Monthly Archives: November 2005
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_TONIGHT AT BROOKLYN READING WORKS
Brooklyn Reading Works, the reading series I curate at the Old Stone House is really hitting its stride.
What began in a small South Slope cafe (Fou Le Shakra) is now welcoming audiences of 30 or more one Thursday a month at the beautiful and historic Old Stone House in JJ Byrne Park. This Thursday’s show may be the most ambitious yet.
Tonight, Cathy Caplan, a
playwright whose play, LAPIS BLUE BLOOD RED, was cited as one of the best
plays by women in 2002 and included in an anthology, will present a staged reading of the first act of her new play, MODEL.
In MODEL, a high end fashion photographer goes to a country house for a
weekend shoot, accompanied by the model, camera assistant, fashion
editor and her seventeen year old daughter. Inspired by photographs
from 1970’s Vogue magazine. Model examines the forging of a new
feminine ideal in the mid ’70’s. Sexual desires are played out in and
out of the frame. The taking of photographs within the play function
almost like songs in a musical–the set up and re-creation of these
actual photographs allow for little playlets within the play that
inhibit and exaggerate the emotional desires and needs of the people
making the images. With Lisa Dove, Greg Paul, Bess Rous, Dustin Smith
and Jess Weixler.
Ellen Ferguson, a former Park Sloper and gifted poet and short story writer will be giving a rare reading of her poetry.
The previous event, a reading by New York Times reporter Jesse Green and journalist Christina Frank of their essays from a new anthology about adoption called A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER: STORIES BY ADOPTIVE PARENTS, was very well attended and enjoyed by all.
Green’s essay about a same-sex couple who adopt two boys from Texas was a an illuminating and sometimes hilarious pieced called "The Day that Hallmark Forgot." And Frank’s piece about her endless ruminations about the mother of her adopted Vietnamese daughter was moving, wise and real.
In September, noted South African author Sheila Kohler read from her new novel, CROSSWAYS, which was just published in paperback. Matthew Zapruder, read from AMERICAN LINDEN, his first book of poems.
Also in September, Elizabeth Royte read from her book GARBAGELAND, ON THE SECRET TRAIL OF TRASH, her incredibly interesting and important book about what we leave behind.
Regina McBride, author of "THE MARRIAGE BED" read a beautiful passage from that novel complete with Irish brogue and scintillating language. Nancy Graham shared the first chapter of her work-in-progress novel and some of her Somniloquies, poetic experiments in writing while sleeping.
If you can get out for the evening, come on over to the Old Stone House. It’s free, refreshments are served, and you’re sure to have an interesting time. Spread the word. For more information about upcoming readings through June, go to the BRW web site.
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_High School Reunion Planning Committee
So now I am on the planning committee for my 30th high school reunion. A dinner meeting is planned for next week. In a sense, the reunion IS next Monday.
I can attest that my fellow graduates of an unnamed progressive private high school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that no longer exists are an organized and accomplished lot. We already have a detailed "to-do" list:
At the first meeting we will be discuss: Who to invite? How to find them? How to convince them to attend? What event or events should we have? Where should we have them? What to order for dinner? Why it is not odd that we all know the history of the labor movement is great detail, but cannot name any state capitols.
Those of us on the planning committee (doesn’t that sound like high school?) sent a flurry of e-mails to one another yesterday. Mind you, I haven’t been in touch with some of these people for years. In one e-mail, someone on the committee surmised that I and another friend would be unable to attend next week’s meeting in Manhattan because we live in Park Slope and each have 2 children. My friend swiftly responded with this missive:
We would like to protest the stereotyped and diminishing description of us as
LOOK WHAT’S IN DUMBO
I READ THIS ON DAILY CANDY, my daily tip sheet on chic and groovy. They seem to do Brooklyn from time to time.
