Here is this week’s Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper.

Remember “My Mother the Car,” that wacky 1966 show, which starred
Jerry Van Dyke as a guy whose deceased mother was reincarnated as a car?

Well, Smartmom has her late father’s Subaru Impreza now and it reminds her of that classic. Sort of.

It’s not like her dad — Groovy Grandpa — has been reincarnated as
the car or that his spirits are in there, but there is something. When
Smartmom is in the car, she feels a connection with her dad and the way
he did things. Little discoveries:

• Oh, that’s where he kept that card he used to get into the garage!

• Why did he put the tire gauge in that dashboard compartment? It makes so much noise when it rolls around.

• Why are all those books he bought at a library sale in the back?

Truly, the car that really epitomizes Groovy Grandpa is the light
blue Austin Healey, that was the family car from the time Smartmom was
born until she was about 8.

Now that was a great car. Manhattan Granny and Groovy Grandpa bought
it on a trip to England in 1957, during the “Two for the Road” phase of
their marriage. In pictures from those days, Manhattan Granny looks
very Jean Seberg with her short, dark hair and Groovy Grandpa is
awfully handsome with his neatly trimmed beard and tweed jacket. The
two of them drove to Italy and later shipped the car home to New York.

After a while, young Smartmom and Diaper Diva got too big to fit in
the tiny back seat of the sporty, four-seat convertible, so her father
sold it.

Finally, the Subaru Impreza.

On Aug. 19, just weeks before Groovy Grandpa died, Smartmom was
driving out of the driveway of the house she and Hepcat rent in Sag
Harbor very, very slowly. Suddenly, there was a Land Rover in the rear
window, small at first, then bigger and then huge.

Then, crash.

The right rear tail light of the Subaru was SMASHED. The Land Rover had no damage whatsoever. It was like hitting a brick.

The car looked awful and Smartmom cried like a teenager, “My dad is
going to kill me.” All the way home on the Long Island Expressway, she
was in a panic about telling Groovy Grandpa.

The next day, he started to ask questions and worried about his
insurance. He wanted her to get some estimates for repairs. When
Smartmom called from a Fourth Avenue collision place with a rough
estimate off $2,000, he got angry.

“Are you kidding me? Leave. Go to another place.”

Hepcat was out of town at the time, and Groovy Grandpa told Smartmom
to wait for him to get back (Groovy Grandpa was a bit of a sexist about
women drivers).

“Let him take care of it,” Groovy Grandpa told her.

Smartmom hated to bother her father with the details of this silly
fender bender when he wasn’t feeling well. But on some level, it was a
welcome distraction for both of them. Something to talk about other
than symptoms, medications, and chemotherapy. And yeah, they had a
couple of fights about it. He was a little patronizing.

“Why were you driving the car anyway?” he said. “Your sister is a much better driver.”

Not long after that, he went into the hospital for two weeks, where
they talked about it a couple of times. Her father died at home on
Sept. 7.

Smartmom couldn’t even think about the car for a while. Finally, she
called the insurance company and they sent an adjuster to look at the
car. The guy called and said that the car was a “total loss.”

Total loss. Smartmom knew all about loss. Her father was gone.

Of course, the insurance guy merely meant that the car exceeded its
value. He offered her a check and said that the company would be happy
to take it away.

Something felt wrong. Smartmom wanted to keep the car and Hepcat
believed that they could have it fixed for less money. Finally, a
collision place on Sackett Street called Gino’s was able to fix the car
for $750.

So Smartmom picked it up and was happy to have her car — her
father’s car — back. She has all sorts of plans about where she wants
to go — a cross-country road trip; an upstate cruise to visit Gluten
Free and Dadu on a whim; trips to Costco and Fairway — but for now, it
sits there on Third Street.

Her father the car.

It makes her happy just to see it.

That’s Toby Pannone, with his dad Stephen on the right and his brother on the left, as the G train. You can read all about Toby on this blog.

Toby and his family made last year’s Park Slope 100.

Suffice it to say, this costume won a big prize at the Halloween costume contest sponsored by the Park Slope Civic Council.

I noticed this group at the parade but had no idea it was Toby and his family.

In a recent blog post, his mom Mooki writes,

"Toby is 5 years old. He started kindergarten(!!!). He has hair the color of sun-kissed
wheat, and is up to 48 pounds. He reads SpongeBob comic books, takes
showers by himself and eats at least 2 Italian ices a day. He has a new
invisible bug friend named Mercator, and he’s learning Spanish at
school. He is an awesome little boy."

Correction: You are an awesome family!

Picture by Gilley. Check out her Flickr page.

Flatbush Gardener has an incredibly interesting post about the Malbone Street wreck, the worst transit disaster in NYC history, which occurred just outside Prospect Park. Here’s an excerpt from FG.

On November 1, 1918, the worst transit disaster in New York City history
occurred just outside Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The wooden cars of the Brighton Beach line of the Brooklyn Rapid
Transit (B.R.T.) company left the tracks, crashing inside the tunnel
beneath the busy intersection where Flatbush Avenue, Ocean Avenue and
Malbone Street met [Google map].
The Malbone Street Wreck killed nearly 100 people and injured more than
250. Criminal trials and lawsuits arising from the accident dragged on
for years.

As mentioned on Park Slope Parents:

A resident of St Johns Place between 7th and 8th Aves) reported a mugging at gunpoint on Saturday night. The resident was apparently walking up St Johns from 7th Avenue. She turned to enter her  house. While looking for her keys, she was approached by two men, who then forced the resident into the house vestibule.

The resident was then threatened with a gun and robbed. These details were posted up and down St. John’s Place this morning.

Does anyone have more details?

Craig Hammerman wrote in with a suggestion for those looking for local volunteer activities:

Assemblyman Brennan’s Office revised the Volunteer Directory for the
2008 Volunteer Fair we put together a few month’s ago.  I think you’ll
find it a great resource for anyone looking for a volunteer
opportunity.  The full document is posted on our website and is
downloadable by clicking here, or using the following link:

http://www.brooklyncb6.org/directory/?a=list&cat_id=24&letter=&dir_cat=24&cbonei=all&btnaddval.x=48&btnaddval.y=6

I hope you find it helpful.  Please do share it!

Studs Terkel, one of the inventors of oral history, died yesterday at the age of 96. The Pulitzer Prize winner journalist is known for doing interviews with ordinary people and was the host of a popular Chicago radio show.

There’s a excellent obituary in the New York Times today by William Grimes. Here’s an excerpt from a blog post by Tom McNamee in the Chicago Sun Times:

Hey, Tom," says an editor in the newsroom. "Studs Terkel died."

I stop, turn around.

 

"He did?"

There is a small pain in my voice. I can’t hide it. Studs Terkel died.

Because I am a Chicagoan, Studs Terkel was my teacher.

Because you are a Chicagoan, Studs was your teacher.

I knew him, a bit. One of the glories of working for a newspaper — sometimes you get to meet your heroes.

But it doesn’t matter if you never met him. Studs was your teacher, too.

If you ever read a story or a column by me or by a hundred other
reporters and columnists in this town that made you stop and think,
that made you bigger in the heart, more open, more tolerant, more
accepting, more loving, chances are you were getting a dose of Studs,
the spirit that says give people a break.

I once wanted to write a story about racial tensions in Marquette
Park. I picked up my notebook and walked around the neighborhood and
found two families — one white and one black — and tried to tell their
stories right and fair, like I had learned from Studs in books like
Division Street and Working.

It wasn’t necessary, I had learned from Studs, to pass judgment, to
declare right and wrong, to pick sides, to feel superior, to sneer. It
was enough to find two families, one white and one black, and try to
see. To listen. To understand.

Where did the rage come from in Marquette Park, the stones through
the windows, the hate? And was it hate or was it really fear? And where
was that one thing these two families share, whether they could see it
or not, that one thing that mattered more than skin color or home
values or fear, that lovely shared humanity?

Studs could see it, always — that river that flows through all of us
and makes us more alike than not. He insisted on seeing it. And I
wanted to see it, too.

People read Shakespeare — "If you prick us, do we not not bleed?" —
and learn to see. I read Studs and listened to him on the radio.

