cityrag

have a glowball!
until Monday, we leave you with the swirling patterns of the mesmerizing GLOWBALL...

(disco-glowball lives at the Tainted Lady Lounge in Williamsburg)

researchers challenge Bush win
a fascinating and compelling article on how voter technology failed in Florida from ComputerWorld...

University researchers challenge Bush win in Florida
"Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, said today that they have uncovered statistical irregularities associated with electronic voting machines in three Florida counties that may have given President George W. Bush 130,000 or more excess votes. The researchers are now calling on state and federal authorities to look into the problems.

...For the sake of all future elections involving e-voting systems, someone must investigate and explain the statistical anomaly we found in Florida... We have no political ax to grind, we're interested in leaving no vote behind."

(via GammaBlaBlog, a great site!)

street art to the highest power
holy shit! WoosterCollective.com is THE BOMB! we'd seen this site linked around but never dove in until today... a "A Celebration of Street Art", it's PACKED with tons of fantastic shots of street art, graffiti, website links, news, the latest parties and openings and great writing. but what really blows us away is the depth and breath of coverage, with several new posts daily, and beautiful and amazing photos from all corners of the world. we've spent hours on it and have barely scratched the great stuff to be seen. this is one fucking brilliant and passionate site!

we'll be checking in often and profiling some of their amazing stuff, starting with this one we loved by Thundercut...

from Wooster Collective: "A few months back we put up a series of photographs of some very clever and really fun remixed WALK / NO WALK signs by Thundercut... So this week we were very pleased to see that Thundercut is back out on the streets of New York... As you can see in the photo, the placement is fucking perfect as Thundercut's Rocker signs are at both ends of New York's famed CBGB's club. Really nice work."

(photo copyright Wooster Collective)

igive
over the next few weeks we'll be running a little "holidazed" series with shopping tips and gift ideas. our first tip starts with the gift of giving!... we first learned about iGive.com through Waggy Tail Rescue. iGive is a wonderful service that donates part of your online sales to your favorite charity. they list and work with tons of big online retailers. all you need to do is sign-up and download a little software piece onto your system (it's very easy to use/download.) then it will pop up every time you shop one of their online affiliates (you still pay the same price and get any discounts the retailer is offering!)

once you're on iGive - every time you shop online a percentage of your purchase will go to your favorite charity! many people we know intend on donating to charities and causes around the holidays but end up running out of time or money! one of the reasons we love iGive is it makes it so easy and painless to take care of that goal. so kick off your holiday shopping by signing up for iGive and give to charity while you shop!

His name is Ziggy
oh-my-god, just spotted this little guy on You Can't Make It Up...
"This dog is a friend of the family. His name is Ziggy. When he walks around New York, people actually stop and say 'Look what an ugly dog that is.' Pobracita. Stay tuned for Ziggy on the new season of "America's Next Top Model."

Ziggy is one of the cutest dogs we've ever seen. definately a little Buddy in him (just look at that face!) and who are these horrible people that say Ziggy is ugly!?! Buddy would love to bite bite 'em.

smoke-inist
the Gothamist party Wed night was a lot of fun, with some great bands. and of course, we couldn't miss the opportunity for a little cityrag smoke-in in the heart of Tribeca on the street out front. it was awesome to have some bloggers join in (participation will remain anonymous :-)

chewy goodness
Buddy and his chew stick, the abbreviated version...

update: we *heart* this note from John Lawler...
"I love it when dogs make that face..GARRR I got me a stick! On top of the world. Couldn't ya just melt? Upper left photo is definitely Buddy Cigar boy, toughie on the block, readin his paper on a folding chair on the corner, tellin' the punks to beat it."

