McBrooklyn has a list for great fireworks viewing. The show begins at dark

You couldn’t find a better Brooklyn location to watch New York City’s Fourth of July fireworks than the new pop-up park at Pier 1 — and if you’re a veteran who received an invitation from the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs, you’ll be there. Veterans and their families will have front row seats for the big blast — and who deserves it more?

Eugene Patron of Prospect Park also sent word of this marvelously fishy event that begins on July 16th:

Young anglers will cheer as NYC Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Brooklyn Cyclones mascot Sandy the Seagull release a largemouth bass dubbed R.H. Macy into the water. Whoever catches R.H. Macy will win a great fishing trip for the whole family on a boat ride from Sheepshead Bay!
The contest is sponsored by Macy’s Foundation
The contest runs from July 16 – July 20. Daily contest hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are no rain dates. The competition is open to children 15 years and younger. Individuals can sign-up at the contest. Groups of 10 or more must call (718) 287-3400 x114 to register. Admission is free and equipment and instruction is provided.
Prizes will be awarded daily to those who haul in the big catches from Brooklyn’s only freshwater lake. Before casting their lines, all participants attend a free, fun and educational workshop led by Prospect Park Audubon Center educators and the Urban Park Rangers.
Directions: News vehicles can enter the park at any entrance and follow the Park Drive to the Audubon Center. To reach the Prospect Park Audubon Center on foot, enter the Park at Lincoln Road & Ocean Ave, or Flatbush Ave. & Empire Blvd. (Willink entrance) and follow the directional signs. By train: Q, S, or B to Prospect Park Station

You won’t want to miss this event at the Community Bookstore on July 8th at 7 p.m.

Fresh from their sold-out engagement at Joe’s Pub, vocalist Capathia Jenkins, songwriter/performer Louis Rosen and writer Nikki Giovanni will make a special appearance at the Community Bookstore in Brooklyn to celebrate their acclaimed new PS Classics CD, “One Ounce of Truth: The Nikki Giovanni Songs.”
One Ounce of Truth was hailed by The New York Times as “earthy, tuneful songs…a continually shifting musical patchwork of blues, folk, jazz and pop…sly, playful observations that take an off-center, positive view of life and love.”
The CD combines the sultry and soaring voice of Capathia Jenkins with the inspired melodies and arrangements of composer Louis Rosen into a fresh and enthralling thirteen-song mix of jazz, blues, soul, classic pop and American roots music. Jenkins’ powerful and sensitive performances blend with Rosen’s music – alternately delicate and exultant, and always highly melodic – in exploring those most universal of human experiences: friendship, lust, love and loss. It’s a lush and memorable collection based on the vivid words of Nikki Giovanni, the renowned American writer and poet recently chosen as one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Living Legends.”

Bloomberg News wrote, “In the poet Nikki Giovanni…the blissful collaboration of composer Louis Rosen and singer Capathia Jenkins has found a kindred spirit, and the combination has charm and beauty to spare….The performers are as good company as you could wish for.”

“Giovanni writes in a style that is both direct and sophisticated, with a point of view that is thoughtful, soulful and always surprising,” says Rosen. “Equally important, her words sound right sung in a popular style with a strong rhythmic groove as the foundation. My goal while writing and arranging the songs was to make the music and words play so naturally together that the listener assumes they were written together as music and lyrics.”

Pastor Daniel Meeter shares his wonder with the natural world in Prospect Park. He’s got pictures, too.

There’s an orange tree in Prospect Park. Pastor Daniel Meeter of Old First Church, has pictures of it and some information about it.

Well, not an orange tree exactly. But Prospect Park has an Osage Orange tree.

They are native to the American West.

This one stands at the waymeet just down from the Nethermead Arches.

This one is a good size. The species is not typically towering tall, not compared to other trees, including the ones around it. But this one is doing very well, and looks very healthy.

The young osage oranges are just beginning to grow on it. I wonder if they are edible?

Here’s a statement from City Councilmember Bill De Blasio about the deat of Emin Elizabeth Green, who died in the waiting room of Kings County Hospital. She was ignored by hospital workers until after her death.

