1. BUY TIX TO THE NEW YORKER FESTIVAL: From Oct. 5-7, The New Yorker will present its 13th annual festival, a three-day celebration that will once again bring together a distinguished group of writers, thinkers, artists, and other luminaries from many fields, including film, music, television, politics, food, fashion and literature. Since the festival’s inception, events have sold out quickly, drawing close to 20,000 people from around the world annually, so grab your tickets while you can. A full program guide is available at NewYorker.com/Festival. This year’s highlights include interviews and conversations with Patti Smith, Vampire Weekend, Christian Louboutin and Margaret Atwood.
2. MEET THE MILLIONAIRE MATCHMAKER: Patti Stanger, reality star of Bravo’s The Millionaire Matchmaker and the founding CEO of the Millionaire’s Club, a dating service which matches wealthy clients to people looking to date rich partners, is coming to Long Island for autographs and pictures at The Wine Guy in Smithtown on Sep. 27 from 5-7 p.m. But this time she won’t be setting up singles. Instead, Patti will pair Ty Ku premium sake with naturally low-calorie Asian spirits.
3. GET A DECAL FROM CRITTERSONTHEMOVE.COM: Dogs, cats, pigs, horses…all of them can sit in the back seat of your car—without making a mess. These hilarious decals, which can even be made in the likeness of your own pet, look incredibly real. This doggy in the window will cost you anywhere from $16.95 to $39.50.
4. DOWNLOAD THE NYS PARK APP: The free “Oh, Ranger!” NY State Parks iPhone app (coming soon to Android) gives visitors on-the-go the ability to access valuable park information. This new app includes more than 200 state parks, historic sites, golf courses, campgrounds and nature centers and is designed to provide everything a visitor would need to become familiar with a location, including contact info, directions, amenities, maps and events. With much of the details embedded, users do not need the Internet to display park info, an important feature as some parks may have limited connectivity.
5. BUY A GIANT COOKIE: We walked into The Bakery in Commack last week and beheld an amazing sight: a cookie one foot in diameter decorated with all different kinds of toppings in the shape of pizza slices. You can even slice it with a pizza cutter! The Bakery also has locations in Plainview and Albertson. Call for availability.
6. YOUTUBE “GARDINER’S ISLAND GOTHAMTV”: If you’ve spent any time walking around East Hampton, you may have come across a seemingly out-of-place sarcophagus in the South End Cemetery. It holds the remains of Lion Gardiner, whose descendents own Gardiner’s Island. Take a one-of-a-kind, five-minute hysterical virtual tour of this private island by one of Gardiner’s descendants, Robert David Lion Gardiner, 16th Lord of the Manor, the last heir to bear the family name.
7. GOOGLE “GUINNESS TALLEST MOHAWK NYC”: A fashion designer from Tokyo showed off his 3-foot-8.6-inch mohawk in Washington Square Park last week to promote the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records. Kazuhiro Watanabe, 40, says it took 15 years to grow and two hours and three cans of hairspray a day to maintain.
8. VISIT LEAFCARVINGART.COM: Leaf-carving art is one of the newest art forms. Its inspiration comes from the beauty of nature. Selective leaves are carefully chosen from the Chinar tree, which is native to India, Pakistan and China. Chinar tree leaves closely resemble the leaf of a Maple tree. Once collected, the leaves go through a 60-step process such as shaving, pressing, curing, dying and so on. The outer surface of the leaf is carefully removed without cutting or removing the veins, which add detail to the subject matter of the carving. They start at $24.95, but with customizations and framing options, they can run up to $224.90.
9. TiVo Here Comes Honey Boo Boo: Like a car accident, sometimes you just can’t look away. And there is somewhat—we, said somewhat—of a sweetness about the simplicity of this show, aside from the whole creepy child pageant thing and the complete disregard for any kind of social graces. Just make sure you’ve eaten and digested your food before you push the play button. Hey, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
10. DRIVE AN ELECTRIC CAR! Sept. 23 is National Plug In Day, and from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at Sun Vet Mall in Holbrook manufacturers and private owners will have plenty of electric cars available for you to test drive!