Chef Matthew Kenney
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_JARHEAD
Son and his friends snuck into the movie "Jarhead" on Thursday night. They bought tickets for "Prime," the comedy with Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep, which they had no intention of seeing, and went straight into the theater where Jarhead was playing.
Son told me nothing about this plan. I found out when I called the mother of his friend who said that the kids (a group of 5 or 6) were at the theater. She offered to buy them tickets to this R-rated movie but they declined her offer.
Life happens fast when you’re the mom of a teen. I never had a chance to allow or forbid Son’s plan to buy tickets for "Prime" and see "Jarhead" instead. Son knew that he had my
permission to see "Jarhead." In fact, Husband was game to go see it with him.
"Jarhead" sounds like an important film. While it’s not getting great reviews in the press, it seems to be something the kids Son’s age really want to see. I think this is great because the film, sucessfully or not, addresses some of the most serious issues of our day. The fact that the kids want to see it says to me that they are thinking about what is going on in the world. Just 14-years-old now, if the draft is reinstated, Son could be drafted in less than four years. I support any effort he makes to educate himself about the military in this country.
That said, I would not have allowed him to SNEAK into an R-rated movie. It’s the SNEAKING IN part that worried me. Of course, the SNEAKING IN part is what makes it such a classic teen maneuver (who didn’t do stuff like that?).
What does the movie theater do if they find kids in an R-rated movies? Kick them out, report them to the police, call their parents?
I was, however, glad that Son wanted to see "Jarhead" in the first place even if it does contain lots of foul language. According to Son, there practically no violence and only allusions to sex.
To me, it seemed an appropriate film to see on the eve of Veteran’s Day. I haven’t seen the film but I assume that it contains a anti-war sub-text as well as a non-idealized view of the American soldier in the Gulf War.
The film is adapted from Anthony Swofford’s 2003 book, a realer-than-real first-hand account of the Gulf War that shows barely any combat and lots of frustration, angst, longing, and reckoning on the part of the very young soldiers, as they wait for the battle to begin.
A witty, profane, down-in-the-sand account of the war many only know
from CNN, this former sniper’s debut is a worthy addition to the
battlefield memoir genre. There isn’t a bit of heroic posturing as
Swofford describes the sheer terror of being fired upon by Iraqi
troops; the elite special forces warrior freely admits wetting himself
once rockets start exploding around his unit’s encampment. But the
adrenaline of battle is fleeting, and Swofford shows how it’s in the
waiting that soldiers are really made. With blunt language and
bittersweet humor, he vividly recounts the worrying, drinking, joking,
lusting and just plain sitting around that his troop endured while
wondering if they would ever put their deadly skills to use.
The film, directed by Sam Mendez (American Beauty and Road to Perdition) is one of the few movies ever made about the Gulf War. It is a visually stylized chronicle of what it means to be an American soldier in a desert war. As Village Voice film critic, J. Hoberman writes:
Mainly what these guys do is bear witness, stumbling through a landscape
of incinerated jeeps, charred corpses, and oil wells blazing in the
beyond-Coppola apocalyptic night.
Son thought Jarhead was very, very good. "It’s not anti- or pro-war. It’s about the insanity. These guys go to war to fight for their country, or because they want to go to college. And they go insane waiting to do something," he said.
According to Son, in the film’s most depressing scene, the Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal characters, both snipers, finally get an assignment to kill someone. But just as they’re about to shoot, a commanding officer shows up and tells them not to do it. "The planes are coming and they’re all ready," the commander says. The Peter Sasgard character sobs uncontrollably and screams at the commander.
According to Son, "The film is about how the Marines were useless in the war. The Gulf War was fought by planes and not people. But the people were sent to war to do nothing. And this caused the insanity."
PARK SLOPE PARENTS LEGAL TROUBLES IN THE NY TIMES
In Park Slope, where strollers rule the sidewalks,
parents have come to depend on an online message board where they can
swap tips on toilet training, the best place to buy rain boots for
toddlers, and how to keep goldfish from dying.
