
Henry James
Henry Adams
Leaves of Grass
John Rawls
Emily Dickinson
Jane Austen
Hegel
Sartre
Rush (the band, not the Limbaugh)
Charles Dickens

Not complete, not exhaustive. More to come, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, I'd like to propose some related lists: pop stuff that IS great, and stuff that people think is great but is in fact NOT.

Holy smokes! I'm not that damn weird!

Apparently, Tim Sandefur is trying to eliminate his readership by arguing with me about Britney Spears. Tim takes me to task for my criticisms of Spears's singing and dancing, while ignoring my comment on his rather apt analogy of Spears to Marilyn Monroe.

I never thought I would have to defend my libertarianness (particularly given my 82/100 score on the von Mises Institute Orthodoxy Quiz [Extended Edition]), but for the record, I like money, self-promotion, the creation of wealth, etc. I have no problem with Spears making money because of her tits or the rest of her amazingly hot body. I also have no problem with people responding negatively to what is essentially emotional pornography, a sort of Mandingo for star-watchers. It's not like Britney wasn't using the viewing audience as much as they were using her.

As for (sic) on realise, you got me good on that one. I shall now administer my ritualistic forty sips of Maker's Mark as punishment.

To recap: Britney Spears is hot. She's an average singer, and the school of dancing that she belongs to sucks. She also has lots more money than most people because she's good looking. Her critics are too busy criticizing her for how she lives her life rather than her musical shortcomings, which are vast. Shame on the critics.

In defense of Schadenfreude:

Tim Sandefur urges sympathy for Britney; I don't give a damn. The merciless hatred that Britney Spears inspires is to me more a signal of how pathetic her critics are. Her vapid brand of so-called "pop" music is an affront to humanity; her ridiculous "dancing" is essentially aerobic exercises laced with fornicatory gestures; and her voice is not particularly fine, and certainly less vibrant than Christina Aguilera's.

This should not prevent her from being a serious musician. Billie Holliday had little more than an octave's range, and her memory is essentially eternal. Britney Spears is indeed quite beautiful, but I think Sandefur is accidentally apt in comparing this spate of vitriol to the abuse Marilyn Monroe faced her entire career: after all, who remembers Monroe's singing career?

Answer: nearly nobody. All anybody knows of Monroe's singing is that she sang Happy Birthday to JFK in a famously saucy performance. Spears is likely on the edge of irrelevance, which is somewhat of a shame, since she has an enormously honed sense of self-promotion. But schadenfreude, while a surly and unattractive attribute of humanity, is perfectly understandable. I don't approve of the exploitation of Ms. Spears's tears, but then again I didn't approve of the exploitation of JFK Jr.'s death, nor the continuing exploitation of Kennedy family suffering by Ted Kennedy.

Neither Caesar nor Brutus was ever so loved until he died, Sandefur. Human nature is an ugly thing, and I do not defend it; but I suspect that part of the reason people are enjoying this misery of Britney's so much is because it brings them closer to her, and is more empathetic than you realise.

Have you taken the Austrian School Orthodoxy Exam?

I have, and I tend towards Austrianism, with a strong personal preference towards the Chicago School: I scored 82/100, with 100 being absolute Austrian certitude, and 0 being Socialist.