Sure, you might live in Brooklyn now, with your bird tattoos and your freelance design job, but there was a time—a time that you don’t like to talk about—when you lived in the Midwest, perhaps as a child. And in that time, you loved to eat the quintessential Midwestern mom dish: casseroles. Don’t be ashamed. Revel in your love of the one-pot dish: the flaky crust, the hearty filling, the cheesy topping. Then take that love and show the world you’re not afraid at the 7th annual Casserole Party, October 24 at the Brooklyn Kitchen. more ›

Of course there is a Miss Cougar America competition, and of course it's being held at Greenhouse Nightclub. Cougars will invade the city on April 29th for the Third Annual National Cougar Convention... hide your young! more ›

When Hot Dog enthusiast Takeru Kobayashi was not allowed to participate in last summer's Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest due to a contract dispute, he stormed the stage in a bizarre protest and ended up spending a night in jail. After that long night's journey into day, it seems he's decided to temporarily abandon the processed meat which he so dearly loves in favor of a different greasy treat: pizza. Kobayashi plans to eat a 12-inch pie on Saturday in Brooklyn, to try to break the world record, which was set in New Zealand in 2008 and stands at 1 minute, 45 seconds. Kobayashi previously beat his arch-nemesis Joey Chestnut in a pizza eating contest in 2009. more ›

Remember all those kids from your rival college whom you made fun of by saying some day they'd bag your groceries? Well, they may be closer to fame and riches than you will ever be. The new movie Ready, Set, Bag follows eight state champions as they train for the National Grocers Association's Best Bagger competition in Las Vegas. But as D'Agostino champion bagger Acola Pointer knows, bagging is an art. more ›

Starting today and through the weekend, New Yorkers can enjoy another kind of World Cup, as fencers invade NYC for the 2010 Federation Internationale D'Escrime World Cup. The competition will feature 367 world-class swordwielders from over 20 countries and three disciplines: men's sabre, women's sabre, and women's foil. more ›

Since February 2009 Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been trying to get their bear paws on each other and today they finally got the OK. I know what you're thinking—now that the two monster entities have joined forces, ticket prices and surcharges will go from just exorbitant to totally obscene. Well actually, by suggesting a merger the two companies brought the heat: artists, anti-trust agencies and competitors protested, and the Dept of Justice investigated. Now they'll be allowed to go through with the deal, but with all the requirements being imposed, AP reported they may actually bring ticket prices down. more ›

An administrator for the sandhog's union has been accused of heisting $42 million from the labor group — and spending a chunk of the cash on high-end horses, according to the Times. Melissa King, 58, is facing charges for allegedly exploiting her role overseeing benefits funds for the tunnel borers and using their money to pay for her lavish lifestyle and her youngest daughter's equestrian pursuits. more ›

A Washington Heights man spent 48 hours, 15 minutes and 1 second watching sports to win this year's third annual Ultimate Couch Potato competition at the ESPN Zone in Times Square. Jorge Cruz, a "public affairs assistant" for Con Ed, bested three other competitors, including two-time defending champ Stan Friedman, who stood up from his chair at 5 a.m. today after 41 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds of continuous sports watching. The contestants had taken their seats at 11 a.m. on New Year's Day and were allowed to eat and drink as much as they wanted for free, but were only allowed to use the bathroom every eight hours. Falling asleep resulted in immediate disqualification. more ›

Ooh—feast your eyes on this idea proposed to Metropolis Magazine for its Next Generation design competition. Downtown firm GRO's idea was "Docking Stations, a system of modular floating docks that would harness clean energy produced by the tidal action of New York City rivers... According to the proposal—by Richard Garber, Nicole Robertson, and Brian Novello, of GRO Architects—Docking Stations would 'plug in' to the city’s existing piers, 'extending them further into the river to optimize clean energy generation while increasing public green space and tidal pools for wildlife.' The energy produced could be used to help power city streetlamps." more ›

With four major sports complexes crowding a 30 mile radius, and another on the way to Brooklyn as part of the embattled Atlantic Yards project, owners are now facing the sobering prospect of one day fighting to fill nearly 100,000 seats, 365 days a year. Mark Rosentraub, a professor of sports management at the University of Michigan, tells the Times, "The market is saturated... Five arenas is not going to work. I don’t think four works, even in a market as large as New York. There’s competition in every direction and there aren’t enough events." Of course, there's been heated debate for years over whether these government-subsidized stadiums—often sold as snake oil panaceas to foundering regional economies—actually contribute much to the community. (Here's one great article on the subject.) Now arenas are hemorrhaging money across the country, the Times reports. But this is New York, and there's always room for one more! Developer Bruce Ratner, demonstrating a vampiric ability not to die from a thousand cuts, scored some major victories last week, and is rushing to break ground on his Brooklyn monstrosity before the end of the year. more ›

