LEAP INTO LITTLE BOXES
Leap Year Day, that calendar curiosity,
Comes to Brooklyn with velocity
Bringing crossword puzzlers Friday
Hoping each to make it "My Day"
In the annual competition
For their peers’ recognition
As the verbal king or queen
Of the
Up-and-Down-word scene.
The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament,
Otherwise known as Connecticut’s ornament,
Shifts to Brooklyn (with its subway trains)
In the search for more room–and more brains.
Which is how the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott,
Famed for its ballroom and commissariat,
Landed the World Series of puzzles,
Sport of head-slaps and of
nuzzles.
Founder and director Will Shortz
Of course will be there with retorts
To questions of style and suitability,
Issuing rules of enforceability.
Six hundred crossworders will keep heads bent
At the the weekend-long event.
Shortz, the New York Times puzzle master
Overseeing the race-to-be
faster,
Won matinee idol movie status
Starring in "Wordplay" with charm apparatus.
Soft of voice, the ideal boss,
Will never utters a word that’s cross.
Brooklyn’s crossword-off welcomes visitors,
All except vocal kibitzers.
ACTIVITY IN TEMPO PRESTO STOREFRONT AND THE 3RD STREET ABANDONED BUILDING
Yesterday there was activity in the Tempo Presto storefront—a radio playing jazz and people inside moving around, cleaning up.
Strangely, there were also workmen moving metal pipes and other objects from the abandoned and boarded-up building on Third Street into a rental moving truck.
That’s the mystery building on Third Street next door to Tempo Presto.
"What’s going on?" a Third Street neighbor asked me. Any activity in that neglected building is big news on Third Street.
"Dunno," I said. "I asked one of the workmen if the building had been sold and he said no. But maybe that was the wrong question."
"I think the city owns that building," my neighbor told me. "It’s been vacant for more than ten years."
More like 14 years. My guess is that someone wanted all that metal. It’s worth some money, isn’t it?
It was encouraging to see activity in that building which has been boarded up for as long as I’ve lived here. Back in 2001 it looked like the building was being turned into condos and there was consistent work going on there.
After 9/11 everything stopped. Either the money dried up or someone connected with the project was affected by 9/11.
There’s been almost no activity there. Until yesterday.
SEVENTH AVENUE STARBUCKS EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN RE-TRAINED
On Tuesday, Starbucks closed all of its 7100 American stores today for three hours for barista re-training. I walked by Park Slope’s Starbucks on Seventh Avenue near First Street and saw the staff sitting in the back of the store being re-trained or whatever it is that they were doing.
I felt like waving at those familiar faces. Like, hey guys. You okay in there?
Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, pulled a Steve Jobs by reclaiming his job as CEO in January in an attempt revitalize the company.
He says he wants baristas to feel the passion for making espresso—it’s all part of a new focus on the customer experience.
Racked had this conjecture about the real reason for company-wide shuttering.
NATIONAL—Rumor has it that the Starbucks shutterings
tonight from 5:30 to 8:30pm are taking place so that the coffee chain
can switch its wifi over from T-Mobile to AT&T. Of course, the
official word from the company is that they’re retraining all their
baristas. If so, that coffee should taste extra-special tomorrow
morning. [RackedWire Inbox]
SCRABBLE: A FRICTION MATCH
My mother-in-law is in town and we’ve been playing Scrabble as we love to do. About mid-way through a game on Tuesday night, I used used the word LUCIFER on a triple word score.
My mother-in-law and Hepcat challenged me. "That’s a proper noun. You can’t use that," my mother-in-law said. We looked in the dictionary and it was capitalized.
"Seeeeeee," Hepcat cried self-righteously. "You can’t use that. It’s capitalized. That means it’s a proper noun."
Hepcat victorious.
But then I looked in the Scrabble Dictionary and it said that lucifer is a friction match.
A friction match. Nice. I got 36 points in one turn. Nice.
ONLY THE BLOG LINKS
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
MORE ABOUT THE PARK SLOPE ARMORY
The Park Slope Armory, which today celebrated its $16 million transformation into a state-of-the-art recreation center, opened in 1895 and has two distinct sections: a drill floor, which is 50,000-60,000 square feet and a garrison, which once housed offices.
Since the 1980’s the garrison has been used as a 70-bed dorm for homeless women, which is managed at this time by the Church Avenue Merchants Block Association.
The drill floor is what they just renovated. It offers a variety of activities, including adult fitness, a teen center, an after school program and a day camp as well as other programs for youth and family.
