It's the strange musical collaboration of your nightmares: the new Lou Reed/Metallica (Loutallica) cranky metal album Lulu is now streaming online, just sitting there waiting for unsuspecting ears to pulverize. Pitchfork editor Brandon Stosuy's friend Seldon Hunt summed it up perfectly: "'Wow. Sounds like Woody Allen trying to tell a joke in your ear at a Limp Bizkit concert.'" You can stream the whole Frankenstinian concoction here, enjoy the Stereogum comment party here, or just skip straight to watching the Muppets "perform" a cover of "Pumping Blood" below (via Scott at Stereogum). Beaker is Lou! more ›

It feels as though we start every day hoping against hope that maybe we'll read some good news about the Mets; maybe Carlos Beltran will suddenly revert to his 2006 form! Or maybe Oliver Perez will have learned how to throw fastballs again! Or even better, maybe Bobby Valentine will be put in charge of the whole organization! Alas, these are the Mets, so none of those things will happen. But considering how terrible 2011 has been for the team so far, without having played a game of the season yet, how could it get any worse? more ›

Reader Ed sent us a photograph he had taken of the "Oy Vey" sign on the Williamburg Brige. One person commented in yesterday's post about the sign, which seemed to be a pet project for Marty Markowitz, that Markowitz was clownish. Which made Gothamist wonder what people expect out of their borough presidents? As we learned from an interview with the folks at Gotham Gazette, the borough president's office holds little intrinsic power, but can be influential in other ways (like with the community). more ›

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Queens is getting their own customized license plate, which Queens officials hope will promote tourism. The license says "Discover Queens" and "See the World," and costs $43 for the first year, and $25 for the following years (more if you want a vanity number). It's definitely a cute license plate, but Gothamist is unsure if a license plate alone can encourage someone to visit a borough...perhaps the URL for Discover Queens should have been put there instead. We also bet Marty Markowitz is working on a Brooklyn license plate now - "Fuhgeddaboutit" and/or "Oy Vey!" will be featured alongside images of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Cyclone, or a slab of cheesecake. more ›

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz has decided to "unvite" Cracker Barrel from visiting Brooklyn. Last week, politicians, community leaders, and even our readers were up in arms about Markowitz having the Cracker Barrel folks up for a courtesy visit, to bring some Southern chain-style cooking to Brooklyn. Markowitz alluded to some of the chain's past problems with gay and black employees when he said:

"I do not believe they are ready for Brooklyn. It is our greatest source of pride that Brooklyn's diversity of races, faiths and ethnicities is unrivaled anywhere in the world, and any company that is interested in doing business in Brooklyn must respect and celebrate that diversity. We have no plans to meet with Cracker Barrel."

Then one such driver asked the Jewish borough president how he would feel if there were a sign reading, "Leaving Brooklyn: Oy Vey!"
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