Our friend Henry Lowengard turned 50 yesterday. We celebrated with him over the weekend but now I’d like to take a moment to appreciate all that is Henry.

–His kids call him Dadu
–He’s one heck of a husband
–He remembers everything you ever tell him
–He has a great heart
–He is a wonderful artist: go here to see his work
–He makes hilarious and masterful comics
–He is a human encyclopedia
–He’s brilliant (but everyone knows that)
–He’s soooo funny and fun to be around
–He’s lovable
–He’s adorable
–He’s a terrific friend
–He has a player piano and plays the autoharp
–He knows so many great songs
–He loves the songs of Burt Bacharach (and so many others)
–He’s performed at the Loser’s Lounge
–He’s a mainstay at WFMU
–He’s non-pareil, unlike anyone else you will ever know
–He makes the world a better place because he’s in it

From Hepcat: It’s not so much I don’t know where to start, it’s I wouldn’t know when to stop.

Here is something I found on his website; an artist’s statement, if you will, about his vapor paint work.

A river is not so much water as a shape that water makes. The geometry of the river changes the pressure of the water which flows through it, which in turn changes the shape of the banks of the river. The same applies to rivers of ice, air and earth. That which has one nature at rest may have another nature in motion.

This is the philosophical basis of my art: that gestures in time are not the same as gestures held, but there can be an expression of time in stasis by either providing multiple images of gestures in time or combining an amount of time into a single image or both.

Sweet Melissa’s on Seventh Avenue between First and Second Streets looks like it is ready to open SOON. Really soon. It looks so pretty in there. And I hear it will seat fifty people. They did a gorgeous renovation — what I could see through the paper.

Park Slope awaits SWEET MELISSA. OSFO is planning on having her lunches there (she can go out to lunch this year).

Those who don’t feel like the low benches of ConnMuffCo might consider the indoor seating at Melissa’s. If it’s anything like the Cobble Hill branch, Sweet Melissa’s is somewhat more formal, more feminine, more of a  ‘let’s have tea’ kind of place.

Still, I think they’re gonna grab some of the first coffee of the morning action. They open at 6 a.m. I hear. And they have the most elegant and delicious pastries.

Seventh Avenue really needs a bakery. Sweet Melissa’s is so the right thing to be going in across from PS 321.

We are thrilled…

This should stress out the city’s fifth and eighth grade parents, who are already stressed out because they have to go through the hideous process of getting their kids into public middle and high schools this year. They need those stupid test scores for applications. I wish they’d just throw all those standardized tests away. This from New York 1, my source for some Brooklyn news:

City students are heading back to school next week, but they still
haven’t seen the results of the tests they took last school year.

The Daily News says results from reading and math standardized
tests for students in third through eighth grades have not been
released yet.

The tests were taken in January and March, but officials say the scores won’t be available until September 14th at the earliest.

Education officials say since this is the first time the state
administered the tests under the federal "No Child Left Behind" law,
they don’t want to risk mistakes by rushing the grading process.

But critics say they delay could be harmful because some children who should be held back could be moved to the next grade.

Join Cocktail Angst for a post-labor day, back-to-school, end of corn and
watermelon and start of martinis and cheese gig at M Bar on Wednesday
September 6th! 7pm to 10pm.

The usual nicey-nice type time with me and
you and Keith and maybe Danton. Also, Cocktail Angst will be playing at
Joe’s Pub on September 8th at 11:30pm. Blackberry or datebook it or put
a post-it on your fridge and more details will come later.

Wed. September 6th
7pm to 10pm
M Bar at The Mansfield Hotel (www.mansfieldhotel.com)
12 W. 44th St. (between 5th and 6th avenues)
no cover

Continue reading COCKTAIL ANGST →

From Atlantic Yards Report:

Everyone expected the Atlantic Yards plan to be reduced somewhat as
part of the endgame as state approval approached, and that discussion
has now reached the press. A New York Sun article today headlined Pressure Mounts to Curb the Size of Atlantic Yards states:
State officials have discussed with the developer, Forest City Ratner, a reduction in the size of the project, a source said.

