Peter Facinelli (Photo via Patrick McMullen)

"We love you in American Horror Story," we gushed to recently-outed actor Zachary Quinto last night. We were at the Andaz Hotel, where directors, producers, and actors (along with alcohol sponsors) gathered to toast the winners of Gotham Independent Film Awards, held earlier that evening at Cipriani's. We had cornered Mr. Quinto, whose movie Margin Call was nominated for Best Ensemble Performance (though it lost out to Beginners).

"I'm only going to be on one more episode," the ethereally attractive actor told us.
"But you're already dead! They can't kill you off!" (It's true...Ryan Murphy's dead characters have more screen time then the living.)

Mr. Quinto mulled it over while scanning the room for a quick exit strategy. "Sure...I guess dying on that show is more like job security."

Peter Facinelli, best known to Twi-hards as Carlisle the Vampire (but better known to us as the jock from Can't Hardly Wait, or Nurse Jackie, or Six Feet Under...) stood by the staircase. He was shorter in person, though without the creepy blonde dye job he gets on Twilight he was much better looking in person.

"Why do you think people keep seizing during Breaking Dawn?" we asked him.

"You know, I heard about that," Fancelli responded gravely. "I think they must be dropping too much pot before going to see the movie."

"You think Twilight fans are potheads?" (Also, who says "dropping pot?")

He shrugged. "I like your tattoo," he said, pointing at our arm. Over the course of the night, about 10 other people used that as an opener/closer for any conversation. Like the short, bearded guy in line for the cured meat plates. After complimenting our tattoo, he stood there expectantly.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Okay. Um...having a good evening?"

"Pretty great," he said, "Though our movie didn't win."

"Oh, what did you direct?" we asked the gentleman.

"Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene."

We were talking to Sean Durkin? Suddenly, the conversation got a lot more interesting. We loved cults, we said. Had he read The Family? Yes, he had. Had he listened to the last 18 minutes of the Jonestown Massacre? Yes, he had. (We also might have mispronounced the name of his movie so many times that he started jokingly referring to it as "Martha, May, Whatever the Hell It's Called.")

"I wanted to do a cult film for a very personal perspective," he told us. "Not what you find out later about these things, but how they came to be."

"What's your next movie going to be about?" we asked.

"Daisies," he replied dryly. "Great tattoo. I have to go home."

We did too. Outside, we ran into one of Martha, Marcy, Whatever the Hell It's Called stars, John Hawkes. He lit our cigarette while Breakthrough Director nominee Mike Cahill (Another Earth) tried to convince Mr. Hawkes to come to the Jane Hotel.

"I have a five a.m. flight, I'm just going to stay up," Mr. Cahill said, holding on to a couple of fur-and-sequined clad girls. "You should come by."

Mr. Hawkes demurred, and so did we. After all, we had to go home and catch up on American Horror Story.

Naomi Wolf gets arrested outside Huffington Post Game Changers

The protesters were shouting anti-Andrew Cuomo-isms. Now see, that was interesting. So far Governor Cuomo has remained a figure larger outside the debates of Occupy Wall Street, while Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken the brunt of most of the protesters ire. But this event - which drew protesters who knew about the Governor's appearance with his son, Mario... who might have even been alerted ahead of time by Arianna's team for some big PR, as far as we knew - targeted either Cuomo's desire to repeal the millionaire's tax, or to get rid on the ban on FRACKing, an anti-Green hydraulic drilling into wells.

But despite the major star power and the presence of Kim Kardashian (who won the award for Business Game Changer for 2011, a whole other story), Huffington Post was still, well, The Huffington Post. Meaning that eventually, one the celebrities was going to dive into the crowd and switch sides. That person happened to be Feminist author Naomi Wolf.

Have you ever seen someone look so happy to get arrested? Famous people at Game Changers not detained for protesting (or telling the protesters that they don't need a permit for a megaphone): Kyle MacLachlan, Cheryl Hines, Ms. Kardashian, Nora Ephron, and Gayle King.

A scene from Alexander Payne's The Descendents, which closes the New York Film Festival.

Wednesday, October 10

Lucy Liu by the Numbers

In New York, a night can often be of two minds—two disparate occasions, with opposite crowds, on far-off edges of Manhattan. Take Wednesday, for example. Lucy Liu is having friends over to the Tory Burch boutique, a tony edifice up on Madison Avenue, to celebrate Seventy Two, her exhibition based on the Book of Exodus that opened this month at Salon Vert in London. It comprises 72 works, inspired by Chinese calligraphy and butterflies, and follows a theme inspired by the 72 names of God from the Bible. (Did we mention it’s called Seventy Two?) And it looks like, for Ms. Liu, books beget books—a hardcover coffee table rendition of the show will be released Nov. 1. But don’t think it’ll be easy to get your hand on one: it’s quite the limited edition, with only—wait for it—72 copies being made. Ten percent of sales at the store will benefit UNICEF, but why not stay on-theme, and donate 72 percent? Just saying.