Epstein's Bar update
last week we scooped the opening of Epstein's Bar in the LES. this week Andrea Strong fills us in on some cool behind the scenes info (4th story down), including an owners connection with the great White Horse Tavern. and a house beer, Epstein’s Ale, being made by the guys from White Horse.

we ran into partner Eric McMannes this morning when we were snapping their new awning - and the story keeps getting better... first - he's a great guy, (second we've met, this place is going to have a good vibe.) and some more cool bits of info...
- he's friend's with the Corner Bistro folks, and they've hooked him up with the same meat supplier (for those who've noted our previous Corner Bistro comments, the Epstein's owners couldn't be more humble about the comparison, and simply hope to be as good.)
- they will be open for lunch!
- and they'll be opening a nice size sidewalk cafe in the spring! (we're super happy about that one, cuz it means Buddy can hang!!)
- the bar is looking beautiful and will open tonight, but food will not be served for about another 2 weeks
- and finally as the awning shows - the place will be called Epstein's Bar (although they enjoy the pun, the name will not include the second R as in the virus "Epstein-Barr")

from goons to buffoons...
Gotti say, we called it. posted about the Gotti boyz blowhard fighting style when we first saw the show a couple months ago. then yesterday from Gawker... Gotti Boy Beat-Down - "Victoria Gotti seeds and reality tv 'stars' John and Carmine Gotti get their asses beat for harassing a girl at a Long Island mall."

more dirt on the fight and the red-faced Gotti's in The Post... "The youth who beat up the Gottis was like 5-foot-10, not that big. Their grandfather [John Gotti] would be rolling over in his grave if he saw that. They not only fought like cowards, they're a bunch of wimps. "

a strange juxtaposition to the buffoonery, is the big swoonery promotion A&E is doing on the Gotti boyz as teenage sex symbols. on HottiGotti.com brings you...
The Hotti Gotti Girls Club - Who's your Gotti?"
The Ultimate Gotti Girl Contest - How well do you know the Gotti Guys?
and asks... "Who else do you know who lives in a Long Island mansion by day and hits New York City hotspots by night? They don't call them 'the Hotti Gottis' for nothing."

and our fave Gotti site of all has to be the Smoking Gun's Blowing Up Gotti. 5 tapes that show the REAL Gotti reality!

Parenting, Gotti Style
"John Gotti criticizes daughter Victoria's handling of a problem her son encountered at school. Seems that after a classmate slurred Little John--accusing the kid (imagine!) of being a tyro wiseguy--Victoria had a polite conversation with the kid's mother to express her displeasure. Which was the wrong way to handle things, according to the imprisoned killer, who equates such civility to acting like a "rat" or a Jew. Instead, Gotti tells his daughter she should have instilled fear into the young troublemaker's mother by invoking her notorious daddy and threatening to--at least--cut the boy's tongue out."

I Got Nothin'
"Gambino crime boss rails at his disrespectful family.. Soon, a fidgety Victoria gets up and leaves, and Gotti explains to brother Peter how visitors like his daughter are cramping his lifestyle in the federal pen: "I told you I didn't want you to bring these people no more...I laugh all day. I'm in a good frame of mind 'til I see them...fuck you, fuck you, and fuck them."

fuck em all.

Giving a voice to the soldiers
War is such a devastating and destructive choice, and it's complex and far reaching. These soldiers and their families’ lives have been altered forever. Who’s going to care for them when they come back? How will they ever get to live a normal life again? These things aren’t being considered by Bush and Cheney.

OpTruth.org has some amazing photos and videos and really gives you a feeling of what it’s like over there.

Especially the Military Blogs section where you can read it directly from the men and women who are over there fighting for…. Why are we there again?
- A Sick Soldier - this happens more than the government will ever admit to – exposure to depleted uranium. Not only does this soldier have to live the rest of his life with illness, his baby daughter does too.
- Lack of supplies, such as body armor.
- Deplorable conditions

another great site on the inside: A Labrats Journey - A 27 year old woman working in a hospice in Iraq.

Why are we there? We find ourselves asking that question over and over.

(Thanks Laura J. for the excellent submission!)