We're so into these Karmaloop Supra Skytop sneakers.
Gadget gurus and media hounds swarmed the Wired pop-up shop last weekend for the chance to play video games and test-drive some of the holiday’s most sought-after gifts (laptops, TVs, game consoles, e-readers and the sort of techie contraptions that’d befuddle Sheldon Cooper). On Friday night, elbows were thrown dancing to a live Moby set, and partygoers were spotted tweeting on ultramodern computers. Less a pop-up shop than a superclub for nerds, it did leave us lusting for more—especially when it came it to the whole shopping thing.
“Don’t think you’re walking away with anything but a T-shirt on Christmas Eve,” warned one evil Wired rep, crushing everyone within earshot’s spirits. And in fact, it’s even worse than that: You can’t walk away with anything at this so-called “shop”—you can only place an order from the store and hope that the shipping gods deliver your gizmos in time for the big day. Lame, right?
Still, you’re totally gonna want to take your chances and place an order for Pops (or more likely, yourself). Eye-catching products included the radiation-reducing Pong Research iPhone Case ($60), PHIATON MS 300 headphones for concert-hall-quality sound ($200) and Karmaloop Supra Skytop sneakers in traffic-stopping yellow ($120). 415 W 13th St between Washington and W 9th Sts (wired.com/wiredstore). Wed–Sun noon–9pm, through Dec 27.—Anna Brand
Comedy Punch Up Your Life
Pete Holmes, left, and Jessi Klein bring jokes, silliness, overly intimate personal stories and top comedians to this free weekly show.
Books Michael Specter
Specter is sure to ruffle a few feathers as he takes aim at people who worship organic food, parents who refuse to let their kids receive flu shots and many others.
Clubs Rong Music Party
Rong Music label leader DJ Spun brings freaky-disco magic and outsider-house hoodoo to Lit’s top floor.
Head to Monkey Town(58 North 3rd St between Kent and Wythe Aves, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-384-1369, monkeytownhq.com) tonight at 8pm for “One Short Documentary Film from Each Decade Since Film Was Invented,” a largely self-explanatory evening curated by film buffs Aaron Schimberg and Vanessa McDonnell. One note for the sticklers out there: The term documentary is deployed loosely. Beginning with Thomas Edison’s barely perceptible camera tests from the 1880s, the chronological screening will wend its way through more than 120 years of film, including a 1948 PSA from Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer on the dangers of speeding, the rare ’60’s film Necrology and a post-millennium short from Anthology Film Archives founder Jonas Mekas. “We wanted to choose films that are examples of how people have used [the technology] to document things,” McDonnell explains.
If you’ve never been to Monkey Town, prepare to be literally immersed by film—the clips will be shown in the restaurant’s 48-seat screening room, which features four floor-to-ceiling screens. The event is free, but there’s a $10 food-and-drink minimum.
We’ve got a few days to go until Turkey Day, so how about a little free yoga to carry you through to Thursday? This month, Brooklyn’s Jaya Yoga Center (1626 Eighth Ave at Windsor Pl, Park Slope; 718-788-8788, jayayogacenter.com) is focusing on vrschikasana, or scorpion pose, to loosely coincide with the astrological sign of Scorpio (October 23–November 21). Instructors warn that, just like the arachnid, the back-bending pose can “sting” if you’re not careful, but beginners will be acquainted with the pose in “bite-size pieces” in a complimentary introductory class. Show up at 4:45pm for the hour-long session, and don’t worry about bringing a mat or any other props—Jaya’s got it all.
Photographer Gina LeVay first became fascinated by the Sandhogs—the urban miners who dig city water tunnels—in 2003. New York had just been hit by a massive blackout, and she started looking into the infrastructure of the city as a possible subject for her M.F.A. project at the School of Visual Arts. Five months later, after lobbying the Department of Transportation, LeVay found herself burrowed underground, 800 feet below Manhattan, with the ‘Hogs. “I was overwhelmed by the organic beauty of the tunnels,” LeVay tells us. She was at powerHouse arena on Friday evening to celebrate the release of Sandhogs, a photo book that documents what she saw in the tunnel from ‘03 to ‘08. “It was loud, chaotic and crazy, with buses and trains going back and forth. I was struck by the scale of it, and the fact that nobody knew about this underground life.” And of the Sandhogs—several of whom were in attendance at the book party—she says, “They’re a very welcoming and tightly knit group.”
