The first time I met PSB's Paul Barton, he mentioned that his love of music had been kindled by, among other things, his father building him a violin when he needed a better instrument in order to become a better player.

La Cieca at <I>Parterre.com</I> has posted a new podcast episode of "Unnatural Acts of Opera," wherein Elenore Steber performs at the Continental Baths in 1973. <I>The Village Voice</I>'s Arthur Bell described the performance as "an affair to rank with the coming of Christ, the death of Garland, the birth of the blues, and the freezing of spinach."

Sir John has a different take on the composer who said, "I have never understood a measure of music, but I have felt it."

<I>Seeking Alpha</I> thinks so&mdash;and points to Amazon's bestseller list to prove why.

Mark Evanier's <A HREF="http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_01_21.html#012795"><I>News From ME</I></A> points us to Wednesday's TCM broadcast of Billy Wilder's <I>The Big Carnival</I>. Why should you care? It's about as cynical a meditation on media manipulation as you're likely to see&mdash;and it is rarely shown. Paramount hated it (and its floppo status) so much that it deducted its <I>Big Carnival</I> losses from Wilder's <I>Stalag 17</I> profits.

Chris Hedges writes about writing <I>American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America</I>. He has interesting things to say about the "theology of despair" and its conclusion that cataclysmic destruction is preferable to this too flawed world.

And, if you're still feeling blue on this particularly gloomy Monday, check out <a href="http://sobremesauk.blogspot.com/2007/01/cheer-up-1960s-style.html">toda… Sobremesa entry</a>.