Milk's screenwriter Dustin Lance Black spoke movingly during his Best Screenplay acceptance speech. "God does love you," he said to young gay men and women everywhere. "And thank God for Harvey Milk."
All posts by louise crawford
Blogging the Oscars: Pull the Curtain, Steve
Okay. Hugh Jackman was fabu. And not just because he has my husband's first name. We loved his opening production number, especially when Anne Hathaway joined him for the Frost/Nixo song.
But when they sequed to the first film montage of the night the screen's curtain didn't open. Jackman was heard to say, "Pull the curtain, Steve."
The Clearwater Will Be Docked in Red Hook To Serve Brooklyn Schools!
I just got a tip about a groovy event at the Brooklyn Brewery this Thursday (Feb. 26). It's a benefit for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a nonprofit
environmental organization that conducts environmental science lessons
for elementary school kids aboard a big wooden boat.
They're throwing this party in Brooklyn to celebrate the fact that they recently gained
access to a dock in Red Hook- which will make it much easier for them to serve Brooklyn schools (previously, their only NYC dock was in Manhattan
at 79th Street, which prevented most Brooklyn schools from taking
advantage of their programs).
So come one come all to the fundraiser for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Benefit at the Brooklyn BreweryBrooklyn Brewery, a great way to support this terrific program, described below:
"During
the 1960s, the Hudson River was incredibly polluted. Folk singer /
activist Pete Seeger decided to solve the problem by building a large
wooden boat. The idea: the Hudson is everyone’s river; if people have
access, they’ll care about the river, and will work to prevent industry
from filling it with crap. So Pete founded Clearwater and built the
boat, which has sailed up and down the Hudson for 30 years, conducting
on-board environmental education for children and adults. The
organization also promotes sound environmental policy in the watershed,
and fights polluters like GE, Entergy, ARCO, etc. Thanks in large part
to Clearwater’s efforts, the Hudson is now clean enough for swimming,
fishing, and emergency airplane landings.
"We've
always offered educational sails not only for schools in wealthy
suburbs, but also for those in underserved and/or urban communities;
this year, we finally gained access to a dock in Brooklyn, which
dramatically increases our ability to serve students in NYC. To
celebrate (and raise much-needed funds to support our programs), we’re
having a party at the Brooklyn Brewery. There’ll be food, live music
by Chris Cubeta and the Liars Club & Medicine Woman, and various
salty crew members from the boat. We’re asking for a $20 donation,
which includes (limited) free beer courtesy of the Brooklyn Brewery."
The Where and When
Brooklyn Brewery
79 North 11th Street (between Wythe and Berry), Brooklyn, NY (map)
7-9:30 pm
cost: $20
www.clearwater.orgEvent info on facebook
Leon Freilich, Verse Responder: Oh, No!
Obama to raise taxes on wealthy to cut deficit. –news item
Oh, No!
Our most productive people
Are under fierce attack;
The country might just lost them–
What if they move to Iraq?
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Anyone Know a Good Naturopathic Doctor in NYC?
I'm guessing this OTBKB reader would prefer Brooklyn or Manhattan locations. But bring on the names if you know of some good naturopathic practitioners in the NYC area.
Creative Writing Classes for Kids?
An OTBKB reader is wondering if there are any creative writing classes for kids age 10. I suggested the workshops at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company also known as 826NYC. It's the turtoring and writing center started by Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genuis.
Are there others?
Private or group lessons?
Film Screening: Fast-Paced, High-Stress Lives of Many Kids
Sara Bennett, co-author with Nancy Kalish of The Case Against Homework, wrote in yesterday with this film recommendation. It's playing on March 5th and 6th. I'm not sure of the location. Try one of the links below.
Dear Friends,
I am really excited to tell you about a new short
documentary film, Slipping Behind, which looks at the fast-paced,
high-stress lives, of many of today's students.
If you live in
the New York City area, there will be two free screenings of the film,
on March 5 and March 6. I hope you can attend and please tell your
friends, your teachers, your principals, and anyone else you think
might be interested. (How about posting a copy of the flyer at your
school, on your facebook….) There will be a lively discussion
following the film and you will be able to give feedback to the
filmmaker, Vicki Abeles. I will be helping to facilitate the discussion.
