Chace Crawford: Founder of the Forelock Movement?Remember when we wondered aloud whether the Times was trying to imply that there is something less than masculine about Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford Nate Archibald? Well, apparently he heard us, because when he went out on the town to do a similar article with Canada’s National Post, he was careful to choose a bottle of Steam Whistle, a local brew. “This is a great beer,” he told reporter Shinan Govani, who dutifully OMG-ed. “I love Canada.” Naaaaate, don’t change who you are because of the pressures of the media! We love you just the way you are, you shrimp-and-avocado-salad eater, you. In fact, one of the things we love about you is your wispy haircut. Unlike Zac Efron’s well-conditioned, floppy version, Nate’s bangs have a dried-out, Aquanetted look that surely doesn’t require obnoxious, ponylike head flicks to handle. Govani agrees with us, declaring in the National Post story that Crawford is the icon of the latest male-bangs movement. He says that he’s given masculine dudes everywhere the confidence to get new, more fashion-forward dos. Now that’s more like it. Let’s all get behind Nate’s heterosexuality, huh? Govani even has a new nickname for Nate: Mr. Man-Bangs! Hey, wait
Meet Mr. Man-Bangs [National Post]
Earlier: Chace Crawford Sips Merlot, Is Reluctant to Meet Kate Hudson
21 questions
Nothing Fancy for Conor Oberst Name: Conor Oberst
Age: 27
Job: Musician; his band Bright Eyes will perform seven nights at Town Hall beginning May 25.
Neighborhood: East Village
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Sean Foley.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Mermaid Inn, oysters and mahimahi.
neighborhood watch
Parched Residents Demand Clinton Hill Beer GardenClinton Hill: Thanks to the advocacy of Clinton Hill Blog–master Robin Lester, you might not have to go to Astoria’s beer garden anymore. [Gothamist via Clinton Hill Blog]
Fort Greene: Will the guy who eats local fauna get a visit from the authorities soon? [Brooklyn Record]
Greenpoint: Do we detect just a touch of resentment from blogger Miss Heather now that someone else is stealing some of her anti-poop thunder? [Newyorkshitty]
Harlem: When the BBC shot in Sylvia’s last week, tempers flared over crime and gentrification. [Uptown Flavor]
Midwood: Poaching of Brooklyn parrots is on the decline, but it will take several years to repopulate the bird colonies. [Gowanus Lounge]
Rosedale-Laurelton: Denizens of this quaint stretch of Queens are fed up with zoning that allows for McMansions on small plots — and they yelled at a councilman to prove it. [NYDN]
Washington Heights: Someday, the gentrification chroniclers will look back and say it all started with the loss of the cheap roast-chicken place. [NYPress]
in other news
Bud’s New TV Station Is in the CanIf 30-second doses of Budweiser’s audiovisual genius aren’t sufficient for you — and, really, who could get enough of crabs worshipping a cooler? — today is your lucky day. It’s the launch of Anheuser-Busch’s own online entertainment network, Bud.TV. Bud.TV provides all sorts of longer-form entertainment commissioned by the beer company, not just their ads but also series from producers like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s production company, LivePlanet, and Kevin Spacey’s Trigger Street Films. And what a rollout: Not only does the launch come the day after Bud spent untold millions on Super Bowl ads; it also comes one day after a huge New York Times Magazine feature on the new service, which makes it sound like the greatest entertainment product since color TV.
neighborhood watch
Condos and Beer (Which Could Well Be New York’s New Motto)Bed-Stuy: A new wave of Bed-Stuy condos go where no condos have gone before. (East, of course). [Brownstoner]
Boerum Hill: Mmmm, beer: Cask Ale Festival kicks off at the Brazen Head on Atlantic Avenue. [Brooklyn Record]
Soho: Bedbugs chase Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson from Greene Street. [NYP]
Financial District: A 24-hour diner will invade Gold Street in January. As if bankers don’t just order in, anyway. [MetroNY]
East Village: “Loanshark Bob” Marion returns to Avenue A after years of absence. Hooray. [Neither More Nor Less]
grub street
Beer, Glorious Beer
Over at Grub Street, Josh Ozersky, Grubber-in-chief, has pointed us to what might be the single best thing going on in New York this weekend — or, for that matter, ever. It’s the Brewtopia Great World Beer Festival, and it’s at the Javits Center today and tomorrow. It costs $60 to get in, as we understand it, and then it’s all you can drink. And, hell, that’s cheaper than our average weekend-night bar tab, which is certainly not all you can drink. (Well, at least not de jure, anyway.) Grub’s got the full info.
Beer-Fueled Madness at Javits Center This Weekend [Grub Street]