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arts and culture

Stretchy Spider Webbing This Halloween

Walking down the streets of Park Slope this time of year I smile a lot because of the Halloween decorations. They came out in full force last week.

In some neighborhoods you might find tasteful carved pumpkins and autumnal colors. Here it’s all about creepy. Like stretchy spider web. People around here love the stuff. Many a building has stretchable spider webbing draped from windows and covering windows, front gates and stoops. I’m seeing it everywhere.

Sometimes it looks great, sometimes it looks like toilet paper. Sometimes it has other things mixed in like screaming skeletons or black spiders.

I have to say, I’m tempted to decorate a bit with this stuff. They must sell it at Little Things or Save on Fifth. Obviously, it’s available in the neighborhood. Everyone seems to be using it.

 

 

 

Civics and Urban Life

Raising Funds for Obama in Crown Heights

Crown Heights is really coming out for President Obama. There have been more than four Obama fundraisers in connection with local businesses in the Crown Heights/Franklin Ave corridor since September 30th.

Yay team.

They’ve already had an ice cream and cupcake fundraiser at The Candy Shop, two debate watch fundraisers at Bar 739 Franklin and Franklin Park Bar and Beer Garden, a coffee fundraiser at Little Zelda’s and door-to-door efforts to engage local merchants, some door-to-door fundraising to engage locals, particularly the elderly who want to give but don’t want to do it online.

Now the folks in Crown Heights are taking it up a notch with Thirst for Obama, a chance to donate to the campaign while drinking wine at Thirstbaravin Wine Bar on Saturday night from 7-9PM. More information here:

https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/grassrootsfundraisinghouseparty/gsthhw

In Crown Heights, they like their fundraising face to face. Indeed, much of Obama’s fundraising efforts are online. However, the Internet can be a tad cold and it doesn’t give people a reason to get together, to discuss, to share opinions, and meet each other.

All that warm and fuzzy stuff.

The Crown Heights approach marries grassroots organizing with fundraising efforts and brings people together for a  goal while making moolah for the president. Some of the sums are quite small; some give as little as $3 dollar…

But it’s all good.

In Crown Heights, they’re taking fundraising to the community at an affordable price point so that all residents in the community can get involved.

arts and culture

The Best Restaurant in Brooklyn: Roman’s. Roman’s?

You can bet it was stiff competition over at L Magazine. Bu tby polling their readers, they have determined, they think, the very best restaurant in all of Brooklyn.

Roman’s

What/where/wha is Roman’s and what about Al Di La?

Roman’s is a restaurant in Ft. Greene on DeKalb. I’ve never heard of it but apparently a lot of people have and they LOVE it.

It’s quite an honor to be number one. Considering the competition.  In the running were Roberta’s, Marlow & Sons, Vinegar Hill House, Park Slope’s beloved Talde.

Roman’s is owned by the folks behind Marlow & Sons, Diner, and Reynard. (That’s the restaurant in the Wyethe Hotel?)

Roman’s has been around for three years. It’s very popular. Clearly, they’ve got a lot of fans. Who voted.

Now we’ll never get in. Wonder if they serve lunch?

arts and culture

Loving the Vibe at Two Moon Art House & Cafe

What I loved about last night at Two Moon Art House and Cafe was the vibe of the place, where I produced a reading as part of my series Only the Blog at Two Moon.

The Fourth Avenue space is lovely. The location does feel like a crossroads between Park Slope and destinations west like Gowanus and Carroll Gardens, as well as points south like Sunset Park and Bed Stuy.

It’s small but not that small with three distinct areas, including a great bar. There’s curated artwork on the walls, at the moment a show by Hugh Crawford. And the wine and beverages, including mulled wine, are great. One of the co-owners is an amazing baker and there’s always sumptuous desserts on hand.

The atmosphere seems to inspire a real receptivity for a reading or musical performance. It’s not a formal space but a focused space. Guests seem to feel comfortable interacting with the performers.

Last night, the microphone stopped working for a moment and someone in the audience jumped up to fix it. There’s a nice interactive feel about the place.

Peter Wheelwright and Leora Skolkin-Smith read excerpts from their new novels As It Is On Earth and Hystera respectively. The audience actually seemed to want more. Afterwards a discussion flowed freely like a dinner table conversation. And after that, attendees hung around for more than an hour drinking mulled wine and coffee and talking.

