I'm not doing the QotD today, because it's in some obscure part of the page and I can't be bothered to scroll past the ads and go find it.  Go figure, Vox. 

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Show us a musical genius.

0086

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.  I was tempted to say Mahler, but Tchaikovsky wins on sheer range, he could write symphonies, ballets, overtures and operas fantastically.  Pieces like the Nutcracker Suite and the 1812 overture are sublime works, not to mention Piano Concerto number 1.  His work is so consistently amazing that I can't think of anyone more deserving of being the answer to this question.

There are so many pieces I could upload, but I've decided to go with two of those I listen to most often, conducted here by London Symphony Orchestra.

01 Nutcracker Ballet Suite_ March

10 1812 Overture

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What are you saving up for? 
Submitted by Star. 

I'm not actually saving right now because, well, let's face it I spend most of my money paying bills.  When I do get extra money it goes in a specific account I have so I can use it if and when I go away.  However, the next thing worth saving for that I'm hoping to get is...

Gallery-big-05

Pretty, isn't it?  And it does everything I need.  And OS X now comes with bootcamp so I can install Windows XP and still run my old windows programs until I get mac versions. 

I have been after one of these things for ages, and nearly got one last time around but had to stick with Windows for work.  Now that is not an issue, I can't wait to get an apple.

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What was your reaction to the results of the Iowa caucuses?  

Pleased to see that Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus, it's not being nominated, but it is a big boost.  A few months ago people had started to write him off, people had started to write off everyone who wasn't Hillary Clinton.  Last night's result showed that Clinton is beatable to the nomination, last night showed people who thought that Obama was too young or could not get enough support that he can.

I've liked Obama for some time now, and his book The Audacity of Hope is a really good read, I like his ideas and his humane values.  People say that it's spin, and that even if elected, he'd still have to live up to them, but surely better to have someone who will at least try than all these boring old faces who are entrenched in decades of politics and have forgotten what can be achieved if you just try.  Even if Obama only lives up to some of his potential, he is still a good prospect.

I've seen him attacked a lot for being naive.  They say he's naive with foreign policy because he said that he would talk to America's enemies. At present America refuses to talk to certain states unless they agree that they'll do what America wants.  Barack Obama says that he would talk to these states, he'd open up a dialogue with them.  Surely that is not naive, but sensible?

Watch his speech and you see someone who is optimistic and focused, his eyes are completely on the prize.  That speech is not fighting for a nomination, that speech is confident and fighting for the election. Note the constant references to uniting republicans and democrats, etc.

My only concern is the south.  Will hicks vote for a black man?  Do hicks have a big sway in the electoral college? These questions remind me of the JFK biography, at the time so many people said JFK could not win the nomination, never mind the presidency because he was Catholic and yet he did.  I think Obama has the right style and vitality to appeal to a pretty broad base of the electorate.  I just hope that America believes in, as Obama puts it, The Audacity of Hope.

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Show us what you're looking forward to in 2008.

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