book Favorites by Laura June

Canada by Richard Ford

This book, which was just published in the end of May, highlights all of the reasons I love Ford's writing: methodical, almost painful tension, but an absolute joy to read. Just beautifully written with a gripping and heartbreaking story to go along with it. If you've never read anything by Richard Ford, this would be a fantastic place to start. Every book of his that I've read is excellent, but this one, unlike the others, is a lot more fast-paced. I hate book spoilers so I don't want to say anything else — read it!

book Favorites by Dieter Bohn

Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Bachelor

Stephen Bachelor's book is a "confession" in the classic, Augustianian sense, describing his life journey becoming a Buddhist monk and, well, an atheist. It's accessible, honest, heartfelt, and lays out a way to be spiritual without being godly. It's very human, and very good.

book Favorites by Dante D'Orazio

The Yankee Comandante by David Grann

I had to keep on reminding myself while reading this report from a May edition of The New Yorker that it's an historical account and not fiction. The story — masterfully put together from FBI files, CIA reports, and interviews conducted for the piece — follows an Ohio man named William Morgan who traveled to Cuba during the revolution looking for adventure. He joins Castro and the rebel army, ultimately making it to the army's top rank: comandante. I'd hate to say anymore at risk of spoiling the surprises this tale has in store, but suffice it to say, you should read it.

book Favorites by Joseph Flatley

Everything is Cinema by Richard Brody

Not my favorite book — who could even pick such a thing? — but definitely my favorite book on the topic of my favorite director, Jean-Luc Godard. He was responsible for some of the most important films ever made, and he's also apparently a huge creep. And, especially in the mid-point of his career, this creep made some huge turkeys. By focusing on "the working life of Jean-Luc Godard" (which also serves as the book's subtitle) Brody offers an in-depth look into the methods of this legendary artist.

book Favorites by Adi Robertson

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse

First, a confession: I have never read Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. I am, in fact, such a philistine that I heard about his lesser-known novel The Glass Bead Game after describing The Player of Games to a more erudite friend. Hesse's book, written during the rise of the Nazis, takes place in an idealized future where good men reject politics and become scholars instead. That means playing the Glass Bead Game, in which one charts the course of civilization by building connections between pieces of great art, music, or mathematics. Hesse writes the entire thing in a style that's purposely alien, since its futuristic narrators are uninterested in conflict or traditional story arcs, and he actually manages to pull it off without it being as boring as that sounds.

book Favorites by Adi Robertson

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers by Lillian Faderman

One of my favorite courses in college introduced me to pre-Hiroshima radiation-based hair removal. That sounds strange – and it is – but the point was that it felt like a secret history, something that had gotten passed by in my normal studies of the past. I get the same feeling with Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, which upends a lot of what I had assumed about social progress. I hadn't realized, for example, how much same-sex female love was tolerated in the 1920s and 1940s, only to become a pressing political issue in the decades that followed. Along the way, there are also great sections on Victorian romantic friendship, Harlem jazz culture, and 1950s pulp novels. My next stop is probably George Chauncey’s Gay New York, a similar read about gay male subcultures.

book Favorites by Paul Miller

Timaeus and Critias by Plato

Ultimately, everything is composed of triangles, in Plato's incredible dialogue about life, the universe... everything. My handy Penguin Classics version has pictures in the appendix to illustrate a few of the crazier ideas, including the way our souls intersects with our bodies, and how you can make earth, air, fire, and water out of triangles.

book Favorites by Chris Ziegler

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Erik Larson’s Chicago-based thriller was the most popular paperback in the city when I first moved here several years ago — dozens of copies could be spotted on the Metra trains running in and out of downtown every weekday morning and evening — and I’m now getting around to reading it for a second time. It’s equal parts mystery, suspense, and a great history lesson on the World’s Fair and how Daniel Burnham transformed Chicago into one of the most architecturally significant cities in the world.

book Favorites by Vlad Savov

Sir Terry Pratchett

As witty as he is prolific, Terry Pratchett has penned an amazing 39 Discworld novels over the past three decades. In that time, he has invented a color, thrust a giant turtle into space, and redefined what you can expect to find in the fantasy aisle of your local bookshop. Like most fantasy writers, Pratchett relies on conventional tropes and themes in his narratives, but it's the varnish of wickedly sharp humor that he layers on top that distinguishes this British Knight from the rest. In his own words, "you have to start out learning to believe the little lies" as practice for believing the big ones, "justice, mercy, duty, that sort of thing."

book Favorites by T.C. Sottek

The Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Philosophy of mind is a personal passion of mine, and I just started re-reading this work after spending a few years apart from it. While Merleau-Ponty's prose is dense, his account of embodiment undergirds many of my own beliefs on the nature of human consciousness — and I'm always looking for a stronger foundation. You know, on top of all that nothingness. Plus, it's got a great cover.

book Favorites by Thomas Ricker

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

It's been about twenty years since I first read the quintessential Beat tome, but its influence upon my life has been profound. From swilling wine in plain cotton tees to a wanderlust quenched by great swills from the jug of serendipity, Kerouac's seminal work set me down a path of a life fully lived. One chapter in particular, the fourth to be exact, struck the flint that sparked a deep emotional connection to mid-century jazz, even before listening to the first note. To accomplish that with mere words is extraordinary. "God's empty chair” has yet to be filled.

book Favorites by David Pierce

Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories by Mike Birbiglia

Mike Birbiglia’s story has been told in a one-man show, at the Moth, on This American Life, in a movie, and in a book. The book’s my favorite piece of the puzzle, though — a hilarious, bizarre read where you spend a lot of time wandering around inside Birbiglia’s head as he tries to figure out why he’s so terrible at everything, how he got a gold medal in dust-bustering, and pretty much everything else about his life. Birbiglia’s amazingly good at being self-deprecating without being obnoxious (a rare skill), and it makes Sleepwalk with Me a really fun read.

book Favorites by Jeff Blagdon

Master Keaton by Naoki Urasawa

Naoki Urasawa is manga royalty, and this book is one of his most famous. The title character is an Oxford-educated archaeologist who works as an insurance underwriter for Lloyd’s of London (just hear me out), who joined the SAS before making a living running around the world to recover stolen treasure. He’s kind of a combination between Indiana Jones, James Bond, and MacGyver. I’m still at the beginning of the series, but it’s the first thing I turn to whenever I have some spare time.

book Favorites by Andrew Webster

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

I'm a sucker for whodunits, and I picked up a copy of this Jussi Adler-Olsen novel to read on a flight and just couldn't put it down. The writing is a bit stiff — though I'll give Adler-Olsen the benefit of the doubt and assume some things were lost in translation — but the story itself is engrossing. There are two separate narratives that very slowly become connected, and it's incredibly satisfying watching all of the pieces come together. And like the pre-eminent "nordic noir" series The Millennium Trilogy, there's some pretty messed up stuff that happens along the way, which just makes it harder to stop reading. And luckily for me the sequel came out not too long ago, so there’s plenty of Department Q in my future.

