LATEST ADDITIONS

<A HREF="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto">… Interpreter"</A> in <I>The New Yorker</I>, about Dan Everett's work on the Pirah, has generated a lot of discussion on the Interwebs. The MIT linguists, who subscribe to the Chomskyan <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_grammar">universal grammar theory</A>, fired <A HREF="http://www.physorg.com/news96558379.html">back</A&gt;. Now, Vera da Silva Sinha and Chris Sinha, two anthropologists who have done fieldwork with another Amazonian community and who have visited the Pirah, chime in.

<I>Business Week</I>'s Pallavi Gogoi offers a fascinating analysis of how Wal-Mart's decision to offer a sub-$1000 42" plasma TV last Christmas ruined the holiday for the entire retail electronics industry.

Read Matt Taibbi's obituary of Boris Yeltsin.

My admiration for Roger Ebert, which was already immense, just increased. Ebert, who has been battling cancer of the salivary gland, was advised not to attend his own film festival because paparazzi might take "unflattering" photographs of him. His response? "Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. As a journalist I can take it as well as dish it out."

I was saddened to learn of Andrew Hill's death this weekend. Ever since I discovered his intensely original music, his recordings have been touchstones for me, including the brilliant <I>Passing Ships</I>, a record that was actually held back by Blue Note for 35 years as "unreleasable."

Detailed photos of really deep dwelling aquatic organisms.

<A HREF="http://rogerbourland.com/blog/2007/04/21/7-leonard-cohen-hallelujahs/">… Bourland</A> has posted seven YouTube performances of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah": Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Sheryl Crow, Allison Crowe, kd lang, Rufus Wainwright, and John Cale.

Threat, or menace? The BBC examines the question.

Nick Cave's vocals &#151; searching, pleading, urgent and, normally, red-hot &#151; sounded just <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/041607listening/">a bit soft and cool</a> through the PSB Alpha B1s. Ward wondered: