the winter storms have caused a blood shortage. find out where to donate blood here. >>

bars to watch the winter olympics in brooklyn >>

8am-7pm: cookies! girl scout cookies! thin mints, samoas, do-si-dos and all the flavors take over grand central terminal’s grand hall to signal the start of cookie selling season. >>

4:30, 7, 8pm: cabaret (1972) derek (2008), manila in the claws of light (1975) young soul rebels (1991) and sweeney todd (2007) screen at moma. free as part of free uniqlo friday nights (4-8pm, reg $12). >>

5-10:30pm: ‘salon à l’empire’, a new free monthly vintage-themed party at the empire hotel rooftop, kicks off with music by the new orleans swamp donkeys and dj vavavoon, burlesque by hazel honeysuckle, gogo dancing by miss kacie marie and sexy trivia. >>

6pm: cornelia street cafe hosts a 100 year tribute to william s. burroughs with readings, discussions, and a group reading of naked lunch excerpts. $8 admission includes a drink. >>

6-9pm: the first friday lunar new year celebration at the asia society includes free museum tours, music, drinks + asian-inspired appetizers available for purchase. free admission first fridays 6-9pm, (reg $12). >>

6-9pm: stroll between 15+ art spaces during the third greenpoint gallery night, followed by a party at a location tba. free. >>

6:30-8:30pm: scrabble with friends: three-time national scrabble champion and author joe edley shares tips for beating your pals at the museum of mathematics. b.y.o. board. $12. >>

6:45pm (thru 2/13): doc. afternoon of a faun: tanaquil le clercq explores the too-short career of the new york city principal ballerina who was paralyzed with polio at age 27. dancer/choreographer arthur miller and others do q+a tonight and saturday. fslc, $13. >>

7pm: the office‘s b.j. novak talks about his book, one more thing: stories and other stories, at b+n union square. free. >>

7pm: brooklyn brainery and babeland hook up for the sex on the brain mini-workshop, with free cocktails and snacks and a chance to win $100 worth of sexy toys and tickets to classes. free. >>

7pm: stargazing + lecture: science journalist lee billings discusses his book, five billion years of solitude: the search for life among the stars, followed by q+a, slideshows, and guided stargazing with telescopes. columbia university’s pupin hall, free. >>

7pm-1am (fri-sat, ongoing): the weekly brooklyn night bazaar night market brings bands, food, breweries + wineries, vendors, light installations, and mini golf, ping pong + skeeball to a 24,000 sq ft warehouse. this week’s music comes from speedy ortiz, krill, odonis odonis, heeney, infinity girl, crystal stilts, weekend, yvette and elsa. 165 banker st @ norman ave (greenpoint), free admission. >>

7:30pm: nat towsen’s monthly downtown variety hour features performers, music, a downtown history segment, trivia and giveaways. tonight’s guests: richard sandler (nyc photographer/documentarian), erik bergstrom (new yorker illustrator), rojo perez, tim skinner and music by kyle supley + camille harris. ucbeast, $5. >>

7:30pm doors, 8pm show: comedian ian fidance guest hosts the weekly slow dance comedy show at the east village’s niagra with stand-up from josh rabinowitz (comedy central), jason burke ( @eatprayjason), michelle wolf (seth meyers writer, girl code), billy prinsell and nimesh patel (‘broken comedy’ host). no drink minimum. 1/2 off well drinks + draught beer happy hour until 8pm. free admission. >>

7:30pm: lanterns on the lake, jesse woods and andy shauf play baby’s all right, $12 >>

8pm: film composer and former b-52s guitarist/keyboardist pat irwin and pianist eleonor sandresky collaborate at the firehouse space, $10 sat, $15 sun >>

8pm (+ ends today): grammy-winning contemporary chamber ensemble eighth blackbird performs still in motion an evening-length program including selections by bryce dessner (the national), tom johnson, györgy ligeti, nico muhly, steve mackey and brett dean. the kitchen, a limited number of $18 tickets are available for skint readers with promo code ‘doublespeak’ (reg. $25). >>

8pm: gunfight!, the suzan, hard nips and the chickenhawks play the end, $8 >>

8:30pm: free double feature at videology’s first frightday: 1990: the bronx warriors (1983) and humanoids from the deep (1980) >>

8pm: belt out the jams at the punk rock karaoke benefit at pine box rock shop, $8 >>

8pm: laura stevenson, shellshag, upset, nude beach and worriers play mhow, $16 >>

9:30pm (+ 2/7 manhattan): honky-tonk harmonies reign as the sweetback sisters play hill country manhattan, free >>

10pm (+ 2/15, 21): spectacle screens slava tsukerman’s 1982 cult classic liquid sky, with the filmmaker in attendance on 2/15. $5 >>

10pm: lolawolf and reputante play baby’s all right, $10 >>

10pm-6am: barcelona’s john talabot and dfa’s sh*t robot share dj duties at the fixed party. srb brooklyn, $15 adv, $20 dos. >>

10:30pm: +/- and heaven play mercury lounge, $12 >>

11pm: air guitar is for prudes. be a performer or voyeur at the annual air sex winter classic. drom, $15 adv, $20 dos. >>

11pm: the clover, an all-girl beatles tribute band, and hal ‘the best beatles solo artist’ bruce play freddy’s backroom, free >>

midnight: portmanteaux plays the knitting factory’s free friday concert series >>

thru 2/9: the 11th annual coolny dance festival features 60+ companies and choreographers performing in an intimate setting. white wave (dumbo), free ($10 suggested donation). >>

thru 2/9: the fourth annual athena film festival celebrates women and women’s leadership, featuring a number documentaries, short films, feature films, conversations and workshops throughout the weekend. barnard college, $5 for students, $12 otherwise. >>

thru 2/16: marty scorcese selected 21 films ranging from the 1950s-80s and including kieslowski, kawalerowicz, wajda and more for the masterpieces of polish cinema series at fslc, $13. >>

thru 2/13: film forum screens a new restoration of jean luc godard’s 1965 french new wave classc, alphaville. $13. >>

thru 2/18: bamcinématek presents ‘vengeance is hers’, a 20-film showcase of heroines and anti-heroines >>

thru 4/19 (tue-sat): men’s and women’s stylish duds of the era make up the ‘elegance in an age of crisis: fashions of the 1930s’ exhibition at the museum at fit, free >>

thru 5/10: ‘ladies and gentlemen…the beatles!’: the new york library for the performing arts hosts an exhibition of pop culture artifacts, correspondence, instruments, posters, photographs, interviews, interactive displays, and an oral history booth in this 50th anniversary of the the beatles coming to america. free. >>

thru ?: sean lennon’s son julian curated a selection of unseen images of the beatles to be exhibited at the morrison hotel gallery. free. >>

check our website for a list of ongoing events

coming up

1/10 5, 9pm: two free talks at apple soho that require rsvp and will fill up quickly: fashion designer manolo blahnik discusses his career with lady kinvara balfour (5pm), followed by a talk between filmmaker ken burns and stephen colbert (9pm). >>

sales, deals, freebies

giveaway + discount: enter to win tickets to the 2014 nyc vegetarian festival at the metropolitan pavilion 3/1-2. $15 tickets are available for a limited time (reg. $30 adv, $40 door). >>

two deals at brooklyn boulders: get an all-inclusive day pass with a climbing lesson and equipment rental for $19 ($41 value), or get a one-month membership with a climbing lesson and equipment rental for $99 ($252 value) >>

stream the new cibo matto, temples, hurray for the riff raff and more albums on npr >>