But when
a recent question about a preschool prompted a mother and shop owner to
recount a bad business encounter with the school’s director, the
husband of the school’s director threatened to sue the board’s
moderators for defamation.
To 3,000 families that subscribe to the online board, parkslopeparents
@yahoogroups.com,
this was serious. Some said the threat of a lawsuit endangered their
ability to freely express their (often heated) opinions on anything
from the quality of restaurants to whether parents should give their
nannies drug tests.
Susan Fox founded the message board three
years ago as a new mother looking to make connections with other
neighborhood parents. Occasionally, she said, if a message seems likely
to inflame other members, she or one of five other moderators will send
a private e-mail message suggesting that someone "think before you push
the send button."
As she prepared cheese omelets on Friday
evening for her two daughters, Samantha, 4, and Sabrina, 21 months, Ms.
Fox said she never wanted to censor anybody. "My greatest fear is that
the list mutates into an overly polite, overly P.C. list that does not
speak its mind," she said.
But Ms. Fox and her fellow
moderators found themselves threatened with a lawsuit after Lisa Meyer,
owner of the Painted Pot, a do-it-yourself pottery store, posted a
message last month saying that she sued the preschool, Midwood
Montessori, in small-claims court three years ago over an unpaid $350
bill. Edward B. Safran, a lawyer and the husband of the school’s
director, Harriet Safran, demanded in several e-mail messages that Ms.
Fox remove Ms. Meyer’s post.
Ms. Fox offered to let Ms. Safran
respond to the offending post on the message board. In her rebuttal,
Ms. Safran accused Ms. Meyer of defamation and added that the Painted
Pot had "failed to deliver what was promised." Ms. Safran and Ms. Meyer
agreed in their posts that a judge had ordered the school to pay half
the bill. Ms. Meyer, reached by telephone, declined to comment.
In
subsequent e-mail messages to Ms. Fox, Mr. Safran said that if Ms.
Meyer’s post was not deleted from the message board, he would sue its
moderators, saying they had published libelous content.
Ms. Fox said she did not want to set a precedent allowing anyone who objected to a post to "bully us" into deleting it.
But
as Mr. Safran’s threats of a lawsuit continued, the moderators were
scared into shutting down the message group’s entire archives this
month. The action prompted an outpouring of messages from members, many
of them angry. David Alquist, a father of two teenage daughters,
complained about people who are "trying to intimidate and silence us."
He wrote that he did not know what the matter was about, but added that
"it is too silly for words."
In an interview, Mr. Alquist said he disregarded many of the critical posts on the list.
"It’s
hard to imagine how someone could be truly wronged by a random posting
by a stranger," he said. "Pretty soon we’ll say people aren’t allowed
to talk to each other in the streets. It’s nuts."
But Nancy
Workman, one of the board’s moderators, acknowledged that she had
avoided a local store after reading a negative post. Although she does
not advocate censorship, she said, "we have to be careful both as
people who post messages and as we read messages to be mindful" of the
potential to influence neighbors’ behavior.
Last week, a local
parent helped recruit Christopher Wolf, chairman of the Internet law
group at the law firm Proskauer Rose in Washington, to give pro bono
advice to the Park Slope moderators.
Mr. Wolf said that he had
told the moderators that under federal law they were not liable for Ms.
Meyer’s post and that he had called Mr. Safran to tell him he had no
case.
Mr. Wolf added that under the federal Communications
Decency Act, Internet service providers, Web site operators and
bulletin board hosts were exempted from liability for the statements of
others. People who post libelous statements can be subject to
defamation suits, he said.
Mr. Safran said, "This matter has
been settled," later adding that he did not intend to file a lawsuit
against the moderators. Ms. Fox said the moderators were waiting for
him to sign a letter affirming that.
Ms. Fox said she intended to
reopen the parkslopeparents archives this weekend, with Ms. Meyer’s
post removed. Ms. Fox said she wanted to remind people that they were
responsible for their own posts, although she did not want "to put the
fear of God in anyone."