app Favorites by Laura June

WriteRoom

I'm a long-time user of TextEdit, mostly because my writing needs are simple and I don't like any junk text — I need to be able to copy and paste clean text into the CMS (it's called Chorus, you can read about it here) when I'm ready to go. I also have used it for years simply because it's there, on my desktop, and I was too lazy to search around for alternatives. Recently, however, I read this post about text editing apps, and it got me thinking that yes, sometimes when I write, I'm a bit distracted by other things like email and Twitter, and maybe my writing suffers or takes longer because I'm not fully concentrating on the task at hand. So, I shelled out $9.99 in the Mac App Store, and started using WriteRoom. It's stark and clean, and while I could be somewhat delusional, I feel like my writing time is more focused over the past few weeks. In fact, I'm writing this in WriteRoom right now. Isn't this writing great?

app Favorites by Joshua Topolsky

ON{X} (Android)

This is a crazy, experimental application from Microsoft which basically lets you write little packets of JavaScript that tell your phone to do all sorts of things. Similar to Motorola's Smart Actions, you can program on{x} to turn on or off services based on location, send text messages to specific people given a variety of parameters, or even remind you to take an umbrella when it's going to be rainy. Scripts can only be written and applied online, and it requires Facebook authentication, but based on the small amount of exploring I've done, the potential for the system is enormous. One word of warning — watch the location-based services as they can run down the battery.

app Favorites by Dieter Bohn

Shortyz Crosswords

I have had an information addiction since at least the dawn of the internet, and crossword puzzles seem to release the same endorphins for me. They do it in a way that's more limited than actually going online, so I'm much less likely to binge. Plus, you get the satisfaction that comes from winning a game. On Android, I find Shortyz to be superior to Crosswords — but Stand Alone's app is still tops on iOS (and heck, PalmOS).

app Favorites by Dante D'Orazio

Clipboard Cleaner

Just as the name suggests, this app scrubs away all of the mess of HTML formatting attached to whatever you copy to your clipboard and leaves you with just plain text. Great for me as I spend quite a bit of time pasting text into our CMS, and I have it set to clear formatting by default. Not a bad way to spend $0.99. Thanks go to our Database Manager William Savona for finding it.

app Favorites by Ellis Hamburger

Slice for iPhone

I order lots of stuff online. In fact, like many people, I am borderline immobilized by the desire to buy stuff online and have it be in my hands two days later thanks to Amazon Prime. It's not so easy to keep track of tracking numbers and receipt emails, and that's why I use Slice. The app plugs straight into Gmail and automatically sniffs out receipts in my inbox. The app then conveniently displays all open orders, with receipts, tracking numbers, and ETAs right there for you. Tap the map icon, and the app tracks any package for you. There's no need to copy and paste a tracking number into a shipping site again. The best part, though? Slice sends you a push notification when your package is "out for delivery."

app Favorites by Ellis Hamburger

1Password

There are still very many people who have no idea what 1Password is or does. Until my aunt sent me a promo code for the app, I knew what 1Password was, but had no idea how to use it. Now, a few months later, the app is an invaluable timesaver that I can't live without. Here's the truth: the value of 1Password is in its browser extension. In Chrome, whenever I'm looking to input my credit card number, I click the 1Password extension, enter in my "one password," and then the extension intelligently auto fills my credit card number. This works with usernames and passwords on any site too, so truth be told, you only need to remember one password. The app syncs via Dropbox, and becomes even more of a miracle once you pair it with launcher app Alfred, like so.

app Favorites by Chris Ziegler

Light Flow

The biggest problem about Rage Consulting’s Light Flow is that it makes it very difficult to use phones without full RGB notification lights. The ultra-configurable utility lets you control the LED on your Android smartphone with a ridiculous level of granularity, responding with different colors and pulse patterns to different types of notifications (email, text messaging, and so on). Be warned, though, tweaking it to your complete satisfaction can take a lot of time.

app Favorites by Nathan Ingraham

Day One

Sure, other apps can duplicate Day One's core journaling functionality — any basic text editor can get the job done. That said, it's not often you come across a piece of software that so perfectly executes its function, with pleasing style and design to boot. Dropbox and iCloud syncing between Mac and iOS devices means everything is backed up and available no matter where you are, and the high quality of the app means I'm a lot more likely to use it.

app Favorites by Sean Hollister

Ninite

As a PC reviewer, I install Windows on a lot of computers, and I reformat my own desktop fairly regularly too. That's a lot easier when I can reinstall my most-used programs and plug-ins with a single installation file that I can customize from a single website. A friend pointed me to Ninite a couple years back, and I was surprised to find most of my favorite freeware was already there, and most of the apps I didn't already know were pretty high-quality too. Now, I install Chrome, Firefox, Skype, Pidgin, VLC, Audacity, QuickTime, Flash, Java, Silverlight, Irfanview, OpenOffice, Foxit Reader, Dropbox, Evernote, Steam, WinDirStat, WinRAR, and Notepad++ in a snap. Then it's just a matter of setting up Google Chrome Sync to get my bookmarks and extensions, Dropbox to get my files, Steam to get my games (along with local backups), and Evernote for my documents. Practically painless reformat.

app Favorites by David Pierce

Solar

I'm kind of obsessive about checking the weather, and I've been through just about every app in the store before finally landing on Solar. It's gorgeous and ultra-minimalist, but does everything I need: you swipe your finger upward to scroll through the next 24 hours' forecast, swipe down from the top to see a three-day forecast, and move left and right to go between locations. I don't need to know what the Dopplr says, I just want to know if I'm going to need a jacket or umbrella today — I can't find out faster any other way.

app Favorites by Jeff Blagdon

Drafts

When I was looking for the fastest possible iPhone app for adding notes to my Notational Velocity (well, NVAlt) database, our database manager William Savona put me onto Agile Tortoise’s excellent Drafts. The idea is simple: let users enter text as fast as possible, then decide what to do with it afterward. And fast it is — way out in front of all the iOS text editors I’ve tried, and I have a lot. Once you get your idea down, Drafts gives you a ton of options for what to do with it: send the note to another app like Mail or Omnifocus, save it to Dropbox, or even generate a preview if you like to write in Markdown. It’s not perfect — you can’t use it to quickly drill down through your Dropbox or Simplenote database like you can with apps like Notesy or Elements, but it’ll have to do until an official Notational Velocity client makes it onto the App Store.

app Favorites by Andrew Webster

ScoreMobile

The silly season is here for sports fans — the World Series just ended, the MLS playoffs are kicking off, the European soccer season is in full swing, and if the world doesn't hate me the NHL will be starting eventually as well. Keeping track of all of your favorite leagues and clubs can be a pain, but ScoreMobile does an excellent job of keeping everything in one place. It covers a huge range of leagues — seriously, there's everything from Canadian football to professional lacrosse — but more importantly lets you focus only on the teams you care about with the "My Score" feature. It makes checking scores and stats on the go a whole lot easier, though sadly it doesn't make being a Toronto sports fan any less depressing.

app Favorites by Sam Sheffer

Nike+ Running

I started running back in June, and I was only able to run about a mile without getting winded. I've kept at it, running between two and five miles just about every single day and have lost over 20 lbs. I use Nike+ Running (available for iOS and Android) to track my times, distance, and calories burned, and its quaint digital words of encouragement somehow help counteract the lactic acid burning in my thighs.

app Favorites by William Savona

Delivery Status touch

This app is certainly not new. In fact, it was one of the first apps I purchased on the iOS App Store. It's a current favorite because I've been using it quite a bit more recently and the updates it has received since I first downloaded it make it even more powerful for an Amazon Prime loving nerd like myself. Did you just get a shipment email for something you ordered? Just copy the tracking info into the clipboard and hop over to the Delivery Status touch app, which recognizes you've copied tracking info and offers to make a new entry. Name it, and the app will start tracking your package closely sending you optional push notifications. Very cool. But what's even more useful to me is the free companion OS X Dashboard widget that syncs all that info to your desktop.

