Photos: AP/David Guttenfelder The New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s historic concert in North Korea concluded hours ago, marking the first performance by an American orchestra in the impoverished, totalitarian nation. The event also marked a first for much of the press, who are routinely denied access to North Korea and, once inside, usually find their movements tightly controlled. The Times has a stunning slideshow of photos snapped en route from the airport to the center of......

Tim Russert has invited all the presidential candidates to appear on Meet the Press, and yesterday former Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared. We imagine many New Yorkers watching the program gnashed their teeth and/or swore at the TV (we happened to do both), as Giuliani tried to answer questions ranging from the straightforward (Giuliani's Iowa poll numbers, Russert asked, "Fifth place, is that a problem?") to the interesting (Russert on Giuliani's consulting business: "A Las......

Towards the end of the year, it becomes sport to wonder who Time's Person of the Year will be. It's sort of like wondering who will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated or who People's Sexiest Man Alive is (both are also Time Inc. publications, as it were). Time tried to get its readers excited, asking them to vote online for who they thought should be the Person of the Year, with choices being......

You have just a couple more days to decide whether you'll be dressed up or dressed down next Tuesday for Halloween. New York magazine has a How to Dress Like... Halloween Guide for anyone who want to dress up like Naomi Campbell, Borat, Kim Jong Il, Flava Flav or Baby Suri Cruise; there are even some high-concept ideas like tainted spinach! Our favorite is Dog the Bounty Hunter, because Cartman really inspired us. And......

Yesterday, the countries on the United Nations Security Council had an emegency meeting after North Korea announced it had tested a nuclear device. The U.S. proposed cargo inspections and limited sanctions to North Korea (including luxury items - and Kim Jong Il loves his Henessy), as well as banning any military trade. The North Korea nuclear tests now bring up some new questions about how the administration handled the situation, making international policy even more......

With Tina Fey gone from the writers' staff to primetimier pastures and Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell axed from the staff, people were wondering how this season of Saturday Night Live would stack up. And while articles calling it "Saturday Night Dead" are a mainstay every fall, Gothamist wasn't very confident given that the host would be Dane Cook, who already hosted not even a year ago! Here's our thoughts about the......

Gothamist is excited about Team America, the marionette movie from Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park that will spoof both left and right wing Americans, as well as world leaders in rude and hilarious fashion (purposefully bad accents for Kim Jong Il, for starters, let alone the marionette sex issue). But we don't know exactly why composer Marc Shaiman left the film Or that's what we thought we heard. Marc, a film......

Looks like architect Rem Koolhaas wants to mix things up with his new book, Content. The book, which comes out this spring, in connection with a show at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. The show, and we assume, book, will focus on recent works from Koolhaas's firm, OMA. But the posters for the book have provocative images of Palestine and skyscrapers being knifed while the book's cover shows the beauty of Photoshop and some pictures of......

If Kim Jong Il's North Korean army is built of tiny prodigies, like the adorable three year old Mo Kin who can play the xylophone like nobody's business or mug and sing shamelessly in a creepy Shirley Templeish way, the U.S. is screwed. From RobPongi.com, the brainchild of a Rob Pongi, who also hosts the 'The Roppongi Video Happy Hour' which is "by, for, and about, Japanese and foreigners coming together for fun and......

Forgive Gothamist as we giggle at the sight of Britney wearing a hanbok while promoting In The Zone in South Korea. If we were at the press conference, we would have demanded to know her opinions on Kim Jong Il, kimchee, the best Korean last name (Park, Kim or Lee?), and the future of the won. Non–Asian world leaders wear traditional Asian jackets. Giggles then, too.......