CNN.com - Revealed: How RIAA tracks downloaders - Aug. 28, 2003

Dr. Laura Renounces Orthodoxy

Believe It, or Not - Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).

Congressional Report: The Bush Administration has manipulated, distorted, or interfered with science on health, environmental, and other key issues.

I wonder why I let Tim cajole me into listening to exceedingly queer things like Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin: "At last she overcomes her reluctance and begins a hesitant dance, which gradually enlivens to a pitch of erotic frenzy, as the Mandarin stares at her. The girl sinks down to embrace him, he begins to tremble in feverish excitement. She flees from him, and he chases her more and more wildly. The Mandarin catches the girl, and they fight." Nevertheless, it does have some merit, and unlike his other works, does not make me want to smash my monitor, so I'll keep it.

Notes on Overture to Gillaume Tell (1829) - "Rossini was satisfied with second rate material when it would take too long to produce first rate material. His operatic overtures were frequently reused and hastily composed. Known for the breakneck speed at which he wrote operas, Rossini purportedly finished composing an aria in the time it took him to cook a pot of noodles. His most famous opera, the Barber of Seville was written in 13 days, and, as was usual for Rossini, the well-known overture was actually taken from another of his operas."

I was intending to play Medieval: Total War, but the CDs I bought yesterday don't work. Even after I took the trouble, time and money to buy a $18.90 (it has 10-20 mins of video clips for you to "adjust your TV" - so that's why it's so expensive!) DVD drive cleaner for my 5 year old and never-cleaned-before drive. *grumble*


Quotable Quotes (ala Lin Yucheng):

"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man & worships his creator." - John Bright

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E. Leonard