The incoming president of the Obesity Society has filed a 33-page affidavit questioning the city’s new rules requiring chain restaurants to prominently display calorie information on their menus. Dr. David B. Allison (pictured), a professor of biostatistics and nutrition at the University of Alabama, cites a study indicating that dieters who get distracted by calorie information are more likely to overeat. And even if the daunting calorie details prompt diners to go for lower calorie items, they'll just end up overeating later because their healthier choice won't really satiate them. more ›

Singer-songwriter Elvis Perkins has steadily cultivated a loyal following with his warm and thoughtful catalog of tunes. Subdued but soulful, and sometimes swinging, Perkins's debut album Ash Wednesday won critical raves for what Pitchfork called his "ability to merge instrumentation and lyricism to create a romantic's sense of atmosphere." Rolling Stone's review observed a somewhat sombre tone in the album and attributed it to Perkins's unique and rather traumatic family history: His father, actor Anthony... more ›

Call us shamelessly grandiose, but when the dust settles on the first disheartening decade of our new century, we're certain that Andrew Bird will be widely acknowledged as one of the artists who best captured (and playfully tweaked) our era's portentous zeitgeist. Indie-rock critics and bloggers have been lauding him for years, and now Bird is finally selling out the big clubs (and touring in a BioDiesel bus). On his albums, his rich, multi-textural sound defies definition as it plunges into dense, hypnotic reveries mottled with lyrics that are often as emotionally stirring as they are whimsical. In concert, Bird's songs become a high-wire marvel to behold, as he lays down multiple loops of himself on a variety of instruments with which he then plays along, joined by and his current fearless and talented tour-mates, Martin Dosh and Jeremy Ylvisaker. more ›

DJ Hazard is a comedian who's lived a wild life. He was a part of the wild Boston comedy scene of the 80's that spawned the likes of Stephen Wright and Bobcat Goldthwait, he's talked people out of killing themselves, and he's lived out of his car for three years as he traveled the country doing stand up. Someone get this guy a book deal! more ›

It finally snowed yesterday, but it wasn't quite the Winter Wonderland we'd been waiting for. Because being pelted by sleet/freezing rain does not make the heart happy, nor does slipping on what looks like a cleared patch of sidewalk. There were winds in at least the 30+ m.p.h. zone, which also made it worse. Many roads were unplowed, and Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty admitted, "Sometimes I'd rather try and control a 12-inch snowstorm than a storm where we got a lot of sleet and ice coming down. This freezing rain and sleet is a particular problem because... you can never seem to get ahead." more ›

Yeah, I know what you mean. I think I’m like that certainly. I don’t really play vinyl, though I do collect all these records. But one of the reasons I like to put out these albums is because some of these things have never been available on CD, and once they are then disc jockeys can play them forever. They can’t fade away like the old 45 does that I’ve had in my drawer for 20 years, or 50 years. So basically that’s the main thing, trying to get these songs to a new audience. None of these songs would be played together at one time on the same CD. I’m sort of like curating an art show or something. Trying to show you different styles of music that are all extreme, but all unironic in real life and kind of beautiful. I don’t think any of them are so bad they’re good. more ›

People always ask me what I’m doing on the subway, but I love it! Sometimes I like to ride in the front car and look out the window at the rats. I’m just glad I’m not crippled, because I hate the bus. Every block takes a hundred hours.Word! We'd love for his next movie to involve the subway system - something like Pink Flamingos meet C.H.U.D. more ›

It was inadvertent. I was a kid and I was in the family station wagon, my dad was driving and we passed a funeral precession. I said, "Dad, have you ever seen a real live dead man?" He laughed and laughed and said, "No, I can honestly tell you I've never seen a real live dead man." I didn't plan it and I wasn't trying to be funny, but I remember thinking, "That felt good." more ›

-- ...and attention outer-borough residents, Gawker has a message for you: "Unless you're on the big island, you don't count for shit." Oh, don't get so mad-- they've been saying that for years. more ›

It's like Canada, but without the metric system. more ›

, a book that’s part fired-up anti-status quo manifesto, part warm, cozy self-help book, urging readers to do everything from take drugs to bake cakes to moisturize, citing the works of such diverse people as George Lakoff, Judy Garland, Douglas Rushkoff, and Betty Dodson. With an introduction by Sara Quinn of Tegan and Sara, and a bold setup indicting President Bush as "the archetypical American bully asking bully questions that aren't really questions at all," Bornstein goes on to offer alternatives ranging from the immediacy of "Make a wish" to the provocative "Shatter some family values" to the more complex "Deal with the dead and gone." more ›

- "Mardi Gras lasts 12 days. Down here, it lasts 365 days a year. It's become party central for the entire metropolitan area. These clubs and bars are ruining people's lives, and they've got to be stopped." - Sean Sweeney of SoHo Alliance, which has tried to block liquor licenses, and a SoHo resident Remember when the problem in NYC was more rampant crime? more ›

Rick Burnley, Poet/Activist more ›

Mick Stingley, Low-Rent Rock Critic more ›

Brother John McCarthy, Street Preacher more ›

Darci Ratliff, Kittenpants more ›

Incandescent Traveling Salesman more ›

Bennett Madison, Author more ›

Noah Tarnow, Producer/Quizmaster, The Big Quiz Thing more ›

Sometimes I get invited to events that are out of my price range, like dinners at expensive restaurants. I don't earn much and can't always afford to go to these events. I want to hang out with my friends without seeming like a cheapskate. What should I do? more ›

We've had a chance to listen to the band Audio Fiction recently and thought they'd be perfect to tell you about this week. Why? Because the RNC is in town, and this band is most likely doing everything in its creative power to counter the Republican agenda. more ›

Reverend Billy, Street Preacher, The Church of Stop Shopping more ›

Girlynyc, Panty Blogger more ›

Caroline Castiglia, Comedy Queen more ›

Brian Bieniowski, Associate Editor more ›

-Ally more ›

For lunch, I often frequent a salad bar that has an assortment of pre-made salads that you can add to your plastic container, all priced at one per pound rate. There is only one salad that has chicken in it, and often I’ll go and pick out the chicken for my container, not taking the accompanying overdressed lettuce. Sometimes I’ll get looks from other patrons when I do this, but I often see others doing it as well. And when the store runs out of that salad, they are always happy to bring out more, filled with plenty more chicken. Since they charge a flat rate per pound (and the chicken is much heavier than the lettuce), it doesn’t seem to me like I’m cheating the store, but I wonder if I’m cheating the other customers? more ›

Juliana Nash, Co-owner of Pete's Candy Store more ›

Rachel Kramer Bussel, Smut Editor/Writer more ›

Elizabeth Spiers more ›