The latest from Scott Turner of Rocky Sullivan’s in Red Hook. Greetings, salutations, political analysis and news about the pub quiz at Rocky’s.

Greetings, Pub Quiz Election Merriment Mounters…

It’s over. In fact, it’s been over for a week as I write this.

It still feels good. It’s still momentous. It still ranks with those rarest of instants, the ones we play over and over when we need a lift. Or when we simply can’t believe it’s happened.

Yes, this is dangerous stuff, luxuriating in a man’s legacy when he hasn’t even taken office yet.

So what. A lot of us have never been happy — truly happy — over a president’s election. I’ve been voting since 1980. Never…ever…been happy. Relieved, sure. But it’s not the same, not even close.

There was dancing in the streets. On our way home from Rocky’s Election Night Party, total strangers were momentary cohorts. It was okay to make and break bonds just to feel the fidgety joy well up and overwhelm all over again.

How you reacted to this election is the clearest window into your heart and soul as any this country has ever produced. I know a lot of Republicans, a lot of Democrats, and a lot of socialists and communists. For those of us on the leftier side of the spectrum, this is the first time we’ve rejoiced when the Big Checkmark went up next to someone’s name. Democrats had Kennedy and Johnson, Carter and Clinton, and Republicans had them a whole bunch of Nixon, Ford and all manner of Bush.

The rest of us here on the Freedom Road…nuthin’. ‘Til now, anyway. There have been other emotional, searing moments: Nelson Mandela walking out of prison, Stephane Matteau’s goal in ’94, the ball going through Bill Buckner’s legs.

That’s why pure joy is so much fun…because it happens so rarely.

Now the hard work starts, for all of us. In a final dip into the Big Kettle of Sports Parlance, here’s hoping that President-Elect Obama isn’t the highly-touted phenom who never measures up. Sure, he’ll do a lot of very centrist things. But there are centrists that govern and centrists too afraid to. For now, the President-Elect continues to get my support.

* * * * * * * *

Two sad losses last several days — the first, Studs Terkel, the amazing Chicagoan whose oral histories gave voice to working people when the halls of academia couldn’t be bothered. His books, including Working, Hard Times and The Good War were celebrated and reviled. Celebrated by people with hearts, reviled by stuffy higher-ed sorts who believed that only they controlled the keys that unlock history.

Terkel was vibrant, and he saw our march through time in bright, bold colors. “That’s what we’re missing,” he said, ruing our too genteel discourse. “We’re missing argument. We’re missing debate. We’re missing colloquy. We’re missing all sorts of things. Instead, we’re accepting.”

It blows, completely blows, that Terkel died before Obama’s stunning victory.

So good was Terkel that he was one of the few things my step-father and I could agree on. For Christmas one year I gave him The Good War, and he didn’t put it down ’til he was done. My step-father has never fully trusted the books I’ve given him. This one, there was no question.

“I want a language that speaks the truth,” Terkel once said. He not only found it, he wrote in it. Fluently.

And then, a couple of days ago, Miriam Makeba left the building. She’d just come off stage in Italy when she collapsed. She’d been performing at a benefit concert for Roberto Saviano, a reporter the local organized crime gang had targeted for death just for writing about them.

It’s Miriam Makeba. You know her history — fighting apartheid first at home and then, from 1960 ’til the ’90s, kept out by the spiteful and fearful Afrikaaner government. She could sing anything to anyone, make people dance and cry at the same time. Makeba’s voice was the perfect clarion call for the South African freedom movement — no mean thing, given the government’s banning of her music at home all those years.

“”I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots. Through my music I became this voice and image of Africa, and the people, without even realizing.” Makeba may not have…but in the townships in South Africa and people fighting to end apartheid everywhere else, everyone else realized, picking up the frequencies of freedom every time she sang.

Forgotten is the fact that South Africa wasn’t the only place her music was banned. In the United States, her marriage to Stokely Carmichael cost her record deals, concerts and t.v. appearances. And Makeba always protested that she wasn’t a political singer. That, of course, just made people pay closer attention.

The played-out metaphor about one door opening when another closes seems fitting here. Obama’s election is so electrifying and hopeful — at the same time we lose two of the world’s greatest hope merchants. Me, I think the door-closing-another-opening is a rationale to painful to evoke here. Sure, everyone dies. But it doesn’t mean the Big Clock has to be this heartless.

