海角大神

Hot dogs in Chi-Town

If you know Chicago, you know it loves its hot dogs (pickle spear, no ketchup!). Hot Doug鈥檚 is a hot-dog restaurant with an hour-long line; Hot Doug鈥檚: The Book tells how it all (including the game-meat dogs and duck-fat fries) came to be 鈥� complete with photos, favorite anecdotes, and fan mail. The owner, Doug Sohn, adds as much to the experience as the perfect 鈥渟nap鈥� of the hot dogs. You鈥檒l devour every word.

Balkan brass

Brasslands is an award-winning documentary film and CD soundtrack about a yearly trumpet competition that, with its more than a half-million fans, takes over Gu膷a, a tiny Serbian village. The film is in limited release in the United States (check ), but the raucous CD that is a celebration of the human spirit amid adversity is available through Evergreene Music.

Dance masters

The documentary Dancing at Jacob鈥檚 Pillow: Never Stand Still is a love letter about an iconic institution and dance 鈥� ballet, modern, and jazz. Nestled deep in the Massachusetts Berkshires, Jacob鈥檚 Pillow was founded in the 1930s by modern-dance pioneer Ted Shawn. With interviews of such masters as Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris, Judith Jamison, and Suzanne Farrell, as well as a slew of up-and-coming talent, this award-winning film is an encyclopedia of American dance. It airs on 鈥檚 鈥淕reat Performances鈥� July 26.

Mob mentality

This seems to be the summer of the mob, with the James 鈥淲hitey鈥� Bulger trial under way in Boston and HBO offering old episodes of The Sopranos. connects all the dots with its comprehensive-if-chilling Inside the American Mob, premi猫ring July 28 at 9 p.m. It鈥檚 a history lesson on the modern Mafia, told by FBI agents, informants, and police who helped take down La Cosa Nostra. Each hour examines a pivotal time frame, beginning with 1970 and leading up to the present.

Desktop coffee shop

It鈥檚 a website (soon to be an app) with a premise so simple that we were skeptical: The ambient sounds of a cafe provide a measure of white noise that may actually ease the creative process. Coffitivity () delivers to your desktop a low-level clink-and-chatter audio track that鈥檚 seamlessly looped 鈥� and rather relaxing. Other sites provide other ambient sounds. But we鈥檒l take this one, with a decaf latte, and save the trouble of finding a spot at Starbucks.

A career on 88 keys

To celebrate Leon Fleisher鈥檚 85th birthday, Columbia/Epic and Sony Classical are releasing a 23-CD deluxe box set spanning this great American pianist鈥檚 55-year career. Two discs capture Fleisher at the peak of his reemergence after his right hand was disabled in 1965, plus a third disc of 鈥淧iano Concertos for the Left Hand鈥� with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The last disc of three Mozart piano concertos was released in 2009, his first two-hand concerto recording in more than 40 years.