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Civics and Urban Life

Bklyn Bloggage: neighborhoods

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The unofficial Carroll Gardens tree: Pardon Me for Asking

Chicken feet at the American Playground: NY Shitty

Upper scale deli and bodega: Bushwick BK

Woman crushed by car in tragic accident: Sheepshead Bites

Broads without boundaries at Brooklyn Tech: The Local

Incident at American Apparel: Free Williamsburg

Coney Island USA Gala on March 25: Kinetic Carnival

The history of Ocean Parkway: Kensington Prospect

Parenting your children loudly: Fucked in Park Slope

Food and Drink

Undomesticated Brooklyn: Dinner Party Success!

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By Paula Bernstein

I’m still recovering from the excitement (and the wine!) from Saturday night’s first-ever dinner party. I’m proud to announce that I pulled it off — it was even better than I had hoped for (I had pretty low expectations). People seemed to like the food and to enjoy themselves. And I had a lot of fun too.

All in all, I’m very proud. Considering that less than a year ago, I could barely defrost a microwave dinner or follow the directions on the Amy’s macaroni and cheese box, I have come a long way. I’m mostly relieved that all of my guests showed up and I didn’t burn anything!

Still, there’s always room for improvement.

I’ve learned so much during this adventure. If you’re hoping to throw your own dinner party, here are some Undomesticated Brooklyn tips:

1. Plan a detailed scheduled for the day of the party, leaving time for last-minute errands. I was so busy cleaning the apartment and buying baguettes on Saturday that I waited until too late to start prepping the food. I had to scramble at the last minute to halve the Brussels Sprouts and scrub and quarter the mushrooms. I barely had time to put on makeup and get dressed (not to mention time for the clothing crisis!)

2. Make sure you have enough serving dishes and cutlery. I ended up renting a table, dishes and silverware and I still didn’t have quite enough bowls (luckily, I found some from a different pattern, but at least I didn’t have to resort to using the kids’ Disney princess bowls).

3. It’s nice to entertain without kids. I know it’s a hassle to get a babysitter and it’s not cheap, but it’s worth it to have a night out without the kids, right? It was certainly a treat for me to have adult chat without having to worry about any meltdowns or freak-outs (my kids were perfect angels and went to bed without any struggle).

4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Realizing I was in over my head, I asked Avo to prepare salad dressing (a wonderful garlic vinaigrette). Then I had Mr. Di Franco plate the salad. What a team!

5. It seems obvious, but don’t forget to invite an assortment of interesting guests and not just the usual suspects. I went out of my way to invite people I wanted to know better and who I thought would get along, not necessarily old friends.

6. Keep color in mind when deciding what to serve. Honestly, I never considered it when planning my menu, but in hindsight, I wish I had injected some color — maybe in the form of glazed carrots?

7. You can never have too much wine or cheese. I bought a wonderful selection of cheese, but it went pretty fast (whereas I bought way too many baguettes). I only bought one bottle of wine and even though guests generously brought wine, we cut it pretty close. A little more wine would have been a good thing and we could always have saved leftovers for another night.

8. Don’t be a perfectionist. I had planned to make whipped cream to top the apple spice cake and brownies for dessert. But I didn’t want to stress about whipping up whipped cream while I was enjoying dinner. Besides, the vanilla ice cream a la mode was sweet enough.

9. Try to relax and enjoy yourself. At the end of the party, OTBKB’s own Louise Crawford said “It was so nice to see you enjoying yourself. So many times you go to a party and the host spends the whole night in the kitchen. Guests don’t like that. They want to see the host enjoying the party.” So true.

10. Guests will appreciate the fact that you invited them and cooked for them. And you’ll get a kick out of cooking for other people (I promise!). It may be a lot of work, but the end result is worth it.

One guest e-mailed the day after the party to say “Great food, guests and conversation. Wonderful success! You have arrived as a hostess!”

I e-mailed back, “I’m not sure I’ve arrived, but at least I’m in the driveway.”

Meanwhile, I had so much fun planning the first-ever dinner party that I’m already tackling another challenge: a Very Belated (6 years late!) Housewarming Cocktail Party. I’ll be sure to let you know once I set a date.

Oh yeah, one last final tip: Don’t forget to take pictures! I forgot, but luckily there were a couple of photographers at the party. Hopefully, they’ll send me some good pics soon (Hugh and Ken, if you’re reading this, get on it pronto!)

arts and culture

82 Women in Film

Three young female filmmakers, recent college grads, just got in touch with me about a video they just produced called 82 Women, a celebration of 82 women working in the film and television industry in honor of the 82nd Academy Awards.

Happy First Woman to Win a Best Director Oscar Day!

arts and culture

Women & Hollywood: The Time Has Come

Melissa Silverstein, the Brooklyn blogger who runs the very popular entertainment blog, Women & Hollwood, has a lot to say about Kathryn Bigelow getting the Oscar for Best Director, the first woman ever to receive that distinction.