Presumably
this downsizing, likely to come before the end of the public comment
period September 22, would be aimed not simply at the Empire State
Development Corporation, but at the Public Authorities Control Board
(PACB), the body that would then have to give unanimous approval. (PACB
member Sheldon Silver killed the West Side Stadium last year.)

And the Department of City Planning, heretofore publicly silent on the project, apparently will weigh in, the Sun said: City
officials said yesterday that the Department of City Planning is
drafting written testimony that it will submit to the ESDC that will
include comments about the proposed height and how the project fits in
the context of the low-rise neighborhood.

It’s still bigger

The Sun acknowledged that the project has grown in size, quoting Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn: Mr.
Goldstein said the latest proposal is about 700,000 square feet bigger
than the 8 million square feet that was originally proposed in December
2003. Opponents contend that the developer increased
the total square footage to about 9.1 million square feet last
September, and then in March scaled back plans by about 5%, or 475,000
square feet, to its current total size of about 8.7 million square feet.

Opponents contend?
The press shouldn’t have to attribute factual information to a partisan
side. It makes it sound like proponents and neutrals would disagree
about baseline data.

Goldstein called the scaleback discussion strategic:
"They
shoot for the sun so they can get the moon. When they get the moon,
they act like they have listened to the criticism and responded," Mr.
Goldstein said.

How much would a legitimate reduction be?
If the project would be twice as dense as the next most dense census
tract in the country, shouldn’t 50 percent be a rough ceiling for
discussion?

Half Nelson, a film that takes place in Brooklyn, is playing this week at Cobble Hill Cinemas (265 Court Street) and BAM Rose Cinemas (30
Lafayette Avenue).
More Half Nelson Reviews [Rotten Tomatoes]

This weekend, our good friends celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary by inviting all their nearest and dearest family and friends to a Unitarian "sanctuary" and re-saying their original wedding vows (with some additions).

The lovely ceremony included the words of their Unitarian minister ( "I now pronounce you still married!), candle lighting, a rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by me, a duet of "Speak Low (when you speak love)" by the brideagain’s brother and nephew and some good joke songs by the groomagain’s brothers.

Friends and family were invited to make brief comments about the couple and put a candle in a bowl of rice, which provided moments of laughter and tears. My fave: "I’ve liked them since I was two," said the couple’s 7-year-old daughter. The couple’s nine-year-old son (a budding filmaker with his own production company called W.M. Thing) recorded the entire event on videotape.

It was a very special afternoon. After the ceremony, the crowd enjoyed a most artistic cake (see above). What you see there are clay figures of the couple in the red row boat of the brideagain’s childhood. This was the cake decoration at their "first" wedding. The new cake also included a chocolate Catskills Moutain with figurines of the couple and their kids. The cake and the dinner were prepared by PLEASE EAT THE DAISIES, an Ulster County catering company. The clay figurines were created by the brideagain and groomagian. 

Later, a smaller group celebrated the groomagain’s 50th birthday with Indian food, cup cakes, ginger root beer, a big impromptu hootananny with guitars, piano, accordian and autoharp, and a knock-out version of "I Shall Be Released."

We spent two nights in an Ulster County motel that we’ve been aware of for years because of its big, orange sign. But we never stayed there. Just noticed it on our drives to Kingston, Woodstock, Phonecia, Big Indian. The High Bop* neon is iconic. For years, I imagined a funky 50’s motel with a view of the Catskill Mountains.

That was the fantasy and I should have left it at that. Our hosts advised us to stay at the Holiday Inn in Kingston but its rooms were sold out over two months ago (due to the Dutchess County Fair across the river). I called the High Bop and was very suspicious when the cheerful woman on the phone said that they had available rooms, "an excellent restaurant" and a lovely swimming pool. All for $84 dollars a night. Hmmmm. Why isn’t that place sold out, I wondered?

Somehow I knew.

