Tv

If you like The Great Gatsby, Nero Wolfe, or Boardwalk Empire, be sure to try Miss Fisher's Mysteries, a '20s period piece with a female detective. It's quite fun and is streaming on Netflix -- and there are books to read if you prefer, all by Kerry Greenwood. If you enjoy jazz or 1920s music, you'll love their scores: there are THREE soundtracks so far! All on itunes.

To see stills and gifs from the series look at MissFisher'sMurderMysteries, for photos see too MissFisher'sCaps.

Be sure NOT to watch the pilot episode first, which is more 'cute and quirky' than the rest of the 2 seasons of the series. I prefer the other episodes to the first. Miss Fisher is a fun, moving series with a great sensibility and great love stories, as well as a type of modern, Bechdel test passing quality that many people will enjoy. There is a broad spectrum of characters, it's not just flappers only. The quality of 1920s fashion in the show is great and really fun -- the costumes are truly a cut above, quite beautiful.

Interstellar

Nolan did it again, with his great film Interstellar. It's both visually amazing and exciting, with a lot of emotional, moving scenes. The ideas about physics and quantum concepts were amazing, and really spark you to learn more. Read NolanFans if you enjoy his work, there are reviews and forums, and great fan art.

The Interstellar film score is great -- and also if you like Zimmer or film soundtracks, be sure to listen to the live, orchestra versions that are often online, like Zimmer's Inception score live concert here and Michael Giacchino's Star Trek reboot track 'Enterprising young men' here.

India

Some great places to see photos of India are IndiaIncredible and Vintage India [for older photos, this is a great one]. Here are some Sept. 2014 Bollywood songs, always fun to listen to and see if any favorites emerge, and the excellent song collection here to try--including the opening 2014 song Devil's 'Yaar Naa Miley' and the famous, fast older 'Munni Badnam' at min. mark 8:41, and at mark 17:36 is the very infamous, lively older song 'Sheila Ki Jawaani'.

For older, more traditional music try Anoushka Shankar - Indian Classical Raga.

The image below is Vinayaka [another name for Ganesha, with his elephant head is in the center] with his consorts in the temple, from a book by P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar (from 1920), South Indian shrines: illustrated. [On wiki images]

Music

Some great recent mashups are Ariana Grande x Ciara - Problem Yeah I Know (Mashup) (Feat Iggy Azalea) and Bang Bang vs. Shake It Off (Mashup) - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj & Taylor Swift.

There's also the great Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX vs. Britney Spears - "Fancy One More Time" (Mashup).

The Interstellar score by Hans Zimmer is also excellent, but be sure to hear it first with the incredible images of hurtling through space in the film--try 'Day one dark' for a sense of the haunting, atmospheric terror. It's almost like an intellectual, complex, esoteric, humanity/Carl Jung-focused version of Silent Hill. Many people have enjoyed the great song featured in the Exodus film trailer, Sydney Wayser's 'Belfast Child', it's quite moving.

Costume

One great painting is "Pierrette" by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, a Spanish realist painter (1841-1920)--the title is the feminine form of 'pierrot', the famous regular character in the Commedia dell'Arte's early theater:

Mozartian scores

David Buckley's score for the tv show The Good Wife is a score to check out if you like 'refined-lively' or classical-esque soundtracks. His piece "Countdown to Execution" is intense, and builds and builds even in the moments that you at first feel are simply a slower pause.

The piece "Waiting Room Rondo" is just excellent, and would appeal to anyone that loves Mozart's light work. It's really enchanting.

For a more somber, sad and moving moment, his track "Alicia Reflects" has a great moment at 1:41 and after.

Fall

There are so many things to pack into the fall season--planning out what to try for Thanksgiving, trying candy apples, apple cider, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, enjoying the leaves up in New England in the USA. Be sure to schedule everything in and do everything at least once! The cover illustration is by Rea Irwin. 

Driving Music

Some modern stuff to try is Ladytron's great piece "Tomorrow" or "Ghosts" [especially for people who like First Aid Kit, Lana del Rey or The Capricorns] and Trap Nation's "Delay Remix of Black Widow by Iggy Azalea & Rita Ora".

If you prefer medieval or Renaissance music, or just want to try some, listen to "Songs and Dances from The Flemish Renaissance". It's great in the car or as a lovely counterpoint to listen to, in silence or in the background.

Renaissance

Bellini's [1430-1516] painting "Madonna in trono col Bambino e santi detta pala di San Giobbe" [The Madonna enthroned with Child and saints of the Saint Job Palace] from c. 1497 is a great, exceptional Renaissance work. It's one of the best pieces with a lower profile than many other famous works. Look at that ceiling [with gold mosaic old-style angel depictions [ie just a head and many wings], and all the saints, including Sebastian [unclothed and hit with arrows]. Even the throne for Mary is quite interesting, as are the cute little bottom angels playing instruments.