"We have to make bicycling fun and elegant, which it is not yet in New York!" declares Renaud Dutreil, a big shot at luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. Dutreil rides a bike to his office on East 57th Street almost every day, and he thinks more people would do likewise if there was only a fashion alternative to the dominant DIY style of ripped jeans, tattoos, and Bushwick-bound butt cleavage. more ›

The FlyNY troupe is looking to briefly change up the city skyline this May, with their first kite-flying competition! The contest is open to all architects, artists, engineers, urban designers, product and industrial designers and folks just looking to have fun. This isn't as easy as it sounds, though, they note that "designing and building a kite involves an understanding of structure, proportion, craft, and function. Form and function are inextricably intertwined and constructability is paramount." (Hopefully the Nerd Herd will get in on this.) You have until May 9th to get your kite up and running, when the big event goes down on Pier I at 73rd Street. Get more details here (the flyer is after the jump), and let's hope the wind is blowin' that day! more ›

Drum roll, please! The finals of the first annual US Pole Dance Championship were held yesterday at the Bleecker Street theater, where eleven female dancers competed for the coveted top crown. (It seems that not one man was able to shatter the glass heel ceiling to make the finals.) According to Time Out, there were originally 12 women chosen from more than 100 video submissions, but finalist Michula Renee Nunez of California tragically dislocated her elbow while rehearsing. more ›

The Lower East Side is about to get cool again, at least for a couple of days. On February 4th snowboarders will start taking practice runs down the ramp that's being built on the side of the East River (you can get a nice view from the Williamsburg Bridge right now). Then on February 5th they'll compete in an hour long contest, followed by a 7 p.m. Anthrax concert, followed by another hour of riding for the finalists. Here's a look at how the ramp (and snow making) are coming along—would you take a ride down this? more ›

At 5:48 a.m. this morning, while you were no doubt sleeping your life away, 47-year-old research librarian Stan Friedman was seizing the garland of immortal glory by winning his second straight Ultimate Couch Potato competition. This year's contest/publicity stunt pitted four contenders against each other in a competition at the Times Square ESPN Zone to see who could watch sports longest without falling asleep. Going into the competition yesterday morning, cocky Queens contestant John Scheer sneered, "Stan is a librarian. I own lots of books—I own him." And after just five hours, Scheer was the first to drop out. Last year it took Friedman 29 hours to best his competitors; this year he coasted—er, idled—to victory in just 18 hours, 48 minutes and 17 seconds. Speaking to the Daily News, he explained the secret to his mastery of sitting and watching TV: "My mind wanders a lot. I can leave here mentally." more ›

The eyes of the Competitive Eating world (all two dozen of them) will be fixed on Times Square this Sunday for the first-ever World Pizza Eating Championship, set to kick off sometime between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Military Island. Trumpet flourish! Competitors will include Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, the 2008 Hot Dog Eating Champion; Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, "a mohawked chef from Chicago" (according to the press release; Tim "Eater X" Janus, the 4th-ranked burrito champ; and his roommate, Crazy Legs Conti. Victory Sunday (and a cut of $14,000 in prizes) will go to whoever forces down the most slices of Famous Famiglia pizza—but save your snobbish wisecracks about that chain's dubious quality; we all know how excited you'd get whenever the office would buy Famiglia for everybody, back in the Gilded Age when such breathtaking extravagance was the norm. [Via Slice.] more ›

Is there anything this city won't do for renaissance man David Byrne? The former Talking Head has been helping out with the DOT's search for new bike rack designs, and recently got inspired to sketch some imaginary bike racks named for New York neighborhoods and locations. Then, voila; David's dream is manifest, as he explains on his blog: "To my surprise, [the DOT] responded by saying, 'If you make these we'll put them up.' Holy Moses! I was over the moon — what happened to the legendary red tape and years of bureaucratic haggling I was supposed to go through?" more ›

Though there are concerns that London could overtake NYC's position as the banking center of the world, a new study suggests the two cities both have a lot going for them, and NYC even fares better in some areas. The Sun reports that NYC has a "lower cost of living, more affordable housing, a stronger program to tackle urban poverty, and larger arts, fashion, and food scenes" vs. Blighty while London has better climate change prevention programs and "efforts to project a better city image." And though NYC has more financial regulations, there's now question whether London's lax regulations have hurt their banks. more ›

