Neko Case's album won't be released until Tuesday. But I'm wearing out the grooves at the npr.org site where they're previewing it.

It's an exclusive first listen. The whole album is there but this is my pick fave. Lyrically, it is one of the most unusual love songs you may ever encounter.

This Tornado Loves You (excerpt)

…I have waited with a glacier's patience
Smashed  every transformer with every trailer until nothing was standing
Sixty-five-miles wide
Still you are nowhere, still you are nowhere
Nowhere in sight
Come out to meet me, run out to meet me
Come into the light…

Last night standing in front of Perch where my son Henry Crawford was performing I noticed flickering candlelights in the window of Get Fresh Table and Market.

It looked so pretty inside and from what I could see there was a nice-sized crowd in there.

As reported on OTBKB, Get Fresh has worked hard to reinvent themselves; they're made some big, bold changes over there and are really getting their act together.

Which isn't to say they didn't have it together before. But the shop started with a shaky concept: a place to buy pre-selected localvore and organic ingredients pre-packed and ready to cook, including cooking directions.

It wasn't ready-to-eat it was ready-to-cook.

I don't think locals ever really took to the concept.

Previously it was a gorgeous but underused space. Now as a restaurant and market it makes total sense. By day it's a cafe, market for prepared and ready-to-cook foods, and place for cooking workshops for adults and children. By night: a restaurant with a noted chef.

Ben Muessig in this week's Brooklyn Paper wrote a brief profile of Mark Simmons, the cook who was on the Bravo cooking show, Top Chef. Simmons told Muessig that he hopes to turn the Fifth Avenue restaurant into a localvore destiantion. He is also the chef creating the food for the market.

“Our goal is definitely to focus on organic and local food — and
that suits me because that’s how I grew up in New Zealand,” said
Simmons.

“It’s very natural to me and it’s fulfilling to be doing something that I believe in,” he said.

But it hasn’t been easy for the Kiwi cook to transition between the
fast-paced TV show and preparing reheatable meals — like braised pork
chop with kidney bean sauce ($12 per serving) and squash risotto with
white wine, arborio rice, organic butter and Parmesan cheese ($11).

“I’m learning how to take the organic ingredients and pre-prepare
them so they’re at their optimum when people get home,” he said.

Two new curators are joining the Elizabeth A.
Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Musuem. Welcome to Brooklyn Catherine and  Sharon.

Catherine J. Morris has organized
several exhibitions that explored issues
related to feminism and its impact as a
social, political, and intellectual construct
on the development of visual culture-among
them Decoys, Complexes and Triggers:
Feminism and Land Art in the 1970s at the
Sculpture Center, Long Island City, New York,
and Gloria and Regarding Gloria at
White Columns, New York. She is also the
co-curator of Hans Hoffmann: Circa
1950, currently on view at the Rose Art
Museum at Brandeis University. For the past
five years Morris has also been Adjunct
Curator of Contemporary Art at the Philbrook
Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has
authored or contributed to several scholarly
publications and catalogues, including two
books about Cindy Sherman. A longtime
Brooklyn resident, Morris is a graduate of
the University of Maryland and the recipient
of an M.A. from Hunter College. As Curator of
the now-two-year-old Elizabeth A. Sackler
Center for Feminist Art, she will organize a
wide range of special exhibitions and oversee
the Center's permanent collection, which
includes The Dinner Party by Judy
Chicago.

No Land Grab has links to news and analysis on yesterday's court decision.

Yesterday was a bad day for Brooklyn: the State Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled
in FAVOR of the Empire State Development Corporation and AGAINST the community
in the challenge to the state's environmental review and "blight"
determination for the Atlantic Yards proposal.

Now 26 community organizations, led by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, will be headed to the Court of Appeals. Petitioners will ask the Court of Appeals to review the ruling and are considering all issues in the case for an appeal.

I got this in my inbox today from Develop Don't Destroy. Below are links to many breaking news stories about yesterday when the State Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled
in favor of the Empire State Development Corporation and against the community
in the challenge to the state's environmental review and "blight"
determination for the Atlantic Yards proposal:

Coverage of the ruling can be found here:

In the headline above I am referencing a documentary by the great Les Blank called, "Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers."