Time to immerse ourselves in Hard Times and sing “Pata Pata.” Might help in these days of hope and fear.

This week’s Rocky Sullivan’s Pub Quiz will be a not-long-’til-the-holidays General Knowledge affair. Come early for dinner, stay for the Quiz and attendant imbibing.

This week’s Guest Round is helmed by Amanda Hulsey, who asks only one thing from you — know all the ingredients in her Pot Luck for Masters quiz. This week’s Guest Music Round DJ is Lynley Wheaton, whose mix bases itself on a competition as old as the Pyramids…but fresh as today’s hit parades.

And…of course…there’s this great stuff.

* Individual potable prizes after each round;
* MissWit tee shirts — free tee shirts from Brooklyn’s most appropriately-attitudinal tee-shirt emporium.
* Rocky Sullivan’s Pub Quiz SuperMix Compilation CD — answer a super-tough question and win a mix CD of full versions of all the songs in this week’s Music Round;
* Special prizes from the Quizmaster’s Magic Bag Of Stuff You Can Live Without But Why Would You?
* Grand Prize — a thirst-slaking round for everyone on the winning team.

DON’T FORGET: As is custom, somewhere in this e-mail is a clue for this week’s Pre-Quiz Bonus Question. Get it right and your team earns five points before the Quiz has started.

The Big Clock ticks away…but it stands aside when Quiz Time comes…

Scott M.X.
Rocky’s Quizmaster

* * * * * * * *
Rocky Sullivan’s Pub Quiz
General Knowledge Night
with Quizmaster Scott M.X. Turner
This Thursday evening, November 13th
8:00 pm
free admission, potable prizes, per chance wearable winners and aural awards
Rocky Sullivan’s
34 Van Dyke Street
Red Hook, Brooklyn
F/G to Smith/9th Streer -or- F/R to 4th Avenue/9th Street Stations
transfer for the B77 Bus to corner of Van Dyke & Dwight Street, Red Hook
free Ikea shuttle buses and ferries, go here for more info: http://info.ikea-usa.com/brooklyn/
http://www.rockysullivans.com/quiz.html

Here’s a shout out Cheryl Berkowitz, a graphic designer in Park Slope, who has designed a Hanukkah Card
especially for Brooklynites!

It is in a few shops including Scaredy
Kat, Artez’n, and 3R Living, and is sold online: http://berkowhat.com/hanukkah

These
100% recycled cards will show your local pride! Buy now using paypal,
or contact Cheryl about wholesale prices!

Set of Six Hanukkah Cards and Envelopes: $18

Just got this in my in-box  and it’s really interesting!

November 11, 2008 – Well-known architects, historians, novelists, developers and amusement industry experts from New York and around the world offer their “vision” for Coney Island’s future in a new report being released today by the Center for an Urban Future, a non-partisan think tank based in Manhattan . The report includes fresh ideas for remaking Coney Island into a 21st Century amusement district from novelists Jonathan Lethem and Kevin Baker; amusement and carnival experts such as the CEO of Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens and the executive director of the Big Apple Circus; innovative New York-based real estate developers Irwin Cohen and Greg O’Connell; architects and architectural critics from Michael Singer to Paul Goldberger; historians such as Mike Wallace and Michael Immerso; urban planner Alexander Garvin; video game developer Eric Zimmerman; creative entrepreneur Dianna Carlin; and a number of other influential thinkers.

The Center for an Urban Future’s aim with this report is to inject fresh ideas into the city’s ongoing planning for Coney Island ’s redevelopment that, despite its clear benefits, has come up short of creating a bold vision for restoring the area to its historic place as a truly great entertainment district. The Center reached out to innovative and creative individuals from New York and around the world, most of who have not previously weighed in with ideas about Coney Island ’s future.

