Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

If what you want out of a movie is moral clarity -- or even coherence -- you should probably avoid the new Irish gangster flick In Bruges. It's a credit to screenwriter and director Martin McDonagh's clever contrivance to hear critics complain that its superlatively violent ending breaks the moral deal. To paraphrase Arthur Penn, the father of critically reviled ultraviolence, we're killing people every day in Iraq, and you're upset that this movie is......

The World as a Stage Institute of Contemporary Art Feb 1 - April 27 The centerpiece of the new exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art is an enormous set of crescent-shaped bleachers that curve around the gallery space like outstretched arms. They are pressed board and synthetic fiber and would resemble gym bleachers if basketball were played in the round and gyms were designed by Gene Roddenberry. Rita McBride's Arena (1997) establishes the dual......

Music --Haven't you always wanted to go to an event called HARVAPALOOZA? Well, now you can. Local band The Franklin Kite bring a special combination of musical prowess and astrophysics knowledge to Tommy Doyle's, where they'll play alongside Maya and The Trolleys to commemorate the palooza that is Harvard. Or something like that? Anyway, the show starts at 9 and it's totally free. A dance party will follow, so put your best foot forward. Hopefully......

• Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.
• Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper.
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Continue Reading "Week Around the -Ists"

SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others. Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish list. Gothamist looked at the wooden bikes being offered for NYC's first bike share program on Governors Island. LAist received a Christmas present in the form of a drunk Santa Claus in a g-string. Bostonist launched......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryant Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

Here’s a novel idea: if a music scene wants to prove its relevancy through an award show, why doesn’t that scene put in some effort? Boston’s ties to regional, up-and-coming, and national talent were on clear display Saturday evening at the Orpheum Theatre, as the 2007 Boston Music Awards honored many a bold-faced musical name. Metal poster boys Killswitch Engage took home Act of the Year accolades, while critical darlings Lori McKenna and Martin Sexton......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

Tunng With Geoff Farina (Karate, Secret Stars) and Brown Bird Middle East Upstairs Thursday, October 25 $10 advance / $12 doors // 18+ Yes, you do, and the band sounds as smooth as a tongue, rippled with tastebuds for (super)sonic texture. Though the name might suggest a Norwegian origin, Tunng actually started in a Soho (that's London, not New York) basement, with electronic guru Mike Lindsay and singer-songwriter Sam Genders simply playing around in......

Julian Velard with Jordan Carp Paradise Lounge Tonight, 7 p.m. 18+, $10 website The baseball fates are smiling upon Julian Velard today. The New York-based singer-songwriter told Bostonist recently that he was looking forward to performing in Boston tonight, with a show at the Paradise Lounge that serves as a brief escape to live performance during an intensely busy recording process. But Velard knew that trying to compete against the Red Sox in Boston is......

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

It's hard to work up a frenzy against the Cleveland Indians. They seem like a bunch of polite, plucky kids who we'd be pulling for in almost any other circumstance. Gone are the enemies of the mid-to-late-90's: villains like Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez. Gone are the mockable stars of that magical 1988 team: colorful characters like ex-con Rick Vaughan and voodoo worshipper Pedro Cerrano. Trot Nixon, who you may remember as one of the......

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late-night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late-night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock to it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own such as......

We're going to admit that we'd be inclined to give Patrick Wolf a cheer even we'd never heard of his material. Why? The guy called 2007 pop darling (and Perez Hilton poster child) Mika a twat back in July - and it was about time somebody spoke for those sick of having "Grace Kelly" shoved down their throats. Sure, it was a move awfully Lily Allen-esque - he sent out a myspace bulletin blasting Mika......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

Wagamama, the wildly popular UK-based noodle chain that opened restaurants in Faneuil Hall last April and Harvard Square last month, reminds us of IKEA: slick, modern, not terrible quality for the prices, and definitely designed to appeal to the masses. Like the London Wagamamas we’ve visited, the Harvard Square restaurant has a spare, modern aesthetic—diners sit cafeteria-style at long wooden tables set with paper placemats, which also serve as dessert menus and as a place......

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and......

Boy, this one had "thrilling comeback" written all over it, didn't it? After the Red Sox pulled Tuesday night's game out of the grave, they spotted Tampa Bay a 6-0 lead yesterday afternoon. (Oh, inconsistent, Daisuke...what's to be done with you?) The Sox then started chipping away as they've done so many times. Jason Varitek's 2-run homer in the seventh chased starter Andy Sonnanstine to the clubhouse, then Crisp walked and Lugo followed with an......

Taking a cue from our friends at Londonist and DCist, the Bostonist Photo of the Day feature is looking for your images of Boston that have been photoshopped to be kooky, crazy, and fun. Take a look at some of the Londonist Touch Up London photos for inspiration. This one from Stoofus particularly caught our eye with its whimsical nature. Get creative - Take a cue from tim kelly and make Boston its own......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the......

--We're not saying Northeastern University students like to urinate on stuff. But first it was the onions, and then it was the time-honored closet of the roommate. The NU crime log says, An intoxicated 20-year-old male student walked into his roommate's bedroom in West Village A, urinated in his closet and returned to his own bed. He will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. We just find it interesting......

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the (insert tongue firmly into cheek) hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......