Tag Archives: music

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:

* The iPhone and iPad handle/display Web data (e.g., HTML) differently, even though it is the same OS and both use Safari Mobile. (Courtesy: A Web site I manage)

* Bingo has a huge Web presence (e.g., directories). (Courtesy: All the Ws)

* The story of Marsha Ferber, who kickstarted Morgantown’s music scene with the creation of the Underground Railroad. (Courtesy: 123 Pleasant Street)

* The existence of “termination rights”, which could lead to a significant shift in rights of music starting in the late-1970s. (Courtesy: NYT)

Album Reviews

1—->3—->5
Terrible—>Fantastic

5
Callas, Maria – Callas in Paris [1963]

4
Gas – Pop
Iyer, Vijay with Prasanna and Nitin Mitta – Tirtha
Vijay Iyer Trio – Historicity
Callas, Maria – Callas in Paris [1959]
Callas, Maria – Carmen by Georges Bizet [1964]
Callas, Maria – EMI Rarities, The

3
Auerbach, Dan – Keep It Hid
Gonzalez, Jerry and The Fort Apache Band – Rumba Para Monk
Lyrics Born – Everywhere at Once
Strokes, The – Angles

2

1

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:

* Despite the Beastie Boys’ suggestion, Jamaica is not a significant producer of mangoes. (Courtesy: FAOSTAT, nicely displayed on Mongabay.com, and University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences)

* Physiocracy. (Courtesy: Car Talk reference; Wikipedia)

* “Package store” is Northern slang for liquor store. (Courtesy: HD)

* Bitrates of various streaming services:
– Spotify: Vorbis 160kbps with some at 320kbps if a Premium subscriber
– Amazon Cloud Player: MP3 at the rate the file was saved
– Pandora: AAC 64kbps and up to 192kbps, depending on subscription
– Google Music: play back at the quality of the file, except for FLAC, which is played back as mp3 320kpbs

* Lord of the Rings is “fundamentally religious and Catholic work”, according to Tolkien. (Courtesy: Wikipedia and follow up readings).