The attached flyer explains all the details. Seating is limited so be sure to RSVP as soon as you can to: <julie@reellinkfilms.com>
If you don't live in the NYC area take a look at the film web site, <www.reellinkfilms.com>,
to see where else the film will be showing and/or to make arrangements
to show the film at your school, in your home, at your PTA meeting, at
your film festival, etc.
The film is a great way to start a discussion at your school.
Thanks and I look forward to seeing you at the screening.
Sara Bennett
Leon Freilich, Verse Responder: One Guise Fits All
One Guise Fits All
I miss the old defense
–"The devil made me do it"–
It had a biblical ring
Though some might misconstrue it.
Theology's out of fashion
These oddly godless days
And slippery slips of the tongue
Are "explained" by another phrase.
So those who've self-indicted
And're close to being a con next
Attempt to weasel out with,
"It was taken out of context."
Of course it's possible
These folks are on the level,
In which case what's the choice
But to go and blame the
devil?
Something for the Kids on Sunday: Gustafer Yellowgold Live
Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Somthing to do with the kids on a cold Sunday afternoon at Southpaw sponsored by Park Slope Parents. Doors open at 1 p.m. Show from 2 – 4 p.m.
Date: Sunday February 22, 2009
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
DOORS OPEN AT 1:00PM
Location:
SOUTHPAW, 125 Fifth Ave. ( Sterling and St. Johns )
Doors open at 1:00pm with crafts downstairs with Artcetera
$12 tickets
under 12 months – FREE
Get your tickets to this concert here:
<http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=662644>
And there's more to come in March and April!
Sunday, March 22nd The Suzi Shelton Band
Sunday, April 26th Randy Kaplan
Check out Gustafer Yellowgold at http://www.gustaferyellowgold.com.
The New Yorker Describes Gustafer Yellowgold in this way:
Sunshiny Day By Shauna Lyon
"Some catchy songs are irritating ("Macarena," or anything by
Weezer), some are not (everyone has their own examples; let's just say
that Stevie Wonder and the Beatles were good at this). Scientists have
studied the catchy-song-running-through-your-head phenomenon, and have
determined that there is nothing you can do about it but wait. So, it
goes without saying, when parents are introducing their kids to music,
they have to be careful.
Morgan Taylor, the author and performer of the Off Broadway kids' show
"Gustafer Yellowgold's Mellow
Sensation"
(at the DR2, on
Saturdays at 11 and 2, through May
17), has some pretty catchy, mellow
songs. With his Gustafer act, he has opened for bands such as Wilco and
the Polyphonic Spree, and combines a Beatles-esque sound with brightly
hued animation of the world of Gustafer Yellowgold, a little yellow guy
who has a pet eel and counts a pterodactyl among his friends. At a
recent show, attended by children aged twelve months to twelve years
(and their parents), Taylor , between tunes, amiably fielded questions
from the audience, such as "Why did Gustafer once live on the sun?" The
answer? Because he was born there, of course."
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Greetings From Scott Turner: Shea Stadium Demolition
Two in one week from Scott Turner of Red Hook's Rocky's Sullivan's. This week I feel like OTBKB has a cool sports reporter: A-Rod yesterday, Shea today. Love it.
Greetings Pub Quiz Movie Snack Concealers…
Today went out to Shea Stadium to see her last remaining structure come down — the ramps leading up to what was Section 5. I got there too late…two hours too late.
That's okay. Unlike most old stadiums in this country, the city's Department of Buildings
prohibition on massive implosions meant there'd be no
dead-stadium-walking ritual, no last sunset, no last moon, no last
dawn. They'd bring it down one piece at a time.
Then, this last little bit was left standing for one more night.
The last night that wasn't supposed to be.
In his early days, Elvis Presley had a trick. He'd file his
low E-string — the heaviest on a six-string guitar — down to within a
moment of breaking. Then, it would go like this:
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…ELVIS PRESLEY!!!"…Elvis and his band (Scotty Moore, Bill Black and D.J. Fontana)
walk out on stage…the first number kicks in, the lights come up full
blast, and Elvis pounds away at his guitar…THWACK!!! The low
E-string breaks, flies up into the spotlight, and looks like a killer's
scimitar dancing wildly to the first song's fury.
