Well, that's that. McCarren Pool – the giant Robert Moses-era landmark that's been revived as a music, theater, dance and film venue after decades of neglect – hosted its last free 'pool party' yesterday. The Bloomberg administration has allocated $50 million to renovate the pool for swimming, restore the historic bathhouse building, and build a year-round recreation center that is to include a skate park and an ice rink. After three years of presenting free......

And then there were three. The “Couch Potato” publicity stunt going on over at ESPN Zone – the favorite restaurant of Yo La Tengo’s James McNew – took a dramatic turn when one of the four contestants abruptly dropped out of the butt-numbing competition. The quitter was Rutgers student Lindsay Wagenblast, the only female participant, who had “emerged as the favorite” in the contest, which started New Year's Day and involves sitting in a recliner......

THEATER: As Steve On Broadway notes, Chicago’s stellar Steppenwolf Theater Company, which launched the careers of Gary Sinise and Little Johnny Malkapee, is back on Broadway for the first time since 2001, when their production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won the Tony for Best Revival. This time they’ve delivered playwright Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County, and after reading today’s rave reviews, you can count on more Tonys flying back to the Windy......

The holiday-time movie releases are starting to pile up with their usual feverish frequency. Some have Christmas themes, like the widely reviled Vince Vaughn vehicle Fred Claus that’s already roadkill on the lost highway of cinema history; others, like Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, are timed to make an impression as close to Academy Award-voting season as possible. Here are some of the biggest gorillas set to dominate New York’s screens in the next six......

Saturday night viewers of NBC didn't get a new episode of Saturday Night Live, but 150 audience members at the UCB Theater did! Live and un-aired, the show was to help raise money for crew members affected by the strike. Amy Poehler, who organized the event, made this statement:"The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater is a second home to a lot of these performers and writers. We are doing this to raise spirits, raise awareness, and......

You know you’ve finally arrived when your name appears in an Onion headline. The satirical paper of record paid that respect to the decades-spanning indie-rock phenomenon Yo La Tengo some years back with an article titled “37 Record-Store Clerks Feared Dead In Yo La Tengo Concert Disaster.” Since 1984 the band, started by husband and wife duo Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan, has been blazing an independent trail of restlessly inventive guitar rock. Their most......

Last night we sent photographer Raymond Haddad to the I'm Not There concert at Beacon Theater. Calexico, The Roots, My Morning Jacket, J Mascis, Yo La Tengo, Mason Jennings, Joe Henry, Mark Lanegan, Lee Ranaldo & the Million Dollar Bashers and many more were on hand to celebrate the soundtrack, the film and of course Bob Dylan himself (who, in fact, was not there). The soundtrack is a double-discer that's been getting praise from......

Looking ahead to this week's movie options, there's a few indie-sized pics and one massive, Super Big Gulp-sized car racing comedy. Ordinarily Gothamist is all about championing the cinematic little guy, but when it's this goofy, yet earnest we say go for the excess. But to the small fish first: Quinceañera is a Los Angeles coming of age story centering around one Mexican-American girl, Magdalena and the traditional celebration which marks her 15th birthday. A......

Tonight is a BIG night, TV-wise, so much so that we can't stand to DVR anything - we need to see it actual time. (Well, we are DVRing it so we can watch it over and over again, but you get the idea and urgency.) There's the Gilmore Girls finale, the Veronica Mars finale, and then a Kathy Griffin special on Bravo! (Okay, the Kathy Griffin special will probably repeat 10 times before the weekend,......

Despite the fact that we saw Hedwig, we hadn't heard of Emily Hubley until we read about An Evening with her (and her friends) at MoMa. This may be because we consume most of our animation in the form of Family Guy. However, chances are if you can have people spend money on an entire evening with you then you're pretty awesome. Hubley introduces the highbrow set to cartoons animation. So get your lowbrow ass......

What? No New Year's plans? Leaving it a bit late, no? Forget the overcrowded bars, the swarms of amateurs, the lame-o house parties. There are a ridiculous number of shows happening around town, some of which are worth your time and some of which not so much. Many of them are sold out, but it's highly possible you could score with the scalpers. Let's have a little look-see, shall we? 2005 was a big year......

If there's one week that folks might be at a loss for things to do in the city, this is the week. You might think not a creature was stirring, but how many times do we have to tell you? This is New York. The kids are definitely not nestled all snug in their beds. What to your wondering eyes should appear this week? Take a look.... You may be done with Christmas, but Yo......