The report features 23 brief Q&A’s, with the following individuals:

Jonathan Lethem, author, Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude

Eric Zimmerman, founder of video game development company Gamelab

Alexander Garvin, president and CEO, Alex Garvin & Associates

Mike Wallace, author of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898

Michael Immerso, author, Coney Island: The People’s Playground

Lars Liebst, CEO, Copenhagen ’s Tivoli Gardens , the second oldest amusement park in the world

Irwin Cohen, developer of the Chelsea Market

Dianna Carlin, founder of Lola Staar souvenir boutique and Dreamland roller rink

Lisa Chamberlain, executive director, Forum for Urban Design and author, Slackonomics

Michael Sorkin, principal, Michael Sorkin Studio and director, Graduate Urban Design Program at City College

Paul Goldberger, architecture critic, The New Yorker

Kevin Baker, author, Dreamland: A Novel

Gary Dunning, executive director, Big Apple Circus

Greg O’Connell, Red Hook-based developer of Beard Street warehouse and Fairway

Martin Pedersen, executive editor, Metropolis Magazine

Charles Canfield, president, Santa Cruz Seaside Company

Sharon Zukin, professor of sociology, Brooklyn College , author of Loft Living

Charles Denson, author, Coney Island: Lost and Found; executive director, Coney Island History Project

Karrie Jacobs, founding editor-in-chief of Dwell

Ellen Neises, associate principal of Field Operations, a landscape and urban design firm

Setha Low, director of the Public Space Research Group at CUNY; author, The Politics of Public Space

Michael Singer, principal, Michael Singer Studio

Ron Shiffman, co-founder, Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development

This report and all of the Coney Island visions are available here:

http://www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/ConeyIslandVisions.pdf

Just heard from someone who is starting Baby Butterflies, a bilingual music program at The Old First Reformed Church in 126 7th Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn 11215 ( Side entrance 729 Carroll St.).

Baby
Butterflies wants to reach as many children as possible to educate
them through music, and different languages from a very early age.

These classes are very affordable because they want
to give every child the chance to  travel the
world through the music.

Baby Butterflies is having two days of free Bilingual Spanish Music Classes on
Friday December 5 and 9 from 9:30 to 12:15. The classes will start on
January 8, 2009.

The Where and When

December 5 and 9 at Old First Church

729 Carroll Street

9:30am Caterpillar Music (0 to 5)

10:30am Butterflies Music, Theater and Movement (3 to 5)

11:30am Butterflies Artists and Chefs

I just got this email from Sree Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs at the Columbia School of Journalism. It sounds interesting. It’s a free in-person event with a webcast as well.

“Changing Media Landscape, 2008” Columbia J-school’s annual look at the journalism revolution, with several fascinating influencers. This is a different kind of panel, with a real conversation among the participants and audience – with no Powerpoint in sight.

The Hearst Foundation, Columbia Journalism New Media Program and Columbia J-school Alumni Association present…

Columbia-Hearst Journalism Dialogues

Tuesday, November 11, 2008
6:30-9 pm (live webcast at 7 pm on http://mogulus.com/columbiajournalism – see local time around the worldl here: http://snurl.com/5a88p )

SPEAKERS: Sewell Chan, blogger/bureau chief, New York Times “City Room” blog (coming from midtown) http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/

David Cohn, J2008, founder, Spot.us, a new crowdfunding investigative journalism project; winner of $300,000 Knight News Challenge grant (coming from San Francisco) http://spot.us http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/weekinreview/24kershaw.html

Adriano Farano, executive editor, CafeBabel.com – the first multilingual European current affairs online magazine (coming from Paris) http://www.cafebabel.com

Erica Smith, news designer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and “Paper Cuts” blogger (coming from St. Louis) http://graphicdesignr.net/papercuts

Jacob Weisberg, chairman and editor-in-chief Slate Group – Slate, Slate V, The Root, and the Big Money (coming from downtown) http://www.slate.com

MODERATOR: Prof. Sree Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs

The Where and When

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 6:30-7:00 pm – networking reception – drinks and light food 7-8:30 pm – discussion 8:30-9 pm – reception and networking continue

No RSVP required. No charge. Open to the public. Add yourself to this form to be kept posted about future events like these: http://snurl.com/columbiasignup

Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor – 116th St & Broadway [ #1 train to 116th St or get directions: http://www.hopstop.com/route?city=New+York&county2=Manhattan&address2=2950+broadway&mode=s ]

LIVE & ARCHIVED WEBCAST OF THE EVENT WILL BE AVAILABLE VIA MOGULUS.COM: http://mogulus.com/columbiajournalism

NOTE: Free open, wi-fi available in the lecture hall for bloggers and others…

Our Verse Responder is back from his world travels:

Worldly Comforts

From crossing continents

To taking an island hop

The seasoned traveler knows

Don’t skip a bathroom op

John Hodgman plays the PC guy in the funny funny Mac commercials. He is also a regular on The Daily Show, where he is the program’s resident expert, available for comment on
such matters as currency rates, planetary bodies, mixed martial arts,
American Idol, and lice.

