Monthly Archives: July 2012

arts and culture

The Clock by Christian Marclay at Lincoln Center Through August 1

File this under: must-see art event even though it’s not in Brooklyn.

The Clock is 24-hour work of video art by artist Christian Marclay playing at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center through August 1. Marclay has miraculously brought together thousands of clips from the entire history of cinema, from silent films to the present, each featuring an exact time on a clock, on a watch, or in dialogue. The resulting collage tells the accurate time at any given moment, making it both a work of art and literally a working timepiece: a cinematic memento mori.

It sounds amazing. If you’ve got a free 24 hours you can see it all.

Marclay also composed the soundscape, driven by a racing and swelling symphony of ringing, ticking, footsteps, laughter, tears, and music.

When it’s midnight in New York, Orson Welles is getting impaled at midnight on a clock tower in “The Stranger.” Twelve hours later, it’s  “High Noon.” Admission is free; Lincoln Center advises checking its website to avoid long lines.

Admission is free. Visitors are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. It will be at the

arts and culture

New Penguin Chick at the Aquarium in Coney Island

Say hello to the newest addition to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium in Coney Island is a black-footed penguin chick, the first one to hatch in 15 years at the aquarium.

A penguin chick.

Black-footed penguins are endangered, making the chick’s arrival significant not only for the aquarium, but for the species’ survival.

The female chick was born in February to mom, Boulder , and father, Dassen. Penguin chicks have soft downy plumage that stays with them for a few months until their juvenile feathers come in followed by adult plumage. The black-footed penguins can be seen in the aquarium’s indoor/outdoor Sea Cliffs exhibit.

 

arts and culture

Park Slope’s Olympic Fencer: Race Imboden


Named after a Jonny Quest character, Race Imboden moved to Park Slope when he was 10 and loves the penang chicken curry at Rice Thai on Seventh Avenue.

And he’s on the Olympic fencing team. His passions: fencing, of course, and hip hop. The Daily News has a story about local Olympic heroes today.

Have a look at the video by @radical media which follows Race while he trains for the Olympics, and sheds some light on his unprecedented rise in the world of fencing. It’s a really interesting piece so watch it and learn more about our Park Slope Olympic hopeful, Race Imboden.

Food and Drink

Afternoon Wine at Brooklyn Crab

After shopping at Fairway on Saturday afternoon, I decided to sit at the bar at Brooklyn Crab in Red Hook and have a glass of wine and some lunch.

Brooklyn Crab is the latest addition to the Red Hook restaurant scene recently opened  by the folks who own Alma.

The shrimp cocktail I ordered was delicious, as was the wine. And the view. OMIGOD. From the fun bar, which feels like a shack you’d find on a magical beach somewhere, Brooklyn Crab has a fantastic view of New York Harbour, the Fairway parking lot, the Statue of Liberty, water, sun, sky…

It’s very transporting. I highly recommend it for a Saturday afternoon. I’m sure the night is fun, too. But I hear it’s been getting very crowded. My sister was told there was a three hour wait on a Sunday night.

Because Red Hook is hard to get to on public transportation, they offer free shuttle service to and from the Carroll St. Station of the F and G trains. Just exit the station and look for the little yellow school bus with the Brooklyn Crab logo.

arts and culture

Breaking Bad at The Gate

How about a little communal TV watching?

We watched Episode two of Breaking Bad, Season five at The Gate in Park Slope, where they will be screening the show every Sunday night at  10PM for the duration of the season.

Season Five, so far, deals with the aftermath of the mind-blowing (literally) death of Gus Fring. At the start of Episode two, we find ourselves at Madrigal Electromotive, the parent company of Gus’ Los Pollos Hermanos.

It was a little disorienting at first. What are we doing in Germany?

I ordered white wine, Hugh had a beer. We sat at the bar with other Breaking Bad obsessives.

Back in Albuquerque, Walt wants to start cooking meth again now that he has blown up Gus. But there’s a lot that needs to be put in place before he can proceed…

The bartender somehow managed to watch the show, tend bar, and collect glassware from The Gate’s patio with aplomb. He’s a marvel. It was interesting to watch the show with a crowd.

My impressions of the episode: Walt is becoming so evil; Jesse is trapped and guilty; Skyler seems freaked out by who Walt is becoming (see picture).

The woman sitting next to be at the bar learned that The Gate was showing Breaking Bad from OTBKB. She asked Google: Where can I watch Breaking Bad in Park Slope?

She said she’ll be back at the bar next week.

