Likelihood of a Billy Joel and Alicia Keys duet at the 12-12-12 Sandy Benefit, NY Beard and Mustache Competition open to both men and women, 32nd anniversary of John Lennon's murder expected to draw large crowds to Strawberry Fields, DJ legend Danny Krivit does a special holiday styled dance party for his long running 718 Sessions, Bay Area artists The Coup and DJ Shadow visit NYC this week, copping last minute tickets to The Late Show with David Letterman, a review of last weekend's 8-Ball Zine Fair, Cannibal Ox reunion, and an NYC-themed rap music video by Ja Rule are among the items covered in this installment in New York State of Mind - the weekly Amoeblog series in which I report, from a New York City perspective, on music and other entertainment and happenings in the Big Apple.

Open to both men and women, The 3rd Annual NYC Beard and Mustache Competition is happening this weekend in Williamsburg. Not to be confused with the equally popular 5th Annual Coney Island Beard and Mustache Competition that took place a few miles further out in the borough of Brooklyn (home to many a mustachioed fellow), this Saturday evening's event is being presented by the Gotham City Beard Alliance whose mission statement is "To promote tolerance and acceptance of all facial hair. The GCBA desires to help our local community, through donations from events planned by GCBA or volunteering at non-facial hair related events." At this weekend's GBCA event there will be a series of facial hair competitions that anyone can sign up for on the night. Just get to the venue by 6:30pm for the 7pm start time of the the three hour event. And note that the male leaning competition is not for men exclusively. Women are also encouraged to enter by making their own beard and mustache creations that will be judged in such categories as Most Realistic and Most Fantastic. Saturday, Dec 8th, 7pm at Warsaw: 261 Driggs Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Phone: 718-387-0505 Tickets and more info here. Club directions + general info here.

For visitors to New York City with a limited time to explore the city that never sleeps (and neither should you if you only have a few days here) is at the Grand Central Terminal I Love NY Tourism booth in the main concourse area where you can get lots of info not just on this historic rail terminal (where they have 35 different eateries and six and a half dozen stores including the recommended MTA store) and on NYC in general, including such spots as the nearby New York Public Library Main Branch, Empire State Building, and the constantly-changing Bryant Park.

Welcome to another installment in the weekly New York State of Mind Amoeblog series on music and other entertainment and happenings in the Big Apple for both visitors and residents of New York.  As we head out of the post-Sandy devastation and further into the holiday period, things are looking really good here in New York with a lot of shows coming up in the week ahead as outlined below.
 

Under the fitting show title of Live to D.I.Y. is killer lineup at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Thursday (11/29) featuring the super-talented, politically outspoken artists Prop Anon (a.k.a. Propaganda Anonymous, who has built a career out of attacking the social injustices in New York City housing, among other social inequalities), conscious rapper Mike Ladd, Rebelmatic, and hometown heroes Outernational (whose attacks on immigration in particular have won them a strong following and who have been written about here on the Amoeblog). Also on this talent-packed bill are Beans (of Anti-Pop Consortium fame), Sarcasmo, and Undeniable. The theme of the show, says Prop Anon, is "Elevation. Every artist on the bill seeks to elevate people's mind states; whether it be politically, aesthetically, or energetically. Thursday's show will elevate people."

Now in week four of Superstorm Sandy recovery mode New York City takes another major stride in its return to normalcy by making a significant statement this week that things are well on their way to getting back on track with the big 86th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade all set and ready to go this week. Since this past weekend, when I took the photo above from the Herald Square front of the the world's largest department store (well until 2009 when the South Korean chain Shinsegae opened an even larger store) Macy's parade organizers had everything in place - much to the approval of the business minded Mayor Bloomberg who knows the bottom line dollar value of such tourist attractions for his city that will attract an estimated 3 million sightseers along its route.

Expect to hear many references to Sandy and the resilience of its victims during Thursday's big parade TV broadcast that an estimated 50 million will watch. If you are in NYC on Thanksgiving Day the parade starts at 9am in the Upper West Side at 77th Street by Central Park West and heads down to Columbus Circle, then left onto Central Park South, right on Sixth Ave and down to Herald Square by Macy's. This year’s performers and celebrities will include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Trace Adkins, Big Apple Circus, Chica and the crew from Sprout, Colbie Caillat, Rachel Crow Jimmy Fallon & The Roots, Flo Rida, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Isaak, Carly Rae Jepsen, Karmin, Kidz Bop, Mannheim Steamroller, Miss USA 2012 – Olivia Culpo; the Muppets and cast of Sesame Street, The Wanted and many more. More guests and general parade info here.

The Discovering Columbus (aka The Columbus Circle Living Room) public art installation (pictured above), MellowHype bringing that LA Odd Future flava to New Yawk, Wyclef Jean's new New York restaurant, the CCW convention, a nod to Brooklyn including some of entertaining bygone era Bensonhurst nicknames, Fear's classic's "New York's Alright," and the musical Annie returning to Broadway are among the items covered in this eight installment in the New York State of Mind Amoeblog series on music and other entertainment and happenings in the Big Apple. 

The wonderful group that is the Public Art Fund, who have been responsible for some truly inspired creative art installations around NYC parks and other public spaces, have outdone themselves with their latest presentation: Tatzu Nishi's Discovering Columbus exhibition which is simply amazing!. Also known as The Columbus Circle Living Room and located at Columbus Circle on the South West corner of Central Park, near 59th Street, this exhibit is surreal. It is a temporary living room that the Japanese artist carefully constructed around the iconic monument of Christopher Columbus.  When you go it not only feels like you are in someone's furnished living room with windows - albeit with the 13 foot high, 120 year old marble statue in the middle of it, but it also offers an amazing view of Central Park - from six flights of stairs up to the exhibit.

Compared to this time last week when the New York State of Mind Post-Hurricane Sandy Blues was posted to the Amoeblog in the devastating couple of days following the unprecedented impact of the storm that hit the region with a vengeance and brought the city that never sleeps to a standstill, things are looking a lot better in New York City (albeit far from back-to-normal in all places, most notably in the hard hit Staten Island and the Rockaways section of Queens).

Now the majority of power has been restored in most parts of NYC and a large percentage of public transit service (about 85%) is back up and running. In most places, NYC is getting back on track as fast as it can. However, the fallout of Sandy will still be felt here for a quite some time, especially in places that need to rebuild and/or tackle the daunting task of major flood damage repair. Plus, there's the nor'easter / second storm coming this week. Despite all of this, New Yorkers have worked together and around the fallout of Sandy to get things running despite the obstacles presented to them.