Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Most Likely to Rule: Be Kind Rewind Expect our review of this Michel Gondry comedy, starring Jack Black, Mos Def, and Danny Glover, later on this morning. Trailer - Freshness Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse The Band's Visit A fish-out-of-water comedy about the Ceremonial Police Band of Alexandria, Egypt arriving for a gig in Israel, only to find that their hosts and transportation have failed......

Torontoist discovered their city's most ridiculous holiday lights setup, with 80,000 lights and two––two!––synchronized music routines. Naturally, they snagged a video. Chicago tragically loses one of its most recognizable neighborhood icons, the pigeon man of Lincoln Square. LAPD leaves body in car at crash scene, then tows it. Massachusetts plus mullet equals PR mayhem. Londonist sleeps in a Haunted plague pit. UC Berkeley students strip naked and race through campus, NSFW floppiness ensues. Phillyist......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

In the interest of full disclosure, we have to tell you that this particular Phillyist grew up in the Boston area, so this review hurts us more than you know. We...really thought that Flogging Molly did an awesome job. If we paid any attention to our mother's advice about not saying anything if there's nothing nice to say...we would probably never say anything about a show at Festival Pier ever again, much less a punk......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness – we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the......

This Spring is the third anniversary of Lifeknot, online meeting place for people of all ages, based solely on interests and hobbies. The CEO and founder, Matt Muro, began Lifeknot after using online dating services that seemed to force an instant romantic relationship. “I felt that online dating sites rushed people into the relationship stage of a friendship and social networking sites linked you to so many people that the intimacy of establishing a......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal......

Yes, the rumors you've heard are true: as of yesterday, gay couples can now register to get married in that land of promise that borders us to the east, just over the bridges. Well, they can register to get a civil union anyway, which is the same thing, but just under a name that the NJ Legislature hopes will upset fewer people. This came about due to a lawsuit filed a while back by seven......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Just a friendly reminder: it's election day - so be sure to stop in and vote before you wander out to one of these great events. Remember, voting is free, and has no drink minimum! (Phillyist keeps the drinking handy for watching the poll results). The Road to Fondwa: Free screening of The Road to Fondwa, with discussion by Dr. Marc Prou (Assistant Professor in Africana Studies at......

Houstonist reports on cross-dressing thieves and undressing educators this week. A Peeping Tom defends himself with a papaya and an outraged onlooker asks Ken Lay, "TATER TOTS OR FRIES?" Also, FEMA wants it's money back. LAist are a bug bunch of geeks. They're Star Trek geeks, David Duchovny geeks and Frank Gehry geeks. During their Cochella preview their readers reveal themselves to be Depeche Mode geeks. Seattlest saw their basketball team preparing to leave for......