Honestly, I don’t think there’s any place like it in Park Slope. The owners are two, energetic and creative women in their late twenties with great stories of their own.

There are more events to come and I hope you’ll join me:

November 7 at 7PM: Writers Who Sing, Singers Who Write celebrates the double-threat talents of artists who cross mediums to tell their stories. In this inspiring musical and literary evening, songwriters/writers Mila Drumke and Peter Silsbee will share how their music influences their non-fiction and fiction and vice versa.

Mila Drumke is currently writing a memoir called All the Time in the World about caring for her sister, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 27. The project has received generous support from the NEA/Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Millay Colony for the Arts and Hedgebrook. She has also recorded numerous albums, including Radiate, which was named “one of the top 10 album discoveries of 2006” by WFUV. “Radiate is not just an artistic triumph—it’s easily Mila Drumke’s best work to date and one of the most impressive records of the year by anyone—but a personal one, too. In taking unimaginable sadness and turning it into something both grounded and visionary, she has created a deeply humane song cycle.” writes Neil Parkinson inHearsay magazine. For more information: miladrumke.com.

Peter Silsbee is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. He is also a singer/songwriter, who performs with his band, The Haywood Brothers, in top venues in New York City. He has published five young adult novels, including Amanda: Revealed, The Big Way Out, Love Among the Hiccups, and The Temptation of Kate. 

December 5, at 7PM: Therapy Ira Goldstein will read real life stories about his work as a physical therapist, Louise Crawford will read from her book of poems 5:10 on Tuesday, expect hilarity on the subject from Karen Ritter and Marian Fontana and Leora Skolkin-Smith will read a fascinating passage from her acclaimed novel Hystera, about psychotherapy in the days before antidepressants.

arts and culture

A Gypsy Adaptation of Macbeth in a Park Slope Shed

You know the Black Light Halloween Puppet Show that goes on every Halloween in a window on Garfield Place?

The same folks who do that are doing this. In a shed. In a backyard. In Park Slope. Ya.

On October 26th and 27th the Shed is proud to welcome again the Dzieci theatre ensemble for their performance of Makbet, a gypsy adaptation of Macbeth.  The event will begin at 7:45PM sharp.  This is a theatrical event and no one will be admitted after 8:00PM.  There is a suggested donation of $10.00, which includes complementary drinks and divination.    http://theshedspace.org/

I’m going to remind you again: it’s at 7:45 PM. Sharp.

Situated in a Park Slope backyard, The Shed started in 2010 as a one reading event and has since evolved into a multidisciplinary space where art exhibits, plays, music, film screenings and readings are hosted on weekends.

The Shed is located at 366 6th Street in Park Slope, Brookyn. Take the R train to 9th Street or the F train to 4th Avenue. Upon exiting the subway, walk up hill on 9th St. one block to 5th Ave. Turn left and walk three blocks to 6th St. Turn right and walk half a block up the right side of the street. The house is one of two adjacent white houses. The entrance is on the 2nd floor, up the stoop.

“Absolutely extraordinary. Stunningly breathtaking.” – Cecile Pineda, author Devil’s Tango –

“Absolutely liberating!” – Russ Hudson, executive director of Enneagram Personality Types, Inc. –

“Wonderful!” “Unexpected!” “A true experience.” “Wowing, engulfing, just wow!” “Spellbinding!” “Wow!”

“Romantic!” “Amazing!!!” “The best!” “My God!!!” “Wow!” “Remarkable!”

– Students from The International Schools Theatre Association

“Witnessing Makbet and the ecstatic and organic and deeply ceremonialized process of the play unlocked places in me that I had been longing to find in the theatre but didn’t know how to create. Dzieci had found the sacred and were weaving it into everything they did. As an audience member, when you see their work, you are not simply a witness. You are on the journey with them, invited into the tribe and embraced as community.”- Isis Phoenix

“A profound, exhilarating experience that I will never forget.” – Katherine Kettle, Saranac Lake –

 

arts and culture

Darkened Sky: New Video by Greta Gertler & The Universal Thump

Darkened Sky [Single + Official Music Video] from The Universal Thump on Vimeo.

You know I have a soft spot for Greta Gertler and the Universal Thump because Greta and I share a last name though her’s doesn’t have the h (gherlter) nor are we related.