City Hall— Councilmember Bill de Blasio released the following statement on news of the conditions surrounding the death of Esmin Elizabeth Green in the psychiatric emergency room of Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn on June 19, 2008:

“I am deeply troubled by the lack of attention and care that Esmin Elizabeth Green received in the hours leading up to her tragic death. It is unconscionable to leave patients waiting almost twenty-four hours without providing adequate care, and inhumane for hospital employees to ignore obvious signs that a patient is in need of immediate medial attention.

“The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation’s decision to reduce wait times and institute required fifteen minute checks on all patients in the Kings County psychiatric emergency room is a step in the right direction. However, we cannot wait for another tragedy before making important policy changes.

“We must ensure that similarly unacceptable conditions and patient care policies are not in place at any other hospital in the City, and that hospitals have adequate staff to provide the necessary level of patient care. I am committed to working with my fellow Councilmembers and relevant City agencies to identify the extent of inadequate staffing in City hospitals, and to develop potentially life-saving solutions.”

Gowanus Lounge calls him the Oracle of Prospect Park. But for me, Eugene Patron is simply the last word on everything that goes on in that great park like this concert by the Philharmonic Orchestra on July 14th at 8 p.m. and these fun sounding events at the Lefferts Historic House.

Each year, the New York Philharmonic returns to Prospect Park’s Long Meadow Ballfields for an amazing free concert under the stars. This year’s program will include Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, K.125a; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4; and Sibelius’ Finlandia. Alan Gilbert will conduct; Sheryl Staples and Michelle Kim will be featured on violin.

A fireworks display rounds out the evening. The concert space features a state-of-the-art sound system with a wireless broadcast network and 24 15-foot speaker towers. Park concessions will be on hand, selling hot dogs, ice cream, and other great summertime refreshments.

Enter the Long Meadow at 9th Street and Prospect Park West or Bartel Pritchard Circle/15th St.

For Alliance Members at the Arborist Level and above, we offer V.I.P. seating with complimentary soft drinks and more. Call (718) 965-8965 for information about VIP seating.

For all other information, including weather-related concerns, call the New York Philharmonic concert information hotline at (212) 875-5709

He also sent word about an interesting sounding event in the Park on July 4th an 5th at the Lefferts Historic House. Interestingly, in the 19th century, July 5th was a day to celebrate the end of slavery.

The spirit of independence fills Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. For many years in the 19th century, July 5 was a day to celebrate emancipation with parades and festive dinners. Saturday, July 5 at the Lefferts Historic House there will be a special celebration to mark the anniversary of the end of slavery in New York State.

2:00pm – Illustrated talk by historian Dr. Sherrill D. Wilson, who will explore the experience of Black New Yorkers of the 1820s and 30s.

3:00 pm – Musical Performance: Heritage Organic Percussion uses instruments from Africa to play traditional, dynamic rhythms.

4:00 pm – Parade: Join a noisy and proud march recalling the days of the first generations of free African- Americans in New York. Lead by master storyteller Tammy Hall.

All afternoon, from 1pm to 4 pm enjoy crafts on the lawn: gourd shaker workshop, make your own rice rattles, bead necklaces, paper hats and enjoy ice treats

.

Someone on Park Slope Parents thinks she’s being scammed but wanted to check with PSP first. It’s a strange story. Is this a typical scam?

Has anyone on this list been a victim of an apt scam? We found a “too
good to be true” apt that is vacant, the owner is in London and needs
to rent it out asap, but she has the keys with her and will mail them
to us, etc.

Since we have friends who have been scammed before, I am
extremely skeptical. And we cant afford the monetary lose. Is there
anyone willing to share their experience with me and any red flags I
should be looking for? I am refusing to hand over any money until I
have the keys but I wonder if somehow she has the keys to this apt but
isnt the real owner, is that possible?

Thanks for any and all help!

Fonda of Zuzu’s Petals wrote to say that they found a new member of the Zuzu team. Sounds like they got someone great. Here’s the note from Fonda.

Danielle  has been training at The Big for the last few weeks. She is an ace at flower prep and makes handheld bouquets with great attention to color and combo.

Her working knowledge of plants comes from a passion for growing things and years of tending both a Community Garden patch and  Orchid collection at home.

All you regulars, stop by to give her the warm zuzushopper welcome.

