A Musical Experience...

I normally listen to music when I'm programming.  The type of music varies with my mood and the difficulty of the work I'm doing; anything from piano jazz (e.g., George Winston) to some old-fashioned “heavy” rock (e.g., Black Sabbath).  At home I usually play the music over a decent (but tiny) set of speakers with a separate sub-woofer.  The sound quality is good, but certainly not noteworthy.  Some time ago, I bought a pair of headphones so I could listen to music at work (which is an open environment where I really couldn't use speakers).  I ended up rarely using them, as it was a hassle to take them on and off every few minutes when a colleague needed to talk with me.

I recently brought those headphones home, and today I'm using them – Debbie is enthroned near me, and she of course doesn't want my music playing while she's on the phone or watching a video.  In some cases (like Melanie Safka), she detests my music and wouldn't want it playing under any circumstances where she could hear it :-)

So I'm using the headphones extensively, really for the first time – and I'm finding the experience to be extraordinary.  I'm hearing things in music I'm very familiar with that I don't believe I've ever heard before.  As I'm writing this, I'm listening to Peter, Paul, and Mary – and I can distinctly hear details like people walking on the set, and even the (very low level) hiss of the master tape.  Even more striking is the sudden sense of location I have for the instruments and singers.

The headphones I have are made by Sennheiser, their model HD 555, which I bought on the recommendation of a reviewer when they went sale on Amazon.  These are not the top-of-the-line model, but I'm very pleased with them...

Lupine...

Not my photo, and not a local species: this is from Columbia, Lupinus bogotensis, photo courtesy of Botany Photo of the Day...

When a Geek Tries to be Cute...

...this is what you get. 

Hint: when the guy stops running, wave your cursor around over his head.

Via my mom...

Here We Go...

I've no doubt that this is just an early salvo in the Obama administration's re-energized wealth redistribution campaign:

H.R. 4170 would forgive student loan debt for those who have paid 10 percent of their discretionary income toward their loans for 10 years and would cap interest on federal student loans at the current rate of 3.4 percent. Individuals who go into teaching, public service or practice medicine in underserved areas would have their debt forgiven after only five years.

Because over 90% of student loans are made directly by the Federal government, to “forgive” them simply means that future taxpayers will pay them – the debt doesn't simply disappear; instead it's due date is moved to the future and interest accumulates.

This is one example of precisely what Greece et al are fighting the consequences of right now.  Not that we'd learn any lessons from that – it will be different for us, bleat the Progressive politicians.

I have no idea what the chances are for passage of this bill.  It doesn't really matter, though.  Things have progressed too far when a Congressman can even introduce such a bill without the rest of the House shouting him down.  All I hear is...crickets...