Blondie at the Brooklyn Museum Who Shot Rock and Roll ? opening last
night.

The answer: well just about
everyone.
 









 

Blondie by the way gave an outstanding performance, even overcoming the
almost-as-bad-as-Winterland acoustics of the Brooklyn Museum.

I enjoyed this article in the Park Slope Civic Council newsletter (and website) about Catherine Bohne, the recent winner of the Park Slope Civic Council’s 2009 Lovgren Award. It's called:  "You can't put down a neighborhood that has a Catherine Bohne" and it is written by Erza Goldstein.

This was written in October 2005.Teen Spirit was 14, OSFO was 8. Smartmom was…

Photo by Adrian Kinloch, Brit in Brooklyn

Halloween morning, the kids popped out of bed early, ready for their
breakfast candy. "Stop stealing from the trick or treat bowl. That's
for later," Hepcat bellowed. Even Teen Spirit, who is historically
difficult to rouse in the morning, was up and ready for high school in
record time, his pockets stuffed with Hershey's kisses.

The Oh
So Feisty One packed her cowgirl chaps in her pink backpack. "Just in
case my teacher lets us put on our costumes." This was unlikely because
her school prohibits any recognition of Halloween in sensitivity to the
children whose religious beliefs prevent them from participating.

Smartmom
tried to get some money work done on Monday but by 2 p.m, she
surrendered to the reality that Monday afternoon and evening were for
one thing and one thing only: Halloween.

First crisis of the day: the case of the missing cowboy hat: OSFO searched the apartment
high and low. Smartmom finally unearthed it underneath Teen Spirit’s
bed.

Second crisis: Teen Spirit needed a shirt for his impromptu
pirate costume. "You can wear this black shirt of Dad's." Smartmom told
him. "No he can't," Hepcat screamed from the living room. "That's my
special black shirt."

"it's alright, mom," Teen Spirit told Smartmom ever-attentive to Hepcat’s moods.

They
did manage to find a billowy white shirt in the closet. Teen Spirit
strapped on his belt, plastic sword, and the pirate hat he'd purchased
at Rite Aid, ready to join a band of roving teenage pirates who were
waiting downstairs.

Aargh.

Trick or Treating on Seventh
Avenue, OSFO was, characteristically, driven to procure as much candy
as she could possibly fit into her shopping bag. They were joined by
Ducky, who was dressed in a zip-up bunny costume with little paw gloves and a
cloth carrot.

Her first Halloween ever – god knows what Ducky
was thinking. Big brown eyes open wide, she inhaled the crazy costumed
scene from her stroller.

The group went back to Groovy Aunt’s
for some apartment-building style trick or treating. Volume is what it's about. "Let's see," OSFO calculated. "They've got six floors
and eight apartments on each floor…”

OSFO hasn't learned her multiplication tables yet, but still, that's a lot of candy.

Third Crisis: OSFO developed Halloween fatigue mixed with an acute case of "not being the center of attention."

That
darn baby in that darn bunny suit: Ducky was sucking all the attention
out of the room with a straw. OSFO ripped off her cowgirl chaps and
flung her Payless cowgirl boots across the living room and staged a a
world-class snitsky. Arms tightly crossed, she faced a wall and snarled. The only remedy: a large dose of alone time.

Rejuvenated
by a few minutes of quiet and three mini Twix bars, OSFO was ready for
a little trick or treating and the Halloween parade. "The houses with
the Jack-O-lanterns are the ones with the candy," she said with the
assuredness of a seasoned navigator. Racing up and down the brownstone
stoops, she rang on door bells and filled her bag with more candy.

Crisis
number four: By the time they got to the parade, it was over. The
streets were filled with teenagers. Teen Spirit was spotted in front of
Starbucks with a can of shaving cream – horror of horrors. Strange to
say, with all her worries about sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, Smartmom
never once imagined he'd be a shaving cream trickster.

Live and learn. Hepcat trailed Teen Spirit and the teenage pirates to Barnes and Noble and insisted that he be home by nine.

