Found this blurb in L Magazine.
Television
June 16, 3 p.m.
with Apples in Stereo and Dragons of Zynth
We’ve been waiting for this one for an entire decade — a decade we spent listening almost exclusively to Television’s Marquee Moon, wondering how all of our favorite bands managed to get away withoung citing them as their primary influence.
Does Brooklyn really need yet another affordable,
energetic, exciting opera company?
Can Park Slope, with all its high priced real estate,
fancy kids clothing stores, and over educated populace
support home grown, quality opera in a conveniently
located re-cycled former public bath house?
Do parents really want to expose their children to the
wonderous Mozart effect?
Last night, we ran through Cosi fan Tutte with the
singers for the first time, and they are really
wonderful – great voices and delightful actors!
If there is a “crisis in classical music,” then the
Brooklyn Repertory Opera/Hellgate Harmonie production
of Cosi is surely the Anti-Crisis.
Tickets are on sale now, and space is limited. Buy
them now on-line at:
http://www.gowanus.com/MORE?listingid=100119 or click
on Buy Tickets at: www.bropera.org. Or call:
1-866-Gowanus to make your reservation.
Saturdays, June 2 & 9 at 2PM (w/orchestra)
Sundays, June 17 & 24 at 3PM (w/orchestra)
Tuesdays, June 12 & 19 at 7:30PM (piano only)
The Brooklyn Lyceum is located at 227 Fourth Avenue
(President Street) less than one block from the Union
Street Street Subway Station (R Train).
This missive from Catherine at Community Books arrived in the old in-box this morning.
Hi Everyone — One of our favorite local authors (and yours, surely?) has a new book out: The River Queen, of which Patricia Hampl writes: “The emotion in this book is wonderfully sly — it creeps up on you. Like the Mississippi itself, it winds in a seeming meander, just following the buoys, day following day, but in fact there is a tremendous build of feeling in the inquiry of the heart. It’s a wonderful adventure, going on this trip downriver.” ALSO, we’re going to have wine and beer and cheese and olives and all good things, and you should come to hang out for the party and post-reading socializing, too — the garden is starting to look gorgeous, and we’re eager to inaugurate it with a pro-Mary (pip!pip!) Bash.
Wednesday May 30th at 7:30 at the Community Bookstore on Seventh Avenue between Garfield and Carroll.
Gary Giddins, one of the Park Slope 100, was a bartender/hairdresser at The Gate, Third Street’s beer garden and groovy gathering place.
But he’s moved on.
Gary is NOW a bartender/hairdresser at Commonwealth on Fifth Avenue and 12th Street in Park Slope.
“I know it’s not exactly Paul leaving the Beatles,” he wrote in an email. “But maybe someone is interested.”
Commonwealth opens every day at 3 p.m. Stop by to make an appointment for a haircut.
If you missed part 1 go here.
Smartmom came home with the three cans of cat food. She found Teen Spirit lying on his bed playing with the kitten.
It was an adorable site. Note: Smartmom can rarely resist scenes of Teen Spirit with pets. TS’s gentle, soulfulness seems to come through in these moments and it makes Smartmom gush.
It reminded her of the day he fell in love with their dearly departed rabbit, Opal. They were at a pet store on Fifth Avenue and TS bonded with their white dwarf rabbit big time.
While TS and OSFO took turns cuddling the kitten, they tried come up with a name for her.
“I’ve always wanted to name a cat Supermercado, which means supermarket in Spanish,” Teen Spirit told Smartmom.
“I like it but I always forget how to say it,” OSFO replied.
She was thinking more along the lines of Lula or Lulee.
Smartmom had to admit that the kitty was quite fetching with her fluffy black fur and white paws that make her look like she’s wearing socks.
Smartmom went into the kitchen and opened the fancier—and more expensive—of the three cat food cans. It was some kind of chicken souffle, which she mashed up. Truth be told, Smartmom hates the smell of cat food. But she soldiered on. Mush. Mush. Mush.
Supermercado-Lulee enjoyed it immensely. She lapped it up quickly like she was starving or something. Maybe she was. The person from the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network said that someone found her in a garbage on Fourth Avenue. She was only two weeks old, the poor thing.
When it was time to go to a BBQ at Best and Oldest’s, Teen Spirit decided to stay behind with Supemercado-Lulee. Smartmom thought that sounded like a good idea.
A boy needs to bond with his kitten. And a Supermercado-Lulee needs a lot of TLC.
