A weekly roundup of interestingness on Suite101.com

Pull on your reading socks and settle in for a read, this selection of Suite101 articles is the perfect accompaniment to a chilly autumn day.

Music for your eyes

Contributing writer and self-described insufferable know-it-all, Scott Cramer, is publishing an article a day for the month of November in a series focusing on some of Blue Note Records' classic jazz recordings. The fascinating series takes readers on a journey through the hard-bop revolution of the fifties and sixties in an urbane primer on jazz.

Cramer's evocative writing style brings the music to life before your eyes:

Elliot and Young’s “Weaver Of Dreams” is the lone ballad on the record. Hubbard pleads and moans every bit of pathos from the song, with Elvin’s brushes laying a bed for him to weep on.

Day 22: Freddie Hubbard "Ready For Freddie" - A Month Of Blue Note

Start your reading at day one: Art Blakey "Moanin" (Thanks to Karen Berger for the heads-up on this interesting series.)

A land down under

Looking out the window at 4 p.m. to find that the sun has already clocked out for the day can be a little deflating up here in the north, particularly for an antipodean like me who pines for the Australian sunshine. The solution? Grab a fist full of vitamin D and immerse yourself in this great read on a new species of dolphin discovered in Australia by Maggie Lawrence.

The article explains that the Burrunan dolphins have been tested to reveal that they are genetically unique from other dolphins around the world; an exciting discovery for researchers as only three new species have been identified since the 1800s.

Better watch out

If you've been into any shopping mall lately you will have heard that Santa Claus is coming to town. But don't expect Russia's St Nicholas to squeeze down your chimney any time soon. As contributing writer, Irene Woodhead, explains in St Nicholas in Russia: He is No Santa Claus, this patron saint of Russia isn't the same jolly man in red we've come to know as Santa. While he doesn't go house to house passing out gifts, St Nicholas has been known to ward off invading dictators. Which is a pretty neat parlour trick, no?