Before
bedtime, OSFO weighed her Halloween treat bag on the bathroom scale:
"I've got five pounds of candy. Don't anybody touch it," she screamed
and then proceeded to stash it in her secret hide-a-way.

Halloween
Crisis number five: The day after Halloween, Teen Spirit couldn't keep
his eyes open during English class. He fell asleep on his desk.
Smartmom hopes he didn't snore. Now that would be very distracting.

How was your Halloween?

When you go to sleep on Saturday night set your clock back because Daily Savings Time ends on Sunday morning. And while you're at it change your smoke alarm batteries.

Ever wonder about the history of Daylight Savings Time:

"Although standard time in time
zones was instituted in the U.S. and Canada by the railroads in
1883, it was not established in U.S. law until the Act of March 19,
1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act. The act also established
daylight saving time, a contentious idea then. Daylight saving time was
repealed in 1919, but standard time in time zones remained in law.
Daylight time became a local matter. It was re-established nationally
early in World War II, and was continuously observed from 9 February
1942 to 30 September 1945. After the war its use varied among states
and localities. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided standardization
in the dates of beginning and end of daylight time in the U.S. but
allowed for local exemptions from its observance. The act provided that
daylight time begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last
Sunday in October, with the changeover to occur at 2 a.m. local time.

"During the "energy crisis" years, Congress enacted earlier
starting dates for daylight time. In 1974, daylight time began on
6 January and in 1975 it began on 23 February. After those two
years the starting date reverted back to the last Sunday in April.
In 1986, a law was passed that shifted the starting date
of daylight time to the first Sunday in April, beginning in 1987.
The ending date of daylight time was not subject to such
changes, and remained the last Sunday in October. The
Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and ending dates.
Beginning in 2007, daylight time starts on
the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November."

For a very readable account of the history of standard and daylight
time in the U.S., see

Ian R. Bartky and Elizabeth Harrison: "Standard
and Daylight-saving Time", Scientific American, May 1979 (Vol. 240,
No. 5), pp. 46-53.

 Another Momasphere event:

Author Shari Storm for a reading and signing her book Motherhood Is the New MBA. (Book release: September 29th). Includes a discussion and Q&A,  plus giveaways, wine and food!

“Regardless of whether you are a mom, just starting out, or
established in the workforce, the ideas presented in this book offer a
fresh perspective and new ways of thinking about the applications of
your everyday life experiences.” – Victoria Colligan, founder and CEO
of Ladies Who Launch and co-author of Ladies Who Launch: Embracing Entrepreneurship & Creativity as a Lifestyle

Date:  Thurs, November 5th, 2009
Time:  7-9 pm
Place:  Park Slope Eye, 682 Union Street (bet. 4th and 5th ave.) – Brooklyn, NY 11215
Price:  Tickets are $10 online & $15 at the door

 Space is limited so you must RSVP by purchasing tickets online. Sponsored by Park Slope Eye & Hybrid Mom. A portion of the proceeds of the event go to Children of the City.

Food & beverages will be served. Great raffle prizes will be
given away and every attendee will receive a free goodie bag that
includes, Hybrid Mom Magazine, a big Momlogic canvas tote and and delicious all natural Q.Bel chocolate candy bar!

More tips from BFFE:

HALLOWEEN:

—Haunted Walk in Prospect Park at Lookout HIll & the Nethermead from 12 –3 PM. Rain or shine.  Suggested donation, $1.The
beloved Halloween Haunted Walk is back and scarier than ever! Lurking
high on Lookout Hill are zombies, wolf men, headless horsemen, good and
bad witches, and other creepy characters. Visitors brave enough to
experience this harrowing hike should head to Lookout Hill. The
Halloween Haunted Walk is suitable for young children accompanied by
parents/guardians or older siblings.

–Boo at the Zoo at the Zoo for a frighteningly good time with the animals.

