Brilliant, reclusive and eccentric, Chicago-born and Brooklyn-bred Bobby Fischer died at age 64 in Iceland. His spokesman said the cause was kidney failure, after a long illness. more ›

DISCUSSION: Is New York losing it's New York charm? Tonight contributors to the new tome "The Suburbanization of New York" will talk about just that (and is conveniently located down the street from H&M and Pottery Barn). The panel includes Marshall Berman, Eric Darton, Francis Morrone, Matthew Schuerman, Neil Smith, Michael Sorkin, and Suzanne Wasserman. more ›

The Holidays have fallen upon us like a pack of ferocious ice weasels, so we'd feel appropriately guilty if we didn’t suggest some relevant theater options. Of course, if you’re seeking a diversion for out-of-town visitors, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is (literally) a no-brainer, provided they’ve got deep pockets: Tickets to the glorified burlesque show can cost up to $250 - per rube. more ›

THEATER: It’s Friday night, and what better way to cut loose than an evening of interactive theater – set in plague-ravaged New York City! In All Fall Down, a savage battle rages for the dwindling supplies of the vaccine, but soon a question arises: "Is the cure worse than the disease?" Theatre Recrudescence vows to explore our “post 9/11 hysteria with elements of carnival, clowning and rock and roll.” (All Fall Down is in previews, so there are no reviews; we'll have to take them on their word that the show “includes the audience, but doesn't embarrass them.”) - John Del Signore more ›

As we stated before, there is far far more to CMJ than our little series of parties. Over 1000 bands were in town last week, and while nobody could possibly catch them all, the idea is to see as much as you can and maybe discover a few new favorites. Rather than scrape together a drab roundup of the day by day, we decided to award certain aspects of CMJ for making a mark on the 2006 marathon. Here we go... more ›

READING: KGB Bar's Non-Fiction Night is playing host to the Subway more ›

THEATER: The MoMA Dada exhibition ends Monday, and if you haven't gone yet here's even greater incentive to beat the deadline. Kate Valk, Scott Shepherd and Ari Fliakos of the Wooster Group are performing just three times at the museum in Who's Your DADA?!. This trio last mesmerized audiences in Emperor Jones and we're very curious to see what they do with original Dada materials. (The MoMA website tantalizingly mentions the appearance of "special guests". Buscemi? Dafoe? McDermott?) - John Del Signore more ›

Andre Agassi's career has officially ended. After a four set loss at the hands of a familiar tennis foe. Agassi lost 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 5-7 to German qualifier Benjamin Becker (no relation to Boris). Over his 21-year career, Agassi played 1144 matches, won 60 titles, and played in 21 consecutive US Opens. The 36 year-old Agassi is a two-time US Open Champion in 1994 and 1999 and a four-time runner-up. The crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium showered Agassi with applause after the match, cheering for the visibly emotional Agassi for several minutes. more ›

A while back, we noted how many of the NY Times "Hunt" columns by Joyce Cohen happened to feature real estate hunts by cat owners. And one of the stories we loved was the one about a Brooklynite who needed a subletter to not only take care of her apartment, but her cat Boris as well. Cohen, who blogs at Hunt Grunt, let us know that two years after the column appeared, Boris may have developed a bit of a star-complex - though owner Nicole might have indulged that by creating some short films about him. And if you're interesting in a homemade cat toy that Cohen made, she is offering it to the person who writes the best poem - more details here. more ›

The week is short and there really isn't a huge amount going on in the venues until the weekend. Plus, it's going to be about 1000 degrees, so packing in to a small sweaty venue isn't highest on our list of priorities. Here's what we do suggest, and as usual - feel free to list some shows in the comments. more ›

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Now that you're finished pretending you care about football, it's time for the music version of Monday-morning quarterbacking: What are you going to do with your week? To the videotape.... more ›

Since the New Yorker introduced their weekly back-page caption contest, Radosh has been running his own subversive anti-caption challenge, asking people to come up with the WORST caption for that week's cartoon. For instance, some of this week's entries for the drawing shown above: more ›

We enjoyed last Sunday's "The Hunt" column in the NY TImes about Cragslists once again bringing roommates together. And we loved the photograph of one roommate's cat, Belvedere (right). Then we started to realize that we see lots of cats in "The Hunt" - as well as other pets, but mostly cats. A few felines we found Jorge the cat (and his owner James) in Greenpoint, Gabriel the cat (and owner Martha) on the Upper West Side, kitties Pia and Lola, cats Elvis and Louie in Battery Park City, and an update about Boris the cat!!! Yes, there's a family with a dog here or a pet parrot there, maybe even a baby, but cats seem most photo friendly as owners can usually hold them. more ›

Kemp Powers, author, The Shooting: A Memoir more ›

And a few months ago, the U.S.P.S. announced new stamps with the works of Isamu Noguchi. The wonderful Noguchi Museum in Queens, which has just reopened, also has a sculpture that Noguchi did of Bucky Fuller. These stamps are so elegant, Gothamist is motivated to to get started on our holiday cards. more ›

The photograph above is from Marilynn K. Yee's photos in the Times - there's an awesome slideshow of Davis and Hart describing Boris, finding a cat-sitter, and living in NY. And indeed, Boris looks "big-boned." When Gothamist catsits, we tend to call the owner and then put the phone up to the cat's ears, waiting for the cat's confused look. There is the option of cat kennels but they can get expensive. What are your tips for cat-sitting?
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