Ah, Watcher my sweet – you disappoint me.
Perhaps this will help: when it comes to tenors, Pavarotti, Bocelli, and Carreras all have followers, but Placido Domingo is left out in the cold.
I honestly can’t see how I could possibly be any clearer than that. 
b]Twickster** that was abundantly clear.
No link Watcher. If you want to spoil the fun and go looking for the trick be my guest but if you want to enjoy the puzzle here’s another hint because you see, Beethoven is well regarded in the Valley even though Mozart and Bach have not even been heard of.
And when it comes to architecture Saarinen is without peer. I. M. Pei’s work has never been seen.
I’d like to think that by reading all the posts so far, the game would reveal itself, but I’m stuck at the point of guessing that it must be something greater than just contradictory statements. Unfortunately, my mind is way too shot by this point in the day to see any deeper below the surface. I’ll check back tomorrow. And no, I’ll not look elsewhere for the solution. Don’t vote me off yet. Cheers.
It would appear that although this valley has no road maps, it does have a number of people who seem to know where they are going.
No, no road maps at all. Gazateers, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen.
Of course, to further the confusion one needs to mention that it impossible for anything to be a “dime a dozen” since neither dimes nor dozens exist in the valley.
From what I hear though (since I cannot go there myself) you can get a gross of many things for a dollar.
You should be more specific about that cheese, Meros. There’s lots of cheddar, mozzarella, and swiss - heck, there’s even Velveeta. But no brie, or American, or colby jack. And clarify the pizza bit, too: Yes, you can have pepperoni and mushrooms. You’ll also find peppers - and even pineapple! - on the menu. But there’s no sausage, or olives, or ham.
Oh yes, and there’s lots of communication, but no telephones, televisions, or computers.
There’s lots of beginnings, but no endings.
Finally…even without any love, you’ll find that there’s a lot of happiness and fulfillment.
Interestingly enough there is happiness and sadness, but no joy or grief.
lovelyluka, I was trying to forget about the lack of brie 
[sub]guess it’s a good thing I’m not allowed in since I can’t live without the stuff[/sub]
Of course Saarinen is popular - the valley is abundant with Finns.
I couldn’t live without carrots and beer, are carrots and beer plentiful in this valley?
You’re in luck, donkeyoatey, carrots and beer are in fact plentiful – though no ale, and no parsnips.
For those who prefer rock ‘n’ roll (which would be the non-jazz fans, since opera, alas, isn’t a musical genre in the valley), you’ve got the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, Traffic and the Monkees (!), but no Beatles, no Cream, no Beach Boys.
(BTW, Watcher, “cheers” is a valley-approved leavetaking, as is “Goodbye,” but neither “ciao” nor “au revoir” will do.)
I asked for a cup of tea in the valley but they had neither cups nor tea.
Fortunately, I was offered a kettle and some darjeeling. So I made it myself and drank it from a glass. No milk. No sugar. A little sweetener.
(Is this it?)
JRR Tolkien is well regarded, and e.e. cummings doubly so,
but T. S. Eliot? J. D. Salinger? W. B. Yeats? Puh-lease!!!
Oddly enough though, while the Hobbit and the Silmarillion are immensely popular, no one has ever heard of the Lord of the Rings!!! And while Gollum indeed hates Bagginses, he actually never met Bilbo!!!
Very resourceful, Calladair (and unlike myself, you can report from inside the valley). I’ve heard they usually just offer coffee, but darjeeling would obviously be available as well.
Luckily, I’m a Dr Pepper drinker, since neither Coke nor Pepsi (nor Sprite nor Mountain Dew) is available in the valley.
No one has sex, but they do a lot of shagging?
well, there’s no dating, but marriage is allowed.
Oh, and the bathrooms have no tubs, toilets, or sinks.
You can have a quarrel, but not an arguement.
Reality TV isn’t that popular, though the hook-up shows are – “Joe Millionaire,” “Married by America,” and “For Better or Worse” (or is it “For Richer or Poorer”? whatever) were all big hits, though “The Bachelor” never caught on. (Alas, Aaron would have been a big hit.)
Speaking of TV – Mary Ann, not Ginger, and, for that matter, Betty, not Veronica. (Thought I think it’s more about the girl-next-door thing rather than the wholesome thing.)
Guitarists? Glad you asked – BB King and Jeff Beck are both big, but neither Clapton nor Mark Knopfler. Jimmy Page yes, Jimi Hendrix no.
(It takes about a half an hour to drive to work, why do you ask? ;))