This should be fun! Brooklyn Reading Works presents Poetry Punch, a festive, fun,
celebratory group reading by poets curated by Michele Madigan
Somerville.

And, yes, there will be punch. Lots of it.

This year’s reading really packs a punch with Bill Evans, Jeff
Wright, Joanna Sit, Ilene Starger, Will Nixon, Louise Crawford and
Michele Madigan Somerville. Says Michele: "The poets on the bill are
all very high interest, high energy poets: juicy, libidinous, good
performers, not dry."

Yes, there are a bunch of poets (seven in all) but each one will
read for ten minutes. Meaning you won’t be there all night. Books will
be on sale.

Bill Evans: "I always think if God were a New York
poet he’d sound like Bill. Bill is funny and speechifying in a
philosophical yet embracing way," Michele writes.

Jeff Wright: "He used to call himself a "new
romantic" came up as a boy wonder among New York School and Beat
legends, edited Cover Magazine for a long time, has a bunch of books
and chap books out, and writes lush, sexy, surreal and funny — he’s a
latter day troubadour! In sillier moments I have referred to Jeff as
"The Dean Martin of the Downtown Poetry Scene" That’s Michele again.

Joanna Sit: "Chinese born Medgar Evers Professor
Joanna Sit is a middle-aged knockout who writes like an Irish woman
high on Absinthe," says Michele.

Ilene Starger: A New York-born poet whose work has
appeared in such publications as Folio, Georgetown Review, Paper
Street, Oyez Review, Oberon and Ibbetson Street. Ilene’s brand new
chapbook Lethe, Postponed will be published in August 2008 by Finishing
Line Press. She is currently putting together her next collection of
poems.

Michele Madigan Somerville: The author of Wisegal
from Ten Pell Books: "A multilingual hardrock reverie…going upside
your head to whisper whipsmart secrets about cracked-out big-city
survival.” She runs the Ceol Poetry Series at the Ceol Pub on Smith
Street.

Louise Crawford: Louise runs OTBKB and Brooklyn Reading Works
and is the Smartmom columnist for the Brooklyn Paper. She will read
from her unpublished collections, Therapy and Anarchists Don’t Return Phone Calls.

Will Nixon: His book, My Late Mother as a Ruffed
Grouse (FootHills Publishing), offers poems inspired by his experiences
growing up in the Connecticut suburbs, then living in Hoboken and
Manhattan as a young man, and finally moving to a Catskills log cabin.
His previous chapbooks are When I Had It Made (Pudding House) and The
Fish Are Laughing (Pavement Saw). His poems have also appeared in many
journals, including Rattle, The Ledge, Slipstream, Wisconsin Review,
Tar River Poetry, and others. His work has been nominated for a
Pushcart Prize and and listed in The Best American Essays of 2004. He
now lives in Woodstock.

The Where and When

Thursday, October 16th at 8 p.m.
Brooklyn Reading Works at the Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets
It’s the stone house in JJ Byrne Park
$5 donation appreciated. Punch and light refreshments will be served

Walking Tour of Prospect Park North

Author Francis Morrone leads a walking tour through Park Slope
North, to the west of Eighth Avenue. See beautiful old churches,
historic brownstones, and more. $12.
Sunday, 2pm

Meet at the Old Stone House, in J.J. Byrne Park (3rd Street & Fifth Avenue).

It’s not too late to participate in the Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn Walkathon this Saturday night. You can walk or you can sponsor a walker.

Here’s the info from Develop Don’t Destroy Website.  

Due to the brutal economy, widespread community opposition, pending lawsuits and
Ratner’s own mismanagement, the developer
cannot possibly build the project he has promised these last five years. Still,
he continues his devastation of Prospect Heights and swallowing hundreds of millions
of public dollars in the midst of this recession. And he does this with New York
State and City’s continued irresponsible support. That is amoral, and it’s gotta
stop. If you want to walk, you can register here.

5:15 pm — 6 pm: Sign In

  Visit our tables at Bob Law’s Seafood Cafe (Near Vanderbilt and St. Marks) to pick up your registration (or to register if you haven’t already done so).

6 pm — 7:30 pm:

Join the Grand Marshall to walk to the Brooklyn Lyceum.

8:00 — 11:00 pm:

  Community party at the Brooklyn Lyceum (4th Avenue and President, Park Slope).

