# The urinator of light strikes again. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 15, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889 "2006-05-15T20:48:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/1 "2006-05-15T20:48:22Z")
Our favorite freak, Thomas [“The Urinator”](http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix/66749.htm) Kinkade strikes again. > **[New homes to be modeled on Thomas Kinkade art](https://tdn.com/business/local/new-homes-to-be-modeled-on-thomas-kinkade-art/article_4d712a0e-49d8-5699-bf77-480c1355a9fb.html)** > > COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Fans of Thomas Kinkade's sentimental paintings soon will be able to do more than hang them on the wall. They could hang them on the wall > [@](#): > > COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Fans of Thomas Kinkade’s sentimental paintings soon will be able to do more than hang them on the wall. They could hang them on the wall of a house designed to look exactly like one of Kinkade’s paintings. > > The California artist, beloved by middlebrow America but reviled by the art establishment, has signed a deal with developers in this resort city to help design five lake-view homes that are copies of homes in paintings such as “Beyond Autumn Gate.” I did take solace in last night’s Law & Order: CI, though. As I mentioned in a CS thread, the episode featured a “bad guy” by the name of “Wallace Kanter” whose “art” had more than a passing similarity to the schlockmeister. The actor even had a passing resemblance to Kinkade. All throughout the episode, various characters were slamming the “art” of Kanter…very delicious. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/2 "2006-05-15T20:54:36Z")
So people want to buy houses that look like houses painted buy some guy you don’t like. I know its all the rage to hate Kincade, but I prefer to heap scorn on people who use terms like "middlebrow ". Art is in the eye of the beholder dude. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/3 "2006-05-15T21:02:42Z")
> [@beagledave](#): > > [New homes to be modeled on Thomas Kinkade art](http://www.tdn.com/articles/2006/05/14/area_news/news01.txt) No relation to me, BTW. But eww. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/4 "2006-05-15T21:04:26Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > So people want to buy houses that look like houses painted buy some guy you don’t like. I know its all the rage to hate Kincade, but I prefer to heap scorn on people who use terms like "middlebrow ". > > Art is in the eye of the beholder dude. 😃 I love this comical notion that all aesthetic judgments are completely subjective and unjustifiable. Just like Britney Spears is every bit the equal of John Coltrane, right? That fantasy is the refuge of those who don’t have any taste, so they can pretend that no one does. Though since when is Kinkade “middlebrow”? I’d put him in lowbrow, just above the nobrow delights of paintings of Elvis on velvet. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/5 "2006-05-15T21:04:51Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Art is in the eye of the beholder dude. Yeah, but in the case of these particular beholder dudes, you have to wonder if something is wrong with their eye. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/6 "2006-05-15T21:15:49Z")
If its any help, I have very little taste in quality art. And yet, I knew immediatly that the OP was ranting at Kinkade when I read “urinator of light”. I think that, in this case, art is in the eye of the beholder unless you are a fictional beholder who happend to be in a kincaid drawn dwelling. If that is the case, you would be vaporized by the intense light. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/7 "2006-05-15T21:23:38Z")
> [@](#): > > just above the nobrow delights of paintings of Elvis on velvet. …which, of course, in the right context, can be extremely highbrow. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/8 "2006-05-15T21:25:25Z")
\*Fans of Thomas Kinkade’s sentimental paintings soon will be able to do more than hang them on the wall. They could hang them on the wall of a house designed to look exactly like one of Kinkade’s paintings. The California artist, beloved by middlebrow America but reviled by the art establishment, has signed a deal with developers in this resort city to help design five lake-view homes that are copies of homes in paintings such as “Beyond Autumn Gate.”\* A developer in our area tried to market dwellings based on those featured in the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Sales were disappointing. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/9 "2006-05-15T21:26:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Just like Britney Spears is every bit the equal of John Coltrane, right? Gah! Just like Pauly Shore’s in the same class as Johnny Depp. Thou art vile, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/10 "2006-05-15T21:28:04Z")
Now [this](http://www.ar.wroc.pl/~zimny/bosch/ogrod.jpg) is what I call a planned community. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/11 "2006-05-15T21:29:06Z")
I have to wonder what they build the houses out of so that they don’t catch fire from the flares going off in every room. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/12 "2006-05-15T22:10:41Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > 😃 > > I love this comical notion that all aesthetic judgments are completely subjective and unjustifiable. And I just love this comical notion that aesthetic judgements are completely objective and justifiable. That someone could assert that Coltrane is objectively better that Thelonious Monk, or the Beatles are objectively better than the Stones or that some pretencious assholes would slip in a comparison of Britney Spears to John coltrane and think they have made some kind of point. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/13 "2006-05-15T22:15:42Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > 😃 > > I love this comical notion that all aesthetic judgments are completely subjective and unjustifiable. And I just love this comical notion that aesthetic judgements are completely objective and justifiable. That someone could assert that Coltrane is objectively better that Thelonious Monk, or the Beatles are objectively better than the Stones or that some pretencious assholes would slip in a comparison of Britney Spears to John coltrane and think they have made some kind of point. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/14 "2006-05-15T22:37:37Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Though since when is Kinkade “middlebrow”? I’d put him in lowbrow, just above the nobrow delights of paintings of Elvis on velvet. I thought those were actually classed as “unibrow.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/15 "2006-05-15T22:54:50Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > A developer in our area tried to market dwellings based on those featured in the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. > > Sales were disappointing. 🙂 Hey, at least he didn’t draw inspiration from M. C. Escher. “Every time I go upstairs in this damn house I end up in the basement!” > [@askeptic](#): > > And I just love this comical notion that aesthetic judgements are completely objective and justifiable. Who said they were? I think the point is that there’s sort of a **spectrum** of aesthetic judgements, from the hotly-disputed to the near-consensus. Sometimes they’re completely subjective (is Picasso a better artist than Monet? Who knows? What do you mean by “better”?). Sometimes, on the other hand, they involve such huge differences of technical skill, or originality, or innovation, or some other identifiable feature that they get pretty close to objectively true. (Is Picasso a better artist than I am? Yes.) ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/16 "2006-05-15T23:06:25Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > And I just love this comical notion that aesthetic judgements are completely objective and justifiable. That someone could assert that Coltrane is objectively better that Thelonious Monk, or the Beatles are objectively better than the Stones or that some pretencious assholes would slip in a comparison of Britney Spears to John coltrane and think they have made some kind of point. Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, me thinks someone has a Thomas Kinkaaaaaaaaaaaade print in his hooooooooooouse. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/17 "2006-05-15T23:25:34Z")
> [@Diane](#): > > Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, me thinks someone has a Thomas Kinkaaaaaaaaaaaade print in his hooooooooooouse. And no doubt is a big fan of Britney too. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/18 "2006-05-15T23:27:12Z")
> [@Diane](#): > > Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, me thinks someone has a Thomas Kinkaaaaaaaaaaaade print in his hooooooooooouse. Methinks you are a dumb ass. I can’t stand the fuckers work. But I also get tired of the OMFG Kincade is so bad, can you believe those idiots like him. Aren’t we cool for not liking him? I don’t like it. I don’t buy it. But I am not going to make fun of people who do, or worse look down on them for it. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/19 "2006-05-15T23:34:01Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > But I am not going to make fun of people who do, or worse look down on them for it. You have never EVER made fun of someone’s taste in music/art/books/movies/food choices? You’re a far superior being than us mere mortals. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889/20 "2006-05-15T23:34:32Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > I don’t like it. I don’t buy it. And if I’m sick of people making fun of a certain thing, I don’t open threads about it. :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-urinator-of-light-strikes-again/356889.md?page=2)