The 1/8 of a mile indoor track is gorgeous and the space can also accommodate basketball, volleyball, tennis, gymnastic, badminton, boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, tae kwon do, handball, weightlifting, wrestling and aerobics.
The YMCA, pending approval by the city, has been tapped to run the facility. They plan to operate the recreation center seven days a week from 7 am – 11 p.m.
That’s a whole lot of recreation.
PARK SLOPE COUNCILMEMBER STILL MIFFED ABOUT DOT PARKING METERS
At the armory ribbon cutting ceremony, a buoyant Bill De Blasio spoke with me and a 10th Street resident about the 64 new parking meters on Seventh Avenue above 10th Street.
"I was walking on Seventh Avenue one day and I saw the meters and I said, What the…?" De Blasio told me. Clearly he knew nothing about it in advance.
So, the Department of Transportation installed 64 parking meters on Seventh Avenue without warning neighborhood residents—and politicians.
"And there was no process," De Blasio said. "There has to be a process. You talk to residents, you talk to merchants. You have a community meeting."
He talked about the process that went into the rejection of the proposal to turn Seventh and Sixth Avenues as one-way streets and the community’s input into the successful plan to put a bike lane on 9th Street.
In this case, the DOT just surprised the neighborhood with absolutely no warning. Like no one was going to notice. Come on, parking is everyone’s hot button issue. Car owners spend way too much time parking their cars not to notice. Adding 64 meters to Seventh Avenue spaces that were previously Tuesday/Thursday spaces. Not good.
"They did everything wrong," De Blasio said about the DOT. "It was wrong all around.
For now, he has formally asked the DOT to discontinue use of the meters and has asked them to organize a neighborhood meeting.
CEREMONIAL OPENING OF ARMORY/RECREATION CENTER
Thanks to Nelly Issacson, a member of the Park Slope Civic Council and a longtime neighborhood activist, I went (on the late side) to the ribbon cutting ceremony over at the new Park Slope Armory/Recreation center, on 8th Avenue and 14th Street.
Borough President Marty Markowitz, Coucilmember Bill De Blasio, and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Robert C. Lieber gave speeches. De Blasio even paid a few rounds of hoops with the Commisioner of City Department of Homeless Services.
I spoke to Marty as he was leaving. Since I was a "speech guest" at the State of the Borough I shouted out:
"Hey give a quote to Only the Blog…"
"It’s all about family time and quality time. And fitness," Marty said. He told me that back when he was an assemblyman, he went with a group of neighborhood activist to an armory on 168th Street in Manhattan (Ft. Washington) that had a fitness center and a homeless shelter.
"That was the model for this," he told me.
Indeed that armory in Upper Manhattan is proof that the combination of recreation center/ homeless shelter works very well in a large armory space like this one.
It’s been a long time coming. Sometimes it seemed like a pipe dream to South Slope residents. Maybe 15 years in the making. Neighborhood residents like Issacson can attest to that.
"It took centuries for this to happen," she told me.
City Councilmember Bill De Blasio deserves a lot of credit for pushing it through in the last few years. He told a reporter at the event:
"The hard part was getting the $16 million and fixing this place over the last three years. Now it’s the easy part: figuring out how it should be used. The YMCA was the perfect choice. They know how to do it. The city needs to approve that choice but by spring school groups, people in the community should be using this space. We’ve got an Olympic-sized track (1/8 of a mile). Part of the day there will be schools in here. Weekends we’ll have youth basketball and other sports leagues. Nights and weekends are for the community. We will charge a modest membership fee. But this area needs this."
I asked De Blasio who would have priority when it comes to usage. Clearly, it’s going to be an interesting balancing act.
For starters, the schools will get priority time in the space.
"District 15 and District 20 certainly need this. There’s not enough gym space. Especially in the old school buildings like PS 107 and PS 39, which is 125 years old. There’s no gym."
I spoke with representatives of CAMBA (Church Avenue Merchants Block Association) who run the homeless shelter in the armory. They added that the 70 residents of the homeless shelter would also be scheduled into the mix.
Joan McFeely, who works with CAMBA said that after years of meetings it is very gratifying to see the armory finally fixed up and ready to be utilized in this way.
PARK SLOPE’S JOHN SCHAEFER IN NORTH KOREA WITH NY PHILHARMONIC
The New York Philharmonic played in Pyongyang, North Korea today. Park Slope’s John Schaefer, the host of WNYC’s Soundcheck, is traveling with the orchestra for this historic and controversial event.
