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December 16, 2008
Father of Bronx, husband of Ashlee and 1/4 of Fall Out Boy, Pete Wentz, attempted to put on an impromptu concert yesterday with his band. The scene: Washington Square Park; the time: 3:30 p.m.; the outcome: a cappella. One blogger recaps the scene, which they say was "inspired by Bob Dylan’s improptu ’60s performances in the same location." Allegedly Wentz had written about the show on his blog the night before, but "just as the...
Continue Reading "Wentz & Co. Played Washington Square Park"
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Earlier this year it was announced that a Hamptons for Hipsters was about to take shape in Atlantic City, courtesy of the Beatrice Inn boys Paul Sevigny and Matt Abramcyk. The two have taken their aesthetic and transferred it over to The Chelsea's 5th floor, which houses a game room, several lounges, a pool, patios and a restaurant. But you know what they say: you can't take the New Jersey out of Atlantic City. We...
Continue Reading "Beatrice Inn Classing up Atlantic City"
Everyone's favorite loser is coming to Brooklyn this month to spread some nostalgic holiday cheer. The Pig Brooch Theatre Company is performing A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Brooklyn Lyceum the weekend of December 19th. The troupe "will perform verbatim the television special...accompanied by a jazz trio performing all of the Vince Guaraldi favorites live! The actors created The Charlie Brown Christmas at the Penn State Theatre program, where performances have become an annual tradition....
Continue Reading "A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live in Brooklyn!"Every Christmas residents of the predominantly Italian-American community of Dyker Heights in Brooklyn try to outdo each other for the most epic light display. And they're certainly not about to let a little economic meltdown spoil the festivities; this year's displays are as spectacular as they were in the year 2000, when the hilarious documentary Dyker Lights was filmed. (It airs again on PBS Thursday night!) Here's a map of the neighborhood, and if you...
Continue Reading "Dyker Heights Lights 2008: It's ON!"
Photos by T. Brolin. Knock knock! Who's there? It's the hunky Time Warner cable guy of your dreams! You know, the one that doesn't exist. The company has released a calendar for the new year, and the Daily News has revealed each month's photos (which include the men, and some women, of TWC). NYMag declares that it will make all of your Time Warner Cable guy fantasies come true (except "the ones where you...
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December 15, 2008
The restaurant formerly known as Anytime Cafe on North 6th Street in Williamsburg has been transformed into Lovin' Cup Cafe...and now, an attached space in the back of the joint will become a venue. Not much information is available yet, but the unfortunately named The Cameo "is a venue in the heart of Williamsburg that functions as a visual art gallery by day, and a music venue by night. A cross between Pianos and the...
Continue Reading "New Venue Alert: The Cameo in Williamsburg"
MOVIE: A soon-to-be holiday classic, Christmas on Mars, is screening for free tonight in Brooklyn. "The Flaming Lips present a fantastical film freakout" which follows the colonization of Mars during Christmastime, but "when an oxygen generator and a gravity control pod malfunction, Major Syrtis and his team fear the worst. Syrtis also hallucinates about the birth of a baby, and many other strange things. Meanwhile, a compassionate alien superbeing (Wayne Coyne) arrives, inspiring and helping...
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At 16, Madeleine Martin is the youngest cast member in the Tony award-winning play, August: Osage County, but she's already had an impressive career. Besides the fistful of Broadway shows under her belt, she also portrays David Duchovny's daughter, Becca Moody, in the TV series Californication. You can currently catch her live on stage in August: Osage County (tickets), which is enjoying an extended run at the Music Box Theatre and will soon be adapted...
Continue Reading "Madeleine Martin, Actor"December 14, 2008
Tradition dictates that holiday variety shows be structured around a loose plotline of impending doom; Christmas is about to be canceled, Santa's under indictment, a rabid bear is mauling Elvis Costello. In A Murray Little Christmas, the rollicking and ribald burlesque comedy show now packing them in at The Zipper Factory, Xmas '08 is critically endangered by the multi-headed hydra of recession, Proposition 8, and, naturally, gentrification. Oh, also, there wasn't room in the production budget to install a working chimney in the "illegal gingerbread squatting apartment" that serves as the set, so there's no way for Santa to make his grand entrance. ...
