We're going to Kentucky

This Saturday is the Kentucky Derby (and also the first of May, which means spring fever has officially set in!). Just because we're not in the South doesn't mean putting a damper on the festivities. It's about the mint juleps, not the horses, anyway, right? But if you actually do care to watch the races, TimeOutNY has a list of venues hosting parties. If you're more interested in wearing a big hat and getting day-drunk, check out AlwaysHungryNY's picks for the best juleps this side of the Mason-Dixon line (I've always wanted to say that).

Sun daze

Even though it still feels like winter is taking its sweet time thawing down, this Saturday is supposed to be almost NINETY degrees! Here's a few tracks I'm listening to in the hopes of hastening the arrival of warm weather. Click to cop 'em.

Free Energy - Free Energy
Let's Go Surfing - The Drums
Bejan - Tanlines
Take it Easy - Surfer Blood
Giant - Vampire Weekend
Weed Party- Band of Horses
Daydreaming - Kid Sister

Poetry is power

Tonight at 8 at the Bowery Poetry Club (one of my favorite spots in New York), an organization called Poets for Ayiti is giving a reading from their chapbook, From the Crowns of Your Heads. The inspiring Kathy Engel will read, alongside a bevy of other talented poets. Proceeds from event donations and book sales will raise funds for the rebuilding of Bibliotheque du Soliel, the Port-au-Prince library destroyed during the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Donations of $20 or more get you a free copy of the limited edition chapbook. If you can't make it tonight but still want to help, fill out this form to make a gift and receive a beautiful collection of poetry in return.

The path to peace

Last night I had the pleasure and privilege of seeing an inspiring documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, thanks to my friend Adam. Budrus tells the story of a village in the West Bank that was in danger of losing 300 acres of land and 3,000 of the olive trees that are both crucial to the town's economy and representative of their history. In 2003, the Israeli government decided to build a separation barrier that went well past the Green Line, cutting through several Palestinian villages in order to insure the protection of the Israeli people. Budrus was one such village, whose residents successfully challenged the barrier destined to expropriate their land by using tactics not often associated with the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Their path of nonviolent resistance was aided by rival parties Fatah and Hamas, as well as the citizens and journalists from around the world who arrived in busloads to help. Footage of Palestinian villagers standing side by side with Israeli peace activists, facing down bulldozers and suffering at the hands of IDF soldiers, provides a poignant glance into a side of the story we rarely see. It is a hopeful one, a vision that speaks to the power of individuals coming together to fight for change in one of the most conflicted territories in the world.

Visit justvision.org, the filmmakers' non-profit organization, to learn more about what global audiences can do to help the nonviolent movement.

Red rum

Three words: secret. rum. bar.
When today's UrbanDaddy informed me that such a spot is about to open in my very own neighborhood, how could I resist sharing? From the folks that brought us Death & Co. and Mayahuel comes Cienfuegos, a Cuban-style social club on Sixth and A, behind the Cuban coffee shop Carteles and up the back stairs. Check out the drink menu, and the even more breathtaking slideshow. I cannot wait to get my Havana Nights on. Ay, Cuba!

A flea descends on the LES

Manhattan is the holier-than-thou borough, there's no doubt about it. Which is why Manhattanites cringe/make up excuses whenever we find out about something Brooklyn has that our neck of the woods doesn't, then give in and slink onto the L train to experience whatever bar/restaurant/hipster-haven we're lacking. Good news, fellow snobs - our trek is over! This Saturday at 10am, downtown gets its own version of the Brooklyn Flea, in the most funky of all funktowns, the Lower East Side. Okay, so the Hester Street Fair has a LOT to live up to, but the marriage of food, crafts, and vintage gear is sorta hard to f*ck up, especially when such vendors as Sigmund Pretzel Shop, Luke's Lobster, Wanderlust Vintage, and Mile End are involved. See you there!

Stay green

Today is the 40th anniversary of the world's first Earth Day, making it an ideal time to take a moment to pay our respects to the environment and think about how we can make a difference. Let's do our best to do away with this notion of eco-consumerism, a movement that has done for the environment what Hallmark has done for emotional communication. Let's buy less and donate more, because giving barely-worn clothes to a homeless shelter helps more and feels better than purchasing a hemp-woven dress. Let's recognize that the Green Movement is about systemic change, and that it starts on the individual level. Forty years ago, there was no Environmental Protection Agency, no Clean Air, Endangered Species, or Safe Drinking Water Acts - legislative actions that have prevented millions of premature deaths from air pollution, made rivers cleaner, and saved countless animal species from extinction. We now know the environment needs protecting, but the question of policy reform still remains. The environment still rarely serves as a defining issue in political campaigns, and is rarely ranked as a top issue among Americans. Public concern about climate change is declining. Let's try to vote green, to think green, and to continue to give thanks to a planet that will only keep on giving as long as we do our best to protect it.

Houston gets Fairey-fied

Image courtesy of Wooster Collective

The wall space on the corner of Bowery and Houston which famously sported a Keith Haring mural (and was more recently replaced by the work of Brazilian artist-twins Os Gemeos) is undergoing yet another transformation. Shepard Fairey (he of the OBEY line and the now-infamous Obama HOPE poster) has created a promotional piece for his upcoming show at Deitch Projects called May Day. This will be the gallery's last show before closing, so Jeffery Deitch can take over L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art. The mural also happens to be directly across the street from the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, currently screening Banksy's "Exit Through the Gift Shop," which features Fairey. You've got six months to ogle this piece, just blocks away from the spot where Fairey once tagged walls - back when street art was, you know, illegal.

Might as well jump

Nothing feels quite as good as throwing caution to the wind and simply taking a leap of faith, whether it be off a cliff or into a pool. After shooting commissioned portraits for such publications as Life and the Saturday Evening Post, famous 20th-century portrait photographer Philippe Halsman would tell his sitters to spring into midair as he snapped a photo for his personal portfolio. These jubilant shots, then published as Philippe Halsman's Jump Book in 1959, featured artists, celebrities, and politicians up in the air. Vintage photos from his Jumpology series are currently on view in the exhibition Philippe Halsman: Jump at the Laurence Miller Gallery until May 28.

Got Minxed

My friend Liat treated me to a truly awesome birthday present: the Minx manicure, seen on Rihanna, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and more. How could I resist blogging this? Just to bring it down a notch, here's a pic of mine (all silver with one chrome houndstooth) with my typewriter in the background.