Nearly two weeks after a surprise Village Underground gig, musician and ladies' man John Mayer continues his charm offensive by being a willing participant in other people's holiday office party photo booth pictures. Daily Intel spots him in photos "from the photo booth at the IAC holiday party last night and feels he was "much more charitable with the Daily Beasties and the techies...than another celebrity guest at the party, though: D.J. Samantha Ronson apparently got up with the youngsters and their revelry. At one point, she grouchily tweeted: 'Nothing pleases me more than a 'hipster' requesting a song I've already played. 1. I'm in the loop 2. U have no idea what you're asking for.'" more ›

Since February 2009 Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been trying to get their bear paws on each other and today they finally got the OK. I know what you're thinking—now that the two monster entities have joined forces, ticket prices and surcharges will go from just exorbitant to totally obscene. Well actually, by suggesting a merger the two companies brought the heat: artists, anti-trust agencies and competitors protested, and the Dept of Justice investigated. Now they'll be allowed to go through with the deal, but with all the requirements being imposed, AP reported they may actually bring ticket prices down. more ›

To promote his memoir I Am the New Black, Tracy Morgan has been answering questions from readers at Time magazine. One wanted to know what he thought about Barack Obama’s recent Nobel Peace Prize win. Morgan replied, "I think he deserves it. I think he’s really trying to stop nuclear war. I love Obama. You see how cool he is? You see the way he gets off of Air Force One? He kicks that leg just like Richard Roundtree. Ain’t no other countries gonna mess with us. And as far as health care is concerned, tell them to put cocoa butter on it. Those old remedies still work!" more ›

For some levity: By now, everyone who reads US Weekly or TMZ knows that Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer broke up (either he dumped her, or her dog hated him so she chose the dog, or he cheated). But when stopped on the streets of Soho yesterday--and in spite of being annoyed by gossip rags making stuff up--Mayer decided to talk because "I just don't want to be followed around New York City like an animal." And while trying to explain why he broke up with the "sophisticated" and "lovely" Aniston, he said he didn't want to waste her time and it's not unusual to break up with somebody "if something's not right...I guarantee 20% of the people on this street right are in a relationship they wish they could get out of but they don't know how." (This street would be Prince Street, between Crosby and Broadway.) more ›

Is Mayor Bloomberg a big Grey's Anatomy fan? Because he was a witness to Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo's wedding at City Hall last week.* Pompeo, the squinty-eyed- sorta- Renee Zellweger- doppelganger, married her fiance Chris Ivery in a simple ceremony. According to the AP, the only witnesses were Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris, and a city clerk's office official performed the ceremony last Friday. We hope that the ceremony was uneventful and happy,... more ›

A Mutual Fund for Hipsters called The GendeX™ Thrasher Funds? It just can't be real...except it is. Advertised through a "dedicated email" from Daily Candy this morning means they have some cash to advertise -- but to prove their hipster-cred we may need to see some MySpace profiles. And surprise, surprise -- it looks like they have one (John Mayer is in their "Top 12" friends! Ironic or do their parents also work there?). Their... more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a child shot on Kingsborough Walk in Brooklyn, a person under a train at Kingston Ave. and Lincoln Pl. in Brooklyn, and a pedestrian struck at 12th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan. John Mayer performed an impromptu set at the Mercury Lounge to the surprise of attendees last night. John Galt Corp., the contractor doing the demolition work at the Deutsche Bank Building where two firefighters were killed,... more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

Stereogum has raised the bar with their latest endeavor, a tribute to Radiohead's OK Computer on the album's 10th anniversary. Musicians from all over have contributed, some of the New York bands you may recognize: Vampire Weekend, My Brightest Diamond, Doveman and...who's this Samson Dalonoga? more ›

It's been a while (or maybe for some, not long enough) since John Mayer got up on the comedy stage. Well, he's back. This past Saturday he took the stage at the Comedy Cellar, and in a series of "I'm single now" jokes, he touched on Fresh Direct, commenting on the services delivery times: "You know what I could go for, Wednesday between the hours of 2 and 6pm...you know what's gonna eventually be really delicious?" Well, he gets points for effort. Check out his delivery in the below video: more ›

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! more ›

Al Gore is a VP again, of Live Earth - an organization/music event that he says "will help us reach a tipping point that's needed to move corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis." more ›

FILM: Who doesn't like a rendez-vous? Tonight come to Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. The event is in its 12th year and will introduce you to what's been playing on Parisian movie screens. Tonight is the first night and Olivier Dahan’s La Vie en Rose plays - the film will educate you on French legend Edith Piaf. more ›

DISCUSSION: What is the future of alternative journalism? Find out tonight as experts Elizabeth Spiers, Jeff Koyen, Bob Cox and Roxanne Cooper tell you all about what they foresee. If you don't know who those people are, then you probably don't care about the future of alt media anyway. more ›

Sure, there are probably a few jokes about John Mayer, but last year John Mayer himself decided to hit the comedy circuit, and now it looks like he's kicking off 2007 with a little bit of funny as well. Varsity Basketweaving caught his set at the Comedy Cellar on January 5th. Here are some of the "10 things John Mayer did during his Jan. 5 stand-up set at the Comedy Cellar" after crashing the 11:30pm set (via The Apiary): more ›

There are some important shows this week. It's your last chance ever to see Q and not U (@ Knitting Factory). Brian Jonestown Massacre (whose gear was stolen the other day) are at the very small Pianos. Steve Winwood is at the very small Bowery Ballroom. Yesterday Bon Jovi rocked the very small Nokia Theater. These shows all matter, but they're not the focus of this week's post . Instead, let's concentrate this week on Hurricane Katrina survivor benefits. more ›

Scratchy voiced Alan Light and John Rollins (Gothamist doesn't know anything about Rollins' voice, only Light's because he'dcomment on ANYTHING on VH1) bring a new music magazine offering with Tracks, oriented to more adult readers. The Times' David Carr looks at this venture, which seems to follow the music industry's realization that older consumers will buy, versus download, music, but the older consumers are simply not being spoken to. One doubtful industry expert, wondering if there are adults obsessive enough to shell out some change for a magazine about the music they like, says, "My experience has been that the people who like to listen to Bonnie Raitt and Phil Collins do not have music as a primary interest." Well, duh. If any magazine had a editorial mission to simply cover Phil Collins, it would only be good as a money laundering scheme. But this sounds just like the original business plan for VH1, so expect a couple issues down the road for it to be all about the 80s. Or the Fabulous Life of Sharon Osbourne. more ›

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