Flat out not feeling Tory Burch tonight? What about a mild-mannered blues duo and some pretty stellar cell phone reception? Over at espace, a Room of Requirement over on 42nd near the Hudson, T-Mobile is celebrating the launch of two gadgets with cumbersome names—the Samsung Galaxy S II and the HTC Amaze 4G—with a performance from the Black Keys, two Akron boys with a few bar chords and hearts of gold. It’s hard to keep track of what the Keys are up to these days, what with all their Rza collaborations, but we’re pretty sure they still sound like a rock band. But if you think it’ll be awkward when you pull out your iPhone for the requisite “Oh, wow, it’s that song that band plays!” picture, maybe skip this one. (Miss you, Steve!)

Seventy Two: Lucy Liu book party; 797 Madison Avenue, 7 p.m.; invitation only. Special performance by the Black Keys, espace, 635 West 42nd Street, 9 p.m.; invitation only

Thursday, October 13

If You Want Denim, Join ’Em

The unmistakable characters were spotted on subway trains, Times Square billboards, front-page newspaper ads and email inboxes. What were they, what did they say, what did they mean? On the left, Japanese characters. On the right, those characters translated. The word was UNIQLO, in that red and white box. And why? Oh, just the first tremors of the retail store’s inevitable world domination. Things get started Thursday night with the opening of a new flagship, where founder Tadashi Yanai will be holding court. Come stop by before every evacuated Gap space gets filled with super-cheap Japanese denim.

UNIQLO NEW YORK flagship opening, Fifth Avenue at 53rd Street, 7 p.m.; small dinner to follow at Monkey Bar, invitation only.

Friday, October 14

Beers to Ya!

In September, the 21 Club—perhaps the best Old New York lunch spot—did the unthinkable. Along with your choices of either a gin martini or, um, a gin martini, the restaurant would now be offering beer. On tap. The nerve! The new corner of the restaurant is called Bar 21, with bar stools that befit jeans, and a lax sport-coat policy. On offer is a small but satisfying list of lunch fare, and after 4:00 patrons can nibble on tasty snacks. But September’s gone, and October calls for something heartier. Something more festive, that is. If you’re already salivating over the thought of bratwurst and pretzels, you’re on the right track. Bar 21 is now serving its Oktoberfest menu, so stop on by for some of Germany’s finest flavors. Veal schnitzel is accompanied by lemon, fennel and cucumber salad, or there’s the charcuterie plate, which includes aged ham, barrel pickles, Tilsiter cheese, rye bread and sweet mustard. And of course beer! An autumnal lunch isn’t complete without a few pints to warm the soul, and there are four different Oktoberfest favorites on tap. O.K., we’re no longer bemoaning the changes at 21. Another Radeberger, please.

Bar 21 at the 21 Club, 21 West 52nd Street, 212-582-7200, closed Sundays.

Saturday, October 15

On Your Mark, Get Set—Tweed!

Another thing that makes mid-October just the best? Tweed. Tweed jackets, tweed suits. Tweed skivvies. (O.K., that might be a tweed too far.) Of course, Ralph Lauren’s got you covered on that front. Doff your light summer coats and grab the fall weights for the Rugby New York Tweed Run, a bike race that’s more about style than speed. Things get started in the West Village this Saturday at noon, and you can take your wheels all the way to Brooklyn, where there will be a soirée awaiting you as you pedal up. Also, there’s a tea break somewhere in there. If you feel insufficiently appareled for the event, Ralph Lauren will be selling knitwear by the barrel, from scarves to mittens to sweaters. Or, if you want to keep warm the old fashioned way, they are selling flasks, too. Hey, you can’t partake in an autumn tweed bike outing without a buzz—and a tam o’ shanter—on!

Rugby Ralph Lauren Tweed Run, the West Village, 12 p.m.; more info at www.rugby.com/tweedrun/

Sunday, October 16

Grapes of Wrath

It seems like it just started, but like all good things, the New York Film Festival must come to an end. What began with Roman Polanski’s Carnage will wrap up with The Descendants, the first film from director Alexander Payne since Sideways. There’s a gala too, and so we can help but ask: will a certain type of red wine be served? (If you don’t know what we’re talking about, here’s a hint. “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving,” Paul Giamatti’s character, Miles, says in Sideways. “I am not drinking any fucking merlot!”) No word on whether Mr. Giamatti—who appears in this fall’s The Ides of March, a potential Descendants Oscar rival—will be at the party, but spies should watch the labels of the bottles tipped into glasses, lest anyone wants to be called a traitor. Though it would be a somewhat egregious if guests undertook an exodus over a little merlot, we think.

The New York Festival Premiere of The Descendants and closing gala, Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway, 9 p.m.; sold out.

