The Big BBQ

As summer is coming upon us its time for Madison Square Park's Big Apple BBQ, one of my favorite weekends of the year. For this 6th annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party (June 7-8), some of the best pitmasters from around the country will converge on the park to smoke up some of their best. This event is usually packed, so I highly recommend buying a Fastpass which will allow you to get on a shorter express line so you can try out everything. BBQ is meant to be enjoyed with friends anyway, so if you don't think you can stuff yourself with $100 worth of BBQ split one.

Beer Here

Thrillist uncovers the greatest google mashup of all time- beermenus.com. Search by neighborhood, bar or individual beer! Just to prove it works, I did a search for my favorite hard-to-find beer, Tripel Karmeliet and found 9 bars pouring the magical beverage. The site lists size of the bottle, if its on draft, and the price. AMAZING!

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day TODAY!!!

The Ben & Jerry's at 104th & Broadway, Macy's Herald Square Food Court, Rockefeller Center, 41 3rd Ave. and in Time Sq (680 8th Ave) will be giving away free cones today. I actually have no idea why, but who cares!!! via Gothamist

Shack Hours Extended

Its that time of year... the shake shack has begun its extended summer hours. the shack will now be open from 11am-11pm.

Tribeca Film Festival

I'm a little late with this one, but tickets for the Tribeca Film Festival are on sale. There's always a great selection of indie movies and documentaries and commercial films yet to hit the theaters. Filmmakers are often on hand for Q&A after the film screening as well. Film guide and tickets here.

As part of the festival there is also the Drive-In the outdoor screening series. Schedule here. I recommend arriving early for that because as with all free outdoor film screenings in nyc, they get crowded.

Comic Con in town

Comic Con is in town this weekend (April 18-20) at the Javitz Center. Tickets are fairly pricey at $40 for friday, $45 for saturday or $40 for sunday ($65 for a weekend pass), but if you're majorly into comics or just looking to see some wild cosplay it'll probably be fun. You'll probably get some free swag too.
Gothamist has additional info

Hours:
Friday 3pm-8pm
Saturday 10am-7pm
Sunday 10am-5pm

For the Big Drinkers

Citysearch has a roundup of bars selling gigantic cocktails. The drinks include the Volcano Blast at Otto's Shrunken Head, Swamp Water at Brother Jimmy's, Mixed Drinks in pint glasses at Finnerty's, Fishbowl Cocktails at Porky's, Shaker Cocktails at Pete's Candy Store, and 96 Ounces of Beer at Mudville 9. I have hazy memories of a big flaming drink at Waikiki Wally's, the connected next-door-neighbor karaoke bar to Lucky Cheng's and a higher end giant cocktail at the Campbell Apartment, the Prohibition Punch (recipe here).