ART: "Drawing Art and Politics" seems like a fitting event to have on the calendar today. "Spend an evening with New York’s renowned graphic artists Jules Feiffer, David Levine, Stan Mack, and Edward Sorel, as they examine the ways in which complex social and political issues are depicted by artists in today’s media. Jules Feiffer will moderate a discussion that explores the roots of political art and social realism in the context of John Sloan’s......

EXPLORE: Last call to visit the historic Governors Island this season! Free ferry rides depart hourly right next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Sitting 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan and about 400 from the Brooklyn waterfront, it isn't often you can get a view of the city and a house like that one to the right all from the same place. All Weekend // Governors Island // More info here READING:......

READING: Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Presidential candidate John Edwards, will have the spotlight on her for the night as she reads from her memoir, Saving Graces. The tale of her teenage son's death and her current battle with cancer may have you grabbing for a box of tissues (and voting for her hubby?). 7pm // Borders [461 Park Ave] // Free MOVIE: Postponed until Monday > Head out in the rain for a screening of......

MOVIES: With another version of Hairspray hitting the big screen this summer, it seems to be a season of decades past and, of course, hair! Movies With a View brings back the musical tale of Central Park hippies, small town boys headed to Vietnam and the '60s as they show the film Hair tonight. Deejays at 6pm, Movie at Sundown // Empire Fulton State Park, Dumbo // Free It's the last night to catch Punk's......

Porn on the 4th of July The theme to this summer's outdoor concert season seem to be coming up with new ways to deal with rain. While Manu Chao embraced it and Cheeseburger/Oxford Collapse had to cancel because of it, the New Pornographers just kind of went on despite it. First, indie one-hit wonder Midlake opened with a perfectly serviceable set. After came out the newly bearded A.C. Newman and the gang to play a......

EVENT: Together, the New York Book Club and the Gotham Center present "Resistance: A Radical History of the Lower East Side," with Michael Rosen, Al Orensanz, Jay Blotcher, and moderator Clayton Patterson. They'll tell you all about how the LES "experienced massive changes during the 1980s and 90s," including stories from the activists, writers, artists, and residents who lived it. More info here. 6pm // LES Tenement Museum [108 Orchard St] // Free MUSIC: Tonight......

New York singer/songwriter Jesse Harris might be known for his songs performed by others, in 2003 he won the Grammy for Norah Jones’s “Don’t Know Why," and he's also written songs for Willie Nelson, Bright Eyes, Feist, M Ward, and many others. Tonight, however, he'll be belting out his own tunes at the Living Room. Come check him out, and get to know him a little bit first... What has your experience been like as......

We caught Pete and J earlier this year at the Living Room and their sound fit and filled the space perfectly. They put their own twist on folk rock that you can check out this Saturday when they play the venue again. But first, get to know your friendly neighborhood troubadours... How did Pete and J become Pete and J, did you ever play solo prior to becoming a band? We were birthed as one......

As previously mentioned, Sean Lennon is back with a new album. His Friendly Fire cd release has been accompanied by such marketing tools as short films with Lindsay Lohan. Above is a video for "Spectacle", which is sans young Hollywood starlets. Tonight he plays The Living Room on Ludlow Street, as a kick off to his tour. Brooklyn Vegan has the rest of his tour dates.......

HERE’s American Living Room Festival kicked off in fine form on Friday, with free food, free colorful paper fans, and cushy sofas to sink down into. Granted, the main reason to be excited about the fans is that the noisy a/c was turned off during the performance, and there weren’t all that many sofas (regular chairs supplemented), and – let’s be honest – the place did start to smell a little bit of feet. But......

COMEDY: The Del Close Marathon is happening this weekend, the full schedule is here. "Del Close was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few. After Del's passing in 1999, the UCB started the Del Close Marathon to celebrate their mentor and keep alive his name and teachings for future generations"......

While we wait impatiently for some real improvement in the temperature, theater companies are heating up the late winter with scores of new productions. A warning, though: maybe it’s just the mood we’ve been in, but everything that most appealed to us this week is pretty dark/serious. For that reason, we’ll start off with Ensemble Studio Theatre’s company of emerging playwrights, youngblood, which is having its annual “Asking For Trouble” series this week. Each playwright......

