Housekeeping

1. Although this blog has an audience of about seven, most of whom are blood relations, a surprising amount of swag* has recently started appearing in my email inbox and at the doorstep, in the form of recordings or software that someone would like to have reviewed. To those of you who have sent stuff: thanks for thinking of this blog, but I'm not a critic and even less a promoter. I don't have the temperament for either job, and am sort of embarrassed by having this around, with the expectation of a review hanging over it. I enjoy getting to know interesting music, and sometimes mention some striking things here, but let's keep it outside of any exchange mechanism. There are plenty of other places for you to go, with people who write well and really know how to do the whole criticism act: wearing ascots, doing lunch at the Russian Tea Room, knowingly trading high fives with Alex Ross or Terry Teachout and all that.**

2. In response to some complaints about readability, I've switched the color settings on the blog. The new scheme is not as hard edged as the old white-on-black, but the new black-on-gray, with touches of white and maroon, seems more legible while sticking to colors I like. As to content and text readability, your mileage will continue to vary, so please don't shoot the blogger, he's doing the best he can.

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* Allow me to confess that, living in a non-English-speaking environment for most of the last 18 years, I only learned the meaning of the word "swag" this afternoon and couldn't wait to try it (I'm still not quite sure exactly what a "tivo" is; any help?). Hence this post.
** But should you insist on a review here, we can certainly work on a cash basis: Swiss Francs, in unmarked tens and twenties in a freezer-proof bag.