For those of you living in the North Slope check out the candidates who are vying for Council Member David Yassky's seat and figure out who to vote for in the September primary.The event is sponsored by the Park Slope Civic Council
The Where & When
PS 282 (6th Avenue between Lincoln Place and Berkeley .
7 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Tuesday May 12th
.
Roy Nathanson Subway Moon CD and Poetry Book Release Party at 8:00 PM, $15
This Friday's show at Joe's Pub is a CD release party of Roy Nathanson’s new Subway Moon CD on Enja Records and his new poetry book, also called Subway Moon (Buddy's Knife Jazz Editions). Roy Nathanson, who lives in Park Slope, has
had a varied career as a saxophonist, composer, band leader, actor,
poet and teacher.
His career began in the mid 70’s playing with R&B
luminaries like Shirley Alston of the Shirelles, to Charles Earland’s
band, to the Lounge Lizards, to the Jazz Passengers, which he
co-founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987. The Passengers have made eight
CDs and have done extensive touring over the years
A reader of Pardon Me For Asking alerted Katia to these great photos on Ethan Finkelstein's Flickr page The photos were taken in the early hours of Saturday, right after a car drove into the Gowanus Canal. More at both blogs.
Also see Katia's story about another car plunge in 1921.
While i was at Blogfest, the Park Slope Civic Council announced that they want to triple the size of Park Slope's historic district. The Brooklyn Paper has the story. Here's an excerpt:
Brooklyn’s largest historic district would triple in size under a proposal unveiled on Thursday by a Park Slope community group.
The Park Slope Civic Council is aiming to expand the neighborhood’s
1,975-building historic district to include more than 5,000 structures
that constitute nearly the entire neighborhood bounded by Prospect Park
West, Flatbush Avenue, Fifth Avenue and 15th Street.
“The Civic Council recognizes the historical and architectural
significance of the entire Park Slope neighborhood and seeks to forever
preserve its unique character and sense of place,” said the group’s
resolution, which was approved unanimously on Thursday night.
The plan, a decade in the making, calls upon the city’s Landmarks
Preservation Commission to expand the existing historic district —
which includes the eastern part of the neighborhood between Park Place
and 14th Street — in three phases, first with a swath of 1,350
buildings bound by Flatbush Avenue, Prospect Park West, 15th Street,
Seventh Avenue, and sections of Union Street and Fifth Avenue.
The Where & When
Fabulous 5th Ave. Fair
Park Slope, Sterling Pl. to 12th Street
Sunday May 17
From 11 AM until 7 PM
It was a busy week. A moving truck scratched my car, my computer
speakers probably died, the Brooklyn Blogfest came and went and one of
those periods where there are a huge number of good artists playing has
begun. So I'll be highlighting shows here for a while.
Tonight is yet another musical doubleheader, this time over at The
Living Room. First up, at 8pm is Amy Speace and The Tearjerks. Amy
claims that her home base of
Jersey City is the new Brooklyn (which might be true if you remember
what Brooklyn was like 25 years ago).
But more importantly, Amy started out as a Shakespearian actor and just
changed gears along the way. Her songs blend the best of alt country,
rock and folk. Her band, The Tearjerks, are loud and proud. Amy has a
new album, The Killer in Me, coming out next month. Born out a break
up, the songs from Killer are a bit more introspective than some of
Amy's earlier work. But they should all blend together nicely tonight.
Next up at 9pm is Milton, which is the name of this rootsy rocking band
and its leader. I have already mentioned Milton here. I'll just add this
time that during a Milton show you can expect Milton to discuss
anything and everything. Last time out, in addition to the usual blend a Milton originals and some select covers, there was a discussion by the
Park Slope resident of the possum who wandered from Prospect Park onto
his block.
The Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street (F Train to Second Avenue; use the First Avenue exit)
Note: if you can't make this show tonight, it will be repeated at The Living Room next Monday, May 18.
–Eliot Wagner
Here's the music schedule for the Fifth Avenue Fair this Sunday (May
17). There will be two stages, one in front of The Gate (3rd Street)
and one in front of Southpaw (between St. John's and Sterling Places).
