(1) For reasons I haven't quite articulated (and probably won't bother to try; I would guess something to do with the hypocrisy of it itself being incredibly pandering/cliched and its sneering highmindedness that sounds dangerously like envy; it also feels presumptuous somehow), this article* is almost as irritating as its target. I liked this, however:

The public often has unfairly romantic expectations of artists. We expect them to create for the sake of creating, to make art for art’s sake. We like them to live out clichés we would never essay ourselves, and if any of them dare to make money in the process, we turn around and accuse them of “selling out.”

Though I don't think they're artistic masterpieces, I have at times not minded the head bop inducing Where is the Love? and Let's Get it Started, esp for working out. However, most of the rest (especially "I gotta feeling") does make me want to "claw my face off" or punch things.

*ETA fixed link.

(2) Attempting to thwart perfect's attempt to thwart good.