A young daredevil balances precariously atop a huge mountain of snow in the parking lot of the Staten Island Mall.

Photo by Tom Martinez

My friend and blogger Morgan Pehme of Brooklyn Optimist is now a media representative for a group called, Power to the Parents Today he sent me a press release about an aggressive effort to recruit parents to represent their kids and their communities. This grou, Power to the Parents is inviting public school parents to run for a community and citywide education council.

If you are a public school parent in New York City, the Department of Education wants you! To run for your Community or Citywide Education Council, that is.

In an ambitious reinvention of the Community and Citywide Education Council (CEC)
elections, the NYC Department of Education (DOE) is reaching out to
public school parents across the five boroughs to encourage as many
parents as possible to become candidates for their local CEC. The CECs, which replaced New York City’s
School Boards in 2004, are parental advisory boards – one for each of
the City’s 32 school districts – that meet with the district
superintendent each month and advise the DOE on issues like zoning and
instruction.

In
response to parent feedback following the last set of elections in
2007, the DOE has simplified the process of becoming a candidate for
the CEC by setting up the website powertotheparents.org. 

Parents can sign up online to run in a matter of minutes.

I asked journalist Lydia Denworth why she decided to write the book, Toxic Truth: A Scientist, A Doctor and the Battle Over Lead,

Denworth: I was drawn to the people whose story it tells. They are
unsung heroes who deserve to be more widely known.

I wanted to know why it took so long to take real action on
lead and why Patterson and Needleman and their allies had to fight so hard. 

I began to see that the larger story of lead was an
important case study for all kinds of environmental issues

Park Slope's Lydia Denworth is the author of Toxic Truth: A Scientist, A Doctor and the Battle Over Lead, the first book to tell the incredible story of the two men behind the bitter thirty-year fight to protect children from lead.

Denworth is a writer and editor based in New York City. A former reporter for Newsweek and bureau chief for People, her writing on science, education and social issues has appeared in the New York Times, Redbook, Health and other publications.

In
2009, she'll be teaching in the journalism department at Long Island
University. She serves on the boards of trustees of the Berkeley
Carroll School and the Oliver Program, which expands the educational
opportunities of black and Latino students.She lives in Park Slope Brooklyn with her husband and three sons.

Denworth is having a book launch party and talk at the Old Stone House (in
conjunction with the Community Bookstore) on Tuesday March 3rd at 7
p.m.There will be books for sale and signing.

The Park Slope 100 logo, designed by Elizabeth Reagh of Good Form Design, will be included in a Logolounge book, a prestigious series of logo design books from the Master Library Series.

That sure makes me feel good for two reasons.

Reason 1: I am thrilled for Elizabeth Reagh because she deserves the recognition. Her company Good Form Design, is a small and vibrant graphic design studio in the heart of Park Slope,
Brooklyn. She ees every project as a chance to bring her parallel
backgrounds in fine art and graphic art together to produce effective
and beautiful communication. Logos, websites, invitations and branding.

Reason 2: I am thrilled because it gets the Park Slope 100 out there into the world.

The
LogoLounge books have quickly become best-selling series of design
books. It is part of LogoLounge®, a website where designers can easily
share their ideas and concepts with peers and clients. The site enables people to search through thousands of
logos created by designers and firms known and unknown. The logos are  categorized to make your search
for a logo or concept easy.

I am checking to see if there are any sledding activities in Prospect Park today sponsored by the city…In years past there's been free hot chocolate and sledding contests. One year, Bloomberg even showed up in Long Meadow.

That must have been five years ago. 2004?

That's what it says on the MTA website. If you know of any problems on the subway or buses please let us know. louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com or leave a comment.

Just head that mass transit is running on or near schedule.

In 2005 I wrote a post called: In NY There Must be 40 Words for Depression. This was originally posted on January 25th, 2005: 

Local private schools are closed. I've checked the websites of the schools listed above. My sister heard directly from Beth Elohim. I am assuming all schools, including pre-schools are following the NYC public school. But check your school for information.

Snow day. Children rejoice.

12 inches expected. Alternate side of the street parking suspended. Hundreds of flights at local airports cancelled.

Snow day.

Park Slope's Lydia Denworth is the author of Toxic Truth: A Scientist, A Doctor and the Battle Over Lead, the first book to tell the incredible story of the two men behind the bitter thirty-year fight to protect children from lead.

Denworth is a writer and editor based in New York City. A former reporter for Newsweek and bureau chief for People, her writing on science, education and social issues has appeared in the New York Times, Redbook, Health and other publications.

