At 8:30PM (following a half-hour red carpet special), the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will begin, finally putting an end to the "There Will Be Oscar" or "Oscar Country for Old Men" type headlines. more ›

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• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person under a train at Prospect Park and Windsor Pl. in Brooklyn, an attempted bank robbery on Jerome Ave. in the Bronx, and a successful bank robbery on East 23rd St. in Manhattan.
• The Fire Dept. is responding to a scaffolding fire that broke out at the Deutsche Bank building, which is being deconstructed on Liberty St. downtown. One firefighter has already been evacuated from the building and being given CPR.
• Nicole Richie and Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte were spotted at Penn Station yesterday, hopping a train bound for Washington, DC's Union Station.
• New York's Peruvian community is worrying and organizing in the wake of a massive earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Peru. NY1 has contact information on how to donate to an earthquake relief fund established to aid survivors.
• A group of Brooklyn parrots have reportedly migrated (probably from Green-Wood Cemetary) to Park Slope's 8th Ave. and 14th St.
• Police arrested 24-year-old Rodolfo Godinez and a teenage companion in suburban Maryland today in connection to the execution-style killings of three young people in Newark, NJ.
• Dept. of Health inspectors are patrolling the Red Hook ballfields this weekend, making sure that food vendors possess the proper permits and checking food preparation methods.
• Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Joe Gould, who died in a Long Island psychiatric facility. The NY Times' remembrance of the man includes a literary spoiler, so we recommend just picking up a copy of Joseph Mitchell's twin anthology of "Professor Sea Gull" and "Joe Gould's Secret" to read the story of two true New Yorkers.

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt, who has completely covered her house in mosaic tiles. more ›

Ex-Gawker editor Jesse Oxfeld joins New York just in time for the magazine's big story on where celebs are in the city! Well, he's only quoted (as is current Gawker editor Jessica Coen), but given that yesterday's Post went ga-ga over Brooklyn celebs and where you might see them, forget the locusts, it's the day of the celebs. For the record, Gothamist's favorite star-sighting is not seeing Harrison Ford (with, ugh, that earring!) have dinner at Cafe Luxembourg or Nicole Richie at Balthazar Bakery (so tiny - and with DJ AM!), but it was seeing Elaine Orbach at the Vitamin Shoppe on Broadway and West 72nd Street. It was just the combination of famous, obscure, and Jerry Orbach-related that makes us tick. more ›

Brian Van sent us this photograph of Nicole Richie delivering Dr. Diet Pepper at 6th Avenue and West 3rd Street. This is 99.9% Nicole Richie, but with this whole "sunglasses bigger than your head" trend, how can we be so sure that it isn't that chick who has been playing JT LeRoy?
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- Public school kids who filed for transfers have to stay put more ›

Mary Kate, we hardly knew you! Okay, so we knew you liked to dress like Mrs. Roper if she lived in Berkeley with $150 million start the trend of bohemian chic and drink coffee and party around town and not move into your deluxe apartment. But when we went to People.com to see if there were any new pictures of Brad and Angelina, we read this troubling, if not entirely unsurprising, news. We know you have lots of responsibilities, not just working at Dualstar but finding a new boyfriend. We wish you well and hope that you and your friend Nicole Richie will finally eat something. more ›

You can tell a lot about a year by seeing which posts were popular, and from Gothamist's standpoint, it's been a banner year for our readers who are perverts or nerds (we're hoping the loyal readers are both). Here are a few of our most popular posts: Thoughts on the Matrix Reloaded; 100 Best Songs; when we pretended to know all about friendster messages; Paris Hilton sex tapes and her SNL appearance; Nicole Richie's racial identity; What not to do when you blog; Jelly Kelly; Best Movie Sex Scenes; Michael Jackson's mugshot; Nudist camps for teenagers; Blackout Edition; Lever House Restaurant; Metrosexuals; Hating Lauren Weisberger (related, Weisberger on her boss Anna Wintour ), Jayson Blair, Blair Hornstine; Larry Wachowski's possible sex change; anything on teenaged stars, speficially Hilary Duff (related, her nutty fans); the New York City Blackout Edition; and our Events page, brought to life by editor Mindy and intern Willa. more ›

–Holiday worst case scenario guide more ›

Norm: "Is your mother black?"
Nicole: "Yes, she's black. Do you want to ask her if she's black? This woman's black [pointing to another partygoer], do you want to ask her?"
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Additionally, reviewer Brian Lowry adds a "critical aside" on the sex tape: "While it's easy to admire the hand-held camerawork under difficult conditions and a modest budget, the night-vision photography is off-putting and obscures too much of the action." That's just what Jonno said on Fleshbot! And Extra ran a segment on the Simple Life yesterday. We can't wait for the show. more ›

Plus, take a look at our new Events page which can help you plan at least four possible options for the first part of the evening and at least five more for the later half; thanks to editor Mindy and editorial assistant Willa Paskin for a great first week. more ›

Gothamist like military night vision home video fine, but we think we might like Paris Hilton's actual upcoming Fox television program, The Simple Life, with Nicole Richie better, if the Daily News' David Bianculli's review is any indication: "If you're looking for entertaining television, look no further. I don't know what her sex tape makes her look like, but 'The Simple Life' makes her look like an idiot." Brilliant! more ›

Paris: Um - I'm really not that desperate. more ›