Below is the stream for The Universal Thump‘s first radio appearance in NYC and NJ yesterday. They performed five songs and chatted about their new double orchestral pop album with DJ Irene Trudel onWFMU:

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/47887

Their radio set list included the debut of three new songs including “Walking the Cat” an ode to lead singer Greta Gertler‘s cat, Minke – and an optimistic new song about Brooklyn neighborhood ‘Sunset Park’.

Yo, she’s writing about Sunset Park. Love it.

And here also is the link to their brand new music video for ‘Darkened Sky’, the stunning second single from their new double-album which was just released last week.

They have been in residence throughout this month at The Living Room (NYC), and will soon embark on their first tour of the South, performing in Athens GA, New Orleans LA, Chapel Hill NC, Austin TX, Knoxville TN and Thomas WV.

 

Civics and Urban Life

The Green Building

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Have you ever wondered what that green building at the corner of Hoyt and Union Street is. I drive by there all the time and I always see a vintage truck out front with beautiful flowers. At night, the room looks really pretty. Sometimes I think it’s a film set, sometimes I think it’s a wedding or a party space.

It’s really cool.

Well, it’s called the Green Building and it’s an “elegant multi-use space located in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood.”

Once a brass foundry, The Green Building is now a 4,000 square ft. raw space with brick walls exposed beam ceilings, fabulous chandeliers, and a kitchen.

Mystery solved.

arts and culture

Tuesday Night at 7PM: Only the Blog at Two Moon

 

“Overhead, the two moons worked together to bathe the world in a strange light.” ― Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

Only the Blog at Two Moon presents The Family Thing with novelists Peter Matthiessen Wheelwright and Leora Skolkin-Smith.

In his gorgeous debut novel, Peter M. Wheelwright grapples with “The Family Thing,” the inescapable tangle of religion, genetics, geography, deep time, secrets and lies.

Leora Skolkin-Smith’s acclaimed novel, Hysteria, is set against the backdrop of the social turmoil of the 1970′s and tells the story of a young woman suffering from a physical and sexual delusion. Publisher’s Weekly called it: “Poetic, strange and evocative…A poignant prose-poem.”

Come hear these two acclaimed authors read and discuss their work at the lovely Two Moon Art House and Cafe, Park Slope’s newest cultural spot with wine, coffee, delicious soups, sandwiches, salads and desserts.

Civics and Urban Life

Progress Report on Park Slope Whole Foods

Here’s an excerpt from a letter from Michael Sinatra, Public Affairs Manager of Whole Foods, to Craig Hammerman, District Manager, Community Board 6, that should answer some questions you may have about the progress of the Whole Foods store going into the lot at Third Street and Third Avenue in Park Slope.

There’s also an update of what’s going to happen to the landmarked (and curious) stone mansion on Third and Third, the Long Island Coignet Stone Building.

“After many years of hard work by our development team—and with the support of so many community members—we are now finally under way with the construction process and look forward to bringing Brooklyn residents their first Whole Foods Market next year! Since we’re sure you’re likely getting questions from area residents about construction timing, next steps, etc.

Remediation/brownfields cleanup of the property officially complete: While we had actually completed the physical remediation of the property some time ago, we were awaiting the final step in the cleanup of this brownfield site, which was the receipt of our official “certificate of completion” from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

We received the certificate earlier this year and therefore the site is completely and “officially” remediated and ready for construction.

Site preparation now under way: As our neighbors may have noticed, our contractor has completed demolition of the remaining deteriorating structures that were on the property and is now preparing the site for construction.

This first phase— including site surveys and test pile driving—should be completed in the coming weeks.

Construction to begin later this fall: Once the site preparation is complete, we anticipate beginning work on the foundation in late fall, with the store’s steel frame expected to start going up around the beginning of the year. Construction will then move ahead steadily toward our expected Fall 2013 grand opening.

Renovations to LI Coignet Stone Building: As you may recall, as part of our development plan we have committed to undertaking repairs to the landmarked Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building that is located adjacent to our site at 3rd and 3rd. Our architects are currently working on drawings for the renovation of the façade, which will then need to be approved by New York landmarks officials. Once approved, we will be able to move forward on exterior repairs to the building in conjunction with the store’s construction.

As questions are frequently asked, it’s important to note that while this building will be repaired and remain adjacent to our property, we do not actually own the building and it will not be utilized by Whole Foods Market.”

To see  more of this letter in PDF form you can go here. Thanks to Craig Hammerman for sending.