Continue Reading "Opinionist: A Murray Little Christmas"
If Fred Armisen plays any black politician, please let it be NY Governor David Paterson! His impression of our "accidental" governor debuted on Weekend Update last night and it absolutely killed. For reference, we've placed a photograph of Paterson above—compare it to the SNL bit below: Paterson-on-SNL was ostensibly discussing who will take over Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, but these points were covered or implied:He's an accidental governor, thanks to his predecessor's fling with...
Continue Reading ""Governor Paterson" on SNL's Weekend Update"December 13, 2008
Gummys Awarded This past Monday, Stereogum celebrated the release of their annual reader-pickedGummy Awards with a little get together at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. In what felt more like an open invitation holiday party than any sort of awards show, the blog got Bell, Violens and Deerhunter to perform to a packed room. While Deerhunter haven't been strangers to the city this year, playing over a half dozen times in 2008, this was perhaps...
Continue Reading "Week in Rock: Winding Down '08 Edition"Once a year a large troupe of handmade Saint Nicks flood the city with red, white and green. SantaCon is taking place right this second, after being kicked off at 10 a.m. at 33rd Street and 6th Avenue. Expect for these marathon Santas to pop up on the subway, in the bar and of course the city sidewalks. As the site notes: "They will shrivel at the end of a frantic 15 to 48 hour...
Continue Reading "SantaCon is in Town!"Last night at the Garden was the annual Christmas concert thrown by Z100 known as the Jingle Ball. Perusing a list of its performers is a bit of an eye-opening experience for some of us in realizing just how long it's been since we had "the phrase that pays" rolling off the tips of our tongues. But dare we say that in its thirteenth year, the Jingle Ball has been running for long enough to...
Continue Reading "Z100 Spreads a Little Holiday Cheer to the Kids at MSG"December 12, 2008
As mentioned, yesterday we found ourselves on Sesame Street, where even the sunny days couldn't sweep the rain clouds away—but Elmo & Co. sure made it all seem a little bit brighter. Speaking of the lil red guy, he had a message for you all: The series is now filming their 40th season, which will begin airing next November. From Big Bird's doors, to the stoop, to Oscar's garbage can...the set has pretty much remained...
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December 12, 2008
This video takes you on an underground ride from 14th Street to 42nd Street. Not that exciting, right? Well it was filmed in 1905. As Andrew Sullivan notes, watch to the 5:00 mark where it gets real good. Kottke proposes it is running on the contemporary 4/5/6 line, and presents "a 1904 map which shows the then-IRT line in question (in red). At 42nd St, the line runs crosstown to Times Square and then up...
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This Weekend: Ghostland Observatory at Terminal 5, Santacon is here, Unsilent Night will louden things up, Santa Paws brings your cat closer to Santa and much more!...
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Photos via Coney Island History Project. Yesterday the alerts went out that Coney Island redevelopment's latest target, the Astroland Rocket, needed a home...and fast! The Coney Island History Project contacted us to say that they, along with Astroland staffers, "have been working feverishly for the past month to find a museum or other venue willing and able to take the rocket. Preferably in Coney Island, or at least Brooklyn...Several museums wanted it but had...
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My Brightest Diamond is a Brooklyn band headed up by Shara Worden—"granddaughter of an Epiphone-playing traveling evangelist, fathered by a National Accordion Champion, and mothered by a classical organist." Her music and sound are as eclectic as her personal biography, and she delves into nearly every genre that's been given a name, creating a new one that hasn't. Tomorrow night her and the band will end a long tour in her hometown, New York, with...
Continue Reading "Shara Worden, My Brightest Diamond"December 11, 2008
Photo by Jen Carlson/Gothamist. Today we spent some time on Sesame Street (yes, that one), and guess what: there's good news there. The headlines at the newstand included one about a man smiling for 30 days straight (sure, the smile was contagious, but that's a good thing), and a diaper plant being redeveloped into a tv production school (at least it's not a luxury condo). And take a look at that price, just 25...
