LATEST ADDITIONS

"Slava" has died. The great Russian cellist, known as much for his defiance of the Soviet oligarchy as for the more than 170 compositions dedicated to him, had been hospitalized in Paris at the end of January, but chose to fly to Moscow shortly thereafter to spend his last months in his beloved homeland. He is survived, not only by his two daughters and his wife and frequent collaborator, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, but also by the huge number of recordings that attest to his eloquence.

Harman International Industries, Inc has agreed to be acquired by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (GSCP) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) for a price of $120 per share (a total near $8 billion). The share price represents what <I>Bloomberg.com</I> characterized as a 17% premium over its price one day earlier. The company's stock had been increasing in value, having risen by about 2.6% since the beginning of 2007, but beginning April 18, the stock began to surge, "indicating some investors anticipated the buyout," according to <I>Bloomberg</I>. John Rogers, a Citigroup analyst, had predicted in February that Harman was choice for acquisition, estimating that private equity buyers could pay a premium of 20% over its share price and still see annual returns of 20%.

According to Huckleberry, it's a good ear scratch.

Bagheera prefers lurking in the shadows, but every once in a while, she imitates a puddle of black on a light background.

"A linkworthy piece of musical-cultural criticism," writes John Marks. I agree. Now if John Derbyshire had merely said <I>Saturday Night Fever</I> was the greatest movie ever, I'd have agreed to disagree. His passionate and specific arguments, however, have convinced me to see it again with an open mind.

Is it me or does Phil Spector, the Wall&ndash;of&ndash;Sound inventor turned murder suspect, look more and more like a middle aged woman, particularly with his new blonde doo. If I were his lawyer I might have asked that he not change his hairstyle from notoriously weird to super weird on the eve of the trial. The photos, CNN.com has some doozies, that are really, really strange. Him with that Doris Day gone mad hair waving a pistol around demanding God knows what? Whatever the verdict, the man needs supervision.

I really like this animated short. I don't know who produced it, but he or she tells a nice story in just over two minutes.