 

 

Civics and Urban Life

Brooklyn Trolley Tours Launches on July 25

July 25 at 2PM is the official launch of Brooklyn Trolley Tours. The event is scheduled to take place at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall followed by a short trolley ride to the NYC Transit Museum for willing participants.

Starting in Manhattan, the BKTT is a 3-hour tour of Brooklyn in a mode of transportation from yesteryear – the Trolley car. Making neighborhood stops rich in history, culture and scenery – including Carroll Gardens, DUMBO, the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Flea and many MORE beautiful and historic borough locales.

BKTT will also feature specialty tours such as a “Taste of Brooklyn Food” (4-hour tour focusing on some of the best food the borough has to offer) or the “BKTT – Coney Island Edition” (5-hour tour of the USA first amusement park).

 

 

 

Civics and Urban Life

What Is The Yellow Pages?

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Remember The Yellow Pages? There’s probably a stack of them on the stoop of your apartment building or brownstone. Millions of them were dropped off recently in the five boroughs.

There are young people who have no idea what The Yellow Pages is and why people would use it.

The Yellow Pages was the “physical Google” for finding local business phone numbers and addresses. For those of us above a certain age, it was our “link” to the services we needed. It was indispensable. Truly.

Not anymore.

They had a great advertising slogan:  Let your fingers do the walking. It’s interesting to remember a time when we used The Yellow Pages and the White Pages constantly. The Yellow Pages is organized by category rather than alphabetically. The name? The books were originally printed on yellow paper. White pages were for non-commercial listings.

There are still uses for The Yellow Pages. Well, it makes a great door stop, a counter weight, scintillating bathroom reading. If  there’s no Internet service, the Yellow Pages would be enormously helpful. I’d keep it around just in case. There are elderly people and those who don’t use computers who still depend on it.

It’s definitely becoming a relic of another time.

arts and culture

“Mesmerized” by Piper Theatre’s The Island of Doctor Moreau

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Richard Grayson, author of Brooklyn Diaries, I Brake for Delmore Schwartz, And to Think He Kissed Him on Lorimer Street, and other titles, ventured to Park Slope this weekend to see Piper Theatre’s outdoor production of The Island of Doctor Moreau.

I love to read Grayson’s reactions to local culture. He’s smart and very knowedgable about art and theater.

He’s also an interesting guy. I’ve read the Brooklyn Diaries, which is compulsive reading (by a compulsive writer) for those interested in one young man’s college and post-college years in 1970’s and 80’s Brooklyn.

Grayson writes about his cultural wanderings in Williamsburg and other neighborhoods on his blog, Dumbo Books of Brooklyn. Just this week, he’s written about  a zine fest at Pete’s Candy Store, Eugene Mirman in Williamsburg Park and a recent breakfast in Ft. Greene. He also takes pictures.

“Tonight we were mesmerized by a stunning performance of an innovative, visceral, and commanding adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau conceived and executed by the amazing Piper Theatre outside the Old Stone House in Park Slope’s Washington Park.”

Civics and Urban Life

Triumph of Civic Virtues Sculpture Moving to Green-Wood Cemetery

File this under: One more reason, among many, to visit Green-Wood Cemetery.

A sculpture created by Brooklyn sculptor Frederick William MacMonnies in 1919 is coming to Green-Wood Cemetery from Queens and is causing quite an inter-borough uproar.

Queens City Council Member Peter Vallone believes it should stay in Queens.

McMonnies, born in Brooklyn Heights,  is considered a part of the Beaux Arts movement. His sculpture of Nathan Hale is in City Hall Park inManhattan.

The heirs of the sculptor have offered to pay for the restoration of the statue IF it moves to Green-Wood. But Queens politicians and neighborhood leaders believe it should be kept in Queens.

An almost naked man standing over topless mermaids, the statue titled “Triumph of Civic Virtues” is no stranger to controversy. According to DNA Info, Anthony Weiner, before is sexting naked pictures scandal, called the statue “sexist” claiming it didn’t represent virtue at all.

 

Civics and Urban Life

Again? LICH to Layoff 150 Employees

This is deja vu all over again. Long Island College Hospital laid off 150 employees on Friday.

The University Hospital of Brooklyn at LICH recently merged with SUNY Downstate Medical Center last year and gave 30 days notice to those who they gave the boot. The layoffs are in departments throughout the hospital.

The hospital is experiencing “serious financial pressure,” a representative told the Brooklyn Paper.