Mining has ended in the sections of the tunnels that LeVay photographed, and soon the three main portions in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan will have 1.5 billion gallons of water flowing through them.
Holidays Origami Holiday Tree
The American Museum of Natural History unveils its tree, with paper animals from A to Z.
Books Stuart Hample
The cartoonist behind Inside Woody Allen revisits his work. For your own dose of neurosis, take our Great Walk of the locations in Manhattan and Annie Hall.
Music Röyksopp + Nite Jewel
Norwegian duo Röyskopp is prepping its new album of enveloping electropop, Senior. It’s joined by heavily blog-buzzed L.A. indie-dance-music queen Ramona Gonzalez, a.k.a. Nite Jewel.
Books Paul Goldberger
The author of Why Architecture Matters gives a talk titled “Building Up and Tearing Down.”
Gay & Lesbian Industry Night
Find an endless happy hour and free games of pool at Christopher Street’s new bar for rock-&-roll-loving queers.
Music Small Beast
Paul Wallfisch, of the noirish rock band Botanica, continues to curate this excellent night of music. Check out McGinty and White, Rachelle Garniez, Carol Lipnik and Bonfire Madigan.
Saks Fifth Avenue unveils its holiday windows to the public tomorrow, Monday, November 23, at 6:30pm with special guest Kristin Chenoweth, from the Off Broadway production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Christmas came early for TONY, and we were granted an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour at window makers Spaeth Design, seeing them taking shape.
As we saw from TONY’s teaser video, Saks and Spaeth work till the 11th hour to make the windows just so. Wish them luck!
For a schedule of openings and photos of holiday windows from Barneys, Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor and many more, take a look at holiday windows in New York.
Make sure you are packing insulin on your perfect Sunday; you’re going to need it on the Cupcake Crawl. But we have another antidote to saccharine Sundays: the new “Tim Burton” retrospective at MoMA.
Despite his gothic tendencies, Burton has never conceived of anything as scary as Death Bear, who will come to your house and take things from you (do not offer him your soul). A more cuddly proposition is a man with fluffy sweaters, silly pants and a honey of a record, Devendra Banhart, who envelopes the Town Hall tonight in a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Eat Out Cupcake Crawl
Feeling indulgent? Prime that sweet tooth for a cupcake-themed tour of the LES and East Village.
Comedy Comedy at KFBK
The smooth and delightfully understated Hannibal Buress brings friends and cohorts out to this new Brooklyn branch of a Manhattan staple.
Books Rachel Sherman
Her new novel about the horrors of suburbia delivers cruelty, laughs and exquisite sentences.
One of the hardest parts of being the quizmaster of The Big Quiz Thing (even harder than dealing with the coke and ho’s) is naming the wacky new games that I put together for each episode of New York’s Live Trivia Spectacular. Not everything is as obvious as “Soda Pop Haiku,” and this Monday’s show is an example: We’re doing “Celebrities vs. Monsters.”
Intrigued? Please, do be. Although I cop to the vs. being a bit misleading. The concept: Through the magic of Photoshop, we’re mashing up the faces of well-known celebrities with images of movie monsters, and challenging the players to name both personae (for example, I tried Eva Longoria Parker as the Blob, but that got tricky). A successful mash-up involves some kind of harmony between the elements, though, so why are we stirring up antagonism with that vs.? Why “Celebrities vs. Monsters”? Eh, it made me smile, it sounds snappy, and it came to me quickly. Besides, I’m busy copy-editing Time Out New York; if something clicks, I run with it.
Whatever it’s called, it’ll be a geeky good time, as part of five rounds of multimedia team trivia. (We’re also doing a somewhat-self-explanatory audio round, “This Song Title Is Unnecessarily Long, Wouldn’t You Say So?”) It’s this Monday, November 23, 7:30pm at Crash Mansion (199 Bowery at Spring St, bigquizthing.com; $7), with $250 in big cash prizes. You’re so welcome.
