Sunday, October 24, 2004

Blue Mounds Climbing October 2004

A close-up shot of Shannon looking at the anchor near the conclusion of her climb up a Sioux quartz wall at Blue Mounds.

My photos of three-fifths of the Nebraska contingent's October Blue Mounds trip are now up. More personal details will have to wait until this graduate student has time to write them, likely in 2007. Until then, this trip report on MinnesotaClimbing.com has all the news about the trip most people thought would be too cold -- but actually was perfect.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Great Study Music, for Free

The Magnatune logo.My definition of great study music: Loud enough to drown out the people around me at the coffeehouse/student union/bar, no words. This makes your standard orchestral classical music (or at least the Beethoven and Handel to which I listen) inadequate, as there are too many quiet passages even in compositions like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

The solution: harps and hammered dulcimers. And it's free anywhere you've got a WiFi connection.

The provider: Magnatune. (Motto: We Are Not Evil.) It's an online source for paid music downloads and free audio streaming that splits album revenues 50-50 with the artists.

The artists: Cheryl Ann Fulton on Welsh triple harp and Jamie Janover on "innovative" hammered dulcimer. Tasty tunes.