And here’s news of what’s in the shop this week:

We made a score with some crimson threadleaf Japanese Maples. 3 sizes from $120-$450.
All our late flowering shrubs and perennials are fat and full….Beauty Berry…both gold leaf and green, Chartreuse Hypericum,Variegated Caryopteris, Pink Flowering Abelia, Dwarf Crepe Myrtle.
Lots of Annuals that will bloom all Summer…Angelonia, Abutilon, Fuschia, Torenia, Moon Vine, Passion Flower, Oxalis in 3 colors, Bidens, Rose Impatiens.

In the Edibles, we still are giving away our Tomato starts for free. Our 4" Everbearing Strawberries are covered with flowers and fruit (which we snack on while watering)
In Herbs we have some gorgeous Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Mint and Sage.
Enough?

We are hoping Friday will prove to be a better Beach Day than the Weatherpersons predict. Little Zu will be closed this weekend as i said before.

Big Zu will be closed Friday so Lorraine can go to the beach and open again Saturday and Sunday. There are a mass of heat tolerant Fresh Cut Flowers inshop…pictured below: Giant Green Centered Sunflowers, Alstroemeria, Gerber Daisies and lots of interesting foliage.
And Roses Roses Roses

Definite Visible Data

You want to borrow a DVD?
It isn’t friendship I lack
But you may know as some folks do
Nobody gives them back.

So no, I just can’t lend you one
Despite your likely groans–
The DVDs that you see here
I acquired by loans.

Justice Robert J. Miller of State Supreme Court, ordered that a Red Hook Fence that separates the Red Hook Recreation Area from the Henry Street Basin be removed within 90 days. Here’s what the Judge said, as reported by the New York Times:

“the fence significantly and unreasonably restricts the common use of the waterfront and does not serve the public good.”

Adrian Benepe, commissioner of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, told this to the Times:

“Red Hook Park is a popular neighborhood destination which offers both active recreational opportunities including handball, basketball, soccer, and fitness, and passive recreation including strolling along the park grounds, communing with friends, and relaxing on a park bench. The removal of the fence opens up Brooklyn’s picturesque waterfront and gives Brooklyn residents and New Yorkers another reason to visit this fabled community park.”

Transportation Alternatives is offering a $6000 prize for the best design of a “post-automobile street” for the intersection of Fourth Avenue and 9th Street.

Transportation Alternatives announces the launch of “Designing the 21st Century Street,” an open design competition that will challenge New Yorkers to safely accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, trucks and cars on the same “complete street” – something that still eludes New York City street design. Those interested in entering must register by July 18th and submit their entries by August 18th.

“Cities in the 21st Century are competing to be the greenest, most livable, most sustainable places possible, and we can’t do that until we have better streets,” says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “This design competition is about unleashing the talent of New Yorkers and developing those streets today.”

The competition focuses on the intersection of 4th Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn, a dangerous crossing that divides surrounding neighborhoods and inhibits street life. Competitors must re-imagine this intersection as a healthy, safe and sustainable street that serves pedestrians and bicyclists first, while functioning as a transit hub and truck route.

The jury includes artists, architects, City commissioners and local residents with a fierce interest in seeing their neighborhood streets become safer and more vital. In particular, the expertise of Danish planner, Jan Gehl, and former NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz will ensure the viability of finalists as a potential template for New York City’s unique street.

Again, thanks to Verse Responder, Leon Freilich, who sent this along.

Not only is “1776” the best musical drama ever made, it’s the only one Richard Nixon had a role in. He screened the completed movie in the White House before its distribution in 1972 and loved it. Except for the song “Cool, Cool Considerate Men” in which Deep South conservatives urge the need to go “Always to the right, always to the right.”

Nixon took his unhappiness to Jack Warner, the producer, who obligingly cut it from the film. And that was Nixon’s always-to-the-right part. In the DVD, though, the song’s restored–and that’s probably what’ll be shown tonight at Byrne…

Read the op-ed in yesterday’s Daily News by Evan Thies, candidate for David Yassky’s City Council seat. A former aide to Yassky, Thies is a member of Community Board 1. Thies is appalled; the city is slashing $300 million from the Department of Education, which will mean overcrowding and a dearth of much needed resources. At the same time, there are no planned cuts to the DOE’s Office of Assessment and Accountability, the love child of Chancellor Klein and Mayor Bloomberg.