The orchestra played the national anthems of North Korea and the United State and American in Paris by George Gershwin.
This is the first time an
American orchestra has been allowed to perform in the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea. They also played Dvorak’s “New World”
Symphony and
Bernstein’s overture to “Candide."
Schaefer reported on WNYC this morning: "The ending of the concert
was very memorable…there was standing ovation which lasted after the
conductor, Loren Maazel, left the stage. The members of the orchestra
had to get up to start leaving. As they got up and left, members of the
audience waved goodbye," Schaefer said on WNYC this morning.
According to Schaefer, "The musicians were quite emotional. Wiping
away tears. None had ever had this experience of an audience waving
goodbye. Tears flowing on both sides. I’ve never seen that at a
classical concert."
The broadcast of the full concert will be on WNYC on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
BIG WIN FOR PARK SLOPERS ON OSCAR NIGHT
Director Cynthia Wade and Producer Vanessa Roth made Park Slope
proud on Sunday night when they won the Oscar for Freeheld, their short documentary.
Both women live with their families in Park Slope and have production companies here, too. Roth’s company, Big Year Productions, was established in 1994 to produce social issue documentaries and outreach programs that "challenge systems and promote progressive social change."
Interestingly, Roth is at work on a feature documentary about teachers with author and 826nyc and McSweeney’s founder, Dave Eggers.
Their Oscar-winning film, Freeheld, is the story of Laurel, a female detective, who spent 25 years investigating
tough cases in New Jersey protecting the rights of
victims and putting her life on the line. She had no reason to expect
that in the last year of her life, after she was diagnosed with
terminal cancer, that her final battle for justice would be for the
woman she loved.
This film documents her struggle to transfer her earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. With less than six months to live, Laurel refuses to back down when her
elected officials – the Ocean County Freeholders -deny her request to
leave her pension to Stacie, an automatic option for heterosexual
married couples.
LYSISTRATA AT THE GALLERY PLAYERS
I saw this play when I was in junior high and never forgot it. Written by Aristophanes, Lysistrata, is an antiwar—and feminist—classic.
LYSISTRATA, a bawdy and audacious antiwar classic, is filled to the brim with hilarious innuendo and exposes the shared humanity between two feuding peoples. The women of the warring factions wage a psychological battle of their own when they take over the Acropolis and withhold their sexual favors from the savage local men until such time as the insane conflict is ended.
Lysistrata opens March 15 and runs through March 30, 2008 (12 performances only). Performances take place Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM; Sundays at 3PM. Additionally, The Gallery Players is offering a Saturday matinee performance at 2PM on March 22nd and March 29th only.
Tickets are $18 for Adults, $14 for Senior Citizens and children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased 24/7 online at www.galleryplayers.com or by calling TheaterMania at (212) 352-3101 (phone hours 9-9 weekdays, 10-6 weekends).
The Gallery Players is located at 199 14th St. , between 4th and 5th Aves. in Park Slope, Brooklyn . Take the F Train to 4th Ave. or the R Train to 9th Street . By car: BQE to Hamilton Avenue to 14th Street.
ANOTHER SUDDEN RESTAURANT CLOSURE: RED, HOT, AND SZECHUAN
Last night a friend and OTBKB reader dialed up Red Hot Szechuan for delivery—and what do you know? No one answered.
She was miffed and a tad confused. You would be too if you were in the mood for some of their delicious Bok Choy or General Tsao’s Chicken.
Gowanus Lounge posted that he too heard that the place was closing. But being the ever-so-cautious journalist that he is, he’s calling it a "rumor."
"We add a grain of salt because the last time such a rumor floated
around it turned out the restaurant was being redone a little and was
only closed for a few days."
Well, I’m going to add a wallop of MSG to the mix. You know, this rumor might only last about an hour. But I think the place is closing. And I’ll go out on a limb with that.
Dear local shopkeepers:
if you’re going to close suddenly, can you leave a note, a Dear John letter or something. What’s a blogger to do? Let alone a customer in need of some wonton soup.
Sincerely,
In need of an explanation
YMCA TAPPED TO RUN ARMORY: STILL NEED CITY APPROVAL
Many at the Park Slope Armory/Fitness Center ribbon cutting ceremony seemed excited at the prospect of the Prospect Park YMCA running the facility.
I spoke with Sean Andrews, Executive Director of the Y, who seemed very enthusiastic. He told me that he reached out to Councilmember Bill De Blasio when he heard about the Request for Proposal to run the armory.
