In Brief: Back from Italy Edition

Now that I am back from Siena, Ionarts will slowly be returning to some of its usual habits. Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond.

• I love it when non-musical artists I love turn out to think musically. Oh, like the incomparable and tragically departed Ingmar Bergman, as described in an article pointed out by Bob Shingleton. [On an Overgrown Path]


• Matthew Guerrieri explains the next phenomenon in musico-cryptology: encoding words and names in a musical theme, via the Braille alphabet. [Soho the Dog]


• Jeremy Eichler points out yet another centenary anniversary being ignored this year, Joseph Joachim. A. C. Douglas was kind enough to bring this article to our attention. [Sounds and Fury]


• We love opera. We love LOLcats... (Thanks, M. C- -- I mean, Sidney.) [LOL Opera]


• Corine Lesnes, a correspondent for Le Monde now based here in Washington, writes a fun to read blog. Her take on French President Nicolas Sarkozy's vacation in New Hampshire (and visit to the Bush compound at Kennebunkport) was interesting. It turns out that Mitt Romney, the American presidential candidate, owns a vacation house on Lake Winnipesaukee. Corine notes that Romney, who spent his Mormon missionary years in France and speaks French very well, tried to score points with conservative Republicans by French bashing early in his campaign. Among other things, Romney said that voting for Hillary would mean having France in the United States. Now the President of France is temporarily Romney's neighbor. [The Big Picture]