Photograph of Queens native Amy Ryan, nominated for best supporting actress for her role in Gone, Baby Gone At 8:30PM (following a half-hour red carpet special), the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will begin, finally putting an end to the "There Will Be Oscar" or "Oscar Country for Old Men" type headlines. You can prep yourself with the Oscar nominees list as you watch (or avoid) red carpet coverage. You could read NY Times......

Photograph of memorial outside Heath Ledger's NYC apartment Gothamist learned that actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his SoHo apartment, cause of death unknown so far (but apparently the masseuse who found him called Mary-Kate Olsen before 911).Bostonist considered sending a link about the Super Bowl, but damn! The New Kids are reuniting!Although Sylvester Stallone is a native of New York City, his Rocky character lets many Philadelphians consider him a native son......

As Gothamist recently noted, New Year's and the following week or so are a particularly festive occasion for the Japanese. Which is no doubt why Haru decided to celebrate the grand opening of its newest location on Wall Street last Wednesday. Hordes of sushi-crazed suits crowded the restaurant located in the historic Beaver Building for the gala event, which was also a benefit for the Downtown Alliance. Although the sushi bar teemed with platters......

With many people trying to keep up that perennial New Year's resolution to lose weight/work out/get in shape, they're hitting their computers (or CDs!) to create the perfect soundtracks for their workouts. The other day, the NY Times chatted with a number of experts - physicians, life coaches, workout music producers - to figure out what makes a good work out song. Of course, different music rhythms work better for different levels of activity.......

More than 100 bands, of all different genres, took the city streets yesterday to serve up sonic inspiration for marathon runners. There were reportedly up to 4 acts per mile, we passed by one of them in Brooklyn and thought it was a terrific idea -- it even made us pick up our pace a bit on our way to get a latte. The NY Times reports on how the idea has grown, turning......

MUSIC: There's not a whole lot going on musically tonight, but the show at Cake Shop seems pretty...sweet. By The End of Tonight and Multitudes will be taking the stage -- the former is described as "the perfect marriage between the math-rockiness of Hella with the glistening, soaring guitars of Explosions in the Sky." 7pm // Cake Shop [152 Ludlow St] // $5 FILM: The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and the Municipal Art Society present their......

The AP has this great photograph of a dog named Rocky at the Atlanta Humane Society. The Humane Society explained that Rocky had a #7 Michael Vick t-shirt because the society has been taking donated Vick clothing and using them as rags and bedding. Vick, the star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges related to running a dogfighting ring at his Virginia home. Vick will appear in court on......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at Quincy St. and Classon Ave. in Brooklyn, a homicide on 76th St. in Queens, and a missing child on East 174th St. in the Bronx. Martin Scorsese sold his four-story, five-bedroom townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side for $6.15 million, after cutting $500K off the price. Someone at Fox News is allegedly fooling around with Wikipedia entries to make itself look better and competitors worse. The......

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (directed by David Yates) In a funny reversal of the "movie's more important than the book" paradigm, the excitement surrounding the release of the fifth Harry Potter movie on Wednesday was but a preview to the real midnight mania next Friday. While the movies in this children's books franchise have been popular, they could almost be seen as publicity tools for the books, psyching up fans for......

EVENT: The New York Book Club at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum presents…"Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered New York City". The panelists include "Hal Buell, longtime AP photo editor who put images of the Vietnam War in newspapers across America; Richard Drew, AP photographer who has covered New York events including 9/11; Edie Lederer, longtime UN correspondent and first woman to be the foreign chief of bureau; and Valerie Komor, corporate......

MUSIC: There's no better way to end the week by heading over to the Seaport Music Festival on a Friday evening. Sit on the pier with a glass of wine and watch some bands as the sun goes down. The water and ships provide the perfect summer backdrop. Tonight Fujiya & Miyagi will get you moving with some dance beats and Black Moth Super Rainbow will stick to the synth-rock. Friday // 7pm // South......

When released last year, the Nintendo Wii became a gaming phenomenon. Lines stretched around city blocks, people searched around the city to satisfy holiday wishlists only to come up empty handed. Lane Buschel and Steve Bryant, two Brooklynites, decided to organize a Wii tennis tournament they've called Wiimbledon (like Wimbledon, see). Wiimbledon is accepting a limited number of competitors today and tomorrow (the first day was yesterday), starting at noon. The tournament is this Saturday,......

It's a tabloid Saturday jackpot as a Los Angeles County judge sentenced "celebrity" Paris Hilton to 45 days in jail. Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer agreed with prosecutors who felt that Hilton's driving with a suspended license (she was busted for DUI on September 7, 2006, ordered to go to alcohol education this past February, and then was pulled over yet again in late February) deserved jail and sentenced the infamous sometimes New Yorker......

News Radio: Season Five: It really is wonderful that this trend of releasing every last television series EVER to DVD has caught on. Some of the more obscure show available for purchase may seem a bit ridiculous but for serious TV junkies, the spotty consistency of syndication isn't enough for revisiting your favorite programs. News Radio, which ran from '95 to '99, is one of those shows that's well worth a repeat viewing, and their......

