Television producer Matthew Weiner recently shared his holiday gift horror stories with the Times, relating a sad/funny discovery made by his brother while exchanging a Day-Glo orange sweater given to him by their parents; it turned out they spent $1.00 on the item. Which still doesn’t sound as bad as the gift Weiner got: “a crimson suede Nascar jacket covered with sewn-on patches with emblems of Skoal chewing tobacco and Drakkar Noir cologne. On the......

June 14-16: Food Film Festival, Part 1 This weekend is the official kickoff of the first annual NYC Food Film Festival at Water Taxi Beach. This weekend features regional american burgers and asparagus, with Hamburger America (for those of you who missed our QBQ Burger Bash last year), Asparagus! A Stalk-Umentary, and more, including your chance to taste the famed green chile cheeseburger. Drool. You can find the full schedule here. June 14, 19:......

The most powerful suggestions in this week's NY Times Weddings & Celebrations? If you write about dating or a hapless love life, all is not lost! Actually, we got that idea from Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City, too, but not everyone can end up with Mr. Big or marry a hunky principal dancer at the NY City Ballet. Anyway... The most intriguing meet-cute is that of Kristina Grish and Scott Mebus, who were......

May 12: Brooklyn Pigfest It's the 7th year for this pork-filled event, which also serves as a fundraiser for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. Swine and birds will be tenderly slow-cooked by Waterfront Ale House's own Sam Barbieri and his champion BBQ team, and there will be plenty of cold beer and live music to go around. Tobacco Warehouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park, 1 - 6 p.m., tickets $75, available online in advance and at......

Even though we haven't heard a new Andrew W.K. song since that party hard tune back in the day, he's always managed to pop up with new projects here and there. Last week we mentioned his performance at PIT, and it seems as though he'll be returning there in March. From their website: "Andrew WK: The Joy Trilogy. Rock god and party guerilla Andrew W.K. brings his free-form soulsearching to the PIT! Andrew will riff......

Don't get confused – today is Friday. Gothamist has been a bit under the weather, hence our little weekend movie preview showing up today rather than on its usual Thursday. And while we all anxiously count down the minutes until Monday's Golden Globes, there are a lot of great movie options available without even considering all the 2005 films hoping to take home a prize. Some Quick Gothamist Picks: One of the best places to......

As we enjoy these last dog days of summer, savvy New Yorkers know that it's not too early to think about ordering tickets for some of the cool shows arriving on the fall theater scene, just around the corner. Playwrights Horizons, one of Gothamist’s favorite non-profit theater companies, has announced the opening production of their new season. People Be Heard, a new comedy with songs, will have its world premiere there, with previews starting Tuesday,......

If you're ever sucked into a vortex of court proceedings because your boss may or may not have been helping a lifestyle doyenne get out on a stock deal early, know that there may be hope for your post-court professional life yet: The Daily News' Rush & Molloy report that former stockbroker's assistant Douglas Faneuil, pivotal in the Martha Stewart fraud case, has been working at Debs & Co. gallery, which is co-owned by Choire......

Tonight, PBS airs a three part series, "Becoming American: The Chinese Experience," which spans the dynamic of Chinese in America from the 1800s to present. I'm definitely going to watch, beause I've always thought of myself as American before being Chinese...when cabbies ask me where I'm from, I tend to say "New Jersey." Reviews of "Becoming American" from Newsday and The New York Times. The PBS site for Becoming American and program showtimes on WNET/Thirteen......