Shoes Optional
Mark Levinson has thick, black eyebrows and big, beautiful hands which flutter with energy and something more.
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Why Do Birds Sing Together?
Turns out the theories about this have changed over time. This fascinating article reminds me of the great Simon Frith essay, "Why Do Songs Have Words?" Frith posited that pop song lyrics teach the young men of our decidedly unpoetic era the language of courtship.
Do iPod Users Really Think Different?
A Nielsen/Netratings survey suggests they might. <I>Favorite alcoholic beveridge?</I> Hard cider. <I>Favorite car?</I> VW. <I>Favorite TV network?</I> Cartoon Network, followed by BBC America and HBO.
100 Best First Lines
One of my favorites was left out. From Anthony Burgess' <I>Earthly Powers</I>: "It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me."
Saying No to Wal-Mart
When Jim Wier told Wal-Mart he wanted them to stop selling his lawnmowers, was he being a good businessman or was he "the dumbest CEO ever to live"?
Birthday Song
What song was top o' the charts when you were born? (Or, if you're older than the pop charts like me, on your 18th birthday?)
The Curious Incident of the Book Club in Texas
One of the best reads I've had in the last few years was Mark Haddon's <I>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time</I>, a story written in the first-person voice of Christopher Boone, an autistic 15-year-old.
Law and Order and Depth and Stuff
I forgot to mention something else that the Musical Fidelity pieces seem to add to my system's performance: <i>depth</i>.
Amusia
To some people, music doesn't make any sense. There's a name for that: amusia. Auntie Beeb 'splains it to us.
Words Words Words
Jeremy Clarkson gives good rant on over-used words that really ought to be considered offensive.