The budget passed Sunday for the new fiscal year will slash the Department of Education by $300 million, largely by taking money directly out of schools. Yet, the same budget includes an untouched allocation of $8 million for staff at the department’s Office of Assessment and Accountability – the mayor’s pet project to monitor students and schools – and another $23 million for operating expenses such as tests.

Although the status quo in our city’s schools needed – and still needs – to be changed, and I applaud the mayor especially for his previous dedication to improving our school system, as well as Speaker Christine Quinn for her valiant try in this budget to restore funding, it is alarming that the mayor’s nonessential and expensive accountability experiment won out over less-crowded classrooms and desperately needed resources for students.

If cuts had to be made to the education budget, as the administration says that it did – though I disagree that they must – certainly we should start with suspending or reorganizing parts of, or the entire, unnecessary accountability and monitoring programs while we work to restore the department’s budget to full funding.

The mayor, unfortunately, seems to disagree. These cuts were to be even deeper in the mayor’s original proposed budget, but the City Council managed to restore a third of the funding. And though the operating budget for the Office of Assessment Accountability would be cut modestly next year, it is unclear exactly how or where this money would be spent.

Monitoring and testing at schools has so far had mixed results. The aggregate scores of city schoolchildren on federal tests have been flat or have declined during these first years of the assessment experiment. Scores from state-administered tests have improved, but that could be merely the result of the degree of difficulty of the tests varying from year to year…

The video showing a woman dying in a waiting room at Kings County Hospital is very disturbing. The fallout continues. Here’s an excerpt from NY1:

Several employees at Kings County Hospital have been fired after a disturbing videotape surfaced showing a woman dying in a waiting room, while workers did nothing.

The New York Civil Liberties Union released the video, which was taken two weeks ago. It shows 49-year-old Esmin Green slumping out of her chair and going into convulsions as workers and fellow patients walk by her. She had been in the hospital’s psychiatric ward waiting area for more than 24 hours. She was later pronounced dead.

The NYCLU also says hospital workers fudged the time scale of the incident on Green’s medical records.

Now the group says the hospital, which is run by the city, will give patients in the waiting room a checkup every 15 minutes, and limit the number of patients to 25 at a time.

A member of the list-serve, Park Slope Parents wrote in to say that the fundamentalist christian groups are back for the season proselytizing to children without parents consent in our playgrounds. The writer added that she is not against fundamentalist Christians, just any form of religious proselytizing in a public playground

Last year the Child Evangelism Fellowship (http://www.cefonline.com/content/category/8/31/75) handed out candy and coloring books but asked the kids first if they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.

This national para-church comes to urban playgrounds through local church sponsorship with the sole purpose of converting children. It is actually very difficult to discern if the
proselyters are CEF because they seem to hide behind their local
sponsorship.

If this practice is offensive to you, I advise you to call the parks department, ask the proseltyzers for their permits and then call the parks officers (they rarely have a permit and they
should not be handing out things to children).

Movies Al Fresco in JJ Byrne Park: Brooklyn Film Works returns with Democracy in Action, a series of political films on Wednesday nights in July. The show starts at dusk. There will be a short before the feature.

First up: 1776.

Running time: 2 hrs 56 mins

Synopsis: This acclaimed film version of Peter Stone’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which was one of the last big-budget studio musicals, stars William Daniels (TV’s Saint Elsewhere) as John Adams and Howard Da Silva as Ben Franklin. A rollicking, anachronistic treatment of the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Perfect for the week of the 4th of July.

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Starring: William Daniels, David Ford, Howard Da Silva, Donald Madden, Emory Bass
Director: Peter H. Hunt
Story: Peter Stone, Sherman Edwards
Screenwriter: Peter Stone
Composer: Sherman Edwards

Thanks to Leon Freilich who just sent this over. From the Daily News: There’s also a story in the Brooklyn Paper.

By Ayala Falk Daily News
Monday, June 30th 2008, 9:09 PM

Bad news for Park Slope.

Good news for a few other Brooklyn neighborhoods.

The Department of Transportation said Monday a two-month break for motorists in Park Slope will end July 14 when it resumes alternate side parking.

Department officials said it will have successfully posted 2,800 new parking signs on neighborhood streets. Alternate side parking will be reduced from three-hour intervals to 90 minutes and from twice-a-week cleanings to once a week.

It means Park Slope motorists who got comfy leaving their cars parked in one spot will have to move them at least once a week.

