1) Murakami’s art
To a certain segment of New Yorkers, he is known only as the guy who designed that candy-colored Louis Vuitton handbag that every girl above 57th Street had to have. But Takashi Murakami is so much more. Newly up at the Japan Society is the exhibit he curated, “Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture,” (the title refers to the Hiroshima bomb and the culture’s obsession with infantilism). Go to japansociety.org.
2) Hot thrillers
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Gael Garcia Bernal starring in his first English-language film is enough to recommend the indie “Dot the I” – but the movie itself, a stylized thriller about a secretly videotaped love triangle, is one of the year’s best surprises.
3) Lewd puppets
The breakout star of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” – who has insulted Kathie Lee Gifford to her face, humped purebreds at the Westminster Dog Show and been a regular on Hollywood Squares – now has his own toy: The Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Talking Doll. $25.00 at shopnbc.com.
4) Aging idols
“Growing into your looks” has always seemed like a hopeful myth, but 39-year-old Patrick Dempsey – who got his start as a scrawny, unconvincing would-be teen idol in the late ’80s – actually has. On the ridiculously overpraised “Grey’s Anatomy” (“ER” filled with reductive, voiced-over mini-epiphanies), Dempsey’s charming, laconic surgeon provides a much-needed counterpoint to all the phony angst.
5) Diller dish
Unfairly lost in the hysteria over Jane Fonda’s memoir is another cosmetically enhanced entertainer’s – Phyllis Diller. Her “Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse” details her own bad marriages and her unflagging sense of humor, which she insists will be “the last thing to go.”
6) Heavy metal
Forget Neckface – legendary graffiti artist Revs, whose tag has been around long enough for native New Yorkers to feel nostalgic, now works in steel. His sculptures have been spotted in the Meatpacking District; check out untitledname.com.
7) Old U.K. hits
Having developed a fervent cult following with his role as Factory Records head Tony Wilson in 2002’s “24 Hour Party People,” Steve Coogan returns with “The Alan Partridge Experience” – a hit in its native U.K. but new to BBC America. Coogan plays a talk-show host who’s an utter failure at his job. On a related note: The series ran from 1994-2002; what is with the years-behind programming?
8) Lunch breaks
The cause of much griping by hot-dog vendors who traffic in slimy water and $2 cans of Coke, Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack – the star chef’s spring/summer outpost that sells cheap hamburgers and hot dogs – returns to Madison Square Park. Note: Last year’s inaugural season resulted in 45-minute waits in the line, so schedule your lunch break accordingly.
9) Uncomfortable tweens
A few weeks after smoking and drinking her way through NYC’s hipster hangouts, 17-year-old tween idol Hilary Duff did a guest-hosting stint on “The View,” providing the show with its most uncomfortable moments this side of Star Jones. Duff sat slack-jawed as the ladies debated menopause versus perimenopause. So much for punk-rocking your way through NYC!
10) Lewder puppets
The best addition to a comedic ensemble in recent memory is Franklin, the unfortunate African-American hand puppet who stole last week’s episode of “Arrested Development” by breaking up a family party, drugging the matriarch, getting handcuffed by the LAPD and yelling at his puppet master to “get your hand out of my black a-!” A cheap gag doubling as a sociopolitical commentary on the continued oppression of minorities. Renew this show!