Monday, October 17

Nude Descending a Sotheby’s Staircase

Things are getting risqué tonight at the auction world’s über-house. It’s the 20th-annual Take Home a Nude auction, where men and woman can bid on the chance to leave the gala with a painting of someone going au naturel. The heavy hitters in attendance will include Larry Gagosian, Chanel CEO Maureen Chiquet, Andre Balazs, Bob Colacello, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber and the newly single Blake Lively. Perhaps she’ll bring along rumored flame Ryan Reynolds? He’s a well-respected art collector, right? I mean, we have no idea. Regardless of whom Blake brings, the New York Academy of Art will honor critic John Richardson and British portrait master Jenny Saville. Congrats, guys!

Twentieth-annual Take Home a Nude® Benefit Art Auction and Dinner to Honor John Richardson and Jenny Saville, Sotheby’s, 1334 York Avenue; silent auction and cocktails, 6 p.m., live auction, 8 p.m., dinner, 9 p.m.; individual tickets available from $175 to $1,000 by calling 212 842-5971 or emailing events@nyaa.edu.

Tuesday

October 18

Cristal Poppin’

In 1867, Tsar Alexander II was not exactly the most popular guy in Russia—he was so unpopular, in fact, that he was worried someone would kill him by putting a bomb in a bottle of Champagne at his Three Emperors Dinner. The solution? A new vessel was created with “crystal” clear glass, unlike the dark green bottles that would obscure any TNT. Thus, Cristal was born. To celebrate the 135th anniversary of this happy consequence of potential political assassination, Cristal parent-company Louis Roederer is hosting a salon in a mansion on Park Avenue, where the legendary Champagne maker will let the stuff spill into the flutes of enlightened guests. Managing director Frederic Rouzaud will be on hand to officiate the vintages, and even if the conversations on Balzac and Zola get cut short, there’s a good chance we’ll walk out of the salon with our spirits leavened.

Champagne Louis Roederer & Frederic Rouzaud host Cristal’s 135th Anniversary Salon, 41 East 72nd Street between Park and Madison avenues), 7 p.m.; invitation only.

Wednesday, October 19

Ace Rocks Out

There are so many people at the Ace Hotel on laptops clacking away that even if you’re there for fun, it can certainly feel like working. Then again, if you had to spend a day out of the office but still needed to hammer out a few projects, the Ace isn’t the worst place to do it: there’s Stumptown coffee, grade-A grub at the Breslin and plenty of attractive people to pretend to be associated with. What if you added four sets of top-notch indie rock, too? Starting at 10:30 today, Seattle radio station KEXP will bring a commendable lineup of acts to the hotel for a day of free music. Things kick off with Zola Jesus, the Russian freak-electro goth princess, and wrap up with those almost forgotten (but still awesome, trust us) guys Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. They go on at 4:30. So throw the lighters in the air, and if your boss asks where you are, well, you’re working from home.

KEXP Radio Live: CMJ broadcasts from the Ace lobby, the Ace Hotel, 20 West 29th Street; Zola Jesus, 10:30 a.m., We Are Augustines, 12:30 p.m., Portugal, the Man, 2:30 p.m., Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, 4:30 p.m.

President Clinton.

Wednesday, October 5

Walk It Off

El Camino de Santiago is an ancient religious pilgrimage that for centuries has led Christians to a cathedral in northwestern Spain. It’s said to be the final resting place of Saint James. It’s also the subject of a new film, The Way, starring Martin Sheen and kin, Emilio Estevez (what, they couldn’t get Charlie Sheen?), as, what else, a father-son duo. But tragedy strikes! Mr. Estevez—who also directed the film—plays a character who gets caught in a Pyrenees storm, and his father has to come to Galicia to collect his remains. The film premieres Wednesday at the School of the Visual Arts, in conjunction with the Walkabout Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to donating wheelchairs around the world. As far as religious pilgrimages go, the one from the screening to the after-party, at the Mondrian Soho’s Imperial No. Nine, is decidedly less treacherous, even if you take the subway. If you survive, the late-night bash is sure to impress, with the likes of Ivanka Trump, Mike Myers, Christy Turlington Burns and Chris Pine joining keynote speaker Bill Clinton in the fund-raising. With all these saints of entertainment involved, let’s hope things get ecstatic!

An evening to celebrate the Walkabout Foundation: 7:30 p.m., screening at the School of Visual Arts, 333 West 23rd Street (between Eighth and Ninth avenues); 11 p.m., after-party at Imperial No. Nine at Mondrian SoHo, 9 Crosby Street (between Howard and Grand streets). Tickets available at www.walkaboutfoundation.org. $300 for cocktails, screening and after-party, $125 for after party.