Relaxing

One great piece to try that includes both flute and harpsichord is German Baroque composer Telemann's [1681-1767] Nouveaux Quatuors Parisiens no. 6 - Modéré performed by a great group [be sure to listen to more of their work here: Nevermind, ie. try the slow and lovely "La Cupis" by J.P. Rameau] of Anna Besson, Louis Creac'h, Robin Pharo and Jean Rondeau on flute, violin, viola and harpsichord respectively.

Actually, if you prefer gothic, Symbolist style music instead of Baroque, try the cd Rachmaninov Songs, the piece "Vocalise [op. 34, no. 14]" performed by Joan Rodgers & Howard Shelley. Rachmaninoff [many spellings happen due to transliterating] was a famous Russian composer [1873-1943] who wrote a lot of moody, emotive, gothic E.A. Poe style music.

Many people decompress by watching dramas--the urgency and shocks onscreen put everything into perspective for you, making you feel better about whatever annoyances and worries you face. One such tv series is The Good Wife. It has become so much more than its original premise that I only wish they would alter the title to reflect it--it's one of the most moving and wrenching shows of the decade. It's very mature, and very philosophical; no one gets away free or clean. Everyone is faced with reality, the truth: of hard choices, of no answers, of no solutions or balms.

It's the new must watch, gripping show, much like True Detective was. And similarly, at first many people didn't see how incredible both were going to be. They could have slid off the rails early on, but didn't, they just exponentially grew in genius.

Trips

In America it is sometimes easy to overlook our own country for Europe. There are a host of natural wonders here, however, from North Carolina's Black River [with moss-covered cypress trees looming everywhere, for the spooky and gothic among us] to Maine's Acadia National Park. And of course there's Boston's art museums and Italian palazzo [housing a public library collection].

New York City too has unique places by the dozens, as does nearby Montreal. Don't forget to check out local food festivals, cultural celebrations, Oktoberfests and Scottish games. It's easy to focus on distant locales and miss out on regional extravaganzas.

Food

Food is very personal and subject to time period and culture, region. Still, one can venture out and try some simple sushi, some poutine, some mango bubble tea. Two things to potentially try are falafel and almond marzipan horns [they look like horseshoes].

Falafel mix [the ground chickpeas already mixed with spices] is often in the imported food section of grocery stores, and can come from many countries. It's easy to simply bake it all in a pan instead of frying it. Falafel is a great way to add both spicy food and vegetables into your meals, and you can eat it with cucumber slices and some yogurt or sauce to balance out the spiciness. People who don't like the typical blandness of vegetables will love it.

Another interesting world cuisine find is Germanic/Bavarian almond horns. They are covered in sliced almonds and are made of marzipan in a type of almond cookie result. If you like red Italian almond cookies [shaped like a circle with a little cherry in the middle sometimes], try these. They are easy to find in local bakeries, give them a search. You may have already tried them at area Oktoberfests.

Harp

Be sure to try some harp music, especially as it is sometimes underrepresented in classical music. A good place to start is the classic and beautiful "Concerto No. 6 for Harp and Orchestra, op. 9" by Jean-Baptiste Krumpholtz [1742-1790]. He was an important Czech composer and harpist. He played all over Europe and in Hungary.

Art

There are often classic artists that Westerners still haven't been truly exposed to. One such painter is Mikhail Nesterov [М. Нестеровой] [1862-1942], a famous Symbolist Russian painter. This painting "The girl in the headdress" [Девушка в кокошнике] is from 1885. He has many, many incredible pieces. His work makes you want to watch the incredible 2002 time travel, mostly 1800s-focused art film Russian Ark [Русский ковчег, said 'Russkij Kovcheg'] again--it was done in one take! It's truly unique and interesting. It's shot all at the Winter Palace at the Russian Hermitage Museum by famous director Alexander Sokurov.

Music

One thing to try in music is different adaptations--different takes on similar themes. It can be "Lara's Theme" [by the famous composer Maurice Jarre] from Dr. Zhivago [the American film adaptation of the famous novel], which has a great alternate version in the "Suite" by Jarre and the live one from Andre Rieu. Try the great singer Anastasia Lee's version as well.

Another example is "Edelweiss", the famous white Alpine flower song from The Sound of Music [a great version is sung by operatic soprano Anastasia Lee]--many people incorrectly think this is an old song native to Austria, but it is not.

Netherlands

Art always has interesting people involved--in this case, let's reflect on Judith Jans Leyster [or Leijster], [1609-1660] wife of a painter [Jan Miense Molenaer] who created her own works. About twenty works of hers survive. She entered the artist's guild of Haarlem in the Netherlands [in North Holland], one of the first women to do so, though many were involved in their family workshops and contributed without being in the guild on paper. This is her "Merry Trio" [ca. 1630]:

Bach

Enjoying music on harpsichord can be hard at first, our ears are no longer accustomed to it. Try some famous pieces by Bach on a spinet - a great performance, and very accessible. It begins with the lovely 'Prelude Fugue No. 1 in C Major' [BWV 846] which opens Bach's famous The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1.

The image below is an English bentside spinet by Thomas Hitchcock - Haddlon Hall (Derbyshire).