Apart from the many fake books he has
advertised on the show, he is the author of The Areas of My Expertise, although that is a book of fake facts.

His
new book is called,  More Information Than You Require. Here is an excerpt from an interview he did with the Washington Post:

What is your favorite city and why?
John Hodgman: While I lived in Manhattan for a dozen years, I never felt fully at home there.
Now, as I reveal in my book, I live in a utopian commune ruled by children known as Park Slope, Brooklyn. And I have never been happier.
NEVER HAPPIER
NEVER HAPPIER
NEVER HAPPIER
NEVER HAPPIER
NEVER HAPPIER
NEVER HAPPIER
That is all.

Supposedly one of the greatest silent films. Ever. With Lillian and Dorothy Gish.

The Where and When
                                       
                                       

Tuesday November 11 at 7 p.m.
BAM Rose Cinema

As noted below: John Hodgman lives in Park Slope. For those who don’t know the name, he’s the PC guy in those funny Mac commercials. He’s also an author AND the subject of a story that was in the Brooklyn Paper by Gersh Kuntzman complete with a great pix by Julie Rosenberg. Here’s an excerpt.

The minor television celebrity is none other than John Hodgman, the humble²
Park Sloper who has achieved his renown through two hilarious, and
completely fake, trivia books (“The Areas of My Expertise” and the new
“More Information than You Require”), regular appearances as the
resident expert on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and a bit of
trifle as the physical embodiment of Windows-based computers in a
series of Apple commercials that have been viewed by more than 26
billion people worldwide³.

Not that Hodgman resents those Apple ads, of course. They are almost
entirely responsible for his current renown, which includes a
nationwide book tour to support his new fake book, money to support the
lavish lifestyle to which he has become accustomed and spontaneous
conversations with people everywhere he goes. All this for a former
literary agent and one-time cheesemonger⁴.

Good Head makes good hats. Good Head loves to knit, and especially to design interesting hats.

I bought one of her hats at Bar Reis where she works the bar (that’s me
at left). I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on my hat. Hepcat says I look
like Princess Leia from Star Wars. Teen Spirit said I look like Eeyore.
A random friend of OSFO’s said I look like a Muppet.

It’s a great hat and so so warm. I’ve been wearing it almost
constantly. I also get a lot of compliments. Plus it has ears, which is
an especially good idea for a New York winters.

Good Head is making these hats constantly and her stock at her Etsy site
is growing and growing. So check out the hats and gloves she has there.
If you like my hat she’ll make you one. Or you can pick one of the hats
she has in stock.

Good Head writes:

"I can’t keep everything I make, so I thought I’d give you an
opportunity to get some great winter-wear, and I’ll use your money to
invest in new yarn, to make more stuff! I support yarn companies that
use environmentally sustainable practices, are careful with their
animals, and as often as I can, I use fibers that are made by women at
coops in under-developed parts of the world. I guarantee everything I
make for life, but so far my products have turned out to be
unbelievably durable. Just don’t put ’em in the washing machine!"

Good  Head also makes fingerless gloves that are very sexy. Good
Head writes: "These are fingerless gloves that stretch out long, or
accordion to
short wristlets. They have an interesting shape, and they are not
itchy. They’re good for people who play music outside."   

David Liotta’s class of Middle Schoolers re-enact the Boston Tea Party outside I.S. 62 in Kensington.     Photo: Tom Martinez

For the month of December, open-source-gallery is about Cooking, Eating, Sharing, Celebrating…

We ask that artists, cooks, friends and neighbors join us for SOUP KITCHEN, where for as many days as we have volunteers, we will be offering a “one-pot meal” to all on a first come, first serve basis. Unique dishes from any ethnic tradition are more than welcome. Each participant can set their own hours and have the place to themselves, a solo show if you will, and you may decorate the place or not at your discretion. We’ll provide the necessary cookware and utensils and help with logistics. We ask that volunteers supply the love. Interested participants should contact us ASAP to reserve a day.

