Wes Phillips

Anybody who has been around NYC for the last 20 years or so will attest to the fact that it has gotten a lot easier to get great burritos. Ever wonder why? Idle Words fills us in on the secret.

Back in March, I posted a linkhttp://blog.stereophile.com/wesphillips//index4.html">link; to a Physics Web articlehttp://physicsweb.org/articles/world/20/3/3/1">article; on iconic equations, which quoted Gauss' assertion that if Euler's formula wasn't immediately obvious, the reader probably has no chance at being a first-class mathematician.

Devising tests that distinguish whether ravens solve problems through logic or instinct ain't easy.

"Police said the busted driver first shoplifted pepperoni and string cheese from the store after he couldn't find Hot Pockets for his pregnant girlfriend, who was waiting in the GMC. Then he stole the stereo and brought it back because 'it was not of high quality.'"

Ed Hitchcock writes: "As both a paleontologist and home brewer, I could not help but be attracted by the media coverage of the reproduction of an ancient Sumarian beer. The beer, called Ninkasi after the Sumarian goddess of beer, was produced by the Anchor Brewing Company (San Francisco, California), based on a hymn inscribed on a clay tablet (1). Dr. Solomon Katz of the University of Pennsylvania and Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing worked to decipher the brewing clues contained within the hymn to reproduce the beverage so revered by the ancient Sumarians."

As I transfer from the R line to the west side IRT, I'm frequently frustrated or surprised by the size of the crowds attending to subway musicians. What I almost never am is impressed by the performances. But that would be different, surely, if, say, an internationally known musician was playing on his Gibson ex Huberman Strad—wouldn't it? A performance like that would be guaranteed to have music lovers swooning with pleasure.

A must for Zappa fans. Studio Ralf is moving—and everything must go! At these prices, it will.