In Following the Equator, Mark Twain wrote:

“In America the ice-storm is an event. And it is not an event which one is careless about. When it comes, the news flies from room to room in the house, there are bangings on the doors, and shoutings, ‘The ice-storm! the ice-storm!’ and even the laziest sleepers throw off the covers and join the rush for the windows.”

Every Monday night music nerds come to Pianos for an evening of trivia. Todd Satterfield is the man behind the questions, hosting three rounds that will make you wish you didn't kill so many brain cells at those rock shows. Garner all your knowledge and head over there tonight to get schooled by the authority on all things rock and/or roll. more ›

A look at some noteworthy programs this week:
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THEATER: There’s a growing cultural phenomenon in Japan called hikikomori, in which young people (as many as 1 million) withdraw into their rooms and refuse any contact with the outside world, sometimes for years. (In America, it’s called adolescence.) The Attic, by acclaimed Japanese playwright Yoji Sakate, is about “a mysterious company that sells tiny ‘attics’ over the internet to people who want to withdraw from society. One man embarks on a quest to find the source of these dwellings after his brother commits suicide in one. On the path to discovering the source are several attic dwellers including a teenage girl and a kidnapper, samurai, polar explorers, soldiers fighting a multi-national war, and many other commonplace and fantastical characters.” John Beer at The Village Voice says, “It might come in a coffin-like box, but this witty, bizarre, and intensely moving production is a rare gift.” - John Del Signore more ›

Ah, the end of the year is upon us...and that means one thing: end of the year lists. Information Leafblower is a little ahead of the game and has posted his fourth annual "Top 40 Bands In America (As Voted On By A Bunch Of Effing Music Bloggers That Only Listen To Cooler Than You Guitar Based Indie Rock And Not Much Else)" list. more ›

Merguez is the hot dog of Morocco. In fact, this spicy lamb sausage may be nudging out couscous as the dish most associated with this North African country of so many culinary delights. In America, you find merguez most often at trendy restaurants, but in Morocco it's a more casual treat you can get on the street. It's also all over Paris, where it joins paté and jambon as standard sandwich fillings. But if you venture to the far reaches of Astoria, you can experience merguez the way it ought to be, at a corner joint called Little Morocco. more ›

Sometimes we get a kick out of strange criminal activities. Especially when they remind us of pop culture references that we hadn't thought of for a while. For instance, when we got to A Sugar-Plumb Stupid Theft in today's Post the first thing, and for a few moments only thing, that came to our mind was the immortal words of Homer Simpson: "In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women." more ›

Another week, another slew of new releases available for our viewing pressure. If you've been watching TV regularly, you might think that . more ›

Alexander Perls, Songwriter and Vocal Producer more ›

Gothamist on the Oscars 2004. more ›

Yay for surprises. The announcement of the 76th Academy Awards nominations were not the snoozefest we thought they would be, thanks to some shockers. Some thoughts on the categories: more ›

In the case of Jim Sheridan, he called to urge members to see his film, In America, which seems important if you're going to be voting a film, you know, that whole "seeing all the nominated films" bit. Plus, it's a very personal project (and a nice film at that) for Sheridan, so Gothamist can understand why he'd wanted to call the members, though it seems a little intrusive. But with Harvey Weinstein, we just roll our eyes and think, "That crazy Harvey!" But according to the very loose Golden Globes rules, it's kosher. more ›

In America opens on November 26th, but with the screener ban, there are sneak peeks all over the country. Check here to see if there's one near you (so far, it's looking at LA for the 20th). more ›

The movie studios are adding blogging to their marketing repertoire: Fox Searchlight Pictures has started it's own blog, foxsearchlight.blogspot.com, to "join this online phenomena" plus innundate people with information about screenings, box office data, interviews, articles in which their releases are mentioned, etc., etc. Part of what's helpful in driving traffic to the blog is the fact that the releases Fox Searchlight has out there right now are actually good, like 28 Days Later and Bend It Like Beckham, and their upcoming films, frothy Merchant-Ivory Le Divorce, nihilistic teen girl movies Thirteen, and Jim Sheridan's long-awaited In America, are definitely intriguing. Also, worth checking out is Fox Searchlight's SearchLab which has Quicktime interviews with directors like Ridley Scott, Mark Romanek, Baz Luhrmann, and Kimberly Peirce. [Via Movie City News] more ›

Dateline, Hong Kong
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