Southpaw Stage:
Chances With Wolves 12 to 12:30pm
Questions for A Super Champion 12:30 to 1pm
Keys N Krates 1 to 2pm
Chances With Wolves 2 to 2:30pm
Nouvellas 2:30 to 3:00pm
Persuasions 3 to
3:30pm
Chances With Wolves 3:30 to 4pm
Beet Root 4 to 5pm
Chin Chin 5
to 6pm
The Gate Stage:
Puppetryarts
12 to 12:30pm
DJ SuZan Z Anthony 12:30 to 1:30pm
Blame The Patient 1:30
to 2pm
Josephine 2 to 2:45pm
Sonia's Party! & TheEveryone'sInvited Band 3 to 3:45pm
Miss Fairchild 4
to 5pm
Persuasions 5 to 5:30pm
DJ SuZan Z Anthony 5:30 to 6pm
If that isn't enough, Southpaw will be hosting the NYC Punk &
Underground Record Fair. $5.00, 10 am doors (full bar).
As always, subject to change.
– Eliot Wagner
Walking out of Possibilities, that chotchka and card emporium on Seventh Avenue, I saw a father and son walking in.
"This is a woman's store," the father said.
"It is?" the boy asked.
"Yes, my son. You see there are only women in here…"
The sexist implications aside somehow I knew
that the two of them were about to embark on an important mission:
buying a Mother's Day gift.
Ah, the pressure. The agony. The thump thump thump heart beating anxiety to locate a perfect gift for mom.
As you can imagine, Mother's Day is a big deal around here. On the Saturday before, hordes of fathers with children will crowd Seventh Avenue making the pilgramage
to
the Clay Pot, which will be filled to the gills with clueless
men and kids struggling to find the perfect gift.
More than once, when shopping for a gift for my mother, I've been
tempted to steer a particularly clueless man toward what I knew would
be a more appropriate gift. But I resisted. It was not my place. If I
did, however, run into a friend's husband, I might make a small
suggestion. But hey, it was all in the name of friendship and karma
(and she could thank me later for the Lisa Jenks necklace).
While there are now many good stores to choose from (Living on
Seventh, Loom, Bird, Treasure Chest) in Park Slope And too, too
many places to name on Fifth Avenue (Diane Kane, Matter, Flirt, Cog and
Wheel, Eidolan and on and on…), the Clay Pot is still, symbolically,
the destination of choice, the holy grail of Mother's Day gifts.
For one thing, they have a comprehensive selection of the best in
contemporary jewelry design (at a variety of price points) and they
feature an eminently tasteful selection of the best in contemporary
home and gift items. As they say on their web site:
"The Clay Pot was established in 1969 as an urban ceramics
studio by Robert and Sally Silberberg. Thirty-five years ago Park Slope
was hardly the enclave for young professional families it is today, but
it was always a neighborhood, and The Clay Pot is essentially a
neighborhood store. Joined by their daughter Tara in 1990, the store
now reflects her passion for jewelry and has developed into a
nationally recognized source for America's premier jewelry designers."
Plus, they make it so easy for men to find a gift that will make
their wives swoon. The window is chock full of great ideas, as is the
store itself. But more importantly, their long-time employees are the
best at giving advice on gifts at every price range and style. They ask
all the right questions (price, personal style of the recipient, likes
and dislikes) and take the time to work with you. From hand crafted,
simple and tasteful, high design or even something with a little Bling, there's something for mom's taste.
That brown Clay Pot gift box with a black ribbon is the de-facto
Park Slope equivalent of the blue Tiffany box. To many a woman it means
that her husband has done his job, that he's reached to the sky and
pulled down a star. Good work.
Some men even venture into the vaulted and expensive wedding ring
department. Oooooooh. Now that's a guy who really knows how to buy a
gift.
Here's the latest Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper.
Like Smartmom herself, quite a few Park Slope moms are getting ready
to send their first child to college or on a gap year next fall. It’s a
major transition and one that is likely to bring tears to their eyes.
“It’s the end of all the fun we had together as a family,” one friend told Smartmom the other day. “The end of all that.”
Smartmom listened with empathy, but for the life of her, she
couldn’t remember the last time that she and her crew actually had fun
as a family. Who has the time or energy for family Scrabble games or
sing-a-longs by the Casio piano?
Smartmom and family do co-exist in an interesting way — and there’s
nothing like a Monday night spent watching “House,” “Gossip Girl” and
“Heroes” to make them all feel bonded and close.
But it doesn’t make her sad that Teen Spirit is about to graduate
high school because she knows that he is ready to move on. And so is
she.
Still, Smartmom wondered if she was only going to miss the laughter,
the fun, the good times — or was she going to miss the stress and the
agitation; the meltdowns and fights.
