Los Angeles:

He may have left Parsons, but Tim Gunn will still be at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising on Friday morning to sign copies his new book at 11:30AM. "Make it work". Then get in line. [Link]

The guest list for this weekend's Burbank Airport Hollywood Collectors show includes Henry Winkler, Erik Estrada, and several other of those "are they still famous?" Nick and Nite TV staples. [Link]

The LA Times Festival of Books, on the other hand, has a genuinely impressive guest list, including: Julie Andrews, Don Cheadle, Ellen Burstyn, and Kareeem Abdul-Jabbar. [Link]

The New York City and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.

New York:

Fountains of Wayne gives lots of free in store performances. So does the Apple Store. It only makes sense that they'd get together one of these days: Friday at the Apple Store Soho - free entry if you get there in time. [Link]

Sunday's Jarvis Cocker concert at Webster Hall must have been mandatory for all New Yorkers or something. But Monday night? I don't know what happened there. Get tix for Monday's show, people. Stay home Sunday and watch Entourage instead. [Link]

Stop by the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center on Sunday for the launch of the Pearl and Diamond (wait for it) Pokemon party. Doors open at 8:00. I'd say the crazies will be gone by 9:00. Is Pokemon still cool? [Link]

The Los Angeles and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.

New York:

Sean Lennon's national tour lands at Irving Plaza tonight. Miracle of miracles? Tickets aren't even close to sold out. [Link]

Michael Showalter, A.K.A the guy who plays Berger's friend in the post-post-it episode, is emcee tonight at the New York Magazine-Of Montreal karaoke party. Remember Billy? It sounds strangely C-list enough to work. [Link]

The Los Angeles and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.

Los Angeles:

John Legend's teaming up with British sensation Corrine Bailey Rae to reprise their Grammy performance tonight at the Gibson Ampitheatre. "Heaven only knows" how you'll get in to this sold out event, but maybe Craig's List will help. [Link]

Stop by and save up to 80% on all the things that Lindsay Lohan bought last week at the Kitson warehouse sale. April 4 - April 7, the good stuff moves fast. [Link]

Rita Wilson ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") is now appearing on stage in "Distracted" at the Mark Taper Forum. Catch it on a good night and maybe you'll find husband Tom Hanks in the crowd. [Link]

The New York City and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.

New York:

If you want to see a movie about Edie Sedgwick but don't really care much for Sienna Miller and that underwear-over-the-pants business, the Museum of the Moving Image is showing a fantastic series on Sedgwick - including no Sienna and footage shot by Andy Warhol himself. [Link]

Mika is giving an in store performance at Borders Columbus Circle on Friday at 4:00 so practically everyone who can get out of work early will be there by noon. I doubt high profile fans like JC Chasez and Lance Bass will attend, but Mika's more than enough. [Link]

The Los Angeles and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.

Los Angeles:

American Idol contestant Elliot Yamin will be signing copies of his self-titled album, "Elliot Yamin" at Best Buy on Saturday afternoon. And even if you think no one else has heard of him, people have. Expect a hefty queue. [Link]

"Touched by an Angel's" Roma Downey is appearing in "a Picasso" at the Geffen Playhouse until March 25th. In other words, it's your last chance to see it, so move fast. You know, before she flies away and stuff. [Link]

The 5th installment of the Rocks Paper Scissors Rumble is on Saturday night - featuring live performances by Cheeseburger and a bunch of people who are evidently very good at deciding when to use paper instead of rock. [Link]

The Chicago and New York City weekend events are after the jump.

New York:

Olive and Bette's moving sale is THE absolute place to be this weekend if you're ready to fight to death. Friday from 8am-7pm, find everything from Nanette Lepore to James Perse obscenely discounted. James Jeans for $30? It could be a madhouse in there. [Link]

ABC World News Tonight Anchor Bob Woodruff will be signing copies of
"In An Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing", the book he wrote with his wife about his experiences in Iraq on Friday night. Barnes and Noble Lincoln Center. [Link]

The 256th Annual St. Patrick's Day parade on 5th Avenue should be hard to miss, but if you find yourself lost for some reason, there's a bevy of New Jersey parades, too. Ringwood, anyone? [Link]

The Los Angeles and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.

Los Angeles:

This weekend, K-ROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer becomes the 2330rd person to be immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Friday at 11:30, so stop by on your lunch hour if you can. [Link]

Comedian Bruce Vilanch (you'll recognize him via google image search, if not by name) is speaking this Saturday about his face in your face career and experience as a scriptwriter for the Academy Awards. Evidently, it'll put the F-U in Funny. For sure. [Link]

You can bet that when free tickets and excellent music are involved, there won't be a seat left in the house. But when you add Earlimart to the mix, things have been probably been sold out since the beginning of time. Here's hoping you can sneak in somehow? Or at least swing a way to hang with the hometown boys after the show. [Link]

The New York City and Chicago weekend event ideas are after the jump.

Oscar weekend means you already know what you're doing Sunday night. But here's a few ways to spend your offline countdown to the show:

New York:

Thousands of fans are expected to descend upon the New York Comic Con this weekend. Good thing there are more than a few celebrities to spare: Stephen King, Stan Lee, Wes Craven, Gary Coleman, Heather Matarazzo, and Hayden Panettiere are just a few of the seriously big names scheduled to attend. [Link]

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, there's the Sex Workers' Art Show, a burlesque complete with out of work, at work, and semi-naked "professionals" of all kinds. Definitely NSFW. Unless of course you're some kind of professional yourself. [Link]

The Los Angeles and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.

Los Angeles:

This weekend's Hollywood Collectors Show looks like it's going to be a bit insane. Rule #1? "All of our celebrity guests will charge a fee for their autograph". Rule #2? "Some of our celebrity guests may not want to be photographed." Who are these finicky celebrities, you might wonder? The kids from "Everybody Loves Raymond", Tonya Harding, and some other high profile dudes. All right! [Link]

Debi Derryberry, the voice of "Jimmy Neutron", will be signing copies of her kid-friendly album, "What A Way To Play" on Saturday afternoon. The performance is free, so definitely bring the kids. That is, if you don't think they'll be scarred for life when they find out Jimmy Neutron's a girl... [Link]

I've got chills just thinking about this one: Christopher O'Riley (who you may remember from his excellent tribute to Radiohead songs, "True Love Waits") is giving a tribute to Nick Drake this weekend at UCLA's Royce Hall. It should be an unbelievable, once in a lifetime, world premiere kind of show. [Link]

The New York City and Chicago weekend events are after the jump.