This morning the American Museum of Natural History hosted a Tap Water Taste-off on their steps. New York City was one of five area communities competing for the title of tastiest tap water in the state during the event. Who came out on top at the 2008 regional taste-off contest? Sadly, we were robbed, with Bethpage in Nassau County grabbing the blue ribbon. The good news is NYC came in 2nd! With that kind of placement, the city will represent during the big event at the New York State Fair on August 26th. more ›

There's a new game coming to town for cable subscribers who have been yoked to Time-Warner Cable or Cablevision out of necessity. New York City has finally struck a deal with Verizon to provide competing cable services throughout the five boroughs. more ›

Perhaps an Uptown versus Downtown battle would have worked better, as The NY Times says only 100 people showed up at this past weekend's "Battle of Manhattan," which pitted the East versus the West side of town (perhaps they were all at the Scotland Run). more ›

A study revealed that a lack of secure bike parking was the biggest reason why people don’t cycle to work. So the Department of Transportation is cooperating with Cooper-Hewitt, Google and Transportation Alternatives to organize an international design competition for the next generation of city bike racks. More than $50,000 in honoraria to develop prototype bike racks and $15,000 in prizes will be awarded to the top designs. more ›

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The 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show arrives at Madison Square Garden Monday. The two-day event has thousands of dogs undergo a winnowing process that culminates with the awarding of Best in Show. The American Kennel Club recognizes 157 disinct breeds that are eligible for competition, and four of those breeds are brand new entries to the field. They include the Tibetan mastiff (a working dog), the Beaucerand and Swedish vallhund (herding dogs), and the Plott (a hound). more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Bivona St. in the Bronx, a scaffolding collapse at Clifton Ave. in Brooklyn, and a bomb threat at 9th Ave. and 53rd St. in Brooklyn.
• The Fed lowered interest rates again - Bernanke is totally freaking out!
• NYU reaches an accord with neighbors regarding continued expansion. We won't have to start referring to New York as NYUC.
• Stuyvesant High is back on the scene by gaining acceptance to the final round of the Intel Science Competition.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an abduction on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn, a double shooting at West 151st St. and Walton Ave. in the Bronx, and a pursuit/crash/bailout on 95th St. and the West Side Highway in Manhattan.
• The disbarred lawyer accused of murdering his wife and blaming it on a random carjacking admitted to cops that he'd sent flowers to his girlfriend that day and had various small affairs and used escorts outside of his marriage.
• The girlfriend who turned in her boyfriend with his huge cache of weapons this week used to work for "The King of All Pimps" Jason Itzler out of his brothel. She was upset with Suwei Chuang because she wanted to get married and he wasn't sure.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: shots fired on Soundview Ave. in the Bronx, a gas leak on Snyder Ave. and East 34th St. in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery on West 4th and 6th Ave. in Manhattan.
• High school girls (including a pair from Long Island) swept the top prizes in both team and individual categories for the first time in the history of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology.
• Houston St. now sports south-side sidewalks that have doubled in width and feature trees planted in the middle, after a renovation of the street between Broadway and West 6th.
• Silicon Alley Insider names the 100 most influential people in the New York world of digital business. Mayor Bloomberg captured the top spot.
• A New Jersey task force recommended that Drug Free School Zones are too large and the mandatory harsher penalties against non-violent drug offenders crowd actual violent criminals out of prison and back onto the street.
• Gov. Spitzer raised $1.5 million at a fund-raising dinner last night in an effort to refill a diminished campaign war chest. Voters are indicating they've got buyers' remorse after electing the once-popular Spitzer.
• Police recruits studying for their pre-graduation (Dec. 27) exams will receive an early Christmas present in the form of iPods loaded with study material. They will have to return the devices after graduation.
• And a judge has cleared the way for Washington Square Park's renovations. City Councilman Alan Gerson who previously opposed the renovations but is fine with concessions the city has made: "We have secured unprecedented protections against the commercialization of the park."

Madison Square Garden will be purring with excitement as the annual CFA-Iams Cat Championship opens its doors tomorrow and Sunday. Hundreds of cats from 41 breeds will be competing for Best of Breed and Best in Show prizes, and there are a number of other events, like watching cats compete in the Feline Agility Competition course and seeing the Parade of Breeds. You can buy purebreds or adopt some shelter kitties, too! more ›

This Saturday and Sunday, Madison Square Garden welcomes the Annual CFA-Iams Cat Championship Cat Show. The show has many guest speakers and events, like the Feline Agility Competition, which is open to the public's cats, too. And, of course, there is the Best of Breed and Best in Show judging. more ›