If you want to sponsor a walker:

That’s why we need YOU to participate in the Walkathon and or Sponsor
a walker.

And after the walk, come to the party at the Brooklyn Lyceum, Featuring:

The global sounds of legendary New York City club and radio DJ
Delphine Blue
A live set from The Atomic Grind
Show "mixing rock, jazz, country and other musical styles with
carny attitude" (TimeOutNY).

All walkers and donors get in free. For those not walking or sponsoring walkers,
entrance is a $20 donation.

Now for those of you who aren’t registered for the walk or haven’t yet sponsored
a walker:

If you are unable to join the Walkathon you can still show your support by sponsoring
one of the walker teams or an individual walker.
It’s quick and easy:

Just 4 Quick Steps to sponsor one of the walker teams with an online donation:
1. Click Here.
2. Select a team to sponsor.
3. Finally click "General Team Donation."
4. Make your donation.

Also, if you know somebody walking you can sponsor him or her with an online donation
by Clicking here.

You never know what you’re going to learn walking down Seventh Avenue. Turns out Barack Obama’s National Political Director is a Park Sloper. His name is Patrick Gaspard and he’s a PS 321 and MS 51 dad and a familiar face on Seventh Avenue.

I kind of knew that but I keep forgetting to write about it.

The person who tipped me off explained that the political director is the one who’s working on the ground to get the vote out all over the country. It’s an important role and a busy one.

Needless to say, Gaspard probably hasn’t spent a whole lot of time on Seventh Avenue lately. Some friends saw him on TV on stage with Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Here’s an excerpt from an article about Gaspard online.

When Patrick Gaspard was asked two years ago about his accomplishments, this is what he had to say:
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Raising two children of color in America.” Two years from now, what do
you want to have done? “That’s the easiest question I’ve ever been asked – I want to begin to
repair the imbalance in the Supreme Court by electing a Democratic
President.”

I found this bio online at the 1199SEIU website.

Patrick Gaspard, 1199SEIU’s
Executive Vice President for politics and legislation  has been named
national political director of Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential
campaign.

The political director spearheads relationships with other elected officials, labor unions and outside political groups.

Gaspard
has led the Union’s legislative efforts in Albany, Annapolis, Boston
and Washington, DC for the past year. Since February, when the 1199SEIU
Executive Council joined with the rest of SEIU across the country to
endorse Sen. Obama, Patrick has coordinated the volunteer efforts that
sent hundreds of Union members to Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Indiana and other primary election states.

“This
election offers a clear choice between John McCain’s agenda for
continuing the failed policies of George W. Bush, and Barack Obama’s
vision for change,” Gaspard said. “I am proud to be a part of this
campaign, and I look forward to working to bring people together across
the country to elect Barack Obama.”

He is taking a
partial leave of absence from the 1199SEIU to take up his new position.
After the November election, Patrick will return to help the Union
mobilize all across the country to support the Obama administration’s
push for healthcare for all, and for the Employee.

Here’s the crane report from Craig R. Hammerman of Community Board 6.

As
you are aware the crane operation was planned for today but an
insurance issue prevented the transformer from leaving Ohio. 

The
transformer is scheduled to arrive at 7:30am Thursday.
Arrangements will be as we discussed previously but one day later.

Crane Operation Summary:

Transformer removal and installation is scheduled to take place today, on Thursday, October 16, 2008 between 7am and 4pm.

Bus stop on east side of 7^th Avenue near Sterling Place (between Sterling Pl. and Park Pl.) will be discontinued for the day.

Northbound
bus will stop at the next stop on Flatbush Avenue which will still be
convenient for bus to subway transfers. Southbound bus stop on 7^th Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Park Place will remain in use.

Maybe you’ll be watching at home with family and neighbors or

–You could go to Bar Reis and view it with fun crowd; It’s located at 375 Fifth Avenue at 6th Street in Park Slope.

–Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO, Brooklyn (16 Main Street) is projecting the final Presidential Debate
on their 12’x12′ screen. They write: "The past three debates have been
much more fun in the company of 200 peers."

–Two Boots could be a fun place to watch it. Have a Cajun Martini with your John McCain. That’s Second Street just off Seventh Avenue in Park Slope.

–Commonwealth at 497 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street is sure to be packed with politically engaged bar hoppers.

Where will you be?

