Today the NY Times examines changes occurring in the post-industrial Hudson Valley, and finds enough people who once lived in Brooklyn to frame the situation in a trendy way we can all understand: "Call it the Brooklynization of the Hudson Valley, the steady hipness creep with its locavore cuisine, its Williamsburgian bars, its Gyrotonic exercise, feng shui consultants and deep clay art therapy and, most of all, its recent arrivals from New York City... So many people have moved to Beacon from Brooklyn that people now call it NoBro." Or as finance columnist Daniel Gross put it, the Times, tiring of "Brooklyn is awesome" articles, has turned to "place to which Brooklynites flee is awesome" articles. more ›

Designated a landmark in 1979, the 2,800-seat Beacon Theatre has undergone a $16 million restoration, and earlier today the final look of their 7-month-long project was unveiled. Thanks to the work of thousands, the venue "is back to its original 1929 grandeur, fulfilling the commitment the company made to New York when it acquired the theatre in November, 2006." A full list of restorations can be found after the jump, and the NY Times has a cute story about an old gold-painted coffee tin discovered during the facelift and found to be the fixture supporting "the principal ornament at the tip of the 900-pound chandelier in the rotunda" (pictured here). more ›

Since he began his fruitful collaboration with Walter Becker back at Bard College in 1968, Grammy award-winning musician Donald Fagen has steadily distinguished himself as one of the smartest and most imaginative contemporary songwriters. As Steely Dan, the innovative duo lays claim to an impressive catalog of hit singles that somehow manage to stay fresh despite their everlasting ubiquity on classic rock stations across America. For whatever reason, people still can't help cranking up the volume when My Old School comes on for the millionth time, to say nothing of indispensable classics like Caves of Altamira, Sign in Stranger, or the soulful Dr. Wu. more ›