A friend sent pictures of Saturday’s Dan Zanes‘ concert (see left). Thanks!!!

Another friend, Reliable, said that the show got off to a slow start when a representative from Develop Don’t Destroy spoke for ten minutes. The crowd got impatient: hundreds of kids in a hot space in the Williamsburg Bank building don’t take well to grown ups blah blah blahing. Apparently, the grown ups tried to clap her off the stage.

The kids were primed to hear Zanes, not listen to talk.

Then some kid got up on the stage and read a poem. "No one wanted to boo the kid," said Reliable Friend. But the kids wanted Dan.

Develop Don’t Destroy advisory board member, Steve Buscemi, followed the child-poet and made it short and sweet — but even he, funny as ever, could not cheer the crowd up. Woo. Not even Steve Buscemi. Dats not good.

According to Reliable Friend, Zanes was great, though there were a lot of instrument changes in between songs. He said his kid wanted to hear the upbeat, spunky stuff from the video and in the second part of the show, Zanes picked up the pace and the kids were happy.

Reliable Friend mentioned that Dan Zanes will be at the New Victory Theater on 42nd Street for a limited engagement in the fall or spring. Look out for that, friends.

photos by David Caplan

This from our friends at New York 1.

Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn is one of the city’s great venues, but it’s not very people friendly. Now, a number of groups are coming together to try to change that. NY1’s Milanee Kapadia filed this report.

Grand Army Plaza, the gateway to Prospect Park, is adjacent to the Brooklyn Public Library, and the juncture of the borough’s major roadways; Prospect Park West, Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway.

But pedestrians say getting to the Brooklyn landmark is no cakewalk.

"It’s definitely a nuisance, and it can be scary if you try to cut any corners and cross the street in a different place,” says Brooklyn resident Tom Brock. “Then it’s definitely risky, because there’s traffic coming from several different directions."

It took Tom 10 minutes to navigate his way through two crosswalks, traffic lights and a median.

Now, a coalition consisting of community groups, local institutions and elected officials have come together to make Grand Army Plaza less of a roundabout and more an easily accessible public space.

“These great opportunities have completely been cut off in little islands where people, like Eskimos, have to jump from one ice floe to another,” says Jan Gehl, an urban quality consultant. “The middle here where you have fountains and other nice things, there are no one."

Gehl is working with the coalition to figure out solutions to the plaza disconnect. He came up with a number of plans, such as building a tunnel under the plaza for cars. But it is the most expensive option.

“Or more lower cost solutions such as improved signal timing to allow pedestrians more time to reach the plaza, to re-channeling traffic so that there is actually a dedicated pedestrian walkway or connection to the park," says Paul Steely White of Transportation Alternatives.

The GAP coalition says it may take years before a final plan is chosen and implemented.

Pedestrians say they are willing to wait for the day when getting to the plaza is not equivalent to navigating the Indy 500.

“I think it’s definitely a good idea,” says pedestrian Mark Zaharis. “I think it is a nice spot, it’s a beautiful fountain, it would be nice for people to come through here and not worry about much if you’re walking.”

To check out some of the coalition’s plans, visit www.transalt.org.

The weather couldn’t have been worse but the event was terrific. And the turnout wasn’t bad considering the thunder and lightening storm that erupted just in time for the show.

Charlotte Maier’s performance as Marilyn Monroe was funny, sad and utterly compelling.  She did three short monologues, excerpts from an interview Marilyn Monroe did a few months before she died.

Albert Mobilio read a brilliant essay called "Scratching Tom Ewell’s Itch" abut the male character in "The Seven Year Itch." That was followed by Lisa Shea’s lyrical and touching piece about Marilyn Monroe’s singing voice.

Michele Madigan Somerville read a poem, written for the occasion, about a turtle she had as a child named Marilyn, that ended in a virtuosic outburst of passionate language.

Melissa Pierson and Yona Zeldis McDonough were equally wonderful. And the evening ended with a frothy white frosted birthday cake accompanied by Marilyn on CD singing, "Happy Birthday Mr. President."

A great, great evening.

(Wrote this quickly early Friday morning before going on a trip. The spelling errors have all been fixed.)

OSFO woke up at one this morning throwing up. Hepcat is generally assigned "Vomit Patrol" because (I think) he is less grossed out by puke than I am. (He grew up on a farm, afterall). I My job: offering support and, eyes closed, rubbing her back. He did a great job cleaning and disinfecting the hallway. Kudos to Hepcat. Another great shift on "Vomit Patrol."

Hepcat and I were up most of the night on OSFO-watch. For much of the night I squeezed next to her on her twin bed. She was very brave and wonderful. But, dang, I hate to see her suffer at all.

OSFO and I ended up in the living room watching a Power Puff Girls DVD.  OSFO was on the couch, I was on the floor wrapped in a quilt. By the time there was some blueness in the sky, she was feeling better.

Still, she’s home for the day…

Needless to say: Hepcat and I didn’t get much sleep. I just went out for all the "Vomit Patrol" basics, the stuff my mother used to give me when I had a stomach virus: Saltine Crackers, ginger ale, cocacola, and, for when she feels up for it, Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup.

Ooooh. Hepcat’s birthday is June 6th. Meet you at 6:06 on Sixth Avenue and 6th Street.

June 6, 2006 – or 6/6/06 – isn’t merely the sixth day of the sixth month of the century’s sixth year.

As any horror-film buff or Satanic cult member knows, 666 also happens
to be … (cue ominous chanting) the numeric symbol of the Antichrist,
according to the Book of Revelations.

The date has been a godsend for the studio behind "The Omen 666," the
remake of the 1976 horror classic about Damien Thorn, the boy born with
"the mark of the beast," a "666" tattoo on his scalp signifying he’s
the son of Satan.

In a devilishly clever marketing move, 20th Century Fox is releasing
the film on Tuesday to coincide with the renewed interest in the
subject.

For months, the Internet has been buzzing with doomsayers, Satanists
and religious zealots speculating that June 6 will mark a) the birth of
the real Antichrist, b) the start of Armageddon or c) the release of a
horror flick hopefully not as bad as the two "Omen"sequels of the late
’70s and ’80s.

While no sane parent believes they are about to spawn the Devil’s own,
some moms-to-be are admittedly "creeped" about giving birth on June 6.

"I thought, Ooooo, cool! 6/6/06! But then I was sort of like, wait,
that’s 666! I’m not religious at all, but it sort of creeped me," was a
typical posting on the Mothering Magazine Web site.

Another woman worried about putting her son "through the teasing and
torture he most certainly will endure as a teenager" if he’s born on
the sixth.

At least some expectant mothers are approaching their Tuesday due date
with humor. The Sunday Times of London reports that one woman plans to
name her son Damien, while another said she would name her daughter
Regan, after the possessed girl in the 1973 film "The Exorcist."

"The Omen 666" isn’t the only project taking advantage of the rare
date. Heavy metal band Slayer is kicking off its "Unholy Alliance" tour
on Tuesday, and the mentalist known as The Amazing Kreskin says he will
give a group of New Yorkers "the most frightening experience of their
lives" in a 666-related street stunt.

"All this talk about 666 is fanning the flames," says Kreskin. "Stupid
people are not the only people who are superstitious. Even the most
intelligent people are gripped by the power of suggestion."