Some L.A. Lakers fan (we assume) came up with a brilliant plan to psych out Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa last week. Barbosa fell victim to a hoax where his hotel gave him a message saying that Suns GM Steve Kerr wanted to meet him to discuss a trade to the New York Knicks. Jeez, that's maybe the meanest prank call we've ever heard! The Brazilian player sought out assistant coach and mentor Dan D'Antoni......

Members of the Writers Guild of America have been striking in Los Angeles and New York this past week over details of a basic contract between writers and producers - one of the biggest sticking points is the amount of residuals writers get from DVD and new media distribution. The NY Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd asked Seth Meyers (who we spoke to on Tuesday) to give her a weekend update about the strike:......

Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks’s latest big-budget musical theater beast – rumored to cost over $16 million – has finally slouched toward Broadway to be born. It opened last night at the Hilton Theater; this morning the Times’s Ben Brantley shuffled out of the delivery room to tell us all about the freak of nature Brooks delivered. Proud ticket buyers who shelled out the record-setting $450 for “premier seats” are probably going to want to put......

Bad news is staggering down from Young Frankenstein’s extravagant Broadway castle: When critics begin gathering with pitchforks and torches next weekend, the show’s star, Roger Bart (he plays the titular role Gene Wilder made famous in the film), may be benched with a herniated disc. A monstrous problem indeed, as the part demands extensive dancing, and according to Michael Riedel, Mel Brooks is panicking. (Isn’t Larry David available?) A little birdy tells Riedel: "One scenario......

EVENT: "Home Buying for Hipsters" would like to help out all of you "creative non-traditional wage earners" during your quest to own a home. Buying property is an art, after all, so creatives may even have a head start! They "aim to specifically address your concerns and break down the process into steps you can understand." Their classes are free and open to everyone ("hipsters, non-hipsters, art stars, rock stars, designers, freelancers, sculptors, poets, part-time......

The Department of Education officials are smiling and parents are seething: Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone ruled that the DOE could continue to ban cell phones. The DOE has claimed that cell phones are disruptive and students use them to cheat, while students and parents feel the phones are necessary for safety purposes. The DOE's cell phone ban prompted eight parents to sue the city, and, per the AP, calling the ban......

Coffee Shop was closed for a few days when the Department of Health tallied up 102 points of violations - 28 or more requires a closure - at the restaurant, finding "Cooked or prepared food is cross-contaminated" and issues with plumbing among the concerns. The Union Square eatery posted a snippy sign explaining the closing, and owner Charles Milite went to the NY Times and said Coffee Shop was "caught in the cross hairs of......

The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics? Partying-- that's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Chicagoist celebrated the election news but cried in their Beer of the Week as Da Bears lost for the very first time. And in continuing with our theme, previewed an actual K-Fed show! -DCist caught the President stumped......

Whether you're celebrating Christmas or compiling Best of 2005 lists for your blog this weekend, if you're sticking around the city there will be plenty to do. And of course the subways are now back to take you where you need to go...it's a Chrismukkah miracle! ART & BOOKS: About Glamour is going to explore the art of books with a kickoff reception tonight. Not what you typically see at Border's, the exhibit will be......

- Luckily no one was seriously hurt when a school bus toppled over on the Major Deegan Expressway; authorties say that the kids' seatbelts might have saved them - check out this picture from Newsday - The high school teacher accused of raping a student (a "consensual sexual affair" started when she was 14 - he was 43) was found dead, of an apparent suicide - More details on the ipodsubwaymaps's cease-and-desist orderes from the......

Besides fumbling with the newspaper, the subway game Gothamist plays is "Do we really need to hold onto the bar/pole to remain steady?" Sometimes, we're able to lean against the doors (yes, the MTA doesn't advise this, but we're skilled at it). Or sometimes we'll work on our balance and just plant our legs firmly on the ground and will ourselves not to topple into others. But most of the time, Gothamist grabs onto the......

City Council member Peter Vallone Jr. is looking to have wireless providers ask for the city's permission to put cell phone antennas on rooftops. By having a wireless provider go before a community board or the City Council, he hopes to prevent the rampant antenna-ization, saying, "Right now New York has the most lax regulation in the entire country. They put their antennas across from our schools, our playgrounds, and our bedroom windows." This totally......