"We are thrilled to be a finalist and are especially looking forward to engaging the community." he told me. Obviously, it will be important how the Y schedules the space so that it reflects the correct mix of community usage.
"There will be mix of community, adults, kids, schools, and family. It will be a real balancing act. But a very transparent one," he told me. "We have an operating model. And the YMCA, while fee based, has a policy of not turning anyone away.
CROSSWORD CHAMPS COME TO BROOKYN
The 31st annual Crossword Puzzle Tournament is coming to the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott this weekend.
For years the tournament has been in Stanford, Ct. But this year, they’ve decided to do it in Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Mariott is completely sold out. They are suggesting that people try the Holiday Inn Express on Union Street.
Have brunch at the Archive Restaurant (or over at the Holiday Inn Express) on Sunday and get help with the New York Times crossword puzzle. The tournament is directed by New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor
Will Shortz. It is the nation’s oldest and largest crossword
competition.
Solvers tackle eight original crosswords created and
edited specially for this event. Scoring is based on accuracy and
speed. Prizes are awarded in more than 20 categories, including a
$5,000 grand prize. Evening games, guest speakers, and a wine and
cheese reception allow solvers to meet each other in a relaxed and
entertaining atmosphere.
ONLY THE BLOG LINKS
The dirty window view from jury duty (Callalillie)
Bay Ridge’s Gregory Hotel claims 2nd stab victim (Bay Ridge Rover)
Body found in bathtub of Bay Ridge hotel (NY Times)
Anthony Weiner: Making NYC the middle class capital of the world (City Room)
Countdown to Spring (Right in Bay Ridge)
Happy Birthday Johnny Cash (Bay Ridge Blog)
Lacrosse for kids (Clinton Hill Blog)
The media training begins (WNYC’s Andrea Bernstein in Bhutan)
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
NEW PANDA AT THE PROSPECT PARK ZOO
Gothamist has the latest Prospect Park Zoo news: Apparently there’s a new panda in town and his name is Mao Mi.
Yay something new to see at the Zoo. I was getting sick of going nose-to-nose with the prairie dogs and those hamadryas baboons with the red bottoms. Just kidding. I could never get sick of those hamadryas baboons.
Yes, it’s a well-designed, jewel of a zoo, but new animals and exhibits are always good.
Mao Mi is a Red Panda and the newest addition to Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn. He arrived last week from Michigan’s Binder Park Zoo as part of a Wildlife Conservation Society breeding project. Red Pandas
are an endangered species with fewer than 2,500 adults thought to
remain in the wild in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Nepal and Burma.Mao Mi will probably be mated with this young lady,
who has been residing at the zoo since at least last year. If Brooklyn
is lucky it could see its own Red Panda birth in the near future.
IT HAD A FROZEN YOGURT VIBE
I’d heard through the blogvine that the under-construction storefront on Seventh Avenue between Berkeley and Union was shaping up to be a frozen yogurt shop and I figured it was a new branch of Oko, the eco-friendly,
organic yogurt and tea shop at 152 5th Avenue
Well, today Gowanus Lounge has pix. Seventh Avenue frozen yogurt revealed. Still no name, no sign. Why the big mystery?
Factoid: Oko means eco in Hungarian.
MOMA: DESIGN AND THE ELASTIC MIND
This new exhibit at MOMA, which runs from February 24th through May 12th, shows how design helps people adapt to change:
In the past few decades, individuals have
experienced dramatic changes in some of the most established dimensions
of human life: time, space, matter, and individuality. Working across
several time zones, traveling with relative ease between satellite maps
and nanoscale images, gleefully drowning in information, acting fast in
order to preserve some slow downtime, people cope daily with dozens of
changes in scale. Minds adapt and acquire enough elasticity to be able
to synthesize such abundance. One of design’s most fundamental tasks is
to stand between revolutions and life, and to help people deal with
change. Designers have coped with these displacements by contributing
thoughtful concepts that can provide guidance and ease as science and
technology evolve. Several of them—the Mosaic graphic user’s interface
for the Internet, for instance—have truly changed the world. Design and
the Elastic Mind is a survey of the latest developments in the field.
It focuses on designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in
technology, science, and social mores, changes that will demand or
reflect major adjustments in human behavior, and convert them into
objects and systems that people understand and use.
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BROOKLYN PAPER
WHO RULES THE SCHOOLS?