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Park Slopers Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, dubbed New York’s hippest stay-at-home parents by the Times, have joined the cast of Classic Stage Company's Uncle Vanya, to be directed by Austin Pendleton for a January opening. It's the second Chekhov play in a row for Sarsgaard, who's currently on Broadway in an excellent production of The Seagull, and the first time the couple have worked together, aside from a short film. In other stage news,...
Continue Reading "Gyllenhaal & Sarsgaard Onstage Together, Liza "Dehydrated""
If you ever find yourself on line for Inside the Actor's Studio, James Lipton's high-brow talk show of sorts that films at Pace University, there's something you should know before stepping inside. While the show may only be an hour when it airs on Bravo, the real life version is about 4 or 5 times as long. We recently spent a big chunk of time with Josh Brolin in the studio (more on that to...
Continue Reading "Warning: Real Life is Long Inside the Actor's Studio "
THEATER: From the author of underdog hit musical Urinetown comes The Truth About Santa, a comedy about a middle-manager who discovers that sneaky St. Nick fathered his children. Among other imponderables, the play wonders if "Mrs. Claus will finally make good on her threat to submerge humanity in a lake of fire?" Jason Zinoman at the Times calls it "a giddy, pleasingly sloppy downtown satire... staged with gusto." 8 p.m. // Kraine Theater [85 East...
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Yesterday the New York Film Critics Circle [NYFCC] announced their awards, and today the Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed the Golden Globe Award nominees. Both are viewed by the movie industry as harbingers of what's to come at the Academy Awards in February, and today's winners will use the accolades for their Oscar campaigns. Milk was the big winner with the NYFCC yesterday, nabbing three awards, including Best Picture. Mike Leigh was named best director Happy-Go-Lucky, and Jenny Lumet won best screenplay for Rachel Getting Married. Man on Wire was awarded the prize for best documentary, and critics voted Wall-E the best animated film of the year....
Continue Reading "Golden Globe Noms, NY Film Critics Circle Awards Announced"December 10, 2008
The Tibet House has announced initial details for their annual benefit, taking place this coming February 3rd. "Held at legendary Carnegie Hall since 1993, Philip Glass, the benefit's esteemed Artistic Director and Vice President of Tibet House, creates an exceptional show every year, highlighted by unique collaborations between the artists." So far their 19th concert will include performances by The National, Vampire Weekend, Patti Smith & Jesse Smith. Consider this a heads up to buy...
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December 10, 2008
Need a little country in your city this holiday season? There are plenty of historic sites in the Historic House Trust's collection that have been festively decorated and are hosting a series of events through January 10th. "From trolley tours in Staten Island and Queens to concerts and candlelight tours to Nutcracker-themed decorations and visits from Saint Nick," the 13 houses span the 5 boroughs. More details here, and coming up this Saturday you can...
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Argh, must everything that makes life worth tolerating in New York City be systematically eradicated? According to Alexis Soloski at the Village Voice, the Ohio Theatre on Wooster Street will soon be extinct. The building that houses the illustrious avant-garde theater is being sold by its owners because "maintenance expenses and preservation of the façade required by the city created an untenable financial burden," and artistic director Robert Lyons has no illusions about affordable rent...
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Pictured: Murray Hill as a reindeer, and the Babeland Elves; courtesy of Babeland. Babeland has been on the lookout for the city's sexiest Santa to assist their elves with the busy holiday season. The contest is now over, but it looks like no Santa could bring sexy back to the five boroughs! So, this Friday Murray Hill will step up to fill the jolly 'ol role at the shop's holiday extravaganza (details after the...
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Wallpaper designer A. J. Bocchino is recycling old issues of the New York Times in a more artistic way than tossing it in the blue bin. He's taking headlines from 1990 to 2005 and creating rolls of wallpaper out of them. He describes the process and outcome, saying he uses the headlines "as data for systems that generate complex networks and forms. The headlines are organized chronologically and color-coded according to subject. Global, national, and...
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EVENT: Tom Wolfe is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Turn on, tune in, drop out and come hear his talk about the classic with Rick Moody. Tony award winning actor Rene Auberjonois will also be on hand to read excerpts from the book. 7:30 p.m. // Symphony Space [2537 Broadway] // $22 OFFICE PARTY: Maybe your office party got cut from...
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Photo by Jake Dobkin. In case you weren't feeling confined enough while riding through the underground tunnels of New York, the MTA has taken a step to ensure everyone gets that cozy feeling of claustrophobia during their commutes. As shown in the above photo, the organization is now allowing full window ads. These aren't the kind that you can see clearly out of either, as one disgruntled straphanger noted: "outward visibility is significantly reduced...
Continue Reading "Suffocating Subway Ads Take Over Train"December 9, 2008
As far as holiday window displays have gone this year, Bergdorf Goodman may take the Christmas cake for their design. Sure, it'll frighten children, and possibly even adults, but the holidays can be a scary time. Bergdorf's is just keepin' it real, kids. Wally G explains that the display is titled Calendar Girls; as for the aesthetic "David Hoey and his window design team drew inspiration for the theme from the dioramas at the American...
Continue Reading "Bergdorf Goodman's Creepy Holiday Windows"Last night at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg, Robert Moy took home the crown at the finale of the long-running Williamsburg Spelling Bee (now about to enter its 9th season in February). It's more commonly known as the "Hipster Spelling Bee," but that just seems like the same reactionary snark fired at anything happening within sneezing distance of a few Brooklyn L stops. When one of the nine contestants offhandedly mentioned that she was "channeling...
Continue Reading "Hipsters or Nerds? You Say Potato, We Spell Potatoe"
Madame Tussauds may attract a lot of tourists, but The NY Times journeys into the mostly unseen nooks of the wax museum, uncovering an oddity that locals would probably pay to see: the repair shop. This is where "unmouthed teeth and disembodied heads are strewn across the tables and the floor." The wax ER had Joan Rivers in when the paper visited, they were told people touch her dress a lot (causing frequent fix-ups), though...
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MUSIC: Baby, it's cold outside...but Beach House is at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight to sonically warm you. The Baltimore duo has Tickley Feather (pictured) opening for them. Doesn't this all just sound so adorable? 8 p.m. // Music Hall of Williamsburg [66 N 6th St, Brooklyn] // $16 READING: Tonight Furnace Press presents The Space Between, both a reading and slide show about bridge climbing from Burning Man Co-Founder John Law. "The Space Between...
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December 9, 2008
Ladies, gentlemen, Anderson Cooper: Olympic gold medalist and America's sweetheart Michael Phelps is in town. Sure, Phelps-mania was put on the back burner during that whole election thing, but it has re-arrived, and if you want to stand in his superhuman shadow then you best get yourself over to the Barnes & Noble at 5th Avenue and 46th Street by 12:30 today. He'll be there promoting his new book, No Limits: The Will to Succeed,...
Continue Reading "Michael Phelps Brings Memoir to Town...Today!"Jimmy Fallon is easing his way on to America's televisions, where he'll eventually land next year when he takes over hosting duties for Conan O'Brien. Until then, he's on the internet. Yesterday the former SNL cast member put up his first "blog, or vlog, if you wanna use that word" which, as Gawker points out, had a 1:36 runtime which "was far short of the 5 minute target." During that short time he announced that...
Continue Reading "Jimmy Fallon, Now at an Internet Near You"December 8, 2008
All you Tonight Show Headlines and Jaywalking fanatics, stop your worrying: Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Jay Leno will be staying at NBC when his Tonight Show contract is up--and will be moving into primetime with a Monday-to-Friday weekday at 10 p.m. talk show. Conan O'Brien has been the longtime successor to the Tonight Show throne, but with Leno's strong late night ratings success and NBC's overall ratings disappointments, some were wondering if NBC was...
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Today the tourists have been taking a break from Times Square and mingling with local John Lennon fans to pay tribute to the musician. 28 years ago today he was killed in front of his home at The Dakota (where his wife Yoko Ono still lives), and now the spot has become one of the New York City landmarks in which to remember the former Beatle. Earlier today there were some tourists overheard asking the...