 

 

 

Civics and Urban Life

Bed-Stuy Man Injured in Aurora Movie Theater

Christopher Rapoza, who lives in Bed-Stuy, was inside the Aurora movie theater when gunfire erupted. He was grazed in the back by a bullet. Fortunately, he is expected to recover but twelve other theatergoers weren’t as fortunate. He used  Facebook to notify his friends that he’d been shot but that he was alright.

 

 

arts and culture

Obama on Aurora Shooting: Life is Very Fragile, Our Time Here is Limited and Precious

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So nice to have an eloquent president at times like these.

“Life is very fragile and our time here is limited and precious, what matters at the end of the day isn’t the small things … it’s ultimately how we choose to treat one another and love one another. It’s what we do on a daily basis to give our lives meaning and purpose… at the end of the day what we will remember is who we love and what we did for others.”

To see the speech go here. 

arts and culture

Anger and Grief About the Aurora Movie Theater Shooting

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I feel so sad for the twelve victims of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting. I feel so sad for their families. Dozens more were injured in this horiffic crime perpetrated by a 24-year-old madman.

And I feel so angry. A dark room where people sit together in the great communal rite of movie watching is no place to worry about being gunned down. It is like having to fear that you will be murdered while you are dreaming.

Watching a film is, in a way, a sacred and shared cultural experience. I think of it as a neutural zone where you can trust that people will not act in inappropriate ways. To fear that someone might decide to shoot moviegoers is just so hideous and random.

I am angry because I had to tell my 15-year-old daughter about this violence because it was on the car radio. She was planning to attend The Dark Night Rises this weekend. She’s been watching The Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger as The Joker) in preparation.

I am angry because there are people in America, who are capable of this kind of random violence.

I am angry because we don’t have better gun control laws.

I am angry because something so pleasurable has been tainted by violence. Once again.

 

Civics and Urban Life

Park Slope’s Brad Lander Called Social Justice Hero by The Nation

An article by Peter Dreier in the July 30-August 6, 2012 edition of the Nation calls Park Slope’s City Councilmember Brad Lander one of today’s social justice heroes. Here’s an excerpt

“Since his election to the New York City Council in 2009, Brad Lander has become a master at inside/outside organizing, using his office to encourage grassroots mobilization. Lander served for a decade as executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, a Brooklyn nonprofit, which garnered national recognition for its combination of community organizing and community development. Lander then spent six years as director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, helping groups organize for neighborhood improvement. He led a successful campaign to create New York City’s inclusionary zoning program, which requires developers to set aside 20 percent of their units for low- and moderate-income families and to pay building service workers a living wage.

“On the council Lander has led the fight for a living-wage law, community involvement in budgeting, affordable housing and an inspector general’s office to monitor the NYPD. A co-founder of the council’s progressive caucus, Lander, 43, helped catalyze a group of activists and academics to formulate One City/ One Future, a progressive manifesto for economic development.”

Who else is on this list. Dunno. Don’t have access to The Nation online. Pay Wall!

 

Civics and Urban Life

Annual State of Coney Island Address by Dick Zigun

You’ve heard of the State of the Union, the annual address by POTUS; the State of the State, an address by governors; the State of the City, the state of the borough…

On Thursday, July 26, Dick Zigun, considered the unoffical Mayor of Coney Island, will deliver his annual State of Coney Island Address, his annual wisecracking about the 2012 state of affairs at America’s Playground.

Part performance-art, part playful people’s politics, Zigun’s annual address is known for self promotional humor, as well as real insights into behind the scenes affairs at the poor man’s Riviera.

Zigun’s State of Coney Island Address will be delivered live, at the Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY on THURSDAY, JULY 26, 7:30PM. The General Public is welcome to attend for $5 (absolutely FREE FOR CONEY ISLAND USA MEMBERS). A brief Question and Answer session will take place immediately after the speech.

 

Food and Drink

The Ploughman, a Foodie Emporium in South Park Slope

This morning walking into Forty Weight Coffee, the cafe that doubles as Sweet Wolf’s restaurant, the owner said, “Someone mentioned your blog yesterday.” Then he remembered that it was Alice at The Ploughman, the new cheese and gourmet food shop at 438 Seventh Avenue near 14th Street in Park Slope.

The Ploughman’s Lunch is the name of a 1983 film with Jonathan Pryce and Tim Curry, but it’s also a term for a cold sandwich served in British pubs with cheese, ham, pickle, apples, pickled onions, lettuce,  bread and butter.

The Ploughman offers artisan cheeses, meats, sandwiches, chocolates and beers. It is in the space that used to be Grab. Alice has revitalzied the decor of the old shop by painting it a gorgeous shade of purple. Not hippie purple but an elegant purple (see picture of Alice in front of her purple wall).