–Howloween Pups On Parade. A special event to benefit Washington Park. Prizes for best dog costumes! Registration: $10 per dog; 12-12:30 pm. Parade at 12:45 PM.

—Park Slope Civic Council Halloween Parade. Start: 6:30 PM at 7th Ave/14th Street. Finish: JJ Byrne Playground/Washington Park

–Phantom of the Opera showing in the sanctuary of the Fort Greene landmark Lafayette Avenue
Presbyterian Church, on a 14-foot wide screen with live Organ
accompaniment by J. David Williams on the 1910 “Austin Organ”. 7 PM. 

–Freaky Cats at BAMcinematek. See OTBKB Movies by Pops Corn.

RUNNING: The marathon starts in Staten Island at 9AM on Sunday. Watch from Fourth Avenue.

MOVIES:

–An Education with Peter Sarrgaard and Alfred Molina at BAM.

–Michael Jackson's This Is It at the Pavilion.

—-Freaky Cats at BAMcinematek. See OTBKB Movies by Pops Corn.

FAMILY THEATER: The Legend of Ichabod Crane adapted from the Washington Irving story and performed by Dan Kitrosser.Brooklyn Lyceum. 227 Fourth Ave. at President Street. (718) 857-4816

TALK: On Sunday, Nov. 1: Children of Imprisoned Parents speak at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture (PPW at 1st Street) High school students Davian and Kai Reynolds speak about growing up with an imprisoned mother. 11 PM. 

POETRY: On Sunday Nov 1 at 7 PM. Galway Kinnell at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

COMEDY: On Sunday, Nov 1 at 7:30 PM. ith Eugene Mirman at Union Hall.

Yeah. You can read Smartmom inside the NY Post today. Here's the spiel from the Brooklyn Paper:

A press release from CORD, a group in Carroll Gardens dedicated to historic preservation and contextual development, about Monday's hearing with the Zoning and Franchises Committee of the City Council.

Who should be the next poet laureate? There is no shortage of poets in Brooklyn but who has the talent, the personality, the energy and the expansiveness required for the job?

Are you a poet who likes community outreach? Would you like to promote poetry and literacy in the borough?

If you think you're the poet for the job get your application over to the Borough President's Office. Applications due on 11/24. A committee will evaluate applicants and make recommendations to the Borough President, who plans to announce the new Brooklyn bard in January

In November 2009 selections from The Dogs of Brooklyn will be on display at Ozzie's Park Slope (7th Ave & Lincoln Place)!

The Dogs of Brooklyn is Susie DeFord's fresh poetic narrative about her colorful life as a dogwalker accompanied by vibrant photos of Brooklyn and the dogs by Dennis Riley.

The Dogs of Brooklyn is the poetic equivalent to many other bestselling dog-oriented books like
Marley and Me, Mark Doty’s Dog Years, and Unleashed: Poems by Writer’s Dogs.

On Friday, November 6, 2009 at 7 PM there will be an opening reception/ reading at Ozzie’s Park Slope (7th Ave & Lincoln Place) where Susie DeFord, Melissa Febos, and Vijay Seshadri will be reading
poems and stories about Brooklyn and its "wildlife."

I really gotta check my Facebook page more often. I just saw THIS!

The Brooklyn Lyceum continues First Sundays: a Monthly Writers Series with Pulitzer prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell. THIS SUNDAY, NOV. 1, 7PM $10. 

A casual and cozy evening hosted and curated by hournalist and poet, Susan Hartman. Pulitzer Prize winning author Galway Kinnell will read, answer questions, sign
publications, and mingle in the lounge. The Lyceum is partnering with
local Brooklyn bookseller Book Court, who will be supplying Galway's
books this evening for sale and signing.

Galway Kinnell is
making a rare appearance in Brooklyn. Among the numerous honors he has
received for his poetry are the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book
Award for his Selected Poems (1980), as well as a MacArthur Fellowship.
He has published translations of works by Francois Villon, Rainer Maria
Rilke, and others, and served as a Chancellor of the Academy of
American Poets. Through his readings, and his classes at Sarah
Lawrence, Columbia University, N.Y.U., and other universities, he has
influenced generations of young writers. This evening at the Lyceum,
Galway will be reading new and selected works.

