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Lonely Planet New York City 5

Hot off the presses, Lonely Planet's New York City 5. Featuring interviews with New Yorkers on their tips and tricks for navigating NYC.

therefore_I_travel
Originally uploaded by droccadnoh.

What's On: San Francisco Arts & Culture Sept 2006

  Golden Gate Bridge Sunset 
  Originally uploaded by mattiasgrillet.

This week we're starting a new feature here at Outwester: monthly roundups of San Francisco's varied Arts and Culture scene.

The city, justifiably famous for its range of arts offerings, remains as progressive, independent and adventurous as always. You'll find heaps of info on what's on at SF Station, to whom we bow humbly and offer mad props and that hyperlink.

We'll aim to highlight some choice morsels that grab our eyes, which we'll focus on lesser-known trends and events that may be flying under the mainstream media. Each month we'll profile several cool happenings, any of which we'll give the Outwester guarantee of good stuff. Here goes:

Snap Your Hands Say Yeah: Never know what a walk down mid-Market will reveal. Today we came upon Fingersnaps, a self-proclaimed DJ and Arts Collective that offers 8-hour DJ training workshops. Cueing, beat mixing, equipment tips, audio engineering -- all are covered in lessons adaptable to beginners or advanced DJs. One on one consultations, all gear provided (though you may wish to bring your own CDs.

With opportunities in audio/video amplifying throughout the media world, all boosts to your skill sets and terminology bases are more than welcomed. Impress HR at your next potential gig with you offline creativity.

Start Your...Installations?: Art and autos converge on the Bay Area Sept 14-17 for ArtCar Fest 06, the 10th annual California road rally/pilgrimedge for the most American of mobile public art forms. Elaborate sculptures-slash-canvasses on wheels, ArtCars are exactly that: cars recrafted as mobile artworks.

If you've never seen an ArtCar parade, head to Amoeba Music on Haight Street, Thursday at 11am (or Amoeba on Telegraph in Berkeley around 5) for the Amoeba to Amoeba Caravan, winding its way across the bay. Or check the Pyramid Brewery Kick-Off Party, the staging point for the first evening's festivities. For the full weekend calendar, click here.

  The Illustrated Car 
  Originally uploaded by schmeebis.

Bikes, Birds & Madelline Kahn as the Bride: Just in time for September, San Francisco's best weather month, Film Night in the Park has a winning schedule for winning evenings, convening in shared public spaces.

On Saturday, Sept 9, Hitchcock's The Birds takes flight at Union Square. Saturday Sept 23 signals The Bicycle Thief in Washington Square Park (don't hate them cause it's spelled wrong.) Wear black or white for Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein ("that's fran-ken-steen"), screening on Saturday, Oct 7 at Dolores Park.

More films are screening at sites around Marin County. For photos of past events, check here.

36 Hours - New York Times Google Map

Weekend travelers take note - Google Maps and the New York Times have partnered to create the 36 Hours - City by City guide.

 

A compilation of the Times' popular Friday Escapes pieces, the guide offers a map of America with rolliver tags indicating its archive of destinations. Articles cover offerings in less-heralded cities for travelers and smaller getaways towns, framed from Friday happy hour Friday to a late Sunday brunch.

Whether Houston hip hop or Minneapolis theater, Carolina bluegrass or Lake Tahoe trekking, the guide contains surprises worth investigating before you depart.

Downtown LA's Comeback

  Rooftop blue 
  Originally uploaded by Divwerf.

Once an urban blight, Downtown LA is now red-hot. Home to top restaurants, hotels and art centers, it's become a Hollywood success story: as A-list neighborhood.

Jay Cooke covers Downtown LA's ascendent mix for the May 2006 Business Traveler Magazine.

He traverses mixed-use neighborhoods, canvassing Chinatown galleres, the American Apparel home factory, the LA basin's last winery and the Downtown Standard Hotel rooftop bar.

A travel writer and change journalist, Jay Cooke covers California and the West for VIA, the San Francisco Examiner and the San-Francisco Bay Guardian, among others. He profiled socially responsible businesses in San Francisco for Business Traveler in September 2004.