Arriving at the BBQ, Best and Oldest laughed about the family’s new acquisition. “I can’t believe you succumbed to getting a cat. I hate cats,” she said. “Do you need a glass of wine?”
After the wine, thoughts of Supermercado-Lulee scurried away. Dinner was delicious and the conversation transported Smartmom away from thoughts of their new kitty. Until Teen Spirit called Hepcat on his cell phone, that is.
From what she could tell, TS was asking Hepcat if it was okay to go out. He wanted to see “Pirates of the Carribean” with friends. Grrr. She thought: that’s so irresponsible.
“I’m leaving food and water in the box. I think she’s going to sleep…” he told Hepcat.
Smartmom and Hepcat were miffed. TS’s kitty-bonding phase lasted until the first social phone call and then he was off. They knew TS meant well, but, they wondered, is he really at a stage where he can be the main support for a tiny kitten or cat?
It was dawing on Smartmom that adopting Supermercado-Lulee might NOT have been the best idea.
TO BE CONTINUED
On Saturday afternoon, Smartmom was deep in sleep and dreaming sweetly when Teen Spirit called on Hepcat’s cell phone. Something compelled her to answer it.
That was her mistake.
"Mom, come meet me in front of John Jay. There’s an adorable kitten I want," he told her.
Smartmom sighed. She knew that Teen Spirit has been pining for a cat for many years. And..
"Please, mom," he pleaded. "Just come."
As if under a spell (she wasn’t quite awake) Smartmom floated out of the apartment building passing neighbors drinking white wine in their yard. She was on a mission to talk Teen Spirit out of this. But not before OSFO got in on the act.
"Hey mom, where are you going?" OSFO screamed out.
Smartmom explained the situation. OSFO, a confirmed dog lover, insisted on coming along. No cats in this house, she told Smartmom. "I want a dog," she said firmly.
When they arrived under the scaffolding at John Jay High School, Teen Spirit was staring longingly into the eyes of the five-week-old kitten. The woman in charge, from the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network handed me the contract.
"Mom, do you need a pen?" Teen Spirit said.
Before she could say ‘this is terrible idea," OSFO wanted the kitten, too and Smartmom was signing on the dotted line. (Oh yes she did call Hepcat, who told her it was a terrible idea. She knew he didn’t mean it. Or did he?)
Teen Spirit walked home with the kitty attached to his shirt while Smartmom shopped for kitty food at Met Food. No cat lady she, Smartmom never ever looked at a can of cat food before. She was amazed by the variety. There was even some kind of souffle. She couldn’t get over the faux gourmet descriptions. It was an area of the store she’d never noticed before (and she had the sinking feeling she might be spending more and more time there from now on).
As Smartmom approached her building on Third Street, Mrs. Kravitz squealed. "I like the new addition to your family."
For part 2 go here
Big Sky Brooklyn is poetic in his photos and language, too and he presents images and impressions from big sky Brooklyn, where old &
new, concrete & ethereal, desolate & sublime collide/harmonize.
Often there’s even haiku.
Nice piece in the Brooklyn Paper by Nica Lalli about OTBKB pick for the Park Slope 100, Jonathan Blum, the Fifth Avenue artist who’s been on Fifth Avenue since 1999. He does the dog pictures and the forehead paintings you know and love.
City Planning Commission approved a plan by the Fifth Avenue Committee for a supportive housing project, which includes 49 units of affordable, supportive housing
for low-income community residents and formerly homeless individuals at
575 5th Avenue in South Park Slope, Brooklyn. The building will include
on-site social services, 24 hour front desk security and a gardenThe
development now faces a hearing before the City Council’s Land Use
Committee.
Here is a list of the WiFi locations in the city parks. Go here for maps and more info.
Central Park – Delacorte TheaterCentral Park – Dana Discovery Center
Central Park – Rumsey PlayfieldCentral Park – Arsenal/ ZooCentral Park – Sheep MeadowCentral Park – Chess and Checkers / Wollman RinkCentral Park – Merchants’ GateProspect Park – BoathouseProspect Park – Picnic HouseRiverside Park – 79th Street Boat BasinUnion Square ParkWashington Square ParkFlushing Meadows Corona Park- ZooVan Cortlandt ParkPelham Bay Park – Golf HouseBattery ParkPelham Bay Park – Orchard BeachHere’s this week’s Smartmom from the award winning Brooklyn Paper (this time it was an award for their website. Props to Ed and Gersh):
The other morning, while Smartmom sipped her iced coffee on the
steps of the Montauk Club, she noticed a man looking up at one of the
tall London Pines that hang over Eighth Avenue. So she asked him what
he was looking at.
