Red, Red Wine

Come join me Thursday April 22 as I will be selling raffle tickets and working the room for the Community Service Society’s Annual Fundraiser at Eugene. There’s a two-hour open bar and appetizers. I just picked up a copy of the list of the raffle prizes which includes a trip for two to the Caribbean, restaurant and spa certificates and Watson Adventures passes. If you don’t win, console yourself in knowing that you gave to a good cause, and you got tipsy doing it. Did I mention the two-hour open bar from 6:30-8:30PM?! Tickets are $40 in advance ($50 door) and can be purchased at the CSSNY site.

Blue Moon

Robert Whaley, flirty lead singer and fabulous coronet player of the Niagaras, dances frenetically on stage as if he were possessed by the devil! The Niagaras are the ultimate party band. You’ll wanna dance until the cows come home! They’re playing at the Cutting Room (19 West 24th Street between 6th and Broadway)on Saturday April 24th at midnight.

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

Last Saturday, my friend and I happened upon Café 111 in Brooklyn Heights for dinner, at my urging because I wanted to check out the live music there. To my surprise, we enjoyed a delightful set by the excellent and eccentric Ethan Lipton. First, he did a few short songs a cappella, and I didn’t know if he was joking. Then the rest of the trio came up and they were great! To describe the music, it can be best described as eclectic and effervescent. Ethan’s is playing at the Liberty Heights Tap Room (34 Van Dyke St./Brooklyn) on Saturday at 10PM. It is definitely worth the trip to Red Hook with my good friend and vocal acrobat Zero Boy is also performing.

Purple Rain

When in Brooklyn, drink like the Romans! Go to Quench Bar on 282 Smith Street at Sackett St in Carroll Gardens. Potent and inspired potables like Raspberry mojitos will definitely quench your thirst. I stopped last weekend with a friend and loved the bar instantly. You can easily fall off the bar stool while singing along to 80s hits on the great jukebox from bands like The Fixx and ABC. It’s the look of love, baby!

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Help Me Find A Boyfriend! I have decided to take my search off-line. I know some of you were enjoying this section each week, but I think it is best to conduct my search undercover or under the covers as the case may be. Hey, I will continue to write something FUNNY, even it’s about love, work or Bush. Even I can get “Kerryed” away by all the craziness!

Man, I Feel Like A Woman

Attention Ladies! With Victoria’s Secret ditching their televised fashion show and all the hoopla over Ms. Jackson, I’m starting to think that the female form is not being sufficiently appreciated. So, I want to remind/inform all you pretty things some of the best places to buy lingerie. In SoHo, there’s Agent Provocateur at 133 Mercer St. and Le Corset by Selima on 80 Thompson St. Plus, if you are ever near NYU checking out the handsome young boys, stop by La Petite Coquette (51 University Place. (P.S.: Guys! Shopping with your lady for lingerie can be a rewarding adventure.)

Magic Man

Instead of the textbook “performance art for dummies”, Neal Medlyn succeeds in screwing with your mind while seducing your funny bone! Catch Neal Medlyn’s Manfinger at Collective Unconscious, (145 Ludlow Street) this Friday April 16, at 8PM and again on May 7, 2004. The price is only $7.

It’s Raining Men

Help Me Find A Boyfriend! I will reserve a section each week to let you know how it’s going. After reading last week’s newsletter, Hurry Date Co-Founder, Adele Testani offered me a free pass to attend a Hurry Date event last Wednesday at Fuelray (68 West 3rd Street). It was fun! If you have never been to a speed-dating event, it is like musical chairs for inebriated adults. So I was happy to meet 25 eligible bachelors in a single night. As far as a match goes, I kinda fancy a guy from the event who actually lives in my neighborhood. Go figure! If you think of anyone eligible, please email me at nichellenewsletter@yahoo.com.

Maneater

Are you ready to laugh? My very funny and talented friend Abby Rosin is performing comedy next Wednesday at 8:30PM the Laugh Lounge 151 Essex Street. The Laugh Lounge is a nice place to grab a beer and a laugh. You can get there by taking the F train to Delancey.

You can call me the “hype girl” for my buddy Don McCloskey! I would be his manager, but 20% of nothing is still…NOTHING. So please do me a solid and vote for him as he has been nominated for two Philly Music Awards (Best Male Entertainer and Best Acoustic Act) Yay! You can vote online once a day Phillyatnight.

Friday April 16, Don McCloskey will be playing at the Parkside Lounge at 8PM. Cover is $5. You can find the Parkside Lounge at 317 E. Houston Street between B&C. Take the F train to 2nd Avenue.

