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Professor Plum in the Billiards Room with a Candlestick

The Sonos Digital Music System seems so meticulously thought out, with such great emphasis placed upon the needs and desires of both the casual and the maniacally obsessed music lover — convenience, simplicity, functionality, fine integration into everyday life, and pure fun — I'd have to tell you lies to come up with a strong criticism. And I'm not a liar, honey. Of course, you kinda need a house to really appreciate what Sonos has to offer, and I don't. But, if I did... Oh, if I did.

As Sonos co-founder Tom Cullen explained to us, "You pick a zone, you pick a song,…

How Songbirds Change Their Tune

Apparently, their vocal tract changes shape just like ours. Just as long as they don't take up that whole over-melisma-ed –type singing style, I think we're okay.

Smart Kids Are Different

And now we can watch how their brains change while they grow.

I Knew There Was Something Compelling About That Article

I read "Up With Grups" in New York and considered linking to it. Its argument that we aging baby boomers, walking around in "youngish" fashions and hanging on to our youthful enthusiasms, represent a new demographic (termed "grups" after the Star Trek episode) ultimately failed to convince me that it was anything more than what Alan From Victoria deemed "hard-hitting fluff."

The article manages to string together a lot of brand names, prices, band names, and behaviors, but at its center, it seems to be saying that people are more like they are now than they have ever been before (with…

Mystery Solved

Here's the answer to last week's "I Think the Universal translator Is Broken" puzzle. Except for the huh? part, that is.

Zombie Ships of West Africa

"We're in the big African Queen inflatable, cruising alongside an anchored trawler. It's more rust than metal - the ship is rotting away. The foredeck is covered in broken machinery. ...

"'Is this ship ready for fishing?' we ask. 'Yes, of course,' he looks around, gestures at the deck. He seems surprised that we would ask. We're amazed it's even floating."

Living In The Future

Careful what you say!

Light and Airy

"Guess what."
"What?"
"Chicken-butt."

Here at Stereophile, we like our humor like we like our speakers: light. We got that jewel from Elizabeth's two year-old, the fabulous Morgan Jet. A few inches shorter than a Totem Arro, it's amazing how easily one falls for her. The blue eyes do it every time.

JA dropped his weary head onto a Creek integrated amplifier and moaned: "Oh, how did I grow to be this old and still fall for that joke?"

In other news, it's a glorious day in the neighborhood: sixty-six delicious degrees and not a cloud in this New York City sky.…

There <I>Is</I> Another Emperor Besides the Emperor of Ice Cream

All hail the emperor Norton!

I've been fascinated by Norton ever since I read about him in the Fables and Reflections arc of The Sandman. Turns out that Neil Gaiman wasn't making much up about this San Francisco nobility.

Oh, Wes!

I think Bagheera learned this expression from my wife.

Welcome to visitors from The Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats.