Pencil This In

SHOP: Tonight head to Dumbo for an “Evening of Cheer,” where three neighborhood events coordinated by the Dumbo Improvement District will be taking place. "The night’s events combine Dumbo’s monthly cultural event, First Thursdays, with extended shopping hours and promotions by local retailers and the illumination of the Empire Stores in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park by famed lighting designer Brendon Boyd."

6pm // Various location details here

EVENT: Tonight some experts gather around to celebrate a great. Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson will come alive with the folks who knew him best. While Johnny Depp wrote the intro to the book, the real experts will be on hand tonight: Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone (and Thompson’s editor for thirty-five years) and co-author of Gonzo, William Kennedy -- who was friends with Thompson since 1959 (when they met working at Puerto Rico’s San Juan Star), Porter Bibb -- former Newsweek White House correspondent and former publisher of Rolling Stone (he grew up with Thompson in Louisville, KY) and Corey Seymour -- Men’s Vogue Senior Editor, who worked with Thompson at Rolling Stone in the 1990 (he also co-author of Gonzo).

7pm // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St] // Free

MUSIC: A couple years ago the delightful Langhorne Slim brought his brand of rockabilly to our Movable Hype show. Tonight he'll be taking the stage at Europa and we suggest you park yourself in the audience and get ready for a rock n' roll ho-down.

7pm // Europa [98-104 Meserole Ave, Brooklyn] // $12

Meanwhile, over in Manhattan, there's possibly the first ever blog-curated hip hop show. OhWord and SitDownStandUp bring the first of their series of shows, called Stand Up!, to Pianos. Tonight features 4 underground rappers that have been getting some attention lately (Hired Gun, Donny Goines, NY Oil and Cause -- pictured), and one bigger surprise act. Check out this video of some of the acts outside of The Gutter, and head over to see them tonight at the not-for-profit
show. More details here.

9pm // Pianos [158 Ludlow St] // $9

THEATER: Octavio Paz once wrote, “Between stillness and motion the great beat of being.” We found that evocative quote on the flyer for a mysterious new performance called Appearance, performed by four actresses who have developed the theories of Russian theatrical innovator Vsevolod Meyerhold into what they call “Jazz Acting” – not to be confused with “Jazz Hands”. We hope! No really, it sounds promising. It’s “about velocity and perception and the enigma of human experience in a techno-spectacular culture.” Appearance is performed for just twenty people at a time in an intimate white-box space filled with projections by video artist Jeanne Liotta, whose work was shown in a little exhibition called The Whitney Biennial in 2006. – John Del Signore

8pm // Theaterlab [137 W 14th St] // Call 212-929-2545 for tickets, which cost $15.