Exciting things elsewhere

The Mozart Effect conclusively disproved; the Shetland pony returns; two music bloggers team up to see if it's humanly possible to create more boring concert programmes than the New York Philharmonic; Cameron Carpenter has too much time on his hands; John Adams criticizes Britten's "stilted" text setting (he's one to talk); Queen Victoria finally has her own comic strip; RVW turns 136 tomorrow.