In
2009, she'll be teaching in the journalism department at Long Island
University. She serves on the boards of trustees of the Berkeley
Carroll School and the Oliver Program, which expands the educational
opportunities of black and Latino students.She lives in Park Slope Brooklyn with her husband and three sons.

Denworth is having a book launch party and talk at the Old Stone House (in
conjunction with the Community Bookstore) on Tuesday March 3rd at 7
p.m.There will be books for sale and signing.

This list of Seven Surprising (and Alarming) Things You Don't Know About
the History of Lead was prepared for the readers of OTBKB by Denworth.

1) Australian doctors first discovered the link between lead
paint and childhood lead poisoning in 1904.

2) Twelve countries banned lead paint from interior use in the
1920s. At the same time in the United States, National Lead was using the Dutch
Boy to market the product to children and winning advertising awards for the
campaign.

3) Clair Patterson invented the ultra-clean lab in the 1950s
because he figured out that his laboratory was so contaminated with lead—in the
water, the air, the equipment—that he couldn’t get the accurate measurements of
lead isotopes he needed to determine the age of the Earth.

4) The man who invented leaded gasoline, Thomas Midgley, had a
bad case of lead poisoning. So did his assistant.

5) When pediatrician Herb Needleman treated his first
lead-poisoned child in 1957, many doctors still couldn’t recognize a case of
acute lead poisoning, even when the patient was nearly comatose or having
convulsions. 

6) Medical truths change. The industry researcher who was
considered the preeminent authority on lead in the first half of the 20^th
century was convinced everyone was fine below a blood lead level of 80
micrograms per deciliter of blood. Today the “level of concern” is 10, but the
CDC acknowledges that there is no safe level of lead for children.

 7) Millions of toys were recalled because of lead paint hazard
in 2007. The U.S. government published its first brochure on the dangers of
lead paint in toys in the 1930s.

She will be giving a reading and talk at the Old Stone House (in
conjunction with the Community Bookstore) on Tuesday March 3rd at 7
p.m.There will be books for sale and signing.

Neko Case's album won't be released until Tuesday. But I'm wearing out the grooves at the npr.org site where they're previewing it.

It's an exclusive first listen. The whole album is there but this is my pick fave. Lyrically, it is one of the most unusual love songs you may ever encounter.

This Tornado Loves You (excerpt)

…I have waited with a glacier's patience
Smashed  every transformer with every trailer until nothing was standing
Sixty-five-miles wide
Still you are nowhere, still you are nowhere
Nowhere in sight
Come out to meet me, run out to meet me
Come into the light…

Last night standing in front of Perch where my son Henry Crawford was performing I noticed flickering candlelights in the window of Get Fresh Table and Market.

It looked so pretty inside and from what I could see there was a nice-sized crowd in there.

As reported on OTBKB, Get Fresh has worked hard to reinvent themselves; they're made some big, bold changes over there and are really getting their act together.

Which isn't to say they didn't have it together before. But the shop started with a shaky concept: a place to buy pre-selected localvore and organic ingredients pre-packed and ready to cook, including cooking directions.

It wasn't ready-to-eat it was ready-to-cook.

I don't think locals ever really took to the concept.

Previously it was a gorgeous but underused space. Now as a restaurant and market it makes total sense. By day it's a cafe, market for prepared and ready-to-cook foods, and place for cooking workshops for adults and children. By night: a restaurant with a noted chef.

Ben Muessig in this week's Brooklyn Paper wrote a brief profile of Mark Simmons, the cook who was on the Bravo cooking show, Top Chef. Simmons told Muessig that he hopes to turn the Fifth Avenue restaurant into a localvore destiantion. He is also the chef creating the food for the market.

“Our goal is definitely to focus on organic and local food — and
that suits me because that’s how I grew up in New Zealand,” said
Simmons.

“It’s very natural to me and it’s fulfilling to be doing something that I believe in,” he said.

But it hasn’t been easy for the Kiwi cook to transition between the
fast-paced TV show and preparing reheatable meals — like braised pork
chop with kidney bean sauce ($12 per serving) and squash risotto with
white wine, arborio rice, organic butter and Parmesan cheese ($11).

“I’m learning how to take the organic ingredients and pre-prepare
them so they’re at their optimum when people get home,” he said.

Two new curators are joining the Elizabeth A.
Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Musuem. Welcome to Brooklyn Catherine and  Sharon.