app Favorites by Scott Lowe

Snapseed

Earlier this year I decided to experiment with photo editing on the iPad exclusively — transferring shots from my DSLR using an SD card adapter and uploading to services like 500px. My editing app of choice is Snapseed. Instead of trying to mimic traditional desktop software, the developers seem to really embrace the touchscreen control scheme. It uses drop-pins with an expandable radius for spot corrections and multitouch gestures to dictate the range of adjustment. I'm still not convinced the iPad can replace traditional editing methods, but Snapseed comes pretty close.

album Favorites by Joshua Topolsky

Bloom - Beach House

I've never really been a fan of the band, but I listened to this record on a whim and have been playing it on repeat ever since. The sound is an uncanny blend of very organic, dreamy, wide guitars and vocals (think Slowdive) mixed with... synths and drum machines? Not every song is the same mixture, which is nice, but the vibe — think driving down an empty highway at dusk — is consistent and overwhelming. Hooks for days.

album Favorites by Laura June

Baroness - Yellow & Green

This album literally came out just a few days ago, but after two full listens, I can safely say it is exactly what I want to listen to roughly half of each day (the first half). The older I get the less I like describing or justifying my musical habits, but just about every song on this very long, double album is worth the effort of paying attention for 75 whole minutes. "Heavy" rock continues to be one of the few areas of music where extended, epic moods are created and, when successful, there's nothing more exciting to listen to. Baroness really pulls it off.

album Favorites by Joseph Flatley

The Clash - Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg

Growing up, the greatest thing in the world was the annual record convention at the Avalon Hotel in Erie, PA. Aside from the usual used records and cassettes, all the bootleggers would be on hand with their live concert tapes. This was before anybody was trading audio or video over the internet and, to hear them tell it, the life of a bootlegger was fraught with danger at every turn. The audio equipment (the real audiophile stuff) was analog, and it was bulky as shit. More than one of these guys (and they were all guys; by the looks of it, extremely lonely guys) had been roughed up by a bouncer or two.

I spent years trying to track down the "lost" original mix of my favorite Clash album, Combat Rock, but it never turned up at any record fairs I attended. Luckily, someone invented the World Wide Web, and now the thing can be had by real fans (and the plain curious) for free: just Google the album's working title, "Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg."

album Favorites by Ellis Hamburger

Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

I used to think the Dirty Projectors only produced inaccessible violent abrasive experimental hipster music. Boy was I wrong. I'm convinced that just about anyone can find something to enjoy in tracks like Dance For You, Impregnable Question, and the title track itself. There are plenty of more challenging tracks as well to quench the thirsts of more hardcore fans, too. This is my favorite album of the year thus far, hands down, and might include the most sublimely organic singing I've ever heard.

album Favorites by Paul Miller

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

One of the last songs I heard on the internet, before I left the internet, was "If Not For You," which was written by Bob Dylan for George Harrison's solo debut. So one of the first albums I bought after I left the internet was George Harrison's solo debut, All Things Must Pass, which I'd never listened to despite my long-time obsession with The Beatles. The album doesn't quite merit spanning three CDs, but there some songs on there that feel as vital and permanent as any top cut from The Beatles catalogue.

album Favorites by Evan Rodgers

Radical Face - The Family Tree: The Roots

I’ve been a fan of Ben Cooper’s solo work as Radical Face since his Ghosts album, but his new record The Family Tree: The Roots slipped right by me when it was released last October. I recently rediscovered it and I couldn’t be more pleased. Cooper’s songwriting is fictional and narrative in nature, but there’s an earnestness to his songs that comes from a limited instrument selection and a relatively narrow soundstage. It might also be due to the fact that he records all his solo work in the shed behind his mother’s house.

album Favorites by Chris Ziegler

Hybrid — Wider Angle

The Welsh duo Hybrid has produced some of the richest and most accessible electronic music of the last decade, blending orchestral elements and vocals into distinctive beats that are immediately recognizable. I’ve long been a Hybrid fan but have spent most of the last few years listening almost exclusively to their newer albums Disappear Here, I Choose Noise, and Morning Sci-Fi — it wasn’t until recently that I started really getting into Wider Angle again, which is almost certainly their defining work. (Be sure to skip Wide Angle and go specifically for Wider Angle, which includes an epic live set in addition to the studio album.)

album Favorites by Vlad Savov

Feed Me — Feed Me's Big Adventure

The first dubstep album that I could listen to and enjoy from start to finish, Feed Me's Big Adventure is an unashamedly over-the-top affair. Some of the tracks on here are tantamount to those YouTube mixes you'll have come across titled "The 10 Illest Dubstep Drops of All-Time." I like the efficiency of having such a highly concentrated dose of electronic sickness, plus I appreciate the mellower moments and carefully tensioned buildups that punctuate it.

album Favorites by Bryan Bishop

The Builders and the Butchers — Salvation is a Deep Dark Well

I was first introduced to this Portland-based folk-rock band a couple of years ago, and Salvation hasn’t left my regular rotation since. I love their sound: Tom Waits by way of William Elliot Whitmore, with a singer that sounds like David Lowery stole Gordon Gano’s vocal cords. Melancholy, triumphant — and damn good to stamp your feet to.

album Favorites by Thomas Ricker

Ministry — Psalm 69

I was fortunate to have lived in Detroit in the early 90s when my taste in music was as caustic as the urban decay. Testosterone flowed like 30-weight oil through a hotrod built by Jesus himself. Industrial music was the perfect soundtrack to accompany any late night stomp into the city's fetid bowels. Ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long, indeed.

album Favorites by Nathan Ingraham

Jim Guthrie — Sword and Sworcery: The Ballad of the Space Babies

Whether or not you've played the excellent Sword and Sworcery EP, Jim Guthrie's soundtrack is a haunting collection of offbeat instrumentals — the kind of music that makes your day feel just a little more epic when you listen to it. You can buy all the music direct from Jim Guthrie here — for $8 (Canadian), you can get the entire album plus 23 minutes of bonus material. I sprang for the 180g vinyl pressing, which came in a gorgeous sleeve along with some custom artwork. For those who still enjoy a physical presentation with their music, Guthrie put together a top-notch package.

album Favorites by Nathan Ingraham

CFCF — Exercises

Exercises is less than 30 minutes long, but it does more in that time span than a lot of albums twice its length. The music is beautifully minimalistic: a great blend of acoustic instruments with electronic textures. While it might not get you pumped up when things start to slump in the afternoon, it's a great way to ease into a morning. It's a heavily textured, slow-burning collection of tunes — I'm still finding new auditory delights each time I listen to it.

album Favorites by Sean Hollister

Vienna Teng — Inland Territory

Since the first time I watched Koopsikeva's seminal anime music video "Waking Hour" (which tells you quite a lot about me right away), I've been in love with the music of an artist named Vienna Teng. A one-time Cisco software engineer, she decided to write, sing, and play the piano instead, and the result is four albums filled with emotion, beautiful stories, and melodies that I'm not ashamed to whistle in public. I've heard the sound described as "pop folk," but I have no idea. It's hard for me to recommend any of her four albums over the others, but Inland Territory is the most recent, the most polished, and from the very first song Vienna's voice sounds gorgeous.

