'Allegiance' Original Broadway Cast Recording

Starring Lea Salonga, George Takei and Telly Leung



The original cast recording of the Broadway musical Allegiance, starring George Takei, Lea Salonga and Telly Leung, with lyrics and music by Jay Kuo, is now available digitally and in stores.

Allegiance (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Inspired by true events, Allegiance is the story of the Kimura family, whose lives are upended when they and 120,000 other Japanese Americans are forced to leave their homes following the events of Pearl Harbor. Sam Kimura seeks to prove his patriotism by fighting for his country in the war, but his sister, Kei, fiercely protests the government's treatment of her people.

Allegiance is the story of one family's resilience in the face seemingly insurmountable odds, following the Kimuras as they fight between duty and defiance, custom and change, family bonds and forbidden loves.

Here's a preview of the album:

'Reflection Eternal' by Kero Uno

Los Angeles emcee's full-length debut producer album.



Los Angeles-based emcee/producer Kero Uno -- formerly known as Kero One -- recently dropped his latest full-length album Reflection Eternal, now available on Plug Label. For fans of Kero's jazzy hip hop/soul sound, the new electronic-inspired record doesn't demand too much of a spiritual leap. It's still pretty damn dope. Here, Kero takes a seat as producer, working with emcees and vocalists from around the country.

Preview a couple of tracks:

BAIT x Bruce Lee x Onitsuka Tiger 75th Anniversary Sneakers

Limited edition "Corsair - Jeet Kune Do" and "Colorado 85 - Legend"



Last week marked Bruce Lee's 75th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, BAIT joined forces with Onituska Tiger and Bruce Lee Enterprises for a special release of two different limited edition sneakers, inspired by the design originally made famous by the yellow-and-black pair worn by the martial arts legend in Game of Death.

The navy/white Corsair - Jeet Kune Do ($120) and the yellow/black Colorado 85 - Legend ($160), both branded with the special Bruce Lee 75th anniversary logo, were released on November 27 at BAIT chapter stores and via online raffle. If you were too slow -- like me -- to cop a pair, I regret to inform you that they're sold out from the BAIT online store. (You might be able to fetch a pair for a hefty price tag on eBay.)

But damn, those are some pretty sweet kicks. Here are some more glamour shots:

Angry Gift Guide: The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki

Blu-ray box set includes animation master's 11 feature films



Fellow Miyazaki maniacs, there is no way around it: somehow, you must get your hands on The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki, available exclusively from Amazon. The comprehensive Blu-ray box set includes each of the revered animation master's eleven feature films, plus rare works from Miyazaki's early career.

The 12-disc set features Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, and The Wind Rises. Bonus materials include Yuki no Taiyo -- a 1972 television pilot directed, storyboarded and animated by Hayao Miyazaki, as well as three episodes of the 1972 Miyazaki-storyboarded anime series Akado Suzunosuk, and more.

Here's some more info on the set:

New Music: 'Lovers and Loners' by Kim Edwards

New acoustic pop EP from Pennsylvania-based singer/songwriter



Just got around to listening to Lovers and Loners, the new EP from Pennsylvania-based singer/songwriter Kim Edwards, and I love it. The follow-up to her acclaimed 2012 debut full-length album Wanderlust, it's a gorgeous little six-song slice of acoustic pop goodness. You can count me as her newest fan.

Here's the music video for the track "The Sweetest Sound":

'The Walking Dead' Glenn in Riot Gear Statue

1:4 Scale Limited Edition Statue for 'The Walking Dead' Super-Fan



With the return of AMC's hit zombie drama The Walking Dead, we welcome back Steven Yeun as fan-favorite undead apocalypse survivor Glenn Rhee. I know there some pretty big Glenn fans out there... but are you a Glenn superfan? Because a true superfan would save up and clear off some space on the coffee table for this ridiculously expensive statue of Glenn in Riot Gear. It'll set you back about $400.

But man, is it handsome.

New Music: 'The News Today' by Carry Hatchet

Debut solo album by singer/songwriter Christopher Larkin



Actor Christopher Larkin stars as Monty Green on the CW sci-fi drama The 100. He's also an immensely talented singer and songwriter, and makes music under the pseudonym Carry Hatchet. He recently released his debut acoustic folk pop album The News Today, and it's pretty damn great. He wrote and performed all ten songs on the album, with vocals by Julia Best on three songs. I've had it playing nonstop for the past week.