Catherine J. Morris has organized
several exhibitions that explored issues
related to feminism and its impact as a
social, political, and intellectual construct
on the development of visual culture-among
them Decoys, Complexes and Triggers:
Feminism and Land Art in the 1970s at the
Sculpture Center, Long Island City, New York,
and Gloria and Regarding Gloria at
White Columns, New York. She is also the
co-curator of Hans Hoffmann: Circa
1950, currently on view at the Rose Art
Museum at Brandeis University. For the past
five years Morris has also been Adjunct
Curator of Contemporary Art at the Philbrook
Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has
authored or contributed to several scholarly
publications and catalogues, including two
books about Cindy Sherman. A longtime
Brooklyn resident, Morris is a graduate of
the University of Maryland and the recipient
of an M.A. from Hunter College. As Curator of
the now-two-year-old Elizabeth A. Sackler
Center for Feminist Art, she will organize a
wide range of special exhibitions and oversee
the Center's permanent collection, which
includes The Dinner Party by Judy
Chicago.

No Land Grab has links to news and analysis on yesterday's court decision.

Yesterday was a bad day for Brooklyn: the State Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled
in FAVOR of the Empire State Development Corporation and AGAINST the community
in the challenge to the state's environmental review and "blight"
determination for the Atlantic Yards proposal.

Now 26 community organizations, led by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, will be headed to the Court of Appeals. Petitioners will ask the Court of Appeals to review the ruling and are considering all issues in the case for an appeal.

I got this in my inbox today from Develop Don't Destroy. Below are links to many breaking news stories about yesterday when the State Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled
in favor of the Empire State Development Corporation and against the community
in the challenge to the state's environmental review and "blight"
determination for the Atlantic Yards proposal:

Coverage of the ruling can be found here:

In the headline above I am referencing a documentary by the great Les Blank called, "Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers."

 I've heard from many friends on Facebook with advice for the flu.

"Chicken soup (or miso will do). Although knaidlach doesn't do so well in miso."

"You must try spicy Thai soup – better than chicken soup for a cold/flu"

"Or the spicy soup from the Japanese place on 7th, that really knocks out the germs."

Note: Gai Tom Kha is the soup I like at Lemongrass, Song, Sky Thai. It has chicken broth, coconut milk, lime juice, pepper and mushroom.

Photo from Elena's Pantry on Flickr.

An untitled film project with a roster of hot Hollywood stars is set to shoot next week in Prospect Park. I hear that they're using the Picnic House as a temporary movie studio and have built an elaborate set inside.

This production is a biggie. BIG names. BIG director. BIG budget. Look for BIG production trucks on Prospect Park West I'm guessing.

More deets to come.

Friends of Park Slope architect Gilly Youner are looking forward to the March 8th opening reception of L'Chaim, Herb Youner, a retrospective of Youner's paintings and photographs at the Upstream Gallery in Dobbs Ferry.

The following was written by Herb's wife: "This exhibit is a celebration of Chaim Herbert Youner’s life.
 
Herb passed away September 12, 2007, at age 76, in a graceful, peaceful exit.
 
On that occasion, alone in the midst of a holiday celebration, while surrounded by his loving family, he fulfilled his own artist’s statement:
 
“Much of my work deals with loneliness and abandonment around us…Many of us… are ultimately alone, even in the midst of each other.” His paintings will live on. In his March 2000 exhibit statement he writes,
 "I feel the ebb and flow of the tides and their constant motion regardless my presence or absence.”
 Later, in May 2002, he writes: “Carnival rides that spin, twist, change speed and come to a jarring stop are metaphors for life.”

Herb lived a full life. From his first artistic success at the High School of Music and Art, when he received his first award from Colliers Magazine, and exhibited his painting at the Brooklyn Museum; to his Cooper Union experience, and throughout the years of work as a designer, he continued to create the large body of work which these paintings are a part of. His artwork flourished in the last year of his life, when he was invited by the Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar, Spain, where he spent a whole month painting as a Resident Artist.
 
His presence is in every piece of his work, in his paintings, drawings, prints, 3D pieces and photographs. He continually explored the effects of light and shadows when creating forms in his Facades, in the surreal images of beaches and playgrounds, in the starkness of the Mediterranean coast.
 
 The show at Upstream Gallery runs from March 5th through March 29, 2000. The opening reception is Sunday March 8th from 2-5 p.m.

Check out the Flickr page created by his proud daughter, who is pictured here with Herb.

.

Park Slope's Charlie Libin is usually behind the lens as
director of photography or camera operator on films like Able Danger,
Be Kind Rewind and Neil Young: Heart of Gold.

A film he directed, American Combatant
was selected for numerous film festivals, including the San Paulo
International Film Festival and is now available at Amazone.com.

We also loved that he did second unit camera for Rachel Getting Married and was an extra during the party
scene.

But who knew he was a dispenser of compassionate healing advice. He responded to my status report: Louise finally got that flu that everyone has. She's giving into it now