I'll pass this thought on I got from my cousin last night at a family get-together. He was at a St. Patricks day party where there were some musicians playing and trying to get the crowd involved. One of them eventually said (paraphrasing): You Americans have it all wrong. Once you have enough to eat and a place to stay, instead of going out and getting more, you should spend the rest of your time making music.

As a scoutmaster, I find myself being really irritated when the scouts want to bring along radios and CDs on campouts. If a person can't even entertain themselves for a night with their own singing (or skits or jokes even), how interesting a person can they be?

Not that recordings don't have a place - they are great for hearing new songs and also for drowning out the loud discussions from the next cubie over so I can get some work done when I'm not on Mudcat.