That's what the Shea demolition team did with the Section 5 ramps.
They cut through 90 percent of the support beams and stepped aside. A
last little tug sent the old gal's final piece slowly tilting toward
the new ballpark. THWACK!!! It hit the ground where the field level
seats used to be and, like any good implosion, kicked up a cloud of
dust that briefly obscured its still, lifeless hulk.
We should all go out kicking up dust…
Except
there were no bright lights, no explosion of change in the air, none of
a new era's earthshaking adrenaline. Back in 1964, Shea was bright
lights/big city. Now, 45 years later, she's left us like an elderly
aunt forced to fade away in an old folks home.
When I got there, four excavators, looking like rusty yellow
dinosaurs, were sorting through the wreckage — blue beams over here,
concrete chunks over there. You could see that through the winter
gloom as the 7 train pulled into the Willets Point/No Longer Shea Stadium
station. We stepped off the train and were hit with a weird, spectral
snow squall. I walked through the snow's horizontal assault until I
reached the closest point on the construction zone perimeter. The snow
turned to a nasty, spitting rain. You couldn't ask for more funereal
weather.
The way up to the seats just right of home plate. Ladder and fire extinguisher optional…
In that snow-turned-to-rain, I recounted all the reasons I
loved Shea — all of which I've told you about before. A new one
formed as I took a few photos through the perimeter's chain-link
fence: Shea was one of the last major-league ballparks to offer
freedom to watch a game the way we wanted to.
All the new fake-nostaliga ballparks — Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Colorado, San Diego, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Seattle, Houston, Arlington TX, Washington DC, Atlanta, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Arizona, Baltimore, and by everything their respective hype machines have disgorged, the stadiums for the Yankees and the Mets —
have comodified every moment, every angle, every bite to eat and
thought to cheer. Mallparks, they are — a carefully-sequenced
progression of consultant-crafted contrivances.
Shea was a big ugly lug who mostly just let you watch the game. In her last years, the Wilpons, having done for baseball owners what Ashlee Simpson did for rock'n'roll singers, began
a regimen of insufferable music, inane promotions, increasingly
blinding billboards and scoreboards and travesties like the Pepsi Party Patrol.
Their message was clear — "well, yeah, there's a baseball game going
on — but don't let it distract you from the other stuff."
But for most of her life, Shea was big and open and mellow enough
to let us cheer wildly when the Mets did well, shake our heads when
they didn't (a far more common occurrence), and sit and enjoy a game on
our own terms.
This new place with its cheap-plastic stim-package-aided name won't
leave us a moment on our own. It'll be like Epcot Center, where
"picture spots" tell you where to take a photo.
To enhance your Citi Field baseball experience, cheer when we tell you to.
Baseball
will survive, of course. In the Spring of 2009, baseball fans examine
the state of the game in their hands: steroids, soulless pod-people
players, blood-from-stone owners, reporters terrified at losing their
clubhouse credentials (the Daily News' Michael O'Keeffe
is one of the few brave exceptions), tone-deafness of the baseball
establishment, hundred-dollar tickets and ten-dollar beers, and
contrived new venues ("a five-star hotel with a ballfield in the
middle" is how the Yankees see their new stadium).
Now would be a good time to watch the game elsewhere. Prospect Park, minor-league parks far from the nation's big cities, hell, church picnics even.
Spring is coming. The first sure sign isn't even baseball or the weather, but this Sunday's Academy Awards. Easter, baseball and those first consistent 60 degree days.
Spring this year leaves New Yorkers just a smidgen less free
to ply their own emotions. At least those who spend a few hours every
so often at Mets and Yankees.games. We're all fighting our way through
this new Great Depression. On that count, we're left to our own devices.
But out at the ballpark, a place where we've earned the occasional carefree summer afternoon or evening, that's where we we've lost the chance to go our own way.
For our own good, so say the Wilpons and the Steinbrenners.
Toxic Truth: A Scientist, a Doctor, and the Battle Over Lead
Park Slope's Lydia Denworth has a must-read book coming out in March called Toxic Truth: A Scientist, a Doctor, and the Battle over Lead.