The Brooklyn Museum will be FREE this Saturday, April 17 in celebration of its new facade. If you have never been, I strongly suggest that you check it out. The Brooklyn Museum has an awesome and impressive collection of art, and it is conveniently on the 2/3 at Eastern Parkway. I love the Brooklyn Museum, and I want more people to enjoy it! Today’s New York Times has a good article about the museum’s desire to increase attendance.

Village People

Nichelle has drifted to

Typepad. Please add to your favorites!!!

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Spring! I am so ready to pack up

my winter clothes. In fact, I may purge some stuff by donating to the

Salvation Army. However, I don’t recommend Beacon’s Closet in Brooklyn.

It’s not for the faint of heart. They viciously judge your fashion

sense and only give you pennies for the old Gap shirt that you wore back

in the 90s.

Groovy People Three years ago, I attended a workshop of this musical written by a

friend, Melissa Levis. Two years ago, I saw it again at the Fringe

Festival, and finally, “The Joys of Sex” is now in previews at the

Variety Arts Theatre, 110 Third Ave at 13th Street. It’s hilarious and

sexy! If you are motivated by psychological pricing, then remember

this: tix are two for $69!

Beautiful People

Ok, I listen to Rufus Wainwright’s latest CD, Want One, when I am working. It’s both soothing and disturbing

at the same time. I especially like the opening track, “Oh What A World”

where Rufus sings “Men reading fashion magazines. Straight men”. I

wonder if he was thinking about that new men’s shopping magazine, Cargo.

People Are People

I saw Boy Skout a few weeks ago in Brooklyn, and these girls kick ASS!

Their sound is like a female Joy Division, and they are playing at

Saturday, April 10 at Pianos (158 Ludlow St). Show starts at 10PM and

the tickets are $7! Some other band named Au Revoir Simone opens the

show. For information on more shows at Pianos, check out

http://www.pianosnyc.com/shows.html.

Different People

Help Me Find A Boyfriend! I will reserve a few sentences each week to

let you know how it’s going. If you’re not interested, then just ignore

this section. Thanks for the good wishes from all the couples! Your

compassion is appreciated, and your advice has been taken with a grain

of salt. 🙂 So far, I have received two referrals. If you think of

anyone eligible, please send candidates to email me at

nichellenewsletter@yahoo.com.

For more raves, rants and wit…tune into Nichelle Newsletter

I have moved to typepad… You can see this blog until the 30-day trial ends on if I decide to keep both blogs running…

It’s my first official weekend guide, since Daily Candy is doing it then I can, too!

This just in…Big D on Avenue C…Don McCloskey playing tonight March 26 at the C-Note 157 Avenue at 10thSt. Show starts at 7PM. $5 Cover. Come join the Freakshow, baby!

Watson Adventures Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, March 27 at 2PM. It’s a TV and Movie Location Hunt in Greenwich Village. Put on your walking shoes and your thinking caps. ( Make sure they are coordinated!) Hunt price: $25/person.

Sunday ends with a bang! The Hip Hop Hoodios have taken their diverse influences, which includes Latino and Jewish cultures to create a trail mix of rock and rap. The Hip Hop Hoodios are rocking the casa this Sunday, March 28 at S.O.B.’s!

Lately, I find myself saying “It’s a small world” a lot because New York is a really a small city with many social circles. Now, whenever I meet someone new, there is usually some connection with a friend or a F.O.A.F. (friend of a friend)! So I was really curious when I picked up “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. I found out that I am a bit of a “Connector“. What does it mean? I think it means that I know a lot of people, so if I piss off a bunch of you then I may have to go into a witness protection program!

In related news…look out for The Roots new album dropping this spring, The Tipping Point Sessions.

Another news flash about Halcyon in Brooklyn….They are opening a shop in DUMBO in May!

Announcing….

Halcyon 1.5 The Shop

Opening May 11at 57 Pearl St.

DUMBO, Bklyn at the corner of pearl and water streets

under the Manhattan Bridge 2 blocks from the F train at york st.

stocking vinyl, CDS, DVDS,dj gear, magazines, books,clothing and other select objects of desire

with new releases and merchandise arriving weekly! Yay!

Brooklyn Congressman Major Owens has written a play about Viagara. When I read about this “Viagara Monologues” on the cover of the Sunday New York Post, I was shocked! When I lived in his district a few years ago, I even went to a fundraiser for his campaign. Now I want my money back.

I have no intention of judging the 67 year old Congressman attempt at fame or artistic pursuits, but I really believe this type of theatrics is better left to people like Larry Flynt or Felix Dennis