Continue Reading "Lennon Fans Flock to the Dakota, Strawberry Fields"
Photos by Tien Mao/Gothamist. The Brooklyn Flea isn't taking the chilly season off, but they are moving things indoors. Co-founder Jonathan Butler (pictured to the right of Eric Demby) told us that the space will be smaller than the outdoor Flea in Fort Greene, with about 30 vendors housed inside. The winter months will be held in a usually empty space at 76 Front Street in DUMBO, which we went over to check out...
Continue Reading "Brooklyn Flea Finds Shelter for Winter"
Once word spread that Bob Dylan's former room at the Hotel Chelsea (#211) was being destroyed by the new corporate overlords running the joint, a brand spankin' new Stop Work Order was delivered by the Dept. of Buildings. The residents there report that they "responded promptly when informed of this wanton destruction, determining that the 'work' being done exceeded the scope of the permit (which was just for bathroom and kitchen renovation), and issuing a...
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MUSIC: Stereogum will be holding their Gummy Awards in person (for the first time) tonight. Deerhunter (pictured), Violens and Bell will be performing. High Places will be deejaying. Max Silvestri will be hosting. And according to the event's Facebook page, Marnie Stern is totally going to be in attendance. Get informed here, and then buy a ticket before you get shut out. 8 p.m. // Music Hall of Williamsburg [66 N 6th St, Brooklyn] //...
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In her new movie Wendy and Lucy, filmmaker Kelly Reichardt follows a desperate young woman (played by Oscar nominee Michelle Williams) as she attempts a perilous journey from Indiana to Alaska in search of employment, accompanied only by her dog. Reichardt's previous film, Old Joy, received a lot of attention in the indie film world as well as critical acclaim for its understated elegance, and her latest feature is generating similar buzz. (Both films are...
Continue Reading "Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt, Wendy and Lucy"December 7, 2008
If Joseph Campbell ever got really baked and told his grandchildren a meandering bedtime story, it might have sounded something like The Granduncle Quadrilogy, a whimsical four part fairytale "from the Land of Ice," presented by Piper McKenzie at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg. Playwright Jeff Lewoncyzk's idiosyncratic fable centers on a bungling hero, the titular Granduncle, and his kooky misadventures in an imaginary arctic land where war is everlasting and it's so damn cold everyone looks forward to death, when they can finally join their messiah in heaven. (Which is under the ice.)...
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"You thought I was gone, didn't you?" That was the opening line on last night's SNL as Amy Poehler proved reports wrong that she would be leaving the show following the delivery of her baby and the end of the election season. Seeing a svelte Poehler in the cold open as new Secretary of State Clinton as well as back in her Weekend Update chair was a welcome sight after the show had a...
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December 6, 2008
This coming week, throngs of John Lennon fans will come together once again to celebrate his life and remember the day that he was murdered outside of his home at the Dakota. The Beatle was shot on the night of December 8th (28 years ago this Monday) by Mark David Chapman (who was just denied parole again). Shortly after, he was pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital, and was later cremated in Hartsdale, New York. Today,...
Continue Reading "Lennon Shot Dead 28 Years Ago"December 5, 2008
Uh oh, another graffiti-happy citizen has been busted! Following the kid on the N train who was caught on a camera phone scratching into the subway window, a pizza delivery man was busted above-ground in Brooklyn Heights. Allegedly the "saucy Papa John’s deliveryman" was seen doing the deed in a Livingston Street elevator, The Brooklyn Paper reports. "And now the owner of the building is biting back, suing the franchise for $3,200 — the cost,...
Continue Reading "Papa John's Employee Delivers Vandalism with Pie"Yesterday we got a sneak peek into the Real World Brooklyn house out in Red Hook as well as introductions to each of the eight new cast members. As we mentioned, there were allusions to half the cast sticking around town (possibly for some sort of spin-off) in the Lower East Side and/or Stuy Town, using the Big Apple to springboard their careers. The foursome include Chet (who is allegedly on his own in the...