album Favorites by Jeff Blagdon

Homeboy Sandman – Chimera

As a lifelong hiphop head, it’s my heartfelt belief that Homeboy Sandman is one of the few truly original, exciting MCs in rap music today. The man has a mastery of melodic, multisyllabic flows, and his ability to toe the line as a positive rapper without sounding preachy or corny makes him an immediately likeable character. Chimera’s slow, bubbling instrumentals are a perfect fit for the album’s more open, deliberate rhyme schemes, and the booming drums on tracks like "I Do Whatever I Want" and "Cops Get Scared of Me" have the perfect amount of neck snap for the back of the bus.

album Favorites by Michael Shane

Rush — Clockwork Angels

I catch a lot of flack for being a Rush fan. Most Rush fans do. But whatever you think of their virtuosic, multi-sectional, science fiction-infused prog rock odysseys, it’s tough to deny the trio’s staggering musicianship. With Clockwork Angels, the band returns to its prog rock roots: the concept album. The album tells the story of a young man’s quest through a "world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life." Clockwork Angels is at once contemplative and soaring, and while the mastering is admittedly unimpressive, the music-making remains peerless. If you’ve had enough of the monotony of common time and auto tune, spend an hour with Geddy, Alex, and Neil, and let them recalibrate your sonic barometer with a bias towards awesome.

album Favorites by Sam Sheffer

The Parlor Mob — Dogs

New Jersey rock and rollers The Parlor Mob released their first studio album, And You Were a Crow, when I was finishing high school, and I’ve been listening to them ever since. Their second album, Dogs, released in October of 2011, has been my go to album for traveling and especially when I go running. Here's a taste, called "Believers."

movie Favorites by Joshua Topolsky

World on a Wire

This Rainer Werner Fassbinder film (actually a two-part German TV mini-series) was all but forgotten until it was restored in 2010, and re-released by Criterion on DVD and Blu-ray earlier this year. The basic concepts of the movie are way ahead of their time, touching on everything from the nature of reality, artificial intelligence, and even our current trend of computer scientists as celebrities. The film was shot in 1973 and is meticulously, futuristically styled, and Fassbinder isn't exactly a conventional director — which makes for a strange trip indeed.

movie Favorites by Dieter Bohn

Take Shelter

Take Shelter haunted me before I saw it and haunts me more now that I have. On a purely conceptual level, it's a stunningly good meditation on the struggle of knowing whether thoughts are rational, a result of a mental illness, or some combination of the two. On an artistic level, the cinematography and overall tone is spot on — they could have just filmed two hours of Michael Shannon looking off in the distance with a furrowed brow and I'd probably still recommend it.

movie Favorites by Dante D'Orazio

Revanche

This beautifully shot Austrian film from 2008 asks “Whose fault is it if life doesn’t go your way?” Long, nearly silent scenes almost excruciatingly force you to struggle alongside the protagonist as he comes to grips with a bank robbery gone wrong. It’s all a stunning look at human nature from director Götz Spielmann that will stick with you for a long time to come.

movie Favorites by Adi Robertson

Society

Released in 1989, Society reminds me of body horror film Videodrome and of They Live, which also surmised that the rich are different from you and me because they are literally exploitative monsters. What's really fascinating, though, is the fusion of teen comedy (complete with snobby villains, slapstick humor, and a pool party) with a surreal and terrifying climax. It's the kind of stridently ideological movie that uses its genre trappings as an integral part of the story, rather than simply tacking on context-free explosions and gunfights. Neill Blomkamp, take note.

movie Favorites by Paul Miller

Prometheus

Like any Alien obsessive, or even a casual critic, I can find innumerable problems with Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi. But ultimately, for me, Prometheus was Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi, and no plot hole or heavy-handed exposition can take that magical fact away from me. Prometheus was a beautiful, jarring, serious film that makes fanboy-faves like the recent Star Trek reboot and every single Marvel movie ever look like they belong on Disney Channel.

movie Favorites by Vlad Savov

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

The Dieter Rams of sushi, Jiro Ono, is the subject of this touching and richly rewarding documentary. Starting off with a playful orchestral soundtrack, Jiro Dreams of Sushi is perfectly paced, ebbing and flowing much like the meticulously prepared menus in Jiro's restaurant. Quiet moments of serenity let you meditate on the precision and discernment required to make the best possible sushi, while the flourishes of string music gently reinforce the image of flavors dancing across the palate. Even the cinematography has an organic quality to it that echoes the traditional, highly manual cooking methods.

More than anything, however, I enjoyed this movie because of its transcendental qualities. Moneyball and Any Given Sunday don't require you to be a sports buff to appreciate them, and Jiro Dreams of Sushi doesn't demand that you like bite-sized rectangles of fish-topped rice. It explores the meaning of a life well lived, the running of a thriving business without a profit motive, and, most deftly, the relationship between a successful father and the sons following in his footsteps — universal themes that will resonate with any audience.

movie Favorites by Bryan Bishop

Punch-Drunk Love

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite directors, and while I still find Magnolia his most impressive achievement, this is the film that’s closest to my heart. It’s uncomfortable and honest in ways we rarely see in movies, and Adam Sandler is hilarious enough to forgive a hundred That’s My Boys. (It also stars Emily Watson, which is all the reason you really need to run out and see it.) Pair it with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and get ready to fall in love with love.

movie Favorites by Thomas Ricker

Fight Club

It's the film that men love, the movie that made us all think, "hey, Brad Pitt's really handsome — and that's ok." It made us reconsider our jobs, our choice of neck ware, and whether to offer our ass or our crotch when squeezing past a flight attendant. It's also the moral voice that haunts us every time we lust after another slice of consumer electronics. If Ikea ever goes under, if Occupy has its way, it'll be David Fincher's masterful storytelling of Chuck Palahniuk's novel that I'll hold responsible.

movie Favorites by Sean Hollister

Léon

After Le Femme Nikita, but before The Fifth Element, director Luc Besson made a marvelous film about a hitman with a heart and a smart little girl who falls in love with him. Come to see Jean Reno play the professional killer, but stay for Natalie Portman's very first on-screen role, not to mention a brilliant Gary Oldman as a truly stomach-churning villain — practically unrecognizable as the man who plays Commissioner Gordon in the recent Batman films. Just make sure you watch the international version: US audiences were originally given The Professional, which cuts crucial character development scenes that were deemed too uncomfortable to watch.

movie Favorites by Jeff Blagdon

13 Assassins

When I saw this I hadn’t watched any of Takashi Miike’s other films, but I came to find out that he’s one of Japan’s most prolific directors, sometimes banging out seven or eight in a single year. Anyway, 13 Assassins (13 nin no shikaku) is set in 1840s Japan, and is, essentially, an hour-long, cruelty-filled buildup to a climactic battle between a sadistic lord and the eponymous crew of revenging warriors. The fighting is a huge part of the film but it isn’t the kind of manic quick-cut material you see in newer action movies. Actually, the whole package feels very old-fashioned, but in a good way, and even though it was made on a small budget things never look cheap or dated. If you like your revenge movies with a healthy dose of swords and blood, this will be right up your alley.