But she added, "We are happy to get back to talking about how to get a baby to take a bottle."
NEW NATURE TRAIL SYSTEM IN PROSPECT PARK
Prospect Park is about Celebrate the Opening of a New Nature Trail System and the Completion of The Campaign for Prospect Park, 2001-2005.
On November 17 at 11 a.m. there will be a Ribbon Cutting and Reception in the park.
Getting close to nature is now easier than ever with the creation of the new Prospect Park Nature Trail System in Prospect Park. Interpretive trail signs, along with printed and audio guides, will take visitors on self-guided tours through the Park
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
MOVIES FOR GROWN UPS
It’s amazing how many good movies FOR ADULTS there are in the local movie theaters right now. I have a long list of films I want to see. I guess I’ll plan to spend a whole day at the movies the next time I have a day with nothing to do. Well, that’s not very likely. But it is fun to ditch your responsibilities once in a while and sneak out to a movie. Alone. In the middle of the day.
THAT is truly one of life’s great pleasures. Do it!
AT THE PAVILLION:
Capote (R)
Thursday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Friday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Saturday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Sunday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Monday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Tuesday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Wednesday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Thursday 12:10 2:50 5:20 7:50 10:20
Jarhead (R)
Thursday 2:10 4:40 7:40 10:10
Friday 12:40 3:30 7:20 10:10
Saturday 12:40 3:30 7:20 10:10
Sunday 12:40 3:30 7:20 10:10
Monday 12:40 3:30 7:20 10:10
Tuesday 12:40 3:30 7:20 10:10
Wednesday 12:40 3:30 7:20 10:10
Thursday 12:40 3:30 7:20 10:10
Prime (PG-13)
Thursday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Friday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Saturday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Sunday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Monday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Tuesday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Wednesday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Thursday 12:25 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:40
Shopgirl (R)
Thursday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:45 10:15
Friday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:35 10:05
Saturday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:35 10:05
Sunday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:35 10:05
Monday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:35 10:05
Tuesday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:35 10:05
Wednesday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:35 10:05
Thursday 12:20 2:35 5:15 7:35 10:05
The Squid and the Whale (R)
Thursday 12:30 2:25 4:30 7:25 9:30
Friday 12:30 2:25 4:30 8:10 10:15
Saturday 12:30 2:25 4:30 8:10 10:15
Sunday 12:30 2:25 4:30 8:10 10:15
Monday 12:30 2:25 4:30 8:10 10:15
Tuesday 12:30 2:25 4:30 8:10 10:15
Wednesday 12:30 2:25 4:30 8:10 10:15
Thursday 12:30 2:25 4:30 8:10 10:15
AT THE BAM ROSE CINEMA:
Good Night, and Good Luck (PG)
Thursday 4:50 6:50 9:00
Friday 2:30 4:50 6:50 9:00
Saturday 2:30 4:50 6:50 9:00
Sunday 2:30 4:50 6:50 9:00
Monday 4:50 6:50 9:00
Tuesday 4:50 6:50 9:00
Wednesday 4:50 6:50 9:00
Thursday 4:50 6:50 9:00
Paradise Now (PG-13)
Thursday 4:40 7:10 9:20
Friday 2:15 4:40 7:10 9:20
Saturday 2:15 4:40 7:10 9:20
Sunday 2:15 4:40 7:10 9:20
Monday 4:40 7:10 9:20
Tuesday 4:40 7:10 9:20
Wednesday 4:40 7:10 9:20
Thursday 4:40 7:10 9:20
Pride & Prejudice (PG)
Friday 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:40
Saturday 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:40
Sunday 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:40
Monday 4:30 7:00 9:40
Tuesday 4:30 7:00 9:40
Wednesday 4:30 7:00 9:40
Thursday 4:30 7:00 9:40
GENA ROWLANDS FILM FESTIVAL
Gloria (R)
Friday 2:00 4:30 6:50 9:30
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) (NR)
Sunday 3:00 6:00 9:00
A Woman Under the Influence (NR)
Thursday 7:30
THE BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY ROCKS
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Saturday, November 12, 11 AM Saturday Family Movie: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Peppermint |
