Some of the city's anti-smoking advertising might be disturbing/gross, but no public service announcement creeps us out quite like this one that the Atlantic Cities alerted us to earlier this week. It's David Lynch's 1991 take on why we shouldn't litter, and it features ominous music, an unsuspecting child, careless adult litterers and intense close-ups of rats that give them oddly humanoid qualities. Watch video after the jump. 
Wondering what will end up in your obituary is really nerve-racking to think about. What will people say about you when you're dead and gone? Everyone hopes that they sound like a good person, at least like a nice guy or something. But an ocean rower has just set a new standard for obituaries, because he's a total badass. John Fairfax died at the age of 74 and is now immortalized by having the coolest New York Times obituary of all time. He was an ocean rower who managed to cross the Atlantic by himself in a small rowboat. Three years later, he traversed the Pacific with his girlfriend in tow (they later broke up). He spent the end of his life making a living off winnings in baccarat, or as the Times says, "the card game also favored by James Bond." But that's just the tip of the iceberg really -- we didn't even get up to pistol fights and his attempted jaguar suicide yet.
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If you're alone this Christmas Eve and you have a bit of an obsessive streak, then it's time to plant yourself behind your computer with a gallon of eggnog and study the NORAD Santa Tracker. Wondering where Santa is right now? He's hovering around the Philippines and steadily moving westward. NORAD, the very real North American Aerospace Defense Command, says that they use four systems to track the location of St. Nick -- radar, satellites, Santa cams and fighter jets. But how the hell did a real life bi-national aerospace defense organization become responsible for tracking the world's most notorious home invader?
Newmindspace, the brains behind street pillow fights and epic light saber battles in the park, has a new event in the works, in conjunction with Tom and Gary of Decentralized Dance Party. This event requires something slightly unusual: As many boomboxes as possible. Kevin Bracken of Newmindspace tells us they need "about 100 boomboxes" -- they have 10 so far, though one, impressively, created by Anthony D'Onofrio, is the size of a bicycle -- for an FM-transmitter party bringing together hundreds of pirate radios through one FM transmitter, which acts like a mobile radio station. He says, "We get hundreds of boomboxes and tune them to that signal, so instead of a giant speaker there are 100 different sources of sound, creating one large sound."
We're replacing our laptop with one of those babies, except instead of weird colorful liquids ours will mix booze.
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Since 1958, the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display has been a New York City tradition. The fireworks were originally set off on the Hudson, but in 1976 they moved to the East River. Last year, they returned to the Hudson to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's exploration of the river. This year, the display will be on the Hudson again. It starts at 9:20 p.m. and should last 26 minutes. The theme of this year's show is "Gift of Freedom"; the event will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. After the jump, we've got some suggestions on where to watch the fireworks.
Today, the Kenny Scharf mural on Houston and Bowery was transformed into a multimedia piece when Chinese artist Liu Bolin camouflaged himself in the painting. Bolin's performance was part of his ongoing series "Hiding In The City," in which he paints himself so that he completely blends in with his surroundings and then someone photographs him. We walked down to the mural to see if we could spot Bolin, but we're pretty sure he either wasn't there, or his camouflaging is really, really good. DNAinfo had better luck and snapped some great shots of the artist at work. Oddity Central reports that Bolin intends the series as a protest against the Chinese government's persecution of artists; in 2005, his studio was shut down. Speaking of Sharf's mural, on Thursday, it will be replaced with a piece by the Inside Out Group called "Lakota, Dakota Nation." [EV Grieve]
On Astor Place, next to the Mud Coffee truck and across from the 6 train, it can be sometimes hard to hear the person next to you. But artist Jennie Booth wants you to "try to be an ear." That's the title of the piano Booth painted in swirling blues purples and greens, which was installed today in that very spot this afternoon as part of Sing for Hope's Pop-Up Pianos project. 
Esther Zuckerman
All motivational speeches should come from little boys (or girls) who are hardcore buzzing on the awesome high of learning to ride a bike for the first time, because they truly are motivational. "If you believe in yourself, you will know how to ride a bike! If you don't, you just keep practicing! You will get the hang of it, I know it!" Can we have you come talk at our office after your inevitable GMA stint, kid?
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