If I have learned to see at all — and I can’t say for sure that I have — it has much to do with Studs.

From Flatbush Pigeon:

City Opera Music Director George Manahan and the City Opera Orchestra, Chorus and soloists present Looking Forward, a concert program focusing on 20th-century classical music by such pioneering geniuses as Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen, Edgard Varèse, and Lukas Foss. Between each piece, Maestro Manahan will comment on how this vibrant music reveals some of the key artistic developments of the 20th century, including minimalism, electronic music, jazz, and neo-classicism. City Opera will perform this concert in each of the city’s five boroughs, beginning with Staten Island’s historic St. George Theatre and culminating in Manhattan’s newly-renovated Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

The Where and When

Sunday November 2 at 4 p.m.
Whitman Auditorium at Brooklyn College
2900 Campus Road
Buy Tickets here

An elaborate costume hinting at the darker side of the holiday (Park Slope, October 31st, 2008).    Photo: Tom Martinez

Some OTBKB readers wrote in with suggestions about volunteer opportunities in the Park Slope area. Benda Becker wrote in with this suggestion:

I’m sure tons of people will mention CHIPS
(Christian Help in Park Slope) on 4th Ave. but I can vouch that they’re a great
org. that serves people of every faith. Their soup kitchen gets a lot of
volunteers from church groups etc. around the holidays but undoubtedly needs
much more help at other times; they also run a transitional housing piece
upstairs called Frances House for moms of new babies (or about-to-be moms) who
would otherwise be homeless. I’ve done overnight ‘dorm mother’ duty for Frances
House and can vouch that they will not waste anyone’s time or money and have no
weird agendas. And they truly serve our immediate community.

Brooklyn Based sent a link to the post they did about good causes a few weeks ago.

Barbara Ensor, author of Cinderella (as if you didn’t already know the story) and Thumbalina, Tiny Runaway Bride, is offering clay animation classes for three age groups (6-8, 9-12, and 13 and up) at the Old Stone House in Park Slope

Sign up now for a group of five classes (4 plus a screening). The group will pool their talents and vision to collaborate on a short movie from start to closing credits.

These classes will be offered November 10 – December 19 except the week of Thanksgiving. $265 tuition includes materials and DVD.

Contact Barbara through littleschoolofmovingpictures.com or call Tiasha Ferme at 917-449-8542

The Where and When

Classes November 10 – December 19
The Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street
Register now. littleschoolofmovingpictures.com

I am always moved by the NYC Marathon and generally make a point of watching it in Park Slope.

Here’s a nice marathon map from the Brooklyn Paper.  Brooklynites can see the runners run on Fourth Avenue starting in Bay Ridge.

I always think Third Street and Fourth is a great spot to watch (the lead runners will get there around 9:40 and the rest around 10:10).

It’s about 6 miles into the race and the runners still have a lot of energy and joie de vivre.

But the runners also run through Forth Greene, Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

According to the New York State Board of Elections
(http://www.elections.state.ny.us/), for the General Election on
November 4, 2008, polls open at 6 am and close at 9 pm.

Expect lines and if you’re confused about where to vote or anything else go to the above mentioned site where you can look up your voter registration and your polling place.

On this site you can see the Rules and Regulations Part 6210 Routine Maintenance and Testing of Voting Systems,

I vote over at John  Jay High School. It should be plenty crowded over there. I’m hoping that around 11 am it won’t be too bad.

I got this in the old in box yesterday. It was like a little Halloween Haiku. But actually it was a question about a Prospect Heights restaurant. Do you know anything?

boo.

did noo na (korean on vanderbilt) close?

happy halloween

Pure Essentials, the new pharmacy and drug store on Seventh Avenue and 2nd Street, where the 2nd Street Cafe used to be, is now open.

They opened on Thursday and OSFO and I went in around 5 p.m.

Frankly, I was surprised. It’s basically a drug store with an emphasis on high end hair products, skin care products, children’s hair and skin products, vitamins, herbals, and supplements. They do seem to have a good selection of products with an emphasis on the natural and organic.

Still, confusion. I thought it was going to be Kids Rx or something like a Back to the Land for kid’s health products.

