The Crockpot: A Weekly Link-Digest from Utne

• Light rail bridge construction in Portland, Oregon, depends, literally, on the ears of salmon.
• The Citizen Jane festival celebrates films made by women. (Check out the awesome-sounding lineup.)
• The life and times of a private eye in Salt Lake City. (Yes, it involves a Burger King stakeout.)
• Get bent, Oprah. Check out the books and magazines (including Utne Reader)in the Lisa Simpson Book Club.
• You’ve heard of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, right, mateys? Now you can add International Talk Like a Beat Day to your calendar, the perfect time to mimic the acid-fried, crypto-spiritual slang of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Ken Kesey.
• The Guardian chimes in on the 10 best songs based on books. Glad to see Kate Bush, Mastodon, and Jefferson Airplane on the list.
• No matter how many times your rambling great-uncle explains it to you, peak oil is hard to wrap your head around. Let an economist make things clear.
• Could you forgive the man who shot you in the face? In the days after 9/11, a Dallas man named Mark Stroman went on a revenge killing spree. Rais Bhuiyan survived and, a decade later, tried to stop Stroman’s execution.
• The final words of famous authors, from Hunter S. Thompson to Louisa May Alcott. One can only hope to have the deathbed moxie of Voltaire.
• Taking eco-fashion to the extreme: A dress made from 3,000 yak nipples.
• Did you miss the Republican primary debate last week? Check out this telling infographic, which shows how much airtime each topic and candidate received and offers video clips of the most memorable moments.