LATEST ADDITIONS

In this month's "Letters," Donald Bisbee raises the subject of the government's proposed reduction in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), I agree with Mr. Bisbee that commercial radio broadcasting in the US is an intellectual desert. Music is narrowcast, with listeners' tastes bound into predigested categories. There is no depth or analysis to radio news programs, other than discussions by populist commentators who, no matter what you may think of their politics, usurp the ability of their audiences to think for themselves. As a regular listener to NPR and watcher of PBS, I feel that public broadcasting is an essential factor in American public discourse (footnote 1), but not for the reasons some might think.

Clover Stroud's new 36DD's take her for a spin. Not surprisingly, she busted guys ogling her chest, but she also got the cold, um, shoulder from women—at least, that was Clover's take on the subject.

We're doomed!

High-resolution audio has gone quiet in recent months. Or has it? What do you think has happened to SACD and DVD-Audio?

In common with the mood of our times, there seems to be an increasing amount of bad temper in the High End. There are more people around who, in Jonathan Scull's timeless phrase, have a "level of audiophile rage very close to the surface." Witness, for example, the "cancel my subscription" letter from Professor Daniel H. Wiegand in this issue: he obviously feels a line has been crossed.

Did chocolate lead to beer?

Well, James Wilson did—between drinks. "The next morning, still reeling from horse [meat] and champagne, it was time for the hunt."