I just did some John Cage research, and was delighted at how easy it was to find answers to the questions about him above!
At this link I found some wonderful Cage quotes, including this one which explains why he wrote a piece that takes 639 years to play:
"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all." --John Cage.
And why did he write music which left lovers of aesthetic beauty like myself cold (like the famous 4'33" of silent notes)?
"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason." --John Cage.
"Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?" --John Cage
Was he interested in numerology or metaphysics? YES!! Seems he really DID like those 3's and multiples of 3's, and used the mechanisms of the I Ching to inspire his art:
"It was at Harvard not quite forty years ago that I went into an anechoic [totally silent] chamber not expecting in that silent room to hear two sounds: one high, my nervous system in operation, one low, my blood in circulation. The reason I did not expect to hear those two sounds was that they were set into vibration without any intention on my part. That experience gave my life direction, the exploration of nonintention. No one else was doing that. I would do it for us. I did not know immediately what I was doing, nor, after all these years, have I found out much. I compose music. Yes, but how? I gave up making choices. In their place I put the asking of questions. The answers come from the mechanism, not the wisdom of the I Ching, the most ancient of all books: tossing three coins six times yielding numbers between 1 and 64." --John Cage, 1990
And at this link, I found some most interesting John Cage paintings and poetry, including one which proves that although he was into mushrooms, he was not into 'getting high'. He liked smoking though, (although probably NOT from a hookah)!
"Life is changing. One of the ways I'm trying to change mine is to get rid of my desires so I won't be deaf and dumb and blind to the world around me. When I mention my interest in mushrooms, most people immediately ask whether I've had any visions. I have to tell them that I'm very old-fashioned, practically puritanical, that all I do is smoke like a furnace -- now with two filters and a coupon in every pack -- and that I drink coffee morning, noon, and night. I would also drink alcohol but I made the mistake of going to a doctor who doesn't permit it. The visions I hear about don't interest me."
Sheesh, Cage must've brought out the artist in me for the first time in my life! Look at all those pretty colours!
There's LOTS more interesting 'Cage-isms' and 'Cageology' at these sites, including a listing of upcoming Cage concerts worldwide (but none near me, *sniff sniff*). So enjoy, all you Cage-lovers!