As reported on Gowanus Lounge, the F-train caused much unhappiness for Brooklyn subway riders on Friday night and Saturday.

The disruptions continue. Read about it here or you can read all about it here.

On Friday night Teen Spirit didn’t know about the disruptions and ended up having to take a bus to Seventh Avenue. Not happy.

On Saturday night when his band had a show in SoHo they opted to take car services because they had so much equipment.

Hepcat and I took the number 2 train and then switched to the local to get to Don Hills, a music club on Spring Street.

Brooklyn Blogfest

A YEAR IN THE PARK: SO MUCH TO READ

March 2, 2008 louise crawford 1 Comment

Brenda who writes, Prospect: A Year in the Park, has been busy and I have a lot of posts to catch up on. I think her project, to write every day about her experience in Prospect Park is fascinating. In her words: "Daily discoveries in the mystical green heart of Brooklyn." Nice.

There something very Thoreau about the whole endeavor. I love the dailiness of it. The intensity of observing life in the park every day. It’s very transcendental.

Here are some posts to catch up on:

Cleft Ridge Span and the Campertown Elm.

Something about seed pods.

Der Lindenbaum

Off with my overcoat: watching skaters at Kate Wollman Rink

Melting Nethermead

Quest to become biker chick

Prospect Park subway station

Civics and Urban Life

ONLY THE BLOG LINKS

March 2, 2008 louise crawford

Another swastika found on Brooklyn Hts. building (NY Times)

I Write in Brooklyn. Get Over It. (NY Times Book Review)

The Vale of Cashmere in Prospect Park (NY Times)

5 Boros: Which is the best value? (Reclaimed Home)

Dining table = Pool table (Reclaimed Home)

In honor of Schnäck (Brooklynometry)

Rustik Tavern in Clinton Hill (Clinton Hill Blog)

Tracks of My Fears (Luna Park Gazette)

No Words_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford

NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD

March 1, 2008 louise crawford

Brooklyn Blogfest

NEW BLOG ON THE BLOCK: SHELLEYTOWN

March 1, 2008 louise crawford

The blogger at Shelleytown wrote me yesterday and I’m glad she did. I was completely unaware of this Brooklyn blog, which turned one in February 2008. The writing is excellent and the photos are gorgeous.

Here’s how she explains what goes on at Shelleytown:

"Shellytown is where New York life – mostly in brooklyn – is
chronicled, the idea of space in the city is explored, the life of a
writer is revealed (well, maybe) and work unfolds like a tent you might
want to visit."

Shelleytown is a very poetic place. She shares her observations about Brooklyn life in a very evocative and sensorial way.

As she says on her about section, Shelley isn’t from here but she wants to be. She writes, "Day by day, I fall more in love with Brooklyn. This
Web site (call it a blog, if you like) chronicles this love affair –
its dark warehouses, strange beaches, and infinite nooks and crannies." I think Shelley considers the entire blog a photo essay and journal all in one. Here she writes about the sounds outside her window:

"Some nights, it’s a hollow roar billowing over the tracks, the elevated
highway…from something huge and made of steel with wheels and a mad
engine, formed around its own emptiness. After, a shiver a chains
breaking on smooth, broken pavement, and the night’s own emptiness –
now sharper, and much more obvious."

postcard from the coast

EARTH TONEZ: NEW VEGAN ON FIFTH

March 1, 2008 louise crawford 2 Comments

The name sort of reminds me of that pseudo French pronunciation of Target (Targey). What’s with Tonez. That aside, someone over at Park Slope Parents has been to the new Fifth Avenue cafe and had very positive things to say.

There’s
a
really
nice
new
vegan
cafe
on
5th
ave,
just
next
to
the
great
hot
dog
place Willie’s Dogs
between
4th
and
5th
streets. It’s
called
Earth
Tonez
and
it
has
homemade
vegan
deserts
including
cupcakes,
"cheese"cake,
double
chocolate
cakes
and
more.
They
also
make
nice
soups,
sandwiches,
wraps
and
salads
–
all
Vegan.
They
also
have
a
kids’
menu
and
a
menu
for
the
MS-51
crowd
(it’s
nice
to
see
that
these
spots
and
Get
Fresh
are
providing
alternatives
to
the
confectioner’s
donuts
and
candy
that
I
usually
see
the
middle
school
students
eating
for
lunch).

