Wes Phillips

SynthMania's list of synthesizer sounds created by (and frequently overused by) people through the years. You'll recognize almost all of these. And SM's looking for suggestions.

Natasha Walter argues that Brühilde, not Siegfreid, is the real hero of the Ring cycle. Her proof is in the music.

What happened to Benjamin and Elaine after they got off the bus? Writer Charles Webb, who based the characters on himself and his wife, can't tell you. He thinks he no longer owns the rights to his own story.

According to The Guardian and the Book Marketing Group. I'm not too big a fan of a few of the choices—Fight Club?BMAFG!—but I'm really happy to see the criminally under-appreciated Devil In a Blue Dress and The Day of the Triffids on there.

From The Guardian comes "Fallout: the human cost of a nuclear catastrophe," a photo essay on Chernobyl that's difficult to look at—and impossible to look away from.

Steve Martin never ceases to amaze me—sometimes by his audacity, sometimes by what he chooses to do (any number of recent movie projects illustrates this point, although our culture's current resistance to good film-making is not his fault). I digress, however—this is powerful, honest writing and I feel better for simply having read it. You go, Mr. Martin.

And I play one on TV, too. Why some academics can hit it and others have to quit it. Yes, we're still talking television.