“I think there’s a Nashville Warbler in the tree,” he said. “I can’t see it, but I hear it whistle. It’s very distinctive.”
Smartmom closed her eyes and listened. Then she tried for a minute or so to locate the bird.
“There it is,” the man said. “It’s in the middle there. It’s yellow.”
Still, Smartmom couldn’t find it. She asked the man if the Nashville Warbler is a rare find, and he said it was.
She
kept looking. But mostly, she was looking at the birdwatcher and having
her own flashback. Smartmom’s father is an avid birdwatcher and he used
to take her on walks in the Ramble in Central Park. She was never able
to see the birds. Her father tried to teach her to use his binoculars.
“Find the bird, then press the binoculars to your eyes. It’s simple,” he’d say.
But
it wasn’t, and she was never any good at it. Not being able to find
birds, Smartmom found herself frustrated and bored on these Central
Park expeditions especially when her father got into long conversations
with the other birdwatchers about their recent sightings.
At the
time, Smartmom couldn’t wait to get home. But now she wished she’d paid
more attention or that her father had been a more patient teacher.
Smartmom
wonders whether any of what she tries to pass on to the Oh So Feisty
One and Teen Spirit will be remembered. There’s so much she wants to
share. Sometimes they show little interest. Other times they’re all
ears.
For instance, OSFO loves to hear about the Stay Up All
Night Club, the club Smartmom and her friend, Best and Oldest, invented
when they were 11. On sleepovers, they’d try to stay up as late as
possible, while playing wild games of Truth or Dare.
The dares
were way more fun than the truth. Smartmom remembers running naked up
and down the stairs of her apartment building because she refused to
tell her friend the name of a boy she had a crush on.
The other
night, OSFO had two friends sleep over. After midnight, she could hear
giggles and girlish trills coming from the bedroom. When Smartmom
knocked on the door to ask them to settle down, OSFO said, “Don’t come
in! We’re playing Truth or Dare.” Smartmom left it at that. A chip off
the old block.
Yet
when Smartmom lectures her about her favorite modern artists or the
history of the labor movement, OSFO puts her fingers in her ears.
“BORING!” she says just as Smartmom gets going.
But that’s all
right. She may not seem like she’s listening, but she probably is. And
one day, she’ll remember — just like Smartmom did with that birdwatcher
on Eighth Avenue.
Teen Spirit used to love Smartmom’s little
lectures about Broadway musicals and contemporary poetry. Lately,
however, he’d rather do just about anything than listen to his old mom.
Yet the other day, he asked to look at the blonde wood acoustic guitar Smartmom keeps in a hard case under her bed.
Smartmom
finger-picked her way through high school. A regular Joni Mitchell, the
Upper West Side was her Laurel Canyon as she sang, “I could drink a
case of you…” with that old guitar.
Teen Spirit asked if he could play it. Before she knew it, they were walking up to Music Matters to buy a new set of strings.
Back
home, she showed him some old guitar licks. He listened politely, but
declined to give it a go. “It’s not really my style,” he said, taking
the guitar into his bedroom.
Still, she knew she was passing the
torch. While she still loves to play her old songs every now and again,
it’s Teen Spirit’s turn to harness the power of the instrument she
bought at We Buy Guitars on West 48th Street in 1973.
Standing on
the stoop of the Montauk Club, Smartmom was all eyes. She tried to
remember her father’s advice as she scanned the tree looking for that
little yellow bird.
“Find the bird with your eyes. Follow its song…”
“There
is goes,” the birdwatcher exclaimed. Smartmom scanned the tree. And
then, finally, she saw it. The tiny yellow Nashville Warbler flew from
one branch of the tree to another. What a delight it was to see.
And Smartmom couldn’t wait to tell her father.
New York Metro reports that the new Williamsburg Park is open for all to see — on a weekends-only basis – starting this weekend. WHAT A VIEW. Great pix from Gowanus Lounge of yesterday’s opening day.