Clearly,  Alice has revitalized the shop with a foodie’s selection of breads, sandwiches, condiments and items perfect for a Celebrate Brooklyn picnic.

The Ploughman features Forty Weight Coffee and also has olive oils and probably dozens of other things that are delicious and wonderful. I will most certainly be back to explore.

Civics and Urban Life

Security Increased at NYC Movie Theaters After Colorado Shooting

The New York Police Department released the following statement in the aftermath of the shooting at the Aurora, Colorado movie theater, which killed 12 people and injured dozens. The killer was a 24-year-old man. The film was a midnight showing of the new Batman movie.

“As a precaution against copycats and to raise the comfort levels among movie patrons in the wake of the horrendous shooting in Colorado, the New York City Police Department is providing coverage at theaters where the ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is playing in the five boroughs.”

arts and culture

Tom Martinez, Witness: Buddhist Monk with Open Hands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ven Bhikkhu Bodhi, who leads Buddhist Global Relief, is a renowned translator of the Pali Canon and frequent contributor to Parabola and many other magazines and journals. Here he poses for a photo after a meeting of Occupy Faith inside the sanctuary of the Fourth Universalist Society (Central Park West and 76th St.).

When I explained I wanted to photograph him for a project having to do with open hands and the UN effort to pass an Arms Trade Treaty he readily agreed.

This image of the Buddhist monk and others will be projected behind live dancers next Thursday, July 26th at 6PM at the Church Center for the UN (E. 44th St. and 1st Ave, directly across the street from the UN).

For info on the Arms Trade Treaty: http://www.controlarms.org/news.php?id=11351

arts and culture

Machel Montano: Spirit of Trinidad Carnival at Celebrate Brooklyn

On Friday, July 20, Machel Montano brings the wild and steamy spirit of Trinidad Carnival to Celebrate Brooklyn’s bandshell in Prospect Park. Doors open at 6:30 PM.

Born in 1974 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Montano’s career began in 1982 at age seven; at age nine he formed his band, Pranasonic Express. His 1985 debut album Too Young to Soca was an instant hit and at the age of 12, he was the winner of the Caribbean Song Festival

The night begins with an opening set by the socially conscious Creole singer-songwriter Bélo, who has been called Haiti’s musical ambassador to the world.

arts and culture

Creative Activity for Teens & Tweens at Film Biz Recyling in Gowanus

Here’s a fun thing for teens and tweens to do this weekend. Great if you don’t know what else to do with all those special family photos, cards, and random pictures on your wall.

Join Ashley Lucas at Film Biz Recycling this summer to make something super cool with your finds at home + the wonderful recyclables at FBR! Register today for Saturday’s event.

Found Items Collage

Ages 10+ | Great for Tweens + Teens

July 22, 2012 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm

$15 Per Person

 Film Biz Recycling

540 President Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Civics and Urban Life

Good News From the MTA for Brooklyn

Today the MTA announced that they’re spending $29 million to restore some service lost to budget cuts last year, and even some new bus lines.

Back in 2009, the MTA cried poverty and eliminated certain bus routes in an effort to balance the 2009-2010 budget (at the expense of its customers, I might add).

Today they’ve restored many of those eliminated bus lines and announced some brand new bus lines in places that never had buses before. One of these routes goes from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Greenpoint along the East River waterfront.

Red Hook, the neighborhood most underserved by public transportation, also got new bus service, which is very good news.

A cynic might say that the MTA did the good deed to sweeten the fact that they’re planning to raise fares next year. But the adding back and expansion of services is good news since much of it is happening in Brooklyn.

They also say that there has been an uptick in the number of riders on public transportation. All of these improvements will be phased in over the course of a year beginning this coming October.

“You have my assurance that we are committed to the strongest, most efficiently operated transportation system we can provide to the region and promise you that we will make every effort to continue to make the kind of progress that makes these improvements possible,” says Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joseph J. Lhota who has been in service since November.

For specifics about the restoration and improvements go here. 

arts and culture

Best Fifth Avenue Bar to Watch Louis CK (Community Bookstore Episodes)

Tonight at 10:30pm! Watch the episode of Louie shot at the Community Bookstore with the bookstore crowd at the Loki Lounge (Fifth Avenue and 2nd Street). It’s a screening party!

You’ll get a chance to see the bookstore on TV.