Pickings this week are slimmer than last month's turkey. If your Christmukkah party schedule allows, give yourself an early present and forage for some rock and roll scraps. Monday kicks things off with Spin magazine's Year in Music Party at Rothko, with We Are Scientists, the Spinto Band (at left), and the Five O'Clock Heroes. Of course, it's a private party, so you'll have to call in a favor or two or be creative at......

There are some important shows this week. It's your last chance ever to see Q and not U (@ Knitting Factory). Brian Jonestown Massacre (whose gear was stolen the other day) are at the very small Pianos. Steve Winwood is at the very small Bowery Ballroom. Yesterday Bon Jovi rocked the very small Nokia Theater. These shows all matter, but they're not the focus of this week's post . Instead, let's concentrate this week on......

This weekend seems to be all about the music. Outside, in parks, on rooftops. It'll be everywhere, and here is where we would be if we were you... The Music of Nick Drake will be played at the Central Park Summerstage featuring New York musicians Josh Max and Julie James, (plus some special guests) and an orchestra led by arranger Robert Kirby, who collaborated with Drake on many of his songs. [via FreeNYC] Saturday, July......

Hip-Hop dominates this week with at least three recommended shows. Some of the best acts in indie hip-hop play Irving Plaza tonight (Monday). It’s one of the only stops on the Stone Throw Records Tour featuring Madlib, M.E.D, Peanut Butter Wolf, and J-Rocc. On Tuesday Madlib and M.E.D. will also perform for free at Fat Beats. [Listen to some music Madlib put out on Blue Note.] Last year Madlib joined MF DOOM to release......

Gothamist is definitely interested in films which take creative risks, particularly when it involves a ginormous squishy underdog fighting for love, respect, and glory in wrestling rings. That's why we're going to check out The Calamari Wrestler; a comedy following an ambitious, oversized restaurant-appetizer who revitalizes the Japanese pro wrestling industry by triumphing in their title championship. Directed by Japan's self-proclaimed “Roger Corman” or “Ed Wood, Jr. with talent," this Rocky-meets-Little Shop Of Horrors, has......

Music fans might consider buying tickets for Wednesday's “Yo La Tengo: The Sounds of Science”, where the indie rock favorite will perform their songs to eight short films from oceanographer-documentarian Jean Painleve, the famous Surrealist filmmaker who portrayed sea horses, vampire bats, and fanworms with comic and erotic human traits. It might just be aquamarine rock-cinema at its best. Wednesday, May 18th at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall Theatre, (212) 721-6500, $40 As for this......

This is where Gothamist tells you what tickets to buy...because not every band gives it away for free on a flatbed truck (yes, we've somehow managed to make the free U2 show sound dirty.) So, before the tickets sell out and you are left bargaining on Craigslist, we are here to tell you what to buy... -* First and foremost, they just put up extra tickets to the Guided By Voices shows this weekend. BUY......

New York has a well-earned reputation: bright lights, honking cars, late nights, frantic energy, non-stop. All this constant motion necessitates downtime: an aimless stroll, sifting through the Sunday Times, an afternoon nap, a hot bath. Brooklyn's Argentine makes music that goes hand-in-hand with a somber mood or rainy day. An antidote to a more common musical typology (four boys in suits and haircuts playing something loud and fast and fleeting), Argentine's slowcore sound swells......

Hoboken, land of NY-rent-wary hipsters, Yo La Tengo, and Sinatra, will be getting a W Hotel. Actually, it's a W Hotel and Living Room - hotel rooms and 40 luxury condos - that will open in September 2006. Designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, the W Hoboekn will have "a bar with amazing views of Manhattan, a destination restaurant, a 5,000 square-foot Bliss Spa and fitness facility plus over 11,000 square feet of meeting space,"......

Gothamist is really psyched to check out Dirty on Purpose tomorrow night (details below). Their sound gets endlessly compared to Yo La Tengo and we've been listening to their EP for a while now, but haven't had a chance to catch them live just yet. On any given Sunday we like to scroll over to their song Mind Blindness on our iPod and go walk around a quieter area of downtown...the perfect weekend soundtrack.......

Bruce Bennett, Writer/Typist/Guitarist...

Todd Levin/Bob Powers...

Tinkle Toes
Last night, I went to Tinkle with Tania, Sam T, and others for loads of comedy fun from David Cross, Jon Benjamin, and Todd Barry....

A producer here at work also produced a film about animators John and Faith Hubley. It is screening at Cinema Village on December 9, 6PM. John and Faith were these experimental animators who were independent before independent film was the rage. (Fun fact: One daughter is Georgia, drummer for Yo La Tengo.) Anyway, this PBS site about the film is really interesting...being more familiar with Faith's work, I never knew that John was a Disney......