Continue Reading "Real World Cast Shares First Impressions of NYC"
Stellastarr* Revival at Pianos While the rest of the world is talking about Britney's manufactured comeback, another act that showed so much potential earlier in the decade is back trying to put a dent on the current music landscape. Stellastarr*, the post-Strokes, pre-Killers blogger sensation released two underappreciated albums before fading into the background for the last few years. This week, they’ve made a big stand at Pianos, playing 5 straight nights at one of...
Continue Reading "Week in Rock: Award Winning Edition"
This Weekend: Extra Life at the Charleston, First Fridays at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Brooklyn Flea's Gifted: A Holiday Market, Brooklyn at Eye Level at the Brooklyn Lyceum, and much much more!...
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Even if you aren't familiar with Arthur Russell, the film capturing his life and music, Wild Combination (watch trailer here), will intrigue and likely make you an instant fan. The late musician's partner, Tom Lee (pictured to the right of Arthur), is a major voice in the film. Still living in their East Village apartment, he recently talked to us about what life with Arthur was like, and how it has changed since he died...
Continue Reading "Tom Lee, Partner of the Late Arthur Russell"December 4, 2008
The AMTMoA (that's the Art Museum Toilet Museum of Art, for you philistines) is holding their first-ever call for submissions! Before you go trying to steal the royal throne at the Louvre, read on. The museum (which is online-only) holds "the world’s largest collection of images of art museum toilets taken at various art museums around the world," and they're currently seeking to build up their collection. "The site currently houses exclusive images ranging from...
Continue Reading "Toilet Museum Needs You!"While 850 Viacom employees got laid off this morning, we were taking our first look inside the Red Hook house of the Real World Brooklyn cast! MTV gave big ups to the borough by adding a cast member this season for a total of eight good-looking 18 to 24-year-olds. There isn't one New Yorker in the bunch--but this season features the first transgender (and the token Mormon, Iraq vet and gay dolphin trainer, naturally). If...
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Photo via Hotel Chelsea Blog. The bloggers over at the Hotel Chelsea have been keeping an eye on the new management of their ever-changing home, and most recently noted some falsified DOB construction permits obtained "in a move designed to sidestep requirement for certificate of non-harassment." Today they've got photographic proof of the construction, and Bob Dylan fans: cover your eyes. The singer's former residence at the hotel, room #211, "where he lived in...
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December 4, 2008
EVENT: Summon your inner Charlotte tonight and save poor Wilbur here from a wretched fate by attending this "Winter Wonderland" fundraiser for The Farm Sanctuary, which rescues animals from the misery of industrial agriculture and gives them new lives on an upstate farm near Watkins Glen. Tonight's bash features fancy cocktails and gourmet hors d'oeuvres from local vegan restaurants, pastry chefs and caterers. $100 washes Wilbur's blood from your hands and gets you in to...
Continue Reading "Pencil This In"Last night, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree's lights were turn on for the holidays. With 30,000 lights on 5 miles of wire and a 750-pound star at top, it dazzled the crowd. A family of Hurricane Katrina survivors whose new home was partly built by lumber from an old Rock Center tree was on hand for the lighting; mother Tracey Davison told the AP, "It's been an awesome experience. I have a famous living room...
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We could waste this introduction telling you how consistently funny Mike Birbiglia's new solo show Sleepwalk With Me is, but why not just let the man's comedy stylings speak for themselves? Here's a totally unrelated Birbiglia riff on our 43rd President: "I think Bush seems like that fun guy. You know, that guy you invite to the barbecue because you know he'll start the whiffle ball game. He's like Whiffle Ball Tony! You're like,...
Continue Reading "Comedian Mike Birbiglia, Sleepwalk With Me"December 3, 2008
Last night the 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards took place at Cipriani on Wall Street. The award ceremony is the East Coast answer to the Independent Spirit Awards, and was founded as a satellite program of the 1979 NY Film Fest. Indiewire reports back from the event with the big winners (listed after the jump), which included Frozen River's Melissa Leo who took home the breakthrough actor award and declared New York City "the...
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The New York Public Library is in temporary possession of a new coffee-table book that weighs in at 61-lbs. The NY Times reports that the rarity was recently hand-made "by scholars, artists and artisans," and is called Michelangelo: La Dotta Mano. The book cost around $126K to make (what recession?) and will be on view through Monday. The cover of the book is "a bas-relief depiction of Michelangelo’s 'Madonna of the Steps,' sculptured on a...
Continue Reading "World's Most Expensive Book Draws Crowds at NYPL"
Earlier this year we took a look at Jason Polan's ambitious effort to draw every person in NYC. Well, starting today you can put yourself in front of his pencil and pad and help out his project, but more importantly 826NYC. Polan and fellow artist Jane Mount are teaming up with Jen Bekman and her 20x200 site for Thrilla in Manila; the event is a three-day draw-a-thon where the public is invited to draw, be...
Continue Reading "NYC, Get Ready for Your Close-up"
Maybe one blogger can make a difference? Beer enthusiast Aaron Goldfarb has had it with tourists who dare invade our fair city with their money and slow walking. So he's sending a misanthropic message to the world with his NYC tourist blog that these shabbily dressed visitors must be stopped. Or at least mocked. Goldfarb spends his days documenting every Midtown tourist step, profiling them by their tapered jeans or cowboy hats, and snidely imagining...
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MUSIC: There's a triple-threat bill going on at Mercury Lounge tonight. The Josh Reichmann Oracle Band (pictured; formerly of Frenchkiss post-punk band Tangiers), Sebastian Grainger and Snowden will all be taking the stage. Get there early and plan on making a night of it. 8 p.m. // Mercury Lounge [217 E Houston St] // $12 EVENT: The NFT (Not For Tourists) crew is celebrating their 10th anniversary in NYC (hey, they're officially New Yorkers now!)....
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Tonight marks the 76th Christmas tree-lighting ceremony for the city's most famous holiday spruce in Rockefeller Center. This year's 72-footer will be lit up at exactly 8:58 p.m., shining 30,000 energy-efficient LED lights on what's sure to be a large crowd (though last year people complained it wasn't bright enough). Tony Bennett, Harry Connick, Jr., Jamie Foxx and Beyonce will all be on hand to croon holiday favorites (and probably that "Single Ladies" song); while...
Continue Reading "Rockefeller Center Gets Lit Up Tonight!"December 2, 2008
Did you hear? The office party's been cut from the budget, according to a poll by FreshDirect & BizBash. This means that drunken coworker makeout, drunken coworker karaoke, and drunken telling your boss off will also be down to an all time low. Just how low? More than 65% of New York businesses are eliminating or scaling back on holiday parties this year, according to the survey of more than 200 event professionals in New...
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December 2, 2008
Bright n' early this morning Britney Spears continued her "comeback kid" routine with an appearance on Good Morning America. Not only is today her 27th birthday, but it's also the release of her 6th album, titled Circus. As part of the promotional package, on Sunday MTV aired a no-holds-barred infomercial documentary about the singer, where even Madonna made a cameo to talk up the pop starlet's new lease on life. Here she is performing on...
Continue Reading "Britney's Big Apple Circus Extravaganza"First, there was Laguna Beach, then came The Hills, and now spin-off numéro trois: The City. That's right, Manhattan is getting it's very own MTV scripted "reality" show, complete with Hills alum Whitney Port and some dude who says he's a "downtown hipster, i wear a fedora." A blurb about the series paints the picture of "a whole new world" for the 20-something, "as she packs up and moves to the bright lights of Manhattan...taking...
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MUSIC: Stellastarr* kicks off their 5-night run at Pianos tonight, but if you want to hear "My Coco" then you had to buy tickets a while ago--as they're all sold out. What isn't sold out is the Dr. Dog show at Webster Hall; the Philly band (pictured) will lull you into the week with their sweet psychedelipop. 7 p.m. // Webster Hall [125 E 11th St] // $20 READING: Authors Joseph O'Neill and Hari Kunzru...
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John Cassavetes's wrenching film Opening Night, released in 1977, stars Gena Rowlands as a famous actress who becomes increasingly unhinged after seeing a young autograph hound hit by a car outside the theater where she's starring in a Broadway-bound play. Acclaimed Flemish director Ivo van Hove—whose bold interpretations of plays like Hedda Gabler and The Misanthrope have been hits in NYC—has crafted a large-scale theatrical adaptation of Cassavetes's award-winning film. The multidisciplinary production, featuring...
Continue Reading "Ivo van Hove, Director"December 1, 2008
Incase you missed the news on this PSP Fanboy site, the giant PSP that's been lording over Houston Street is gone. The site reports that the oversized gaming thingamajig has "been a landmark for years," and its dismantlement marks the end of an era...though they question if Sony will replace it with a "PSP-3000 system, which will be slimmer than the original giant PSP-1000." If that's the case, hopefully they'll be able to figure out...
Continue Reading "Game Over for Giant PSP on Houston"
Vanity Fair’s January cover story is on “America’s New Sweetheart” Tina Fey and (being Vanity Fair and all) it primarily focuses on how Fey transformed from being the frumpy 25-year-old virgin who one agent assumed was having an affair with Lorne Michaels to the sexy librarian The New Yorker recently called “the sex symbol for every man who reads without moving his lips.” And while going on Weight Watchers when she was still just a...
Continue Reading "Did Alec Baldwin Turn Tina Fey Into a Sexpot?"
NYC shop Moss has a sort of creepy novelty idea for those in search of the perfect "too soon" gift: Gone But Not Forgotten finger puppets. The commemorative set includes knit versions of six well known names that died this year: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Jesse Helms, Maharishi Maresh Yogi, Yves Saint Laurent, Charlton Heston and Heath Ledger. The puppets portraying those who have passed on will go for 90 bucks, but there are some glaring omissions...
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The Fame remake will be hitting big screens in the Fall of 2009, and the cast has just been finalized. Reports are coming in that Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen have all been enlisted "to fill out the administrative and teaching roles" at New York City High School of Performing Arts. MGM says "This picture is a celebration, a testament to people pursuing their dreams, so we set...
Continue Reading "Fame Cast Fills Up, Begins Production"
December 8th is just around the corner, and soon Strawberry Fields will be flickering with candles in memory of John Lennon, who was killed 28 years ago. On that day, decades ago, Joe Raiola was driving a cab when he heard sportscaster Howard Cosell announce Lennon's death on the radio, he told The NY Times: “I was on Queens Boulevard. I almost smashed into a telephone pole.” Raiola's long-running annual remembrance, one of the many...
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LAST MINUTE TIX: As part of the Museum of Modern Art’s Modern Monday Series, Thurston Moore will host a film program of David Bowie’s music videos. All in all 15 videos will be screened, and while the event sold out the museum just announced that $5 tickets will be available again at 1 p.m. today at their information desk. More details here. ART: The NYPL's Art Deco Design: Rhythm and Verve exhibition is still running...
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December 1, 2008
Earlier this year we talked to Robert Thurman (Uma's dad, and also the head of the Tibet House), who told us that his aim is "to preserve Tibetan culture" and "raise funds to support Tibetan cultural projects like art departments in schools." Tonight, along with an Honorary Chair Committee that includes Yoko Ono Lennon, Martin Scorsese and Sting, they'll be doing just that at the 6th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Auction at Christie’s. Proceeds...
Continue Reading "Tibet House Auctions Off Fantasy Dinner"Last night Michael Phelps (aka World's Greatest Swimmer) faced off with Anderson Cooper (aka Middle-aged Mortal) in the pool, for what had to have been the most well-worth watching segment in 60 Minutes history. The race lasted seconds, but the memories will surely last forever. The two were together for, what Gawker calls, a "flirty interview." Perhaps this Vegas cocktail waitress the Olympic hero took home for Thanksgiving has some competition?...
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Austin McCutchen is one of the many musicians that make up Neckbeard Telecaster, and like many of them, he's also got his own solo thing going on. For the bluegrass lovers out there especially, check out one of his upcoming local shows (he's at Glasslands this Wednesday). This week he told us a little bit about the music and, you know, avoiding death by a butter knife at the hands of his first New York...
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