Actually, they do have an excellent and attractive restaurant (which I don’t think is owned by the High Bop owners). And the swimming pool looked quite nice though we didn’t get a chance to try it due to the rain. Even the rooms were fine. Really fine. And well worth the $84 dollars a night.

But there was one itty bitty problem. The place stunk. Literally. Not inside, OUTSIDE. As we drove to our room which was downhill from the main office and lobby, we smelled it. You couldn’t miss it. HC got out of the car and gasped, "Smells like sewage," OSFO covered her nose with her coat and begged for the room pass so she could go inside the room. "Eeeeeew, it stinks."

Once in the room, you could still smell Eau de Sewage but it was a bit better. HC was still gagging because he couldn’t stand all the air freshener they used to cover the smell. After a few minutes in that fragrant room I decided to go to the office to speak to the manager. "They’ll have to give us another room," I said confidently.

The manager was sitting behind the desk. "I just want you to know, there’s a terrible smell outside of our room."  I said. He looked mildly surprised. "Oh? Yes, yes. The restaurant was having a problem today. It should be fine soon. Just shut your window and run the air conditioner."

I told him we’d like another room.  He took a perfunctory look at his reservation book. "No, I haven’t anything else," And then after a brief pause. "You could stay upstairs."  I wanted to check the room first so he took me into a small, depressing room much like the one we were  staying in (minus the smell) By this point, HC and OSFO had joined me. OSFO liked the fact that we could park the car outside of the smelly room so she lobbied for us to just stay put.

"Really. You won’t smell anything for long. Just put on the air conditioner." the motel manager advised. So we decided to stay in the room. The air conditioner did bury the odor quite a bit and we were able to sleep undisturbed by the toxic smell outside.

The next morning the smell was worse. But we had to run off to our friend’s 10th anniversary Jubilee. We didn’t give the smell another thought except to ask friends who were also staying at the motel if they smelled the smell. They didn’t. But that was because they were staying in Upper High Bop.

High Bop, we decided, included the rooms nearest to the office and lobby building. But as you walked down hill to what we called Lower Skytop the smell was readily apparent.

Smellsville. That’s what we coined High Bop when we got back to the hotel at 11 p.m on Saturday night. It actually smelled worse than before. But because we had the air conditioner running all day it didn’t smell too badly in the room. I buried myself in my book and HC and the OSFO watched "The Fifth Element" on television. I slept fairly soundly except I had an extensive dream about an athletic event in a sewer.

This morning it still smelled in High Bop As we drove away after checking out we passed a picturesque meadow just seconds from the motel’s driveway. At the center of the meadow was an aerator-digester, and the outflow pipes to a settling pond of a small sewage treatment plant.

"So that’s the problem," HC shouted out. "There’s a sewage treatment plant on the premises."

I thought back to my encounter with the manager the first night of our stay. "Oh? Yes, yes, the restaurant was having a problem today. It should be fine
soon. Just shut your window and run the air conditioner."

Restaurant my ass. I imagine that he’s heard that complaint again and again. Probably nightly. And he has to come up with new excuses. Or maybe he just repeats the same one. The old stand by.

Correct me if I am wrong, Mr. Motel Man. If that smell was an anomaly I’d like to know. If HC is wrong about the sewage treatment plant on the premises, let us know.

But this weekend, the High Bop was Smellsville.

*Name has been changed.

Birthdays still feel like special days even when you’re my age. That’s probably because my parents always did special things for us on our birthday.  I say "our" because I am a twin and I share my birthday with my sister.

As children, we were often in Bridgehampton, Water Mill or Sagaponick, Long Island on our birthday. We’d stay at this old-fashioned rooming house called Stepankowski (I’m pretty sure it’s not there anymore). It was the kind of place where everyone eats dinner at the same time, and eats the same thing. They probably had a croquet set on the lawn. Or horseshoes. Other times we’d stay in a B&B called the Conklin House and eat breakfast in the kitchen with the Conklins.

We’d always go to the Penny Candy Store in Water Mill —the one in mentioned in the The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh—on the day and carefully pick out an assortment of tootsie rolls, licorice sticks, colorful dots on paper, jaw breakers. The candies were still just a penny then. I think that place still exists but you can be sure those candies don’t cost a penny anymore.

