September: There’s a presidential campaign (are you going to Ohio or Pennsylvania?), the kids go back to school, the adults get serious at work and there’s so much in the way of cultural events in Brooklyn…

Next weekend is GO Brooklyn Art: An event sponsored by the Brooklyn Museum, nearly 2000 Brooklyn-based artists are opening their studios to the community on September 8–9, 2012, from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. 80 artists in Park Slope will be opening their studios,  including my husband Hugh Crawford, Simon Dinnerstein, Bernette Rudolph, Jonathan Blum and many more. Check the Go website for information and addresses. 

Two Moon Art House and Cafe, located on Fourth Avenue between 3rd and 2nd Streets, is a good starting place for visitors to Gowanus and Park Slope studios. If you start your tour there you will get maps, advice, and all the information you need. Community members registered as voters will visit studios and nominate artists for inclusion in a group exhibition to open at the Brooklyn Museum on Target First Saturday, December 1, 2012.

September 17-22: Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Events are literary themed events taking place in clubs, parks, bookstores, theatres and libraries culminating with the festival. The Bookends kick-off a long literary weekend with film screenings, parties, literary games and author appearances. For full schedule go here. 

September 20: Brooklyn Reading Works Presents Young Writers Night at The Old Stone House (a Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Event). Curated by Hannah Frishberg, introduced by Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang. Free copies of One Teen Story to all participants.

September 23: Brooklyn Book Festival, the largest literary gathering in NYC, an open air marketplace with lots of readings, panel discussions and book signings.

We arrived early at The Gate to nab a seat to watch the season finale of Breaking Bad. It was the eighth Sunday of watching Breaking Bad with a crowd of mostly young, mostly male locals.

When Hugh and I got there, the room was noisy and crowded and the  TV was tuned to the baseball game. Luckily we managed to find a seat near the door. Someone sitting next to me, a newbie to the Gate’s Breaking Bad watching experience, asked if the place would really quiet down when the show came on. I assured him it would.

At the start of the show at 10PM on the nose, the room went from noisy to hushed in an instant, as the crowd lifted their heads to the two television screens above the bar.

During the first commercial break everyone stayed hushed because AMC showed a trailer for Bryan Cranston’s new movie, Argo, directed by Ben Affleck and starring Cranston and George Clooney.

Last night’s show was mind-blowingly violent and dramatic and, of course, it ended on a cliff hanger that will obsess Breaking Badiacs for an entire year. That is, until the final eight episodes run next summer.

Leave it to Breaking Bad to end the season with Hank, the show’s beloved DEA detective (and Walt’s brother-in-law), sitting on the toilet reading a copy of Leaves of Grass. 

That’s when he has the inevitable “ah ha” moment we’ve been waiting four seasons for. During season five, we’ve watched Walt become nihilistic and evil. Nothing seems to faze him. He’s robbed a train, he’s killed people, he’s been unspeakably cruel to Jesse. Most tellingly, he sat by while an assistant murdered an innocent child.

During the last eight weeks, it was fun and interesting to watch with the Gate crowd. I enjoyed the spontaneous reactions to the show’s most shocking moments:  the gasps, the laughs, the oohs, the Oh Shits, and the head shaking. I learned that the crowd loves Mike, hates, Skylar, currently despises Walt, and has a soft spot for Jesse and Hank.

Thanks to the Gate’s bartenders and owner for making it the pop culture epicenter of the Slope every Sunday night. Rumor has it that they will be showing the entire series, season 1-4, one episode every Sunday night at 10PM

I think it’s a great idea. I will get a confirmation on this and let you know.

Starting at 11AM today, the Caribbean American Parade marches, dances and gallavants down Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. This West Indian carnival, complete with marching bands, steel drum music, colorful costumes and huge feather headdresses celebrates the history, culture, music and food of the West Indies.

Expect big crowds. The event is attended by as many as two million people, and is always loud and noisy. All are welcome to join! It’s a Labor Day tradition in Brooklyn one of the city’s most popular parades.

I like the font but I think it’s too small, don’t you? It’s hard to read, isn’t it. I forget which one Hugh settled on when he got tired of me saying, try another.

I was feeling quiet that day, so I didn’t say hi. No matter; I’m sure I’ll see her soon.

To see the others panels in this series by Liz Starin:

http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2012/08/27/what-are-the-chances-by-liz-starin-an-illustrated-serial/

http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2012/08/28/what-are-the-chances-by-liz-starin-swimmers/

http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2012/08/29/what-are-the-chances-by-liz-starin-street-corner/

http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2012/08/30/what-are-the-chances-by-liz-starin-flowers/

http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/2012/08/31/what-are-the-chances-by-liz-starin-around-the-world/

Liz Starin is an illustrator based in Brooklyn. She doesn’t believe in fate, but she does believe in probability. You can see more of her work at lizstarin.com.