As preparations continue for Whitney Houston's funeral tomorrow, the music superstar's godmother Aretha Franklin shared her thoughts with the Today Show. The Queen of Soul said that based on previews of Houston's upcoming film, Sparkle, she thought Houston looked "fresh, she looked healthy, and she looked gorgeous. And I thought, 'Yes, she has conquered her challenges' and was on the way." more ›

The funeral for Whitney Houston is open only to invited guests—who include Aretha Franklin, Kevin Costner, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey, and Stevie Wonder so far—but the public will get a chance to observe the services through a livestream. The AP will broadcast the funeral at http://livestream.com/aplive: "It will provide a much-needed connection for fans who have lacked a formal place to eulogize Houston, one of the world's best-selling artists who died in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday at the age of 48." more ›

This June 14th both the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, will be inducted into the Apollo Theater's Hall of Fame. Jackson first performed there with his brothers in the late 1960s... as part of Amateur Night. They won, and the rest is pretty much history. But did you know that MJ was an insane beatboxer? We didn't until seeing this video, and his honor as an Apollo Legend is as good a time as any to share it: more ›

Ahmet Ertegun, the man who founded Atlantic Records, died yesterday at the age of 83. Ertegun, along with a partner, Herb Abramson, founded Atlantic Records in 1947. They started up in an office in a hotel on West 56th Street in Manhattan. The initial investment of $10,000 was borrowed from his family dentist. 48 years later, in 1995, at the Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, it was announced that the museum's main exhibition hall would be named after Ertegun. more ›

Gothamist has our guacamole and Tostitos with a Hint of LIme (best tortilla chip ever!) and we're ready to see if anything crazy happens during the game. more ›

New York City's nightlife is slowing to a crawl. Not much going on this week, although there are a few standout shows. more ›

Jon Setzen, Designer more ›

Today we wrap up our discussion with Steve Hurst, the guy who makes you look back at the television screen during the local forecast on The Weather Channel and ask, "Is that... Moby?" If it weren't for him, we'd still be listening to the Windham Hill New Age library during our local forecasts. But instead, Steve has mixed it up and given us something a little more interesting to listen to while we evaluate our weather-conscious wardrobe for the day. Recently however, the music has been getting drowned out by the addition of an automated voice-over reading our forecast to us. Gothamist isn't a big fan of the voice, but we asked Steve about it as well as come other questions about the on-air personalities, security, and his favorite things about our wonderful city. more ›