Thursday, October 6

Pretty in Pink

Polo Guru Ralph Lauren showed his spring/summer 2012 collection on the last day of New York Fashion Week, as he often does, and brought to the runway a shimmering bunch of looks that came off as resolutely American, rooted deep in the mythos of the Roaring ’20s. It was lovely. One thing missing, though? There wasn’t that much of the color pink in there. Some airy peach tones, splashes of silver and burnt-gold beige, but none of that soft feminine hue. The brand is more than making up for that with the party for the 2011 Lauren Pink collection, which goes down Thursday night at Lord & Taylor. The event, co-hosted with Glamour, will allow visitors some choice deals on threads, as well as trays of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres (of course). And it being fall, there’s a cause to benefit from all the haute shopping. The Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation’s Pink Pony Fund—a global effort to fight the effects of cancer—will receive 10 percent of all the proceeds, and additional donations will earn you a big pink balloon. So head over to Lord & Taylor to shop, sip bubbly and maybe indulge in some casual helium intake, all for a good cause.

The Fall 2011 Lauren Pink Collection, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Lord & Taylor, 424 Fifth Avenue, fifth floor; invitation only.

Friday, October 7

Pistols and Portraits

Last summer, a new spot in the meatpacking district had the cute idea of repurposing the grit and grime of ’80s East Village to the city’s most notoriously bottles ’n’ models hood. It’s called Gunbar, and though it’s got stickers and neon all over the place (and maybe there’s a dirty corner or two), it comes off more like an exhibition on The Dive Bar set to open at the Met in 2200. For its next trick, Gunbar will open a show by street artist and graffiti maven Aliosha Daumerie—or, to use his nom de tag, Senz—who has spent time terrorizing blank city spaces here and in Paris, as well as in conjunction with agnes b. and Alice+Olivia. Will all this be enough to justify $14 cocktails? Or the mini tattoo parlor, set up for the truly dedicated scene rats? There is a certain excitement in Senz’s unhinged take on street art. But maybe you should take the broke-artist route and pregame the thing before with a brownbagged bottle of Wild Irish Rose.

Aljosa Daumerie a.k.a. Senz at Gunbar, 9 p.m.–late, 55 Gansevoort Street (Ninth Avenue), (646) 427-0457, www.gunbarnyc.com.

Saturday, October 8

Fasting? Nyet Anymore

This Saturday, the city’s Jewish population will spend the daylight hours trying desperately to distract themselves from the aromas, textures and imagined pleasures of New York’s culinary offerings. It’s Yom Kippur, which means no food or beverage from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. O.K., yeah, it’s only one day, but things get pretty rough around Saturday afternoon, when one begins to aimlessly stare out the window waiting for darkness, sugar levels low, stomach rumbling, no end in sight. Oh, and all your goy friends are gloating over Twitter and Gchat about the huge sandwich they just ate, accompanied by a beer, and then another beer, and then ... Right. And then you shut your laptop and weep. The silver lining of this otherwise cruel day of starvation? The epic guilt-free gluttony of the break-the-fast meal. The Russian Tea Room, that old-timey vodka den on West 57th Street, is hosting one hell of a feast Saturday night after the sunlight washes away. End your noneating streak with borscht, chicken liver, and zakuski­—“a tasting of latkes, smoked fish and leak, and potato blini with red caviar.” Um, yes, please. Follow that up with lamb stew and fried chicken. Then polish that off with what can only be some world-class kugel. After all that, you’ll want to fast Sunday, too.

Sundown, the Russian Tea Room, 150 West 57th Street, (212) 581-7100, www.russiantearoomnyc.com; prices vary.

Sunday, October 9

Lemony Fresh

In 1992, the Lemonheads released their fifth and best album, It’s a Shame About Ray, a near-perfect collection of sunny pop that made lead singer Evan Dando’s drug problems sound like a walk through a park holding the hand of a nice, flannel-clad girl. How many bands can do that now? Not many, but if you want to see the real thing go down, head over to the Bowery Ballroom, where the reunited band will play the album in its entirety. No doubt the crowd will clap along to “Kitchen,” follow Mr. Dando’s hard yelps on “Alison’s Starting to Happen,” and thank the lord that the singer survived his addiction to crack cocaine when he breaks out “My Drug Buddy,” the best song about scoring since Lou Reed was waiting for his man. With luck, they’ll even run through the album’s two pitch-perfect covers, the radio-hit version of “Mrs. Robinson” and the heartbreaking “Frank Mills,” from Hair. Yes, yes, we really like the Lemonheads. But how can you not? And it’s not like Nirvana’s playing Nevermind in its entirety this year so, grunge fans, this might be your best bet.

The Lemonheads performing It’s A Shame About Ray, doors open 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m., the Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, www.boweryballroom.com; $22 advance, $25 day of show.

