NYCitizine

It's Video Day: The Jewish Film Festival and YouTube Wars!

Tonight (and, in one case, through the 28th), New York City honors the medium that moves us: film!

This afternoon at both the Jewish Musuem on the Upper West Side and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is the kick-off of the 19th annual Jewish Film Festival. Featuring over two dozen films by filmmakers (including some Oscar-winners) from across the globe, the festival exhibits films exploring stories within a variety of themes and topics, including African-American history, Jewish history, World War Two, Russia, homosexuality, Israel, the Middle East, Poland, Romania and religion. Also included are a myriad of interesting and thought-provoking documentaries. This year's festival also features the New York premiere of a claymation film by Oscar-winning director Adam Elliot.

Tickets to the festival are $11 for the general public, but there are discounts for seniors, students and kids, and Film Society members.

If you're into film that are a little less high-brow and a little more slapstick, this is event happening at the Littlefield performance and art space in Brooklyn tonight going to be right up your alley: Littlefield's Redonkulous You Tube Wars Part 1. Because I truly can't describe it better than they can, here's the description of the event, straight from the organizer's mouth (so to speak):

Warfare for the modern age. It's simple folks, get a team of friends together or compete by yourself (teams count as one contestant). Contestants will go to war in a bracket style tournament consisting of single elimination rounds (think “March Madness” playoff bracket basketball). For each round, the 2 competitors will face-off by playing their 2 favorite youtube vids to wow the crowd. Win the crowd and move on to the next round. Video clips will be limited to 1 min so choose your starting point wisely! Remember, bring a playlist arsenal of outrageous videos cocked and ready for battle, you never know what your opponent will have streaming at you! Come early, be redonkulous and stay late. Prizes! Drink specials! Good times!

The party starts at 8pm, and is for those 21 and over, so that means drinks will be available. And guess what -- it's free! So bring your competitive spirit, and good luck!

(Image courtesy of LittlefieldNYC.com. Video from YouTube.com)

Put Your Useless Trivia Knowledge to Work and WIN Something, for Pete's Sake...

Some people are smart. Other people are intelligent. And still other people are somewhere between, cursed with a brain that stores useless facts that are almost never called for. Tonight comes one of those rare occasions when those people get their chance to put their gift -- or curse, depending on the person -- to work and potentially be awarded for their "quirk".

Le Poisson Rouge in the Village is hosting a big live trivia show called "The Big Quiz Thing". This ain't your local bar's trivia night -- they've got multimedia questions, a dazzling stage show, and some serious prizes, including $200 in cash for the winner! Actually, they give prizes to everyone in the top five -- including $50 for the runner up -- concession prizes for those who don't place in the upper echelon of smarties, and even prizes for the folks who come up with funny answers when they can't think of the correct one. I'll bet your neighborhood bar's prize can't top that.

Cover is $10, but that's a pretty good deal considering you're almost guaranteed to win SOMETHING. Doors open at 7pm and the show begins at 7:30. It's first-come, first-served, so bring your smartest buddies and get there early!

Wanna go on a test run to see if your trivia knowledge can compete? Try out some of their questions below:

What is the brand-name for a special crossbred variety of brine shrimp, available at toy stores nationwide?

What's the only NBA team named for an extinct animal?

Put the following actresses in order according to the number of Woody Allen movies they starred in, from the most to the fewest: Mia Farrow, Diane Keaton, Louise Lasser?

Name the TV show: a chef, a florist, a typist.

You can find the answers in the "Test Your Wit" section of The Big Quiz Thing website by clicking here.

(Photo courtesy of Le Poisson Rouge)

Are you an unhappy New Yorker? (Or New Jerseyian? Or Connecticut...ian?) A new study says, if you live here, you are...

Think you're a happy go-lucky person? Well, if you live in the tri-state area, apparently, you could be happier.   

A couple of economists -- Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. -- recently completed a study (that you can read here) that found, out of all 50 states AND the District of Columbia, New Yorkers are the most unhappy of them all! Next to them are people from Connecticut, and only slightly happier than them are people from New Jersey.

The study says sunnier states = happier people. So, topping the list of the happiest folks are the residents of Louisiana (although part of the survey was done before Katrina), Hawaii (Well, duh, though, with as much as stuff costs out there even in these tough economic times, I'm a little skeptical), and Florida (Tiger Woods is NOT counted among them...).

Really? I find that hard to believe. There are a plethora of nice, friendly, smiley people here! (Okay, maybe not smiley, but we're not all crying as we walk down the street here.) And if NYC was that terrible of a place to live, why are there so many songs about this city? "New York, New York" from "On The Town", the famous song of the same name sung by New Yorker crooners like Tony Bennett and New Jerseyian Frank Sinatra, "New York State of Mind" by the native himself, Billy Joel, and, of course, the newest anthem: "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, also natives.

And, actually, if you look at the list, the states with the largest and most populated cities are actually the ones that are "unhappy". I think it has much less to do with sunshine and flowers than it does with inner-city poverty, over-populated schools and neighborhoods, clean streets, efficient public services, etc....

What do you think? Where does your state rank on the list? Are you an unhappy resident? Does the study have any validity? Let's hear your thoughts!