Has anyone had experience with The Little Princess Hotel? Someone mentioned it on Park Slope Parents and I found it on the web. It’s a small hotel at 250 12th Street. 14 rooms on a quiet residential block. Room rates: $65. to $95. per night.

Karen over at A Child Grows in Brooklyn has been working tirelessly to create a comprehensive list of Halloween events in Brooklyn. she’s got 30 so far and she’s still adding stuff. Here’s just one tip from Karen:

PARK SLOPE: HARVEST FESTIVAL
Sunday, October 19th: 11- 4 pm
There
will be farm stands, pony rides, petting zoo, face painting and live
music by Mr. Ray & Princess Katie & Racer Steve at 1:30 pm.
Old Stone House at JJ Byrne Park (3rd Street & 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY)

Here’s an update from Craig Hammerman.

As
you are aware the crane operation was planned for today but an
insurance issue prevented the transformer from leaving Ohio. 

The
transformer is scheduled to arrive at 7:30am tomorrow (10/16).
Arrangements will be as we discussed previously but one day later.

Crane Operation Summary:

Transformer removal and installation is scheduled to take place on Wednesday Thursday, October 15,  16, 2008 between 7am and 4pm.

Bus stop on east side of 7^th Avenue near Sterling Place (between Sterling Pl. and Park Pl.) will be discontinued for the day.

Northbound
bus will stop at the next stop on Flatbush Avenue which will still be
convenient for bus to subway transfers. Southbound bus stop on 7^th Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Park Place will remain in use.

Obama ponders what lies beyond McCain as tonight’s (final) debate 
looms near.    

Photograph by Tom Marinez/Witness Photography

Brooklyn Reading Works presents Poetry Punch, a festive, fun,
celebratory group reading by poets curated by Michele Madigan
Somerville.

And, yes, there will be punch. Lots of it.

This year’s reading really packs a punch with Bill Evans, Jeff
Wright, Joanna Sit, Ilene Starger, Will Nixon, Louise Crawford and
Michele Madigan Somerville. Says Michele: "The poets on the bill are
all very high interest, high energy poets: juicy, libidinous, good
performers, not dry."

Yes, there are a bunch of poets (seven in all) but each one will
read for ten minutes. Meaning you won’t be there all night. Books will
be on sale.

Bill Evans: "I always think if God were a New York
poet he’d sound like Bill. Bill is funny and speechifying in a
philosophical yet embracing way," Michele writes.

Jeff Wright: "He used to call himself a "new
romantic" came up as a boy wonder among New York School and Beat
legends, edited Cover Magazine for a long time, has a bunch of books
and chap books out, and writes lush, sexy, surreal and funny — he’s a
latter day troubadour! In sillier moments I have referred to Jeff as
"The Dean Martin of the Downtown Poetry Scene" That’s Michele again.

Joanna Sit: "Chinese born Medgar Evers Professor
Joanna Sit is a middle-aged knockout who writes like an Irish woman
high on Absinthe," says Michele.

Ilene Starger: A New York-born poet whose work has
appeared in such publications as Folio, Georgetown Review, Paper
Street, Oyez Review, Oberon and Ibbetson Street. Ilene’s brand new
chapbook Lethe, Postponed will be published in August 2008 by Finishing
Line Press. She is currently putting together her next collection of
poems.

Michele Madigan Somerville: The author of Wisegal
from Ten Pell Books: "A multilingual hardrock reverie…going upside
your head to whisper whipsmart secrets about cracked-out big-city
survival.” She runs the Ceol Poetry Series at the Ceol Pub on Smith
Street.

Louise Crawford: Louise runs OTBKB and Brooklyn Reading Works
and is the Smartmom columnist for the Brooklyn Paper. She will read
from her unpublished collections, Therapy and Anarchists Don’t Return Phone Calls.

Will Nixon: His book, My Late Mother as a Ruffed
Grouse (FootHills Publishing), offers poems inspired by his experiences
growing up in the Connecticut suburbs, then living in Hoboken and
Manhattan as a young man, and finally moving to a Catskills log cabin.
His previous chapbooks are When I Had It Made (Pudding House) and The
Fish Are Laughing (Pavement Saw). His poems have also appeared in many
journals, including Rattle, The Ledge, Slipstream, Wisconsin Review,
Tar River Poetry, and others. His work has been nominated for a
Pushcart Prize and and listed in The Best American Essays of 2004. He
now lives in Woodstock.

