One Way Or Another

According to Finn, “It’s good to have choices”. So Thursday is a good night to test that theory. This Thursday, May 13, Philadelphia’s funky and fabulous punk band, Stiffed, will be playing at Sin-e (148-150 Attorney St.) at 8PM. And my favorites, The Lascivious Biddies will be playing at Pianos on Ludlow St.

No One In The World

The craziness of the war in Iraq, the prisoner abuse and the atrocities of terrorism are stark examples that the world right now has some major issues. The world needs a big hug, and what better place to find it is at Washington Square Park where there’s a guy hugging strangers just for the hell of it!

One World

Lava Gina, a luscious world music lounge, is having a fabulous concert on Saturday May 15 with recording artists Nefertite Jones and Ellis Hooks! Soul sensation Ellis Hooks has just released his latest album, “Uncomplicated”. 116 Avenue C between 7th and 8th Streets.

One Love

Spend Sunday evening in SoHo! My lovely friend Signe Grant is hosting a party this Sunday, May 16, at 203 Spring St from 7-11PM. The party is a fundraiser for an upcoming theatre project (an adaptation of Mallarme’s “A Throw Of The Dice”). The price is $20 and there’s a premium open bar featuring Absolut Vodka. 42 Below Vodka and Eagle Run Bourbon. Plus there will be a D.J. and raffle prizes. Yay! 203 Spring St is a very cool and comfy bar and lounge located at the corner of Spring and Sullivan Streets.

One More Chance

Dear Friends,

Do I have to threaten to move to Paris for you to come out on a weeknight?! I didn’t see many familiar faces at last night’s “Chicks and Giggles” which was the first comedy show I ever produced. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty, but this was a HUGE night for me, and I would have loved seeing your shiny, happy faces at the Laugh Lounge! The upside is that the event was a smashing success, and I’m doing it again Tuesday, June 1! Mark your calendars and put it in your Blackberry because it’s gonna be a great show. Be there! Call 212.614.2500 for reservations. Thanks a million!

Last week, I went to a totally fun show, an off-Broadway musical comedy called “The Joys of Sex”. It’s cute, fun and a little risqué! My friend Melissa Levis wrote the lyrics and book, and I can honestly say I would see it again. Critics may call it “Sex and the City” set to music, but I just think it’s a great show and at 90 minutes, you can bring your A.D.D.-challenged friends and they will enjoy it too! The “Joys of Sex” is in previews now at the Variety Arts Theatre (110 Third Avenue) and will open May 12.

CC Railroad, an urban folk band, is having a CD Release party to celebrate the release of their latest CD, “Black Horse Motel” on Tuesday, May 11 at the venerable Bitter End 147 Bleecker Street

(between Thompson and LaGuardia). The music starts at 8:30 PM. Cover is $5.

Come party with Carolann, Cheryl, Ryder and Rich!

Check out their website: CC Railroad.

What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Don’t just send your lovely mother flowers for Mother’s Day! Do it right and take your MOM to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this weekend. Enjoy the lovely cherry blossoms and lilacs in bloom. Admission is only $5. She’ll love you for it!

Oh What A World

It’s ALIVE! The movie “Godzilla” is playing at the Film Forum (209 West Houston) starting Friday May 7 for only two weeks. It’s the original uncut Japanese version, so go see this classic flick. This is the kind of movie that popcorn was made for!

So What You Want

Two of my favorite things, sweets and books come together this Saturday at Dylan Candy Bar at 2:00PM. There will be a book signing of “Candy Freak”, the new book by author Steve Almond. “Candyfreak” chronicles the author’s lifelong quest for the perfect chocolate candy. If this book is as good as Almond’s last book, “My Life in Heavy Metal”, then readers are definitely in for a treat

What I Got

I have got a great lineup of funny girls who will be performing comedy on Tuesday, May 11 at the Laugh Lounge 151 Essex St). The “Chicks and Giggles” show will feature Ellen Lloyd, Carolyn Castiglia, Jeannie Dean, Liz Maher, Abby Rosin, Jenny Rubin , Tasha Space and Jill Twiss. Get there at 8PM, cover is $8 with 2-drink minimum. Come on down and laugh!

