Nate Silver and Conan O'Brien Have Some Serious Jibber Jabber

Conan O'Brien sat down recently with superstar statistician Nate Silver, the man who predicted the exact electoral outcome of the 2012 Presidential race via his 538 blog on the NY Times website. However, Nate was not a guest on Conan's talk show on TBS. Instead, they had a 50 minute long, non-commercial interrupted wide ranging chat about things like global warming, statistical probability, and the nature of capitalism.  It's a fascinating chat and I've linked the full show below.

This interview is part of Conan's online-only "Serious Jibber Jabber" series of webcasts featuring guests that he chooses personally who he is interested in. Despite the silly title, it's all quite serious. The sidebar show started in September of this year, featuring historian Edmund Morris and a long conversation about Theodore Roosevelt. It seems almost as if Conan is angling for Charlie Rose's job in a few years as the format is similar but also features the same all black set with a table between them.

SATURDAY SPECIAL: End of Year Supercut Of Top Movie Trailers For 2012

This is an amazing supercut of movie trailers for films released this year by an editing genius by the name of SleepySkunk. It's a mystery why this person doesn't use their real name but I suspect that maybe he is doing all this work --and this must have been a lot of work--at his day job. Anyway, they have put together a mega remix of some of the best and craziest and most beautiful movie moments from 2012 culled from the film's trailers. It actually makes it look like it wasn't such a bad year for movies after all.

Hermie The Dentist Meets The Music of AVENUE Q

I always thought Hermie the dentist from the Christmas classic RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER might be a little gay....you know, when he grew up to become a dentist in Chelsea. Well, someone has done a clever re-edit of Hermie lip-synching to a song from the Broadway hit AVENUE Q between two roommates, one of whom seems suspiciously gay. Enjoy!

Anna Wintour In The News; Potential Ambassador, Interview Terror

My neighbor Anna Wintour is in the news this week in a big way; there is a report in the Washington Post that she is being considered for an ambassardorship to either the UK or France. Wintour has been a vigorous supporter of the President and ardent fundraiser as well, throwing fancy dinners next door to my apt that once even had the President on the guest list.

Also, there's a great story in New York magazine about how Anna inspires fashion terror in the hearts of those who are called in for a job interview at VOGUE. The magazine has compiled a list of 13 anonymous women (and 1 man!) who had varying degrees of panic re; the question of what to wear when going in to see the great  Wizard of Conde Nast. The stories are great and it's interesting to note that those who wore vintage clothes (read "not this season") were not hired!

Justin Vivian Bond Presents The Drunk News

My friend and fellow Marylander Justin Vivian Bond has a hilarious new clip on YouTube called "The Drunk News" which gives a four-minute summary of the news from a slightly, uh, loopy perspective. But you know, when people are drunk they usually say the darndest things. Especially about the Tea Party. Listen as Mx Bond tells us all about the Fiscal Clip and speaks some truth too....in that is really is "just the rich people complaining." 

New Music Video Features Soccer Players Making Out

Recently, there was a glitch (or an "easter egg") in a soccer video game which allowed you to make the players kiss. The ban Hot Chip has taken this idea to the extreme with a weird and clever new music video for their song "Don't Deny Your Heart".  The song is catchy as is their style but my favorite part of the video is the offscreen sports announcers commentary....listen for that, especially when the first two players start to make out.

Rare FERRIS BUELLER Audio Commentary Available Online

For all John Hughes' acclaim and fame as a filmmaker, he only recorded one audio commentary track for his iconic films and it was for FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF. It was done for the 1999 release of the film on DVD but it's only the version released that year that includes Hughes commentary track...all subsequent versions of the DVD had the track removed, as he was apparently unhappy with the way it turned out. 

A story on IndieWire alerted me to the fact that the commentary is now available as an audio download which you can listen to alongside a DVD and it is hard to see why he didn't like it. I heard the first 15 minutes and it's really amazing the amount of detail he goes into each scene and how specifically he understood all these roles, not just Ferris. He gives some truly succinct descriptions of the characters and the actors he chose to play those roles and why everyone fit the bill.  There are some great trivial details too, like the fact that in the opening scene all four actors in the Bueller family, the mother/father and the son/daughter, were all actually dating and in love. Ferris' movie parents, in fact, got married after the film was completed!

This is one of my favorite films so, as a director, hearing the commentary is truly amazing. It's so clear Hughes knew exactly what he was doing with this film and, more surprisingly how comfortable he was with actors adding a lot of improv and material themselves. Hughes admits his favorite line in the moive ("not a lesson" after Ferris plays the clarinet) was made up by Matthew Broderick himself. 

NY TIMES Nightlife Review I Wrote For Les Garcons At Le Baron

A couple weeks ago, I got to check out a fancy new gay night called Les Garcons for the NY TIMES style section. I occasionally write bar reviews for thier Boite column and you can read my article/review online and in today's paper as well.

What made this night on the town different than the usual go-go boys and cocktails thing was the location. And in New York, it's all about location :) The party is at the previously uber-exclusive Le Baron, the New York branch of the nightlife empire of Andre Saraiva. The club is highly art directed/decorated, creating the feel of an unusually glamourous night on the town (in Chinatown no less) that felt like being in an old movie. I couldn't include this in the article due to length but one of my favorite quotes was a fellow patron, who said: "I didn't think this sort of thing existed in New York anymore." Neither did I.

LED Lights On Empire State Building Put On A Show

The Empire State Building got a lighting makeover which debuted this week. Brand new LED light banks have been installed for the building's exterior that now create a rainbow of millions of colors that can flash to a syncrhonized beat.

The premiere of the new system happened Monday evening at 9PM with a radio simulcast of Alicia Keys songs "Girl On Fire" and "Empire State of Mind". The new system is called the Philips Color Kinetic Lighting System and creates a whole new look for midtown's signature tower.

I have to say that as cool as it is it also reminds me of those kooky synchronized house lighting displays, which I've featured on here before. Is this new look too kitschy for the staid Empire State Building?

NYFA Provides Help For Artists Struggling After Sandy

The New York Foundation of the Arts is providing emergency grants to artists in the tri-state area who were affected by Superstorm Sandy. Many artists had their studios flooded in low-lying areas like Red Hook, Gowanus, Dumbo and in Chelsea a number of galleries were hit hard too.

NYFA has been getting generous support from the Warhol and Rauschenberg Foundations, as well as many private donors who have supported this fund, which on average is giving artists 1K-5K. If you need to apply or know any artists who suffered losses due to the storm, you can find out more information about the emergency grants here. Please share this story and help spread the word in the NYC artistic community.