Seasoned booze hounds take note: Friday was the launch of NY Craft Beer Week, a nine-day celebration of craft brewers’ tasty creations that’s taking place in over 80 bars across New York City. It’s not too late to grab your $35 passport — a valuable slip of paper that gets you $2 pints at each of the participating bars and a discounted rate for many of the beer-themed events occurring around the city. Read on for our interview with NY Craft Beer Week director Josh Schaffner, a man who likes his beer with everything. Even pancakes. Read More »
Maria Falgoust and Sarah Murphy started The Desk Set in 2006 as a way to corral librarians who were clustered in their Greenpoint neighborhood. Professionally, they’re school librarians, and in their free time they organize activities to bring the literary community closer together, often with an element of charitable activism at the crux. They’ve reinvigorated the discussion of what it means to be a librarian, and helped bring awareness to the fact that being bookish should not be at odds with being young, modern, and fun. (Think Parker Posey in Party Girl.) We met at their adopted headquarters (Enid’s) to discuss. Read More »
Richard Lawson, recapper extraordinaire, started off at Gawker in the ad sales department. Doubling — unbeknownst to anyone in office — as a Gawker commenter via online alter ego Lolcait, his comment contributions (in part thanks to a slight lapse in etiquette by Foxy Brown) caused a veritable internet sensation. When Lawson eventually revealed his identity, he rose through the Gawker ranks: first selecting “best comment of the week,” and later plucked from sales into editorial. Since his holy ascension, the epic recaps he has crafted of Real Housewives, Real World, NYC Prep, The Hills, Gossip Girl, et al. have been an enormous success. Showcasing brilliant farce and sweeping narrative, Lawson has inspired inappropriately loud guffaws in offices across the land. He has recently left Gawker for TV.com, and has taken Sereenz, Garbanzo Bean, and Ol’ Crackerjacks with him. Read More »
Dateline: Bryant Park. Five writers sit perched on elevated chairs like a royal court of literati. As introductory details are read off it becomes clear what a disparate group is assembled. Joe Hagan is a non-fiction writer who likes to pursue talented, unheard-of musicians; James Hannaham wrote a book about a black Christian gay man who tried to “get rid of” his homosexuality; Jessica Anthony merges two worlds usually not mentioned in the same breath — Hungary and Virginia — with humor and lightness; Brandon Stosuy is a heavy metal music writer and blogger at Stereogum; and Arthur Phillips is a novelist with four books under his belt. What could possibly bring these people together? McSweeney’s, of course. Read More »
The evening commenced with oddball musician Peter Stampfel and the Ether Frolic Mob. The farcical performance of the eponymous Stampfel, who howled and grimaced comically while playing souring notes throughout the set, made one wonder if Christopher Guest was filming a sequel for A Mighty Wind from somewhere in the back. Read More »
Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York is a remarkable book of photos by Karla and James Murray, featuring a huge selection of store façades snapped all over the five boroughs. Unified by their charmingly unvarnished aesthetic, these stores have maintained a look seemingly impervious to the slick architecture and generic branding that has redefined the topography of modern New York. Read More »