WILLIAMSBURG. Hipsters rejoice: The gate will be unlocked this
weekend at the East River State Park, a new 7.5-acre waterfront park
stretching from North 7th to North 9th.The park was originally slated to open last summer but
officials feared heavy rains made the new sod too vulnerable to foot
traffic and postponed the opening. Rachel Gordon, the New York City
regional director of the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and
Historic Preservation, confirmed yesterday the $1.7 million park will
indeed be open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. this Saturday through Memorial
Day and weekends hereafter.“It will just be open weekends because of staffing,” she
explained, advising people to bring their own chairs and pointing out
there’s no permanent bathroom facility yet — just a port-a-potty. “At
this point, we just want to let people enjoy the park. We had to make
sure it was clean, safe, t
CHECK THIS OUT: The Empire Zone, the New York Times’ state and local political blog, does Brooklyn linkage. When I copy it I lose the links and I’m feeling lazy. So go to The Empire Zone and get the links. But this is one for the record books — holiday reading linkage. They’re setting up the transition from The Empire Zone to the City Room, which Times’ blogger, Sewell Chan says will have more comprehenive Blog Roll and, I’m guessing, daily linkage.
The fire on the West Side yesterday means Coach employees can start the holiday weekend early. No more smoking on the roof, though. [Fashionista]
A complaint about blight on Coney Island, in time for the start of summer. [Gowanus Lounge]
A vision for the High Line: a “slow park,” with a lot of steps. [BlogChelsea]
Even though the Bloomberg administration has repeatedly clashed with organizers of Critical Mass, a city-financed calendar reportedly promotes the monthly rides. (There’s one tonight.) [Runnin’ Scared]
A political monthly takes a look at the mayor’s attempts to manage the press. [City Hall]
Video: The Upper East Side street sweeper dance. [StreetFilms]
The Brooklyn House of Ugly? [McBrooklyn]
More details from the panel discussion of the Robert Moses legacy. [Atlantic Yards Report]
A libertarian gives three cheers for Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV’s decision to introduce no bills. [Serf City]
And the Brennan Center calls for a limit on bill introductions. [ReformNY]
Charges of intimidation tactics in the State Senate. [The Daily Politics]
The 92nd Street Y is Gore country. [The Politicker]
Unsolved 2008 Mysteries: Whatever happened to… ? [Urban Elephants]
Albany blogs are banned in China? So’s the Zone, apparently. [Capitol Confidential]
“Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies,” an exhibition of background paintings, film clips, production stills and archival photographs, will be on view through June 22 in Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Hall; grandcentralterminal.com.
In addition, films with New York City settings will be shown Saturdays at noon and 2 p.m. through June 30 on Turner Classic Movies.
POP QUIZ: Name your Senators (sooo easy), congresswoman, your state senator, your borough pres (that’s easy), your city councilmembers (easy, too), your assemblypeople (hmmm), etc. etc.
This column will be an attempt to get to know what the Brooklyn pols are up to — the one’s that don’t get covered as much as the usuals.
ANSWERS: Senate: Hillary and Chuck; Congress: Yvette Clarke; State Senator: Martin J. Golden; Borough President: Marty; City Council: Bill De Blasio and David Yassky; Assembly: James F. Brennan (44th), Felix Ortiz (51st).
Joan Millman (52nd)
So, what’s happening with Congresswoman Yvette Clarke?
You remember, she beat out Yasky, Chris Owens and others in a very contentious race for the 11th congressional district.
We know that she supports Atlantic Yards, is of Carribbean descent, and that her morther, Dr. Una S.T. Clarke was a member of the City Council, making them the
first mother-daughter succession in the history of the New York City
Council.
But there’s probably a lot more to know. Where does she stand on issues that matter to the residents of Park Slope and surrounding nabes? And while I am not ready to answer that here, I can include a list of what she’s done and the committees she is currently working in.
The NY Times’ reports that the conflict of Interest Board approved Marty’s Norwegian Cruise Line because, hey, he’s the borough’s official ambassador and he did a lot of work on board. He couldn’t have picked a better time to be away. The CB6 board controversy was raging and while he may have been in hot water in Brooklyn he was soaking up the sun on board the cruise.
Markowitz has long advocated Brooklyn as a logical home for the overflow traffic from Manhattan’s cruise docks, and he lobbied the mayor’s office long and hard to build a cruise terminal in Red Hook. His office also kicked in $1.5 million toward the terminal’s more than $50 million cost. (In return for renovations the city made to its terminals, the Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines agreed to pay the city at least $200 million in port charges through 2017.)
Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the New York Public Interest Research Group, said that when it came to accepting a free ride on a luxury liner, “inevitably there’s an appearance issue even if you dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s.” But he said Mr. Markowitz had done everything that could have been asked of him to steer clear of choppy ethical waters.
Mr. Markowitz said that other than the cost of the cruise itself, he paid for everything on the trip, including the flight to London for him and his wife, and her boat fare.
Still, that Mr. Markowitz went on the free trip at all was enough to draw reproach from some quarters.
“It’s not something I would have done, even if the Conflicts of Interest Board says it’s O.K.,” said Chris Owens, a former Congressional candidate who is considering a run for borough president in 2009. (Mr. Markowitz is barred by term limits from re-election.)
This from IVAW.org
New York, NY – In an effort to illuminate the true reality of the conflict in Iraq, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will engage in a series of street theater actions around the New York City area on Sunday, May 27. This day coincides with our national remembrance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 28, which bears particular significance this year as we are in the midst of the fifth year of a war that has claimed the lives of over 3,100 American service members and over 655,000 Iraqis.
Actual veterans of the conflict in Iraq will play the part of American service members – with reenactments that will highlight various aspects of life in combat in Iraq. The event will be treated like a military operation with participants in full military uniform, however, there will be no weapons used at any time.
Read more of this item and
Click here for more IVAW Updates
Notes, Rabbi Andy Bachman’s blog, is a thoughtful, spiritual and sometime spolitical place, where Andy, who is the rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim writes about many of the things that interest him. Here he describes the five yahrzeit candles in his house and who they are burning for.
My father, whose temper flared in his children and grandchildren, long after his flame was extinguished on a cold March day in 1983?
My grandmother, whose lovely but depressed soul joined her beloved in the ground on a frozen January morning in 1979? Whose legends of milky kugel and being babysat by Golda Meir adorn the imaginations of my own children?
My grandfather, whose legendary generosity with medical patients during the Great Depression and beyond befuddled his aforementioned wife, whose book-balancing always found an admirable yet confounding loss in his hesed?
The first Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow is taking place on June 24th starting at 2 p.m. Open to one and all, it’s a great way to spread the gospel of Brooklyn blogging all around the borough. Come if you’re curious, you’ll probably pick up a lot of pointers about blogging and may even want to start one after the event, which is for seasoned and new bloggers alike.
Following the successful Brooklyn Blogfest in May, the Brooklyn
Blogade is taking it on the road to different Brooklyn neighborhoods.
The inaugural event is Sunday, June 24, 2-5pm. Join us at Vox Pop,
1022 Cortelyou Road, at the corner of Stratford Road (East 11th
Street).
If you want to attend please send an email to blogade.rsvp@gmail.com.
We’ll email you an invitation. We will not use your email address for
any purpose except for sending invitations and notifications relevant
to Brooklyn Blogade. It will not be shared with anyone else for any
reason.
Please RSVP with the following information:
– Your handle or nickname
– Your name (optional)
– If you have a blog or Web site, its URL
– If you live or work in Brooklyn, the neighborhood (eg: Flatbush) or
zip code (eg: 11218)
PROGRAM:
2pm: Signup/registration opens
2:30-3pm: Welcome, neighborhood orientation, and local blogger shout-
out
3-5pm: The mingling and socializing continues
Vox Pop is offering food and drink specials for this event:
– $1 off veggie and turkey burgers
– $1 off pitchers of beer (Dogfish Head Craft Ale now on tap!)
You can also checkout their full food menu and micro-brew on tap.
DIRECTIONS BY SUBWAY: Take the Q Train to Cortelyou Road. Vox Pop is
five blocks West (turn left as you exit the station).
With great weather expected for Memorial Day weekend, the Parks Department kicked off the summer beach season at Coney Island Thursday morning.
The beach has seen many improvements over the past few years, including performance spaces, new restrooms, volleyball courts and playgrounds.
“It’s safe. It’s clean. It’s exciting. And it’s nearby, for most everyone living in the region; it really is,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “And it’s original. All those others amusement areas are manufactured. This isn’t manufactured. This is Brooklyn ambience at its best.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time recruiting lifeguards, and we’re going to a whole bunch of lifeguards on duty this weekend,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “And we’ve got big improvements at many of the beaches, and every beach there is something fun going on.”
But, this season could also be the last for Astroland, if plans go through for a new amusement park.
One local elected official says that may not happen, as the city and developer wrangle over a proposed rezoning for the area.
