Artist Jason Polan, who has been drawing every person in NYC, is getting so close to his goal. Well, he's drawn 8,300 people... so he's having a "One Tenth of a Percent Event" over the next few days. Want to be in his line of vision when he's drawing his next few New Yorkers (even David Byrne's been captured)? He'll be at The Museum of Modern Art today from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. drawing people — and making stops at The American Museum of Natural History, Grand Central andTimes Square. Get his full schedule here. more ›

Director, Brooklynite and cardboard box aficionado, Michel Gondry is offering up some quirky deals on his website. For example, you can get a roll of toilet paper with his very own random thoughts imprinted on it for just $13.95 (2-ply, 500 sheets per roll!). You can also get a replica prop from his movie The Science of Sleep: the disasterology calendar, for just $5.95 (it's for 2007, but will be accurate again in 2018!). But hands down the most coveted object being offered up (we can't imagine how long this will last after orders start flooding in) is the hand-drawn, signed portrait of YOU by Monsieur Gondry, based off a photo you submit. The cost? Just $19.95. Quite the deal, even during these recessionary times. We'd really like to see an infomercial-esque video to go along with these items, however. [via Pop Candy] more ›

Earlier this year we took a look at Jason Polan's ambitious effort to draw every person in NYC. Well, starting today you can put yourself in front of his pencil and pad and help out his project, but more importantly 826NYC. Polan and fellow artist Jane Mount are teaming up with Jen Bekman and her 20x200 site for Thrilla in Manila; the event is a three-day draw-a-thon where the public is invited to draw, be drawn or learn how to draw. Supplies will be provided, and next Monday the portraits will be for sale at the gallery (on Tuesday they'll go up for grabs online). more ›

The political news cycle yesterday was dominated by the controversy surrounding this week’s New Yorker cover; called “The Politics of Fear,” it depicts Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as America-hating radical terrorists gloating in the Oval Office. New Yorker editor David Remnick, who celebrates his tenth anniversary helming the magazine with this issue, spent the day making the interview rounds and getting some great publicity for the magazine; speaking to Wolf Blizter on CNN, he defended the cover as “Colbert in print.” more ›

Barack Obama’s campaign spokesman Bill Burton is calling this week’s New Yorker cover art “tasteless and offensive.” The illustration by Barry Blitt depicts the Illinois senator in the Oval Office wearing traditional Muslim garb while doing a “terrorist fist jab” with his wife Michelle, who is dressed in fatigues, with an Afro and an AK-47 slung over her shoulder. To complete the scene, there’s a portrait of Bin Laden over the fireplace, in which an American flag is ablaze. more ›