 I've heard from many friends on Facebook with advice for the flu.

"Chicken soup (or miso will do). Although knaidlach doesn't do so well in miso."

"You must try spicy Thai soup – better than chicken soup for a cold/flu"

"Or the spicy soup from the Japanese place on 7th, that really knocks out the germs."

Note: Gai Tom Kha is the soup I like at Lemongrass, Song, Sky Thai. It has chicken broth, coconut milk, lime juice, pepper and mushroom.

Photo from Elena's Pantry on Flickr.

An untitled film project with a roster of hot Hollywood stars is set to shoot next week in Prospect Park. I hear that they're using the Picnic House as a temporary movie studio and have built an elaborate set inside.

This production is a biggie. BIG names. BIG director. BIG budget. Look for BIG production trucks on Prospect Park West I'm guessing.

More deets to come.

Photographer Tom Martinez left Brooklyn for a few days and came back with this picture of a tiger at the Miami Metro Zoo. Tom writes, "The tiger eyes its prey, an annoying paparazzi."

Today's headline comes from the first stanza of William Blake's poem.

The Tyger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Park Slope's Charlie Libin is usually behind the lens as
director of photography or camera operator on films like Able Danger,
Be Kind Rewind and Neil Young: Heart of Gold.

A film he directed, American Combatant
was selected for numerous film festivals, including the San Paulo
International Film Festival and is now available at Amazone.com.

We also loved that he did second unit camera for Rachel Getting Married and was an extra during the party
scene.

But who knew he was a dispenser of compassionate healing advice. He responded to my status report: Louise finally got that flu that everyone has. She's giving into it now

Friends of Park Slope architect Gilly Youner are looking forward to the March 8th opening reception of L'Chaim, Herb Youner, a retrospective of Youner's paintings and photographs at the Upstream Gallery in Dobbs Ferry.

The following was written by Herb's wife: "This exhibit is a celebration of Chaim Herbert Youner’s life.
 
Herb passed away September 12, 2007, at age 76, in a graceful, peaceful exit.
 
On that occasion, alone in the midst of a holiday celebration, while surrounded by his loving family, he fulfilled his own artist’s statement:
 
“Much of my work deals with loneliness and abandonment around us…Many of us… are ultimately alone, even in the midst of each other.” His paintings will live on. In his March 2000 exhibit statement he writes,
 "I feel the ebb and flow of the tides and their constant motion regardless my presence or absence.”
 Later, in May 2002, he writes: “Carnival rides that spin, twist, change speed and come to a jarring stop are metaphors for life.”

Herb lived a full life. From his first artistic success at the High School of Music and Art, when he received his first award from Colliers Magazine, and exhibited his painting at the Brooklyn Museum; to his Cooper Union experience, and throughout the years of work as a designer, he continued to create the large body of work which these paintings are a part of. His artwork flourished in the last year of his life, when he was invited by the Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar, Spain, where he spent a whole month painting as a Resident Artist.
 
His presence is in every piece of his work, in his paintings, drawings, prints, 3D pieces and photographs. He continually explored the effects of light and shadows when creating forms in his Facades, in the surreal images of beaches and playgrounds, in the starkness of the Mediterranean coast.
 
 The show at Upstream Gallery runs from March 5th through March 29, 2000. The opening reception is Sunday March 8th from 2-5 p.m.

Check out the Flickr page created by his proud daughter, who is pictured here with Herb.

.

When Hepcat's COBRA ended, we were in dire need of a reasonably priced health insurance plan. After quite a bit of agonizing and research, we signed on for Freelancers Union Health Insurance.

Today I got this note from the FU about the New York Observer, which is reportedly having such a tough time paying their bills that they've stopped paying freelancers.

As afreelancer I know, we're often the last to be paid—or the first to be stiffed when times get tough. So the Freelancers Union is asking their membership to make a stink.

Click here to tell the New York Observer to pay its freelancers on time, every time.

