New York Asian Film Festival IFC Center and Asia Society Grady Hendrix and the Subway Cinema crew know a thing or two about Asian cinema. Actually, that's a serious understatement. Every year these film fanatics cull the international market in search of Far East movie gems, often films without U.S. distribution, to show to an eager and enthusiastic New York audience. This year the fest moves to the IFC Center in the West Village and......

We've always been rather drawn to the work of French artist Sophie Calle, mainly because it's just plain weird. Over the course of her career Calle has: called up called up every person in a stranger's address book and then reported their observations of him to a newspaper, posed as a hotel chambermaid to document the belongings of the hotel guests, and followed a random stranger around Venice to record his every move. The voyeurism......

And, no, the cats are not eaten. Gothamist knows how your mind has instantly made the leap to the Far East, but, alas, it's a Meow Mix store where cats can grab a nosh. On the heels of the NY Times article a few weeks ago that revealed the Fifth Avenue (between 41st and 42nd Streets) location and menu ("Cluck-a-Doodle Doo; Fillet Meow"), the Meow Mix Cafe has finally opened. Rules of engagement: No dogs......

The Yankees departed for Japan yesterday, and it seems like they might be the most pampered players in the game. As if getting instructed on every detail for the flight wasn't enough, the players will also get rubdowns from three massage therapists. Players will also have many things with them for entertainment, from dominos, to gospel music, to books. While there, players will get a $25,000-$30,000 stipend. Jim Caple's got it right when he......

Apparently the Japanese USB-powered noodle strainer is not a noodle strainer after all! According to Gizmodo, it's either a cooler or a moisturizer for noodles before being dipped into the sauce. We at Gothamist think it's both (you want your soba noodles to be both cold and moist) and will have to stop in Tokyo during our next trip to the Far East to bring Gizmodo some sort of USB-powered lint remover or stapler.......

I may not like Mariah Carey's music, but I have to say, her last two videos have been amazing. The more recent one, "(Boy) I Need You" has so many elements: - Mariah - Her dog - Many butterflies - Hyper stylized sets - Tokyo - Japanese workers - Her alter ego, "Bianca" - Godzilla-like creature lumbering around - Car chase sequence - Rapper Cam'ron as well as a sample of his song "Oh Boy"......

Usually, I'm not bothered when the media gets excited about all things Asian. In fact, I think it's a good thing to expose people to the Far East. But for some reason, this description of the cocktail at Jean-Georges Vongerichten nouveau Chinese (or is that Chinois) restaurant 66 in The New York Times style article confused me: "The Shanghai Cosmo at 66, which was created in character with the restaurant's Chinese theme, is a Lucy......

I find it interesting that Chinese food menus from the 1920s look exactly like Chinese food menus from 2002. Far East Cafe Menu, 1920s, Los Angeles [via Dollarshort]......