gistfile1.txt

var DirectoryView = Backbone.View.extend({
    el: $("#recordings"),

    initialize: function () {
        this.collection = new Directory(contacts);
        this.render();
    },

    render: function () {
        var that = this;

        _.each(this.collection.models, function (item) {
            that.renderContact(item);
        }, this);
    },

    renderContact: function (item) {
        var contactView = new ContactView({
            model: item
        });

        console.log("this logs out the proper markup: ", contactView.render().el);
        // but this does not seem to append anything to this.$el (div#recordings):
        this.$el.append(contactView.render().el);
        /* this.$el looks like this:
         {
           context: #document,
            selector: "#recordings"
         }
        */
    }
});

var directory = new DirectoryView();