Well, Which Are You, Mister?!? (or Miz?!?)

Slate published this little dandy some time back in connection with this art show in Texas. The author takes the lead of Friedrich Nietzsche by dividing popular art sensibilities into Apollonian and Dionysian art. As the Slate author notes, "In dividing all art into two categories, Nietzsche rendered the service of coming up with one of the great intellectual parlor games of all time. Critics love to devise variations for their fields," adding:

In American literature, Phillip Rahv devised the classic division into two categories in a famous essay titled "Paleface and Redskin." American writers were either Europeanized, literary wimps like Henry James, or celebrants of the native animalistic spirits, like Mark Twain. The Apollonian line begins with Washington Irving, the Dionysian with James Fenimore Cooper. In the Apollo-Matisse-Armani-Beatles column we find Emily Dickinson. Opposite her, in the Dionysius-Picasso-Versace-Stones column, is Walt Whitman. Nathaniel Hawthorne is a Matisse. Herman Melville is a Picasso. In the 20th century, we come to F. Scott Fitzgerald (Matisse) vs. Ernest Hemingway (Picasso) and John Updike (Matisse) vs. Norman Mailer, who wrote a biography of Picasso.

The obvious next question is, "How else can we divide ourselves into nice little categories for sport?" Slate suggests a few to ponder, but also opens the question up to we stinking masses for comment.

I'm not really interested in Slate's little reindeer games, but it's worth pondering:

Tom Wolfe or Hunter S. Thompson?

Willem De Kooning or Jackson Pollock?

The Replacements or Husker Du?

The Clash or The Sex Pistols?

Pearl Jam or Nirvana?

Keith Haring or J.C. Basquiat?

David Broder or E.J. Dionne

Paul Krugman or Maureen Dowd?

Maureen Dowd or Naomi Klein?

Noam Chomsky or Jello Biafra?

Dan Shaughnessy or Gerry Callahan?

Bill Belichick or Bill Parcells?

Mike Krzyzewski or Bobby Knight?

Condoleeza Rice or Madeline Albright? (well, not perfect, but …)

Tom Allen or Tom Andrews?

Don Zimmer or John McNamara?

Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez?

U2 or REM (not clear which is which, but …)

ARod or Jeter?

Kenny Rogers or Conway Twitty?

Tom Brady or Peyton Manning?

Stefan Edberg or Boris Becker?

Oasis or Blur or Stone Roses?

Phil Mickelson or John Daly?

Phil Ivey or Phil Hellmuth?

Axel Rose or Slash?

Izzy Straddlin' or Duff McKaggen?

Bill Nemitz or Al Diamon?

Sushi or Sashimi?

Bjorn Borg or John McEnroe?

Mimi or Nicole or Katie?

George Will or David Brooks?

JFK or LBJ?

Etc.

I think you hear me knockin' …
Feel free to pick favorites and/or suggest your own additions