Monday, October 10

Titanic Mechanics

James Cameron’s been the self-proclaimed “king of the world” going on 13 years now, but it can’t hurt the guy’s ego to hand over another award every year or so. On Monday, he’ll head to Hearst Tower to pick up the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Leadership Award, for his innovative camera technology that made immeasurable leaps in the art of filmmaking (to put things in Cameron-ian hyperbolic terms). Remember when he dunked a camera underwater to find some rotting ship, and then made a movie about that? Or the time this Austrian-accented robot came from the future to kill the savior of mankind? Or the time astronauts discovered some crazy planet with dinosaurs and skyscraper-size moving plants and … O.K., we’re still a little hazy about what Avatar was about. Being honored with slightly less fanfare than Mr. Cameron will be the team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that built the Mars rover, the scientists who pioneered innovation that helped a paralyzed man move his legs voluntarily, and a team of doctors who developed universally compatible blood vessels for surgery. Mr. Cameron, though, is the undisputed headliner.

Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards, Hearst Tower, 300 West 57th Street, 959 Eighth Avenue, 8 p.m.;
invitation only.

Tuesday, October 11

Katie Couric Says, ‘Wear Sunscreen’

With her new daytime talk show, Katie, not set to air until fall 2012, ABC News correspondent Katie Couric has taken up charity function duties with enthusiasm, appearing at film premieres, benefits and other events all around town. Next Tuesday, she’ll helm the Skin Cancer Foundation’s Annual Skin Sense Award Gala, a bash at the Plaza to raise funds and awareness for the disease. Summer might be over, but the hot rays can still come through the clouds, no doubt, and Ms. Couric will be the one to remind everyone that you can never be too careful. Can we be so bold as to predict a certain S.P.F.-rated skin balm might be in the goodie bags at the end of the night? We don’t want to be presumptuous. Either way, attendees will get to mingle over cocktails with the likes of Julia Stiles, Gretchen Mol and Tony Sirico, who will forever be known as Paulie Walnuts from The Sopranos. If Paulie tells us to lather on the S.P.F.-50, we’ll listen, that’s for sure.

The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Annual Skin Sense Award Gala, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Step and Repeat/Entrances, 8 p.m. dinner, the Plaza, Central Park South, (212) 759-3000. Tickets, which start at $1,750, are available at http://www.skincancer.org/Events/.

Wednesday, October 12

Va-Va-Valentino!

For someone as worshipped and reclusive as Valentino—Italy’s most revered living designer—it seems the guy is all over the place these days. We had the otherworldly experience of watching the man walk up the Lincoln Center steps to the tents during Fashion Week, as a mob of onlookers darted toward him, hoping for a picture, before he was whisked to the front row of the Diane von Furstenberg show. And once he arrived there, few other people in attendance mattered. Then, a few nights later, he showed up at the once-ratty former strip club Westway to sign karaoke with Carine Roitfeld. He went with “My Way,” if you haven’t heard yet. Then it was off to Europe for the next three rounds of spring/summer collections—including his own in Paris—but the parties in his honor continue in New York. Last week saw a kick-off luncheon at the Valentino boutique that served as a preamble to the real party: a blow-out at the Four Seasons next Wednesday held in conjunction with the Museum of the City of New York and Graff. The New York After Dark party is always a good one, so try not to miss out. Unless you’re stuck in Italy, that is.

Museum of the City of New York Director’s Council, New York After Dark, Four Seasons Restaurant, 99 East 52nd Street. Tickets from $250.00. Contact: Stephen Diefenderfer, (917) 492-3326, www.mcny.org.

Amanda Hearst, chair of the Whitney's studio party.

Wednesday, September 28

Hip Hop for Haiti

As we head into October, New York again braces itself for the annual autumn spree of charity functions. And though the foundations vary, representing any number of worthy causes, it still seems you can’t go a week in this town without a benefit for Haiti. And we say, “As it should be.” It’s a worthwhile cause: the small island country is still recovering from natural disasters and a flailing economy. (We do all remember this year’s Polo Classic, which donated funds to Hope Help and Rebuild Haiti. Indeed, who could forget Wyclef Jean’s head-scratching freestyle rap, which led to a dance party with Donna Karan and Hugh Jackman?) Well, if you’re looking for a cheaper way to donate to the country, Art in Motion is throwing a bash at Red Bull Space, replete with various diversions. There’ll be Haitian sculpture, a short-story reading, a Skype conversation from the island, a photo exhibit and a performance by the Sugarhill Gang, which has—breaking news!—changed its name to Rapper’s Delight. We don’t exactly endorse the policy of changing the name of your band to that of your single hit, but since we still know the whole song by heart, we’ll forgive them.

Concert to Empower Haiti, 8:00 p.m., Red Bull Space, 40 Thompson Street, $25; http://artinmotionshow.com/

Thursday, September 29

Big Top Jay-Z

Oh, the carnival—another one of fall’s classic pleasures. Who doesn’t love long nights riding the tilt-a-whirl, indulging in foods we did even know could be fried, going up in the Ferris wheel with Jay-Z and Beyoncé ... wait, what was that? It seems carnival season’s going to be a bit different this year, as Hova’s Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation is taking over Pier 54 for a night of state-fair fun, taken to the next level. Instead of snacking on peanuts, you’ll chow on food from the Spotted Pig (Jay’s an investor). Instead of stuffing your face with cotton candy, you’ll scarf down cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar. And instead of winning a giant stuffed animal you have no clue what to do with, you’ll win much better prizes, including Nets tickets, electric guitars and—new watch alert—Hublots. No word yet about whether or not the host will perform, but either way, it’ll be quite the circus. P.T. Barnum, you better watch the throne.

