I've mentioned, <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/033106success/">here</a&gt; and <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/040306crimson/">there</a&gt;, the lovely and romantic collaboration between Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell, <i>Ballad of the Broken Seas</i>. I should tell you that, when I first heard this album, my face went sour and my high hopes fell far and flat. It wasn't what I expected. It struck me as being a bit odd and aloof, foggy and cold; I wanted it to be easier, gentler.

Carl van Schaik says it's the culture. They learn from one another. I sure learn from the people who read stuff I write.

I guess that depends on the era.

The story of Carl Friedrich Gauss' schoolboy triumph over a manipulative teacher is well-known, but Brian Hayes discovered a more interesting tale&mdash;and a moral.

As far as color perception goes, it's in the brain. Maybe. Probably.

Charting that "A ha!" moment.