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Saturday, November 12, 2 PM Brooklyn Writers for Brooklyn Readers: Tara Bray Smith Smith’s memoir and modern-day detective story, "West of Then: A "A harrowing, heartbreaking exploration of love and longing…a post-modern paradise NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_The Brooklyn LyceumHusband and I stopped into the Brooklyn Lyceum last night to have a snack at Schnack: Express. And boy are we glad we did. Schnack: Express is a casual hamburger and hot dog eatery in the lobby of the Lyceum. It is the second outpost of a popular Red Hook snack joint. They serve delicious mini-hamburgers, Angus hot dogs, sandwiches, fries and onion rings. They also have vegan offerings. My delicious mini-hamburger was made of quality ground meat with great seasonings. Husband ate his angus dog very quickly without offering a bite. That usually means that he’s eating something really good. The owner of the Lyceum, Eric Richmond, was sitting at the box office table in the lobby. I introduced myself to him by saying, "I believe I owe you an apology for what appeared in my blog." To which he replied: "Oh, YOU’RE the evil blogger." He then laughed and I knew that he was open to having a discussion. I apologized for writing that the Lyceum is underutilzed. One look at their web site reveals just how much has been going on there. In fact, 100,000 people have attended theater, film and musical events in the last five years. I asked Richmond why the perception of the Lyceum is so skewed. "Locals in Park Slope don’t pay attention to what’s going on here." I wondered if that has something to do with the Fourth Avenue location. But Richmond thinks it’s something more. In his comment to OTBKB last month he wrote this:
With my series Brooklyn Reading Works, I know first-hand how difficult it is to get Park Slopers to attend cultural events – even if they want to. Jobs, children, dinner, homework, bedtime, lack of childcare makes it hard for people to break out of their daily routines to go out on a weeknight or even on a weekend. When they do go out they’re usually glad they did feeling renewed and replenished with the experience of art. But getting them to actually do it is hard. I suspect that as more singles and marrieds-without-children move into the neighborhood the local cultural organziations will enjoy greater attendance. As Brooklyn becomes more of a destination, the pull of Manhattan culture will weaken as Brooklynites recognize the cutting edge activities in their midst. Living next door to one of the cultural capitals of the world, is hard on any arts group in the boroughs. And yet, Brooklyn offers it’s own brand of quality, cutting edge art – it is as valid and interesting as anything in Manhattan. Just look at Barbes, the Lyceum, Issue Projects Room and The Old Stone House. About the garbage situation that was alluded to on the blog, Richmond said with some exasperation: "There is only 1 garbage pail on Fourth Avenue between Union and President. I call the Department of Sanitation to complain and they bring 3 more. Then local construction workers dump construction garbage in the pails and make a mess. The Sanitation guys get mad and they take the 3 pails away…" It’s hard and sometimes thankless work being a community arts organizer. And Richmod deserves the support of his neighbors. I don’t know Richmond at all, but he seems to be going out on a limb to bring vital arts programming to his architectural treasure on Fourth Avenue. With the support of this community, the Lyceum will hopefully continue to thrive. Have a snack at Schnack: Express, check out the Lyceum schedule, and have a look around. Schnack: Express is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. until mid-night. Saturday and Sunday it is open from 10 a.m until mid-night. FYI: On Friday night December 2nd, there will be a Hurricane Katrina benefit and concert at the Brooklyn Lyceum, featuring Cool and Unusual Punishment and other local teen bands including StunGun, Francesca Perlov and Blue House, among others. It should be a great event and a great way for locals to see what’s going on there. ROSIE PEREZ JOINS THE FIGHTBrooklyn’s own Rosie Perez will be the Grand Marshal for Sunday’s Develop Don’t Destroy Walkathon. Rosie joins State Senator Velmanette Montgoemery, Community Leader Chris Owens, and Brooklyn residents who will walk together to protest Bruce Ratner’s plans for the Atlantic Rail yards. Go here for more information about the Walkathon. NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORDPOSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_THE STREETS HAVE EYES