2011 Carnival at Hudson River Park, Pier 54, 8:00 p.m.–12:00 a.m.; tickets available at http://www.scfcarnival.com/ $1,000–$1,500.

Friday, September 30

Author, author!

Each year, smart-mag editor David Remnick transports his writers from the page to the stage for The New Yorker Festival, a series of discussions, talks and performances with luminaries from the magazine’s areas of interest. It’s a stacked lineup this year, and judging from the schedule for the first day, the big to-do seems to be front loaded. Spend your night taking in a sobering discussion of war with Chang-Rae Lee, Tim O’Brien and ZZ Packer. Or if you’re trying to take your mind off the world’s problems, there’s a conversation between New Yorker art critic—and amateur fireworks enthusiast—Peter Schjeldahl and wild-and-crazy Renaissance man Steve Martin. Our pick for the night, however, is the evening with Sasha Frere-Jones and one-woman music act St. Vincent. Annie Clark, the one woman, will discuss her new album, Strange Mercy, and treat the audience to a few songs, too. The record is superb, by the way. We’ll be in the back rocking out with you, Mr. Remnick!

The New Yorker Festival, September 30 - October 2, Various locations. Go to http://www.newyorker.com/festival for tickets, full schedule, and venue information. Or, just download the iPad app.

Saturday, October 1

Eat Your Heart Out

We’re entering the backlash-to-the-backlash stage! With spoilsport Sam Sifton out as The New York Times’s restaurant critic, it’s safe again for New Yorkers to block out a few hours of each Saturday for that boozy, hollandaise-slathered bacchanal we call brunch. And summer’s over, bros—no more Hamptons action, we’re doing this in Manhattan. Of course, you can hop on down to any of your neighborhood spots, but why not go all out? The meatpacking district might just be the big-budget brunch capital of the world, with more places than anywhere else to wash down waffles with mimosas. Hit up steakhouse-gone-wild STK for what must be a, um, meaty experience. Or there’s the classic Day & Night brunch bash, which has settled down at Buddha Bar. And for those who don’t want the fun to stop, Dream Downtown has started throwing “After Brunch” parties too. Lavo’s Bikini Brunch parties are so last spring, man.

Boozy, boozy brunch, various locations in the meatpacking district, 10:00 a.m.—late.

Sunday, October 2

Cash Rules Everything Around Me

Too much city living getting you down? Take a spin off the island and up to Greenwich, where Roseanne Cash, the Man in Black’s Twitter-loving daughter, will perform at the Annual Garden Party, a luncheon benefiting Family ReEntry, a mentoring program that helps the formerly incarcerated and their families get back on their feet. Lunch will be served, as well as some refreshments. And in keeping with the all-in-the-family theme, Ms. Cash’s husband, John Leventhal, will be in attendance as well. Bring your mom, or something!

Family ReEntry Presents Music in the Garden at BYDALE, John Street at Richmond Hill Road, Greenwich, Conn., doors open at noon, valet parking available; call 203-838-0496, extension 100, for tickets, $200, $300, $500.

Monday, October 3

Krazy for Korea

The Joseon Dynasty ruled Korea from 1392 until 1910—quite the reign, if we do say so ourselves. Who knew, right? Anyway, to celebrate the elaborate dresses worn during this (rather lengthy) period, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting “The King of Joseon in New York,” a gala that supports the United Nations’ Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. There will be cocktails, dinner and a performance of the King’s March, an elaborate dance characteristic of the regime. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be there, as will Richard Gere, for some reason. (Sounds like the kind of thing he would have brought Julia Roberts to in a certain ’90s movie!)

The King of Joseon in New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6:00 p.m. until late; go to www.the kingofjoseoninnewyork.com for tickets and more information.

Tuesday, October 4

Picture Perfect

Tired of all the endless partying? (As if.) Call up a friend, or a girl you think you might be interested in, and take her to see Peter Bogdanovich’s masterpiece, The Last Picture Show. It’s playing at the Film Forum for just a few days, and we can’t imagine a better flick to catch as the city slurps up the last dregs of summer. If you haven’t seen it, the movie is a classic of 1970s cinema. Based on the Larry McMurtry book of the same name, it is a sexually frank look at teenagers growing up in a sleepy Texas town. Shot in beautiful black and white, the film features the very young Jeff Bridges and a gamine Cybill Shepard, both of whom have never been better. (Not to mention a phenomenal performance by Cloris Leachman.) Believe us when we tell you: this surely beats a 10:10 showing of Real Steel.