At the thought of all those less-than-pleasant moments, Smartmom
began to feel an emotional pang that spread across her chest like
heartburn (no, she wasn’t having a coronary, just a little heartbreak).
And then she understood what was going on.
Smartmom was having an empty-nest attack. She’d heard about them.
They can hit you when you least expect and cause tears and heart
palpitations out of the blue. One friend started crying so hard
listening to the “Pinocchio” song in the car, she had to pull over. For
another, the breakdown came in Little Things Toy Store. Still another
got emotional at the smell of Pino’s Pizzeria.
Smartmom didn’t think it would happen to her, but there it was:
stark emotional pain at the thought of losing her first born to
adulthood. She felt pierced by the sting of mortality: where did the
time go? Who is that tall handsome man in the living room?
Then, like some mild form of post traumatic stress disorder,
Smartmom experienced a rapid montage of flashbacks: she remembered all
the times that she shut herself in her bedroom to avoid the high-volume
sound of Teen Spirit’s musical improvisations; all the times she felt
barraged by the large group of friends he brought home for a sleepover;
all the Saturday nights at 4 am when Teen Spirit forgot his key and she
or Hepcat had to get out of bed to open the front door.
These hallucinations were vivid and sensorial: she could practically
smell the cigarettes on his jean jacket; see his eyes roll when she
expressed her opinions; and feel manipulated when he acted so sweetly
when he needed spending money.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized just how much
she was going to miss Teen Spirit’s high school years. Who was she
going to worry about? Who would she observe and analyze endlessly? How
would she fill all that vacant anxiety time? She’s been his mother for
18 years — how was she going to survive without him?
The more she remembered, the worse she felt. Like her friends, she
was getting emotional at the drop of a hat. While one part of her
welcomes this major transition and is curious about what kind of life
Teen Spirit is going to invent for himself, another part of her is
scared to death that he’ll decide to live far away and won’t write,
visit or call.
Perhaps the hardest part is learning to accept that he’s going to be
on his own and she won’t have any control anymore. More than anything,
this transition is about letting go and taking a leap of faith that
everything will work out.
All this reminded Smartmom of another friend, the mother of twins,
who sent her girls off to college last fall. For months, she was an
emotional wreck about life without her girls. She was scared, nervous
and unsure of who she would be without them. She didn’t have a picture
of what her life would be like after they left.
But off they went. Things were hard at first. But after a while, her
friend got used to life in her empty nest. She enjoyed hearing about
the experiences that her two daughters were having at different liberal
arts colleges in New England. But she also enjoyed the extra pockets of
time she had to devote to her creative work and her husband. She
regained a bit of herself in the process.
That sounds nice, but Smartmom isn’t there yet. For the time being,
she knows she has to brace herself for frequent empty-nest attacks.
It’s anyone’s guess what will bring them on: tripping over one of Teen
Spirit’s shoes left in the hallway; a big mess in the kitchen after he
makes a snack; another fight about that English paper that’s due.
Come to think of it, she’ll probably have one on Mother’s Day — her
last one with her boy before he goes off and starts his life.
Someone just wrote in about a police situation in Windsor Terrace on Saturday night.
Any news would be helpful. I pray it's not a repeat of last years murder one block north.
One of the sponsors of Brooklyn Blogfest, Outside.in, tracked the top topics, places, and neighborhoods in Brooklyn that got buzz and traffic so far in 2009. So if you, as a blogger, are wondering what kind of content people are looking for, we've got the top ten for you:
10. House of Yes. This Bushwick artist collective, office, and performance space includes a 50-foot high arial truss for performers to swing from. Circus troupes and other bohemian-types have performed here.
9. Aero Restaurant. This Bay Ridge restaurant was broken into in over a year ago but is still garnering attention.
8. Clinton Hill. This brownstone neighborhood, already a hotbed for blogging (number one in the outside.in Bloggiest Nabes of the U.S. 2007) has become even more popular with the launch this March of the New York Times Ft. Greene and Clinton Hill blog, The Local.
7. Toren Building, 150 Myrtle at Flatbush in Downtown Brooklyn. This glass-faced housing development has been in the public eye through every step of its construction.
6. Sunset Park High School. The Brooklyn Prospect Charter school will open this fall in a new building in Sunset Park and lots of bloggers have written about the news.
5. Atlantic Center Mall. With all the buzz about the Atlantic Yards project over the past couple years, the shopping plaza is finally getting some attention via (among other sources), crime blotters and FIPS undercover at Target series.
