It always surprises me how you can find a beautiful thing you once passed by. A few weeks back on “Nip/Tuck” they played a song that sounded faintly familiar. Then I remembered hearing it in my childhood. It is called “Vincent (Starry Starry Nights). There is something haunting about the melody. In a way it perfectly captures the artist the tune was written about.

Van Gogh is a tragic character just like Cobain, Hemingway and just about every creative person in history. Artist's lives are splattered with unrequited loves and servitude to a chorus of addictions and short comings. It seems art itself can only be extracted from pain and suffering. It takes something as foul as an oyster to produce a pearl.

Sadly our culture has become fascinated with the one-hit wonder with the best smiles and cutest abs. It makes me wonder if a Janis Joplin or a Vincent Van Gogh would even be given the chance to develop in a world full of flash in the pan. In 50 years, what will we remember this generation for? Reality TV stardom can only get you so far.