Some of us stop each other on Seventh Avenue and ask how things are going. That’s code for: Is everything alright? We share information…"I saw your kid with…" Or, "Do you know anything about…?" We want to know that our children are hanging out with nice kids, and doing nice things. We also need to hear about the things that aren’t so nice. Which kids are doing drugs? Alcohol? Having sex? Misbehaving? Acting out? In other words, is my kid doing drugs, drinking, having sex, misbehaving, or acting out? Even more, we want to know if our kids are safe, acting cautiously, being alert to the dangers of the city. Just yesterday a mom very much in the know told me that some kids have been mugged on Seventh Avenue. Groups of girls have been accosted, their bags emptied out on the sidewalk, their cell phones, i-pods, and money stolen. That worried me. I wanted to know about who’s going to the Prospect Park after dark and what are This same mom said that her son was beaten up in Prospect Park this past Saturday night (November 5). He ended up in the emergency room at Methodist Hospital. His friend was beaten up too. "I don’t have a lot of rules," she said "But my kids are forbidden to go into Prospect Park!" She told me to spread the word to other moms, to the kids. "Tell everyone what happened to my son," she said. So that’s what I’m doing now. There are so many reasons to worry. Talking to other moms is one good way to find out what we don’t always want to know. We each know a little bit about what is going on. Together we know a lot. We can help each other, and help our kids avoid some of the pitfalls of being a teen… We have to look out for each other and each other’s children. The streets have eyes: and it is us. All of us. POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_I LEFT MY HEART IN BARBESBarbes, the bar and performance space located on 9th Street near 6th Avenue, won my heart on Tuesday night. Two friends and I stopped by for a drink after voting on Tuesday. While I have been abundantly aware of their nightly schedule of world music and jazz, I had never actually set foot in the place. Well, Tuesday changed all that. The Slavic Soul Party was on hand to offer a rollicking good time that suffused the small, dark bar with old world atmosphere and mind-bending energy. The place is like something out of your dreams of Europe, the Left Bank, a wonderful night in a make-believe place. You are drinking beer – tall glasses of Stella Artois or Cognac, and talking to dear friends when… …a band of musicians comes through the room and everyone is transported to an old world village somewhere – Russia, Bulagaria, Romania. It is the happiest music you’ve ever heard. And yet it is melancholy, too. The sound of a place and time that no longer exists except in this dreamlike world. How can something so happy be so sad? The band evokes that perfect mix of sounds that makes your heart swell and your eyes tear. It makes you laugh as much as it makes you want to dance in a circle with everyone in the room. One Tuesday night you must give Barbes a try because the SLAVIC SOUL PARTY, a Balkan Party is there every Tuesday. For ever! According to the blurb on the Barbes calendar: "Matt Moran leads one of the best Balkan Brass Bands anywhere. Experience a take on Balkan Music which is as brash and as strong as Slivovitz (the Serbian Plum Brandy) – equal parts fire, funk, free-form and old school-exuberance. SSP will make you feel like you’re attending wedding orchestrated by Emir Kusturica .With Shane Endsley & Ben Holmes (trumpet), Oscar Noriega (clarinet), Jacob Garchik and Brian Drye (trombone), Ron Caswell (tuba), Peter Stan (accordion), Take Toriyama & Matt Moran () $8 suggested." I found out that the bar is named for a neighborhood in northern Paris famous for its large North African population as well as the record stores Owned and operated by two French musicians and long-time Brooklyn POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_VEGAN WITH A VENGEANCEA piece about Brooklyn native Isa Chandra Moskowitz caught my eye on Daily Heights. She is the creator of Post Punk Kitchen a public access television show and new vegan cookbook, "Vegan with a Vengeance." I later found this interview with her on The Gothamist. NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_VOTINGLike millions of other New Yorkers, I fulfilled my democratic duty yesterday by casting my vote for mayor, comptroller, city