The Where and When

The month of December
Open-source-gallery.org
255 17th street between 5th and 6th Ave (street level) in South Slope, Brooklyn
Opening hours are monday through wednesday 10 am – 2 pm
and appointments

 

 

Here’s this week’s Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper:

Smartmom is getting used to the idea. In fact, she’s all for it.
Sort of. It’s just that she isn’t sure what it means exactly. But if
Teen Spirit wants to do it …

Smartmom is even getting good at answering the question frequently asked by friends and family.

“So where does Teen Spirit want to go to college next year?”

Smartmom doesn’t even stutter anymore. She just comes right out and says it:

“Teen Spirit is taking a gap year!”

A gap year? The faces of friends and family get all quizzical and
weird. Most don’t have a clue what she’s talking about. So Smartmom is
called upon to explain.

“No, it’s not a year spent folding t-shirts at the Gap (though that’s not a bad idea). A gap year is the
newfangled phrase for what people used to call taking a year off before
going to college.”

Friends and family smile. Some even pretend it’s a good idea, a great way to grow up a little and have an adventure.

Smartmom even had some high school friends who did it. There was her
high school boyfriend who spent a year on a kibbutz in Israel. Another
friend spent a year on a sailboat.

Everything turned out fine. They ended up at good colleges with a
better sense of themselves and what they wanted to study in college.
One runs a hedge fund, and another has his own woodworking business.

Even Hepcat tried to take a year before going to college. He was all
set to live and work on board the Schooner Sophia in New Zealand.
Unfortunately, the boat needed repairs and it was going to be months
before Hepcat could come on board.

Sadly, Hepcat’s plans for an exciting adventure were foiled.
Instead, he went to a local community college in California and
eventually transferred to Bard College in Upstate New York

And the rest is history. 

Taking a year off before college is a bold thing to do. It isn’t
easy to get off the conveyor belt of what all your friends are doing
and what your family is urging you to do.

You gotta go college! You don’t want to spend the rest of your life
sitting on a milk crate in front of the Korean market on Garfield, do
you?

But that didn’t stop Teen Spirit, who tends to dance to the beat of
his own drum anyway. Boom. Boom. Boom. Plus, he is applying to college
— he’s not that rebellious. It’s just that once he gets in he’s going
to defer admission.

A bunch of his friends are already doing it. One friend, who
graduated from Brooklyn Tech last year, is working full time In
Manhattan and sharing an apartment in Park Slope with a friend. Another
friend is in South America teaching English as a Second Language.

You can imagine that Hepcat and Smartmom are dying to know what Teen
Spirit is thinking about doing next year. But they’re trying to be
really casual about it. “Like, hey, what you got planned for next year,
buddy?” And then:

“AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR IT?”

Understandably, they don’t get very far with that line of
questioning. Teen Spirit is a lot more receptive when they act really
uninterested and bored.

One time he told them that he’s thinking of living in a shack in Ireland.

Did you say something, Teen Spirit?

Another time he mentioned walking across America.

That’s nice, Teen Spirit. Very nice.

Actually, Smartmom loved that idea. She loved it so much that she
actually found out that you can Google maps for walking across America.
Plus, it would make a terrific college essay. But she didn’t tell him
that.

Last week, he told Smartmom that he might just get a retail job and
live with one of his best friends in an apartment somewhere in
Brooklyn.

Whatever.

The truth is, Smartmom wants Teen Spirit to do something really
exciting for his gap year. But she knows that if she comes on too
strong with a list of things to do he’ll just tune her out. He
especially hates it when she mistakes what she wants for what he wants.

So she’ll just have to stay mum about a European train trip, Outward
Bound, backpacking in the Czech Republic, apprenticing for a
documentary filmmaker, hanging out with songwriters in Nashville,
trekking in the Himalayas, building houses in New Orleans, teaching
English in …

It’s starting to sound like one of those ”100 Things To Do Before
You Die” lists. Hey, maybe Smartmom should take a gap year. It sounds
like a perfect antidote to turning 50 and a great way to infuse her
life with some excitement. Can’t she just defer her marriage and
motherhood for a year?

It’s a Dog’s Life: a regal little k-9 on his morning walk or, um, ride through the park.         
Photo: Tom Martinez

A momentous day on Fifth Avenue: the first meeting of the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District and Fonda, owner of Zuzu’s Petals, has to find a Mrs. Claus costume. You can see the pix on the Zuzu site.

