http://www.nypress.com/blogs-1-1-1-1.html Nathan Sawaya’s works make your kids’ Lego sculptures look even more like crap. For the past six years, he’s worked as an artist and earned a living creating large, awe-inspiring sculptures out of thousands of pieces of Lego. His studio currently holds 1.5 million pieces. His new show at Agora Gallery will be the first time a fine art gallery exhibits works where the medium is solely Lego bricks, and it’s also his first so]]> It's a beautiful day in New York City, and that means it's time to do whatever it takes to escape the office—even if it means talking to PR people who are way too excited about things that aren't that exciting. Since it pretty much feels like the first day of Spring, it's also the beginning of weird outdoor promotional events. Lunchtime in Madison Square Park today saw Zyrtec promoting it's new liqui-gel tabs. I'm going to make fun of this ]]> Take that, Internet! Print's not dead, it's just evolving. And that means going niche. Mugly Media has seized upon a particular niche that is sure to bring in the readers and advertisers: mugshots. Capitalizing on the popularity of sites like The Smoking Gun, Mugly media has debuted Busted and Mugly newspapers, which make use of mugshots in Austin, TX, and Dallas/Ft. Worth, respectively. --- Busted premiered in May of 2009, and Mugly's ]]> Reporter Adam Bloch has taken to the streets in the Upper West Side and reports for West Side Spirit that there's been a slight uptick in the number of retail tenants in the area. He canvassed Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus avenues from West 59th to 110th streets, "counting all the ground-floor, on-the-avenue businesses. Overall, 108 units stood empty, four were closing imminently and five more were planning to open soon. The total vacan]]> After a string of bank robberies in Westchester County, police have begun a manhunt to stop this from happening again. The chase might be easier than they think because the victims of his crimes probably don't want to see the man that held the gun in their face treated poorly. The Post is reporting that the robber isn’t a cold-hearted killer, but a polite criminal who said please and thank you during his robberies. When leaving banks with m]]> Joseph Ogrodnek didn't want to fall victim to the faux pas he sees permeating fine dining these days when he became executive chef of Anella, the French-influenced restaurant on Franklin Street in Greenpoint this past February.--- “My biggest problem with going out to eat in New York is the price where you go,” Ogrodnek explained. “I don’t mind spending a lot of money on a great meal, but it has to]]> The crowd at the 92nd Street Y on March 14 wasn’t the usual crowd. Normally people are there for round table discussions, but this evening they were crowding around tables overflowing with some of the best chocolate in the city at the Chocolate Fest 2010. Conversations were more focused on exclamations of culinary pleasure; although because of organizer Alexandra Leaf’s choices, many conversations could drift into political and ethica]]>  Geico's commercials are so consistently entertaining that they make me feel guilty for not buying their product. Sure, I don't have a car, but the least I could do would be to sign up with them in return for all the hilarious commercials. Sorry, Allstate, but I don't care if I'm in "Good Hands". Make me laugh or it's not happening. To make matters worse, Geico has come out with yet another amazing spot. This one involves an o]]> My review of Broadway’s Looped (the Tallulah Bankhead hit-job starring Valerie Harper) will run later, but there’s something I want to talk about first. In this biographical play, playwright Matthew Lombardo has taken several liberties with the truth, as is perhaps unavoidable when constructing a play. Some slide past (such as having Tallulah re-recording a single line of dialogue for her last film in Los Angeles, despite the film hav]]>  In 1889 Andrew Carnegie famously wrote The Gospel of Wealth which justified the immense wealth held by an elite few in America. Carnegie explained that these wealthy individuals had a responsibility to give back to society through funding cultural and cultural projects. Agree or disagree, Carnegie did donate most of his money before he died.     In that tradition, a major Haiti benefit concert in Carnegie Hall on Sunday will give back to those t]]> Now that the Gowanus Canal has been deemed a Superfund site it can finally get its sludgy hands on some real money in an attempt to turn from ooze-filled swamp hole into just a regularly gross waterway. The promise mountains of cash has lead to some ideas that are being referred to as “out of the box,” mostly to cover up the fact that they are as crazy as they are expensive. --- The Daily News spoke to Christos Tsiamis, pro]]> Walter and Rose Martin are two seemingly wholesome 80-somethings living a quiet life in Marine Park, Brooklyn This innocuous pair of grandparents moved to the neighborhood in 1997 hoping to be closer to their kids, and have tried to live a quiet, peaceful life since then. The Martins don’t look like they could knock out a jigsaw puzzle in one sitting let alone commit a crime, and yet the NYPD has come to their house no less than 50 times i]]> Last week SNL’s parody of the Brinks Home Security commercials made us realize just how far-fetched this service is. Does a loud alarm really stop a burglar in their tracks? Are all of the call centers from fifty years in the future and controlled by only clean-shaven 30 year-old guys? And is it only single women who are vulnerable to burglars? Now Best Week Ever has compiled Brinks greatest fear-filled moments with actual footage from the ]]> So many of us are sealed up in the NYC media bubble that we forget that there's an entire world out there—complete with struggles, intrigue, emotions and money—that has nothing to do with Manhattan. Or even Brooklyn! That's right, the San Francisco newspaper battle has been raging for years. Yesterday, we received an email from Bruce Brugman, editor and co-owner of the Bay Guardian, updating his fellow independent newspaper colleague]]> This Friday The Hookies take place, an awards show for male escorts. Raven O will be the MC for the evening, and I agreed to be a "presenter" at the awards, which take place at Chelsea nightclub Rebel (251 W. 30th St.) beginning at 11 p.m. I'm still not sure what award I'll be presenting, but categories include Best Newcomer, Best Pornstar Escort, Best Top, Best Ass, Best Fetish Escort, Best Tattoos, Best Body, Biggest Cock, Best]]> Bowery Boogie has posted a great video of artist David Livingston visiting the New Museum with his upholstery sculpture that resembles a large, flaccid penis. As you can see from the video, Livingston is asked to leave the premises. Maybe if he had checked it as a piece of luggage, would it have been allowed? Big Dick enters The New Museum from David Livingston on Vimeo. --- According to the artist, he's been performing his absurd]]> Our own Jamie Peck probably isn't awake yet but she's already making waves. The tiny terror ended up in Page Six this morning thanks to some choice words she had regarding a long-ago photo shoot with creepy photographer Terry Richardson. --- ]]> Last night, two Brooklyn artists, along with some of their hetero and homo friends staged a kiss-out to offer another perspective on the traditional vigil/rally that often accompanies a violent crime. Organizers Todd Shalom and Ryan Tracy placed groups of kissing couples (and some threes) of all genders on corners up and down Court Street in an effort to align themselves with the streets that bore witness to a horrific gay bashing on March 2nd. C]]> Tourist traps make eating around Times Square an expensive endeavor. And while tourists, no doubt distracted by all the pretty lights and big buildings, are willing to shell out $20 to eat a hamburger next to Julia Roberts’ hooker heels from Pretty Woman, the average New Yorker would rather gouge an eye than eat an overpriced meal surrounded by crowd of fanny-pack flaunters. So why are some many natives intentionally noshing on Ninth Aven]]> Vice magazine finally stopped trying to be serious and got back speaking about issues we look to them for answers on—namely farts. They sat down with proctologist (or aptly described sphincter scientist) Dr. Lester Gottesman to find out little known facts about flatulence. According to Dr. Gottesman, this Mother’s Day should be spent blaming your mom for why your wind breaking reeks, coffee has a direct correlation to your sphincter m]]>