The Five-Foot Shelf
David Mehegan remembers his grandfather's devotion to the <I>Harvard Classics: The Five-Foot Shelf of Books</I>. Mehegan contends that the "Five-Foot Shelf" was the lodestone for "the life of a totally successful human being."
David Mehegan remembers his grandfather's devotion to the <I>Harvard Classics: The Five-Foot Shelf of Books</I>. Mehegan contends that the "Five-Foot Shelf" was the lodestone for "the life of a totally successful human being."
Father Athanasius Kircher explains just about everything—and the pictures are gorgeous.
<A HREF="http://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/2006/12/merry_christmas_from_ahn… Gann</A> has posted Schoenberg's <I>Weihnachtsmusik</I> for our Christmas bliss. If you think Arnold never wrote a melody you'd like, take a listen to this gorgeous setting of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming."
Because nothing says Christmas like marimbas and wild bass! BTW, if the marimbas look backwards, it's because the clip was designed to be projected in one of those film jukeboxes, where they were in fact viewed from the other side.
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Christmas without Pops? Unthinkable!
The 50 greatest cartoons of all time? Could be.
Some of us remember Heathkit and Hafler build-it-yourself audio kits. Others have designed and built their own stuff from scratch, with the pride in ownership that follows. Have you ever built a piece of audio gear? What was it?
Everybody loves a bargain. No—make that: <I>Most</I> people love a bargain. Some just want the best, and they don't care about the cost. Some even distrust and reject out of hand any product that's not expensive enough. If you're one of these people, you might as well stop reading this review right now—the PrimaLuna ProLogue Three and ProLogue Seven are not for you. $1395 for a tube preamp? $2695 for a pair of 70Wpc tube monoblocks equipped with four KT88 tubes each? Must be based on old designs in the public domain using cheap parts carelessly assembled...
People love it when audio reviewers reach for that highest of all compliments: "I enjoyed the thing so much, I decided to keep it" (footnote 1). Manufacturers love it for obvious reasons. Readers love it because nuance is out of style at the moment, and the ambiguities implied by less decisive conclusions can be frustrating to adults who read with their mouths open. Publishers love it because strong, declarative statements have been scientifically proven, in double-blind reading tests, to attract subscribers.
Let me take you by the hand, and together we'll jump off an audio cliff. I promise a soft landing, though there might be some turbulence on the way down.