 

arts and culture

Park Slope Gooped by Gwyneth Paltrow

Actress and blogger Gwyneth Paltrow comes by her love of Brooklyn honestly because her dad was born at Brooklyn Jewish hospital in 1943. She writes, “A lot has changed…A lot of this has been good change in the form of art, culture, neighborhood-defining restaurants, shops and more.”

It also seems that the opening of the Barclay’s Center is now the new reason Manhattanites go cross the bridge. Unlike BAM, I don’t think they’re offering Barclay’s Buses. In other words: take the train. Paltrow writes: “This week, we’ve gooped Brooklyn, rounding up some of the best spots for your perusal/exploration (or in case you need a bite on your way to the new Barclays Center).”

What is a goop, you ask? Goop is the name of the blog that Gwyneth started in the fall of 2008 “to share all of life’s positives.” It is a weekly email that contains all of Gwyneth’s must-see, must-do, must-haves, including the following that also happen to be on my list.

A. Cheng, a fashion forward shop featuring very wearable clothes on Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue

 

 

 

Al Di La Trattoria, everyone’s favorite Park Slope restaurant

 

 

 

Bird carries Philip Lin, Alexander Wang, JBrand, and up and coming designers, too. Pricey but fabulous on Fifth Avenue

 

 

 

Brooklyn Larder has the most fabulous cheeses, prepared foods, breads and so much more. On Flatbush.

 

 

Franny’s on Flabush serves innovative and delicious pizza in a noisy, fun atmosphere.

 

 

arts and culture

Smitten by the Voice of Jack Davenport

Standing in the Community Bookstore, viewing a shelf of new paperbacks with  my back to the front desk, I heard a familiar voice, a fabulous voice, a compelling voice discussing James Woods’ nasty review of Tom Wolfe’s new book, Back to Blood, in the New Yorker.

Who was that fabulous and handsome man, his voice so smart and sexy, discussing the New Yorker while  buying books?

Who was that man?

It was Jack Davenport, who is best known for his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl movie. But I know him from Smash a fabulous television musical drama (fizzy soap opera) about the Broadway theater world that follows a fascinating collection of B’way professionals who live to have a S M A S H. The stellar cast includes Anjelica Huston, Katherine McPhee, Debra Messing, Christian Borie, Megan Hilty and JACK DAVENPORT, who plays the slightly sadistic, hot headed but equally fascinating theatrical director Nigel Wills.

Omigod, the voice is just seared into my brain.

Once Davenport left the bookstore, I asked Ezra Goldstein, c0-owner of the bookstore: “Who was that man?” He filled me in briefly. Turns out Davenport lives in Park Slope and shops frequently at the Community Bookstore. Goldstein suggested to me that Davenport is an avid and engaged reader. Obsessed, I did some research on the man. The voice was born in 1973 in Suffolk, England, and is the son of actors Maria Aitken and Nigel Davenport.

He studied Literature and Film Studies at the University of East Anglia. His first big break came after he wrote to John Cleese  to be a PA on Fierce Creatures and he ended up playing a zoo keeper. His first major role however was that of public school educated barrister Miles in the BBC television series “This Life” (1996). Film roles include Ultraviolet” (1998) where he played a modern-day vampire hunter, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) as Matt Damon’s love interest, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I am literally counting the days until Smash returns. God, I love his voice.

Civics and Urban Life

Proposal for Rezoning School District 15: Download it Here

The following is information I gleaned from reading a PDF available on the Department of Education website. about the planned changes to the zoning in District 15, the school district that serves parts of Park Slope.

The map to the left shows the exisitng zones for PS 321 and other local schools with black lines showing the new cutoffs.

According to the Department of Education, P.S. 321 and P.S. 107 are over-utilized schools. Enrollment trends (i.e. lots of new residents in high-rise buildings on Fourth Avenue and elsewhere) are expected to further exacerbate the overcrowding conditions at these schools.

To address growing demand and prevent, reduce waiting lists and cap class size at P.S. 321 and P.S. 107, re-zoning will enable locals to take advantage of a NEW kindergarten through   5th grade chool and additional capacity at P.S. 10 :

Yes, a NEW SCHOOL. The DOE plans to open a new zoned K-5 elementary school in building K763, St. Thomas Aquinas, located at 211 8th Street (on Fourth Avenue)  in 2013

Because the St. Thomas Aquinas building is located within P.S. 39’s zone, the DOE is also proposing a modest change to P.S. 39’s zone lines, but no change inenrollment is planned for that school.

