- Proverbs for Paranoids, 3: If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.—Gravity’s Rainbow
‘Is it about a bicycle?’ he asked.—The Third Policeman
Categories
Archives
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
Tags
Armenia blogging Cleveland cycling daily life Dostoevsky ecology education family fauna food genocide Germany Great Britain hearth and home history humor/farce Iraq Israel language literature mathematics media medicine Middle East militarism music mysteries nature patriotism philosophy photography politics privacy psychology religion Russia science security technology terror/-ism Turkey TV U.S. Washington DCBlogs
- :: Mazoo Networks
- :: Блогиня
- :: Большой город
- :: Виталий Третьяков
- :: Идiотъ
- :: Москва: нашими глазами
- :: Московские вело-тусовки
- :: Отдел обогащения
- :: Подслушано в России
- :: Словомания
- :: Что хорошего в Москве
- :: Что читать?
- AMERICAblog
- antiwar.com
- at-Largely
- BAGnewsNotes
- Balloon Juice
- Blogus Groundhogus
- Cartophilia
- Crooked Timber
- Crooks and Liars
- Daily Kos
- Daniel Drezner
- Energy For Us All
- Eschaton
- FireDogLake
- Freakonomics
- Grace Upon Grace
- Huffington Post
- Informed Comment
- J Street
- Joe Conason
- Just World News
- Moscow Graffiti
- Newsrack Blog
- Obsidian Wings
- Pharyngula
- Political Animal
- Rad Geek People’s Daily
- RealClimate
- Shakesville
- snowsquare.com
- Strange Maps
- Talking Points Memo
- The Accidental Russophile
- The Armenian Kitchen
- The Belgravia Dispatch
- The Daily Howler
- The G Spot
- This Modern World
- TomDispatch
- Weather Sealed
News
- :: Homepage.ru
- :: Lenta.ru
- :: membrana
- :: NEWSru.com
- :: NTV
- :: TimeOut Петербург
- :: TimeОut Москва
- :: Аргументы и факты
- :: Ведомости
- :: Взгляд
- :: Время новостей
- :: Известия
- :: Интерфакс
- :: ИТАР-ТАСС
- :: Комсомольская правда
- :: Литературная газета
- :: Московские новости
- :: Новая газета
- :: Око планеты
- :: РИА Новости
- :: Российская газета
- :: Русский Newsweek
- :: Русский журнал
- :: Утро.ru
- Alternet
- Antiwar.com
- BBC News
- Boston Globe
- C-SPAN
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
- CounterPunch
- Haaretz
- In These Times
- Los Angeles Times
- Media Matters for America
- New York Observer
- New York Times
- Palestinian Monitor
- Salon
- Science News
- Slate
- Slovenian American Times
- The Guardian
- The Independent
- The Nation
- The Onion
- The Progressive
- TomPaine.com
- Truthdig
- Truthout
- Village Voice
- Voice of San Diego
Reference
- :: boloto.info
- :: Lib.ru
- :: Блогус
- :: Википедия
- :: Мультитран
- :: Словари и энциклопедии
- :: Яндекс
- Bartleby
- Cleveland Memory Project
- English-American Dictionary
- Fallacy Files
- Hist. Atlas of the 20th Cent.
- Internet Archive
- Internet Movie Database
- Official US Time
- Project Gutenberg
- RationalWiki
- Reverso Dictionary
- Rotten Tomatoes
- Russian-English Dictionary
- The Freesound Project
- The Straight Dope
- Urban Legends (snopes.com)
- USNO Clear Sky Clock
- Wikipedia
- Wikisource
- Wiktionary
- Wordnik
- World Wide Words
Meta
-
RSS Links
Our Pledge
You will never see an ad here. If you want or need something, we trust you’ll be able to want or need it without us planting the urge or ache. You certainly don’t need our help finding what your heart desires on the internet.

Themes
The other day I found myself whistling a theme from Scheherazade as I pedaled up the ramp in the parking garage, leaving work. And I thought, “Hm.” Not because I was whistling. First of all, the acoustics in the garage are very good. Second, I’ve always made music on my bike. When I did my paper route as a kid, I sang all the latest stuff to stave off the boredom (as long as no one was around). No, I thought, “Hm, why Scheherazade? Where the hell did that come from?” Eventually—very eventually—it dawned on me. We had recently watched two episodes of The Prisoner.
Listen for yourself—first an excerpt from the second movement of Scheherazade (The Tale of the Kalender Prince), then two snippets from the Prisoner theme:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
By the way, try typing Scheherazade ten times fast. I must’ve mistyped it five times while creating this entry (I had the broken links to prove it).