You Will Meet a Wonderful Playlist 36

Well, the Phillies haven't scored in 23 innings and look prepared to disappoint us all again. At least the football season started last night with the Eagles losing 16-10, but mostly playing well. Donovan McNabb looked sharp and Brian Westbrook got his new contract. I'm ready for the season. Can we fast-forward to September?

For you non-Eagle fans (or non-football fans), there is another reason to cheer for my Birds this year. Their GO GREEN Initiative has planted trees in the city, lent support to stop global warming and pushed fans to do a better job at recycling. One of their latest efforts -- the Eagles Forest at one of my favorite places Neshaminy State Park -- was aimed at offsetting the carbon emissions from their game-day travel. And the team recently made MSN's list of Top 15 Green Sports Stars. (Click through, they're number 9).

And let's not forget the Eagles cheerleaders who are doing their part, too.

Now onto Playlist 36 ...


The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. Jennifer 8. Lee.
They are there in every strip mall in just about every town -- a Chinese restaurant. There are more of them than there are McDonald's. And although they are mostly all individually owned Mom and Pop places, the menu in almost every Chinese restaurant is the same. New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee (yes, her middle name is 8.) looks into several mysteries surrounding American Chinese food. Her interesting and funny, if sometimes scattered, journey finds out who invented the fortune cookie, the role of immigration in the Chinese food industry, what's not in your American soy sauce and who the heck created General Tso's chicken. This is a fun book for foodies and non-foodies alike. (Find out more about General Tso in our Weekly Wikipedia link).

A Certain Feeling. Bodies of Water.
If you like the sweeping grandeur of Polyphonic Spree or the pulsating drama of Arcade Fire, you'll love these guys -- a four-piece that sometimes swells to 11. What separates them from the aforementioned bands is their love of traditional folk music and gospel. In fact, they list their favorite gospel
quartets in the bio section on their Web site.

Visits Planet Earth/Interstellar Low Ways. Sun Ra.
This great collection of Sun Ra's work from 1956-1960 illustrates how he and his band shifted from the bop and swing of Reflections in Blue and El Viktor to the less conventional space jazz of Interstellar Music and my favorite Arkestra song of all time Rocket Number Nine Takes Off for the Planet Venus.