TV/Food

'Bizarre Foods America'

Travel and food TV shows about your own city tend to be predictable and full of clichés. But not an Andrew Zimmern show. His trip to Seattle to check out our food scene on "Bizarre Foods America" (9 p.m. Monday on the Travel Channel) includes him eating cow placenta and drinking chicken blood. And no, it didn't taste like chicken.

Tan Vinh,

Seattle Times staff writer

TV/Twitter

Patton Oswalt

If you are a fan of comedian Patton Oswalt and the current mania for the second season of "Downton Abbey," do yourself a favor and log on to Twitter (@pattonoswalt) and follow him during the show and prepare to laugh. A lot. A recent convert to the series, Oswalt is both irreverent and genuine in his love for all things Downton. Examples: "I could power a Vespa scooter on Carson's rumbling voice" "That long-handled shoehorn was the iPhone 4S of 1916" and "More evil is hatched during O'Brien and Thomas' cigarette breaks than 10 board meetings at Nestle."

Doug Knoop, Seattle Times staff

Music

Bill Evans

How often we neglect old friends and what a pleasure it is to return to them. Probably because drummer Paul Motian passed recently, I've been drawn to revisit the classic Bill Evans trio albums with him and bassist Scotty LaFaro ("Explorations," "Portrait in Jazz," "Waltz For Debby," "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" — they're all in print, as are various box sets). Was there ever an ensemble that breathed so naturally and squeezed so much wrenching pathos out of "How Deep is the Ocean," "Nardis" and "My Romance"? This music works wonders for the start of my day — and the end of it, too.

Paul de Barros,

Seattle Times jazz critic