I am nothing if not an international fly gal, so, after graduating from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, I hopped the pond to Jolly Olde England in celebration of my new designation as a Master of Science. Yep, you’ve got that right—Science. Of course, no trip to a foreign land is complete without a little reminder of home. Enter Nobu Berkeley Street, the London branch of NYC’s celeb-studded sushi joint.

Those of you who consider yourself happy castaways on the island of Manhattan needn’t avert your eyes just yet because I’m certain star chef Nobu Matsuhisa—known around the world as one of the Iron Chef trio—packs the same culinary punch whether on our island or in the British Isles.

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“I’m Georgia, and I’ve got some rules,” quipped Jane Fonda at the premiere of Georgia Rule on Tuesday night. Sure, the joke was lame, but Ms. Fonda was looking like a stone cold fox, so I’ll forgive her. Standing next to her, Gloria Steinem, another foxy femme-it-forward advocate, stepped up to the mic to speak about the Women’s Media Center. She, Fonda and writer/activist Robin Morgan founded the Center in 2004, and tonight was the organization’s first glitzy Hollywood-style event.

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For once in my Manhattan-centered life, I began to regret that I don’t live in Brooklyn. I ambled down the spookily uninhabited streets of Park Slope a few Saturdays ago, hoping to catch a glimpse of Heath, Michelle and baby Matilda. Instead, I found myself three times charmed at my new favorite outer-borough bar Loki Lounge.

Pronounced “low key,” the spacious spot does the work of three bars in one. Upon entering Loki’s door on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Second Street, night crawlers first find a pub with polished red oak bar and friendly bartenders serving several drafts on tap, including wheaty-delicious Hoegaarden. A bit farther back, playful partiers find a pool table and dart board that derive meaning from Loki’s namesake, the Norse god of mischief.
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Damn it, Janet, Rocky is no longer the champ. These days, a new sing-a-long sensation is slaying the nation – it’s Buffy! At the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sing-A-Long, kazoos, bubbles, streamer explosions and Fabio all add up to an unforgettable evening of homage to the show’s legendary musical episode, “Once More with Feeling.”

When I arrived at the West Village’s IFC Center at 11:20 p.m. (45 full minutes before the screening), about 25 hardcore Whedon enthusiasts were already queued up. Twenty short minutes later, Sing-A-Long Xander, a.k.a. Joshua Ziesel, was passing out (free!) blood-red gift bags with all the tools necessary to enjoy the night—kazoos for the dramatic climax, bunny pencil erasers in honor of Anya’s irrational fear, monster finger puppets, and, of course, vampire teeth.
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Tassels and fringes and pasties, oh my! At Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, less is more. The twice-monthly art gathering is a destination for art aficionados and amateurs alike who want to move beyond the cold, sterile art studio and into a titillating drawing room right in the heart of Williamsburg.

Founded by Molly Crabapple, a Brooklyn-based illustrator and former life drawing model, the school started as an antidote for the “weird and dehumanizing” environment of your average academic life drawing class, says Molly. The Dr. Sketchy’s prescription? One part burlesque babe, a regular drip of saucy music and a couple injections of crazy contests that inspire the “art monkeys”—as Molly calls the sketchers—to incorporate items like tangerines and woodland creatures into their sketches. The winner is inoculated with a double shot of tequila that keeps the creative juices flowing.

For those of us below the 35+ television viewer demographic, Tony Shalhoub is not exactly a household name. Same for Patricia Heaton, though her foray into the world of breast lift surgery was well-documented in the pages of Us Weekly or People a few years ago. Both are immensely talented actors who have racked up multiple Emmys - Shalhoub for his turn as an OCD San Francisco detective Monk, and Heaton for putting up with Ray Romano’s nasal drivel for nine seasons (nine seasons!). But now, my glamour pusses, they are co-starring in The Scene, an Off-Broadway play that merits even the youngsters’ attention.