Coming to First Sundays on December 6: Vivian Cherry, a street photographer known for her work on the Lower East Side in the 1950s, and others TBD.

Tonight at PS 321: Simone Dinnerstein Presents The Neighborhood Concert Series. The series, directed by Simone Dinnerstein, world renowned
pianist, mother of PS 321 3rd grader, daughter of former 321
teacher, wife of 321 5th grade teacher, and a former 321 student
herself!), is an evening concert series featuring musicians Simone
has admired and collaborated with during her career.

The concerts
are open to the public and are designed with a family audience in
mind. (Concerts are not recommended for children under age
six.)

CLIVE GREENSMITH, cello
JEAN SCHNEIDER, piano
Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7pm
Music by Schumann, Janáček & Franck

Location: PS 321’s Auditorium. 180 7th Avenue, Brooklyn
Ticket sales benefit programs sponsored by PS 321’s PTA
TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT!
Not recommended for children under age 6

Celebrate Dutch Days at Old First Dutch Reformed Church in Park Slope. On November 15, there's a historic worship service followed by a New Amsterdam dinner. See details to the left.

Old First Church is a great place to celebrate 5 Dutch Days, a five day cultural event which
takes place in New York City every November, which celebrates the
continuous influence of Dutch arts and culture in New York City and
brings together arts and cultural organizations from across the city. 
Programs include walking tours, lectures, concerts, contemporary art
offerings.

Talk about history: The
First Reformed Church of Brooklyn dates back to 1654 with the arrival
of Domine Johannes Theodorus Polhemus, who served the people of
Breukelen, Flatbush,and Flatlands. Worship was conducted under the
trees, then in a barn. In 1666, the first church edifice was built in
the town of Breukelen in the middle of a highway,now known as Fulton
Street.

This is the testimony written by Joe Nardiello, Republican candidate for City Council in the 39th district,  delivered by Josephine Carita at City Hall on Monday Oct. 26th, regarding zoning height restrictions across Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens.

NYC CITY COUNCIL – Zoning Committee

Dear Chairman Tony Avella and distinguished Councilpersons:

Good morning, my name is Josephine Carita presenting zoning testimony on behalf of Joe Nardiello — who is a candidate for City Council seeking to represent the very communities of Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens of which we speak today.  Joe Nardiello asked me to firstly relay his compliments to Councilman Avella for a truly inspiring candidacy…and to convey Joe’s warm commendation to the many Councilpersons who likewise handled the pressures of campaigning, and the unique way we all must balance our family time, along with the demands of the process.

The subject matter of zoning before this honorable committee has been long-debated and anticipated in my home areas of Brooklyn, which is called “Brownstone Brooklyn”.  But, for perspective – this neighborhood’s architecture is as diverse as the people who transverse its streets at any given moment.

As you may know, while it does have a certain character of low-lined limestone, brownstone and brick row houses, and tree-lined streetscapes that have been depicted in movies…

…our areas also have a surprising number of larger apartment buildings interspersed that were built generations ago from Union to Pacific St., and from Degraw to Columbia St. These buildings were designed by size and appearance to blend into the streetscapes. In fact, I (Josephine Carita) live on Sackett St. in a building constructed in 1898 and one of 8 apartments. There’s a duplicate, ‘sister’ building beside it – and there’s another even wider structure that runs the length of Clinton St. around the block to Union. Each has been here for ages – has housed generations of low and moderate income families — and each structure is no higher than 4 stories from the sidewalk.

I mention this fact, because there seems to have been a time when developers & builders – were either thoughtful enough, or restricted previously to not to push boundaries ever higher and distort the character of the community. But that was then, and this is now…

Our local realtors take FULL advantage of the demand for homes and rental apartments – setting skyrocketed pricing… and modern builders have tried to exploit that demand, at every turn. Today, we do absolutely need to apply and enforce stronger restraints for modern builders. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to expect builders to design for the character of these areas – like our older, but larger buildings had done in the past…

Like unruly children, today’s developers need harder rules – and stronger guidelines.