The Last Picture Show, The Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street; screenings at 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30.

Wednesday, October 5

Studio System

It’ll be a while before the Whitney opens its new downtown digs, but, hey, why not keep having parties anyway! Just a few months after Amar’e Stoudemire threw down for the Groundbreakers party, the museum is at it again, this time with its Studio Party. The spectacle will take over Pier 57 and is hosted by a number of dignitaries from the worlds of art, fashion and cinema: Amanda Hearst, Miranda Kerr, Karolina Kurkova, Nate Lowman, Michelle Monaghan, Naomi Watts ... you know the drill. So starving artist types: put down brushes and step away from the easel, it’s time to let loose a little bit.

The 2011 Whitney Studio Party, Hudson River Park, Pier 57, 9:30 p.m.; invite only.

Boardwalk Empire, on Sunday.

Wednesday, September 21

Hint of Limelight

The dog days are over. The lounging by the pool, the summer Fridays, the Hamptons benefits: all things of the past. And what better way to get back in the metropolitan mood than to recall all those strobe-lit, drug-addled memories of nightclubs in the ’90s? A little hazy? Well, jog your memory by reliving the sleaze of another Manhattan era with Limelight, a documentary about clubland’s presiding felon, Peter Gatien, who was once upon a time the overlord of four of N.Y.C.’s largest dens of excess—Tunnel, the Palladium, Club USA and Limelight. With no smokers left and drug use in clubs decidedly under the table, it’s hard to think that a time of such freewheeling and troublemaking was the norm in nightlife. Today, the places where party monsters once sought community (and asylum from the outside world) have been converted to Whole Foods salad bars, or Opening Ceremony changing rooms, or wine bars with Yacht Rock humming in the background. For those who were around during the Limelight era, a nightclub scene as celeb-saturated and buttoned-up as the meatpacking district may seem incomprehensible, but that’s how it ended up. (Thanks, Rudy! You were right. We were having way too much fun.) Thank god, then, for Billy Corben, the director, for reminding us that people used to really let it all go—and we don’t mean the expense account on bottle service. Sure, Mr. Gatien was eventually arrested for tax evasion, imprisoned and deported to his native Canada, but no matter! Just keep partying, keep partying.

Limelight opens in theaters today.

Thursday, September 22

Paintings for Patients

Mixing cocktails and coloring books is a very dangerous game. Get too tipsy, and you start crayon-ing outside the bolded boundaries. And that’s just embarrassing. So we advise you to go easy on the hard stuff at tomorrow’s annual benefit for RxArt, hosted by Chanel Beauté. (Or better still, indulge and leave the coloring to the kiddies.) The nonprofit will unveil the latest volume of Between the Lines, a coloring book featuring outlines by well-known artists such as Keith Haring, John Baldessari and Nate Lowman. Chanel didn’t have a blockbuster party this Fashion Week like it did last year—to which Kaiser Karl Lagerfeld brought his new muse, Blake Lively—so you’ll have to make do with this. Misshapes glaring gal Leigh Lezark and peppy model Poppy Delevingne are chairing the event. A silent auction will follow the cocktail hour, and all the proceeds go to RxArt, which places quality paintings in the hospital rooms of the bedridden. Overdo it at this bash, and you might be joining them in the infirmary, a Warhol over your head as you wake up in Bellevue without any recollection of what happened. And that chip in your tooth, did you get into a postevent fight at Hogs and Heifers again? This ain’t your kids’ coloring book party, that’s for sure!

RxArt Annual Benefit Party, 7 p.m. at the Highline Stages, 440 West 15th Street. Invitation only.

Friday, September 23

All Jammed Up

Break out the flannel! This Friday, IFC will begin screening Pearl Jam Twenty, Cameron Crowe’s documentary about the grunge legends’ two decades as a band. The Almost Famous director hasn’t collaborated with Eddie Vedder and the boys since the Singles soundtrack, so if you know every word to “Even Flow,” expect to be there. (We’re not big Pearl Jam fans ourselves, but no doubt this will be better than Elizabethtown. It couldn’t be worse.) Plus, if this doc happens to be a flop, you can quietly shove your shoebox of Alice in Chains concert stubs back under the bed and wait for Mr. Crowe’s fall feature, We Bought a Zoo, to come out. What is that movie about again? If you said it’s about Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson buying a zoo, you’d be right!

Pearl Jam Twenty opens today, IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street.

Saturday, September 24

Lay Down the Claw

Thinking of taking a crustacean vacation down to Chesapeake Bay this weekend, to get in one more clam bake before the chill of winter makes you pack up your Sperry’s for the season? There’s no need to hop on I-95. Just head to the Hammer & Claws Blue Crab Feast, where Maryland native Joshua Morgan, formerly of West Village’s Choptank restaurant, will treat Old Bay-deprived New Yorkers to beer, live music and a boatload of crabs. What, you’ve never had authentic, delicious Maryland crab before, lifelong New Yorker? Well, in that state you do the cracking yourself, with a bib down your shirt, wooden mallet in hand, and a tub of butter that better not go unused.