Best,
Althea Erickson
Senior Manager of Advocacy and Policy

If you don't see much on OTBKB today it's because I am sick. Just trying to be okay…

Here's an excerpt from the Brookyn Paper's breaking story:

Sorry to tell my colleagues in the media, but Tuesday night’s
meeting of the Park Slope Food Co-op did not turn into the anti-Israel
paroxysm you all wanted.

Last week,
I became the lone journalist (in the nation, it appeared) who reported
the truth that the famously liberal, member’s-only supermarket on Union
Street was NOT — I repeat, not — considering a ban on Israeli-made or
-grown products.

All this talk of a ban — whipped up first by the Jewish Forward and
then repeated (like a blood libel?) around the world by bloggers who
seem to regard the 16,000-member market as some kind of anti-Israel
hotbed rather than a great place for hothouse tomatoes — stemmed from a
single stray comment by a woman at last month’s meeting.

“I don’t know whether or not we carry Israeli products,” said the
woman, who identified herself as Hima, “but I propose that we no longer
carry them.”

Of course, but that’s now how it works at America’s largest,
member-run food cooperative. Stray comments at a Park Slope Food Co-op
general meeting don’t become Co-op law until — and please believe me
because I know this from personal experience — extensive debate,
discussion and more mudslinging than at an organic composting facility.

And that’s just to get the item on the AGENDA for an upcoming
meeting! You should have seen the battle over selling beer! An earlier
proposal to sell meat nearly ended in murder (of humans, not cattle)!

Alas, the above fact didn’t matter to America’s blogosphere, which
ran with the story that the Co-op was considering a blockade of Israel,
from which it buys some persimmons and red peppers.

Read the rest here.

Here is the occasional feature from the Center for
the Urban Environment (CUE). In this submission
Jessica Brunacini, Early Childhood Educator at the Center, takes a close look
at the “Cue’s of Spring.”

It's been a long, cold winter, and Brooklynites seem to be chomping at the bit
for spring to arrive and stay for good.  A sunny day of 56 degrees really
sets hope off.  But, it seems, the next day flips back down to wet and freezing. 
Aside from temperatures rising, what are some other cue's of spring that we can
all keep an eye (and ear) out for in the next month or so? 

Flora—
All different types of plants and trees begin to bloom.  Many of the
perennial bulb flowers, after surviving the freezing temperatures of winter, are
eager to sprout from the cold, hard ground.  The dainty White Snowdrops are
first to poke out, often even pushing their way out through the final snowfalls
of winter. They are followed by what many, myself included, consider the first
sure sign of the arrival of spring—bright and happy Daffodils and Tulips,
which begin growing anytime from March onward.  While their flowers may
not stick around for long, the leaves of these perennials continue to gather energy
and nutrients that are sent down and stored in the underground bulb to allow
for next spring’s growth.  Not to be outdone by their plant
relatives, first leaves and flowering buds on Magnolia, Callery
Pear and, of course, Cherry trees push their way out to wow us with their
bold and beautiful colors as well. 

Fauna—
After slowing down for winter, the birds and the bees are at it again. 
With many new food sources available thanks to all of the blossoming plants
and trees, Honey- and Eastern Carpenter bees will be buzzing about from flower
to flower, gathering pollen to feed the grub-like larva that are hatching in
their nests.  Come April, though, bees and many other insects should keep
their eyes peeled, as many different types of Warblers (Yellow, Black-and-White,
Common Yellowthroat, etc.) make the migratory trip back to their summer homes
throughout the parks of Brooklyn and the other boroughs.  These small
birds are mainly insectivores, feeding on the many insects found near the cup-like
nests they build close to and even on the ground in the wooded areas and near
the ponds and lakes of our own Prospect Park.  The Warbler’s chatter
and songs filling the air, along with the eye-popping colors of the season’s
early blooming flowers, are some of spring’s best cues that the winter
doldrums are on their way out.

References: Brooklyn Botanic Garden (www.bbg.org), Cornell Lab of
Ornithology (www.bird.cornell.edu), Field Guide to the Natural World of New
York by Leslie Day. Photo from wikipedia commons.