This request comes from my brother, who, like me, knows nothing about computers. However, unlike me, he does not know very many computer geeks. Please, use your encyclopedic knowledge to help him!

I want to buy a new desktop PC with a big, sweet monitor.

I will use my PC for the following functions:

Translation work (word processing, web surfing, running editing & dictionary software at the same time, etc)
Music
Movies

I will -not- use my PC for the following functions:
Gaming
Music/Video editing
etc etc

For good value and good quality, where should I buy my PC? I don't want a lot of bells and whistles, but I do want a 20" - 24" monitor, and I'm curious about who makes good monitors and whether I also need a good graphics card for good movie playback or if whatever cheap stock graphics card is good enough.

I am currently relaxing in Portland, and will head up to Tacoma for Mathcamp on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll work there for three weeks, then return to Longy in time for the International Baroque Institute. After that's over, I'm heading to England to sing Evensong for two weeks in Chichester Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral. And then it's home to Boston, and moving in with jtwonderdog and other new roomies.

I've decided to shelve my countertenor aspirations for the time being and work intensively on improving as a baritone. For the past few years, I've been moderately successful as an alto, but it's been an uphill climb technically. Many of the gigs I've gotten have been with groups that knew me as a baritone first. Others have hired me more for my sight-reading skills than my tone quality. I do like my countertenor sound, but it has some serious support and consistency issues outside of a limited range. My baritone is easier, more resonant, and has a really nice low end. It will take some technical work to access my high notes, but I trust my teacher to get me there.

At first I was pretty bummed about this decision, because I like the baroque alto repertoire so much. Now I'll never get to be one of Handel's castrato heroes! But Handel's bass roles are advisors, magicians, and villains; much better for my personality and physique than a chivalrous warrior. And yes, I'll never get to sing Erbarme dich in the St. Matthew Passion, but you know what? I might get to be Jesus.

Back when I was a mathematician, I used to get my jollies in research papers by coming up with amusing terminology for topological objects: "bamboo", "airlock", or "choking torus". But man, writing in the humanities is so much more rewarding! Here's a line from an article about Semele that I'm definitely quoting in my Handel paper:

In public perception, however, there was always a fine line between natural virility and being in thrall to women, and in the early eighteenth century this line was moving. Increasingly, an uncontrollable sexual appetite was seen as a form of effeminacy, and therefore uncomfortably similar to the spineless "luxury" of Italy, the land of popery, sodomy--and opera (moralists never tired of pointing out the connections between these three!).

This weekend's Schola concerts were a blast. We sang Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, Randall Thompson's setting of Horace odes, and some de Rore and Monteverdi. I found the Thompson particularly gratifying because I'd sung Felices Ter with Choralis and been unimpressed with the piece. It sounds very different in a group with a smoother, more "early music"-y tone. Schola is a pretty awesome group; everyone reads very well, and we throw stuff together on minimal rehearsal much the same way that AVE does.

On the drive back, we were talking about balancing music with other stuff, and I said I'd be happy to do this kind of ridiculous venture every weekend, if my schedule allowed. And upon thinking about it carefully, that's the truth. I'd want my technique to be better, so I don't have so much trouble with breath control at low dynamics, but I really love this stuff.

Also: Extreme Sheep LED Art.