4. Park Slope, BK. We've got writers and we've got bloggers in this lovely brownstone neighborhood. Always a hot ticket for readers and writers alike.
3. Trader Joe's, Brooklyn. It may not have two buck chuck but it's TJs!
2. Pomegranate Market. The nation's largest kosher grocery store is in our very own Coney Island. Lots of blog mentions and lots of people reading about this place.
1. aaaaand the number one is Alex McCord. She is a hot topic in Brooklyn since starring on the Real Housewives of New York (and since the word of her nudie pics surfaced).
And this is what outside.in had to say about their Top Ten.
Go to Katia Kelly's lovely coverage of the Brooklyn Blogfest, which reads like a delightful children's book. I loved it. Here's an excerpt. Read the rest at Pardon Me for Asking.
No matter. Inside the PowerHouse Arena, some very busy people were at work, transforming this bookstore into a gathering place for Brooklyn's finest bloggers.
Eleanor Traubman, the producer of Blogfest, runs the blog Creative Times, and is a people person extraordinaire. She has the amazing ability to facilitate constructive collaboration between creative people.
Smart, organized and focused, Eleanor is a great person t o have on your team. We all owe her a tremendous debt for her tireless enthusiasm, energy, unlimited store of great ideas, and creativity.
See her pictured with her equally gifted partner Mike Sorgatz, who runs Art in Brooklyn. He designed the Blogfest poster and was a key member of the Blogfest Planning group. He is also a talented painter.
Pardon me for Asking has photos and video of the car being fished out of the Gowanus on Saturday morning. Here's an excerpt. Go to PMFA for more.
"On Friday night car plunged into the Gowanus Canal at Bond and DeGraw. I heard the helicopters overhead but then fell asleep again."
R&R Found Afar
I'm gone, now traveling
By plane & car & boat.
If you happen to be a burglar,
Please disregard this note.
Back on the twenty-sixth
To unpack, unwind, rewind.
Expect that distant merchants
Will've robbed me nearly blind.
O the joys of travel,
The boon of new addresses,
A surefire way of purging
All traces of our stresses.
POWERHOUSE ARENA: powerHouse is one awesome place for an event. Honestly, I wasn't sure how a bookstore/gallery could morph into Blogfest but it did. The space is very well run by Craig Mathis who runs a tight ship and is very accommodating. He was helpful from our first meeting in December right until the clean-up at the end of the night. A great, well-run space and a real class act! Big cheers and thanks.
Some thoughts: powerHouse's Arena seating makes a fantastic stage (even though it's supposed to be where they seat people; we turned things around). We were able to put a video screen high above the "seating." I worried about sight lines becks of the columns but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. I heard some complaints about the sound in the back of the room?? Complaints? The bookstore/gallery atmosphere with its cool couches, pew seating and bookstore content was perfect for the Blogs-of-a-Feather.
THE SPONSORS: We had the ULTRA GENEROUS SUPPORT of local businesses like Babeland, Brooklyn Frameworks, Whimsy & Spice Brooklyn Confectioners, D'vine Taste, Pizza Plus, Willie's Dawgs, Hugh Crawford. Alison Lowenstein, Melt, Slope Suds, Peeled and Grimaldi's
Casio GENEROUSLY donated a digital camera and watch and Yelp and City Limits, a site which, probes
under-reported or entirely ignored topics, did some great promotion. Oh and Jolt Energy Gum made a generous donation of their caffeine gum (the woman from Jolt was just so nice…).
Plenty of thanks go to Outside.in, which helped out with water (and wanted to donate beer but we decided against that) and provided a fun Top Ten List of top stories in 2009 thus far.
Some thoughts: Next year Blogfest will continue to look to generous local sponsors but we need a couple of BIG SPONSORS, who are willing to help pay for
the event. Maybe the answer is a government or foundation grant or corporate
sponsors who believe in what we're doing and want to help us make it happen.
Two of the sponsors didn't come through on what they promised
and still managed to do promotion at the Blogfest (boo). That was a little disappointing.
TECHNICAL AND AV: Between powerHouse, Rooftop and Blue Barn Pictures we were COVERED. A great team of terrific A/V people made the night a great success.
ROOFTOP FILMS: Right here in Brooklyn we've got a great AV rental company with a great staff. Chris was fantastic in all our phone calls and emails and he also made a site visit. They gave us a great rate even though Blogfest is not yet a non-profit and threw in mics and tables for free. Big cheers for Rooftop and staff.