“If we are not ready to move forward on the Astroland piece, I really am working hard to see that Astroland stays open until it’s ready to be developed,” said City Councilman Domenic Recchia.
“I’d like to keep my employees employed, some of them have been there for 20 years or more,” said Carol Albert, the co-owner of Astroland. “We love it, there’s no way around it.”
The $2 billion project would include an indoor waterpark, luxury hotel, and shops.
“It does look a little depressing when you walk around the rest of Coney Island and see some of the businesses boarded up, but that’s all the process of change, and Coney Island will change and hopefully for the better,” said Deno’s Wonder Wheel co-owner Dennis Vourderis.
City beaches officially open when lifeguards arrive on Saturday. The beaches will remain open until Labor Day
This from The Online Beat at the Nation.com by John Nichols. He wrote it last year.
The wisdom of wars can be debated on any day, and this column has not hesitated to question the thinking — or, to be more precise, the lack of thinking — that has led the United States to the current quagmire in Iraq.
But on Memorial Day, it is well to pause from the debate to remember those whose lives have been lost, not merely to the fool’s mission of the contemporary moment but to all those battles – noble and ignoble – that have claimed the sons and daughters of this and every land.
After the bloodiest and most divisive of America’s wars, the poet Walt Whitman offered a dirge for two soldiers of the opposing armies — Civil War veterans, buried side by side. His poem is an apt reminder that, when the fighting is done, those who warred against one another often find themselves in the same place. It is appropriate that we should garland each grave, understanding on this day above all others that wars are conceived by presidents and prime ministers, not soldiers.
It is appropriate, as well, and perhaps a bit soothing, to recall Whitman’s wise words:
The last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finish’d Sabbath,
On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.
Lo, the moon ascending,
Up from the east the silvery round moon,
Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
Immense and silent moon.
I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-key’d bugles,
All the channels of the city streets they are flooding,
As with voices and with tears.
I hear the great drums pounding,
And the small drums steady whirring
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.
For the son is brought with the father,
(In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
Two veterans son and father dropt together,
And the double grave awaits them.)
And nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive,
And the daylight o’er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.
In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin’d,
(‘Tis some mother’s large transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)
O strong dead-march you please me!
O moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.
The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music,
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.
Memorial Day is Monday. Here’s what happened last year.
Mr. Kravitz bought the building a new Weber yesterday just in time for our first barbecue of the season. We’ve had two stolen: he bought a lock to lock it to the gate.
A new Weber: we’re not sure how many ways we’re going to split it. It doesn’t really matter. It’s for everyone’s use. And for all the barbecue we’re gonna have this summer.
And if it gets us through the summer, we’re ahead of the game.
“We’re getting very Slopey,” Phized said watching over the shrimp kabobs, the Chilean sea bass kabobs and the Fairway meats that were cooking on the grill.
Clearly, this is not a hamburger and hot dogs crowd. Come to think of it, there were no burgers last night. None. Though Hebrew National franks were in good supply. We’ve been doing these potluck barbcues for a few years now and we is getting fancy.
It’s amazing how quickly we pull these barbecue together. It started Sunday afternoon. “Anyone wanna do a Memorial Day barbecue?” A sign went up on the the front door, neighbors from other buildings were invited informally. Bowls of salad, guacamole, hummus were prepared. Corn shucked. Chicken microwaved in advance because everyone is squeamish about undercooked childen. There’s always lots of wine, exotic beers, lemonade in the big red cooler.
Most importantly, the kids make sure their parents bought marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey bars for S’mores.
Who says you can’t make S’mores in the front yard of a Brooklyn apartment building?
Fofolle brought blue and pink straw cowboys hats for everyone to wear. Mrs. Kravitz made a joke about “Brokeback Brownstone,” which everyone thought was pretty funny.
You had to be there, I guess.
Every chair in the basement was brought upstairs. It’s an odd assortment: dining room chairs, folding chairs, office chairs, beach chairs. Whatever. There was nothing even vaguely Martha Stewartish about this event. It couldn’t have been less tasteful in its chaotic mish-mash of bowls, chairs, paper plates (leftover from birthday parties), white paper cups, less than artful presentation of meat hot off the grill.
But it was perfect. And the food was delicious. Especially the Chilean sea bass kabobs, which were prepared by a 13-year-old boy who lives across the street, an aspiring chef. A friend of Ravi, our resident sitar player, he wore a white chef’s coat and watched over the kabobs carefully as they cooked on the grill.
Mr. Kravitz started cooking at around 4:00. The party was done by 10 p.m. The clean up went pretty quick. Everything returned to the basement. The Weber cleaned and locked up. The kids, who were still racing their bikes, trikes, and scooters up and down Third Street, were sent to bed.
Everyone went back to their respective apartment buildings on Third Street. Those who came from farther away took car service chariots home.
Afterward, a quiet moment sitting on the stoop, talking and taking in the cool night breeze.
Remember Stephen, who got me all dolled up for my high school reunion? He’s no longer at Frajean Salon. But he works a few blocks a way at 325 Seventh Avenue and his phone number is: 718-398-3900
He colored my hair during my blonde bombshell phase. He styled it and made me up for that big night. In case you’ve forgotten here’s that old reunion Smartmom.
On the day of the 30th high school reunion of the Walden School (a progressive private school on the Upper West Side that no longer exists), Smartmom spent many hours beautifying at the Frajean Salon on Seventh Avenue.
But even Stephen and the staff at the full-service hair salon/spa could not make her look like herself at 17, a hippie wannabe who longed to sing like Joni Mitchell.
(Come to think of it, what the hell was she doing in a hair salon. If she wanted to look like herself at 17, she would let it all hang out, split ends and all.)
The first order of business was highlights. Looking like Hellraiser with tin foil sticking out of her head, Smartmom laughed. In high school, she was the brown-haired girl with big brown eyes that all the boys wanted to be friends with, while Smartmom’s best friend was the blonde beauty whom all the boys wanted to sleep with.
But for the reunion, Smartmom would have blonde highlights! She knew that would throw her old high school friends for a loop. Maybe no one would recognize her.
After the highlights, Smartmom went downstairs for a waxing in a room with bright examination lights and “soothing” New Age music. Hot Wax Lady used boiling wax to shape Smartmom’s eyebrows (no Frida Kahlo unibrow like in high school) and rip off (ouch) the old-lady hairs that grow from her chin and make her feel like the witch in Hansel and Gretel.
Then it was time for her toes and feet, which had to look beautiful because she was wearing gold metallic sandals that made her look six feet tall. She may have been short in high school, but 30 years later, she’d be an Amazon.
The haircut and styling came next. After the cut, Smartmom watched nervously as Stephen got out his hair curler from the bottom shelf.
“Please, I don’t want Farrah Fawcett hair,” Smartmom warned.
“But the 1970s are very big right now,” Stephen said.
“Yeah, but Walden wasn’t that kind of ’70s,” Smartmom said. “We were very natural back then. We didn’t use make-up, or even shave our legs.”
This piqued the attention of Stephen’s 20-ish assistant.
“You didn’t wear make-up?” she said, shocked.
Clearly, she was too young to know of a time when women burned their bras and rebelled against the feminine mystique.
Finally, Stephen applied the make-up. It made Smartmom so nervous that she thought she’d throw up — but as he applied a smooth layer of foundation, he slowly erased 30 years of stress from her skin.
Gone were the lines from 30 years of laughing and crying; the dark rings under her eyes from a cumulative loss of sleep from all-nighters at college, 3 am breast-feedings and overheated arguments with Hepcat about money; the crows-feet next to her eyes that made her think of her mother; the scowly lines next to her mouth from feeling so much disapproval and pain; her sallow complexion from spending too many hours staring at her computer.
When Stephen was done, Smartmom looked great. But later when she and Hepcat took the F-train to the reunion, she realized that she had spent more than $300 for an impossible goal: she could never look like she did 30 years ago because she wasn’t the same person as she was then. For one thing, she would never have spent five plus hours in a hair salon in 1976. Not a chance.
The reunion passed by in a blur of open-hearted, Cabernet-fueled conversation. Most of her former classmates — financial wizards, psychotherapists, writers, lawyers, environmentalists, an op-ed editor of a national newspaper, an opera singer and a dress designer — seemed to be doing what they wanted to do. Everyone looked great (even if the men had lost most of their hair) and were as idealistic as ever — products of a school that taught them to question authority and make a difference in the world.
Smartmom was moved to tears (and skunk eyes from smudged eyeliner) when Opera Singer (the aforementioned blond best friend) sang “Our Love is Here to Say.” She even got flirtatious with some of the boys she had liked back then.