Here's the music video for "On the Mend":

Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang & Mike Holmes

New graphic novel series teaches young readers the magic of computer coding.



Secret Coders, the latest book from award-winning graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang with artist Mike Holmes, imagines an adventure story for middle schoolers that's kind of like Harry Potter, only instead of magic wands, the young students use computers and learn the magic of computer coding.

The series is set at Stately Academy, where the walls and buildings are crawling with mysteries. The founder of the school programmed clues and puzzles into its very stones to challenge his enterprising students. A seventh grader named Hopper and her friend Eni are determined to get to the bottom of it. Using their wits and their growing prowess with coding, they set out to solve the mystery of Stately Academy no matter what it takes.

Here's a preview of Secret Coders:

'Nanjing: The Burning City' by Ethan Young

Graphic novel tells a powerful account of one of the worst war atrocities of the twentieth century.



Writer/illustrator Ethan Young's graphic novel Nanjing: The Burning City is a powerful and moving account of one of the worst war atrocities of the twentieth century. Set during the Second Sino-Japanese War when the Imperial Japanese Army seized the Chinese capital of Nanjing, the story follows two abandoned Chinese soldiers -- trapped and desperately outnumbered inside the walled city -- as they try to escape.

Nanjing, recently published from Dark Horse Comics, unflinchingly delves into one of the most harrowing chapters of the World War II, pulling no punches in its stark, monochrome depiction of the horrors and human cost of conflict, while telling a heart-wrenching tale of bravery, dignity and defiance. It's a remarkable, devastating book that stays with you long after you've finished it.

Here's a trailer for the book:

Cornucopias Are Actually Horrible Containers

Listen to a track from comedian Sheng Wang's debut full-length standup album.



I'm a huge fan of comedian Sheng Wang, who performs smart, observational, self-deprecating comedy, coupled with a dry, laidback delivery and a hint of a Taiwanese-Texas drawl. Coming up from the Bay Area comedy scene, he's appeared on his own half-hour Comedy Central special, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show.

So check it. Sheng, who was a top ten finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing and recently joined the writing staff of Fresh Off The Boat, is dropping is debut full-length standup album Cornucopias Are Actually Horrible Containers. I mean, they really do. I've heard the album, and it's pee-in-your-pants funny.

Here's a preview of one of my favorite bits from Cornucopias:

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

Comedian's new book explores the pleasures and perils of our new romantic world.



Let's face it: courting, communicating and finding love seems a lot more complicated than it used to be. Technology was supposed to make everything a little easier on all of us, but why does it seem like everybody is just more frustrated? We get some answers from an unlikely modern thinker: Aziz Ansari.

Ansari, standup comedian and star of Parks and Recreation, is your guide to love in the digital age in his new book Modern Romance, on shelves this week. For years, Ansari has been aiming his comic insight at modern romance, but for this book he takes things to another level, teaming up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg to combine his irreverent humor with cutting-edge social science to give us a tour of our new romantic world.

First, here's a clip of Aziz on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, reading some embarrassing first text exchanges between guys and girls. These are actual first attempts at romantic overtures:

'Agents of SHIELD' Agent May Pop! Vinyl Figure

Made in the likeness of one of the most badass characters on television.



Yes! Fellow collectors, you will be happy to know that one of the most badass characters on television now has her very own bobble head figure. Agent Melinda May, played by Ming-Na Wen on the hit TV show Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, has been immortalized as a Pop! Vinyl Figure Bobble Head by Funko.

And yes, the figure is indeed Ming-Na Wen approved:

'Rad American Women A-Z'

Picture book profiles "Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History... and Our Future!"



THIS IS AWESOME. If you're looking for a fun, colorful book to teach kids -- and heck, grownups too -- about real-life incredible, visionary, revolutionary women, spanning the entire alphabet, then you need this book.

Rad American Women, A-Z by written by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl, profiles 26 of America's famous and unsung heroines -- past, present and future. It's feminist history in a picture book.

