Colleen Nika is editor of Rolling Stone's Thread Count, a daily column that explores the intersections of music and fashion culture. She is also DJ for and curator of Nightvision, a nonconformist and forward-leaning music editorial, radio, and live music platform kicking off in full effect in 2012.This is her take on four places she likes, and one place she doesn't.

What, hundreds of drunken Santas and slutty Mrs. Clauses aren't your thing? Then steer clear of SantaCon, the annual time New Yorkers avoid the Village like a horrendous plague. Here's what we're doing this weekend instead.

October 3—The seven-piece installation "Cy Twombly: Sculpture" ends at the MoMA, where the late, great artist trades his brush for his bare hands. October 5—Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, about the imagined cancellation of Glee, premieres on FX. October 7—Ides of March, a political drama starring Ryan Gosling and George Clooney, is released today. We’re guessing they’ve got the female vote.

The world famous DJ takes his band of brothers to Paris

It’s primed to be a busy year for A-Trak. Less than halfway through his current North American tour (which makes a stop at New York’s Terminal 5 on Saturday night), the Montreal-born, New York-based DJ still has a lot to look forward to. Next month, he'll open the first official store for his Fool’s Gold record label in Williamsburg. In the fall he'll drop the debut album from Duck Sauce (his side project with Armand Van Helden, which racked up over 50 million YouTube views for their “Barbara Streisand” video), and, maybe then, he'll find some time to work on that solo album.

Paul van Dyk will play Terminal 5 this Saturday. He's an international circuit DJ who was voted to the top by DJ Magazine in both 2005 and 2006, and he's got gobs of similar awards. He's sold millions upon millions of records. The world has elevated DJs to rockstar status. Their gigs, sold as “all about the music,” have actually become extended concerts with state-of-the-art visuals. While so many are distracted by hemlines and after parties this week, the house heads are excited for Paul’s return to NY.

Under the roaring traffic of the Manhattan Bridge, Natalia Kills, dressed in bikini bottoms and a fur bomber jacket, straddles a matte-black Harley Davidson SuperLow. The sun is moments from setting and Dumbo is freezing, but the petite 24-year-old musician looks right at home commandeering a whole lot of horsepower. “I’ve been fascinated by motorbikes for a long time,” she says in her hybridized British-American accent.

Walking in stride with Paul Oakenfold to Eminem’s Shade 45 studio isn’t my typical, run-of-the-mill Monday afternoon activity. But yesterday, the Sirius Satellite Radio office was buzzing with action. There were live bands, artists, and DJs everywhere. En route to the studio I was quickly introduced to former Hot 97 DJ Whoo Kid, who now hosts the Saturday time slot on Eminem’s satellite station. Then Paul and I sat down to chat about where our paths had crossed previously. I told him that in any healthy debate about the world’s greatest DJs, his name would inevitably come up. I also explained that while there might be heated debates about the top tier DJs, there is little debate about the worst DJ in the world – I’ve got that one locked up. Out of this interview came Paul’s confident proclamation that Las Vegas, long considered a cultural wasteland, is now the electronic music capital of the U.S. of A. He described it as America’s Ibiza. We talked about his upcoming album - tentatively titled Pop Killer - and the Facelift tour, which will hit Webster Hall on Thanksgiving Eve. He will spin with superstar DJ Roger Sanchez and three young artists - Chuckie, Sidney Sampson, and Nervo - who he describes as the next big things in electronic music.

The place to go tonight is Restaurant i at the NY Charles Hotel in Flatiron, where BlackBook will be toasting the newest opening in our nabe (our office is conveniently located just around the corner). The lowercase “i” doesn't mean you should bring your iPad - owner Charles Chong credits the casual lettering to the Korean word for “the dreams that children carry.” In any case, if you're out tonight, and in the mood to party hop, here are some of our favorite Wednesday night extra-curriculars.

I was supposed to be there, but I’m suddenly here, and I was going to write about that, but since I didn’t go I can’t, so I’ll just write about this. The good guys over at Mirrorball, a marketing company that not only has their fingers on the pulse but their creative hands on the heart of what’s happening, invited me to 3 days of concerts to celebrate Spin Magazines 25th anniversary. It’s meant to be 25 hours of rock and roll, spread over 5 days, and I think that's clever and exciting. Since I’m not going where I was supposed to be going, I want to attend that. They have the Smashing Pumpkins on Monday, and subsequent nights feature the Flaming Lips, the National, and the Black Keys. Those wiz-kids over at Mirrorball are pushing this event on behalf of their client, Harley Davidson, and they have circulated an e-mail to bon vivants, such as I, who promote an opportunity to get in to the sold out Monday performance. The email says: