Are you hungry for some stir fried fiction, fresh baked poetry and deep dish prose? On Thursday, December 16 at 8PM come feast on a succulent bounty from writers who use food as metaphor, motif and mnemonics of meaning. Bring an appetite for good writing and real snacks by Chef Ame Gilbert, who will be preparing tasty treats for you to enjoy.

This event is a benefit for the food pantry at St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope. You are invited to donate what you wish. Suggested donation is $5, which includes snacks by Ame Gilbert and wine. Feel free to give more for those in need.

The writers on the literary menu include: Greg Fuchs, Jim Behrle, Louise Crawford, Michele Madigan Somerville, Peter Catapano, Sophia Romero, Amy Gilbert and Jake Siegel.

The Old Stone House is located at Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope. For more information go to theoldstonehouse.org or brooklynreadingworks.com

It’s Thursday night and the weekend is starting to heat up. Here’s a list of some fun stuff to do. Tonight you can catch author Keith Greenberg at the Community Bookstore reading from his book, The Day John Lennon Died. It’s also a night for late night shopping at the Snowflake Festival on 7th Avenue.  Click on read more to see the whole list with all the details you really need like time and links and more.

Continue reading OTBKB’s Weekend List: Thursday – Sunday →

Louise has already taken a look back of the awful event of December 8, 1980.  So I’ll take a musical look at December 7th.

A friend reminded me that yesterday was Tom Waits‘ birthday.   I guess that makes today as good a time as any to take a look back at the lead off track from, Small Change, which despite its age, remains my favorite Tom Waits album.  The song is titled Tom Traubert’s Blues, but it incorporates the Australian song, Waltzing Matilda.  You can see a vintage video of it at Now I’ve Heard Everything by clicking here.

Last night was the first of three Tuesday nights at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 featuring The Madison Square Gardeners, Harper Blynn and Taurus.  Because a private event earlier in the evening went way over time, the night either kicked off late or you got an extra band, Lucius, thrown in. Photos of all four bands, 18 in all, are ready for your viewing by clicking here.

–Eliot Wagner

Joshua Mack, a Park Slope resident, grew up in an apartment building across the street from the Dakota. One December night he heard the shots that killed John Lennon. Here is an excerpt from his essay, which was originally published on Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood. Mack is a digital executive, who works with media companies as a product creator, marketer, and strategist

Thursday at 7PM Keith Greenberg, author of  December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died (Backbeat Books), will be reading at the Community Bookstore on the 30th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder.

Greenberg, who lives in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, is a producer for American’s Most Wanted and has also produced for VH1, 48 Hours, MSNBC Investigates, the History Channel and Court TV. In his downtime, he has authored more than 30 non-ficti0n books..

This book is a minute-by-minute chronicle of that terrible day juxtaposed with well-told biographical sketches of Lennon, Ono, the other Beatles, Mark Chapman and all the other players in this tragedy, a must-read for the Lennon-obsessed—and those who remember or are curious about those grief filled days and weeks after Lennon’s death.

New York City itself is a character in the book as it was the city where Lennon felt most at home and where he created a safe cocoon with Yoko and their son, Sean, in the Dakota.

Lennon felt he could be himself here and that he could walk the streets, enjoy Central Park with his son,  eat in restaurants and not be overwhelmed by his cult of celebrity.

Sadly his end came in the city that cradled him during a wonderful time in his life, after he became a father and found his voice musically with the Double Fantasy album.

“He smiled and took her hand and pressed it. They got up and walked out of the gallery. They stood for a moment at the balustrade and looked at Trafalagar Square. CaRs and omnibuses hurried to and fro, and crowds passed, hastening in every direction, and the sun was shining.”

From Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

“A large white yacht was coming into harbor and seven miles out on the horizon you could see a tanker, small and neat in profile against the blue sea, hugging the reef as she made to the westward to keep from wasting fuel against the stream.”

From To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway.

Artist Cece Carpio is working on a new mural in the outdoor courtyard of Quathra (Arabic for tear or drip as in coffee), a new cafe on Cortelyou Road. Martinez will be following the progress of this mural in the days to come.

Born in the Philippines, Carpio is an illustrator, painter and muralist, who likes to visually tell stories about the communities she is part of. She has produced and exhibited work in the Philippines, Fiji Islands, Italy, Norway, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, California and New York.

Tomorrow (and the following two Tuesdays as well) Brooklyn-based The Madison Square Gardeners will play The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2.  For now, you will find a video of  The Gardeners shot just a few weeks back in NYC with two songs, On the Run and the anthemic  Young and In Love here at Now I’ve Heard Everything.

–Eliot Wagner

Good morning everyone: I’m heading over to the PS 321 Holiday Craft Fair to buy a scarf for my mother-in-law from that wonderful scarf guy. Then I’m going to Claireware’s annual Holiday Craft Show (with hand-painted fabrics by Susan Steinbrock (see below). I hope to stop by Barbes to catch  Soul Power, a doc about the Ali/Foreman fight in Zaire in 1974 (read more below). Did anyone make it over to Red, Hot and New Orleans last night? Tonight’s the special  Chanukah Concert at the Jewish Music Cafe with The David Ross Band and special guests. Also don’t forget: On Sunday, December 5th at 6PM, an art show called Serious Whimsey: A Collection of Inevitable Objects opens at Littlefield, with an opening reception (that usually means white wine and snacks and lots of people). The artists in the show are:  Gail Rothschild, Justin Gignac, Kit Warren, Lisanne McTernan, Mark DiBattista, Stephanie Homa, and Sztuka Fabryka at

Click on read more to see the whole list with all the details you really need like time and links and more.

Continue reading OTBKB’s Weekend List: It’s Saturday! →

“She has gone back to Brooklyn,” her mother would say. And, as the train rolled past Macmine Bridge on its way towards Wexford, Eilis imagined the years ahead, when these words would come to mean less and less to the man who heard them and would come to mean more and more to herself. She almost smiled at the thought of it, then closed her eyes and tried to imagine nothing more.”

From Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

On Sunday, December 5th at 6PM, an art show called Serious Whimsey: A Collection of Inevitable Objects opens at Littlefield, a music club located at 622 Degraw Street between Fourth and Third Avenues in the Park Slope/Gowanus neighborhood with an opening reception (that usually means white wine and snacks and lots of people).

The artists in the show are:  Gail Rothschild, Justin Gignac, Kit Warren, Lisanne McTernan, Mark DiBattista, Stephanie Homa, and Sztuka Fabryka at

I know Kit Warren and Lisanne McTernan (Found in Brooklyn) and I am excited to see the other artist’s work represented in this show.

Hey guys, TGIF and there’s a busy weekend ahead. Here’s what I’m thinking. Part of me wants to run out NOW to catch Black Swan, the new Darren Aronofsky movie with Natalie Portman but it’s not playing nearby (you gotta go to Chelsea and Union Square). Tonight I’d bet money that BAM has the best show in town with Red, Hot and New Orleans featuring Irma Thomas! Dr. John! Ivan Neville!  Tomorrow for dang sure I’m going to stop in at the PS 321 Holiday Craft Fair to buy a scarf for my mother-in-law from that wonderful scarf guy. Saturday evening at Barbes there’s a screening of Soul Power, a doc about the Ali/Foreman fight in Zaire in 1974 (read more below). And on Sunday I am going to the 440 Gallery at 4:40 PM to hear my friend Rosemary Moore and her sister Honor Moore read their fiction. Click on read more to see the whole list with all the details you really need like time and links and more.

Continue reading OTBKB’s Weekend List: It’s Friday! →

The first record in five years by Steve Wynn (who is not the guy who owns hotels, he ‘s a musician based in New York City) with his main band The Miracle 3, was issued last week.  It’s titled Northern Aggression, and in my opinion, it’s one of the best records of 2010 (yes, I’m already working on my best of 2010 list).  The first song on that album is titled Resolution and  it has a creative video made up of vintage B&W old movie clips.  You can see it at Now I’ve Heard Everything by clicking here.

