Gaiman on Moore
On his website, Neil Gaiman pulls off the difficult accomplishment of making me want to read Alan Moore's <I>Lost Girls</I> in a longer version of an essay published in <I>Publisher's Weekly</I>.
LATEST ADDITIONS
Continue Reading »
Inviting Us Into the Forbidden City
IBM has announced a "philantropic cultural heritage initiative" that will allow folks to virtually tour the 800-building Forbidden City complex using immersive cell-chip technology developed for gaming.
Great Chess
<I>Mark Lowery's Exciting World of Chess</I> reproduces two of the immortal chess games of all time: the 1851 "Immortal Game" between Anderssen and Kieseritzky and the 1852 Anerssen-Dufresne "Evergreen" game. The best part, if you struggle with chess notation, Lowery has animated the games so you can watch them unfold—at your speed.
In Simple Black and White
Some things have led us to consider what we want — exactly, more or less, I suppose — from music. Feel free to substitute "the band," or "art," or even "life," for music. That is:
The Download Waltz
I had a nice chat recently with Mark Berry, publicist for classical music’s Naxos label. Naxos, for those unfamiliar, is a label with one hell of a back story.
Industry Update
<B>Hansen Audio:</B> Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer Hansen Audio, best known for "high-end luxury lifestyle speakers," has named Wes Bender senior director of US sales and marketing.
The Next Big Thing?
When I <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/051506nht/">visited</A> NHT's manufacturing facility in early May, I was struck by a comment managing director Chris Byrne made when describing NHT's <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1105nht/">Xd loudspeaker</A>, which employs sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) for its crossovers and equalization functions. "You do realize that we could have never incorporated such complex slopes in a physical crossover," Byrne proselytized.
Telarc Scores Big
Classical music in general, and audiophile label Telarc in particular, scored big in this year's annual Outmusic Awards. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici, whose music has recently found an ardent champion in conductor Robert Spano, won Outstanding New Recording: Instrumental for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Telarc recording of <I>Paul Revere's Ride</I>. Telarc veteran and Grammy Award-winning producer Thomas C. Moore, who assisted in the recording, received the Outstanding Producer award. In addition, soprano Melissa Fogarty received Outstanding New Recording: Debut Female for <I>Handel: Scorned & Betrayed</I> (Albany Records).
She Comes In Colors Everywhere
<I>Locust St.</I> finds the hidden links between color and music, Newton and Aristotle, and the Rolling Stones and Dolly Parton.
Intergalactic Self-Defense Mechanisms
That's ray guns to you and me—and Lockwasher has assembled a beautiful bevy of 'em. I love the spray-gun/toilet float-ball jobbie and just may be inspired to create a few of my own—depending, as Lockwasher says, on what kind of stuff I find.