Diana Gilon will be artist-in-residence at MIT from October 21-28 to create Through Our Eyes, a large collaborative painting/mural with students, faculty and members of the greater MIT community. The painting, the first of many that will be executed at schools along the East Coast to promote peace, will highlight themes of coexistence and interfaith collaboration and will represent the common goal of a peaceful future for all communities that struggle with conflict in such places as Israel, Palestine and beyond.

Through Our Eyes is compelling because rather than highlighting polarizing political viewpoints, the work (and discourse created around the work) will seamlessly pull together symbols and ideas from vastly different groups of people, impressing only a blanket statement of peace.

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Trust your local cops? Not according to one law school professor and former criminal defense attorney who gives an entire lecture on why none of us should ever talk to the police. It’s worth a watch.

Stephanie Tichenor’s works in fiber and paint are delightful. In the difficult, often frightening world we live in, it’s a treat to see art concerned with whimsy, light and a genuine love for the everyday. Pay close close attention to Tichenor’s embroideries: they are lovely and blur the line between fine art and craft.

It’s hip to be a nerd, at least in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, home of the awesome Twenty Sided Store. Focusing on board games, Magic: the Gathering, and RPGs, the store hosts gaming nights sure to make your geek toes curl.

He who giveth can taketh. If that sounds Biblical, that’s because this story is of Biblical proportions. The Vogel family rode their bikes from Alaska to the tip of Argentina to get the world record for youngest people (the ten-year-old Vogel twins) to ride the length of the Americas.

They do it following the Guinness guidelines. Then, two and a half years later, mission accomplished, the record is denied. Huh? Apparently Guinness has decided to longer honor the category. Jeesh. Sure woulda been nice if someone had told this to the Vogels.

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I’m loving Cairo Scarves, the new design project from Katie Wright-Buckley and Megan Pflug. Made from 100 percent silk, with an invisible magnetic closure (no more losing your favorite accessory), each scarf is hand-painted with simple, multi-dimensional, one-of-a-kind patterns. Although the company hasn’t officially launched, you purchase your scarf for $150 though Kickstarter.

If you’re anything like me, then you crave fried foods and beer in the summer. Find a few ways to validate eating unhealthy foods by pairing them not with wine varietals, but with intense sports events. Your bikini (or your mankini?) will thank you!

Embroidery sets me aflutter, especially when the medium mixes craft with fine art. I particularly love Anna Hendrick’s work, where whimsical thread drawings meets references to pop culture and cult classics.

While in China, make sure to stop at the Apple Store in Kunming, China, where you’ll be welcomed by smiling employees in blue shirts with Apple logos. But wait, before you buy, please take note: Kunming doesn’t have an Apple store! Strange, because not even the employees realize they’re part of a scam. I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell them they’re not part of the Apple Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

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‘It’s Sarah Silverman meets the Shaggs’, writes the LA Times. Past performers on Comedy Central, The Apple Sisters have won a mess of awards for best musical comedy act.

Rebekka Johnson, Kimmy Gatewood and Sarah Lowe (Candy, Cora and Seedy Apple) pack a comedic, slapstick punch as they sing, dance and endorse a tasty treat called Corndy (the Corn-Flavored Candy). Filled with double entendres, The Apple Sisters still manage to be cute as all heck. Catch this amazing 1940s-era variety act on July 25 at Largo in Los Angeles.

Surf punk, Theremins, NASA costumes, flaming instruments, video displays and … Tesla? Indeed. The members of Man or Astroman? arrived from their own musical solar system. Seeing is believing. Check them out during their next American East Coast tour in early November.

The best new music I’ve heard recently is coming out of the East Coast. The band Full On is fronted by Shana Falana, who has been part of the music scene for the past decade, with a voice that is both gorgeous and tough. She’ll grab you and pull you in. Rawk on!

I’ve contributed to Lost At E Minor about the events of others, but I’m now shamelessly self-promoting a little contest I call Write for a Rat. The rules? Share your favorite rat story (as in vermin, not jerks) as a comment on Brooklyn Reject for a chance to win one of my embroidered canvases, ‘Rat With Wings’. I mean, c’mon, folks! Who out there doesn’t want that on his/her wall?! Hurry, as the contest ends February 28th.

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Anyone who has seen my art knows about how endlessly inspired I am by macabre, Victorian art, and writing. Well, pass the smelling salts as the recently-opened Victorian Photocollage exhibition at the Met in New York makes me swoon. 48 works from 1850-1860 combine animal heads with human bodies (my favorites), or depict fantastical landscapes and other curiosities. Made primarily by aristocratic women to be shared amongst friends, the photocollages shed a unique perspective on how even the stuffiest members of society are able to express their creativity.

Kimberly Dawn Recordings, an artist-run micro-label out of Tennessee, designed the artwork for an EP off Endless Endless Endless’ self-released album, Black Talisman. For just $4, you get to own a numbered CDR (edition of fifty hand-stamped, with an attached laser etched talisman) and listen to the dreamy, ‘post-noise’ music comprised of guitars, vocals, and a Gameboy.

The band writes: ‘This is music for (and from) pretzel rods and Miller highlife’. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I think I like it.  Check out Endless Endless Endless for a chill evening on February 10th in the lounge at New York’s Dixon Place.

Unlike a Park Avenue trophy wife, which can only be bought for millions of dollars, TrueCompanion can find you a lovely lady for a mere $7,000. Meet Roxxxy, the world’s most advanced sex-bot. She makes conversation, and her skin — made from hypo-allergenic silicone — is warm to the touch. Roxxxy also bends in all sorts of wonderful ways, and apparently shivers and moans gently if you touch her in certain areas. Yes, gentle readers: Roxxxy is anatomically correct. Its inventor, Douglas Hines, says he is happily married, so perhaps Roxxxy takes the idea of an open marriage to a whole new level.

Will you be visiting Stockholm in the near future? If so, be amongst the first to pick up a pair of Noko Jeans, manufactured in the anti-social country, North Korea, and marketed in Sweden. 1100 pairs of these novelty jeans were made for girls and boys to wear around the world — except, of course, in North Korea, where the State dress code strictly forbids them being worn. Oh, it’s a crazy world we live in.

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For the first time since he took office, President Obama’s approval rating is sitting below fifty percent. It’s sure to decline further now that he’s committed more troops to leave for Afghanistan. So what better time, folks, for a novelty gift commemorating the forty-fourth President? This holiday season, give the gift that keeps on giving: an Obama Chia Pet! I might be dating myself, but say it with me: Ch-ch-ch-chia.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has plenty of music, art, gentrification, and hipsters, but it was missing one thing: a sex shop! I can’t wait to swing by the opening of Shag on November 20, for live music, art, and, yes, body painting! You just can’t beat sex in the city.

If you haven’t yet witnessed the genius that is The Mimi & Flo Show, catch them Thursday, November 10 at Comix Comedy Club. Joining them will be The Hazzards (New York’s most best ever ukulele band), as well as guest stars Becky Yamamoto and Michael Cyril Creighton.