It was the first official meeting of the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (BID).

Beloved Irene LoRe of Aunt Suzie’s had agreed to be the chairman of the board. The Autumn sun was streaming through the windows of the Old Stone House.

We were eating bagels. Bear was with me, under the table, eating his favorite: sesame seed,no shmear.

The spirit was in us all; it had taken years of hard work to get to this point; this group never gave up despite frustration and lack of support deserved to feel proud.

We were planning a kick off event for the holidays; tossing around ideas about a tree lighting, Menorah lighting, staying open late nights.

Irene asked if anyone would volunteer to be Santa and Mrs. Claus.

My hand shot up.

There you have it.
Now all i need is my Mrs. Santa suit.
So, I went online to check out the possibilities.

I must say, i wasn’t prepared for how frumpy Mrs. Santa is. I don’t know what i could have been thinking …

After all,what sort of woman would be married to Santa Claus?

An OTBKB reader sent in this idea for a paper shredding event.

    I was thinking about your recent focus on volunteering & wondered if you’d be interested in using your Blog to suggest a fund-raising idea I’ve had that I’m sure would be fairly simple to implement & would raise substantial money for whatever group organizes it & would benfit the community in general at the same time.

    My thought is to hire one of those mobile shredding trucks.  Announce a time & place on your Blog, Brownstoner, Brooklyn Paper, etc. & then charge people by the box for shredding.

    I’d really like to get rid of some "sensitive" old papers & I’m sure I’m not alone.  I thought of this a few years ago but haven’t got any affiliations w/ groups who might do it.  I’ve since read of its being done in other places & I’ve called some shredder companies who have said they’d be willing to help.

If there is interest, leave a comment and I will send to the OTBKB reader.

One of my favorite things to do on Seventh Avenue is look in the front window at the Community Bookstore. Here’s the view today.

Continue reading The Front Window at Community Books →

The little Loom shop squeezed between Haggen Daz and big Loom on Seventh Avenue is undergoing a major reinvention but it’s still going to be Loom.

It used to carry clothing for skinny young women — tight jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, dresses. Really nice stuff. The woman who owns Loom has unerring taste in everything, including casual clothing and handbags.

So what’s the new little Loom gonna be. Any guesses?

Quite a few people have sent me this open letter from Alice Walker to Barack Obama:

Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You
have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being
the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know,
because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But
seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year
after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be
struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost
more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended
to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of
all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place.
It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the
generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of
Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually
appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your
rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is
a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I
would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that
the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for
bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you
do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a
schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your
gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your
family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon
become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their
wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles
so lacking in joy that they remi nd us of scissors. This is no way to
lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about
all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax.
From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is
all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless
cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they
can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear
to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the
reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take
on other people’s enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of
fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just
in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We
must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries
who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are
commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our
beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother
used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin,
but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole
communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling
a people’s spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor
people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A
good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by
the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts
the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the
soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All
else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to
peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and
majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do
gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is
that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and so ul, that, kept
happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us,
lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

A dad laments the difficult and anxiety ridden journey of public high school admissions in NYC. It’s by Brooklyn Beat at Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn. Here’s an excerpt:

Just a moment of acknowledgement, and sympathy, to other Brooklyn parents who, like we do, have kids in that transitional year from 8th grade to high school in the New York City public schools. Auditions, interviews, high school admission exams, the ordering of the high school choices, the open houses, the high school admission workshops over the summer in Manhattan, the mobbed school visits at some of the specialized and screened high schools, getting up extra early and getting to work extra late due to the morning visits to schools, and then having to leave work early to attend the evening visits to schools and open houses, sometimes on the same day.

Well, I feel your pain. Even though we have been through this twice before with our older kids, it seems to become more complex and fraught with tension each time as the high school admission rules changed. And, while private school was never really an option for us, now the economy appears to have driven even more families into the application and admissions mix. Some of the open houses have been literally jammed to the rafters.