The Where and When

Thursday, October 16th at 8 p.m.
Brooklyn Reading Works at the Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets
It’s the stone house in JJ Byrne Park
$5 donation appreciated. Punch and light refreshments will be served

Louis Rosen, Park Slope composer and OTBKB fave, wrote to tell me about  free gig at the Dweck Center at the Brooklyn Central Library.

Capathia Jenkins and I hope to help you take your mind off of the recent chaos of the
past few weeks with our last concert of the year–and it’s FREE.

The location is the beautiful new concert hall in the Dweck Center at Brooklyn Central Library (at Grand Army Plaza.)

The date is next Saturday afternoon, October 18. The time is 4 pm.

We’ll be performing songs from THE BLACK LOOM, a trilogy of song
suites I’ve written on words by African American poets including One
Ounce of Truth: The Nikki Giovanni Songs, 12 Songs On Poems By Maya
Angelou, and Dream Suite on words by Langston Hughes. We’ll also
include a few songs from our first record, South Side Stories. We’ll be
joined by our two favorite musicians, Kim Grigsby on piano and Dave
Phillips on bass.

For those who’d like to take some of the music home with you, we’ll
have some CDs on hand. The Community Bookstore on 7th Avenue also has
copies of One Ounce of Truth, our newest record, in stock. You can also
find this CD at most online music sites including Amazon.com,
barnesandnoble.com, itunes and rhapsody.com. And South Side Stories is
still available at www.cdbaby.com.The doors open at 1 PM with fabulous
events happening all day!

The Where and When

Louis Rosen and Capathia Jenkins
Dweck Center at the Brooklyn Public Library
Grand Army Plaza
October 18 at 4 p.m.

Rachel Getting Married, the acclaimed new film from Jonathan Demme starring Ann Hathaway is playing at the BAM Rose Cinema. Here are the ‘tails:

The Where and When

BAM Rose Cinema
Peter Jay Sharp Building
30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Mon, Oct 13—Thu, Oct 16 at 4:30, 7, 9:30pm / Fri, Oct 17—Sun, Oct 19 at
2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm / Mon, Oct 20—Thu, Oct 23 at 4:30, 7, 9:30pm

I saw it on Google Alerts: Park Slope. It was on Daily Slope. Rumor has it that the old Tea Lounge on 10th Street and Seventh Avenue is going to be a Vietnamese sandwich shop, the first in Park Slope.

It looks like something will be moving into the Old Tea Lounge location on 7th Avenue and 10th Street soon. Men have been seen working on the space the past week. A neighbor informed me this morning that she had asked them what was coming in and they told her a Vietnamese Sandwich Shop.

So what is a Vietnamese sandwich? Here’s Wikipedia on the subject:

Bánh mì or bánh mỳ (pronounced /ˈbʌn mi/ in English and IPA: [ʔɓɐ̌ːɲ mì]] in Vietnamese) is a Vietnamese baguette made with wheat and rice flour, as well as a type of sandwich traditionally made with this type of baguette.^[1] The sandwich is made up of thinly sliced pickled carrots and daikon, onions, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeño peppers and meat or tofu. Popular bánh mì fillings include roasted or grilled pork, Vietnamese Ham, paté, mayonnaise, chicken, and head cheese.
Most Banh Mi sandwiches contain a Vietnamese mayonnaise-like spread
that is a mixture of egg yolk, cooking oil/butter, and sometimes spices.

Bánh mì is generally served in small shops and at some phở noodle eateries. Bánh mì shops can be found in many countries, especially in areas with a Vietnamese immigrant community. The contrasting flavors and textures of the sandwich — as well as its relatively low cost — make it a popular dish.

Last summer my father bought a series of six Metropolitan Opera tickets. I took it as a very hopeful sign. He was making plans for the autumn and winter.

The opera was very important to my dad. Especially during his illness this past year. Last spring when he was feeling up to it, he went to the opera frequently. It brought him pleasure. And it wasn’t too much of an extravagance: he would call the Met’s special senior citizen line and get same-day tickets in the Family Circle.

An adventurous appreciator of art of all kinds, I know he went to see Phillip Glass’s Satyagraha last spring. He also loved Italian opera.