THE VIDEO: Bravo to Blue Barn Pictures and Adrian Kinloch for the superb videos they created for Blogfest. We can't thank them enough for their great creativity, taste, energy and hard work.
THE PANEL: Big HUGE thanks to the panelists, who were all interesting and thanks to Megan Donis, who is a skilled moderator. They were all open, articulate and comfortable on stage.
Some thoughts: Next year we want more debate and back and forth and maybe fewer people. That said, it was a fascinating look at a range of Brooklyn bloggers.
BLOGS-OF-A-FEATHER: This worked on so many levels. It was a great way to involve even more bloggers than you can put on a program. It was also a great way to give even more people "ownership" of the event. It was also a chance for the audience to interact and talk about the work they are doing in small groups. The BOAFs also give us the opportunity to bring up more issues than time allows during the program.
Some thoughts: Next year we might think about extending this section. At powerHouse sound was certainly an issue as a room full of 300 people arranged in small groups is noisy. Microphones for the facilitators is one idea. Perhaps we need a space with separate break-out rooms.
THE VOLUNTEERS: I can't say enough about the great help we got from 20 bloggers who pitched in on the day of and set up chairs and whatever else needed to be done. Here are their names: Joyce Szuflita (Volunteer Co-Coordinator) – NYC School Help; Alice Crawford; Amanda Wiss – Urban Clarity
Ameet Maturu – Rice of Life; Brenda Backer – A Year in the Park; Casey Fitzpatrick – Out About Brooklyn; Cathryn Swan – Washington Square Park; Chandru Murthi – Seeing Green; Claude Scales – Self Absorbed Boomer; Elizabeth Palmer – Midnight Cowgirls; Hyatt Michaels – F.O.K.U.S.; Julio Barros – E-String Technologies, Inc.; Joyce Hanson – Good Girl Blog; Kim Maier – The Old Stone House; Martie McNabb – Memories Out of the Box; Michael Szuflita; Morgan Doninger – Puzzling NYC; Neil Carlson – Brooklyn Creative League; Peter Solomita (Music), Groovalicious in Brooklyn; Robin Lester – Clinton Hill Blog; Tuey Connell; Yvett Velazquez
THE SHOUT OUT: Sadly the Shout-out, a Blogfest tradition, didn't really work at Galapagos because of the noise and the desire to party and talk (both understandable desires on the part of attendees).
Some thoughts: Next year maybe the Shout-Out could be part of the show again but we may have to limit it to 20 bloggers so that it doesn't run as long as it has in recent years. Or maybe we don't need it anymore.
GALAPAGOS ART SPACE: Cheers for Galapagos; the people there were seriously fantastic. The staff is great, welcoming, accommodating and generous. Hailey Rhatigan responded to my first email request of the space within minutes with a: "We'd be thrilled to host 300 bloggers on the night of Blogfest!" And their enthusiasm never let up. Big cheers for Galapagos who also said, the crowd can stay until 2am if they want.
THE AUDIENCE: What a crowd of interesting, enthusiastic people! Thank you all.
Some thoughts: Diversity is still an issue. While I think this year was better in that department Blogfest still wants to reach out to people of different skin colors, ethnicity, and socio/economic groups. We also want geographical diversity (all parts of Brooklyn, that is, otherwise what right do we have to call it the Brooklyn Blogfest?). That said, this year thanks to outreach on the part of many, we made some strides in that direction.
FOOD AND DRINK: Okay. We decided on no-alcohol for the program and a cash bar at the party, which seemed to work. We were expecting free iced tea and snacks but that didn't happen.
Some thoughts: Did people really miss white wine and beer at the show? We've always had alcohol at the after-party and not at the show (except the first Blogfest, which was pretty wacky). Last year the beer was meant for after but people found it first thing…
NEXT YEAR: The Fifth Annual Blogfest will very likely be a full day event with morning and afternoon workshops, an evening program, Blogs-of-a-Feather and an afterparty. What do you think of that?
SAVE THE DATE: Oops we don't have a date yet. But a Saturday in early May. Or maybe April would be better. It may be the cruelest month, but there's too much going on in May! And June: forget about it.
Thursday night the rain stayed away and the crowd didn't. Approximately 300 attended the Brooklyn Blogfest at powerHouse Arena. At 6:30 the bookstore/publicspace was already getting crowded and by 7:30 when the houselights were turned off, the room was packed.