An OTBKB reader wrote in with some {news news} from the Brooklyn Indie Market (BIM) and the {NewNew} Etsy Team. Both groups are faves of this blog. So here goes:

    On November 16, 2008 from 11am-7pm, the Brooklyn Indie Market (www.brooklynindiemarket.com) will team up with The {NewNew} Etsy Street Team (http://www.TheNewNewNY.com) to present a one-day shopping event. The emerging designer outlet in Carroll Gardens is hoping to expand on its mission to connect local designers with local consumers by teaming up with The {NewNew}; a group of New York based independent artists and designers of handmade goods.

    The Brooklyn Indie Market is located under the red and white striped tent on Smith and Union Street , Carroll Gardens , Brooklyn .  Buyers will be able to shop through 20 booths for one-of-a-kind items, all handmade by the hippest DIYers located in the metro NYC area. You’ll find smashing jewelry, paper goods, hand-screened clothing and accessories, unique artwork and items for the home, yummy soaps and body butters, and much, much more.

    This collaboration between the BIM and the {NewNew} also offers the chance to meet the artists and crafters who made the stunning wares for sale.  Visitors to the red and white striped tent that day will also have the opportunity to win a gift bag filled with handmade goodies donated by sellers at the event.
    —
    Best,
    Danielle L. Green
    Member of The {NewNew} Etsy Team

    http://www.thenewnew.blogspot.com/

    http://www.myspace.com/thenewnewny

    http://www.flickr.com/groups/newnew/

    http://www.TheNewNew.etsy.com

It’s time to start thinking about summer camp whether it’s day camp or (dream oh dream) sleepaway camp.

That’s why Brooklyn Family Magazine is sponsoring a Camp Fair at the Berkeley Carroll School this Saturday from 12-3. Walk around the fair and find the right camp for your kid. Good deal.

The Where and When

Sunday November 9 from 12-3 p.m.
Berkeley Carroll School
762 President Street between 6th and 7th Avenues

Remember this? It’s by comic singer/songwriter Allan Sherman. It was my mantra the summer of 1969 at the now defunct Camp Oleana.

Hello Muddah
Hello Fadduh
Here I am at Camp Granada
Camp is very entertaining
And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.

Here from the New York Times’ Dining Out/Off the Menu Section on Wednesday.

CABANA BAR Beachside Latin America, in the
glass (mojitos) and on the plate (arepas and empanadas), is celebrated
at this lounge with a thatched bar. It opened last week: 648 President Street (Fifth Avenue), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 399-2161.

A lone red-tailed hawk soars above the tree-tops; a flock of seagulls below (Prospect Park).

Photo: Tom Martinez

And Park Slope’s Patrick Gaspard is right in there. Of course. He was the Political Director of the campaign and now he’s the associate personnel director. Thanks to Brooklyn Beat of Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn for sending this:
 

Chicago
– For the past several months, a board of advisors has been informally
planning for a possible presidential transition. Among the many
projects undertaken by the transition board have been detailed analyses
of previous transition efforts, policy statements made during the
campaign, and the workings of federal government agencies, and priority
positions that must be filled by the incoming administration.

With
Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s election, this planning process will be
now be formally organized as the Obama-Biden Transition Project, a
501(c)(4) organization to ensure a smooth transition from one
administration to the next. The work of this entity will be overseen by
three co-chairs: John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse.

The
co-chairs will be assisted by an advisory board comprised of
individuals with significant private and public sector experience:
Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius
Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña,
Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman. Gitenstein
and Kaufman will serve as co-chairs of Vice President-elect Biden’s
transition team.

Supervising the day-to-day activities of the transition will be:

Transition Senior Staff:

Chris Lu – Executive Director
Dan Pfeiffer – Communications Director
Stephanie Cutter – Chief Spokesperson
Cassandra Butts – General Counsel
Jim Messina – Personnel Director
Patrick Gaspard – Associate Personnel Director
Christine Varney – Personnel Counsel
Melody Barnes – Co-Director of Agency Review
Lisa Brown – Co-Director of Agency Review
Phil Schiliro – Director of Congressional Relations
Michael Strautmanis – Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs
Katy Kale – Director of Operations
Brad Kiley – Director of Operations

Seems that there’s yet another new early motherhood resource
in town. Baby Bites Brooklyn, an offshoot of Manhattan Baby Bites,
opened in late September, and is offering Brooklyn mothers of 0-3 year
olds, as well as moms-to-be loads of social and educational events
and seminars throughout Brownstone Brooklyn.

