READING: If topics like space exploration and underwater archeology get your pulse racing, stop into McNally Robinson tonight when Explorers Club Fellow Jason Schoonover celebrates the publication of his new book Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives. Astronauts, scientists, and adventurers are among the 120 extraordinary individuals whose inspiring tales are chronicled in the volume. – Celeste Sunderland Friday // 7:00 p.m. // McNally Robinson [52 Prince St.] // Free EVENT: When The Voluptuous Horror of......

Will 2008 be the year frustrated artists stop whining about the Whitney Biennial for being too cliquey, too scattershot, too short on women, minorities, and criminally overlooked artists like the ones doing all the griping? Hardly, but this year’s themeless Biennial, which opened last night, goes a long way toward appeasing the disgruntled hipster artist crowd with a big, rowdy slate of installations and events at the Park Avenue Armory through March 26th. Curators Shamim......

Today the Times’s chief food critic Frank Bruni revisits WD-50 (pictured) and elevates the Lower East Side avant-garde restaurant to three stars (a 2003 Times review by another critic had awarded it two). Chef Wylie Dufresne has made WD-50 a destination with his experimental, transgressive menu, and Bruni concedes that in the past “too many of his creations were gratuitously perverse… many visitors understandably feel that what they’ve experienced isn’t so much a meal as......

SHOP: Tonight head to Dumbo for an “Evening of Cheer,” where three neighborhood events coordinated by the Dumbo Improvement District will be taking place. "The night’s events combine Dumbo’s monthly cultural event, First Thursdays, with extended shopping hours and promotions by local retailers and the illumination of the Empire Stores in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park by famed lighting designer Brendon Boyd." 6pm // Various location details here EVENT: Tonight some experts gather around to celebrate......

- Check out DogSeat's amazing Phagwah set-- great Holga work. One example is above. - Guess there's no one left to mess with on Wall Street: Spitzer is going after spammers! - We love musical theater, but this is ridiculous! - Here's a smart idea: tracking ACS cases using the Compstat system. - Garth loves these Ansel Adams pix-- but they're of Los Angeles, so we remain unimpressed. - Kottke turned us on to......

Can't you just feel the Oscar buzz in the air? The jangling of borrowed jewels and the buzzing of nominees nerves is like a cacophony even on this coast. Gothamist is excitedly anticipating the telecast like June Carter Cash before a duet with Johnny. In the meantime though, there are movies to be watched. As for the new releases, if you like movies where Bruce Willis takes charge with his sensitive but still ass-kicking masculinity,......

Momus, one of our favorite almost-famous rockers from the mid-1990s, has lately been blogging up a storm on Livejournal. He's been living outside NYC, but has been planning to return. Only one problem: he needs a place to stay: As I've mentioned, I'll be spending March to May of this year in New York City, performing the role of an "unreliable tour guide" daily at the Whitney Biennial. Today I just want to ask if......

Gothamist recently noted that the renowned Tate in London announced four new-ish artists that have been shortlisted for the The Turner Prize. In past years, the brothers Chapman (Jake and Dinos), who were one of the many controversial artists at the Brooklyn Museum of Art's elephant dung-fueled Sensation show, were shortlisted. The Turner Prize, awarded to young artists (under 50), has been awarded for 21 years now and is perhaps the mostly widely regarded prize......

Julie Atlas Muz, Burlesque Star/Mermaid...

Ed Halter, Writer/Film Curator...

The Whitney Biennial opened yesterday, and the big news is that it isn't shocking. The Times Michael Kimmelman calls it "the most cogent and layered biennial in years." The Post finds that problematic, since everyone loves to hate the Biennial (James Gardner's description of "amphibious art" is also interesting). Gothamist would have to agree - there's nothing more refreshing that damning "modern" art during a walk down Madison Avenue...and by its nature, provocative work stirs......