This fascinating book tells the interconnecting stories of Clair Patterson, a geochemist, who measured the composition of rock, ice, and rain in Greenland and New Zealand and Herbert Needleman, a
psychiatrist, who measured children's performance in poor urban schools.
By
the 1960s and 1970's, their work demonstrated that the world was filling up with lead, a toxic substance that was doing irreparable harm to
children.
The pair took on the lead industry. Ultimately lead was banned from paint,
gasoline, and food packaging, beginning in the late 1970s.
By the 1990's, the lead level in Americans dropped 90 percent, an incredible achievement and one of the great public health success stories!
Meet Lydia Denworth and learn more about these heroic scientists and their important story at a book party at the Old Stone House on March 3rd at 7 p.m.
Beth Harpaz Blogs on Motherlode: First Mugging
Park Slope's Beth Harpaz, author of 13 is the New 18, is blogging this week on Lisa Belkin's Motherlode blog at the New York Times website. Here's the introduction by Lisa Belkin and an excerpt:
In her guest blog this week, author Beth Harpaz writes about the
rites of passage for suburban and urban kids. The title of her newest
book. “”13 Is the New 18 … And Other Things My Children Taught Me —
While I was Having a Nervous Breakdown Being their Mother,” sums up the
constant state of unease that comes with being a parent.
So does her essay:
FIRST MUGGING
By BETH HARPAZ
First shave, first concert, first kiss, first smoke — they’re all
teenage rites of passage, right up there with bar mitzvahs,
quinceanaras and Sweet 16 parties.
But when you raise your kids in the city, there’s another to add to the list: First mugging.
Unless you chauffeur your kids door to door in the five boroughs the
way parents do in the “burbs,” chances are, before they’re old enough
to vote, they’ll be mugged. Now obviously you hope and pray that if and
when your kid is mugged, it’s nothing more than a quick shakedown for
an iPod or a big kid grabbing a cell phone from a smaller kid.
Unfortunately, plenty of kids also get slugged or have weapons pulled
on them — even in neighborhoods like Park Slope, where I live. Yes,
it’s not all fusion restaurants and designer dogs. We got thugs, too.
You tell your kids to be careful, as they wander around the
neighborhood, hanging out in playgrounds after dark with their friends,
or going back and forth to school. But like teenagers everywhere, they
believe they are invincible. One night a few years ago, after a kid was
mugged at knifepoint near our house I warned my son to watch out. He
told me I didn’t have to worry because he was “unjumpable.”
Read the rest at the Motherlode.
Baby Shower Gift: Organic Diaper Cake
GrowInStyle, a company run by a Sheephead Bay mom of a toddler and a newborn is a Brooklyn company that carries a variety of organic Eco Friendly Diaper Cakes .
How does she do it. Two kids and a growing business. Wow. I'm impressed!
No, an organic diaper cake is not something you eat. It's a 3-tier cake made out of brand new organic diapers.
Owner Elena writes that they make "extravagant baby shower centerpieces."
But here's the deal: diaper cakes are 100% pure and natural. Constructed
with no preservatives, artificial flavors or chemicals.
GrowinStyle has more 100% natural and safe baby products and a wide selection of Organic Baby Gift Boxes, BPA free teethers, organic plush toys and more.
Okay, the idea of an organic diaper cake caught my eye. They also have cup cakes. Only good if the parents are planning on using cloth diapers, of course.
Williamsburg Fashion Weekend: Inspire Us
Fashion Week in Manhattan is ovah, but things are just getting started in Williamsburg. See where up-and-coming Brooklyn designers are taking fashion. The
presentations are anything but ordinary or predictable, with
show-specific live music scores and artist performances.
When: Friday, February 20th, and Saturday, February 21st, 2009.
Featuring the collections of eight Brooklyn designers.
Four collections on Friday. Four collections on Saturday.
Where: At Glasslands Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Doors open at 8 PM.
On Friday, fashion shows run from 9 PM to 11 PM.
On Saturday, fashion shows run from 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM.
After party starts immediately after fashion shows.
The after party continues the fun into the night with killer bands and… The Trilateral Commission DJ set.
Door Admission — for the public: $8.- on Friday. $8.- on Saturday.
(Note: No advance ticket sales.)