Like Park Slope Parents, they want to help Brooklyn women transition into motherhood, by providing a social and
educational forum where moms can connect and learn from experts about
any and all topics relevant to early motherhood.

Headed by Chana Balk, a Brooklyn mother of two and former
corporate lawyer, Baby Bites Brooklyn presents loads to do for new moms to moms of 3-year-olds. Here’s the blurbage from their press release:

There are
luncheons in restaurants for new moms and their babies, where the moms
meet other new moms, hear an expert speak about a topic (such as sleep,
hiring a nanny, best parenting resources in Brooklyn) and take home fun
prizes. There are seminars for expectant moms, where the Brooklyn bumps
come together and learn about topics like breastfeeding, best products
for new moms, their choices in childbirth. Finally, there are special
events, which can be a sample class for parents and babies, or a
seminar on discipline or potty training.  Aimed at moms and dads, post
maternity leave, special events are typically offered on weekends or
evenings.

"The transition to new mommyhood, while amazing and
nothing short of miraculous, is also very overwhelming, and can be a
scary and isolating experience," said Balk. "Motherhood is the most
amazing thing I have done with my life and it is also the most
challenging part of my life. Being a new mother in particular was so
much more overwhelming that I ever anticipated. My hope is that Baby
Bites Broooklyn can be a great resource for Brooklyn moms, where they
can learn, find support and make lasting friendships. I’m thrilled to
be providing such a service."

Baby Bites Brooklyn currently
hosts events in Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll
Gardens. Chana plans to expand into other neighborhoods in 2009,
including Williamsburg, Bay Ridge, DUMBO and Fort Greene.

For more information, check out babybitesbrooklyn.com,
or to join the mailing list so that you hear about events coming up for
you and your little one(s), send an email with your baby’€™s birth
date, or due date, to chana@babybitesbrooklyn.com.

This email made me feel that these times are like the John F. Kennedy years when people were moved to go to Washington and make change happen.

I really don’t know the answer to this Sunset Park woman’s question. But I love that she asked me. Now I ask you:

Would you happen to know where I can send a resume to work alongside President Elect Obama in the White House?

I would like the Chicago information so that his
office would get it as soon as possible. Is there an e-mail?

The party started at 8 p.m. Friends grabbed comfy seats around the TV set in the family room of a friend’s brownstone. While eating Chinese food and drinking wine, we channel surfed from Comedy Central to PBS, CNN, even Fox.

And then back to John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

When Pennsylvania and Ohio were declared for Obama, we broke out the champagne. Nerves turned to elation.

There was yelping on the street at 11 p.m. and then heard John Stewart announce that Barack Obama was our President elect.

Somehow it seemed appropriate that we heard it from John Stewart (as he and SNL were such a big part of this year’s election journey).

Some went outside to see the reaction on the street (or were they just smoking?).

Tears flowed. Hugs and kisses. Cell phones rang as friends and relatives exchanged the news, the excitement, the sense of history being made.

One friend called his son who was asleep at home.

"it’s a historic moment. I think he should see this," this friend said pointing to the TV.

More champagne flowed. We watched McCain’s gracious concession speech, though some fun was made of him and Sarah Palin.

Palin was cheered for being the great political faux pas that she was. One friend did a pitch perfect imitation of her.

And then we waited for Obama to speak in Chicago.

"He’s on," the hostess shrieked calling every one back to the TV.

And what a magic moment it was. From his first words…

Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still
doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still
wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still
questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and
churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited
three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives,
because they believed that this time must be different, that their
voices could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young
and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white,
Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not
disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never
been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and
blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

To his last:

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so
much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children
should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky
to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What
progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our
people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to
restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the
American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many,
we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with
cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will
respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes, we can.
hank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America

There was dancing in the streets of Park Slope last night. Well, not dancing exactly. But it was festive; better than New Year’s Eve.

Jubilation. Yelping. Cheering. Smiling and high fiving strangers.

It was elation on display. Happiness. Relief. Hope. History.

People yelled out their windows. Car horns honked.

In the PS 321 playground, there were fire crackers.   We thought we saw fireworks coming from Prospect Park.

Go to Brit in Brooklyn to see a short video of last night’s celebration.

Photos by Kitty LaRoux

In the Guardian: Obama’s election triumph on the front pages of the world’s newspapers and magazine.