Wow.. ... "square?" Because I'm not a fan of computer-generated patterns over which people too lazy to learn to play an instrument or sing actual pitches recite rhymes that, more often than not, are laced with vulgarities?

I play all types of music professionally. "Home base" for me is the music of Miles, 'Trane, Bird, Bill Evans.. those are the cats that hit me where it counts, and that's the style of music that I play when the choice is solely mine. However, I've found great joy in playing and listening to music by Santana, Clapton, Gino Vanelli (do NOT laugh.. he's much more than "I Just Wanna Stop"), Zappa, John McLaughlin, Pat Methany, Michael Franks, Sting, EWF, James Brown... I could go on forever. That's my life as a jazz pianist/keyboardist. I also play violin professionally, and have an equal love for orchestral and chamber music.

Sooo.. if that makes me a square, that's fine. Heck, call me a cube. What do I care. I occasionally get into friendly yet heated arguments re/ my distaste for music that has very little thought put into it, at least in terms of the the melodic and harmonic elements. The crux of the arguments against me are similar to yours; "Who am I to tell you if it's good or not?" As I tried to say in my first post, I'm not telling you what you should or shouldn't like.. that's entirely your choice.. it's a free country (or at least, has been.. let's hope we can find a way to keep it that way). As a trained AND conscientiously self-taught musician who's been involved in the art for 46 years and played professionally for 36 of those years, my opinion of what is "good music" and what isn't has more validity than the opinion of one who has not lived as a musician 24/7 for a huge amount of time. Is not a well-respected chefs opinion and palate much more discerning and respected than someone who is only familiar with food found at McDonald's? I'm not saying McDonald's doesn't have a place in society.. heck, who doesn't enjoy a junk food junket once in a while... I'm saying that it is not representative of artistic food preparation. Same thing with music.

Again, as I stated earlier, I am NOT telling anyone what they should and shouldn't listen to. I'm telling you why I personally disliked the rap link and why I can't listen to most of today's "music." Seriously... go back 20 years. How many songs from the 80s and before glorified killing cops, raping women, and drug use? How many contained foul language? Sure, there were some as we started our downward spiral.. but nowhere near what our young folks are subjected to today. We're so numb as a society that we have to push the envelope of propriety further and further in order to feel ANYTHING. It's really sad. Yes, I'm a teacher, too. A Conservative, Republican jazz musician and public school teacher. Do you have ANY idea how lonely I am? ....

BTW, Clapton's great .... thanks for the link, previous poster.. dug it. I was fortunate enough to work with a simply world class guitarist in the Central New York area for years who could channel Clapton, Zappa, Methany.. the guy's incredible.

Now... to bring all this back to Volvo's... are not 240's pretty much the squarest cars ever built? Why would anyone be surprised that there were some "squares" here on the board?!?!? I love the 240s, and I've owned a Datsun B210, Oldsmobile Delta 88, Ford Econoline E150 van, two Fiat Spiders, Nissan Stanza, Dodge Colt, Mitsubishi Colt Vista, Toyota Celica, Ford Aerostar, Audi 80, BMW 325i, Mercedes 560SL, Range Rover County LWB, Mercedes M430, '82 VW Rabbit, and two Volvo 240s so far. Over those many cars I've usually done all the routine maintenance personally, and am getting more and more confident doing a lot of the repair work too. I LOVE the 240s ... relatively simple cars that are completely unpretentious, strong as an ox, easy to deal with, very dependable, safe, and make no apologies to anyone for being what they are. If that's square, then DEFINITELY count me in.

Best to all...

Barry