From The Walkmen’s Heaven:

From Sun Kil Moon’s Among the Leaves:

(There is a track called Not Much Rhymes with Everything’s Awesome at All Times.) 

Beach House: Bloom

Their first release since one of my favorite albums of 2010, I am almost always in the mood for Beach House’s vibe. As of right now, you can stream the whole thing on NPR’s site.

Best Coast: The Only Place

I may or may not buy this. The single is catchy; I’m sure the album is fine, but I can only hear “crazy” and “lazy” rhymed so many times in one sitting.

Metaclothes

A recent episode of Bullseye featured an interview with the filmmakers of the documentary, Mister Rogers & Me.

America’s Favorite Neighbor changed millions of lives. Watch real-life neighbor Benjamin Wagner, a journalist, and his brother Christofer come to know more than just the man and his luminous legacy. Their personal journey unearths the roots of Mister Rogers’ values, unmasks the forces acting against depth and simplicity, and helps them to develop the means to lead deeper, simpler lives.

I challenge you to listen to it and not order the DVD. I grew up watching Mister Rogers on PBS, but, frankly, remember very little of it. This interview and, later, the documentary itself reminded me that Fred Rogers’ ideas and messages are as relevant to me today as they were when I watched him decades ago.

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn: Bob Newhart, Mister Rogers and Me, Video Game Picks and God On Sports

A Wasteland Companion

(Same artist for this video as Chinese Translation)

There’s no new ground explored here by America’s Americana sweetheart, but you can still latch onto the subtle vibe and host of guests, including Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and Lullaby for the Working Class, Tobey Leaman of Dr. Dog, and, least surprisingly, Zooey Deschanel.

But seriously, I’ll probably fund this for the freebies to give away, plus the requisite Zingerman’s order.

Cooking is much more fun when you have all the right gear to make your food dreams into food reality. If you have a contentious relationship with your kitchen, the problem may have to do with things like dull knives or the wrong tools, requiring you to undertake boring, repetitive tasks to make the simplest things. We teamed up with a group of chefs to come up with a list of gear for your kitchen that will transform the way you cook—and eat—without breaking the bank.

University of Notre Dame map art