The Global Jukebox, Lomax Annex

Another warmish day, a freak of a mild winter to begin February. Too bad I needed to stay inside most of the time, tending to the word mill. It's going to be a busy month from beginning to end.

Even so, the time I put in at the computer also has its rewards, such as finding out about this by chance. Imagine that, 17,000 music tracks collected by Alan Lomax, soon to be accessible to anyone with a computer, no extra charge.

Not that it's practical even to listen to a modest fraction of the recordings, at least for those of us who have much else to do. And some of the recordings are probably so fixed in their place and time that it might be hard for an early 21st-century listener to appreciate them. Still, I'm looking forward to sampling the collection, as I would wander around a new city or a thumb through a fat reference book. Unexpected pleasures await.