MTV's Un-credible New Years The Time Warner on-screen guide simply said "Tila Tequila" on MTV when the clock struck midnight last Monday, leading a casual observer to assume they were blowing through a marathon of her depressing reality show. But oh no! The oddly shaped, elfish face of the network apparently gets sole, top billing over the biggest night of the year as the host of MTV's annual New Years Eve party. She was mostly......

THEATER: Temporary Distortion’s Welcome to Nowhere (bullet hole road) juxtaposes lushly photographed cinema with hypnotic live performance. Positioned within a small but elaborately designed boxlike installation, the actors draw the audience into their blood-stained world with a stillness that approaches meditation. When fused with the rich film projection above their heads – which furthers the abstract plot of the road movie/love story – the show draws you into an intimate embrace, as if the characters......

The nicer the weather gets, the busier we get across the Ist-A-Verse. But we like being busy. Here's a peek at what we've been up to since last week! Chicagoist had an interview with Audrey Niffenegger, whose popular book, The Time Traveler's Wife, was based in their fine city. They also had a heated discussion about Rush Limbaugh's controversial Barack Obama parody, talked about whether Uncle Julio's Hacienda is a good place to get......

Have you taken Time Out New York's Essential New Yorker? It's a mammoth, challenging exercise that tests people's knowledge of the city and its people. Naturally, there was a Law & Order question (page 5 of the quiz) that challenged whether you could sift through, oh, about 100 names or so to find the needle in the haystack: "Which one of the following actors has never appeared on New York’s quintessential cop show?" [Spoiler......

From the musical stylings of the composer who brought us Dracula and Jekyll & Hyde, New York City now has a theme song. The city's tourism arm, NYC & Company, commissioned Frank Wildhorn to write a song about how wonderful New York City is, and now we have "New York: For the Time of Your Life." The NY Post says the song is a "splashy, big-band-style number belted out in a brassy, Sinatra-esque voice," and......

New York is in a tizzy because it's the day before The Gates in Central Park officially open. Gothamist must say, we love how there's so much excitement about public art. Honestly, there hasn't been this much excitement and anticipation from photobloggers in New York since...the Republican National Convention last summer. Wow, Mayor Bloomberg, you really know how to push New Yorkers' buttons! The finishing touches won't be put on The Gates until tomorrow......

The Times has a fabulous feature on the city schools' search for a chef to plan menus for its 1.1 million public school kids: "Meals must appeal to youthful but discerning palates from Staten Island to the Bronx and cost about $2 each, if not less, to produce." The city is always trying to improve cafeteria food, but kids, raised on fast food, are dismissive. eporter Elissa Gootman went to check out Bronx students......

- The Yankees are Goliath and Alex Rodriguez needs help getting dressed - Carbon monoxide deaths in Murray Hill - Triumph upsets Canadians...he was keeding, but they didn't get it - The terrible story of the deliveryman murder in Queens - The Hasidic and hipsters are trying to coexist...not very well, though - Sirengate at the Mayor's Office! - Gothamist doesn't mind Christianity...we're just dubious of Baptists converting all of NY is all - It's......

The Time Warner Center has its first visit from the NY City Fire Department! Chef Thomas Keller's restaurant Per Se had a fire yesterday that closed the restaurant. Luckily, everyone safely got out and only a firefighter needed to be treated for minor injuries. The true casualty is the kitchen, which will force the restaurant to be closed till Monday. The Post calls it "the curse of the Time Warner Building." Nice work, News Corp.......

The phone company and the FCC are raining on everyone's parade again: The eBay auction of the number 212-867-5309 was stopped after who actually owns the number and who benefits from profits from its sale have come into question. The Time interviews the owner, NY law student John, who says he got the idea to sell it after many callers - "the late-night drunks, the shy hang-ups, the would-be suitors handed false numbers." Gothamist believes......

Just when you thought you were tired of Michael Jackson, he becomes interesting again. Admit it – there could not be a more insane mugshot picture; he sort of looks like a comic book villain, like the Joker [as suggested by friend JW]. He's Bad! He's Dangerous! This is a Thriller! He's Off the Wall! And as Gawker notes, all the Michael Jackson jokes were written 10 years ago ("Do You Remember The Time......

It's the Very Special Jayson Blair Issue of The Observer this week: - Blair is indeed shopping around his story in Hollywood and the Observer's Joe Hagan writes they received pages of the proposal: "I was tired of listening to the other reporters joke about victims like the five children who were raped by a man in the Bronx or how black-on-black violence was just making the city safer for everyone." - And in an......

As suspected, the TriBeCa kidnapping yesterday was over real estate. The Time spins it as an Edgar Allan Poe tale, detailing the the ordeal of the alleged victim, Lawrence Schlosser, 63 year old real estate investor. It was a real estate meeting gone sour, with the alleged kidnapper, Lawrence Omansky, forcing Schlosser to sign over buildings after punching and threatening him with a knife for a few hours. Then he tied Schlosser up and hid......

Oscar Commentary
Oscar is celebrating its 75th anniversary, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary of watching Oscar....

The evening is over, while Gothamist will be following up with extensive commentary about the actual Oscar telecast, here are the winners and some post-game analysis: Best Picture: Chicago - Marty Richards Not a huge surprise given the momentum Chicago's had since the Golden Globes, but there was an outside chance of a Pianist upset with The Pianist's acting, directing, and screenplay awards. But in the end, Harvey got his best picture. Best Actor in......

For some reason, I get very confused between these four white American male fiction writers named Richard. They are, from left to right, Richard Ford, Richard Powers, Richard Price, and Richard Russo. To break it down: Amongst the books Richard Ford has written are A Piece of My Heart, The Sportswriter, and Independence Day, mainly books about American life in intimate terms, set in the suburban middle class. Richard Powers is more of a......