–Eliot Wagner

Artist Juan Carlos Pinto used Metrocards to create his Mona Lisa. His work is currently on display at the DIS Micro Gallery in Dumbo (147 Front Street) in “The Artwork of Juan Carlos Pinto: Recycle  and Recreate.”

Born in Guatamala, Pinto turns discarded Metrocards into pictures and messages. “The idea of using these non-biodegradable cards is to reinforce recycling and prolonging its use indefinitely while providing the artist with a source free material. It is also a way of reminding us about the danger this material can cause if left to seep into the earth,” writes Pinto about his work.

Photography  by Tom Martinez

“So (said the doctor). Now vee may perhaps to begin. Yes?”

From Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth

Hey guys, it’s a busy weekend with a lot of interesting stuff to do. Here’s what I’d do: Red, Hot and New Orleans with Irma Thomas! Dr. John! Ivan Neville! at BAM sounds awesome. Tiny Furniture and Burlesque sound intriguing. And what about Unstoppable? The PS 321 Holiday Fair is always fun (I am so there).  Oh yeah and on Sunday at 4:40 at the 440 Gallery my friend Rosemary Moore and her sister Honor Moore will be reading from their fiction. Keep checking back because I will be adding things to this list all weekend. Click on read more to see the whole list.

Continue reading OTBKB’s Weekend List: Thursday – Sunday →

Dear Taylor and Jake:

I’m so happy to hear that, according to many gossip magazines and blogs, you’re falling in love in Park Slope. It was fun to see a picture of the two of you on Fifth Avenue on the cover of US Magazine. You both looked super happy: Taylor was holding a Gorilla Coffee coffee cup and Jake had a Union Market shopping bag. I’ll spare you the details of last year’s employee walk-out at Gorilla Coffee.

It’s so much more fun to read about the two of you than Prince William, Kate Middleton, Brad and Angelina, who never come to Park Slope.

Park Slope is a great place to be a celebrity. We never bother our movie stars, acclaimed authors, artists and other notables when they walk down the street. It’s only our politicians that we feel free to engage with when we see them around.  Just yesterday I saw John Turturro near Connecticut Muffin and I didn’t make a peep. He just blends in with the scenery around here as does Steve Buscemi, John Hodgman, Paul Auster, Maggie Gyllenhaal (who I saw once on Bergen Street), Peter Sarsgaard and the others.

Hope the romance continues to blossom in the Slope.

Best from OTBKB

The photo above is not from the US Magazine story; it’s a photo by Citadel Radio on Celebridoodle

PS 321 Craft Fair this Saturday: Reclaimed Home

Rainy night in Brooklyn: CasaCara

Rambling renovations: Limestone Adventures

5 simple ways to make your house less depressing: Apartment Therapy

A collection of color for Black Friday: Stylefilenyc

Staircase by Danny Kuo: Swissmiss

Jewelry alphabet: Swissmiss

“Then, starting home, he walked toward the trees, and under them, leaving behind him the big sky, the whisper of wind voices in the wind-bent wheat.”

From In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

The Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival is presenting two days of Brooklyn-focused cultural programming on Friday December 3rd and Friday December 10th. (Pictured above from top down: family in Prospect Park, poet Walt Whitman, author Tao Lin.)

–On Friday, December 3rd, BFAF will present: “Brooklyn Roots, Past and Present,” an exhibition at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

–On Friday, December 10th, BFAF will present “Brooklyn in Literature, 1855 – 2010,” an exhibition at St. Francis College.

