Hi, Don. Your Horiuchi mural reminds me of how rocks look under a petrographic microscope. Here's how they look:

rock images

(They are beautiful.)

Back to applause: I like to go to ragtime concerts, and there is a handful of people who applaud in the middle of the pieces if they suspect some improvisation went on. I wish they wouldn't because I want to hear all the music. I'm pretty sure the musicians can stand to wait for applause at the end of the piece.

Whether it's at the ballet or a jazz event or anything, I am against applause in the middle of a performance.