movie Favorites by Michael Shane

Samsara

Samsara is a film comprised solely of moving images and music, without characters or a traditional narrative. It’s the newest addition to a genre that’s perhaps best known for Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi. The films’ common link is Ron Fricke, who was the cinematographer for Koyaanisqatsi and directed Samsara. Fricke’s latest work is one of only a few films shot on 70mm film in the past forty years, and the visuals are nothing short of uncanny. Highlights include unbelievable timelapse sequences shot on a rig built specifically for the movie and so much dynamic range that you may see photographers weeping in the aisles. And although there’s no narrative, there is definitely a story. Oh, and did I mention that the film pays homage to one of the most viewed viral videos of all time? Now you’re interested.

site Favorites by Joshua Topolsky

visualsundae

One of my favorite weekend browses, visualsundae is the work of Michael Nunweiler, a designer who is cataloguing and exploring the design and designers that intrigue him. What's best about the site is that rather than simply post a stream of random images, Nunweiler dives deep into the design and ethos of the artists, offering up lots of detailed views and insight into not only the work, but the process as well. Bookmark it.

site Favorites by Joseph Flatley

Foodler

When I'm writing, when I'm staring down the barrel of a deadline, I can get a little nuts. And I mean, "black out the windows / turn off the phone / don't leave the house until I'm done" nuts. There has been no greater enabler to this bunker mentality than Foodler. It offers a list of restaurants delivering food in your area, searchable, sortable by cost, distance, or rating. Enter your credit card info once and you never need to enter it again (or, for that matter, leave your house again). Being a shut-in has never been so easy!

site Favorites by Ellis Hamburger

If This Then That

IFTTT is essentially an API manipulator website. Once you sign in to all of your social networks, Dropbox, and a few other apps, you can set up "triggers" that take advantage of these connections to do things for you. For example, using a simple ifttt "recipe," every time I'm tagged in a photo on Facebook, it downloads in high res to my Dropbox. Ifttt also archives every one of my tweets to a single text file in my Dropbox. Lastly, any time I check in somewhere on Foursquare, the check in gets converted to an event and imported into a "Foursquare checkins" calendar inside my Google Calendar. How about that for life-logging nirvana? Ifttt redefines "set it and forget it," and believe it or not, these "recipes" are dead simple to set up. If you'd like, you can even create your own from scratch.

site Favorites by Vlad Savov

Arts & Letters Daily

I don't bother with reading list apps like Instapaper or Pocket, mostly because any time I want to feel guilty for not reading great online content, I just visit Arts & Letters Daily. This web curator for the enlightened classes sports an extremely basic design — a plus in my book — that spans the whole gamut of subjects, from topical analyses of modern economics to book reviews discussing shark sex. Nothing is superfluous here, you're just given a brief summary, a link, and a pat on the back for seeking to expand your mind.

site Favorites by T.C. Sottek

Zipcar

Zipcar is a car-sharing service that's got a big presence in Washington DC and Baltimore, two places I currently roam. It's reasonably priced and incredibly convenient — the company uses a nice mix of technology between the web and with its mobile app that makes it possibly the most frictionless car renting experience out there. I can't see myself buying a car again unless I end up ditching this whole "technology" thing for a humble existence somewhere in Montana.

site Favorites by Andrew Webster

Venus Patrol

Once upon a time Boing Boing had a gaming offshoot called Offworld, and it was pretty great. But sadly it didn't last long. However, thanks to a little help from Kickstarter, editor Brandon Boyer recently launched the site's spiritual successor in the form of Venus Patrol. It's sort of like a really, really good Tumblr that focuses on the art side of games — so expect to see plenty of beautiful, often pixelated things each time you browse. Boyer also happens to be the chairman of the Independent Games Festival, so there are few people with more insight into what’s happening in the indie game community, making Venus Patrol an excellent way to keep track of the latest and greatest.

site Favorites by Sam Sheffer

Reddit

Fact: I spend hours on Reddit every day. It makes me feel like I can see things before they happen. Know things before they exist. Like I'm merging with the essence of the internet. Seriously though, browsing Reddit has its ups and downs — it can be essential for finding news and great personal stories, or following breaking news events, but it's also far too easy to spend hours browsing nonsense.

object Favorites by Joshua Topolsky

Kelty "Wind Jammer"

Kelty is a company that generally makes camping gear for rugged, raw, real men and women. Not being very rugged, I normally wouldn't have much use for their products — but they've launched a "vintage" line of bags (reissues or remixes of older products), and the Wind Jammer caught my eye. The bag is designed to be used either as a backpack or a shoulder bag (the straps can be folded away). It also has a pocket for a laptop up to 17 inches in size, tons of ways to get inside, and a handful of compartments and hideaways that are super useful for small items. I'm constantly on the hunt for a good bag, so I'm not sure the Kelty is my last stop — but so far it's proven to be a faithful companion along the journey.

object Favorites by Dieter Bohn

Kikkerland carabiner / bottle opener keychain

For fifteen years, this keychain has hung on the edge of my pocket (keys inside), outlasting countless phones, wallets, and other gadgets. It keeps keys from jangling at the bottom of my pockets, lets me easily swap various sets, and opens beer. I can't tell you how long I spent trying to find just this form of steel and spring and now that I have, I will never, ever let it go.

object Favorites by Dante D'Orazio

Tilley Men’s Ankle Socks

Yeah, socks — plain old, normal socks. What's so special then? Their normality. I've always been exceedingly picky when it comes to what covers my feet, and these are thin, strong, and comfortable. No branding, either, and since they're made of a mix of synthetic fibers they dry quickly and keep my feet from getting cold. Pretty pricey, though.

object Favorites by Joseph Flatley

Sparco Reporter Notebook G48

Once, when I was an aspiring writer I saw a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette using one of these at a crime scene near my apartment — the police had shot and killed a butcher's knife-wielding neighbor of mine. I thought to myself, "I need to get some of those notepads." They're all I use when I'm in the field, or at my desk for that matter. It fits in your back pocket, and has 70 sheets of white, Gregg ruled paper. What's not to love?

object Favorites by Adi Robertson

Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines

The laughably bug-ridden Bloodlines is by no means a perfect game, especially as it increasingly throws my non-combat character into pitched battles towards the end. But as someone who's never played tabletop games, I feel like this is the first time I can really step outside myself playing an RPG character, instead of being bound by dialog choices that let me be either nauseatingly kind or horribly callous. I'm still pretty nice for a vampire, but the usual pressure towards courtesy is gone, given that half my dialog choices are bizarre non sequiturs. If I want to make someone think his food is actually maggots, well, my character is “incurably insane.” I can do that.

object Favorites by Adi Robertson

Pimm’s Cup

It's painfully hot and sticky in New York, which means I'm drinking highballs for the next month or two. I tend towards cocktails with fresh lime or lemon, but after picking up a bottle of Pimm's No. 1, I can't get enough of feeling mildly posh. The Pimm's Cup is essentially the titular gin-based herbal liqueur, any sharp-flavored fizzy drink like Sprite or bitter lemon, and a slice of cucumber. I use ginger ale, which is delicious despite being (so I'm told) made far too sweet in America. For the curious, the number on Pimm's is not an affectation: five other versions have been created, each with a different base liquor.

