LATEST ADDITIONS

Ed Hitchcock writes: "As both a paleontologist and home brewer, I could not help but be attracted by the media coverage of the reproduction of an ancient Sumarian beer. The beer, called Ninkasi after the Sumarian goddess of beer, was produced by the Anchor Brewing Company (San Francisco, California), based on a hymn inscribed on a clay tablet (1). Dr. Solomon Katz of the University of Pennsylvania and Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing worked to decipher the brewing clues contained within the hymn to reproduce the beverage so revered by the ancient Sumarians."

I'll soon be heading off to the Second Annual International Head-Fi Meet in San Jose on April 21 and 22. I went to the NY Meet <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/042406heaven/">last year</A> and I had a ball. This year's event is going to be bigger and, I'm betting, better.

As I transfer from the R line to the west side IRT, I'm frequently frustrated or surprised by the size of the crowds attending to subway musicians. What I almost never am is impressed by the performances. But that would be different, surely, if, say, an internationally known musician was playing on his Gibson ex Huberman Strad&mdash;wouldn't it? A performance like that would be guaranteed to have music lovers swooning with pleasure.

Via wonkosane.
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An owner of an audiophile record label recently asked us how much we figured audiophiles spent on music purchases each year. We reckoned it would be smart to simply ask you directly. How much money do you spend on recorded music each year?

Just after I agreed to review the Accuphase M-2000 monoblocks, importer Arturo Manzano began urging me to take the Accuphase PS-1200 Clean Power Supply as well.

<I>"I've got the world on a string, sitting on the rainbow<BR>Got the string around my finger, what a life, Mama, I'm in love.<BR>Life's a beautiful thing, as long as I hold the string<BR>I'd be a silly so-and-so if I should ever let you go."</I>&mdash;Ted Koehler