Reaction in Park Slope was quick.

“Damn it, it’s going to get me,” said musician Mike Eber, 26, worried about a ticket blitz. “Now I can leave a car for a week and go out of town. I’m the one everyone hates.”

Meanwhile, DOT announced alternate side parking regulations will be temporarily suspended for six to eight weeks, beginning Monday, in parts of Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Gowanus in Community Board 6. The department plans to post 2,100 signs.

The changes do not affect 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. parking rules, meters or other parking rules that are not street cleaning regulations.

Dean Street’s Bar Tabac and other New York area hot spots will host the 6th annual Bastille Day Petanque Tournament and celebrate France ’s Independence Day in style.

On Sunday July 13, 2008 from 11:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m., Bar Tabac and Robin des Bois take over Brooklyn’s popular Smith and Dean Street intersection and surrounding blocks to celebrate France ’s Bastille Day with the countries largest Pétanque tournament. Over 7,000 people and 80 Pétanque teams are expected to participate in the French fête, with all dues donated to the local Brooklyn Community Board. Throughout the day, guests will enjoy French cocktails, including the Classique and Elixir from Ricard, the world’s number one selling pastis, an anise-flavored beverage. Special guests are invited to relax at the Ricard hospitality tent at Bar Tabac where delicious food provided by Cercle Rouge chef and refreshing Ricard cocktails including the Cocorico, French Kiss and French Mojito will be served. Live jazz / swing music by The Baby Blue Orchids will keep the day festive, and Bar Tabac will prepare mouthwatering dishes inspired by South of France, including beef and merguez sandwiches.

Bastille Day (July 14th) celebrates French independence, and the day French citizens stormed the Bastille (a prison) in 1789, starting the French Revolution and bringing an end to the French monarchy. In honor of this holiday, Francophiles in New York play Pétanque (pronounced “pay-tonk”), a game similar to lawn bowling that originated in Provence in the early 1900s and is one of Europe ’s most popular outdoor activities. This year makes the 101st anniversary of the game. Players take turns rolling small steel balls (called boules) as close as possible to a small wooden aim ball (called a but or cochonnet). Brooklyn ’s Smith Street will provide the sanded arena for the competition.

PSST!

I’ll tell you this just once

And then I have to beat it–

I took a solemn vow

And promised not to repeat it.

I walked by with my mother and told her that Carmen’s, the new Seventh Avenue children’s stores, has handmade dresses with smocking. I used to wear hand made dresses with smocking when I was a girl.

At this shop, which is in the dripping cyclops/octopus building owned by Mark Ravitz Art and Design, you can buy seersucker shorts for a young boy in this store and all manner of formal looking clothing your grandmother would have loved. I know my grandmother bought me underwear at Best and Co. on Fifth Avenue

It’s the storefront that used to be Seventh Avenue Books (or was it Park Slope Books).

If variety is the spice of life: this kind of shop is a refreshing antidote to Lolli and Area if you like the sort of styles they feature.

Carmen’s Exclusives for Children on Seventh Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets, has clothing for children birth to five years old. Go this week while they still have cookies and beverages.

If it’s very, very hot and everything else you want to see at the Pavilion is sold out, go with Kung Fu Panda. I saw it last night with Diaper Diva, Ducky and OSFO and we loved it. Even if we had to sit in the front row of the tiny theater on the top that has a bunch of messed up chairs no one can sit on.

Jack Black is the voice of Po, the Panda. Dustin Hoffman is the voice of the Master Shifu. Even Manhola Dargis at the New York Times’ enjoyed the film not expecting to.

Visually, this animated film from Dreamworks is actually quite gorgeous. Here’s Dargis in her New York Times review:

That outsider is even more irresistible when nestled amid so much lovingly created animation, both computer generated and hand drawn. The main story, executed via 3-D animation (all done on computers) and directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, fluidly integrates gorgeous, impressionistic flourishes with the kind of hyper-real details one has come to expect from computer-generated imagery: photorealistically textured stone steps, for instance, and fur so invitingly tactile you want to run your fingers through it. One of the pleasures of “Kung Fu Panda” is that instead of trying to mimic the entirety of the world as it exists, it uses the touch of the real. The character designs may be anatomically correct, but they’re cartoons from whisker to tail

  Crazy headline from A Year in the Park; but she’s not kidding. The tour of the Quaker Cemetery in Prospect Park drew a really big crowd!

