GET ON DECK

Redefine Fleet Week with a crew of celebrity DJs for tonight’s Bounce Boat cruise hosted by Electronic Dance Music NYC and The Runaway Group: David Berrie, Matt Goldman, The Disco Fries, and EEKO are all on the decks for a high-seas dance party on the Hudson River—with photog KirillWasHere covering the party pics. Get onboard for four hours of dancing departing at 8 p.m. from Pier 83, returning around midnight, and continuing on shore with a landlubber’s after-party at a TBA location. Nice way to cruise into another summer weekend!

BounceBoat.com

LITERARY SALON

Every day you get a healthy helping of food for thought thanks to witty Twitter feeds and social media news, but tonight offers up a chance to combine “thoughts” with actual food and wine at BAM’s Eat, Drink & Be Literary series. For this sit-down dinner salon, the BAMcafé hosts celebrated writers, like tonight’s featured guest, award-winning novelist Ann Patchett, about who the New York Times’ Book Review once wrote, “Expect miracles when you read Patchett’s fiction.” An on-time train to Brooklyn would be nice to start with…

Eat, Drink & Be Literary at BAM

IN REAL LIFE

These days, it can feel like people are reading each other more than they’re actually talking to each other, which is why the organizers of The Mingle are putting together “an evening for people who usually get to communicate through Twitter or other forms of social media to come together and meet IRL.” Catch up with likeminded literary types for a low-key, salon-style night of drinks, DJs, and BYO dumplings at Lolita Bar in the LES tonight. It’s a chance to talk about what’s going on in the world of fiction—and non—and potentially find cool, new people to text with.

The Mingle is Happening

DANCE REVOLUTION

“Props” is a word you don’t hear tossed around too often anymore, but sometimes it’s still necessary to give props where props are due—and, in this case, to Rich Medina’s Wednesday night dance party for paying tribute to the iconic singer Fela Kuti and Afrobeat. “Decades before house music got Westerners all loose-limbed and wiry on the dance floor, Nigeria’s polyrhythmic sound was doing the same thing,” explains Flavorpill.com. Digging deep into the crates of world music, Medina and Akalepse offer up a loving shoutout to this soulful sound—and you have to give them props for it.

Props with Rich Medina

SUMMER OF LOVE

Were you one of the folks standing in line to see Wes Anderson’s new movie over Memorial Day weekend? If so, there’s a good chance, you weren’t alone: “While big-budget blockbusters were dueling it out at the multiplex this weekend, an independent film quietly made history at the box office,” reported the L.A. Times on the record-breaking debut of “Moonrise Kingdom,” which opened in just four theaters (two in NYC and two in L.A.). By Sunday, the dramedy which also opened Cannes this month, had racked up a per-location average of $130,752—the highest average ever for a non-animated film—making “The Royal Tenenbaums” auteur king of the box office!

Moonrise Kingdom

POST-MEMORIAL DAY TUESDAY TO-DOS
Keep the carefree, three-day weekend vibe going with a summery three-and-a-half-day week!
 
• Stock up on flirty summer dresses: Bold color is the new white.
 
• Upgrade midtown lunch with a lobster roll under The Claw’s red-and-white awning on Ninth Avenue.
 
• Escape to coastal New England with Wes Andersen’s new flick “Moonrise Kingdom” via Union Square.
 
• Take an after-work art walk on the High Line to check out Sarah Sze’s butterfly-attracting sculpture at West 21st Street.
 
• Kick back with Brooklyn Bridge-view sunset cocktails at the Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club.

Work is out for the summer! Whether you’re heading to the beach, kicking back in Central Park sans the crowds, or crafting your own special staycation, have a great Memorial Day weekend and TGISF (thank goodness for summer Fridays)! See you in…well, four days!

SMOOTH SUMMER STYLE

It’s not just rooftop bars and outdoor gardens that are opening for summer this Memorial Day, now through Labor Day, Frédéric Fekkai’s flagship salon on Fifth Avenue is launching the brand-new Summer Style Blow-Out Bar. The new atelier is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for impeccable blowouts for just $50. With five signature looks—the straight and sleek New Yorker; the red-carpet-ready Hollywood Glam; the voluminous Dallas Chic; the polished Palm Beach; and the wavy St. Barth’s—it’s a new go-to before a meeting—or dashing out of town.

The Blowout battle rages on

photo via

STREET STRUMMER

He’s been compared to everyone from “a one-man Clash” to “the next Bob Dylan” and deemed as “one of the most gifted singer-songwriters to emerge from the New York scene in years,” by the New York Times: Willie Nile is a songwriter’s songwriter and apparently an under-the-radar legend who has opened for The Who, sang with Bruce Springsteen, and gotten compliments from Lou Reed and Bono—not to mention his 2006 album “Streets of New York” was deemed “a platter for the ages.” Catch him playing live at Joe’s Pub tonight in support of his latest, “The Innocent Ones,” which was called “stunning” by the BBC.

Willie Nile at Joe’s Pub

photo via

HAMPTONS PRIMER

In the countdown to Summer Fridays, UrbanDaddy.com offers up the scoop on where you need to be on weekends-away with hot new openings, including East Village import Zum Schneider MTK bringing “their weiss-pouring, wurst-fueled gospel” to Montauk. Likewise, Nammos Estiatorio exports Mykonos’ most chic beach restaurant to Southampton in the old Nello’s space now run by the guys behind Trata. There will also be Beau Brunches a la MePa at Beaumarchais East Hampton and northern Italian fare from Bobby Van’s crew at Sotto Sopra in Amagansett. Even Tom Colicchio is setting up shop at the Topping Rose House.

Summer Hampton’s Round-up