object Favorites by Ellis Hamburger

Outlier OG pants

I wrote about these "advanced pants" a few months ago, and while they're expensive as hell, they're still serving me incredibly well. In fact, when I wake up in the morning, it's hard to convince myself to wear anything besides my Outlier pants or shorts. I get strange looks from my girlfriend when it becomes obvious that I've worn the same pants for 10 days in a row. These pants are made from some insane material that repels odor and water, and is stretchy to boot for those moments when you have to outrun other bloggers for the best seat at a keynote. The material isn't perfect — dirt tends to cling to it, and I feel like some of the threads are coming undone, but as far as I'm concerned, these are just about the most perfect pants money can buy.

object Favorites by Paul Miller

Vapur Flexible Water Bottles

I've followed water bottle trends over the past decade very closely. We went from disposable bottles, to Nalgene, to aluminum, and now, apparently, we've returned to plastic (I'm sure Camelpak fits in there somewhere). Basically the Vapur is like a big Capri Sun with a nozzle on top. The big twist is that when the bottle is empty you can fold it up and notch a hook over it to keep it minimal. Hydration will never be the same.

object Favorites by Paul Miller

Yashica

I bought a rangefinder camera from 1977. I haven't had any film developed yet, so I don't know if it was a terrible idea, but I'm really enjoying taking pictures. Focusing with a rangefinder is an exciting process, and there are hardly any settings to mess with — just aperture and whatever ISO film you're using. As a bonus, the camera is built like a tank, and... well, I just like it is all.

object Favorites by Evan Rodgers

Adidas Climacool

When I first ran across the Adidas Climacool running shoe I thought they’d be too fragile for the rugged terrain that I normally run on, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by their robustness. I took a chance on them because they’re lighter than my old Nike Lunarlons and look even better. True to their name, they dissipate heat and perspiration better than any pair of running shoes I’ve ever had, but you can’t run without socks — the backs will make your heels bleed after several miles.

object Favorites by Evan Rodgers

Sigma 30mm f/2.8

Micro Four Thirds is about compromise — the slimmed camera bodies forgo professional features while the lens selection is meager and sometimes quite pricey. Sigma’s 30mm prime isn’t the fastest or the sharpest, but it is undeniably affordable at $199. It’s relatively bright at 2.8 and almost as sharp as the renowned Panasonic 20mm prime. I like it because Sigma didn’t cheap out in the places that matter — it has a metal mount and a quick and accurate internal focusing mechanism. Now if only Sigma hadn’t used a plastic focusing ring...

object Favorites by Evan Rodgers

HTC One V

I didn’t have a good reason to buy this phone — I have a Galaxy S II and a Galaxy Nexus. I bought it just for its fantastic design. It feels like the original iPhone, but smaller, faster, and more useful. I like the pocketable size, fantastic screen, and 3-day battery life. For $199.99, you just can’t do better than the HTC One V.

object Favorites by Chris Ziegler

Country Cow noisemaker

Colloquially known as my “moo can,” this pocket-friendly device produces realistic cow sounds with the flick of a wrist. I keep it on my desk at all times — when I’m feeling down, it takes little more than a moo or two to cheer me up again. What can I say? I’m easily amused.

object Favorites by Chris Ziegler

Bodum Chambord stainless steel coffee maker

The only reason I’m functional from the hours of 7AM to 10AM is because of this device, an ever-present object on my undersized, urban kitchen countertop. Bodum makes literally dozens of French presses, but unlike most of them, this particular model is entirely stainless steel — there’s no glass to crack or shatter. Cleaning it is as simple as running it under hot water for a few seconds.

object Favorites by Vlad Savov

Chin-up bar

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that exercise and diet are important things in my life. What you might not know is that the only equipment I use is the humble chin-up bar. Strategically installed in the doorway to my bedroom, it leads to a form of ambush exercise: every time I notice it, I use it (which turns out to be quite often). Most workout machines invite visions of a rote, sisyphean struggle, whereas this is something you can do on your way to picking up the iPad from your nightstand.

object Favorites by T.C. Sottek

Nexus 7

The Nexus 7 is my first tablet, and it's honestly the first tablet that's made the iPad seem less appealing. Between the Gmail experience and Flipboard, I'd say it's already provided $200 of value — and I'm just getting started. The form factor, weight, and functional beauty of Jelly Bean are a splendid combination.

object Favorites by T.C. Sottek

Nexus 7

Okay, these aren't exactly new, but they're one of my favorite possessions. A few years ago a good friend of mine had a Western-themed wedding, and I had to buy some cowboy boots to stand beside the other groomsmen. As it turns out, these things feel fantastic, and they look great with a suit. They also up my cred as an urban cowboy.

object Favorites by Bryan Bishop

The Wishbringer stone

If you’re of a certain age, the name Infocom needs no introduction. Along with a 5.25-inch floppy disk, the company's masterful text-adventure games would include props, leaflets, and other detritus inside their packaging — and this tiny plastic rock is a replica of the titular stone from Wishbringer. At one point the rock glowed an eerie purple in the dark, and while that ability vanished long ago the stone itself has made it with me across four cities, 10 apartments, and over 20 years. How did it make the journey? Was it magic? Only the Wishbringer knows for sure.

object Favorites by Thomas Ricker

Nikon AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G

Nikon's 40mm f2.8 Micro is perhaps the single greatest weapon of the modern tech photographer. No words can capture the essence of industrial design better than a good macro lens paired to a large camera sensor. Its reasonably low $280 price makes it accessible to any serious digital scribe that requires Nikon glass.

object Favorites by Thomas Ricker

North Face Base Camp Messenger Bag

I love bags. I have a closet full of discarded mistresses of cargo, each replaced by another, slightly better, or at least better adapted to my hauling needs at the time. The North Face Base Camp Messenger Bag was a surprise, stumbled upon while casually browsing for who knows what. It has two suspended pockets, one for my 13-inch MacBook Air, and a second for a tablet. It's slim, but roomy enough to bring home a jug of milk or two from the market. And its waterproof, bike-messenger design with both mesh and buckled closures makes it ideal for cycling around in Amsterdam, regardless of the weather.

object Favorites by Nathan Ingraham

Airport Express

I fought with my old router for months. Eventually, I was unplugging and rebooting it multiple times a day while trying to figure out why certain devices would crash the entire network. It was no way to live (especially considering I work from home). Finally, I sprang for Apple's Airport Express, and I haven't thought about my Wi-Fi connection for weeks. Setup only took minutes, and the Airport Utility program guided me through the setup as if I were a human being. The best compliment I can pay this router is that I barely even know it exists.

object Favorites by David Pierce

Seiko SGGA49

I'm one of the few people I know that still wears a watch, but I'll never stop — I feel naked without one. This Seiko was a gift for my college graduation, and it's both a perfect accessory that makes me feel a little like James Bond, and just a really good way to tell the time. You know what's the worst? Asking someone the time and waiting while they dig out their phone to tell you. Smoked by David's watch.

object Favorites by David Pierce

Bose IE2 headphones

The worst part about reviewing gadgets for a living is the stark perspective it gives you on how crappy all your stuff is. After all of five seconds of listening to $1,000 headphones, the crappy Apple-supplied earbuds wouldn't cut it anymore. The Bose IE2 earphones might not be $1,000-quality, but they sound great (if a little bass heavy at times). They're also the best mix of secure and comfortable I've ever seen, thanks to the goofy silicon wings attached to them. The in-line controls work with Android, iOS, and everything else I've tried, too. I'm never going back to bad headphones, ever.

object Favorites by Jeff Blagdon

Ari bag — Incase

A major contribution to my switch to an 11-inch MacBook Air and mirrorless NEX–5N was seeing Sam Byford at events every week with the tiniest bags imaginable while I lugged a heavy backpack full of full-sized gear. Leading up to the switch I would spend hours fantasizing about a light, spacious sling bag with easy access to my lenses, notebooks, audio recorders, and breath mints, but didn’t look like a nylon Camera Dad dork cube. So far, the Ari bag from Incase is the best compromise I’ve seen; a decent-looking camera-centric sling with room for my laptop and everything else I need. The hunt for the perfect bag isn’t over — I’d like something thinner and with fewer frills — but for now the Ari is as good as it gets.

object Favorites by Michael Shane

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 L

The professional Nikon camera bodies can see in the dark. They’re practically indestructible, and they can shoot like gatling guns. But they can’t use Canon’s finest glass, the L series primes. I’ve been shooting a lot with the 35mm f/1.4 L over the past few months, and it’s single-handedly ensured that I won’t be jumping ship anytime soon. When you put great glass on a great Canon body (like the 5D Mark II), there’s something about the images that just sings. The files are more organic and feel more malleable in post. Glass like the 35mm prime transforms a camera from a tool into an instrument, and that makes all the difference.

object Favorites by Michael Shane

Adventurebilt Hat Company Fedora

The brown fedora worn by Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark is an iconic piece of headwear. I mention only the first Indiana Jones movie because fans like me – fans who are also nerds – notice that the hats in Temple of Doom and Last Crusade just weren’t quite the same. Dissatisfied with the Indy fedoras available on the market, Steve Delk started the Adventurebilt Hat Company as a one man operation that catered to an exacting group of fans, mostly through the internet. When the time came for Doctor Jones to return to theaters in Crystal Skull, Delk’s fedora was cast as the second most important character in the film. Steve makes every single hat from scratch by hand. It takes months. You could have an Indy fedora or you could have the Indy fedora. I don’t see much of a choice.

object Favorites by Michael Shane

Crumpler Local Identity Bag

When I was a kid, I dreamed of having one of those metal briefcases that people in the movies fill with money. Not because of the money – I just really liked the briefcase. These days I need a gear bag that’s just as rugged, but a bit more flexible. I use the Local Identity, made by Crumpler. The backpack weighs little but is hardy and durable. It’s got a laptop sleeve and an inner compartment that can be configured two ways. Multiple access points are key for me, and the heavy duty zipper, sturdy clasps, and folded design make it tough against the elements. I also love the subtle science fiction style. It stands up to all the punishment New York City has to offer and still looks great.

object Favorites by Sam Sheffer

Supreme Floral Camp Cap

Ellis Hamburger calls this my ‘safari hat,’ but I call it the floral Supreme hat, which is also its proper name. Supreme apparel is actually kind of hard to acquire; the online store restocks every Thursday at 11AM EST and many of the items (hats, shoes, shirts) sell out in a couple of minutes. Luckily for me, my brother was able to snipe this hat for me as a birthday gift. And yes, the brim is suede.

object Favorites by Sam Sheffer

Canon 5D Mark II

I'll admit that I'm an amateur photographer lugging a professional camera around. My first DSLR purchase was a Canon Rebel T2i that I sold a few months ago to purchase a 5D Mark II. Along with it I picked up two lenses (50mm 1.8 and a 24-70mm f2.8L). I mainly use the camera to shoot bands and music videos, though I recently took my setup to Costa Rica. You can check out some of my stuff here and here.

object Favorites by William Savona

Yamaha HS50

If you care about having good quality sound, even for your lossy MP3 collection, then you need a good amp and a good pair of speakers. Unfortunately that's not always an ideal setup for a small workspace. Solution: powered studio monitors. Designed for up-close-and-personal listening sessions, a pair of studio monitors can give you really clean, high quality sound without the need for a separate amp. My favorite pair are the Yamaha HS50s, which provide a great value in terms of quality and are not too big to find space for on my smallish desk.

object Favorites by Scott Lowe

Aldo Fielden Shoes

I'm not a particularly fashionable guy. I typically cycle through several variations of V-necks, jeans, and Converse shoes — I'm the adult Doug Funny. So when I finally branch out, I get pretty excited about it. I picked these up in preparation for a recent trip to Vegas and I'm loving them thus far. They are about as comfortable as my trusty Chucks, but hey, they look good. They seem to say: "I want to look classy, but I'm prepared to spill whisky on my shoes."

object Favorites by Scott Lowe

Yamazaki

Speaking of whisky, a former colleague first introduced me to Yamazaki a few years ago and I recently rediscovered it. While I'm hardly a connoisseur of brown liquors, Yamazaki 12 has the perfect smooth to smokey ratio for my preference. Most bars in San Francisco carry it and despite being imported from Japan, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It's also made by Suntory, the company Bill Murray is promoting in Lost in Translation, so there's some film nerd novelty to it. Should you ever find yourself in relaxing times, make it Yamazaki time.

photo Favorites by Dieter Bohn

Plow Grinder

This is a photo of Nels Peter Holmquist, my great great grandfather, taken in Nebraska around the turn of the century. I've kept it by every desk I've used for near ten years now. It's a reminder of the value of work, of creating tools, and of craftsmanship. Also, it looks pretty cool.

GIF Favorites by Laura June

Cat sewing

Words can't actually express the depth of my affection for this GIF, which is even more meaningless than most. That only intensifies the joy I take in seeing it. I like to keep it in an open tab most of the time, and just browse on over to it when anything gets me down. A minute or two of watching its hypnotizing motion, and I'm all fixed up. Try it for yourself.

podcast Favorites by Laura June

Lapham's Quarterly podcast

Even if you're not a reader of the excellent Lapham's Quarterly (I am), the podcast is a bit of a different beast altogether, and features a wide array of guests which keep me listening every month. The most recent episode features Jon Gertner, the author of The Idea Factory, which is about the birth of Bell Labs and the technological wonders that came out of it.

Other favorite episodes discuss invented languages (Dothraki, Klingon!), and Marc Maron, host of his own WTF podcast makes an appearance in episode number 19.

sport Favorites by Dante D'Orazio

Formula 1

It's sold as the pinnacle of motorsport, and it delivers with a wide range of tracks that includes the tight streets of Monaco and the high-speed corners of Silverstone. Since passing is so difficult and real-time statistics are aplenty, it’s no surprise when a driver catches up to another — it's how the cars continue to battle with the many tools at their disposal that's gripping. High learning curve, no doubt, but it's fantastic. Top tip: be sure to watch qualifying the day before the Grand Prix to see where the racers place on the grid.

art Favorites by Joseph Flatley

John Currin

His oil-on-canvas portraits have to be seen in their full, larger-than-life entirety to be fully appreciated. "Representational but not realistic," Barry Schwabsky has called them, as well as "science fiction." Borrowing equally from the old masters and soft porn, his paintings would be well suited to the home compound of a particularly tasteful supervillain.

artist Favorites by Evan Rodgers

Zac Gorman

There is something fantastically timely about Zac Gorman’s video game artwork. His visual style has grown quite strong recently, but it’s his understanding of the emotion and narrative between the poorly translated lines of retro classics that pushes his artwork far beyond realm of normal “fan art.” Each of his pieces is so unique I couldn’t chose a single favorite!

game Favorites by T.C. Sottek

DayZ

I used to be a huge player of mods — especially for Half-Life and Half-Life 2 — but in recent years I've gravitated towards more mainstream titles like Battlefield 3 and Company of Heroes. Still, even the most polished blockbuster games in the past few years don't hold a candle to the experience I've had so far in this survivalist multiplayer zombie game. While ARMA II's visuals aren't top-of-the-line, the game's tension, pacing, and overall atmosphere is unmatched right now. If you want a closer look at my personal misadventures in the zombie-infested world of Chenarus, check out one of my DayZ diary entries.

podcast Favorites by Bryan Bishop

Scriptnotes

In my past life I worked in the entertainment industry, and talking about films and filmmaking remains one of my most favorite things to do. This podcast by screenwriters John August (Big Fish) and Craig Mazin (The Hangover Part II) is my weekly fix. While it’s ostensibly aimed at film and TV writers, Scriptnotes is a great listen for anyone that’s interested in how movies are written and made. August is also one of the individuals behind Quote-Unquote Apps and Highland — a Markdown variant for screenplays — so the show often provides a healthy dose of tech perspective as well.