It figures. I cycle over in the sticky heat to one of the rare tours of Prospect Park’s Quaker Cemetery, and by the time I get there, there’s a 40-minute estimated wait on line. At the 10-acre cemetery, which predates the park and contains some 2,000 Friends’ graves, living Quakers were offering re-enactments of some of the interred residents, but I couldn’t tarry that long with dinner guests on the way.

Just got this enthusiastic note from the folks at Rosewater about a Crab Fest on July 10th at 7 p.m.

    In the Spring of  2007 we announced our first-ever Crab Feast. Our Maryland-born Chef then promptly decided to decamp to greener Connecticut pastures and suddenly the Boil was reduced to a slow simmer on the back burner. It’s a year later and, happily, another talented Maryland boy is manning the stove at RW – Chef Marcellus Coleman is champing at the bit to boil us up some Maryland Crab!

    We’re gonna cover the tables with tabloid newsprint, cover the upholstery, bust out the wooden mallets and dump some Old Bay Blues right there on the table – Chesapeake family style. Add pink wine, cold beer, cole slaw, fries and corn (if it’s good enough). You get the idea. Hard-shell Heaven. We’re expecting this to be so much fun that it will become an annual event!

    $68, all inclusive of tax and service. 718 783 3800. Tickets will likely go fast, so reserve asap.

Richard Grayson, author of Who Will Kiss the Pig: Sex Stories for Teens, I Brake for Delmore Schwartz, and With Hitler in New York, is back in town and he went to Celebrate Brooklyn Presents The Crooklyn Dodgers Reunion last night and filed this report, which is also on his blog.

It was raining very hard at 6 p.m. last evening, and things didn’t look good as we finished our Boca burger and batata coreano, intending to leave Dumbo HQ in Williamsburg for the next hour’s starting time at the Prospect Park Bandshell for Celebrate Brooklyn’s presentation of The Crooklyn Dodgers Reunion.

By 6:30 p.m., things had brightened up a bit and we made our way to the park to represent BK’s old white people at what sounded like it was going to be a history-making night in the annals of Brooklyn hip-hop with the return of the classic super-group.

As Wikipedia notes,
They appeared in three separate incarnations since 1994. The first two incarnations recorded for the soundtracks for Spike Lee films, Crooklyn and Clockers, respectively. The theme connecting The Crooklyn Dodgers songs, aside from the Spike Lee films which they were made for, is the topic matter, which tends to comment on the state of affairs in and around urban New York, as well as other issues affecting everyday life; as Jeru spouses “Chips that power nuclear bombs power my Sega.”

Probably due to the heavy rain, the crowd wasn’t big at the start of the night, but it really grew. We managed to find a close seat, thanks to the tiny blonde 7-year-old girl who took it upon herself to sponge off the water from all the folding chairs in our area.

It was an incredible show, hosted by Buckhshot and Special Ed, who showed off some of their own freestyling skills. The evening was a collage-montage of Brooklyn hip-hop, with continual shout-outs to the neighborhoods: “Flatbush!” “Crown Heights!” “Canarsie!” (When the incredibly talented Chip Fu yelled out “East 56th Street between Church & Snyder!” we shouted back, since we spent our first 28 years on East 54th between Snyder & Tilden and East 56th between O & Fillmore.)

The classic original veteran Masta Ace came on with his group EMC featuring amazing talent – Wordsworth, Punchline & Stricklin, and Chip Fu – with their rollicking signature opening. It just got better from there. As the crowds grew, arms waved, fists pumped, everyone swayed, and to us, the event seemed both Dionysian and intimate, as when Wordsworth jumped off the stage and began rapping in the crowd.

It was like being at a greatest Brooklyn house party ever. O.C., after doing some amazing stuff, sat down at the edge of the stage and began to talk to the borough’s young rappers just coming up about the perils of artistic compromise and hypocrisy. “The last of my kind,” O.C. didn’t name names, but said “some people ain’t doin’ what they supposed to.” Around me, audience members did name the names of some stars he was referring to.

The whole evening was curated by Danny Castro and Anthony Marshall, creators of the pioneering they-said-it-couldn’t-be-done open-mic night Lyricist Lounge, who deserve much credit for putting together this defining event. And props to their majesties DJ Premier and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, whose historic work with A Tribe Called Quest brightened our days back in the day (and made early morning workouts bearable).

