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Tuesday, December 24, 2002
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Chimera, the Gecko based browser for OS X, continues to get better. I strongly recommend that all OS X users give it a try. The 12/20 build is very stable and I suspect a full release will happen soon.
Another feature of the browser is the ambiguous pronounciation of its name - there are at least three popular variations, one being the classic Greek.
5:45:13 AM 
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Anglo-American religious folk singing is usually contrasted with Afro-American singing as being without emotion. I find shape note (or sacred harp) singing to be very different - while not terribly exciting from the listener's point of view, it can be amazing for the singer(s). It suffers the advantage of allowing poor voices to blend in with more competent singers.
Apart from Smithsonian archival recordings there is very little on the Web. The best way to listen may be to find a local group - the danger is they might get you to join.
While hunting around for this I found a site full of old hymns popular in 19th century America with sheet music, lyrics and midi.
Garrison Keillor would love this!
3:13:27 AM
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A year ago a few of us found ourselves in a contest to find the worst music possible. There were a few real contenders (one called Kitty Ditty comes to mind), but I feel I won the contest hands down with Mary Schneider Yodels the Classics.
Astonishing and breathtaking come to mind. This is not on my iPod, but owning a copy is an essential part of everyone's library. Say someone is staying a bit too late .. her version of the William Tell Overture should be sufficient and, if that doesn't get them, the Skater's waltz certainly will.
There is quite a bit of music where the music is bad and the performer is incompetent. What is impressive is when the music is good (or even great) and the performer competent in their own domain. The special "magic" is a misplaced sense of direction that produces something awful. Here we have real music and someone who is a very good yodeler ...
3:08:05 AM
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My all time favorite console game is the Vectrex from the early 1980s .. to my knowledge it was the first vector graphics computer game system aimed at the consumer. I have one and still find it fun. For those of you who want to give it a spin there is always MESS emulation. - The classicgaming site has Vectrex section with links to MESS and more than a few games.
All of this works very well with Mac OS X!
3:03:10 AM
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