TV Favorites by Bryan Bishop

Breaking Bad

Friends have been singing the praises of this show and its pitch-black sense of humor for years. A month ago I finally dove in, and to all those that recommended it: you were right. Bryan Cranston’s constantly-evolving performance and the show’s narrative zigs and zags turn what could have been a one-off gimmick into an exploration of the darkness inside one (seemingly) mild-mannered suburban dad. After tearing through more than four seasons, I now find myself caught up... just as this year's episodes have come to an end. Is it 2013 yet?

game Favorites by Nathan Ingraham

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Don't let the fact that this is a Wii game fool you. Sure, the graphics are decidedly last-generation, but this reboot is both fun and incredibly challenging. It's entirely possible that I'm not very good at games anymore, but Donkey Kong Country Returns contains some wickedly tough levels that nearly drove me to Wii-smashing fury. Fortunately, it's also a really good time, mixing enough new level design and gameplay mechanics with the classic DKC formula. The game seriously tickles the nostalgia bone of anyone who played the SNES in the '90s — the art direction is great without being too derivative, and the original game's fabulous soundtrack is largely intact.

game Favorites by Sean Hollister

Super Smash Bros Brawl

I have played more Super Smash Bros. Brawl than any other game in my short existence, and it's not because I want to be particularly good. My housemates and I have regularly played Brawl for the last four and a half years because of all the crazy random Rube Goldberg / Incredible Machine-like shit the game does. When I casually knock my buddy into a pinball bumper that sends them flying into an armed proximity mine that explodes them into the path of a rolling barrel which knocks them into a spiky sea urchin which just so happens to put them a prime position for another player to smash them into the sky... and the game just randomly happens to spawn a Bob-omb which spontaneously explodes sending a deadly flaming soccer ball to combo them on the way up... the resulting uproar of laughter in the room just leaves me in awe.

GIF Favorites by Sean Hollister

Apprehending criminals like a boss

I understand that this clip is from a Indian action film called Singham, about a police inspector who fights corruption. I haven't seen it yet. Any time I need a reminder of what "badass" means, though, I turn to this GIF.

artist Favorites by David Pierce

Andrew Bird

There is something fantastically timely about Zac Gorman’s video game artwork. His visual style has grown quite strong recently, but it’s his understanding of the emotion and narrative between the poorly translated lines of retro classics that pushes his artwork far beyond realm of normal “fan art.” Each of his pieces is so unique I couldn’t chose a single favorite!

game Favorites by Andrew Webster

FTL: Faster Than Light

FTL scratches an itch I didn’t even know I had. It’s part spaceship simulator, part roguelike role playing game, and the kind of game you go into planning to play for an hour before you realize that it’s 4:00 AM. Each game starts out the same: you need to make a delivery while evading a fleet of rebel ships, but in order to do so you’ll need to make your way through some treacherous regions of space. There’s a nice balance between exploring the galaxy, battling other spaceships, and constantly upgrading your own ship with plenty of new features and weapons. The thing is, as deep as the game is, each round is pretty short, largely because you’re going to die a whole lot. So not only does FTL combine the addictive qualities of a space sim and an RPG, there’s also an arcade-like mentality of constantly going back to play just one more time so that you can beat your previous score. Few games have made dying so addictive.

game Favorites by Andrew Webster

Critter Crunch

I've already played a whole lot of Critter Crunch on the iPhone and PlayStation 3, but the recent Steam re-release was the perfect excuse to jump back in. The Mac and PC version appears to be identical to its PS3 counterpart, but that's just fine — Critter Crunch is one of the more inventive and addictive takes on match-three puzzle games that I've yet played. Plus, it's absolutely gorgeous, with beautiful hand-drawn art to go along with an adorable sense of style. Don't let the bright colors and cute critters fool you, though — there's plenty of challenge here so you'll definitely get your $6.99 worth.

TV Favorites by William Savona

Breaking Bad

AMC's Breaking Bad may have recently started its fifth and final season but I've clearly been under some cultural rock that blinded me from this enthralling gem ("It's not a rock!, it's a mineral"). Thanks to Netflix I've regained some value at the water cooler by catching up on the first 4 seasons. For those unfamiliar, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher who reacts to his sudden lung cancer diagnosis in an unorthodox way. If you haven't seen it I would honestly recommend that you stop reading here and go watch it.

Podcast Favorites by William Savona

The DnA Foodcast

Two guys cook user-submitted recipes and record it live for their DnA Foodcast podcast. Do I need to say more? My favorite part about Dave Hinkle and Alexander Silwinski's podcast is that they don't get too bogged down on the specifics of the recipes they cook. If they don't have an exotic ingredient or don't care for something they just leave it out. The podcast is just as much about the funny things that go wrong while cooking as it is about the actual resulting dish they end up with.

comic Favorites by William Savona

The Unwritten

If you're like me, you're interested in comic books but not necessarily superheroes, then I think you'd enjoy one of the many graphic novel series published by Vertigo. Right now, I'm deep in The Unwritten. The series follows Tom Taylor, the son of missing author Wilson Taylor who is well known for writing a very successful series of books about a child wizard named Tommy Taylor. Tom, left without his father to punish for making him indirectly famous is faced with all kinds of trouble while trying to live a normal life.

game Favorites by Scott Lowe

Sound Shapes

I'm an unabashed fan of the PS Vita, though admittedly, there aren't a ton of 'must-play' games. One of the few truly exceptional Vita-specific experiences, however, is Sound Shapes. It has all of the qualities of a traditional platformer, but it adds a somewhat elevated visual style and a soundtrack from the likes of Deadmau5, Beck, Jim Guthrie, and others. As you traverse levels, the tokens you collect, enemies you encounter, and the environments themselves trigger sounds and combine to form a song. There are even integrated level creation and sharing tools, making it unusually robust for a downloadable title for a portable. If you own a Vita, it's totally worth the $15. Buy it.

artist Favorites by Scott Lowe

Geographer

I saw these guys play at the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco a few months back and I was hooked. I generally avoid excessively indie fare, but they keep the rhythms fairly upbeat and use an interesting combination of synths and strings. If you want to give a few of their tracks a whirl, I'd recommend checking out "Life of Crime" and "Lover's Game" from their album Myth and "Original Sin" and "Kites" from Animal Shapes.