The Time Has Come

Those were the words that Barbra Streisand uttered when she announced Kathryn Bigelow’s name as the winner of the best director Oscar.  The moment came at the end of a long and boring show that featured many male winners in most categories, but DAMN, staying up was worth it.

I never really thought this was possible even six months ago since the gender problem in Hollywood is so pervasive, but DAMN, it happened – a woman won for BEST DIRECTOR.  Director is the ultimate leader in Hollywood, the big kahuna, and now, finally a woman is in the club and that my friends, is a big deal.

After she won last night I was thinking about other female firsts that I have experienced in my lifetime.  I remember when Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female Supreme Court justice; I remember when Madeleine Albright became the first Secretary of State; I remember when Shannon Faulkner became the first female to go to the Citadel; I remember when Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle mission; I remember when Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House.

And I will remember last night…

Read more at Women & Hollywood

Food and Drink

Crazy Wild Rumor: 2nd Street Cafe Coming to Miracle Grill Location

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I’m just repeating an interesting rumor/tip I was tweeted: the owners of Second Street Cafe are making a comeback on Seventh Avenue in the Miracle Grill location on Seventh Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope.

This is just what I’ve been tweeted. Anyone know more?

Well, you know, I had a soft spot for breakfast at the Second Street Cafe so I am thrilled if this rumor is true. Last I heard one of the owners had moved upstate (and opened a restaurant up there) and the other owner is still in the Slope.

The Second Street Cafe closed a couple of years ago at their old location on Seventh Avenue and 2nd Street after a costly renovation. The above picture was taken after the restaurant was shuttered.

Who can forget that the pre-renovation restaurant’s walls were papered with the crayon art of its patrons.

arts and culture

Brooklyn Film Fest Submission Deadline Fast Approaching

On the heels of last night’s Oscars it was fun to hear from Nate Kensinger, who runs the Brooklyn International Film Festival. The final film submission deadline is fast approaching and he wants to hear from you if you want your film in the festival.

If your film fits one of the categories let the BFF know about it: Feature, Documentary, Short, Experimental, Animation. And there are awards at this festival: $50,000 in services, products, and cash.

The final deadline is fast approaching: March 17, 2010 and the entry Fee is $50 (Deadline is “Postmarked by.” Packages can be mailed until the day of the
deadline)

The dates of this Film Festival are: June 4-13, 2010

For more info or to submit your film, click here:
http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/submit/

arts and culture

OTBKB Music: A Music Movie and Some More Freebies

The best music show going tonight is actually a movie (sorry, Pops Corn, if I’m stepping on your territory): Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, at Tribeca Cinemas.  This documentary includes rare archival footage and some exclusive interviews.  Only one showing, at 7:30.  More details at Now I’ve Heard Everything.

I’ve also found links to some more free, legal downloads.  This time around, you can enjoy a track from each of the new albums by The Watson Twins, Maura Kennedy and get a nine track sampler of artists playing SXSW next week.  Just click here for The Watson Twins, and here for Maura and the sampler.

–Eliot Wagner

arts and culture

Thanks to Pops Corn and the Academy

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Here on Third Street a group of us watched the Oscars and ate Dibs, those bite sized frozen snacks they sell at movie theaters.

What a blast to check in with Pops Corn every few minutes and read his on-going commentary, which was very interesting and fun.

For the first time we had a betting pool. The person, who picked the most winners won the $6 that was in the pool.

For me  high points were the nominations for Best Actor and Actress written and read by friends and colleagues of the nominees.

The super highpoint was, of course, Kathryn Bigelow winning the award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. She is  the first woman to ever win in that category. It seems she avoided marking the historical nature of her win in her thank you speech. She’s too macho for that. She did recognize the armed services, first responders, firefighters, etc. and that was cool.

The occasion did inspire me to list all the women directors I can think of. I know there are so many more but here goes: Jane Campion, Nancy Myers, Sue Kramer, Agnes Varda, Chantel Ackerman, Barbara Kopple, Margarethe von Trotta, Lina Wertmuller, Sophia Coppola, Catherine Hardwicke, Barbra Streisand, Elaine May, Charlotte Zwerin, Chris Hedges, Jill Godmillow…(to be continued)

And finally, what an upset: I was expecting Avatar to win the Best Picture but, thankfully, it went to The Hurt Locker, surely one of the best anti-war films of recent times if not ever.

Oh, and my stepmother won the betting pool with 12 correct answers…

Finally, my  gratitude to Pops Corn for his live blogging. What a fun way to watch the show!

One more thing: Where was Jack Nicholson?

arts and culture

Pops Corn Live: Sound Editing – Yeah, Really Commenting On It

Did you read Virginia Heffernan’s piece on the sound editing category in the Times mag a few weeks back?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/magazine/21FOB-medium-t.html?scp=1&sq=heffernan%20sound%20hurt%20locker&st=cse

It was one of those weird pieces that was wonderfully researched, but nearly without value due to the writer’s opinionated stance. She treated the craft as though it had to adhere to her aesthetic.  But she got her wish.  Hurt Locker takes it.