Now, developers usually challenge limits and tempt local Community Boards to oppose monster-sized plans that have made phrases like “air rights” and “sidewalk encroachment” phrases that can be heard as easily at Board meetings, as they could be heard among neighbors simply greeting each other. Larger developments take advantage of space and their property ownership rather than try to blend in. For example, a larger development on Carroll St. off Hoyt St. was stopped due to non-compliance for going 40-feet over its agreed upon restriction – and now, 3 years after its violations were detected, sits unfinished and in the same state it was, nearly as if in a spiteful response to the community itself.

It is imperative to vote for the height restrictions – to keep today’s developers from causing the problems we have seen, and trying to build UP.  The historic character and beauty of Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, overall has got to be protected.

While larger buildings can house more people, and certainly provide more by way of tax income when bought/sold to our City… there’s also the additional aspect of how smaller buildings add to the movement and human interactivity on the street.

Halloween’s “Trick or Treating” which will happen this coming weekend…provides an illustration of the difference larger buildings can have. Children don’t visit larger apartment buildings on their hunt for candy, unless they know someone there in particular. They simply walk by these monoliths. There’s a detachment sometimes, with residents. In smaller buildings, you see & notice the people living there, even in a visual sense as you happen to walk by…2, 3, 4x a day. ..Eventually, you know them.

Smaller buildings are more inviting, and there’s more of a feeling of involvement with what’s going on outside of them. In larger buildings, usually you’re either ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ of them – and generally, there’s not that aspect of Brooklyn architecture that invites neighbors to stop, pause and talk with each other…meaning: “the stoop”. We can lose the character of the community and neighbors have less of a chance to interact, and this is the meaning of what it means to live in our areas. This is why people come here, and stay here – in the first place.

Please side with new zoning and height limits – which were brought to your attention today through hard work of community leaders that worked to push their elected officials and nudge this forward for quite some time. Reward their efforts!

Builders can and will adjust to our new height and zoning regulations – changes and ceilings which are endorsed today wholeheartedly by myself Josephine Carita, Celia Maniero Cacace who is here with me today, and by Joe Nardiello who has been concerned with this particular issue for yours and has voiced his strong belief for new legislation, stricter guidelines…. greater emphasis, process' speed and funding of Community Boards…. and significantly-stronger fines & penalties for non-compliance throughout his campaign.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

________

Copies of testimony hand-delivered to:

Committee Chairperson
Tony Avella

Committee Members
Chairperson:  Tony Avella
Simcha Felder
Eric N. Gioia
Robert Jackson
Melinda R. Katz
Joel Rivera
Larry B. Seabrook
Helen Sears
Albert Vann

Read Part 3 of the Brazil series on Truth and Rocket Science. It's pretty brilliant and enlightening stuff written by John Guidry.

Brazil is a country of inspired appropriation.  Its peoples,
cultures, sounds, and visions grind against each other.  They rise up
and smash together like tectonic plates.  In the collision of Brazil
and Brasília, the city of candangos gave the country Renato Russo.

No “torso of steel,” no “[w]inged elbows and eyeholes,” but like
Zweig and Plath a literary mind and poet, Russo’s voice became his
generation’s.  In his epic song, “Faroeste Caboclo,” Russo
tells the story of a poor kid’s migration to Brasília across 159 lines
of free verse, punk sensibilities, and an affecting melody that calls
to mind the traditional country music of Brazil’s Northeast.  Faroeste is what they call a “Western movie” in Brazil, and caboclo refers to the Brazilian mestiço everyman, a mixture of races and cultures, poor, seeking his or her fortune in some faraway place.  Faroeste Caboclo is Walt Whitman, rogue-Gary Cooper and Joe Strummer together in Niemeyer’s white palace.