It’s Friday and there’s is so much to do this weekend: it’s actually ridiculous.
On Monday I want a full report on how much of it you actually did, okay? I know I’m going to be busy (Brooklyn Book Festival, Bergen Street Lot Party, Zora Space, BAM). Heck, I just spent the last two hours scouring the listings for the best and brightest things to do this weekend. This is for you, OTBKB readers. Enjoy! And keep reading…
The Brooklyn Book Festival is a huge, free public event presenting an array of literary stars and emerging authors who represent the exciting world of literature today. One of America’s premier literary and literacy events, this hip, smart, diverse gathering attracts thousands of book lovers of all ages. The festival is organized around themed readings and devoted to timely and lively panel discussions with top national and international authors. Click here for festival program schedule.
The Brooklyn Book Festival now includes three days of parties, music, film screenings, children’s theatre, literary games and author appearances that “bookend” the festival—September 10th, 11th and 12th with partners like BAM Rose Cinemas, Bell House, Brooklyn Bridge Park, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Brooklyn Public Library, CoCo 66, Freebird Books & Goods, Greenlight Bookstore, Irondale Center, Light Industry, Littlefield, Pizza D’Amore, powerHouse Books, and St. Ann’s Warehouse! Click here for Bookend events schedule.
On Saturday, Sept 11 at 8PM in the front lounge of the Bell House: Rob Sheffield will read from his latest book, “Talking to Girls about Duran Duran” and chat about new wave music, adolescent love, and John Hughes movie soundtracks. Rob is the best-selling author of “Love is a Mixtape” and has been a music journalist for over 20 years. “Talking to Girls about Duran Duran” is his latest book, a poignant tour of his 1980s adolescence, as told through music of the decade. Stick around afterward and enjoy Rob and other DJs spin tunes highlighted in the book.
Movies:
BAMcinématek continues its tribute to the fang-toothed undead with Bela Lugosi’s Dead, Vampires Live Forever, along with a sneak preview of the new film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson) starring Zach Galifanakis.
At BAM for the family on Sept 11: Popular books for children spring to life in the enchanting films in this series of animated shorts for ages 2 to 6 presented in conjunction with the Brooklyn Book Festival. Narrated by Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Giamatti, John Lithgow, Spike Lee, Bobby McFerrin, Susan Sarandon and more!
Eat Pray Love, Despicable Me, The Switch, Going the Distance, The American, Avatar in 3D at the Pavilion in Park Slope.
Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Mesrine: Public Enemy #1, Last Train Home at BAM.
Music:
At Zora Space on Friday, Sept 10 at 8PM: Zora Space celebrates Craig Harris’ birthday this Friday night. His quartet will be performing. Show starts around 8pm, but ZS is a small space and they recommend getting there a little early to stake out a good spot. What better way to spend a Friday night in Park Slope?
At Barbes on Friday, Sept 10 at 10PM: Oud player/vocalist Mavrothi Kontanis, recreates the traditional songs of Greece and Asia Minor from the 1920s-1940s. Their repertoire draws from Antonios Dhiamantidis, Roza Eskenazi and Rita Abadzi, along with some original music composed by Kontanis and arranged by the ensemble. Kontanis is joined by clarinetist Lefteris Bournias, violinist Megan Gould and percussionist Timothy Quigley.
At the Bell House on Friday, Sept 10 at 8PM: Brooklyn-born LaLa Brooks was the youngest member of The Crystals, just 15, when she sang lead vocal on the ‘Wall Of Sound’ classics “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me” at Gold Star studios in Los Angeles for producer Phil Spector. (“A cloudburst of handclaps, Don Randi’s driving piano triplets and honking saxes, Hal Blaine’s drum fills rattling like gunfire, “Da Doo Ron Ron” is probably the most irrepressibly exhilarating song that Spector ever recorded. LaLa Brooks’s vocal a gust of sheer, heart-lifting lovestruck joy.” – Mick Brown, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector.
At Barbes on Saturday, Sept 11 at 10PM: La Rubias Del Norte. Their sound is a re-invention, a nostalgic throwback to a time and place mostly imagined where Peruvian waltzes, Andean huaynos and Cuban Guajiras mix with French opera, Cowboy tunes and Bollywood classics. The result plays like a dreamy soundtrack with classical harmonies set to a Latin beat.
Theater:
Sept 11 -26: What the Butler Saw at the Gallery Players in Park Slope.
This weekend at the Brooklyn Lyceum: Captain Aesop of the Starship Fable, the annual fable-telling contest aboard the Starship Fable as the crew competes to see who can tell the best fable in five minutes or less. The morals are straight from Aesop, but given the crew’s point of reference “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” becomes “The Girl Who Cried Meteor” and “Belling the Cat” becomes “Belling the Alien.” A cast of seven takes on multiple roles in the 10 fables, while Captain Aesop and First Mate Zyrtec introduce the fable-tellers and provide music and sound effects.
Art
Sept 9 through the end of the year: Take me Home, an exhibit of paper silhouettes with handcarved frames and furtive inky inscriptions by Barbara Ensor opens on September 9th at the Phyllis Stigliano Gallery (62 Eight Ave, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.) The gallery is a hop and a skip from Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza subway station. Near the Montauk Club. Opening party on Sunday September 12th from 3 to 5. THERE WILL BE COOKIES. There will be wine.
Bergen Street Lot Party
A Bergen Street tip from A Child Grows in Brooklyn: “My favorite stretch of a commercial street is in Park Slope on Bergen Street between Flatbush and 5th Ave. I used to go to Pintchik Hardware all the time when I worked as an Art Coordinator on tv commercials- even when we were filming in Manhattan. It was known as the cheapest and best place to buy bulk cans of paint. Back then, it was surrounded by lots of well…nothing I was interested in. Now, it has everything I like: Bump Brooklyn (stylish clothes whether pregnant or not), Babeland (yes we go there!), lululemon athletica (my “go to” yoga clothes), Bark (some of the best dogs in Brooklyn), Ride Brooklyn (great bike stock, knowledgeable and honest bike enthusiasts – even if their service can be slow), and Private Stock (a bit like my old fave mens’ boutiques on 8th Ave in Chelsea). There’s a new organic food shop that opened as well, Sun In Bloom, which I have yet to try. Anyone? I also haven’t visited Melt yet, though I’ve had their food at parties…”
Friday, Sept 10, 8pm and Saturday, Sept 11, all day and into the evening: Help Babeland make Bergen Street the most sexually savvy block in Brooklyn! Test your sex smarts at our Trivia Table and win a 10% discount as a reward for your knowledge. We’ll be stationed in the community lot on Friday Night and in front of our store on Saturday. Improve your sexual IQ with free mini-workshops in our store all day Saturday. At 12pm and 4pm, we’ll divulge our best oral sex tips for him, and at 2pm and 6pm, we’ll introduce you to the wonderful world of the G-spot.