This is what awaits you at the end of the day. Photograph: Michael Alexander
Pick up a can of food from your cupboards (not the Spam; it’s for charity) and jump the subway to the Lafayette Avenue station in Brooklyn for brunch at destination eatery No. 7. Dig into an omelette with Mexican chorizo, Swiss cheese and arugula ($9).
Then, you’re off on the red loop of the free Brooklyn art gallery tour, smART. There are two tours today (the other’s in Williamsburg) and three tomorrow (see visitbrooklyn.org for the full schedule). Walk one block south from No. 7 on South Portland Place to the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), where buses leave every hour from 1 to 6pm on a hop-on, hop-off tour of nine more galleries in Bed-Stuy, Clinton Hill and Fort Greene.
Finish back at MoCADA and head to chef King Phojanakong’s Asian small-plates eatery Umi Nom, incongruously situated in an ex-Laundromat in Bed-Stuy. Order prawns with chillies and fish sauce ($11), the dish in the photo above that first drew you to this article.
Finally, head back toward the Lafayette Avenue subway and stop into Frank’s Lounge for house music from a New York club veteran DJ Disciple, as well as Melting Pot’s Kervyn Mark, Soulgasm’s Brian Coxx, Cameron da DJ from Langston’s, Trevor Fox and Li’l Ray at the Next Level. Dig out that can of food, it’s only $5 with a donation to the food drive.
It’s a perfectly murderous Saturday at Get a Clue!, a burlesque game of Clue in which you get to deduce the identity of the master criminal who killed Mr. Boddy. Other eminently dangerous activities today include ice skating at the opening of City Ice Pavilion. At least it has free open sessions, which you can offset against the cost of setting that broken bone.
For more genteel pursuits, there’s shopping at the new dude haven Wired Store, swapping at 3rd Ward with the Score! Pop-up Swap, or strolling on the Little Mexico walking tour.
Once night falls, party like it’s 1989 with Dances of Vice at The Grand Shipwreck Ball, on your debaucherous Saturday.
The nightmare before Thanksgiving 1. Tim Burton retrospective at MoMA
You’re first order of business for the weekend: Hit up MoMA(11 W 53rd St between Fifth and Sixth Aves; 212-708-940, moma.org) and get inside the creepy yet brilliant mind of Tim Burton at a just-opened exhibit exploring his filmography. You may feel a little gloomy on your way out of the museum—boost your spirits by hopping into the pool at the Grace Hotel(125 W 45th St between Sixth and Seventh Aves; 212-354-2323, room-matehotels.com) and sipping on a green-tea martini ($15) at the swim-up bar. Nonguests have to shell out $10 to get wet (includes towel rental), but you can always just perv out at the landlubber’s bar that looks out on the water.
The man who dresses like a “gay Orville Redenbacher” 2. Devendra Banhart
After a hospital spell for nervous exhaustion and a much-talked-about relationship with Natalie Portman, the guitar-toting singer-songwriter seems to have found himself again. And unlike Mase’s move from the mike to the pulpit, Barnhart’s newfound self-awareness is resulting in some great music. Catch him live on Sunday at The Town Hall(123 W 43rd St between Sixth Ave and Broadway, 212-840-2824), then grab a Guinness at Jimmy’s Corner(140 W 44th St between Sixth Ave and Broadway, 212-221-9510), a haven of no-frills authenticity amid the glitz of Times Square. Just don’t get into a fight—owner Jimmy Glenn used to coach at a nearby boxing gym. (Relax, he’s friendly.)
FRIDAY 20: Sake + rockabilly
Take your love dumpling to Forbidden City, the late-night dim sum spot where dishes like the salt-and-pepper squid pair nicely with an impressive selection of hot and cold sake. Then jive and bop till the wee hours at the Rebel Night Rockabilly Dance Party; revelers are encouraged to don white tees, slick pompadours and polka dots galore. DJs will spin ’50s and ‘60s rock & roll, blues and country, but don’t sweat it if you’re lost when it comes to all that twistin’—short how-tos precede select tunes.
