EVENT: Tonight, as part of the recurring Upstairs at the Square event, Nellie McKay plays tunes from her latest, Obligatory Villager and host Katherine Lanpher talks with author and filmmaker Antonio Monda. Monda's new book Do You Believe? Conversations on God and Religion will hit shelves soon -- and tonight he'll relay the discussions he had about religion with folks like Spike Lee and David Lynch. 7pm // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St]... more ›

READINGS: Russell Simmons has written a self-help book and will be at Border's today promoting it (okay, now all of this recent noise he's making makes more sense)! It's called "Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success." None of the laws include any of these three words. more ›

Being mugged outside his Park Slope home is prompting Douglas Rushkoff and his family to consider moving from the Slope. Now, there's another case of a moment in your neighborhood that makes one want to leave: Bagel in Harlem blogger Rachel Nathalie Klein has decided to leave Harlem:

I'm subletting my place in Harlem. I've left the neighborhood. I need a break. more ›

So, what have you guys been up to for the last...10 years? more ›

Horray, more music! Day 2 of Bonnaroo got off to a great start with Dungen at the That Tent. It's quite a trip to hear thousands of people singing along in a language they don't actually understand. Lots of people knew the words, few actually knew what they were saying. Regardless, the energy and presence of this band always impresses, and they left the early risers in high spirits to take on the day. After them were Gothamist pals Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who played to what we assume was the largest crowd they've been in front of that was the most unfamiliar with the songs. We actually had people ask us "Who is Clap Your Hands whatever whatever?" For the first time in over a year. This touches on one of the great things about the festival. Even though the lineup skewed more towards the indie scene than in previous years, the majority of the crowd was still there for the major jam bands. This put bands like CYHSY in a position to show off their talents in front of musically open minded people who may not have otherwise have gone to see them. Their set was marred with technical difficulties, which was a shame cause it hindered the flow a bit, but nonetheless, once the songs came out, the crowd was bouncing along and enjoying themselves as expected. That’s what we always like to see. more ›

Yesterday was the city's first weekday dealing with the "Blizzard of 2006," and it actually wasn't that bad, with snow starting to melt and people not complaining as much as they could about snow removal. The usual rule of thumb in determining how much a snow storm's cleanup cost is $1 million per inch of snow, but Mayor Bloomberg said he doubt the clean-up would cost $26.9 million. Forget clean-up, how about fixing potholes and those huge holes at street corners? Gothamist's favorite game during these days is "Do You Know How Deep That Slush-Topped Puddle Is?" when you gingerly tap a puddle to see if it's a manageable 1-2 inches deep or a monstrous 5+ inches deep, which requires waterproof boots and making you've plotted a route out (the alternate title is "How To Cross The Street By Stepping Into As Few Puddles As Possible"). Besides worrying about slushy sidewalks, officials are worried about flooding...and possibly drunken snow plowers. But we learned something very interesting from the NY Times article about how this storm's aftermath was surprisingly normal:

One more thing. Not to cast doubt on a record — or on the hard-working people who keep it — but do you know who measures the snow at Central Park? The security guards at the zoo. They read the numbers off a stick set in a flat, tree-ringed clearing near the sea lion pool. more ›

Adam Gardner and Dave Schneider, The LeeVees more ›

Man, the college experience that we remember-- dorms that smelled like bong water, Coke in the soda machines, it's gone, man, just gone: NYU has decided to go ahead and ban smoking in all its residence halls by the beginning of the 2006 Fall term. A sensible move, perhaps, given the thousands of young lungs in the buildings, and the propensity of NYU students to accidently light their bunk beds on fire. What surprises us is how long it took-- according to the Washing Square News, the NYU Medical school banned smoking in its dorm more than 10 years ago. Presumably the doctors knew what was best in this case. Typically, the reaction from students to the new ban was mixed: more ›

Fans of 1980's lovesick favorites "Hold Me Now," "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" and "Love Stinks" will be happy to know that the nostalgia-drenched romantic comedy The Wedding Singer is headed for Broadway. Set for a New York opening in April 2006, the musical -- which follows Robbie Hart, a struggling suburban wedding singer who's dumped by his fiancée and pines for a betrothed waitress -- has not yet been cast. more ›

Just when you thought you were tired of Michael Jackson, he becomes interesting again. Admit it – there could not be a more insane mugshot picture; he sort of looks like a comic book villain, like the Joker [as suggested by friend JW]. He's Bad! He's Dangerous! This is a Thriller! He's Off the Wall! And as Gawker notes, all the Michael Jackson jokes were written 10 years ago ("Do You Remember The Time [insert bizarre MJ incident here]?" more ›

- Segway recall! Techies weep! more ›

Recently, the best thing on VH1 has been their in-house promo: A montage of various musicians (Beyonce, Chris Martin, Justin, etc.), with animation over it, against the Flaming Lips' song, Do You Realize. Slate's Scott Metcalf noted that the song is "lush and trippy and infallibly alluring." There is indeed something hypnotic about Wayne Coyne singing, "Do you realize...that you have the most beautiful face?" with the fluttering animated flowers rising and swelling to the music. In fact, Gothamist can do without annoying Jason Mraz (Jason, huge trucker hats just make you look like you have a tiny head and therefore a tiny noggin) and would just like this commercial to be run on a loop, if VH1 isn't going to air the Flaming Lips video to the song. more ›