The night featured great freestyling and amazing rapping, some of it BK-centric. “Why do we gotta live in this environment?/Your grandpa done drank up his retirement” reminded us that we were really, really tired and maybe the second-oldest human we spotted in the by-now humongous (we’re bad at estimates, everyone who took our 30,000 at the Met Opera seriously!) peaced-out crowd.

Blaming our fatigue on not old age but severe jet lag (we were campaigning in Arizona all week), we left a bit after 9 p.m. for the return trip home (the F was running funny, taking over the G route to Queens, causing confusion but making this a one-train trip back to the Burg), so we missed most of the show after intermission: Chubb Rock, the incredible Jeru the Damaja, etc. But we’ve got Kevin’s report:
One highlight of this evening was going out with a post-party crew of stoners (Jon Good, Jesse, other Jesse, and Daniela) to dew-damp Prospect Park to catch the tail end of a fucking huge (and completely free) hip-hop concert, featuring the reunion of a moderately successful ’90s rap group called the Crooklyn Dodgers.

I usually go to small underground shows, so this enormous outdoor bandshell venue, with thousands of screaming fans, backup dancers, stage lighting, the whole shebang. And the artists, though icons of the hip-hop underground, were more professional than anyone else I’ve ever heard. That’s the great thing about Brooklyn–a local concert, with local artists celebrating the history and culture of the neighborhood, is going to have world-class talent. Some of the lyrics were a little blingy and whut-whut for my tastes, but for the most part the rhymes were tight, the beats were solid, and the Scene was Real.

And their lyrical talent was astounding. The distinction between rap and poetry is usually pretty controversial but there is no questioning that what I saw and heard tonight was poetry. These guys know their neighborhood, they know their culture, and they know life in Crown Heights, and they managed to tap that zeitgeist like a keg of ass.

Isn’t life wonderful!

My friend, Jezra Kaye, sent me this review of a recent concert of a band that includes Prospect Heights bassist, Jerome Harris. Harris has played with so many jazz musicians I don’t know where to begin. For starters, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, Ray Anderson, Don Byron, Bobby Previte, Oliver Lake, Amina Claudine Myers, Bob Stewart, George Russell, Julius Hemphill, and Bob Moses. The excerpt from Jazz Times, describes a wonderful new band that brings together klezmer, funk and hip-hop.

Hopefully a CD will be out in the not-too-distant future, and OTBKB will let you know when they’re coming to Brooklyn. As Jezra said, “In the meantime, we can all just enjoy that such a thing exists!J Happy Almost-4th of July, and much love to all.”

This endlessly surprising yet highly successful hybrid of klezmer, funk and hip-hop had the enthusiastic crowd—young and old, Jews and gentiles, whites and blacks—dancing ecstatically in the aisles like it was a Jewish wedding. Wesley brought the funk while virtuoso clarinetist David Krakauer delivered the passionate intensity and deep Jewish soul that ties him to the lineage of klezmer clarinet kings like Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist and visionary beat architect Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled, provided a bridge between the klezmer and hip-hop worlds with his audacious Hebraic rapping while the Bronx-bred emcee C-Rayz Walz brought street cred to this unlikeliest of collaborations with his remarkable freestyling facility and stark urban imagery.

On First Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, I happened on a stoop sale with lots of LPs, found super-8 movies, Criterion Collection DVD’s, art books, and film equipment. My dad collects classical and jazz LP’s here’ what I got for him:

The Art Tatum Buddy DeFranco Quartet on Verve

Bird and Diz on Verve

In a Mellow toe by Johnny Hodges on Verve

Die Dreigroschenoper: The original cast recording of The Three Penny Opera on Telefunken

Victoria De Los Angeles on Seraphim

Bach: The Two and Three Park Inventions Gleenn Gould on Columbia

Elizabeth Schwarzkoph singing Mozart and Bach

But the real find was this, a book, copyright 1958:

The Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men: Revealing stories and pieces by the most damned and praised writers of our day, including Jack Kerouac, Colin Wilson, Joh Wain, John Osborne, Kingsely Amis, Allen Ginsberg and many others…

PARKING CIRCLES

They came from outer non-spaces

Having heard of Park Slope’s parking places–

A wide-open neighborhood for cars

Where once the attractions were churches and bars.