SATURDAY 21: Profanity + burgers
Eff yeah! Celebrate marionettes and freedom at 92Y Tribeca’s Team America: World Police Sing- & Swear-Along. Trey Parker’s 2004 film will be screened with lyrics for each of the movie’s profanity-ridden ditties. A free beer is included with the $13 ticket, which’ll help when you have to croon “Only a Woman” to your lover. Afterward, pen an entirely different ode on the paper tablecloths at The Ear Inn. The bar, housed in an early-19th-century building, doesn’t close until 4am, and you can order a burger or roast as late 1am.
SUNDAY 22: Tim Burton + pop-up eats
“Tim Burton,” the much-anticipated career retrospective on the Jack Skellington–of-all-trades, opens today at the Museum of Modern Art. Cruise the drawings, paintings, props and other film memorabilia from Burton’s personal archives (think never-before-seen student art and unfinished project sketches), then bounce over to the PerkStreet Lounge (a.k.a. the 303Grand pop-up space) for an early Turkey Day. The “Thrifty Thanksgiving” includes booze and festive fall tastings of butternut squash bisque, maple-glazed turkey and pear-and-gingersnap cheesecake—all courtesy of local vendors. R.S.V.P. is required; bring canned goods for a local food pantry.—Shayna Courtney
This SlideShowPro photo gallery requires the Flash Player plugin and a web browser with JavaScript enabled.
Photographs by Jolie Ruben
Last night, hundreds of fabulously dressed, devilishly handsome (not to mention rich and successful) young gay men filled a purple-tinted, music-pumping Exit Art gallery (conveniently right downstairs from TONY headquarters) to celebrate the Stonewall Foundation’s annual fund-raiser Revel 2009. Music by award-winning DJ Corey Craig and a five-hour open bar courtesy of Stoli drew a packed house where the handsome young donors from major New York City organizations rubbed elbows and drank exotic concoctions served by equally handsome bartenders. Read more »
Yesterday, we told you about a BYOB opera event in an art gallery. Consider tonight part two of your high-culture misadventures when you make your way over to Ido Sushi (29 Seventh Ave South at Bedford St; 212-691-7177, idosushi.com) for the restaurant’s weekly opera night. This time, there’s no staged production, though—the series is completely open-mike. Singers just show up with sheet music for the pianist and start belting out the arias.
Chef and part owner Tora recognizes the uniqueness of using a sushi joint as a classical-music venue, but he remains steadfast: “Some people got shocked by the high-frequency voices. So they left, and I said, ‘Bye bye.’” Tora, who takes voice lessons himself and encourages his daughter to practice on the upright Yamaha in the corner of the restaurant, is interested in creating an open environment for musicians and opera lovers. It seems to be working—between six and ten singers usually show up for the performance, which runs from 8 to 10pm. Should you have a song in your heart, you’re welcome to take the mike. “This is open for anybody,” says Tora. “If you have music, you can sing here.”
TGIF! Your perfect weekend is here, and it’s a work of art. Start in Times Square with the opening of “Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop,” a re-creation of the Renaissance man’s studio, complete with a walking 3-D model of a mechanical lion and a robot knight. Continue to probe the world of nightmarish animals at “Subliminal Communication,” an exhibition of Surrealist works by Gilbert Oh and Joe Vaux—check out a piece called Deep Sea Diva, featuring a she-octopus chopping up whales with her tentacles.
Animals of a third kind can be found at the book launch of Sandhogs (it turns out they’re humans who’ve been digging a new city water tunnel 800 feet below the streets of Manhattan since the ’70s). And if all of this wackiness is a bit too much to handle this early in the weekend, head to the Town Hall to catch Ray Davies, who will revisit the Kinks’ back catalog with the aid of the Dessoff Chamber Choir, making for a quintessentially British perfect Friday.
For just $19.97 a year, you'll get hundreds of listings and free events each week, plus our special issues and guides, including Cheap Eats, Great Spas, Fall Preview, Holiday Gift Guide and more!
Time Out New York respects your privacy. We will only use your e-mail address in order to contact
you regarding to your subscription and to send you our weekly e-newsletter. We will not share this information with anyone.
Photograph: Gina LeVay
Comedy
Make sure you are packing insulin on 
It’s a 