What’s The 411?

Reading blogs are a surefire way to reduce your productivity at work by 40%. Who wants to work that hard anyway?! To find out the latest posts from your favorite blogs including mine, instead of surfing all over the net, you can simply subscribe to Kinja where you can find them all in one spot. It’s like one-stop shopping for the blog readers. You can read what I like to read by checking my digest. Now that’s what I call efficient.

Last night, I was among the superstars of blogging at the NY Blogger Event at the Apple Store (103 Prince St). There was an interesting and informative panel discussion that featured Nick Denton, Jason Calacanis, Choire Sicha, Lockhart Steele, Jen Chung and blog-famous others. When I looked around the crowd and noticed how intensely the audience was paying attention to the speakers, I realized that I am a geek like the rest of them! Afterward, the crowd converged at Merc Bar and I tossed back a few beers with the creator of Dodgeball, a new service which is like Friendster meets Vindigo on a mobile phone. He told about this fun game that he played last weekend, Pac-Manhattan. I had a blast! However, all this name dropping is giving me a headache, so I gotta get to back to WORK. For more on the event, check out

Standard Deviance.

Well, it was actually my wurst! I tasted my first sausage of the season (no jokes please!) as me and a gang of friends went down to the Lower East Side on Saturday to check out the May Day festival at Loreley, a new German bar and biergarten on Rivington. I tried a curry wurst, which was kinda interesting, but what I really loved are the french fries and the beer! The selection of German beer is great, and each beer on tap has a matching glass which is good. It’s kinda like Garanimals for beer, so your drinking buddy won’t confuse your Spaten, with his Hefewiezen. Gesundheit!

Get Here

Forget Magnolia Bakery! The search for the perfect cupcake ends here at Make My Cake (103 Central Park North at 110th St). They bake very yummy cupcakes with creamy icings, including my new favorite, a red velvet cupcake. Since it’s located at the north end of Central Park, you can easily run or walk off the calories from eating a cupcake. Believe me, it’s worth the caloric expenditure!

Here and Now

Artist Carol Markel has an amazing collection of her colorful and whimsical collages and hats on display at Galerie Chacur on 72 Orchard St in the Lower East Side. Her collages of party dresses are inspired by fun and fashion with her use of vintage clothing labels, with fabric, felt and lace. She puts the fun in art and fashion. The exhibit is showing now through May 5. (If anyone interested in buying me a very early birthday gift, a piece of art from Carol Markel’s Paint-Box Girls collection would suit me fine!)

Here Comes The Sun

Imagine this! I am in movie theatre in Manhattan and the audience is cheering and laughing. It’s a foreign film with subtitles, no less. What is it? It’s “Shaolin Soccer”, a Hong Kong action comedy about Kung-Fu and Soccer. Check out this feel good movie! It’s playing now at Landmark Sunshine Cinema at 143 East Houston St.

Hot in Herre

The weather may be confused as to what season it is, but according to MY calendar, it’s time to enjoy ice cream! So I visited the famous, il Laboratorio del Gelato (95 Orchard St). They have a wide range of flavors for their sinful ice creams and heavenly sorbets. I sampled the maple walnut and crème fraiche flavors. It was divine! Note: The store closes early, so stop by on an afternoon on the weekends.

Here She Comes Now

I am so excited about this new event, Chicks and Giggles! It’s an all-girl comedy night that I am producing at the Laugh Lounge (151 Essex St). I have found the funniest girls in the city, and they will perform Tuesday, May 11 at 8:00PM. Some of the comediennes you will see include Ellen Lloyd, Carolyn Castiglia, Abby Rosin, Jenny Rubin and Tasha Space. You are invited to laugh!

Red, Red Wine

Come join me Thursday April 22 as I will be selling raffle tickets and working the room for the Community Service Society’s Annual Fundraiser at Eugene. There’s a two-hour open bar and appetizers. I just picked up a copy of the list of the raffle prizes which includes a trip for two to the Caribbean, restaurant and spa certificates and Watson Adventures passes. If you don’t win, console yourself in knowing that you gave to a good cause, and you got tipsy doing it. Did I mention the two-hour open bar from 6:30-8:30PM?! Tickets are $40 in advance ($50 door) and can be purchased at the CSSNY site.

