Conor Oberst

Flavorwire has a cute and funny collection of indie stars before they were famous. This is my favorite (left) Conor Oberst, before his was emo. They also have a cute Nickelodeon video starring Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells when she was a tween and a hilarious shot of the Animal Collective crew. Check them all out at Flavorwire.

If you’ve got more, add them in comments. We’d love to see some shots of local artists and musicians. Ninjasonic anyone?

We’ve removed the spam links, but here’s the spam comment of the year:

HELP! I’m currently being held prisoner by the Russian mafia and being forced to post spam comments on blogs and forum! If you don’t approve this they will kill me. They’re coming back now. Please send help!

We didn’t approve. Sorry! +1 for creativity though.

From Reddit’s “IAmA Hipster. Ask me anything. Also, answer the question “Why do you hate hipsters?”. Don’t hate.” AMA:

1. Isn’t culture defined by an evolution of memes?
2. How do you feel about Reddit hating hipsters while at the same time being willing to remove 1-3 testicles for so much as a wink and/or smile from Zooey Deschanel?
3. Do you have a lot of fellow hipster friends that you have fun hipster parties with?
4. What do you smoke?
5. Can fat people become hipsters?
6. How are you financially supported?
7. How many Apple devices (computers included) do you own?
8. Do you ride a fixed geared bicycle?
9. Do people hate hipsters because they like being called hipsters?
10. Why the tight pants? That can’t be comfortable

Also, while Tumblr is the hipster of the internet, “Metafilter is the awkward-cute geek in his late thirties with sexy glasses and a week-old beard. Reddit is his early twenties engineering buddy, and Facebook is their nemesis. Or something like that.”

The first thing you should know about pick-up artists is they have their own set of acronyms and words. They keep track of statistics, like, the number of “sets opened,” or conversations attempted.

A “number close” is when a pick-up artist (PUA) gets your digits. A “kiss close” is when you successfully achieve lip contact. “IOD” is “Indicator of Interest.” Usually that means being a prick. “F close,” is, you guessed it.

Now, meet Justice.

He’s an Asian PUA at work here in the city who recently “number closed” a “lesbian/bi girl” on the way back into Manhattan. It’s a feat worth blogging about, and here’s his step-by-step analysis.

It all came down to his IOD when she told him she was bi, and the fact she maybe thought he was gay. “Yeah right!,” says our Justice. It all made him realize “how lucky a girl would be to have me as a boyfriend.”

That’s how you get it done, Missed Encounters Nation. Confidence, insults, and text messages. The love potion of our generation.

Rubulad, the carnival-like art party powerhouse located on Flushing Avenue in Bed-stuy, is having a pretty tough few days. Last week city officials stopped by to tell them the years-long party was over. They had one hour to get everything out of the building, or risk losing it all.

Hundreds of helpers heeded the call to help move an insane amount of art, furniture, and residents’ belongings across the street and into storage.

Now, they’re under an “Order to Vacate,” which prevents residents from entering the building. But here’s the suck: it’s starting to sound like a false alarm, “some element of harassment” by NYC fire marshals who have for years put up with Rubulad’s semi-frequent parties.

Sari Rubinstein and Chris Thomas, Rubulad’s “co-conspirators,” wrote in to Laughing Squid with the story.

On the morning of Tuesday, July 20th, NYC fire marshals entered Rubulad and announced we were being ‘evicted.’ We were informed that representatives of the Department of Buildings were on their way to padlock the space and that we had an hour to remove our essential belongings.

There appears to be some element of harassment at work here as, at the close of business on the third day of this ongoing fiasco, the DOB has not arrived to padlock the premises and indeed we have spoken with them on the phone and they have assured us they have no intention of doing so.

However, the fire department has issued an ‘Order to Vacate’ disallowing us from entering the ground floor of our space. The DOB represents that they can and will undo the Order, but again nothing further has happened and as of now the Order stands.

So, while they’re not sure exactly what they should do or where they should go, they are looking for potential new digs to continue throwing the parties they’ve become so well-known for:

We are asking: If anyone has any ideas of alternative spaces we might hold our next event(s) Do pass them along. We like large space, multiple rooms, outdoor space if possible.

[h/t & photo via Laughing Squid, previous coverage at Brooklyn Paper]

The Black Keys

It’s SPIN’s 25th anniversary year, and to celebrate, we’re throwing a week-long party in New York City, with five consecutive nights of shows, presented by ZYNC from American Express and headlined by the Smashing Pumpkins, the Flaming Lips, the Black Keys, the National, and Spiritualized. But you don’t have to be in NYC to see these amazing gigs — each night will be webcast, live, right here on SPIN.com!

Visit SPIN.com each night, from Monday, July 26, through Friday, July 30, at 8 P.M. EST for a live broadcast of the concert, shot in high-quality video from nine different camera angles! See below for the full schedule.

Click here for the live stream page.

The concerts, produced by the Bowery Presents, will also be streamed live on the ZYNC Facebook page. Fans will be able to interact during the live stream through Facebook and Twitter.

“This concert series is the best of both the old and the new world,” says Malcolm Campbell, SPIN’s Publisher. “Not only are we helping to produce incredible live music, the cornerstone of SPIN since its inception, but we’re able to broadcast it to fans all over the world with our partners at American Express on the web.”

SPIN25 Webcast Schedule.
All shows begin around 8 P.M. EST (except Wednesday, which begins at 10 PM EST) and are powered by Livestream.com.

Lineup after the jump: (more…)

Are you guys ready for Greenpoint to be “of note”? The Observer is, and they followed Sarah and Steve around the neighborhood as they checked out some apartments.

The prospective buyers, Sarah, 22, and her fiancée [sic], Steve, 25, who declined to give their last names, have been renting for eight months in Williamsburg. Steve works in an art gallery and Sarah works at Bloomingdale’s. Their wedding is in October. Greenpoint is located directly north of Williamsburg, but Sunday was their first time in the area.

“We like the feel of the neighborhood,” Sarah said. “You know, bars, restaurants.”

Greenpoint: Bars, and restaurants.

Limited edition vinyl here.

A reader writes on one benefit of having a Waffle House over a diner:

I wrote my thesis at Waffle House. That’s something I couldn’t have done in a diner up here. WH gets a bad reputation because it’s a chain and there are a million of them and it’s greasy, etc. Don’t act like every place in New York City has a clean kitchen.

So there.

Spotted this “If You See Something, Skate Something.” poster under the BQE on Union this weekend. The website Hardcore Bike Polo saw it too.

It reads:

If you see a possible ledge spot, rail, or gap on the street or in a park, don’t keep it to your self. Don’t tell a cop, tell a friend or an NYC Skate Employee. Or call the toll free Shred Hotline. All calls will be kept confidential, for shredding emergencies call 911.

For the out-of-towners, that’s a play on the MTA’s famous (and copyrighted) “If you see something, say something” slogan.

You can grab the poster for $10 or shirt for $15 at skatesomething.com.