A demonstration of the art of manualism. The well known winter holiday tune "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson is played simply by squeezing air through the hands.<P ALIGN=CENTER><embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video…; allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" quality="best" bgcolor="#ffffff" scale="noScale" wmode="window" salign="TL" FlashVars="playerMode=embedded"> </embed>

I've come to the conclusion that birthdays really aren't a whole lotta fun. I mean what's to like? You're another year older, fatter, dumber; in short, whatever detriment is plaguing you at the time is magnified by yet another a&#0241o.

Innocent children, scary music, a sense of overwhelming dread . . . and a sky full of reanimated zombies descending from balloons. What more could you ask of cinema?<P ALIGN=CENTER><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cQ-kM3TBKc"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cQ-kM3TBKc&quot; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

People like Samir Husni are teaching it in J-school (U Mississippi): "[<I>Rolling Stone</I>] is one of the few magazines that stayed true to its original mission and audience from the beginning. Wenner was able to maintain the original flavor and keep the passengers on board while bringing in new ones. RS is unique. There is nothing like it on the same scale." Except for all of those other magazines with unclad celebrities on the cover.

Over in <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/musicroom/">the Music Room</a>, I posted <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/musicroom/facethemusic/050206war/">some additional thoughts</a> on Neil Young's blaring and beautiful <i>Living With War</i>.

Kal Rubinson passes this link along. I don't hold out much hope, but it couldn't hurt to remind folks that some of us buy these things.

<i>In offices on opposite coasts, we listened to Neil Young's powerful message, <i>Living With War</i>. While Jon Iverson composed <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/musicroom/facethemusic/042906young/">his review</a>, I came up with this</i>.

Not that I indulge, but I find this article in <I>The Economist</I> on cannabis fascinating&mdash;and depressing. Despite our FDA's recent findings that cannabis has no medical value when smoked (a charge motivated more by our "War on Some Drugs" than the facts, it seems), researchers are increasingly finding more ways in which it may be beneficial.

I don't completely agree, but it's a good list.