May 26, 2008 issue

Our top picks for the week

Hear Jesse McCartney’s “Departure.” Well, that explains the title. McCartney, 21, is all grown up and puffing out his chest with his third album. The R&B-heavy beats and well-placed falsetto will have Justin Timberlake watching his “sexy back.”

Rent “Square Pegs: The Complete Series.” Long before Judd Apatow’s “Freaks and Geeks” there was this gem of a sitcom, which stars Sarah Jessica Parker in her pre-Carrie Bradshaw days (circa 1982), as a geeky high schooler longing to fit in among the cool kids.

Surf charitynavigator.org for a list of organizations accepting donations for victims of the earthquake in China and the cyclone in Burma. (Look under “Hot Topics” on the home page.) Mercy Corps and Direct Relief International are two of the recommended relief agencies.

Enter Cook’s Country magazine’s Lost Suppers contest (cookscountry.com/lostsuppers for details). Have a favorite, original make-from-scratch dinner recipe? Send it in by Sept. 1 for a chance to win $10,000, plus inclusion in a cookbook.

Go to the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, an annual celebration of ethnic, folk and traditional arts. The four-day-long festival includes dance performances, visual-arts exhibits, workshops, demonstrations and kids’ activities (May 23–26; nwfolklife.org).