councilman, borough president, judges, public advocate, and 4 propositions in a voting booth at John Jay High School. It’s a familiar ritual; one that I enjoy a great deal. For one thing, it’s the only time I ever go into that big high public school on Seventh Avenue that now houses 3 middle schools. Forgetting what district I’m in, I asked a pollster at a lobby table to look up my address. Once in the auditorium I remember that my voting booth is on the far left in front of the stage. Fellow citizens wait in the auditorium seats napping, reading, chatting with one another. A Third Street neighbor asks me if I want to read the Voter’s Guide. A good thing because I need to read up on Propositions 1-4. I hate seeing that stuff for the first time in the voting booth. Sometimes I miss it altogether because it’s on the lower right of the ballot and I don’t see it until i am leaving. Proposition 2 is a no-brainer. Money to improve public transportation. A Second Avenue Subway. Improvements to the quality of life of millions. Way to go. The others take a little more study. By the time the pollster calls my number, I’ve pretty much figured out what and who I am voting for. It’s time to buy the lox. To me, there is something almost sacred about being in a voting booth. Closing the curtain behind me and moving the red lever, I feel alone and important as I face the choices before me. For the most part, I am well-prepared. The vote for judges throws me. I wasn’t expecting that but I get through it. The whole process takes a little more than a minute. I press the levers down – the good old fashioned way. I know that soon we will be converting to computerized voting machines soon. For now, I appreciate this connection with the history of voting in New York City. How many people have voted in this booth? How many fingers have touched those levers helping to decide the future of this city? This country? At 7 p.m. when I voted, there wasn’t an overwhelming number of people at the polls. I had to wait about a half hour. Maybe people voted in the morning, or during the day. Afterwards, when I walked out onto the Avenue I felt connected to something larger than me. I felt that I had done something that, in some small way, makes me a good citizen of this town.
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Election DayMy son knew before I did that there was no school on two days this week: Election Day and Veteran’s Day. "Omigod," I screamed when I finally looked at the school calendar that hangs in our kitchen. "Did you know that you have two days off…" I didn’t need to finish… "I know. We’re off on Tuesday and Friday," he said with a big smile on his face. What a week. Three days in. Two days out. That’s what my son considers one cool week of school. And for parents it’s a bit of a challenge. Child care arrangements and playdates must be set up for the 8-year-old. Limits must be set for the teenager. Monday night was like a Saturday night on Seventh Avenue. Crowds of teenagers were walking up and down the Avenue doing whatever it is they do. There were bunches of them in front PS 321, Artisana and Maggie Moo’s. I saw my son sitting in the front booth at Pino’s with about eight other kids. His back was to the window. Tap. Tap. Tap. His friends saw me before he did. They tried to get his attention but he was laughing, talking, poking a girl who was lying on his lap. Hmmmmmm. We finally made eye contact. I pointed at my watch as if to say, "Look at the time. Be home in an hour." He nodded. "Okay," he mouthed. It was a strange moment. He wasn’t exactly caught in the act (the act of what?). But I did see him at Pino’s. With his friends. Having fun. Why did it feel so illicit? Election Day he’s sleeping late. Nothing like a Tuesday without school. A great way to catch up on some zzzzzzzzzz’s when you’re too young to vote, coming into your own, being a teenager in Park Slope. NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