It’s really a drug store with a lot of expensive health products, as well as kitchen items, stationery, cards, candles, etc.

No surprise, we managed to spend upwards of $30 on mouthwash, a new toothbrush for OSFO, Ricola cough drops, hair curlers for OSFO, hair scuncis, clips and more.

So it’s a bit of a mix. Could be a good thing to have nearby. And it’s not a national chain. Woo hoo.

Walking by this afternoon, I see there’s a mention of Kid Rx on one of the windows and a separate entrance. I am wondering if this is a coming attraction. Anyone know?

Great piece in the Atlantic Monthly by Andrew Sullivan called Why I Blog. Here’s an excerpt.
 

From the first few days of using the form, I was hooked. The simple
experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers
was an exhilarating literary liberation. Unlike the current generation
of writers, who have only ever blogged, I knew firsthand what the
alternative meant. I’d edited a weekly print magazine, The New Republic,
for five years, and written countless columns and essays for a variety
of traditional outlets. And in all this, I’d often chafed, as most
writers do, at the endless delays, revisions, office politics,
editorial fights, and last-minute cuts for space that dead-tree
publishing entails. Blogging—even to an audience of a few hundred in
the early days—was intoxicatingly free in comparison. Like taking a
narcotic.

It was obvious from the start that it was revolutionary. Every
writer since the printing press has longed for a means to publish
himself and reach—instantly—any reader on Earth. Every professional
writer has paid some dues waiting for an editor’s nod, or enduring a
publisher’s incompetence, or being ground to literary dust by a legion
of fact-checkers and copy editors. If you added up the time a writer
once had to spend finding an outlet, impressing editors, sucking up to
proprietors, and proofreading edits, you’d find another lifetime buried
in the interstices. But with one click of the Publish Now button, all
these troubles evaporated.

Alas, as I soon discovered, this sudden freedom from above was
immediately replaced by insurrection from below. Within minutes of my
posting something, even in the earliest days, readers responded. E-mail
seemed to unleash their inner beast. They were more brutal than any
editor, more persnickety than any copy editor, and more emotionally
unstable than any colleague.

Again, it’s hard to overrate how different this is. Writers can be
sensitive, vain souls, requiring gentle nurturing from editors, and
oddly susceptible to the blows delivered by reviewers. They survive,
for the most part, but the thinness of their skins is legendary.
Moreover, before the blogosphere, reporters and columnists were largely
shielded from this kind of direct hazing. Yes, letters to the editor
would arrive in due course and subscriptions would be canceled. But
reporters and columnists tended to operate in a relative sanctuary,
answerable mainly to their editors, not readers. For a long time,
columns were essentially monologues published to applause, muffled
murmurs, silence, or a distant heckle. I’d gotten blowback from pieces
before—but in an amorphous, time-delayed, distant way. Now the feedback
was instant, personal, and brutal.

 

Marty Markowitz’s office sent this. I guess he figured out that I just turned 50.

    On Thursday, October 30, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will host a free Baby Boomer Retirement Fair at Borough Hall, with representatives on hand to answer questions on everything from Medicare, Social Security and reverse mortgages to money management, foreclosures and planning for the future in these uncertain financial times. Hard to believe, but the earliest baby boomers, defined as anyone born between 1946 and 1964, are beginning to retire.

    Exhibitors and workshops available to help boomers navigate this new phase of their lives will include New York City Department for the Aging; Social Security Administration; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; SCORE; Grimaldi & Yeung, LLP; Henry Street Settlement; Parodneck Foundation; Mass Mutual Financial Group; Brooklyn Public Library; MetLife Bank, N.A.; AARP Foundation Bill Payer Program; Citibank; Joint Public Affairs Committee for Older Adults (JPAC) and more

Check out Jeff Scher’s special Halloween animation, Remains To Be Seen, which was filmed in Green-Wood Cemetery. It is part of the NY Times series, The Animated LIfe. Here’s Jeff on the cemetery of his inspiration:

"A great cemetery feels like a world
unto itself: a kind of theme park of the departed, where everyday life
is left behind at the gate. A certain mood overtakes you when you
visit. You are simultaneously overwhelmed by the sense of being
surrounded by the dead, and seduced by the beauty of the place. This
creates a special flavor of melancholy, the inevitable feels present
and one’s own life all the more fleeting — as in Memento mori, “Remember that you are mortal.”

"Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, where this was filmed, is home
to approximately 600,000 former (or permanent) New Yorkers, and was a
popular tourist attraction in the 19th century. Wherever you turn, you
are confronted by bigger-than-life angels, huge pillars topped with
stone carved urns or orbs representing departed souls, and countless
carved headstones and elaborate mausoleums (many bigger than apartments
I’ve lived in). Confronted by so many lives that have been lived,
speaking to you in memorial marble and granite, you feel the presence
of human history. It is a stunning oasis of timeless green and
Victorian dreams of eternity in the heart of Brooklyn. Only the passing
planes remind you what century you’re in.

"With this film, I tried to capture that special cemetery mood in the
form and spirit of a Danse Macabre. Shay Lynch composed the
appropriately haunting score. I wanted my cast to consist exclusively
of the memorial statuary. The over-the-top quality of these realistic
representations of grief and faith ultimately inspired me to make this
Halloween Valentine to them."

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." The hat on the below is called the Soda Pop Jones. She writes, "The Soda Pop Jones is super warm hat, it comes in a ton of colors, and I will post more
pictures soon, but for now, this is the only pic I have. It is
basically a skully with a cute little brim. It’s a unisex hat named for
my bestie, who drinks a LOT of sodi, and wears one of these."

This year the Park Slope Civic Council is sponsoring a Costume Contest for big and little
kids!  There are a load of categories to choose from, so get out your
thinking caps and get started making your homemade costumes.  Winners
will be presented with a winner’s banner to carry at the beginning of
the Parade.

    * 4:00 Free Photos by Roberto Falck Photograpy
    * 4:00-4:55 Contest Registration
    * 5:00-6:00 Costume Contes

And then it’s time for the Park Slope Halloween Parade, which starts at 6:30

7th Avenue and 12th Street is the starting point (continuing to Union Street). This year’s parade will feature large-scale
puppets built by the Park Slope Parents’ Puppet Team with the help of
Theresa Linnihan from the Puppeteer’s Coooperative.

Make way for these new additions and join the parade at the back so you
can see it all before participating in the biggest childen’s parade in
the United States!

I love the Park Slope Civic Council’s Halloween poster created by Gerardo Blumenkranz.

If pressed to label himself for marketing purposes he would say he’s an art director. But he’s also an illustrator and the man behind these fun/funny posters about trick or treating on Halloween, where the kids get tofu, Veggie Booy and Quinoa Puffs.

Check out his website, it’s a really good one.

A Kensington shopkeeper stands knee-deep in floodwater to
clear a blocked drainage grate.                        Photo: Tom Martinez

Some students in front of PS 321 were doing a survey. "Obama or McCain?" they asked as I walked by. When I said Obama one of the little girls jumped up and down, "We’re not getting any McCain’s."

Question: Does anyone know anyone voting for the John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket in Park Slope? Just wondering.

Looks like the Feldman’s have a a Fab New Feature on their weather blog. A live video taken from their rooftop.

How cool. Check out Current Weather in Park Slope and see the video.

They also have a 36-hour time lapse video of weather. It’s gorgeous. Watch it.

36 Hour Time-Lapse Park Slope Weather Movie

Trick-or-treat at Babeland on Friday, October 31, 6-8pm, Free

Babeland Brooklyn, 462 Bergen Street
Tricks and Treats at Babeland are not for kids! Be one of the first 50
people to show off your costume and get a very sexy surprise.

