The Astor trial, which features the late philanthropist's son accused of looting his mother's fortune, has been going on for weeks—but that's not a problem for Judy Natkins and another woman named Gladys, who have been attending almost every day of the trial. The NY Times casts a spotlight on these devotees of the judicial system: "Gladys, who said that the trial has been a needed distraction after several deaths in her family, acknowledged she was among those curious about the celebrity witnesses, saying she paid particular attention to 'how they dressed, how they spoke, how they looked.' She confided: 'Barbara Walters looked terrific. Henry Kissinger looked fat.'" On one day, Natkins even joined reporters in questioning one witness, "Have you ever considered writing a book about your experience?" Gladys has attended the trials of Joel B. Steinberg, John Gotti Jr., and Robert Chambers while Natkins has been to Martha Stewart's trial and, in order to "see what evil looked like," spent a day at the trial of the police officers accused of abusing Abner Louima. As for the slow pace of the trial, the women are sitting tight, though Gladys said, "I’m leaving as soon as the Gotti trial starts up." more ›

Rub the war criminal's belly three times and make a wish! Yes, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took a little stumble this morning as he left the Manhattan State Supreme Court building. He had been testifying in the trial of Brooke Astor's son Anthony Marshall and his lawyer Francis Morrissey; the men are accused of looting Astor's fortune. more ›

One hundred ninety-eight hours of President Richard Nixon's recordings were released by the Nixon Library yesterday, as well as 90,000 pages of documents. The recordings are all from November and December 1972, after his re-election. And, as MSNBC's First Read puts it, Nixon is as "ruthless, cynical" and "profane" as ever!

-- On April 4, 1972, Nixon discusses the press with Haldeman: more ›

This Sunday Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Opera will hold A Tribute to Beverly Sills. The event is open to the public, free, and will be dedicated to the sopranos life -- which ended in July. more ›

Brooke Astor's funeral was held yesterday afternoon in midtown Manhattan, at Saint Thomas Church on 5th Ave. and 53rd St. The lineage and personal generosity of Mrs. Astor and the array of famous attendees at her funeral made it a widely covered news event. The New York Times reported that officiants at the funeral requested that all cell phones be turned off at the beginning of the service, although a Gawker correspondent pointed out that this did not stop the woman sitting next to him from allegedly loudly typing away on her BlackBerry throughout the service. more ›

We're sort of over the Colbert vs The Decemberists publicity stunt, but it aired last night - and it was pretty hilarious. There were appearances by: Henry Kissinger, the New York Times Anthony DeCurtis, Jim Anderson, Eliot Spitzer, Peter Frampton and Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider (Stereogum has the lyrics to his song from the show last night). No Colin Meloy, though...Colbert said, "The rest of the band is back in Portland probably growing hemp and trying to find the most pretentious rhyme for "salamander". I'll save you guys some time, it's "coriander"." more ›

THEATER: Teflon war criminal and Nobel laureate Henry Kissinger made news again this week with the revelation that Dr. Strangelove has secretly cautioned against any troop withdrawal from Iraq because, just like ‘Nam, such action would “become like salted peanuts to the American public; the more troops come home, the more will be demanded.” Kissinger’s breathtaking contempt for democracy is matched only by his Machiavellian genius; both attributes are skewered to great effect in this terrific revival of Nixon’s Nixon, which imagines what went down during Nixon’s historic meeting with Kissinger on the eve of his resignation. The play is getting great reviews, which further disproves Tom Lehrer’s quip that political satire became obsolete when Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize. - John Del Signore more ›

Action adventure, animated sci-fi, iconic '80s actresses and French sexual intrigue—this weekend is a good one for movie going in New York. Draw your swords landlubbers, Gore Verbinski's sequel to his bombastic film based on an amusement park ride is out this weekend, . In this installment, shot at the same time as the forthcoming part III, Johnny Depp's brilliant Jack Sparrow searches for Davy Jones's chest to free himself from some sort of curse. There's a boat-load of twisty-turning plot in this 2 hour and a half movie but fortunately there's also tons of great action, Kiera Knightley looking adorable in pirate gear and a huge tentacled man eating beast. So basically, something for everyone. more ›

There's yet another interesting bit in this weeks City section FYI column, this time on one of our fair city's old school private clubs, the Century Association. Housed in a land-marked 1891 McKim Mead & White Beaux Arts building on W. 43rd street the association (also called the Century Club) was "originally an arts and letters society founded in 1847." The invitation-only club admitted its first female members in 1988 and currently has around 2,4000 members "many from New York's cultural, professional and political worlds. The 2005 membership directory included Mayor Bloomberg, Brooke Astor, Ric Burns, Robert A. Caro, Chuck Close, Betsy Gotbaum, Henry Kissinger, Robert Morgenthau, David Rockefeller, Andy Rooney and Arthur Schlesinger Jr." Former members include Franklin D. Roosevelt. more ›

We are back from planet Sundance and slowly recovering from our intergalactic journey. When you are at the festival it feels like everyone is complaining about how tired they are or how they cannot get into the films and parties they want, about feeling overwhelmed by all the options, how they feel the festival isn't truly about "independent film" anymore, the declining swag, the celebrities, etc. In retrospect, it all seems so silly. So yes, the festival has become bigger than the britches it originally set out to inhabit and it has become an industry driven event, but if you can weed through all the stars, schmoozing and marketing, the festival is a unique and incredible happening built upon a foundation of community, experimentation and love of the craft. People often lose sight of this. more ›

David Rees, Cartoonist more ›