Civics and Urban Life

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Prospect Park’s Music Island

Today the Prospect Park Alliance hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the dedication of Chaim Baier Music Island & the Shelby White and Leon Levy Esplanade at Lakeside. The event was a celebration of the recreation  of what is considered the most formal area of the Prospect Park, as designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1867.

Lovely.

The original Olmsted and Vaux landscape was dismantled in 1960 for the construction of the former Wollman Rink. The recreation of Music Island and the Esplanade is the first phase of a restoration project that will include, in the second phase, a new 25,000-square-foot facility and two skating rinks to be completed in late fall 2013.

Can’t wait for the  new skating rinks.

Who’s paying for all of this? The first phase was funded by a $10 million grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, with additional funding from other sources.

Music Island is being named in honor of Ms. White’s father, Chaim Baier, and the Esplanade is in honor of Ms. White and her late husband, Mr. Leon Levy.

Yup, Marty Markowitz was, of course, at the ribbon cutting: “Prospect Park is an urban emerald—a crown jewel—in our city’s park system, and I am thrilled that Music Island and the Esplanade have been restored to their original glory. The northern shoreline of Prospect Park Lake will be an oasis and gathering place for not only local residents, but visitors from around the world.”

Emily Lloyd, President of Prospect Park Alliance, said, “The completion of the Chaim Baier Music Island and the Shelby White and Leon Levy Esplanade marks a transformative milestone in the restoration of Prospect Park. For the first time in over fifty years, Prospect Park will have the gathering spot of extraordinary beauty that was central to Olmsted and Vaux’s vision for the Park as both a great gathering place and a place to reconnect with nature. Countless Park visitors will benefit from Shelby’s vision and the Leon Levy Foundation’s generosity for decades to come.”

Nice.

 

arts and culture

Binders: A Poem by Leon Freilich

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Binders full of women–just the start!

Mittman’s got dozens of folders showing heart.

One’s for job opportunities for the poor–

Credit each million in tax cuts as jobs-four.

Another binder calls for moving the Treasury

To Switzerland, away from the D.C. Trashery.

Big and heavy’s the folder for civil rights

Proving the nonexistence of minority plights.

Don’t forget the personal gold-trimmed binder

Showing Mitt, not O, is more caring and kinder,

And when His Mittness is sworn in (could be liable),

Romney will take the oath on the Mormon Bible.

arts and culture

October 23: The Family Thing w/ Peter Wheelwright & Leora Skolkin-Smith

“Overhead, the two moons worked together to bathe the world in a strange light.” ― Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

Only the Blog at Two Moon presents The Family Thing with novelists Peter Matthiessen Wheelwright and Leora Skolkin-Smith.

In his gorgeous debut novel, Peter M. Wheelwright grapples with “The Family Thing,” the inescapable tangle of religion, genetics, geography, deep time, secrets and lies.

Leora Skolkin-Smith’s acclaimed novel, Hysteria, is set against the backdrop of the social turmoil of the 1970’s and tells the story of a young woman suffering from a physical and sexual delusion. Publisher’s Weekly called it: “Poetic, strange and evocative…A poignant prose-poem.”

Come hear these two acclaimed authors read and discuss their work at the lovely Two Moon Art House and Cafe, Park Slope’s newest cultural spot with wine, coffee, delicious soups, sandwiches, salads and desserts.

arts and culture

First Edition Book Club Launch Party at Greenlight

Are you one of those people who obsesses over getting a signed first edition of a new book? Then the Greenlight Bookstore’s First Edition Club, the first of its kind in New York City, is for you. Each month, subscribers will receive a first edition, signed by the author, of a newly released hand-selected book that Greenlight feels is both enjoyable and valuable.

To mark the launch, Greenlight Bookstore in Ft. Greene is hosting a discussion of the value of physical books with several experts on the subject on Friday night at 7:30 PM at the bookstore.

Erik DuRon is a member of Greenlight’s selection committee and a 13-year veteran manager, bookseller and book-buyer at Bauman Rare Books, the nation’s leading dealer in rare and antiquarian books. Heather O’Donnell, an alumni of Bauman’s, recently launched Brooklyn-based Honey & Wax Booksellers, dealing in rare books in literature and the arts.

Emily Russo is the chair of the Greenlight First Editions Club selection committee and a veteran of the stellar First Editions Club at Odyssey Bookshop in Massachusetts. John Freeman is the editor of Granta magazine and former president of the National Book Critics Circle, as well as the author of The Tyranny of Email.

A champagne reception will follow the discussion, during which questions will be answered and subscriptions purchased

.

Civics and Urban Life

Proposal to Redraw School Zones

For years I’ve been wondering how PS 321 would manage to fit in all the new families moving to Fourth Avenue.

Do the math.

PS 321 is already overcrowded with over 1,400 students in six grades (pre-school through fifth grade) and bulging class sizes. With all the new buildings on Fourth Avenue that are currently in the catchment, it was obvious that PS 321 would need a new building or District 15 would need a new elementary school.

According to the New York Times, the Education Department is talking about a major rezoning which would determine who goes to PS 321, 107, 10 and a new school to be built on Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street.

This is, you might say, very big news in the neighborhood of Park Slope where parents are determined to send their kids to PS 321 or PS 107.

 “The DOE has not revealed which blocks would be rezoned, but in general, the proposal involves transferring the western end of P.S. 321’s zone, where Park Slope turns into Gowanus, to a new school to be opened on Eighth Street and Fourth Avenue. Some of P.S. 107’s southernmost blocks would be shifted to P.S. 10. The siblings of students already at the affected schools would probably be allowed to register at the same schools. The proposals were reported Monday by the news Web site dnainfo.com.”

Needless to say, people are a in a tizzy about this. I don’t know a thing about this new school on Fourth Avenue. Jim Devor, who runs the Community Education Council, had this to say about the situation.

“I don’t know how else you’re going to meet the needs of those children, unless we put saltpeter in the drinking water to prevent conceptions. Real estate brokers are going to go ballistic, but the alternatives we’re considering placing these children in are not exactly chopped liver.”

Liz Phillips, principal of PS 321, shared these thoughts about the rezoning.

“In the interest of maintaining the high-quality education we are committed to providing our students we are going to need to do something to keep our school from becoming so large that we are forced to have very high class size.”

 

arts and culture

We Return From California

A quick trip to California always packs a punch. We left Thursday morning at 5am for Kennedy Airport and have been on the go ever since.

First stop was the family farm in the San Joaquin Valley, a step into an alternate universe of farmland, artful gardens, eucalyptus trees, oleander bushes, grape vineyards, tomato fields, walut orchards and much more to tempt the senses.

What smells. What bounty. What beauty. Coincidentally, there was an interesting article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine special food issue about the Central Valley of California.

Next stop was Monterey, the small coastal city that rises out of Monterey Bay to pine forested hillsides and sweeping bay vistas. Home to a world renown aquarium, historic adobe architecture, the old sardine factories of Cannery Row that inspired John Steinbeck and a bustling fisherman’s wharf.

Our niece was married Saturday afternoon at the beautiful and historic Old Whaling Station not far from the Wharf. She was the flower girl at our wedding so there was a touch of the surreal about attending her wedding all these years later. Something very lovely and heartwarming, too.

On Monday we drove to San Francisco for a quick visit with relatives, lunch at a great pizza place off of Filmore Street and dinner at our favorite pan Latino restaurant Cha Cha Cha on the Haight.

Monday night we arrived at San Francisco Airport 8:30 o fly the red eye to Kennedy to find that the flight was delayed three hours. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds to waste five hours at the airport. We got home at 11AM on Tuesday morning.

Discombobulated and exhausted, we order Chinese for lunch and try to remember what we were doing before this whirlwind trip to California.

 

arts and culture

Poetry: A Cure for the Common on Thursday Night

Thursday, October 23rd, Brooklyn Reading Works presents Poetry: A Cure for the Common, the annual BRW poetry night curated by Pat Smith (pictured left at the Wonder Wheel) at 8PM at the Old Stone House (336 Third Street between 4th and 5th Avenues in Park Slope).

Sultry Michele Somerville gives you Sappho and some Black Irish smack, soulful Debbie Deane steals your heart at the piano, Alex Crowley brings the TV Personalities, Bourbon & Brutalism, Margaret Young spins scenes from show-biz and I do the news from the middle of my night. Five bucks gets you beer, wine, snacks and a nice break from all of your hair on fire anxiety. Oct. 18, 8PM at the Old Stone House.

Civics and Urban Life

Watching the Debate Tonight in and Near Park Slope

The much-anticipated second presidential debate with President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney will broadcast from Hofstra University at 9PM. The showdown will be watched by tens of millions of people.

