I don’t know what this is about, but on the other hand I’ll link to irrelevant things if they seem irrelevant enough. . . Tim Penn writes,

I [Penn] thought I would just alert you to a little project I’m working on using the blog. I have some photos I took twenty years ago of Russian rock icon Viktor Tsoy. Scott Page told me the other day he was just chatting with someone about Tsoy’s band Kino, so I make no assumptions now about how well known they are outside Russia by well-informed people like yourself.

Anyway, I am trying to spread the word and draw people who like Kino to the blog over the next few weeks as I put more of the pictures up. But also I’m trying to tap into networks which are more knowledgeable about that old underground culture than I am.

There is a taster up there at the moment, which 3quarksdaily linked to the other day. If you are Led Zep fan, there is sweetener in there too. Hope you’ll find it interesting and will share it with any Russian friends or Russophiles around Columbia. I think students should have an obligation to know about him, but then I’m biased. I have enough material to create a single-track flash video of the clandestine concert stills, and will do that once I feel able.

Today I put up another non-scientific stab at non-linearity. It starts with surfing and ends with Monty Python. There’s a fantastic scandal behind one of the hyperlinks at the point where I’m standing in the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. Yes I knew that man.

Naturally, I’ve heard of neither Viktor Tsoy nor Scott Page. (Yes, I’m sure I could search for them on the web but that would be cheating.)