Members of the Press and Buyers are strongly encouraged to RSVP to
"tommcalisternyc at gmail dot com".
This event is open to the public (i.e. non-press and
non-buyers) for the low-priced admission charge of $8 each night —
which entitles one to stay for the afterparty at no additional charge!
(no advance ticket sales).
Dress code: Inspire us!
Jordana Rothman on Ban on Israeli Food Proposed by Small Group of Food Coop Members
Writer Jordana Rothman dropped me a note to share her published response in Time Out to news that a small group of Park Slope Coop members proposed boycotting Israeli products at the Food Coop at a recent Open Forum. They plan to bring it up at the upcoming General Meeting.
Funny that Jordana wrote in because I was already typing my own little story, which was basically a retread of the Jewish Daily Forward story.
Maybe this is developing into a big deal. Looks like I'll be going to the next general meeting, which happens to be at Congregation Beth Elohim.
Here's an excerpt from Jordana's funny post-Jewish response in Time Out ("we're putting our hooked noses
back to the grindstone. Though clashing politics may simmer in the
produce aisle at your local Co-op, for now anyway, your persimmons are
safe," she writes). Jordana, a self-proclaimed "angry Jewess," writes about food for Time Out New York. Browsing a list of her articles, it looks like good stuff.
We were kibbitzing with our local usurer earlier today, just
toasting a diamond sale over a brimming chalice of Catholic baby blood
when—with a click of his tongue—he drew our attention to yesterday’s
edition of The Jewish Daily Forward.
The story in question: a fracas among Park Slope Co-op members, a few
of whom have moved to ban Israeli products from their shelves. Despite
the wisdom and composure brought on by 2,000 years of scholarly
thought, we could feel our horns glinting in the sun. Where’s an angry
Jewess to turn in times of strife? Why, the media of course!
toasting a diamond sale over a brimming chalice of Catholic baby blood
when—with a click of his tongue—he drew our attention to yesterday’s
edition of The Jewish Daily Forward.
The story in question: a fracas among Park Slope Co-op members, a few
of whom have moved to ban Israeli products from their shelves. Despite
the wisdom and composure brought on by 2,000 years of scholarly
thought, we could feel our horns glinting in the sun. Where’s an angry
Jewess to turn in times of strife? Why, the media of course!
The irony that the place is essentially a neo–urban kibbutz (members
pledge to work shifts at the grocery, making the desert that is the
Slope’s affordable, responsible grocery options bloom…as it were) has
not escaped us, being neighborhood residents ourselves. But the motion
feels born from the very stiff and self-righteous soapbox awareness
that many naysayers feel makes the Co-op unpalatable under normal
circumstances.
The Forward quotes Rabbi Andy Bachman, whose synagogue
plays host to Co-op meetings: “It will remain an irrelevant gesture to
5 million Israelis and 2 million Palestinians, but it will make someone
in Park Slope feel really good about themselves. That’s what this is
about; it’s about the political purity, which is part of Park Slope’s
unique self-absorption.”
We’re inclined to agree. And while we support the Co-op’s open forum
for this kind of divisive dialogue, we’re also comforted by the seeming
smallness of the gesture—the Forward reports about ten members (a minyan, in Heeb parlance) looking to discuss the boycott at a future meeting.
Ban Israeli Products as Protest Against Gaza Attacks at Food Coop?
It all started at the Park Slope Food Coop's Open Forum, that bastion of free speech and open expression. A coop member asked the group to consider a ban on Israeli products as a protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza.
According to Alan Zimmerman, who spoke with the Jewish Daily Forward, the woman who gave her name as Hima B. "spoke for less than 60 seconds."
News of this requestJewish Daily Forward includes quotes from Rabbi Andy Bachman:
“There are so many Jews who shop there, there are so many Israelis who shop there, there’s a huge number of frum
people from all over Brooklyn who shop there,” said Rabbi Andy Bachman
of Brooklyn’s largest and most active reform congregation, Beth Elohim,
“so my guess is that if it passes, and I want to emphasize that I don’t
think it will, they will lose a lot of members.”
people from all over Brooklyn who shop there,” said Rabbi Andy Bachman
of Brooklyn’s largest and most active reform congregation, Beth Elohim,
“so my guess is that if it passes, and I want to emphasize that I don’t
think it will, they will lose a lot of members.”