To Slopers, told that parking regs

Were gone for the summer like hated dregs

It seemed the end to spots you fish for;

Oh yeah? Be careful what you wish for.

A man and a woman talking on a train stream of consciousness about Black Pearl, the recently closed restaurant on Union Street between 6th and 7th Avenues:

Do you think it’s closed?

There was a sign that it was reopening on June something but I think it’s closed for good

I liked it.

I really like Black Pearl.

Do you think it was too big?

But it was such a good restaurant.

If it had been on Seventh Avenue maybe it would have done better

It had a Bay Ridge vibe

I loved the arugula pizza

The food was good

I’m really going to miss the arugula pizza

Do you think it closed?
Why do you think it closed…

I really liked Black Pearl

I wonder why it closed…

For the fourth year in a row, the Old Stone House is presenting a great series of music, film, theater and dance from July 1-30, all outdoors, all free. Opening night will feature Opera on Tap in JJ Byrne Park at Fifth Avenue and Third Street on Tuesday, July 1, at 6 pm and 8 pm, sponsored by The Gate, 5th Avenue ’s favorite tavern. With music on Tuesdays, film on Wednesdays and a fantastical equity showcase production of Midsummer Night’s Dream on July 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, as well as Silver Brown Dance Company on July 20, there’s something to bring you to the Old Stone House almost daily.

The complete schedule:

Music on Tuesdays:
July 1: Opera on Tap, 6 pm & 8 pm
July 8: Astrograss, 6 pm
July 15: Opera on Tap, 6 pm & 8 pm
July 22: Buzz Universe, 6 pm
July 29: The Plush Interior, 6 pm

Movies on Wednesdays/Democracy in Action:

July 2: 1776, 8:45 pm
July 9: Reelworks Film Festival, 7:30 pm
July 16: The Manchurian Candidate, 1962
July 23: The Mouse that Roared
July 30: The Candidate w/ Robert Redford

Piper Theatre at the Old Stone House
July 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 at 8 pm – an equity showcase of Midsummer Night’s Dream with a Coney Island theme

Silver Brown Dance Company
July 20 at 4 pm

All hail Rachel of Park Slope Parentswho puts together this fantastic list of things of things to do on the weekend with kids. You can find details, addresses, phone numbers, URL’s, etc. at the PSP calendar on the home page.

Friday, June 27, 2008

NYC Waterfalls

Storytime @ The Postmark Cafe

Sing A Long At The Tea Lounge On Union

Storytime @ The Moxie Spot

Suzi Shelton & Randi Kaplan – Tea Lounge

Youth Council Outdoor Movie Night – Prospect Park, Cat In The Hat

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Puppetworks Presents Pinocchio At 12:30pm & 2:30pm

NYC Waterfalls

Kids Cook – Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket

Open House NY Kids! Prospect Park

PLG Arts Performs This Short Version Of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

ARTY Facts At The Brooklyn Museum @ 11 Am & 2pm

Figment Arts Festival

Storytime At Court Street Barnes & Noble

McCarren Park Live: AudraRox

Intro To Birdwatching At The Audubon Center

Lefferts House – Quilt Exhibit & Workshops

Tree-mendous Walk

Nature Crafts At The Audubon Center

It’s A Bee, Honey – Puppet Making FREE

Walk And Learn In The Quaker Cemetery In Prospect

Prospect Park Audubon Center – Discover Tour

Hootenanny Art House – Open Family Art Studio

John Rocco – Moonpowder Story TIme

He Friends Of Douglass/Greene Park Invite You To A SUNSET SWIM (

Sunday, June 29, 2008

NYC Waterfalls

Canoe The Lullwater – Sign Up Begins 10:30am

Brooklyn Indie Market Craftin’ Kids Workshops

Figment Arts Festival

Brooklyn Museum – Arty Facts At 11am & 2:00pm

Prospect Park – Lefferts Historic House Quilt Exhibit & Workshops & More!

Fulton Art Fair

Puppetworks Presents Pinocchio At 12:30pm & 2:30pm

It’s A Bee, Honey – Performance FREE

Prospect Park Audubon Center – Discover Tours, 3pm

PLG Arts Performs This Short Version Of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”