The show began with an Video Opener by Blue Barn Pictures, a fun montage of last year's event. That was followed by a somewhat nervous welcome from me (Louise Crawford). I described the past three blogfests:
Every time we do these things it feels like a whole new world out there.
At the first Blogfest, we were just thrilled to meet each other and put a face to a name of someone we'd been reading online. At the second Blogfest, it felt like a social movement and we found out that Brooklyn was the bloggiest place in the United States. That was exciting. Last year we were at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Fourth Avenue and on the program there were bloggers, or course, but also representatives local newspapers, television and radio.
This year there are more blogs than ever. Newspapers, television, twitter, facebook everyone is blogging and it's getting harder and harder to define exactly what a blog is. But in Brooklyn we know what it is. It's what everyone in this room is doing and it comes in many shapes and sizes, many flavors and styles.
Brenda Becker, ayearinthepark.typepad.com; Tim Becket, cityofstrangers.wordpress.com; Adam E
bigskybrooklyn.blogspot.com; Andrew Gardner, street-level-nyc.blogspot.com; Meg Groome
libertyontenth.blogspot.com; Sharon Kwik, bedstuybanana.com; Amy Melson, brooklynometry.blogspot.com; Lisanne McTernan, foundinbrooklyn.blogspot.com; Janah Terese, eatbrooklynfood.blogspot.com; Lola Zarus, cherrypatter.com; Jonathan Barkey, nolandgrab.org; Tracy Collins, freakinblog.com; Hugh Crawford, onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com; Jake Dobkin, bluejake.com; Nathan Kensinger, kensinger.blogspot.com; Lorna Keuning, lornagrl.com; Adrian Kinloch, britinbrooklyn.com; Chris Kreussling, flatbushgardener.blogspot.com; Robin Lester, clintonhillblog.com; Lara Wechsler, larawechsler.com
As a video intro to the Why We Blog panel three short vignettes made by young filmmakers at Blue Barn pictures were shown. The first one directed by Max Kelly, son of Katia Kelly, was about Katia and her neighborhood blog, Pardon Me for Asking. The second portrayed a young woman who has cancer, who writes an inspiring blog called Why Not Me. The third one was about a woman who blogs about life in Brooklyn, in Spanish, for an audience in Barcelona. All three videos were incredibly well done, spunky and very interesting.
The panel was up next. Hip Slope Mama, Bed Stuy Banana, Jake Dobkin of Gothamis, Anne Pope of Sustainable Flatbush and Tracy Collins of Another Friggin Blog. A very pregnant Megan Donis was the moderator.
The panelists introduced themselves and it was really fascinating to hear the different reasons why people blog. Here I will quote from Josh Frank's report on the Blogfest in Time Out:
There was one common thread: None of these bloggers write about
themselves. “It’s not about you,” Dobkin claimed, adding that
successful blogs are about something that other people are interested
in (e.g., Tracy Collins‘ photo blog about the Atlantic Yards project, or Bed-Stuy Banana’s blog about her neighborhood).
Anne Pope told the crowd that the 2007 Blogfest inspired her to become a blogger and she talked about the way her blog and her environmental activism are linked.
I enjoyed hearing from Bed Stuy Banana about the sometimes contentious relationship between the blogger and the community she lives in. "Some people want to see this neighborhood as a place of beautiful brownstones and trees. So if I write about a bullet hole in the sidewalk people hate me. I just write the truth of what I see."
Jake Dobkin, whose Gothamist blog is enormously successful thanks to Dobkin's business school smarts and Jen Chung's talent as a reporter, told the crowd: "No more new blogs. Not another small neighborhood blog. You guys need to come together, figure out ways to work together," he told the crowd with purposeful provocation. He also announced that he was going to do a guerilla Blogs-of-a-Feather if people wanted to learn more about monetizing their blogs and advertising."
Needless to say that group was well attended.
The second part of Picture Brooklyn followed and then came the Blogfest dedication to Robert Guskind. Brenda Becker, who writes, A Year in the Park, spoke eloquently about Bob's influence on citizen journalism and shared an interesting thread in Bob's work:
"With his emphasis on
Coney Island and the Gowanus, strange cats and stray pit bulls
something connects all of it," Brenda told the group. "Bob could see
beauty in that which was broken. And he could see what could be in it
again. How a polluted canal could be Venice. A street couch could be
absurdest theater. A broken, miserable Coney Island could be turned
into something great."
