Well, if you're tired of being jolly, you <I>could</I> go see <I>No Country For Old Men</I>, which will counteract any amount of Whooville saccharine. John Patterson has a <A HREF="http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2230352,00.html"… time</A> with the Coen brothers.
To see the big picture, go to <A HREF="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071225.html">Astronomy Picture of the Day</A>.
John Atkinson and I spent some time today admiring <a href="http://www.myspace.com/talwilkenfeld">Tal Wilkenfeld</a>'s bass playing. Sheesh. The girl is only 21 years old. Beyond her sheer skill, which is stunning, Wilkenfeld seems to just <i>know how to play</i>. I first caught her on PBS one night while flipping through channels. It was Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, and she was performing with Jeff Beck. I was surprised to see such a young musician on stage with one of rock's living legends, but I soon discovered that Wilkenfeld was right where she belonged. Seems she <i>always</i> knew. Story goes that Wilkenfeld dropped out of her Sydney, Australia high school when she was only 16. Packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles to become a musician. She's only been playing bass for five years.
The Beeb censored Shane MacGowan's "Fairytale of New York" for its use of a slur.
Sam Leith <A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=2CF13YVN1JHF5Q…; that Auntie mistook a slur for a swear-word—an unforgivable sin in the maidenly world of journalism.
If you're tired of talking to your relatives during this festive season, may I suggest you watch <A HREF="http://www.stardustmovie.com/"><I>Stardust</I></A> together? It came out on DVD last week and <I>The Wire</I> doesn't resume broadcast until January 6. Best of all—almost nobody in your family has seen it—unless I've hectored them into seeing it.
That'll cure what ails ya! Angela Hartnett says <A HREF="http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2231196,00.html">real comfort food</A> is the way to recharge that candle you've been burning at both ends.
Confused about widescreen aspect ratios? I certainly am.<A HREF="http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/lobby.htm">Widescreen Museum</A> sets us straight.
Say what you will about the general state of the music business, good music still pops up from time to time. What was your favorite <I>new</I> release of 2007. No reissues allowed.
In nearly 25 years, it's been rare that I've reviewed an exciting breakthrough product. The Audioengine 2 is such a product—not because it performs at an extraordinary level (though it does), and not because it's such an incredible value for money (though it is), but because it creates a new market, a new application for high-end audio, and a chance for audiophiles to enjoy music in ways they may have never considered before.
Boulder Amplifiers, named after the Colorado town where the company has resided since its founding 23 years ago, makes some of the most elegant-looking solid-state amps around. Chassis are anodized, aircraft-grade aluminum with rounded edges, machined and finished in-house. The two models reviewed here, the 810 line preamplifier and the 860 power amplifier, each have a sleek, compact build—stacked atop each other, the two stand just over a foot high—owing to extremely efficient packing of the circuitry inside. These are the company's "entry-level" electronics, but there's nothing cheap about them—the preamp retails for $6900, the amp for $8500—and for all their economical size, they <I>look</I> like luxury goods as well.