M is for monsoon, which is what's like here in NYC right now.

M is for mojitos, which is what am going to be downing with my amigos.

If you don't follow me on Twitter or haven't friended me on Facebook, you wouldn't know that am going to be at Yuca Bar (First Avenue and 6th Street), ensconced from 7PM onward, sipping my lime-minty sensations.

Yuca Bar
Corner of Avenue A and Six Street
7PM

You bloggers really are becoming the 800 pound Gorilla in the room.

That is what a good friend said to me today (paraphrased), I think with some surprise behind it. He will laugh that I am using that line, but in retrospect it really sets the tone for this evening.

My friend is a major player in Brooklyn politics. I'd say who because I have lots good to say and he has some ambitions, but I think he prefers to keep his name out of the blogs. But today he said that bloggers have become the 800 lb. Gorilla in the room. I laughed and let it pass as we talked about local politics. But tonight I kept coming back to that statement as I stood, among some of the biggest big wigs of the party, and realized that it was true.

Yesterday a bunch of us got invited as guests to a major DCCC dinner in Manhattan honoring Nancy Pelosi. This really was playing with the big boys, and we got invited. The venue was Cipriani, a prime ballroom on Wall Street with Corinthian columns that make everyone, even Eliot Spitzer, look short. The ceiling is dilapidated and needs major restoration, but the rest of the place was spectacular...in a way that is gaudy and I largely dislike. But this is the kind of place where the big boys play.

A late-breaking invite from the fine folks at DL21C: Come out tonight to meet a true superstar of the Progressive movement, Montana Senator Jon Tester.

Monday, March 5
8:30 pm
at
Red Sky Lounge

47 E. 29th Street (between Park and Madison; 6 train to 28th Street) with a special introduction from New York City Councilman Dan Garodnick!

Cover is $7 for non-members, $10 at the door without RSVP; please RSVP at their web site, here.

State Senator Diane Savino and Downtown Staten Island Council Vice Chair Kevin Barry host a March 7, 2007 6-8 PM fundraiser fundraiser for Democratic Assembly candidate Matt Titone @ Vida
381 Van Duzer Street Staten Island, NY 10305.

Suggested Donations are $500, $1000 and $2500, but Matt won't turn away those who can't afford to give at those levels.

For More information contact Nick Vagelatos (212)239-7323.

Grab your mojitos and Cosmos! We are going to be live-chatting and blogging the Oscars tonight, starting at 8pm EST at Hollywoodistas.com, the place where you will get to witness my plunge into celebriwhoriness.

In the early hours of Friday, February 24th, 2006, a deliberately set fire tore through an apartment building on Pacific Street in Prospect Heights, causing the deaths of four people, including two young children.

While we sadly can't bring back those who lost their lives in this tragic crime, we can help the survivors. Please join Community Board 8 Fire Safety Committee for a musical performance benefiting the victims of the 1033 Pacific Street arson fire.

The event will feature the music of Kakande, playing the powerful and beautiful melodies of West Africa, with music director Famoro Dioubate, traditional xylophonist from Guinea, and Raul Rothblatt on cello.

Sunday February 25
6 pm: Honoring the community
7 pm: Kakande plays
Dakar Restaurant
285 Grand Avenue (between Lafayette & Clifton)
Please call for reservations at 718-398-8900

Suggested donation: $20
Please donate what you can ~ Donations will help the families of the survivors

Last year, we organized a similar event and we raised $1,600 in one night.

After tireless community organizing, the number of suspicious fires has dropped dramatically. Of course, Kakande's music is not exclusively responsible for this, but we all have our part to play.

Brooklyn Children's Museum

Planet Brooklyn: Chinese New Year celebration will kick off the Year of the
Boar at Brooklyn Children's Museum on Saturday, February 10, from 12-5pm. Families can create their own lanterns, learn to play shuttlecock and other Chinese games, and meet real "dragons" from the Museum's live animal collection. And don't miss a special performance by the lion dance team from Yee's Hung Ga Kung Fu Association of Brooklyn - including a peek inside the lion's head!

145 Brooklyn Avenue

Brooklyn Museum

Celebrate Heart of Brooklyn's fifth anniversary in Brooklyn Museum's spectacular collection of ancient Egyptian masterpieces. The galleries include more than 1,000 treasures spanning 5,000 years, from pre-dynastic times through the reign of Cleopatra. See beautifully decorated coffins, a mummy, monumental stone statues, jewelry worn by the pharoahs, and a relief with the world's first-known representation of a kiss, all a part of the collection considered to be one of the finest in the world. And be sure to catch the newly opened Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism. This exhibition has over forty superb examples of nineteenth century French and American landscapes by such artists as Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet and John Singer Sargent.

February 12th is Darwin Day, celebrating the birthday of the man who did more for our understanding of biology than practically any other person. Around the world it has become a tradition to celebrate Darwin Day by celebrating science and humanity. You can find events in your area here.

Here are the Darwin Day events I can find for the NYC area:

Title: Reading & Signing - Living With Darwin ( Public )
Start Date and Time: 2007-02-12 18:00:00
Event Website: http://columbia.bkstore.com
Activities:
In honor of Darwin Day - The Columbia University Bookstore is delighted to welcome faculty author, Philip Kitcher as he discusses and signs copies of his enlightening new book, "Living With Darwin"
Address:
2929 Broadway, Lerner Hall
New York, NY UNITED STATES
Sponsor: Columbia Bookstore
Contact: Nick Frayn, Bkstore707@bncollege.com, 212.854.4131

Title: New York Hall of Science Darwin Celebration ( Public )
Start Date and Time: 2007-02-10 12:30:00
Event Website: http://www.nyscience.org
Activities:
Celebrate the life of Charles Darwin with activity carts that delve into the world of Darwin:

Today's the day we Raise New York. See you there or live, online, right here.

The New York Times: A New York jury handed down a death sentence in a Federal case.

Also in the Times, the battles between the governor and the status quo.

The Albany Times-Union has the budget breakdown.

Molly Ivins has passed away at age 62; The Texas Observer pays tribute to a remarkable woman.

In The Washington Post, traitor Bob Novak warns the republican party about the voters.

Capitol Confidential: Zing! Craig Johnson shoots down Maureen O'Connell.

Robert Greenwald takes a sharp knife to the tattered reputation of David Brooks, pointing out that the latter is both consistently wrong and in a tiny minority.

And lastly, Michael Arcuri votes for, among other things, increasing Pell Grants and spending more money on veterans' health care. And here the nation was breathlessly waiting for action on flag-burning and gay marriage.

You may have heard about that fundraiser/blograiser we, along with the biggest host committee ever assembled (it seems), are putting together for Craig Johnson this Thursday. Thing is, we really want you to go, and so does the candidate. Here, if you don't believe us, maybe you'll believe him.

The event is happening this Thursday, 6 PM at Prey on 4 West 22nd Street. We're expecting Eliot Spitzer, David Paterson, and roughly between half and a third of the Senate Democrats. Tickets start at $50 and go all the way to $8,500. Want tickets? Sure, get them here.

It'll be fun. Won't you join us?

(Hat tip for the video: Brian Keeler and Phillip Anderson of The Albany Project)