But where will you watch it?

According to DNA Info, Drinking Liberally Downtown Brooklyn is hosting a debate-watch party at Pacific Standard on Fourth Avenue in Park Slope. There will be a pre-party at the 4th Avenue Pub next door at 7 PM before the main event. 82 Fourth Ave at 7PM.

You can also watch the debate at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO. This could be a fun place to see it, ase project the debate. onto a giant 14-by-12-foot screen for your viewing pleasure. Free. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Civics and Urban Life

Streisand at Barclays

I woke up at  6AM in California and checked Twitter to find out what the folks in Brooklyn were saying about last night’s debate.

Well, that was pretty predictable. Most everyone thought Biden killed it (as did I) except for the rare conservatives on my Twitter feed who thought Ryan was well-informed and persuasive.

Fair enough. You see what you want to see.

But there were more than a few tweets about the traffic patterns outside the Barclay’s Center, where Barbra Streisand performed her first Brooklyn show since singing for her mother in the living room of the apartment she grew up in.

“Traffic after Streisand concert made 11:40 seem like peek rush hour with angry honking…” read one tweet.

Norman Oder on Atlantic Yards Report said there was no carmageddon, his term for the traffic apocalypse, he expects the arena to create. However, there was  “lots of idling limos and noisiness/mess as crowd exits.”

Pretty much what you’d expect after a stadium show. And that’s not a good thing so near a residential area. This was Oder’s report:

Brooklyn native Barbra Streisand made a triumphant return to Brooklyn last night for the first of two concerts, bringing the boldface names out in force (as the Barclays Center Twitter account was sure to tell us).

Celebrities included Katie Couric, Woody Allen, Rosie O’Donnell, Sting, Calvin Klein, Barbara Walters, and Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The Daily News’s pop music critic was enthralled, as was the Times reviewer, who wrote: “Like few singers of any age, she has the gift of conveying a primal human longing in a beautiful sound.” (More coverage: NY Post, Associated Press, NY1, USA Today, WSJ).

While Oder admitted that traffic, did, for the most part move with ease. there were problems. ”

But–and this surely had something to do with the boldface names–there were an enormous number of limos looking for riders, idling and parking illegally in the streets around the arena, parking in the arena lay-by lanes, and double- and even triple-parking on adjacent streets like South Portland Avenue in Fort Greene.

Civics and Urban Life

Half a Day at the Mall in Tracy, California

In Tracy, California, the small city that used to be the small town where my husband grew up on a walnut farm, when you need to go shopping you go to the mall.

It wasn’t always like that. As in a lot of American towns, there was once a robust downtown: a main Street with stores, restaurants, hardware stores, a stationer, even a hotel.

Well, the Tracy Inn, a Spanish style hotel built in 1927 is still here, though it lacks it former grandeur. There is even the Grand Theater of the Arts that has actually revitalized the downtown quite a bit and offers some adventurous programming (as you can see, they’re having a haunted house there for Halloween).

The downtown is also the site of the annual Tracy Dry Bean Festival, a full day every summer of bean ice cream, bean chips, & of course chili beans.

Still, the shopping life of this community is at the mall, the West Valley Mall. And that’s where we went today to try to find a simple black skirt for my daughter to wear to her cousin’s wedding on Sunday in Monterey.

Well, many stores and four hours later we FINALLY found a nice black skirt at J.C. Penny’s. And I must say, it was a good find. Somehow, miraculously, this black skirt was marked down to $5 dollars.

Yes, you read that right. It’s better than Beacon’s Closet .And you know what? She looks like a million bucks.

My girl.

Civics and Urban Life

You Don’t Live on Flatbush, Do You?

Here we are in Hugh’s hometown in the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. One of our nieces, the one who was the flowergirl at MY wedding, is getting married on Sunday.

Time flies, time flies.

We were dropping off some suits at a local dry cleaner called (and I’m not kidding) Park Avenue Cleaners, when Hugh ran into his history teacher from Tracy High School. They talked a bit, reminisced dropped names. Then Hugh told him we live in Brooklyn…

“You don’t live on Flatbush, do you?” he said.

Somehow that led to a quick discussion about the Barclay’s Center, the Brooklyn Nets. He’d heard about the Nets and he knew about the Dodgers and the pain their loss caused to Brooklyn. He is a history teacher, after all.

One never feels far from Brooklyn. Even on the other side of the country.