A is for Angela Davis. B is for Billie Jean King. C is for Carol Burnett. Y is for Yuri Kochiyama. Z is for Zora Neale Hurston. X is for the women whose names we don't know, "the women we haven't learned about yet, and the women whose stories we will never read." Incredible.

Here are a couple of the illustrations:

Bruce Lee x MSTR Limited Edition Racer Watch

Individually numbered to 500 pieces worldwide



Aaahhhh. You know I am a sucker for all things Bruce Lee. So you know I am mad coveting this dope limited edition Bruce Lee x MSTR Watch, a collaboration between Meister and Bruce Lee Enterprises. Featuring the iconic Bruce Lee yellow and Flying Man logo, each handsomely designed watch is individually numbered and limited to 500 pieces worldwirde. And it comes with a pair of replica Signature Sunglasses.

It'll set you back $280. Here are some more details:

'Gifted Student' by Adam WarRock

Adam WarRock makes indie hip hop about pop culture, and his latest album kicks ass.



Our friend Eugene Ahn, who makes kickass, super-fun geeky hip hop as emcee Adam WarRock, just dropped a new album. The eight-track EP Gifted Student, produced by Mikal kHill with guest vocals by kHill, Sulfur and Mega Ran, is some seriously good shit -- some of the best rapping he's ever done.

And come on, you can't beat that vintage album cover photo, courtesy of Eugene's mom.

Take a listen:

'In Tokens & Charms' by Prateek Kuhad

Debut full-length studio album from Indian singer/songwriter.



I recently got turned on to the music of Delhi-based multi-lingual indie singer/songwriter Prateek Kuhad, who makes wonderfully warm and soulful folksy pop rock. He just released his debut full-length studio album In Tokens & Charms, and it's pretty darn marvelous. The ten-track album is a thoughtful, inviting conversation about youth, love and liberation. You're gonna love it.

Here's a preview of the whole album:

Red Baraat's 'Gaadi of Truth' is one hell of a jam.

Hear the new record from the Brooklyn-based brass-and-beats band.



Awwwwww yeah. I am seriously digging Gaadi of Truth, the brand-new album that just dropped from Brooklyn-based brass-and-beats band Red Baraat. It is one hell of a jam. With founder and bandleader Sunny Jain rocking the dhol, the new record expands the band's multicultural Bhangra boogie down sound into new directions, with electronic, hip hop and other influences.

Listen to a preview of the album:

Angry Gift Guide: Sriracha2Go

Bring the Sriracha. No, literally bring it.



Looking for a gift a last-minute gift for that loved one who likes it spicy?

Do you love Sriracha? I mean, REALLY FREAKING LOVE SRIRACHA? With Sriracha2Go, you'll never worry about a sriracha-less meal again. It's a miniature bottle of Sriracha that attaches to your keychain. It's simple and brilliant, and I know what you're thinking: why the hell didn't I think of that?

Angry Gift Guide: 'A Picture of You' Limited Edition DVD

"A serious movie about life that gets sideswiped in the supermarket parking lot by a funny movie about death."



Here's a cool gift idea for the indie film lover in your life...

Writer/director JP Chan's award-winning feature film debut A Picture of You, starring Jo Mei, Andrew Pang and Jodi Long, is described as "a serious movie about life that gets sideswiped in the supermarket parking lot by a funny movie about death." The movie is now available on DVD exclusively from Amazon.

Estranged siblings Jen and Kyle travel from New York City to rural Pennsylvania to pack up the home of their recently deceased mother. While there, they inadvertently make a shocking discovery that turns their world upside-down. It's a story about family, loss, secrets, letting go, and starting anew. I'm a big fan of this film.

Here's the trailer again:

Goh Nakamura sings you 'Songs to Make Out To'

Singer/songwriter's new cover album is like "the musical equivalent of a warm hug."



If you're looking for some new-old music to make out to, look no further singer/songwriter Goh Nakamura's latest release Songs to Make Out To, a really cool collection of covers. It's Goh's unique take on songs like "This Will Be Our Year," "Wonderwall," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and one of my favorites, "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. Goh likens the 10-track album to "the musical equivalent of a warm hug." As I listen to it while looking out the window on this rare rainy California day, it's pretty damn perfect.

Here's Goh's take on "How Deep Is Your Love":