Hammer & Claws Maryland Blue Crab Feast, First seating 12 p.m.–4 p.m., second seating 7 p.m.–11 p.m., The Terminal Stores, 269 11th Avenue.

Sunday, September 25

Jersey Yore

Everyone knows you can’t watch period-piece television without a buzz on! (Right? Everyone knows that?) Whether at a bar or in the comfort of your own home, as far as we’re concerned there’s no use watching a TV show unless there’s a sizeable glass of hooch over ice within reach. And HBO’s Boardwalk Empire is about smuggling and consuming alcohol anyway, so really you’re just getting into the milieu. If you want the full experience, though, head over to the Roosevelt Hotel, where the Madison Club Lounge is hosting a Canadian Club-soaked viewing party, complete with a costume contest. (Dressing up as Steve Buscemi in The Big Lebowski doesn’t count!) Extra points for any references to classic prohibition movies, such as Scarface (the original, not the Method Man-endorsed Pacino version), Some Like It Hot and The Untouchables. And sorry: anything about Gatsby strikes us as a bit lazy. Things to bring: casual attitude toward sex and drugs, fake Tommy gun, girlfriend dressed as Paz de la Huerta. Things to leave at home: actual Tommy gun, actual Paz de la Huerta.

The Madison Club Lounge, 45 East 45th Street, 7:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m.; contact Kaitlin McCaffrey at kmccaffrey@rooseveltnyc.com or call (212) 885-6007 for reservations.

Monday, September 26

Dumbo’s Circus

If you see an increased number of kids running around Dumbo—or even an increased number of carnies—it may be due to Jane’s Carousel, a 1920s beauty that just opened in a pavilion designed by starchitect Jean Nouvel. It’s got everything you’d want in the classic staple of old-timey theme parks: intricate gold-leafed horses, spiral chrome poles to cling tight to as the ride begins and a Wurlitzer to blast music-box melodies as the dizziness sets in. It’s a childhood you can’t claim to be nostalgic about unless you’re 150 years old, but we can pretend, right? The restoration has taken decades, but it’s finally open to the public. The husband-wife duo of Jane and David Walentas spearheaded the project, and it’s only $2.00 to get in. So it’s cheaper than a subway ride, but then again, you’re only going in circles.

Jane’s Carousel is open every day, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m, except Tuesday. The website directions: “The Carousel is located in the DUMBO section of The Brooklyn Bridge Park, on the East River, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The Carousel is easily accessed from Park entrances at Dock Street or Main Street.”

Tuesday, September 27

Anchorwoman

CNN’s feisty business expert Erin Burnett is getting a new show on CNN, and the brass has decided to fete her with cocktails and canapés at Robert, the restaurant in the Museum of Arts and Design. Enjoy a few glasses of Champagne as the cable channel’s talking heads make casual conversation about our impending economic doom. At least there will be plenty to distract you as the dry notes of your bubbly briskly sour into the taste of credit default and bankruptcy. Robert features some pretty stellar eye candy in its design and set pieces—remember the museum it’s in? Philip Michael Wolfson designed the red starbursts of furniture, including the 15-foot communal table and sloping space-station bar. There’s also an intricate neon-magenta installation that hangs just below the ceiling. Johanna Grawunder designed the work, and it floats above an eerie reflecting pool, creating the illusion that there are hot magenta paper lanterns ebbing off into the ether. There’s a metaphor about CNN and the economy in there somewhere, for sure. We’ll ask Ms. Burnett what she thinks it is.

Cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres, Robert Restaurant, The Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Avenue, ninth floor, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.; invitation only.

Wednesday, September 28

Got Lederhosen?

Who needs a pricey flight to Munich when you can drink the same egregious volume of beer—or more—only a short subway ride away? Sure, the Village Pourhouse will always remind you of that brutal college football loss, but we’re past that. So let’s all convene at that East Village hops bacchanal for that most sudsy of holidays, Oktoberfest. Celebrate the occasion with a $30 beer flight for two, which will more than get you started on whatever escapades you and your date decide to engage in later. Hey, there might ever be a beer-holding competition in your future.

The Village Pourhouse, 63 Third Avenue at East 11th Street, 7:00 p.m.–onward.

editorial@observer.com

At Barney's, the Olsen twins, Proenza Schouler and Simon Doonan will judge a karaoke contest, awarding the winner a purse and leather leggings. Also there will be a ping pong tournament. At Bergdorf Goodman, visitors can enjoy a cookout with the Fire Department, or perhaps an Isaac Mizrahi cabaret. And Open Ceremony will again be having the party for the oppressively cool.

We can only assume that the greatest night ever will once more involve hors d'oeuvres.