That is the question at this free symposium about mayoral control after Bloomberg on Thursday, March 6, 2008 from 8:15 am to 10:30 am at the Tishman Auditorium at 66 West 12th Street (between 5th and 6th avenues)
The event will feature a presentation by Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Department of Education. Here’s the blurb from the invitation:
When Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office one of his top priorities was to repair the city’s ailing public schools. The state gave him control of the school system five years ago and must soon decide whether to extend that power to future administrations. Are the schools more accountable today? Students and teachers more successful? Parents more engaged? Principals more effective? What’s the track record of mayoral control—and should it continue after 2009?
Other speakers will include:
Christopher D. Cerf, Deputy Chancellor for Organizational Strategy, Human Capital and External Relations
Carmen Colon, Executive Director, Association of NYC Education Councils
Ernest A. Logan, President, NYC Council of School Supervisors and Administrators
Hon. Alan Maisel, Member, New York State Assembly (D-Brooklyn)
Merryl Tisch, Vice Chancellor, New York State Board of Regents
MODERATOR: Samuel G. Freedman, Columnist, “On Education,” The New York Times, and Professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Light breakfast will be available beginning at 8 a.m. You must reserve a spot at this event. Go to centernyc.org
PARK SLOPE’S ANDREA BERNSTEIN TAPPED TO TRAIN BHUTANESE JOURNALISTS
WNYC’s Political Director and Park Sloper, Andrea Bernstein, has been selected to train 20
Bhutanese reporters as the country prepares for its first-ever
elections to Bhutan’s national assembly.
It was the editor-in-chief of Bhutan’s first daily newspaper, Kuensel, who issued the invitation to Bernstein, who will be in Bhutan through the end of the week. She will be blogging here about her experience:
Three weeks ago, in the wee hours of January 29th, I was sitting in a
hotel room in Miami Beach, filing a story on what proved to be the last
rally of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. “Hi Andrea” read the
subject line of an email from a friend of mine, Kinley Dorji the
editor-in-chief of Bhutan’s first daily newspaper, and like me, a
Knight Fellow last year at Stanford University. “I don’t suppose you
have the time to come to Bhutan.” “Well, no” I thought, and after
several campaign road trips over the last months, I didn’t feel like I
DID have the time.But…Bhutan, a land-locked Himalayan nation bordered
by China, India, and Nepal is not an easy place to get to. Tourism is
tightly controlled, and you need to be invited to go. And the reason I
was being invited? Irresistible. To train political reporters who are
covering the Kingdom’s (yes, it IS a kingdom) first elections ever. To
be a sort of midwife in the birth of a democracy. Who could say no? Not
me.So despite the fact that I’d been missing my family and felt too
familiar with too many hotel rooms and airports, and despite the fact I
was at that very moment lamenting the fact that I was arriving in Miami
Beach at midnight only to check out at 7, I said Yes. And tomorrow I am
leaving for a flight that takes two days. I am going to the Himalayas.
After so many hours spent stuck at O’Hare airport on the way to and
from Des Moines, Iowa, I am going to a Buddhist Kingdom. If ever the
word “Karma” should be invoked, it is now.
MINORITY, WOMEN, SMALL BUSINESS, AND ENTREPRENEUR CONFERENCE
Embracing the Future: Making Connections to Grow your Business is a conference sponsored by the Brooklyn wing of the New York City Council (along with HSBC
and
SBS and others).
The goal of the conference is to help
minorities
and
women
who
own
their own
business to
gather
information
on programs
and
how
they can
improve
their
business
with
the
city.
This
is
a
public
event on Friday March 7th from 8 am – 4 pm at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York.
Workshops include:
–Restaurant Boot Camp
–Understanding the NYC Puchasing process
–Financial and technical assistnce for small business owners
–Nailing down a contract in the construction industry
Organization:
The
City
Council,
Small
Business
Services
&
HSBC
Bank
Event:
Minority,
Women
Small
Business
and
Entrepreneur
Conference:
Making
Connections
to
Grow
Your
Business
Date: March 7, 2008
Time: 8am-4pm
Location:
Medgar
Evers
College,
1650
Bedford
Ave,
Contact
Information:
212-788-6687
PARK SLOPE OSCAR WINNER
The word on Seventh Avenue is that one of the two filmmakers (Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth — I’m not sure which), who made the short subject documentary about domestic partners in New Jersey
struggling to win the right to share survivor’s benefits, is a Brooklyn
resident and a mother of a Berkeley-Carroll student. Here are the filmmaker’s acceptance speeches:
Cynthia Wade:
Thank you. It was Lieutenant Laurel Hester’s dying wish that her fight
for, against discrimination would make a difference for all the same
sex couples across the country that face discrimination every day.
