Before he opened 1534, an elegant cocktail lounge in New York, Justin Noel had run the beverage programs at The Breslin, Pranna, and the Ace Hotel. He’s a traveler in the bar trade who has worked all over the world, so it makes sense that his dark-wood Soho bar is named after the year of Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada. Now, Noel pours some of the city’s best-made cocktails and does just about everything else too, from HR to payroll to bar backing and more. We caught up with Noel to find out how he keeps it all together. 

If you didn't see The Avengers in its opening weekend, you might have been the only one: the superhero mash-up scored the biggest opening weekend ever with an estimated $200.3 million in its first three days. The story of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and co. trying to save the world from an evil alien army is a smashing crowd-pleaser, complete with big explosions, confusing scientific jargon and winks toward the Marvel diehards.

Last night, as I was slipping under the covers to catch some shut-eye, I suddenly had a thought. "Is Andy Griffith dead?" I honestly didn't know. While I couldn't come up with a reason for why I was wondering it in the first place, I was able to reach for my phone to quickly find the answer to my original query. It turns out that Andy Griffith is alive. Phew! But it got me thinking: shouldn't there be a place you can go to find out if a famous person is alive? Well, sure, why not this very site? (Didn't you know that 95% of blogging is actually just performing Google searches? Now you do!) I asked some colleagues and friends if they could name some celebrities whom they honestly did not know were still alive. 

My friend Mikala and I really care about leading healthy, active lifestyles, and with this whole gluten-free thing sweeping the nation, we decided to check it out for ourselves. Will we ever have stomach aches again? Will our immune systems be strengthened and keep us from getting one of those nasty summer colds? Will I be able to live without beer? Will Mikala live without beer that, in her own words, "tastes like juice?"

The Camelot that was W.i.P. is over. Stuart Braunstein, half of the creative crew in a joint centered around creativity, has split the club, leaving behind a trail of bad things to say, bitter regrets, and little else... even the art. According to Stuart, that art which has so wonderfully adorned the art-based club, is being removed today, probably as you read this. His partner Rony Rivellini remains and has been joined by man-about-town Thomas Moler. This story is moving very fast and has lots of moving parts but this is what I got in the last few days.

Buzzy Canadian duo Purity Ring won’t release their long-awaited debut album until July, but a new video for the song “Belispeak” just might hold fans over.

I was working in a mechanic shop in Soweto when I got the call that Paul Simon was looking for studio musicians to record an album. “Paul who?” I asked. But I needed the money so I went. I was poor. I was supporting my mother, who was sick, and as a black musician in South Africa at the time, you’d get ripped off a lot, getting paid five dollars for an entire album. Paul was different. When I got to the studio, we started jamming. He liked everything I did.

Good news: Rad Hourani has revealed yet another fascinating unisex collection. Bad news: It's only available in Hong Kong. Good news again: Maybe he'll release it stateside if we hype it up enough. We've kept our eye on Rad since 2010, when he explained to us that he designs from a "virgin point-of-view" and produces pieces that are "freed from any gender differentiations." Although he's stayed true to this philosophy through the years, he never ceases to surprise us with his ability to infuse innovation in his highly-structured garments. His latest range of adrogynous pieces for Joyce Hong Kong is a celebration of that.

You might remember him from his work with the Moldy Peaches, his solo albums or even last year’s film, shot completely on an iPhone, The Wrong Ferrari. But Adam Green has yet another life: fine artist. Next week, Green’s latest exhibit, titled Cartoon and Complaint, will open at Intercourse Exhibition Space, aritist Dustin Yellin’s Brooklyn Gallery. We caught up with Green to find out about the work he’s showing, his partnership with Yellin and just what Snow White has to do with his art.

In our obsession with shows about sex, singles, and ways of helping singles have sex, it is with great sadness that we announce this season’s final performance of Never Sleep Alone this Friday (tomorrow). Yes, we are in fact talking about that New York Times-acclaimed show that helps singles hook-up (evidence provided). And since each show sells out before you can even say “but I’ve been involuntarily chaste,” get your tickets today so you can get laid tomorrow.