The writer of the above post asked me to add; "the owners are very open and friendly. Also, they do fresh squeezed juices and vegan burgers…"

Civics and Urban Life

MAJOR DISRUPTIONS ON THE F AND G LINES THIS WEEKEND

March 1, 2008 louise crawford

This from NY 1:

Riders of the F or G train may want to leave extra time for their commutes today.

Signal and track work is knocking out service on both lines in parts of Brooklyn through 5 a.m. Monday.

F trains won’t run between the Jay Street and 4th Avenue/9th Street
station. Riders should switch to the D train at 4th Avenue/9th Street
for service to and from Manhattan.

And G trains won’t be running between the Hoyt-Schermerhorn and Smith-9th Street stops.

Free shuttle buses will run between Hoyt-Schermerhorn and 7th Avenue in Brooklyn.

"These are life lines, the G in particular," said City Councilman
David Yassky. " They have no other choice. You know, people get very
frustrated."

Yassky said that he has been pleased with the number of transit
workers available to inform riders of the service changes and help them
onto the shuttle buses.

You can read about it on the MTA website, too.

Postcard from the Slope

BE KIND REWIND: SAW IT, LOVED IT

March 1, 2008 louise crawford

An ode to the amateur, Be Kind Rewind, is a joyous treat for those who love to watch creativity in action.

Jack Black, as a nutty neighborhood character and Mos Def, as an employee at a down-at-its heels neighborhood video store, have to make their own versions of movies after all their VHS tapes are demagnetized.

The film gets wild and fun when we see the two of them (plus Melonie Diaz who joins in for the fun) as they remake these films in a completely ingenuous and kooky ways.

Pizza pies become bloody special effects, xeroxes become old cars, aluminum foil works wonders in a multitude of ways.

In many hilarious scenes, the team recreates Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2, Driving Miss Daisy, When We Were Kings and more.

We loved it.

Cool (blog) celebrity sighting: After the show, we ran into Joe Holmes of Joe’s NYC with his family in the lobby of the Pavilion. They stayed to the very end of the Be Kind Rewind credits. Big cinema buffs that they are, they loved the film.

Civics and Urban Life

AU CONTRAIRE: THE OCASSIONAL NOTE FROM PETER LOFFREDO

March 1, 2008 louise crawford 2 Comments

Here’s something new from our pal Pete of Full Permission Living:

Earlier this week British researchers made headlines with their report that antidepressants are for the most part ineffective. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/26/do-antidepressants-actual_n_88523.html)

But in a fascinating development, now researchers point to growing evidence that depression might actually be good for you. (Is Depression Good for You?)

Interesting. I have very often told people that their "problems" were not their problem, but rather that their judgments of their problems were their problem. And when I taught my class on psychopatholgy, I felt that the best moments were when we examined our "disorders" and "dysfunctions" as adaptations and devices that perhaps regulated the pace of our unfolding into our higher life path. The caterpillar’s coccoon is an apt analogy. Created to protect the caterpillar while it is maturing into a butterfly, the coccoon is quite functional, but to the butterfly needing to spread its wings and fly, it is dysfunctional, something necessary to get out of in order to survive. So, too, with our human emotional and psychological defenses. They are created to help us survive the vulnerabilities ofchildhood, but then we need to shed them in order to soar as adults.

Here’s some excerpts from the article on depression:

"A leading psychiatrist, Dr Paul Keedwell, an expert on mood disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, says that depression is not a human defect at all, but a defence mechanism that in its mild and moderate forms can force a healthy reassessment of personal circumstances.

"There are benefits and that’s why it has persisted. It’s a tough message to hear while you are in depression but I think that there’s a life afterwards,’ Keedwell says. ‘I have received e-mails from ex-sufferers saying in retrospect it probably did help them because they changed direction, a new career for example, and as a result they’re more content day-to-day than before the depression."

"One woman left an abusive relationship and moved on, he says, and might not have done so if depression had not provided the necessary introspection. Similarly, unrealistic expectations are revised when depression sparks a more humble reassessment of strengths and weaknesses. Psychological unease can generate creative work and the rebirth after depression brings a new love affair with life.

"Aristotle believed depression to be of great value because of the insights it could bring. There is also an increased empathy in people who have or have had depression, he says, because they become more attuned to other people’s suffering."