Since the meeting others have joined Hima B's cause.They plan to put the issue on the agenda at the next general meeting. There have been thoughtful letters in the Coop's newsaper, The Linewaiter's Gazette.
Somehow this story found it's way to the Jewish Daily Forward, which was launched as a Yiddish-language
daily newspaper in 1897 and made its name as a defender of trade unionism and democratic socialism.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Brooklyn Based: Places to Write in Brooklyn
I never saw the inside of the Brooklyn Writers Space, where quite a few of my friends do their writing. So I thought this was cool. This is from Brooklyn Based today, which features a piece by Jennifer DeMerritt on writing spaces around Brooklyn. She's got nfo and pix on writing spaces in Ditmas Park and Gowanus/Park Slope. Good reading if you're looking for a place to be productive.
Silence is golden at the popular Brooklyn Writers Space,
a 2,000-square-foot facility at 58 Garfield Place in Park Slope that
provides desk carrels, internet access, printers, a roof deck, and the
all-important free coffee for serious writers. Members mute their cell
phones and computers before entering the main work room (as a member,
I’ve been sternly shushed for inadvertent computer beeps) and talk only
in the kitchen or phone room. BWS’s formula of total freedom from noise
and distraction works for many notable Brooklyn writers, and monthly
readings at Union Hall, hosted by BWS’s founder, Scott, Adkins, let you
check out the talent lurking in those quiet cubicles. Full-time
membership costs $310 per quarter.
Journalists who like BWS’s affordable space but can’t work without their phones can try Room 58, located in the Brooklyn Artists Gym
at 168 7th Street in Gowanus. Co-founded by Scott Adkins of BWS and the
Brooklyn Artists Gym, Room 58 provides file storage, research
materials, and fellow members who won’t give you the fisheye when you
need to take that call.
Leon Freilich, Verse Responder: Preemption
Preemption
When my 16-year-old told me
Just what he intended to do,
I knew I had to stop him
–He was getting a tattoo
Now my distress would never
Have any effect on him–
My rebel has no doubt
His dad’s incurably dim.
So how to dissuade the boy
Without beating him black and blue?
The answer came like a bolt–
I got a tattoo!
Forgotten New York Does Carroll Street
Thanks to Forgotten New York for alerting me to this terrific post about Carroll Street. Here's an excerpt:
When the topic about Brooklyn's
longest streets comes up (and admittedly, that's once in a blue moon)
Flatbush, Atlantic, Bedford Avenues and Fulton Street come up most
often. But there are a group of streets that run from the waterfront at
Buttermilk Channel all the way east to Brownsville, running gthrough
Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Lefferts Gardens, and Crown
Heights: Union, President and Carroll. The latter is named for Charles Carroll
of Maryland, the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of
Independence, and Carroll's presence here in the atlas is quite
deliberate. A regiment of 400 Maryland troops, under Lord Stirling, assisted American patriots in a strategic retreat from British forces who vastly outnumbered them in the Battle of Brooklyn.
longest streets comes up (and admittedly, that's once in a blue moon)
Flatbush, Atlantic, Bedford Avenues and Fulton Street come up most
often. But there are a group of streets that run from the waterfront at
Buttermilk Channel all the way east to Brownsville, running gthrough
Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Lefferts Gardens, and Crown
Heights: Union, President and Carroll. The latter is named for Charles Carroll
of Maryland, the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of
Independence, and Carroll's presence here in the atlas is quite
deliberate. A regiment of 400 Maryland troops, under Lord Stirling, assisted American patriots in a strategic retreat from British forces who vastly outnumbered them in the Battle of Brooklyn.
Greetings from Scott Turner: A-Rod Edition
As always we are are pleased to present the latest virtuosic email from Scott Turner of Red Hook's Rocky Sullivans. And don't forget the pub quiz is every Thursday night!
Greetings Pub Quiz Cinematistas…
How perfect is Alex Rodriguez for Mike Bloomberg's New York City?
Today's press conference at the New York Yankees' spring training facility — where the main stadium has a been narcissistically named after fading-fast team owner George Steinbrenner — was a primo illustration of how the rich, powerful and offensively clueless dominate the headlines around here.
