Ezra, the soon to be owner of the Community Bookstore wrote to OTBKB about a great reading on Wednesday night. He writes: “It’s been a bit quiet of late at the old bookstore (celebrating its 39th year!) what with owner Catherine Bohne’s determination to park herself in one of the few remaining places on earth (Albania’s Valbona Valley) reachable by neither Internet nor cell phone. We are, however, regathering steam, energized by Catherine’s faith in us to run the store in her absence, and by the wonderful loyalty of our customers to our book-lined and somewhat Bohemian lair, as distant from a big box chain store as Brooklyn is from Bajrum Curri (the Albanian village where Catherine goes once a week to shop). What better way to get things going again than with a reading this Wednesday, 7pm, by Brooklyn’s own Jennifer Egan?…

Continue reading Wed Night: Jennifer Egan To Read at the Community Bookstore →

Subway Outrage

She was pregnant, about eight months,
With a two-year-old on her hip
As she stood on the crowded Q
That rattled at a furious clip.

She held tightly to an overhead bar
Yet none in the car seemed fazed
Neither young ‘uns nor pensioners.
Why, I sat there wholly amazed!

Where Have All The Shrinkers Gone?

Where have all the shrinkers gone,
This hot August?
Where have all the shrinkers gone,
When needed most?

Where have all the couch jocks gone–
Truro, Wellfleet, every one.
When will they all return,
When will they all return?

Where have all their patients gone
This hot August?

Where have all their patients gone,
Now August’s here?

Where have all their patients gone–
Had relapses every one.
When will the shrinks return,
When will the shrinks return?

The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn performed live music for an August wedding held beneath the Manhattan Bridge in the newly restored Empire Fulton Ferry State Park.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings played an incredible show at Celebrate Brooklyn‘s next to last show Saturday night. If you were one of the 20,000 people in the audience you already know that. I was able to get up close to the stage and come away with some pretty nice shots of the show. You’ll find them here at Now I’ve Heard Everything.

Also, JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys play The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 tonight and The Apple Store tomorrow night; details on both show are here. And we have a winner in the Eli Paperboy Reed Giveaway. Check here to see if it’s you.
–Eliot Wagner

Author Richard Grayson wrote in to say that from Saturday, July 31 through Saturday, August 8th Saturday, it was possible to see 6 different free Shakespeare plays in Brookyn parks – and he did it and even wrote about it.

And that’s not all. He also saw “Lysistrata” at Van Cortlandt Park on Monday, and the two nights before this Brookyn-in-Shakespeare marathon, he saw “Medea” in Tompkins Square Park and “Cyrano” in Riverside Park. He writes: “But this past week was a bonzana for the Bard in Brooklyn!”

You won’t want to miss Grayson’s coverage of this Bard Bonanza!

If you don’t mind going out late tonight, check out Misty Boyce, who is  playing at The Mercury Lounge.  You’ll get great songwriting, spirited playing and an energetic crowd and tonight you’ll get some new song premieres as well.  Details here at Now I’ve Heard Everything.

Tomorrow night Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, The Budos Band and others play the next to the last show of the season at Celebrate Brooklyn.  I’ll have more to say about this show tomorrow at Now I’ve Heard Everything.

Kathleen Edwards played a very cozy, semi acoustic show, with back up singers and a pedal steel, in Toronto earlier this week.  I have posted a video from that show here at Now I’ve Heard Everything in which Kathleen reaches back to 1975 and covers America‘s Sister Golden Hair.  The audio, video and performance are all outstanding.

Not all air mattresses were created equal: Reclaimed Home

Black-out shades with clouds: Swiss Miss

Surrounded by art in Carroll Gardens: Apartment Therapy

Flashback South Africa: A Brooklyn Limestone

Best of gallery walls: Design Sponge

While Congress debates immigration reform, an influx of foreigners continue to make Brooklyn their home, adding new accents, flavors, and art to the neighborhood cultural landscape. Non-Native New York is an art exhibition curated by Linn Edwards and Brian Bell, celebrating the cultural contributions of international artists living in Brooklyn. This exhibition examines the artwork that results when an artist is uprooted by moving to a new country, leaving behind a social support system, cultural commonality, and first language…

Continue reading Brooklyn Gallery Show of Immigrant Artists Opens Aug 5 →

Pictures of last week’s Celebrate Brooklyn Swell Season and Low Anthem show are up at Now I’ve Heard Everything.  For The Low Anthem, click here; for The Swell Season, click here.

There’s also some News and Notes over at NIHE today, and the theme seems to be “they used to live in Brooklyn.”  Read the latest about ex-Brooklynites Amy Speace, Kristin Diable, The Damnwells and the Damnwells’ show which goes on sale at 10am today by clicking here.

–Eliot Wagner

Aretha Franklin was set to play not one but two free shows in Brooklyn next week. Sadly, the famous diva has canceled. I can imagine this is causing much pain and consternation over at the Borough President’s Office, which runs the free Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series at Wingate Field and the Seaside Summer Concert Series at Asher Levy Park, where Aretha was scheduled to play on August 9 and August 12th respectively. That woman obviously has no respect for Brooklyn…

Continue reading Aretha Cancels Brooklyn Shows →

Sunday I was at Captain Nicks Rock and Roll Bar on Block Island listening to a reggae band from Boston called Ila Mawana. I didn’t even bother trying to find a place to watch Mad Men. As far I can tell there were no public viewings of Mad Men on Block Island. Ila Mawana is a great band with a lead singer named Gianpalo Blower (I’m guessing a made up name), a terrific female sax player name Nancy Loedy and a cheerful trumpet player named Trevor Bernatchez. They really rocked the place though there weren’t very many people in the club and very few dancing to an exceedingly danceable band. Meanwhile in Brooklyn…

Continue reading No Sound at Sheep Station, No Mad Men on Block but Great Reggae →