Some thoughts and some blog news as we approach the 2000th Superconductor post.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
As we approach the 2000th article on Superconductor (which should happen sometime in October) I've been looking for a good way to celebrate that still keeps readers entertained. This blog has been a lot of work and it's been around a long time now, mostly due to the indulgence of certain arts organizations, our cherished advertisers and you, the classical and opera loving community that has become a strong audience for my writing. And yet there's still so much to do.
Last month, Amazon.com did a global change of its advertising feed system, converting all the product ads on this blog into these ugly message boxes urging you to fight world hunger, presumably by buying your toilet paper and toothbrushes from the global merchandising giant. This has necessitated a lot of cleanup both on the front page and on the 1,930 posts (and counting) that make up Superconductor. And yet that's what's leading to the project I'm doing right now.
Right now we are in a little bit of a calendar lull. The summer festivals have ended and the fall season is about two weeks away. So in the spirit of cleaning up those old posts (and adding new advertising boxes to them, those cool little java-script things that allow me to plug for more than one recording of a particular opera or symphony) I'm dusting off some classic articles.by Paul J. Pelkonen
 |
| Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at his desk. Painting by Serov. |
Last month, Amazon.com did a global change of its advertising feed system, converting all the product ads on this blog into these ugly message boxes urging you to fight world hunger, presumably by buying your toilet paper and toothbrushes from the global merchandising giant. This has necessitated a lot of cleanup both on the front page and on the 1,930 posts (and counting) that make up Superconductor. And yet that's what's leading to the project I'm doing right now.
Part of the problem with Superconductor is that there's a lot of great stuff buried on the blog that you all the faithful readers have not seen, mostly because it's from before you were faithful readers. So with your indulgence I'm bringing back some of the older articles from the archives. A lot of these are recording reviews, DVD reviews and other ephemera from the first few years that this blog slowly struggled into life.
They'll be appearing in the next two weeks--some of them during my much-needed vacation--and I hope you find them tolerable.
Thanks again for reading Superconductor.
Paul J. Pelkonen,
Writer, Editor, Chief Cook and Bottle-Washer,
Superconductor Classical and Opera