The body of Hannah Shi, New York City's first confirmed tsunami victim, was found late last week and returned home over the weekend. Shi, a 25 year old NYU graduate, was working at the Hong Kong office of Morgan Stanley and on vacation on an island in Thailand. Her parents made the trip to Thailand to search for their daughter in December. One worry of theirs was that Hannah, if dead, might be buried in......

If you think New York City is too crowded, Gothamist has some bad news for you. The Census Bureau has revised our fair city's population, increasing it by 29,393 people. The new figure stands at 8,115,135, but the good news is that city coffers should gain $15 million over the next five years because of the increase. Okay, that's only $510 per person, but that's better than losing people like DC did, no? The revised......

When The Fresh isn't playing some hip venue in the Silver Lake region (that's LA's answer to Williamsburg), we're betting he's locked up in an artificially dark room somewhere just south of Hollywood Blvd surrounded by keyboards and guitars. A virtual mad scientist of musical standards, the Fresh isn't just a musician, he's a performer. An award winning one at that, just ask the Malibu Film Festival. To learn more about the Fresh check......

New York City has announced a new incentive program for producers to shoot their films and TV shows in NYC with panache: Announcing that the second film version of The Producers, based on the Broadway musical (which was based on the film), would be shot at the new Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Some of the big features of the Empire State Film Production Credit Program:- A Tax Credit (5% refundable tax......

Well, it looks like the Board of Ed has taken all the fun out of school with the draft of the new discipline code. The Board of Ed is looking to banning several things in school including drugs, alcohol, or sexual conduct. Really, what's the point of an education anymore? Perhaps when they move on to college, city students can get their real learning on. Proposed changes: Possessing controlled substances without appropriate authorization, illegal drugs,......

Tina Brown, Editor/Writer/TV Host...

Of all of the reports about the stalled contract negotiations between Fox and the vocal talent of The Simpsons and current work stoppage, you have to hand it to Variety. Their article ended on this pearl of wisdon: Homer Simpson, in 1995 episode "The PTA Disbands," gave Lisa this piece of advice on work stoppages: "If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed.......

One of Gothamist's favorite movie columnists, Jeffrey Wells at Movie Poop Shoot, went to the Santa Barbara Film Festival and comes back with an interesting take on three of the discussion panels he attended (about screenwriting, directing, and producing). He notes an excellent exchange about the brilliant Reese Witherspoon-Matthew Broderick film, Election, during a panel about producing, which included producers of 21 Grams, Monster, Lord of the Rings, The Station Agent, and Cold Mountain, moderated......

Gothamist's favorite New York Times film critic reviews Pirates of the Caribbean. Here's what Elvis Mitchell managed to put in the review: - Pop culture references: Bart Simpson, Mike Myers, Adam Ant, Keith Richards, Destiny's Child, 12-inch single - Nicole Kidman slam - Sigh - Food reference: ham - Either pithy or poopy pun as last line Elvis likes Mark Romanek.......

Two weeks ago, the Times examined the cottage industry that is Law & Order's character casting. Essentially, Dick Wolf's crime franchise is supporting New York's struggling actors, as well as acting as a stepping stone to bigger and better things in the biz. Gothamist loves how Dick Wolf, when reading Playbill at the theater, thinks an actor is either bad or new in town if he/she doesn't have a Law & Order credit, because......

These days, it seems like the big thing is to kiss and tell, and there's no bigger audience than when it's made all the more public. The grungier, sorta B-list version of Britney and Fred, Kelly Osbourne's ex-boyfriend, Bert McCracken, lead singer of The Used, according to The Sun, says they had sex in a limo. And he says he dumped her on Valentine's Day. Bet Kelly wishes Sharon did a better job of shaking......

Just 3 days till Bart & Co. turn 300. It doesn't seem the the official The Simpsons site is doing anything special, but you can get ready by having friends over and playing a Simpsons drinking game. Here's another. Or just research all the ones that come up on Google. But Chris Sullentrop wonders where the magic has gone?......

Word - Charles Taylor writes about how Variety editor in chief Peter Bart is seriously blinkered in claiming critics focus too much on so-called obscure films. Peter Bart's was pandering to the studio heads, basically a way of ensuring more advertising dollars for the rag, by denouncing the so-called tastemakers that ruin the studios. Jesus, if critics really had that much power, would "Just Married" have made $18 million this past weekend?......