The Robert Guskind video by Blue Barn pictures featured an interview with Bob created for last year's Blogfest. There was also footage by Bob of the Gowanus Canal and audio from an interview Bob did with Brian Lehrer all edited to Jesus and Mary Chain's "Dirty Water."
Throughout the program I announced the Top Ten stories that captured the attention of Brooklyn blog readers. This list included: Target, Trader Joe's, Park Slope, the Toren Building, the Atlantic Mall…When I find that list I will post it here.
Finally, it was time for the Blogs-of-a-Feather, a new concept that was rolled out this year. It was a chance for attendees to get together in small groups throughout the powerHouse space to come together with others who blog about similar things.
This concept worked even better than I expected. People did gather and talk and talk and talk; it may have been the best part of the show. I'd love to hear from people who participated in one. How did it go? Did you meet interesting people? How could these groups be better, etc.
At 9:30 or so the crowd moved to Galapagos where, I hear, there was an incredible skirt steak hero from Fairway (it wa completely gone by the time I arrived at 10 p.m. There were also hot dogs donated by Wilie Dawgs, 20 pizzas from Pizza Plus, Middle Eastern Specialties from D'Vine Taste, and more from Fairway.
We tried to do the Shout-Out over there but it didn't work out because people wanted to talk and party and the Blogfest tradiition didn't really work in that particular setting. But a few brave Shout-Outers did get up. The raffle winners were announced and the party went on until mid-night.
The rain never came. And Blogfest 2009 was a great night in Brooklyn down under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.
An interesting view of the panel discussion on the steps of the Brooklyn Blogfest stage at Powerhouse Arena with (left to right: Tracy Collins, Another Friggin Blog, Anne Pope, Sustainable Flatbus, Jake Dobkin, Gothamist, Sharon Kwik, Bed Stuy Banana, Melissa Lopata, Hip Slope Mama, and Megan Donis, moderator. Pix by Henry Lowengard
Go to Hugh Crawford's Smugmug page to see all the pictures he took.
Participants at the Brooklyn Blogfest on May 7th 2009, who let Hugh Crawford take of picture of them at the after-party at Galapagos Art Space, included Andy Newman of The Local, the New York Times' Ft. Greene blog; unknown bloggers; Tracy Collins of Another Freakin' Blog; Anne Pope of Sustainable Flatbush; Michael White of Noticing New York ; Nick; Homer Fink of Brooklyn Heights Blog; a group of Clinton Hill bloggers, including Robin Lester of Clinton Hill Blog. and Melissa and Larry Lopata of Hip Slope Mama.
Atiba Edwards, one of the Blogfest Planning Group and with F.O.K.U.S.; Jon Butler, Brownstoner chatting with Jake Dobkin, Gothamist. Eleanor Traubman of Creative Times with audience members; Katya Kelly of Pardon Me For Asking with Nathan Kensinger.
Photos by Frank Jump of Fading Ad Blog.
The biggest thing about the Rockwood Music Hall is its name. But on
Saturday from 9pm to midnight it is the place to see a great
doubleheader.
James Maddock isn't from here. He's from Leicester, England. But he's
been around New York for long enough that he's long been part of the
local music scene. He and his band Wood had a record out around the
turn of the century. It's the usual story. The record had many good
points but not commercial success.
These days, you'll often find James playing at The Rockwood Music
Hall. His songs range from the gorgeous Sunrise on Avenue C (the one
on the Lower East Side, not the one on this side of the river) to the
clever When the Stars Align to the funny and all to true skewering of
reality TV in Dumbed Down.
He often plays with a number of impressive musicians including the
wonderful pianist and vocalist Leslie Mendelson (who I will tell you
more about in the future) and the former Spin Doctors drummer Aaron Comess.
I'm not sure what configuration James will be playing in this time
around, but seeing him will be two hours well spent.
Following James at 11 pm will be a band that the Rockwood schedule
lists only as P N B. Remember the video of that all Brooklyn all
female trio I posted last weekend? Well, that's who will be there,
playing covers, mainly country, but with some other things thrown in as
well.
As I mentioned, The Rockwood is small (it holds 40 at most), so get
there early and plan to stay late. The Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen
St. (F Train to Second Avenue, take the First Avenue exit, cross Allen
St. and walk 1/2 block south).
–Eliot Wagner
Brooklyn Blogfest is gonna be so cool.
–The panel, WHY WE BLOG, moderated by Megan Donis is going to be very interesting.