In 1976, my father went to the original performance of Einstein on the Beach by Phillip Glass and Robert Wilson at the Met. The experience thrilled him; he was a great judge of the new and knew when the new was worthwhile. We went together to see it at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1984. A thrilling night, as well.

(Speaking of hot tickets: my dad had two tickets to Woodstock, which he ended up selling to a cousin of ours. He also had tickets to see the Rolling Stones on Thanksgiving 1969. He took my sister and me; it was the show with Ike and Tina Turner, Janis Joplin and BB King documented by the Mayseles in Gimme Shelter).

When he was in the emergency room on August 25th I think he understood that he didn’t have long to live. He said something like, "I guess you guys are going to have to use my opera tickets."

We didn’t really let him go on that way. Maybe we should have. It was just too sad to think that he wouldn’t live to use those tickets. I couldn’t bear to have those conversations; now I’m sorry that I censored them in a way.

Soon after he died on September 7th, the subject of the opera tickets came up. "I think it’s important that we use those  opera tickets," my stepmother said. I agreed with her. Of course we would go. Using those tickets would be a perfect way to memorialize my dad. But it would also be very, very sad. 

My stepmother went to the first opera, Salome, with a good friend and neighbor who had been incredibly helpful during my father’s illness. That seemed like a nice way to thank her for everything she’d done.

Last week I wondered if my father had tickets to Dr. Atomic, the new opera by John Adams about Robert Oppenheimer. But I kept forgetting to ask my stepmother. She told me yesterday that she was going that evening with a friend.

My feelings were mixed. I admit I was sorry not to be going to see the Metropolitan Opera premiere of this much-talked-about new opera.

I also felt excited that my father had the hottest tickets in town. Of course he had tickets; how could I have doubted him. t was just like him. To know exactly what was worth seeing in New York at any given time.

Even after he was gone.

Finally, I felt waves of sadness that stayed with me for hours. Irrationally I wondered, how could the opera go on without my dad. There would be new things he will never know about. There will be old classics performed that he’d want to hear again and again. I know that’s silly. But somehow, he is synonymous with art in so many venues in this town.

They say people live on in memory. But my dad lives on through music, through art, through literature, through opera and of course through the hottest tickets in town.

Wherever they are.

Serena Williams, Chris Rock, Colin Powell,
Toni Morrison, Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton,
Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, and Sean Combs are among
the many African Americans whose faces are
seen and voices heard in The Black List
Project: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis
Mitchell, a highly personal documentary that
explores being Black in America.

Twenty-five
portraits by internationally renowned
photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders,
along with excerpts from a series of filmed
interviews directed by Greenfield-Sanders and
conducted by noted film critic Elvis
Mitchell, will be presented in an exhibition
at the Brooklyn Museum November  21, 2008
through March 29, 2009 .

The images, photographic and filmed, are the
core of a collaboration between
Greenfield-Sanders and Mitchell that has
resulted in Blacklist: Volume 1, an HBO
documentary that premiered at the Sundance
Film Festival in 2008 and will debut
nationally exclusively on HBO on August 25,
2008 (9-10:30 p.m. ET/PT); a multi-city
Museum exhibition organized by the Museum of
Fine Arts, Houston, where it is on view
August 3-October 26, 2008; and an
accompanying book published by the Atria
Books division of Simon & Schuster. The
Brooklyn presentation is coordinated by Judy
Kim, Curator of Exhibitions.

The Where and When

The Black LIst Project
November 21, 2008 – March 29, 2009
Brooklyn Museum of Art
200 Eastern Parkway
(718) 638-5000
Wednesday–Friday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday: 11 a.m.–6 p.m

Brit in Brooklyn and many others are walking with Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn to help raise money for their legal fund.

DDDB are fighting to end eminent domain abuse, massive over-development
and the destruction of the Brooklyn we know and love. Help me help DDDB
stop Forest City Ratner’s land grab and ensure a better future for our
neighborhoods.

DDDB’s legal team is preparing for major litigation over eminent
domain, environmental degradation and the misappropriation of publicly
owned property. There’s less than a week left before my walk — so
please chip in with whatever you can when you have a moment!

The Where and When

Walk Don’t Destory
October 18th at 5:15 p.m. (registration begins)
Walk is from 6:15 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Walk will commence in front of Bob Law’s Seafood Cafe
637 Vanderbilt between St. Marks and Prospect Place.
After party at the Brooklyn Lyceum: Fourth Avenue at President.