Gothamist is feeling a bit under the weather today, literally and figuratively, so we'll just get straight to it, if you don't mind: Monday it's singer-songwriter night at Bowery Ballroom, with Vic Chesnutt, David Bazan (of Pedro The Lion), Mark Eitzel, and Will Johnson (of Centro-Matic) all playing each other's songs together, as the Undertow Orchestra. That's a lot of emoting on one stage, folks. For the ultimate in lameness, check out INXS at Avery......

A few times a week, Gothamist publishes music reviews by our contributor Jeff Baum. The opinions below belong entirely to the author. After checking out an early set by Atlanta-based band Snowden at the Mercury Lounge, I was about ready to turn in for the night. It had been a long day at work and I was getting sleepy. Somewhere along the way I got word from Audrey that Keren Ann was playing a secret......

The Crooners, Old-Timey Musicians...

Camera phone looky-loos, this one's for you. We're talking about the biggest band to hit small to medium sized NYC venues since Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and The Arcade Fire. We're talking about Montreal's latest buzz band Wolf Parade. You've got three chances to see them this week. That's three chances to see them before they come back to play Webster Hall. If you can't find a ticket to the sold......

If you like quiet music, you can't beat the CMJ-sponsored lineup at Living Room tonight (Tuesday). Jose Gonzalez, making his U.S. debut, is a superstar in his home country of Sweden. You'll know why if you listen to his songs at Myspace. Doveman plays the show too. You might remember them from their appearance at Gothamist's Movable Hype and BroolynVegan's pre-CMJ concert. Up-and-comers Mike Wexler and Emm Gryner are also on the amazing (and......

We're not going to lie - we thought this bar was a typo. Not the Living Room, formerly of Allen Street, now on Ludlow, not another Tea Lounge in Park Slope, the newest bar within spitting distance of the cemetery is actually called the Living Room Lounge. A newly refurbished sweatshop still rough around the edges has a loft-like feel, especially with mismatched couches crowding the center of the room and chandeliers of varied......

The Honey Brothers...

They are questions Gothamist has often pondered…what would The Daily Show be like if it was a musical? Why aren’t the Post headlines, as deliciously punny and rhymey as they are, set to music? Is Matt Drudge a baritone? Gotham City Improv may have the answers, with their show Weekly Review [Saturday, 10pm, $10], a musical revue of the week’s headlines. Written and rehearsed in six days, the sketches and songs change weekly and cover......

Two more major festivals open this week, then there’s a bit of a lull before the Fringe arrives to take over in mid-August. It’s been an incredibly festival-packed summer, but Gothamist hopes that rather than getting worn out by it all, you’ve been building up endurance so you can go to many of the 1300+ performances in this ninth Fringe. One interesting set of options for your last round of festival “training” comes in the......

I'm back with this week's show rundown. We realize it's frustrating to find out about a show and then find out it's sold out. This week we start the post with FIVE (actually SIX) recommended shows that are not yet sold out (some even free). Caribou (formerly Dan Snaith's Manitoba) plus Four Tet with the Junior Boys and Russian Futurists are playing Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, and Northsix in Brooklyn on Thursday. The Junior Boys......

Jaymay...

Jon Friedman, Rejection Show Producer, Comedian and Writer...

Hoboken, land of NY-rent-wary hipsters, Yo La Tengo, and Sinatra, will be getting a W Hotel. Actually, it's a W Hotel and Living Room - hotel rooms and 40 luxury condos - that will open in September 2006. Designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, the W Hoboekn will have "a bar with amazing views of Manhattan, a destination restaurant, a 5,000 square-foot Bliss Spa and fitness facility plus over 11,000 square feet of meeting space,"......

Craig Wedren, Musician...

[above: Tim Burton. From Nightmare Before Christmas: "Jack in the Graveyard", mixed media on paper, 11 x 14�] Gothamist has noticed a number of great exhibitions going on over at AMMI right now. First, running through November, is the Tim Burton Drawings exhibit, which is comprised of 27 drawings from 12 of his films. Each was selected by Burton himself, from his own personal collection. Burton is known for his animation as much as......