Alex Rodriguez — and you'll never see him sporting the ESPN-commodified
"A-Rod" nickname here…except just now — spent the press conference
in full Bloombergian mode. Alex Rodriguez lied. Alex Rodriguez
exaggerated. Alex Rodriguez obfuscated. Alex Rodriguez prevaricated.
Alex Rodriguez pretended to be forthcoming. Alex Rodriguez refused to
answer tough questions. Alex Rodriguez blamed others. Alex Rodriguez
surrounded himself with props — not Bloomberg's usual lumpen mass of
public officials, firefighters or annointed-for-the-day "heroes" — but
rather, Yankee teammates who were being good soldiers.
"At the 5:37 mark, purse your lips and look contrite."
Most
of all, Alex Rodriguez did all this with the entitled distance of a man
wealthy beyond belief. Money doesn't buy you happiness, never mind
love. It does reinforce in empty vessels like Alex Rodriguez and Mike
Bloomberg the notion that they're impervious to everyone else's anger
and disappointment at their actions. Same for Bernie Madoff, Rod Blagojevich, Eliot Spitzer, Chris Brown, the heads of the auto companies, and so many more.
In these terrible days of fiscal distress, warfare, disease and another endless season of American Idol,
Alex Rodgriguez doesn't count for much. But here, in New York City,
he'll be the headline for the next six months. I bet a few of those
headlines will include Mike Bloomberg's pontificatory, soulless and
trite condemnation of Rodriguez.
"I offer you puppy dog eyes, a Yankee-color shirt, and a watch worth more than you. Do you now love me?"
Bloomberg himself is flipping through City Hall's Tried And True
Cliches Handbook right now, looking for just the right bromides. In
his unleaderly manner, Bloomberg will, at some point, gently chide
Rodriguez for letting down the children and setting a bad example.
Bloomberg, who's treated Gotham's citizenry as pack mules to carry
billions of public dollars straight to America's wealthiest sports franchise, knows a thing or two about setting bad examples.
Mike Bloomberg and Alex Rodriguez run the same p.r. campaigns: find
a scapegoat….apologize in that non-apology way…blame "unavoidable"
circumstances…hire expensive crisis-management teams…fail miserably
at talking folksy to the little people…prevent the media from gaining
access to the truth…rig the game like an Atlantic City casino…and
above all else, spend more energy on denying the problem than fixing it.
Or not letting it happen in the first place.
"Don't worry…it's not an uproar if I don't do anything about it."
If
Bloomberg's such a great mayor and businessperson, how come this city's
in such bad shape on his watch? If Rodriguez is such a great New York
Yankee, how come they haven't won a World Series on his watch?
To hear either talk, it's everybody else's fault. On the rare
occasions when they admit culpability, it was just, you know,
unavoidable. Rodriguez used the "I was young and stupid" like he was
in a John Huges brat-pack movie.
At the end of the day, Alex Rodriguez, like Mike Bloomberg, acts
like nothing's too terribly wrong. Not with his own life or anything
else in the malestrom of this new century's first untenable decade.
"…must…remember…to…mention…God…"
Do we, the populace of New York City,
deserve brigands like Bloomberg and Rodriguez? The answer ranges from
"no" to "wouldn't wish them on our worst enemies." But since both
Bloomberg and Rodriguez wrap themselves in societal bubble-wrap that
the rest of us, for bizarre reasons, refuse to step up and pop, we're
stuck with them.
Or, we could start poping those bubbles, one obfuscation at a time.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Babeland Workshop: Put the Zing Back in Your Sex Life
Sexy Moms Series: Sex and the New Parent
Wednesday, February 25, 7-8pm, Free
Babeland Brooklyn, 462 Bergen Street
New parents can discover how to put the zing back into their sex
lives, with tips and advice from guest speaker Jocelyn Hart, a midwife
at the Morris Heights Health Center. This topic is ideal for new moms,
moms-to-be, and parents of small children who are wondering why their
sex lives took a detour once the baby arrived! Complimentary
refreshments. The Sexy Moms Series is jointly sponsored by New Space
for Women’s Health
Tonight: Henry David Thoreau at the Community Bookstore
Wednesday, February 18th @ 7:30 p.m.