Later, in the cab back to Brooklyn, Smartmom thought about how much had gone on since graduation: there was college, a career, Smartmom and Hepcat’s trip cross-country in a 1963 Ford Galaxy; their wedding on a rainy day in July; the birth of Teen Spirit and the Oh So Feisty One in a Manhattan hospital.
Back in 1976, you could get a brownstone on Garfield Place for less than $20,000. It was before the AIDS crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Bush 1, Bush 2, cellphones, compact discs, Jimmy Carter, the Intifada (1 and 2), the iPod, the L.A. riots, SUVs and Tiananmen Square.
Obviously, Smartmom knew she could never return to her 17–year-old self in the same way that the world can never go back to the way it used to be.
And then she understood: a high-school reunion is supposed to be a time to honor who you were then and respect who you are now.
And if Smartmom looked 30 years older that was OK. Everyone else did, too.
The Park Slope Courier is getting very aggressive about taking up space on the newspaper shelf at Key Food. Today, there were so many newspapers there, I couldn’t find the Brooklyn Paper.
Turns out, the Brooklyn Paper was running late and hadn’t been delivered yet. But by the time the delivery folks finally got to Key Food, I wonder if there was any room. Did they just put The Brooklyn Paper on top of the abundant copies of the Park Slope Courier?
Brooklyn Paper: I was looking for you all day. What caused the delay?
Readers, where do you get your Brooklyn Paper?
Before I say anything else, props and cheers to Judy Anteil for bartending at this great event. She made delicious and strong Cosmos that made for a warm and FUZZY atmosphere during the reading.
And what an event it was. Okay, it was a little long. But that was my fault for packing too much into one evening. Next year: Two Edgy Mom events. But how could I say no with so many great, edgy moms and one dad.
The evening got off to a great start with novelist Tom Rayfiel, who read the funny first chapter of Parallel Play, a must-read for all Park Slope edgy parents. Was he an edgy mom in another life?
Jennifer Block,
a non-mom and journalist, read about a midwife and a mom, from her brand new non-fiction book, Pushed, about birthing in the USA.
Sophia Romero
brought smiles and laughter with her beautifully written Shiksa From Manila blog schtick and a great piece about her passion for handbags.
Following Sophia, Alison Lowenstein read a hilarious and sharp excerpt from her novel, Mommy Group.
Then came Susan Gregory Thomas who read various excerpts from her book, Buy Buy Baby, How Consumer Culture Manipulates Moms and Harms Children. The title says it all. Gen-X moms have been branded by advertising execs who want them to spend gazillions on IQ enhancing toys for, like, 18-month-olds.
Smartmom was up next with a piece about parenting tips from a little yellow bird.
The crowd went gaga, as always, for an uproarious and expert poem by Michele Madigan Somervile called "Boob" about breastfeeding her newborn twins in the early morning hours while listening to a right wing radio personality.
Amy Sohn
had the audience laughing out LOUD about the Park Slope mommy zeitgeist — and her own transition from sex columist to mommy (and mommy writer). Can’t wait for the book to come out.
Judy Lichtblau read a sad, lovely story about a pregnant tango dancer, whose partner partners up with someone new
And Mary Warren (Mrs. Cleavage)
gracefully closed the show with her beautifully rendered, honest writing about life as a white single mom in East New York.
Go to the pro when you need Brooklyn Gardening tips. Today he got list, he got list. A list of all the places to get plants and other gardening supplies that is. And it’s really happening in Red Hook, which is fast becoming the Brooklyn gardeing NEXUS.
Thanks Flatbush Gardener, You’re a big help
It is a living hell that Mooki and her family are living through. They’ve asked that neighbors and friends give blood for Toby. There’s more information about how to do this at tobypannone.blogspot.com.
i still haven’t posted that update, but wanted you all to know that tomorrow morning toby is going in for bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, to see if his marrows have responded to the 2 mega cycles of chemo so far. on tuesday we will start cycle 3 of chemo.
when toby had his first marrows done on april 21, i remember the doctor coming out of the operating room with gallon ziplock bags filled with vials and vials of toby’s soft spongy tissue. he told me that he could see tumor in the marrows with his bare eyes.
i can’t even think about tomorrow. i am so scared. and i pray that toby’s marrows are cleaner. our wonderful little boy who can tell you about every train in the subway system, who is beginning to add numbers, who loves tomato soup, who delights in birdsong, our little toby deserves to have clean marrows.
mooki