We’d go to the beach and swim, play in the sand for hours. Stop at antique stores (my parent’s hobby) and buy swirly colored antique marbles. That’s what we collected then.

I remember many birthday dinners at old fashioned Long Island restuarants (cloth napkins, waiters in white jackets) where I’d always order L.I. Duck L’orange. And coca cola. That was a birthday treat.

A summer birthday like mine often passes unnoticed by friends. When I was a child I never had a birthday party in school. In my day, the schools didn’t do a special summer birthday party for all the kids with summer birthdays. 

But that never bothered me. It has always felt like my very private day. I love it when people remember. But if they don’t I understand. It’s the dog days of August afterall and I’m usually away.

So it feels like a secret birthday; I have birthdays just like everyone else (and I grow one year older) but
they happen on a day when no one is looking. That’s my summer
birthday.

One year, when we were 7 or 8, my sister had a beautiful garden party in Riverside Park. We went to our favorite party store on Lexington Avenue and she picked out the most beautiful streamers, paper plates, cups, napkins, hats; it was absolutely magical, the most special party in the world.

We went to separate schools and had different friends. I remember a sleep over party when I was six. With my cousin, we made groovy sixties posters that said: "Let’s Swing" and "Do the Twist."

In recent years, we have been separate on our birthday. I’m usually on the farm in California and she’s usually in New York on the day. It felt grown up in a way. Like I was claiming the day for myself. But something was missing…

When in California, my mother-in-law often serves a birthday
breakfast. She sets the table in the garden room with her Italian
floral plates, Matisse tea cups, flowers from the garden. Fresh oranges, figs, cantaloupe, nectarines. My favorite
present ever: from Teen Spirit. He gave me a huge Bob Dylan songbook
knowing that I would cry. I did.

We were together for the big Four Oh, when mother threw us a cocktail party in her living room with a jazz trio and a very tall bartender. I even got to sing (Cigarette holder that wigs me over his shoulder he digs me, out cattin’ that Satin Doll). There was champagne and finger food, friends toasting, saying nice things.

One year HC and I went to Chez Panisse on my birthday and discovered that August 28th is also the birthday of the restaurant and they always have a special birthday menu on that day. There are usually other people celebrating their birthdays, too.

For the last five or more years we’ve made Chez Panisse my birthday tradition on our shared birthday. We drive into Berkeley from the farm. Go to Cody’s Books and The Gardener in Emmeryville. Stop in at another favorite bookstore on Shattuck Avenue and then go into the simple but elegant California arts and crafts style restaurant. They always have a special birthday poster by David Lance Goines (above).

This year, like every year, I want my birthday to be a perfect day in Sagaponick with a trip to the Penny Candy Store, the ocean and a garden party in Riverside Park. A bookstore browse in Berkeley, Matisse dishes in the garden, fresh vegetables at Chez Panisse. A jazz trio in the living room and good friends making toasts.

Ya wanna come?

The
Apple recall is the second-largest safety recall in the consumer
electronics industry, after Dell’s. Though it is smaller than the Dell
recall, the percentage of Apple’s customers affected is greater than
the percentage of Dell customers.

Apple is recalling batteries
from some iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 laptops, representing a third of
the notebook computers it sold between October 2003 and this month. For
some customers, it will be the second recall for the same problem.
Replacement batteries sent as part of an earlier recall should
themselves be replaced, the company advised.

Apple said 700,000 of the batteries were in computers sold outside the United States.

Sony
said it was shouldering much of the cost of the Dell and Apple recalls,
which it estimated would cost as much as 30 billion yen, or $258
million.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission,
which announced the voluntary recall along with Apple, said the company
had reported nine incidents of batteries overheating, including two
that resulted in minor burns and others that caused some property
damage. The agency said no serious injuries or deaths were reported.

Thanks to Brooklyn Record for a quick list of blog and other coverage of the Atlantic Yards public meeting yesterday.