And starting today: Sexy Jack-O-Lantern Contest, October 29 – 31

Have some naughty fun with a Halloween tradition and carve a sexy scene into your pumpkin! Bring your erotic pumpkin to Babeland SoHo to enter it in our 1st annual Sexy Jack-O-lantern contest. First place winner receives a $100 Babeland gift bag.  Second and third place winners receive Babeland gift bags worth $50 and $25, respectively. Jack-O-Lanterns are judged on creativity and craftsmanship. Drop off your entry at the SoHo store during business hours Wednesday, October 29th – Friday, October 31st

Today is Diwali, a major Indian holiday; it also means you don’t have to move your car. Here from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Diwali (or Deepavali) is a major Indian holiday, and a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ^[3] Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe as the "Festival of Lights,"
where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within
every human being. Diwali is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the
month Kartika.^[4]

In many parts of India, it is the homecoming of Lord Rama of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile in the forest, after he defeated the evil Ravana.^[5]
The people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by
lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deeva), thus its name: Deepavali. This
word, in due course, became Diwali in Hindi. But, in South Indian
languages, the word did not undergo any change, and hence the festival
is called Deepavali in southern India. There are many different
observances of the holiday across India.

Jainism marks Diwali as the nirvana of Lord Mahavira, which occurred on 15 October, 527 BCE.

Among the Sikhs,
Diwali came to have special significance from the day the town of
Amritsar was illuminated on the return to it of Guru Hargobind
(1595-1644) who had been held captive in the Fort at Gwalior under the
orders of the Mughal emperor, Jahangir (1570-1627). As the sixth Guru
(teacher) of Sikhism, Guru Hargobind Ji, was freed from imprisonment –
along with 53 Hindu Kings (who were held as political prisoners) whom
the Guru had arranged to be released as well. After his release he went
to the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in the holy city of Amritsar, where
he was welcomed in happiness by the people who lit candles and diyas to
greet the Guru. Because of this, Sikhs often refer to Diwali also as
Bandi Chhorh Divas – "the day of release of detainees."

The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists of Nepal, particularly the Newar Buddhists.

In India, Diwali is now considered to be a national festival, and
the aesthetic aspect of the festival is enjoyed by most Indians
regardless of faith.

I just got this email from Helen, who works in the marketing department at
BAM. 

I was doing a little bit of research online, and I came across your
blog.  I couldn’t help but think that maybe your community might be
interested in some information about BAMboo!, BAM’s annual free Halloween
festival.  The festivities take place in front of BAM, on
Lafayette between
Ashland Place and
Fulton Street , from
4—7pm on Oct 31st.  There are games, candy giveaways, costume
contests, wandering performers, and a very popular moon bounce.  This
year’s theme is A BAM Before Time, exploring prehistory; there will be
fossil digs, cave art, and dinosaur treasures for everyone, young and
old. I also
encourage you to visit our website for more information: http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=400

Once again, Brooklyn Based, the cultural Daily Candy of brownstone Brooklyn, has some good goods on fun events at bars. Read here about a monthly mock lecture series at Union Hall. Find more at Brooklynbased.

Series: Adult Education
Where: Union Hall, 702 Union St., Park Slope
What: Brooklyn lawyer-by-day/comedian-by-night Charles
Star hosts this ongoing lecture series where speakers expound on
tongue-in-cheek topics loosely related to a changing theme, chosen by
Star, his wife Carrie McLaren (who used to publish Stay Free! magazine), and writer Jim Hanas.
The night we attended, “School for Scandal” inspired lectures on “The
Lurid World of Student Gossip Sites” and “The Firing of My High School
Physics Teacher.” As a host, Star is at once self-deprecating
and earnest; he understands people want to have fun while learning
something new.
When: Tuesdays on a semi-monthly basis, 8pm, $5 cover. Nov. 11 theme: “Lies and Liars.”

I see on Brownstoner that the Brooklyn cohousing group has chosen a location for their utopian vision of a communal living space. It sounds like a great site: Fort Greene’s former St. Michael’s Church property. Here from Brownstoner:

The 10 member households and 17 associate households of the Brooklyn Cohousing group
have found a site for their social and housing experiment: Fort
Greene’s former St. Michael’s church property. "When our project is
complete, our community will share three buildings surrounding a
7,500-square-foot inner courtyard of gardens, green space and
children’s play areas," they wrote in an email to interested parties.
"In addition, we will share extensive interior common space and share a
process of decision making that empowers everyone in the community."
This will be a more co-operative co-operative, based on the Danish
model of co-housing where folks own individual property as well as some
communal spaces.