Says the bookstore: “If you can’t make it to Loki (and our apologies for the late notice-it’s not easy finding a bar with TVs that’s not fearful of bookstore rowdies) you can watch “Louie” on FX in the safety of your home. And, with luck and if we behave ourselves, Loki will let us back next week when the second bookstore episode airs.”

Civics and Urban Life

More Bus Service to Red Hook

What a week it was for Brookyn bus and subway riders.

Well, it’s practically  old news, but it’s worth repeating that the  MTA has agreed to make the G train 5-stop extension to Church Avenue permanent. The G extension has increased the number of trains running along the Culver line through Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and connecting our neighborhoods to Downtown Brooklyn and North Brooklyn.

But now there’s more news: the B57 bus (which now runs along Smith and Court Street), will be extended into Red Hook (past Smith/9th Street and down to IKEA), and more buses are being added to the route. That means another bus serving Red Hook, which desperately needs a second bus, and much less crowding on the B61 line, which often skips stops because buses are too crowded.

Big News and a big win for Brooklyn subway and bus riders.

 

Civics and Urban Life

Brooklyn Mudra: Yoga Hike in Prospect Park

by Anna Sheinman

Practicing yoga outdoors will add a different dimension to your practice.

Yoga trains your mind to be still. When a mind is tame, you can see things clearly. Nature will intensify this experience and heighten your awareness.

By practicing outdoors you can establish your link to the environment. You can feel how inseparable you are from it.

Many yogic postures resemble animals and natural elements. Practicing it outdoors, you can experience this inseparability.

Looking into the vastness of the horizon, observing graceful birds flying in a space of “no walls,” the open space expands into the vastness and you sense the freedom you just can’t replicate indoors.

Spice up your practice with the special effects by inhaling and focusing on the smells of nature, such as mountain winds, ocean tides or grass. Exhale, be grateful and release back into nature. Listen to the music of the trees and the wind of the mountains. When you stop and “smell the outdoors,” it’s as if Mother Nature is telling us to be present and breathe deeply. Here’s a chance to practice Yoga outdoors:

LUNA Free Yoga: Yoga Hike in the Prospect Park

28 July, 2012 at 9.00am

Prospect Park West and 9th Street (map)

We kick off the day with an easy hike in Prospect Park to explore the beauty of the urban wonder with like-minded friends. We will continue to our amazing setting. The class will feature Vinyasa Krama as our main practice followed by breathing and meditation practices. It will consist of pose variations done slowly with great attention to breath steadiness and comfort. Outdoor Yoga Hike offers a stimulating experience for newbies and advanced yogis alike.

Wear: comfortable stretchy clothing Bring: Water sunblock mat or a towel. We’ll meet at the entrance to Prospect Park West on 9th Street (take F to 7th Avenue and walk towards the park) RSVP your spot today: http://www.yogalocal.com/?page_id=13302

See Anna’s bio here.

 

arts and culture

Best Park Slope Bar to Watch Breaking Bad: The Gate

The Gate,surely one of the best neighborhood bars ever, on Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope will air Sunday episodes of the fifth season of Breaking Bad.

If you’re into Breaking Bad and you do not have cable television, this will be excellent news.

This is the place to wach the continuing mis-adventures of Water and Jesse played by the great Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. The show, directed and written by Vince Gilligan,  airs at 10PM Sunday nights in NYC.

This is the fifth and final season and from what I’ve heard the first episode was INCREDIBLE.

 

Civics and Urban Life

Green Beans Not Walgreens in Windsor Terrace

2,000 signatures have been collected so far from neighbors in Windsor Terrace, who are opposed to a new Walgreens at the site of the old Key Food, that went out of business in 2012.

“Green Beans Not Walgreens” is smart and funny new slogan (and website name) the group has come up with. The site will be chock full of information and action to oppose the replacement of Key Food with a Walgreens pharmacy.

The neighborhood activists say the area needs a full-service grocery store and not another pharmacy/drug store. Read more at their website. 

 

arts and culture

Food Will Win the War at Union Hall Tonight

Pop quiz: Who said “Food Will Win the War “and what war is it?

Also, the band, Food Will Win the War is performing at Union Hall (702 Union Street) in Park Slope this evening at 8:00 PM. It’s probably their last local show for a couple of months.

“Food Will Win the War explores a space largely unexplored even in Brooklyn’s dense music scene. There’s a delicate balance in this music between the fun of surrealist fantasy and the acceptance of life’s realities.” -Mike Levine, The Deli Magazine

And if you’re into bocce ball, you should come early (and/or stay late) because there are two bocce ball courts upstairs at Union Hall