The same word keeps popping up in the coverage of last night’s Atlantic Yards hearing — "raucous." According to AM NY, union members and supporters of the Atlantic Yards project outnumbered its opponents by at least three-to-one. Still, Councilwoman Leticia James spoke vehemently against the project. "If this project were built, there would be far-reaching negative impacts on public health, air quality, infrastructure, waste management, noise abatement, the environment and much else," she said. The paper claimed that James "later strained to speak over the howls and booing of the crowd."

Raucous Meeting on Atlantic Yards [NY Times]
Raucous Crowd Packs Hearing [AM NY]
Raucous Hearing for Arena Project [NY Metro]
Hoop Dreams Draw a Foul [NY Post]
AY Supporters Out in Force at Epic Hearing, but Opponents Go the Distance [AY Report]

I’m listening to a bunch of Brooklyn foodies on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC (it’s nearly 2 p.m. on Thursday).

Brooklyn food is more than Nathan’s Coney Island hot dogs and Junior’s cheesecake. Rick Field of Rick’s Picks, Bret Birnbaum from Wine Cellar Sorbets, and Brooklyn College food historian Annie Hauck Lawson, take us on a tour of Brooklyn cuisine…from arugula grown in the Red Hook projects, to smoked fish in Greenpoint. For more information on Brooklyn cuisine, visit Edible Brooklyn and Brooklyn Eats.

They’re talking about the food renaissance in Brooklyn. The borough has always had great food and specialty products and it’s just getting better and better. It used to be the beer brewing capital in the United States.

Here’s a random list of what they talked about:

Rick’s Picks (Note: Sunday, September 17th on Orchard Street in Manhattan is Pickle Day)
Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes
Manhattan’s Favorite Soda (named for Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint)
Wineseller Sorbets (Cabernet on a stick; an adult dessert for sophisticated palattes)
Bierkraft
Blue Apron Foods
Various tortilla makers in Bushwick
Brewer’s Row in Bushwick (ghosts of old breweries)
Foot long oysters in Jamaica Bay
a documentary called "Gotham Fishtales" (includes shoreline food in Brooklyn)
Thriving Chinatown in Sunset Park
Wi Ki Norwegian Chinese Restaurant
World Tong Seafood 6202 18th Ave, (one of the best Dim Sum restaurants in the world says LL)
Bensonhurst: Italian restaurants moving out?
Edible Brooklyn
Gomberg Seltzer (there’s a waiting list for seltzer delivery)
Fox’s U-bet is made in Brooklyn
Williamsburg restaurants
Cherry cheese knishes
Brooklyn nostalgia
Camarari Bakery in Carroll Gardens (featured in Moonstruck)
Royal Crown Bakery on 8th Avenue and 68th Street

Friends of Soundtrack will be glad to hear that the owner is close to signing a lease on a new space on Fifth Avenue. The owner likes the space, the price is right, and there might even be room for a cafe in the back (a splendid idea).

The owner is still trying to decide whether it would be better to be north of  Union Street near Gorilla Coffee. Apparently, that is the younger, groovier Park Slope. But it sounded like he was leaning toward the space that is south of Union Street.

That space will need a major renovation that will take upwards of two months. Sounds like Soundtrack won’t be back in biz until November at the earliest.

Today was a big day for Rob Reuland, local Park Slope writer and former prosecutor. A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Reuland who was demoted after he said his borough was the best place for a prosecutor to work because "we’ve got more dead bodies per square inch than anybody else."

He made the statement to New York Magazine in 2001 while he was promoting his crime novel "Hollowpoint." He was demoted and then fired four months later.

In 2004, he won a $30,000 jury award in a lawsuit against the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles Hynes, over his demotion.

Lawyers for the city had appealed the jury award, saying that Reuland’s statement does not deserve First Amendment protection because Reuland had made the statement to increase the sales of his book.

In a decision released yesterday, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury’s award, ruling 2-1 that "Reuland’s statement is a matter of public concern," regardless of any motivations he might have had. The decision affirms a ruling in 2004 by a federal judge in Brooklyn.