–The raffle with great prizes, including a Casio digital camera, a Casio
watch, a framed photo by Hugh Crawford of Coney Island in the snow, a
Babeland goody bag, a framed Ork Design Brooklyn poster donated by
Brooklyn Frameworks and MORE.
–There's going to be lots
of tasty food and a cash bar at the after-party. Galapagos is inventing a
special Brooklyn Blogfest drink.
At Powerhouse there will be iced tea courtesy of Yelp. Bottled water courtesy of Outside.in, and snacks courtesy of Peeled Snacks and Whimsy & Spice Brooklyn Confectioners .
You're
gonna love the videos: 20 photographers contributed to Picture Brooklyn: A Tribute to the Borough's Photobloggers edited by Adrian Kinloch of Brit in Brooklyn. All your favorite photobloggers will be represented.
The Blogs-of-a-Feather, small group sessions led by notable bloggers, will be a chance to network and get insight and advice.
What else: The Shout-Out a Blogfest tradition, will be like a groovy open-mic at Galapagos Art Space MCed by Rob Lenihan of Luna Park Gazette.
So
come one, come all and find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in
America at the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 7, 2009. Doors
open at 7 pm at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO.
"Where better to take the pulse of this rapidly growing community
of writers, thinkers and observers than the Brooklyn Blogfest?" ~
Sewell Chan, The New York Times
Also on the agenda: A VIDEO TRIBUTE TO BROOKLYN'S PHOTO BLOGGERS by
Adiran Kinloch of Brit in Brooklyn, WHY WE BLOG VIDEO SPOTS by Blue
Barn Pictures, THE ROBERT GUSKIND VIDEO, and the annual SHOUT-OUT: a
chance to share your blog with the world!
Whether you live to
blog, blog to live or are just curious about this thing called
blogging, you won't want to miss Brooklyn Blogfest 2009: the
best Blogfest yet.
May 7, 2009
Doors open at 7 p.m.
powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Admission: $10 ($5 for students and seniors)
Brooklyn Blogfest After-Party
Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
(right across the street from powerHouse Arena)
BROWNSTONE VOYEUR is a joint project of casaCARA and Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. Look for it every Thursday on both sites.
LAST FALL, an unusual townhouse at 100 Nevins Street went on the market with an asking price of $1.975million. Ambitious, to say the least: it went to contract recently for $1.2million. A couple in the arts with two young sons are the almost-owners. They will use it as a one-family.
It's not your typical brownstone. It took the right people to
appreciate the narrow, stoopless four-story building at the corner of
Pacific Street, with its dramatic, atrium-like living room and sculptural central staircase encased in plaster. There’s an enclosed garden on ground level and a roof terrace above. The 1970s renovation features such period-appropriate details as single-pane windows, curved doors that echo the lines of the stairwell, and the use of materials like mirrored tiles and cork for wall covering.
Nancy McKiernan, the listing agent, staged the place for sale,
and did such a subtle job of it that she fooled me, for one. I assumed
the house was decorated by some hip, tasteful people back in the day
when the original Conran’s aesthetic was at its height.
At tomorrow's Blogfest we will show for the first time this year's Tribute to Brooklyn's Photobloggers, a 10-minute montage of photographs by Brooklyn's incredibly talented photoblogging community.
Dedicated to the memory of Robert Guskind (1958-2009), the video was created by Adrian Kinloch who also composed the music. The following photographers are included in the video:
Brenda Becker
ayearinthepark.typepad.com
Tim Becket
cityofstrangers.wordpress.com
Adam E
bigskybrooklyn.blogspot.com
Andrew Gardner
street-level-nyc.blogspot.com
Meg Groome
libertyontenth.blogspot.com
Sharon Kwik
bedstuybanana.com
Amy Melson
brooklynometry.blogspot.com
Lisanne McTernan
foundinbrooklyn.blogspot.com
Janah Terese
eatbrooklynfood.blogspot.com
Lola Zarus
cherrypatter.com
Jonathan Barkey
nolandgrab.org
Tracy Collins
freakinblog.com
Hugh Crawford
onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com
Jake Dobkin
bluejake.com
Nathan Kensinger
kensinger.blogspot.com
Lorna Keuning
lornagrl.com
Adrian Kinloch
britinbrooklyn.com
Chris Kreussling
flatbushgardener.blogspot.com
Robin Lester
clintonhillblog.com
Lara Wechsler
larawechsler.com
Edited and produced by Adrian Kinloch.