Blue Moon

Robert Whaley, flirty lead singer and fabulous coronet player of the Niagaras, dances frenetically on stage as if he were possessed by the devil! The Niagaras are the ultimate party band. You’ll wanna dance until the cows come home! They’re playing at the Cutting Room (19 West 24th Street between 6th and Broadway)on Saturday April 24th at midnight.

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

Last Saturday, my friend and I happened upon Café 111 in Brooklyn Heights for dinner, at my urging because I wanted to check out the live music there. To my surprise, we enjoyed a delightful set by the excellent and eccentric Ethan Lipton. First, he did a few short songs a cappella, and I didn’t know if he was joking. Then the rest of the trio came up and they were great! To describe the music, it can be best described as eclectic and effervescent. Ethan’s is playing at the Liberty Heights Tap Room (34 Van Dyke St./Brooklyn) on Saturday at 10PM. It is definitely worth the trip to Red Hook with my good friend and vocal acrobat Zero Boy is also performing.

Purple Rain

When in Brooklyn, drink like the Romans! Go to Quench Bar on 282 Smith Street at Sackett St in Carroll Gardens. Potent and inspired potables like Raspberry mojitos will definitely quench your thirst. I stopped last weekend with a friend and loved the bar instantly. You can easily fall off the bar stool while singing along to 80s hits on the great jukebox from bands like The Fixx and ABC. It’s the look of love, baby!

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Help Me Find A Boyfriend! I have decided to take my search off-line. I know some of you were enjoying this section each week, but I think it is best to conduct my search undercover or under the covers as the case may be. Hey, I will continue to write something FUNNY, even it’s about love, work or Bush. Even I can get “Kerryed” away by all the craziness!

Man, I Feel Like A Woman

Attention Ladies! With Victoria’s Secret ditching their televised fashion show and all the hoopla over Ms. Jackson, I’m starting to think that the female form is not being sufficiently appreciated. So, I want to remind/inform all you pretty things some of the best places to buy lingerie. In SoHo, there’s Agent Provocateur at 133 Mercer St. and Le Corset by Selima on 80 Thompson St. Plus, if you are ever near NYU checking out the handsome young boys, stop by La Petite Coquette (51 University Place. (P.S.: Guys! Shopping with your lady for lingerie can be a rewarding adventure.)

Magic Man

Instead of the textbook “performance art for dummies”, Neal Medlyn succeeds in screwing with your mind while seducing your funny bone! Catch Neal Medlyn’s Manfinger at Collective Unconscious, (145 Ludlow Street) this Friday April 16, at 8PM and again on May 7, 2004. The price is only $7.

It’s Raining Men

Help Me Find A Boyfriend! I will reserve a section each week to let you know how it’s going. After reading last week’s newsletter, Hurry Date Co-Founder, Adele Testani offered me a free pass to attend a Hurry Date event last Wednesday at Fuelray (68 West 3rd Street). It was fun! If you have never been to a speed-dating event, it is like musical chairs for inebriated adults. So I was happy to meet 25 eligible bachelors in a single night. As far as a match goes, I kinda fancy a guy from the event who actually lives in my neighborhood. Go figure! If you think of anyone eligible, please email me at nichellenewsletter@yahoo.com.

Maneater

Are you ready to laugh? My very funny and talented friend Abby Rosin is performing comedy next Wednesday at 8:30PM the Laugh Lounge 151 Essex Street. The Laugh Lounge is a nice place to grab a beer and a laugh. You can get there by taking the F train to Delancey.

You can call me the “hype girl” for my buddy Don McCloskey! I would be his manager, but 20% of nothing is still…NOTHING. So please do me a solid and vote for him as he has been nominated for two Philly Music Awards (Best Male Entertainer and Best Acoustic Act) Yay! You can vote online once a day Phillyatnight.

Friday April 16, Don McCloskey will be playing at the Parkside Lounge at 8PM. Cover is $5. You can find the Parkside Lounge at 317 E. Houston Street between B&C. Take the F train to 2nd Avenue.