1. Happy birthday to Johann Sebastian Bach, born in 1685 today. His sonatas and partitas for solo violin are some of my favorites ever–here’s the complete Partita in E Major.

2. Speaking of music, I just learned about  Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, and The Dharohar Project, which combines folk rock and a group from Rajasthan. It sounds like a terrible idea on paper but in practice it’s like an Irish band crashed an Indian wedding and everybody had a great time. I can’t stop listening to it. See for yourself–give it until about 2:00 in, when the banjo and tabla (!) really kick in.