IS PARK SLOPE PRETENTIOUS?Does The Squid and the Whale reveal the pretentiousness of Park Slope? Writer Jake Moody in his piece A Movie, A Mirror, in Sunday’s City Section thinks so. EARLY in "The Squid and the Whale," Noah Baumbach’s semiautobiographical film about divorce among the literati, the teenage Walt Berkman is seen sitting alone in a high-school classroom when a potential girlfriend strikes up a conversation: "You live in Park Slope, right?" The answer is complicated – his parents live apart and have joint custody – and anyway, the exchange is over just seconds later, grinding to a halt when Walt dismisses the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel "This Side of Paradise," which he has not read, as "a minor work." Audiences laughed at Walt for, among other things, his pretentiousness and his quickness to echo the pretentiousness of his father, Bernard, a pompous writer and professor who passes similar judgment on Dickens’s "Tale of Two Cities." Chase Madar, a 34-year-old lawyer, translator and critic who has lived in Park Slope for three years and is one of the film’s many fans, laughed along with them. But he also cringed, if only a little. Along with the laughter, he confessed, "I felt totally incriminated." READ MORE IN THE NY TIMES. NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
NOV. 6 at 3 pm STORIES FROM ADOPTIVE PARENTSOn Sunday November 6th at 3 p.m. BROOKLYN READING WORKS at the Old Stone House presents JESSE GREEN and CHRISTINA FRANK reading from a new anthology about adoption called: A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER: STORIES FROM ADOPTIVE PARENTS. The Old Stone House is located in JJ Byrne Park on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. Free. Refreshments. Books available. Discussion to follow. This event is NOT just for adoptive parents or those contemplating adoption but for anyone interested in families and children. Please join us for what promises to be a great event. ABOUT THE BOOK: From various perspectives, 20 adoptive parents offer evocative, sometimes provocative, personal essays that have the liveliness and immediacy of prose fiction. Biological parents are variously imagined, sought and found in the opening section, "Reflections on Birth Parents." In "Encounters with the Unexpected," adoptive parents confront "postadoption depression," family wariness, ethnic identity issues and disabling psychological problems. Each family (single parent, gay parent, divorced parents, intra-family adoption, blended family) is adoptive in its unique way, persuasively confirmed in "Variations on Family." While the early sections focus on the parent-child relationship, the concluding "Personal Transformations" leans toward the child-to-parent effect; as one writer puts it, "I knew a child would rearrange my home life, but upend my career and worldview? Those two items weren’t even on my list." Any parent will find commonality here, but the collection will especially engage adoptive parents in conversation and controversy with people who share their dilemmas and delights. Diverse as this collection is, it’s worth noting that the essayists are professional writers (they include Jacquelyn Mitchard, Emily Prager and Dan Savage), most of the children are preadolescent and 11 of the adoptions are transnational (five of them from China). PARK SLOPE PARENTS THREATENED WITH A LAWSUITOn Wednesday, the moderators of Park Slope Parents, a local list-service for parents, sent out this ominous message: The moderators have been threatened with a lawsuit pertaining to a post on the Park Slope Parents Yahoo Group. In order to protect ourselves, we are SHUTTING DOWN the Message Archives until further notice. The PSP Moderators and Advisory Committee have already spent hundreds of hours trying to resolve this situation. It is important that we resolve this quickly and with integrity — if we do not, the entire PSP list may be in jeopardy and may have to be closed down entirely. We may need to ask for donations from PSP to pay for legal counsel. For those not familiar with PSP, it is an invaluable resource to the parents of Park Slope, which provides an open exchange of information about parenting in Park Slope Brooklyn. After word of the lawsuit spread, members of Park Slope Parents rushed to the aid of the moderators and have offered to donate money, legal services, and anything else in order to save this cherished community resource. Members of the PSP list service expressed their shock, concern, and dismay about this lawsuit in the way they know best: by posting messages to the group. Susan Fox, Founder and Co-moderator of PSP, said in an e-mail to OTBKB this morning: "We have received private, positive support and offers of legal assistance which has been wonderful to have." Here are a few of the messages of support that have already appeared on PSP. Today (November 5) the list features many, many more, as well as good information about lawsuits of this kind.
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