The Nonfiction Book Group discusses
Henry David Thoreau's Walden
You've heard of Walden, but have you ever read it?
Tonight at the Community Bookstore join a discussion of one of the classics of American literature and
nature writing!
In 1845, Henry David Thoreau quit working at his
family's pencil factory in order to begin a two-year experiment in
simple living, building a small cabin outside of town and living a life
of self-sufficiency. Join us for an evening of lively discussion as we
explore Walden Pond along with Thoreau, and learn about the pleasures
of "simplicity, simplicity, simplicity."
The group will be reading the Norton Critical
Edition, which includes commentary and other related texts.
Edition, which includes commentary and other related texts.
3-Year-Old Rides The Subway Alone
I read about this in the New York Times this morning. Good New York story.
Apparently a 3-year-old Queens boy left his mom at a Roosevelt Avenue McDonalds, got on a subway train and rode alone for seven stations until he was tracked down by police.
The boy apparently walked to the Main Street stop of the No. 7 line at Roosevelt Avenue. There seemed to be three ways the boy could have gotten down into the subway system: by crossing a busy stretch of Roosevelt Avenue and entering there; by walking a full city block to entrances at Main Street; or by taking a long escalator located about 200 feet from the restaurant down into the station.
He somehow got by the turnstiles and boarded a westbound train, the police said.
According to the Times: a detective from the Vice Major Case Team was having lunch at that very same McDonalds when he saw a hysterical woman crying "My son. My son. What happened to my son?" He issued an alert after checking the store's surveillance video. At around the same time, a subway passenger noticed the boy riding solo and told a transit worker who notified the police.
I love the quote from the boy's dad, Jose Lino Marquez, 40: “Everything now is O.K.. My son likes trains,: he told the New York Times.
Terms and Use: Whose Facebook Is It?
I checked my Facebook page this morning and found a Terms of Use Update at the top of my home page. Apparently, Facebook has received a lot of negative feedback about the new Terms of Use policy they posted two weeks ago. I wasn't aware of this because I'm a newcomer to Facebook.
Because of the negative response, Facebook has decided to return to their previous Terms of Use until they figure things out. There's a Facebook Blog, where there is more discussion of this. Big surprise: there is also a Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities group where Facebookers can share their thoughts.
Facebook offered some clarification about the following issues that were brought up by Facebookers, who feared that Facebook was claiming ownership over people's content.
1. You own your information. Facebook does not. This includes your photos and all other content.
2.
Facebook doesn't claim rights to any of your photos or other content.
We need a license in order to help you share information with your
friends, but we don't claim to own your information.
3. We won't
use the information you share on Facebook for anything you haven't
asked us to. We realize our current terms are too broad here and they
make it seem like we might share information in ways you don't want,
but this isn't what we're doing.
4. We will not share your
information with anyone if you deactivate your account. If you've
already sent a friend a message, they'll still have that message.
However, when you deactivate your account, all of your photos and other
content are removed.
5. We apologize for the confusion around
these issues. We never intended to claim ownership over people's
content even though that's what it seems like to many people. This was
a mistake and we apologize for the confusion.
My Email From the President
I love getting emails from the President. This one linked to a new website called Recovery.gov and a video of President Obama talking about The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which, he says, will be carried out with "full transparency and accountability."
How?
A newly developed website called Recovery.gov is where you can track how the monies are being spent.
Louise —
Today, I signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law.
This is a historic step — the first of many as we work together to
climb out of this crisis — and I want to thank you for your resolve
and your support.
You organized thousands of house meetings. You shared your ideas and
personal stories. And you informed your friends and neighbors about the
need for immediate action. You continue to be a powerful voice for
change throughout the country.
The recovery plan will create or save 3.5 million jobs, provide tax
cuts for working and middle-class families, and invest in health care
and clean energy.
It's a bold plan to address a huge problem, and it will require my vigilance and yours to make sure it's done right.
I've assigned a team of managers to oversee the implementation of the
recovery act. We are committed to making sure no dollar is wasted. But
accountability begins with you.
That's why my administration has created Recovery.gov,
a new website where citizens can track every dollar spent and every job
created. We'll invite you and your neighbors to weigh in with comments
and questions.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