–On Friday, December 3rd at 6:30 PM in partnership with the Brooklyn Historical Society, BFAF will present three Brooklyn-focused documentaries spanning 1964 to 2010 in a program titled, “Brooklyn Roots, Past and Present.” the Brooklyn Historical Society located at 128 Pierrepont Street (at Clinton Street) Brooklyn, NY 11201. This program is free and open to the Public

–On Friday, December 10th at 6:30 PM, the festival in partnership with St. Francis College is presenting “Brooklyn in Literature, 1855 – 2010,” a panel discussion at St. Francis College with four authors and a publisher, including Nelson George and Tao Lin, who will discuss the representation of Brooklyn in literature and their own books. 180 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights. This program is free and open to the public.

One way to discover new music is through a recommendation from someone whose tastes you trust.  So when musical fave Charlie Faye recommended Serena Jean, I decided to give her a listen.  I’m glad I did.

Serena and her top notch band play a blend of music which is mostly rock with a bit of alt country thrown into the mix.  Originally from Canada, she certainly shows that the saying that no one plays American music better than Canadians is correct in her case.  And guitarist Thomas Bryan Eaton not only rocks, he knows how to shred when the situation calls for it.

I was at Serena’s show at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 this past Sunday and took a few pictures of that show.  You can see those shots posted at Now I’ve Heard Everything by clicking here.

Lelia Broussard lives out in Los Angeles these days and I have not yet seen her live.  But I got an email from her a while back saying that  she reads my blog and that since we both like The Madison Square Gardeners, perhaps I would like her too.  I’ve listened to some of Leila’s music, and I liked it enough to take the leap of faith to recommend her show tonight.  Details of that early show can be found here at Now I’ve Heard Everything.

–Eliot Wagner

I was so blown away by Monday night’s tribute by The Universal Thump to George Harrison and his 1970 masterpiece All Things Must Pass at The Bell House that I was thrilled when photographer Mike Benigno sent me these superb pictures of the concert, an unforgettable night of music.  What a night! What a show. Long live The Universal Thump.

Thanks to Leslie Topping, who has been videotaping Brooklyn Reading Works this year, you can watch videos of recent events at the Old Stone House including New Plays by Brooklyn Playwrights and Writing War: Fiction by Veterans of Vietnam and Iraq.

Go to Brooklyn Readings Works at the Old Stone House on Vimeo and enjoy the readings on your computer.

Frankly I’m not even sure Shitty Kitty is but I’m intrigued. I saw pictures of their last meet-up at Mission Delores, the ultra cool newish bar on Fourth Avenue, and it looked interesting and fun and it involved drawing pictures. I’m not sure what this will be…

The duo that produces Shitty Kitty is called Telephone and Soup and that’s the name of Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg’s book/art/zine/stuff operation. They seem to be social media mavens with both a Twitter and a Facebook presence.

Most of it they make together. Generally the pictures come from Steven, the words Casey. Casey and Steven are from Brooklyn and D.C. respectively. They’ve set up camp all over the world– from China to Mali to Morocco– but are currently Brooklynites.

There are not pets. Which might be why they draw animals ALL THE TIME.

It’s time once again for the monthly calendar.  December looks pretty strong with good shows almost every night, and with some nights sporting two or three really good shows opposite each other.  When that happens, just pick one, because when you have multiple good choices, what ever choice you make will be a good one.

Things around Christmas and the week after have yet to be posted, but they will be, and the calendar will be updated periodically to include those shows.  To start your planning just grab your paper or electronic calendar and head over to Now I’ve Heard Everything by clicking  here.

–Eliot Wagner

Photographer Adrian Kinloch, the photo blogger who calls himself Brit in Brooklyn, took a walk around the wetland next to the intersections of Shore Parkway and Flatbush Avenue. Check out his site for more images from his wetland walk around Mill Basin.

My cousin, who runs the Petra Foundation, which honors individuals who work on behalf of the rights, autonomy and dignity of others, read this W.S. Merwin poem at our Thanksgiving a few years ago. I liked it a lot.

Listen

with the night falling we are saying thank you

we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings

we are running out of the glass rooms

with our mouths full of food to look at the sky

and say thank you

we are standing by the water looking out

in different directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging

after funerals we are saying thank you

Continue reading Listen by W.S. Merwin →