Tony Camin hosts UCB's Broin' Out and will be appearing as part of The Marijuana-Logues at Comix on January 18th, 19th, and 20th. In this interview he discusses racial injustices, historical conflicts, and his plans for the future. What does the phrase Broin' Out mean to you? To get drunk and co-host a talk show at the UCB Theater with Leo Allen and Jawney Conroy. People often associate the phrase Broin' Out with frat......

NYC is a two time loser now! After the Republican party decided to have its 2008 convention in the Twin Cities, the city hoped to win the Democratic convention. But now the Democratic National Committee has announced the 2008 convention will be in Denver. Here's DNC Chairman Howard Dean's statement:The recent Democratic gains in the West exemplify the principle that when we show up and ask for people's votes and talk about what we......

The Department of Health released the top dog names and breeds, and dog names are really pretty boring. Or, at least, owners who got their dogs licenses last year (that's how the DOH measures dog name popularity) really like names lke Max, Lucky, Rocky, Buddy and Princess. (And while we say their names are boring, we're not saying they aren't cute.) We're sure our readers have dogs with more interesting names - tell us!......

Joseph Barbera, one part of the famed cartoon duo Hanna-Barbera, has died at the age of 95. In his life, which started out in New York (Little Italy and then Flatbush), he created Tom and Jerry, Huckleberry Hound, The Flintstones and also worked on The Smurfs...all of your childhood favorites, over 100 cartoons in 4 decades. While in New York Barbera attempted banking, playwriting and amateur boxing. He then sent a sketch to Collier's magazine......

Yeesh, there sure are a lot of new movies out this weekend. Choose wisely and you will be well rewarded. In a shameless bid for our "penguins are cute" bias, Warner Brothers releases the animated Happy Feet about singing and tap dancing Emperor Penguins. If only furry black and white birds who rap to Stevie Wonder beats weren't so darn adorable! If you're still in Arrested Development withdrawal, the hilarious Will Arnett stars in Bob......

Evil Dead: The Musical officially came to life this month at New World Stages; we caught the show in previews, in a house packed with Evil Dead fans who reveled in every campy moment. The first two rows are given Gallagheresque ponchos and by evening’s end the audience in this so-called “splatter zone” is bathed in enough blood to run the Red Cross for a month. (If you’re grossed out by the amount of blood......

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist Tourist......

THEATER: Among the many great things about the Fringe Festival is that it makes theatre available on Mondays, when almost all venues are usually blacked out. 34 different shows are on today, to be exact, including Armageddon Dance Party, David L. Williams' inspired, hilarious take on our precarious times, in which a couple does what comes naturally when they hear the end of times is nigh: invite people over and crank up the music to......

God, we're so sick of Snakes on a Plane that we want to kill anyone and everyone that makes a "something on a something" joke. But then we realized that there was no way we could ever win this fight, and, hell, if you can't beat them, we might as well join them. And with that, you have the theme of this weeks' Gothamist network post. Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate......

As the weather gets better, we see more and more people jogging, bicycling, and rollerblading through the City streets. And when we see these same people coupled with an iPod, we just cringe and hope that Rocky soundtrack doesn’t distract from the yellow cab bearing down on them. But as it turns out, street athletes might want to be more careful with what comes out of the cab rather than the cab itself. Despite the......

- New York magazine reviews what they predicted and what really happened with the Brangelina baby pictures - The NY Times revisits the pianist who was viciously assaulted in Central Park 10 years ago - The East River State Park might be all hype, especially after seeing this YouTube video [via Curbed] - Hey, Glenn Lingle must have the same upstairs neighbors as us! - Ooh, we dig this kind of beach home -......

Joe Matarese, Comedian...

The Bryant Park Summer Film Festival has been announced. Starting off on June 19th and runing through August 21st, there will be a handful of movies we've never seen, which is just as fun as seeing our old faves. We'll definitely be there opening night for The Birds - that movie scared us good when were little. Here's the full lineup: June 19th The Birds June 26th To Have and Have Not July 3rd M*A*S*H......

Linda Simpson, Media Queen...

Rufus, an adorable (and very aardvark-like) bull terrier, won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club's 130th Dog Show last night. Rufus (real name: Ch. Rocky Top's Sundance Kid) beat out an English sheepdog (so fluffy), a Scottish deerhound (honestly, a little weird looking, if graceful), a pug (the crowd gasped when he freaked out during judging), a gorgeous Rottweiler (our personal favorite), a Dalmatian (not named Spot), and a golden retriever (very pretty).......

Ever since you bought that silver glitter eye shadow and punk rock crop top, you've been desperately trying to figure out where to wear it. Gothamist is pleased to inform you, search no further. Your venue of choice this weekend will surely be the IFC Center on Sixth Avenue as they screen John Cameron Mitchell's brilliant musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. In case you didn't catch the off Broadway play and then movie during......