EVENT: The Sci-Fi Screening Room showcases offbeat videos, and tonight hosts Batman Night, featuring the rare 1978 Challenge of the Superfriends cartoon "Lord of Middle Earth". There will also be Adam West screen tests, TV commercials, a live interview with Batman Strikes writer Matthew K. Manning, and an installment of the 1943 serial The Batman. more ›

Tonight, Gothamist will definitely be watching Tabloid Wars, the reality show that follows the innerworkings of the Daily News. While the reviews have noted it's perhaps more mild than we'd want it, we're excited to see the city beat reporters in action. New York magazine's John Leonard wrote in his review, "By the end of the second hour, you will probably decide, as I did, that the tireless Kerry Burke is our hero, not only because he sounds public-school instead of preppy and always talks to strangers with respect, but because he hates celebrity stories." more ›

Gothamist cannot shy away from admitting we're fans of General Hospital. We just can't. It's a great, rerun-free, low-rent amalgam of ER, the Sopranos and Desperate Housewives (though much older than any of those shows). However, it seems we're sitting down an hour too late. Anyone who's anyone is getting on board with ABC's earlier soap, One Life to Live. A daytime staple since 1968, OLTL is filmed right here in NYC and has launched the careers of many actors, including the questionably talented Yasmin Bleeth and the actually talented Ryan Phillippe. more ›

This morning, the Today show had one of those alarmist segments about how TV programs like CSI and Law & Order are bad for law enforcement. Why? Because now criminals are learning how to cover their tracks by destroying evidence, like the crime scene. And as regular citizens are watching more crime procedurals, they expect police to do a better job of apprehending criminals - and the prosecution of supplying definitive evidence. Of course, the segment being on NBC, CSI seemed to be blamed many more times to just one mention of L&O. Gothamist does think that everyone (including us) is an armchair detective/prosecutor these days, especially since we marvel at the stupidity of some criminals. But if the Nielsen ratings mean anything, crime folks can stop worrying and suburbanites should start, as it's all about suburban ennui. Or people who want to be famous singers on reality shows. more ›

Beloved memoirist Augusten Burroughs will be giving a reading next Tuesday of his latest book, Magical Thinking, at Coliseum Books. And he's going to dish about the new film adaptation of Running with Scissors (Annette Bening will play his mom, Gabrielle Union his mother's girlfriend; Brian Cox is his mom's shrink and Gwyneth Paltrow, Kristin Chenoweth, and Evan Rachel Wood seem to be play his daughters). His last event, at Cooper Union, was totally packed in the steamy summer weather - so if you go, you might want to get there before 6: more ›

Mick Stingley, Low-Rent Rock Critic more ›

MUSIC: Tonight at Crash Mansion there's a free show and a free open bar...and for a good cause. Morning Theft, The Cloud Room, My Victoria, and The Rats will all perform for a second part of a benefit for Kia Nowotne. As an added bonus we hear our favorite artist, Michelle McShane, will be joining the Cloud Room for a few songs, playing autoharp. more ›

. The book and the evening are both in support of the Writing Lab at 826NYC. more ›

Ooh, could the hot thing in dining really be nude dining? The Daily News reported some nudists enjoy meals (but without a soup course) in the buff at a restaurant on West 38th. And they say that the city is losing its grit! A group of nudists meets once a month to have nude meals, which is totally The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in Gothamist's book, and the meals have become very popular. Nude yoga, nude meals, what's next, nude commuting? We hope not, but if it meant a Spencer Tunick kind of world, maybe not so bad. more ›

Carnegie Hall and Rockefeller Center. Don't you just love 'em? What would the city be like at Christmastime without the tourist-infested tree in the plaza? Or even worse, what if The Today Show's, Dr. Judith Reichman, had no outlet to provide the nation with her sound expert medical advice? And where else would be better to hear the intricacies of David Sedaris' sexy little voice than Carnegie Hall? more ›

Gothamist was still a little skeptical of Bama fans' dedication, until we learned that Warren's honeymoon was postponed because of his book tour through the South later this month. Touche. He agreed to answer some questions Gothamist had about being an Alabama fan, college sports, NYC sports, and men who get pedicures. more ›

Sam Talbot, Cook/Street Vendor more ›

Gothamist is reminded of a chapter in David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day: Sedaris, living in Paris, tries to explain why Jodie Foster is carrying a bag of dog poo, because, in France, picking up after dog poo is unheard of, and Sedaris realizes why America is so great. Yes, God bless America's pooper scooper laws.
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You may be able to listen to 30 minutes of David Sedaris reading from the Santaland Diaries at the unofficial David Sedaris Internet Resource.
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After tackling behavior modification schools for teenagers yesterday, the Times turns its attention to nude summer camps for teens. American Association for Nude Recreation runs a variety of teen nudist camps and according to the article, "The nudist association, the larger of two nationwide, sees this as a place to train 'youth ambassadors' to what nudists call the 'textile' world." Reporter Kate Zernike and the AANR go to great lengths to tamp down suspicions that it's a love-in (it's a way to feel empowered about your imperfect body) or that it's dangerous (people keep an eye on out on "newcomers" and camps have a fair amount of security) but when one 18 year-old says, "At school, if you see a person, you just see their clothes. Here you have to actually get to know the people," Gothamist can't help but wonder if it means know in the biblical sense as teens are all about the hormones from 13-18.
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Finally! Strangers with Candy, the insanely brilliant Comedy Central show starring Amy Sedaris, will be made into a movie. Gothamist loves Amy Sedaris, and is thrilled that she and Strangers co-creators and co-stars Stephen Colbert, who kills us on The Daily Show and Paul Dinello will be writing the script. We pray that David Sedaris can find a role as a Christmas elf or someone who sings the Oscar Meyer song as Ella Fitzgerald. more ›

In the chicken vein, there are roosters keeping Harlem residents awake with their crowing from 4AM well into the morning. NY1 called the Health Department and was told "the responsibility lies with the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development since the lot where the roosters roam is city-owned. The HPD told [NY1] it had first been trying to find out who owns the roosters. But now because of this story, HPD had Animal Control remove them." Maybe Andrew Weis needs to get NY1 to do his work for him. more ›