Discrimination that I don’t face
as a married woman.
Sheila Nevins and HBO for
making this film have a broadcast and a home on Cinemax later this
year.
To my husband Matthew Syrett, who took
care of our children and held
down a full-time job so that we could make
this film.
And to our incredible team in
New York, thank you so much.
for, against discrimination would make a difference for all the same
sex couples across the country that face discrimination every day.
Discrimination that I don’t face
as a married woman.
Sheila Nevins and HBO for
making this film have a broadcast and a home on Cinemax later this
year.
To my husband Matthew Syrett, who took
care of our children and held
down a full-time job so that we could make
this film.
And to our incredible team in
New York, thank you so much.
Vanessa Roth:
And to all our supporters and
families who believe that even a 38-minute
movie could change minds and lives
and our children who remind us
about what’s really important. And to Stacie, who’s here tonight, who’s really auto mechanic by day
but hero in life who always did what was
right.
And she’s here tonight.
So thank you so much.
THE OH-SO-PROLIFIC-ONE: LEON FREILICH
The poetry just keeps coming out of him. Here’s Monday’s offering from OTBKB’s verse responder, Leon Freilich:
FRIGID AIR TIP
When icy winds are cutting
And frozen breathing’s strutting,
A scarf on nose and mouth
Makes you feel you’re in the South,
And if it’s scratchy wool,
Boom–warmth to the full.
UP/DOWN TOWN
February days are troubling,
Punctuated by gusts;
Turn a pleasant, temperate corner–
Take a blow to the guts.
ALEUT HOOT
The total benefits of winter:
Vivaldi’s best Season
And airing out our drawer of woolens.
None dare call it reason.
BROOKLYN WOMAN DIES ON AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE
This story from ABC news:
An American Airlines passenger died after a flight attendant first
refused to help administer oxygen and then tried to help her with
faulty equipment, including an empty oxygen tank, a relative said.The airline wasn’t saying much Sunday night, but confirmed the flight
death and said medical professionals had tried to save the passenger,
Carine Desir, who was returning home to Brooklyn from Haiti.Desir had heart disease. She died of natural causes, medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said Sunday.
Desir said she was not feeling well and was very thirsty on the Friday flight from Port-au-Prince.
ONCE WINS BEST SONG AT THE OSCARS
Beating out three songs from the Walt Disney film, Enchanted, Glen Hansard and Marteta Irglova won the Oscar for best song for Falling Slowly from the film, Once.
From Glen Hansard:
Thanks! This is amazing. What are we doing here? This is mad. We made
this film two years ago. We shot on two Handycams. It took us three
weeks to make. We made it for a hundred grand. We never thought we
would come
into a room like this and be in
front of you people.
It’s been an amazing thing.
Thanks for taking this film
seriously, all of you. It means a lot to us.
Thanks to the Academy, thanks to all the
people who’ve helped us, they know who they are, we don’t need to say
them.
This is amazing.
Make art.
Make art.
Thanks.
From Marketa Irglova:
Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so
much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other
independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time
struggling, and this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the
fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just to prove no matter how far
out your dreams are, it’s possible. And, you know, fair play to those
who dare to dream and don’t give up. And this song was written from a
perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no
matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us
along way. Thank you.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BROOKLYN PAPER?
My sister, father and stepmother were all wondering the same thing. I just got this email from Leon Freilich. If you couldn’t find the Brooklyn Paper in print, got to brooklynpaper.com
I couldn’t find a print edition of the Brooklyn Paper along Seventh Avenue this weekend, not even 10 minutes ago.
Any idea what happened to the distribution? Could Rupert’s rascals have out-muscled Gersh’s goons?
ONLY THE BLOG LINKS
Ralph Nader announces he’s running, again (NY Times)
Issue Project Room: A Week of Voice (Issue Project Room)
George Polk award for Talking Points blogger (NY Times)
Bowling at Maple Lanes (Brooklynometry)
The lobster neon sign dies on March 16th (Brooklyn Heights Blog)
Greening Flatbush event: Loads of pictures (Flatbush Gardener)
Fave vintage photos (Reclaimed home)
Cocktail Club on February 27th (Brooklyn Based)
Cool Brooklyn neighborhoods poster from Ork (Brooklyn Based)