I got a phone call yesterday while I was in a bodega on Fifth Avenue buying milk and orange juice. It wasn’t the best time to have a cell phone call but I did and it was someone named Daniel from Develop Don’t Destroy.

I thought it was Daniel Goldstein who I have spoken to once or twice. At first it sounded like him but he acted like he didn’t know me.

The Daniel on the phone was asking if I’d be willing to contribute to DDDB’s legal fund. He asked me if knew much about their eminent domain lawsuit, etc.

Because I thought it was Daniel Goldstein, this is strange. I’m a Brooklyn Blogger. I am OTBKB, for god’s sake. Of course, I know all about the lawsuit. But then, I thought, maybe he’s sharing some breaking news.

The request for money was a little odd but I figured it was some kind of emergency measure and he was reaching out to me personally to spread the word on OTBKB.

But then this Daniel had never heard of OTBKB. That seemed a little strange but I know that Daniel G. is a busy guy.

It was also strange because yesterday I featured a post about LAUGH DON’T DESTROY a comedy benefit for DDDB. Truth be told, at first, I wondered if there was mistake in the post and wondered if Daniel G. was calling to correct it. He has emailed me on occasion when there’s a mistake  in what I’ve written.

So I though it was weird that Daniel had never heard of OTBKB. I also thought it was strange that he was talking to me as if I’d never heard of the Atlantic Yards issue.

"What did you say your name was again?" I asked.

Daniel Caton," he said.

"Oh. You’re just making fundraising calls?"

"Right."

It’s always surreal when the person you’re speaking to on the phone isn’t the person you think you’re talking to. Cell phones calls are weird to begin with. I’m sure if I was sitting at my desk using a land-line it would have been clear that I was speaking to a Daniel Caton not a Daniel Goldstein. 

Daniel was super friendly and super informative. I just thought I was talking to Daniel Goldstein who sort of knows me.

Cell phone calls can happen anywhere. In the middle of the street. In a bodega. In the bathroom. They make for some strange communications.

Shabnam later called to thank me for the offer I made to Daniel to post about DDDB’s critical need for funds for their legal funds. They are asking people to send what they can ($100-300 was suggested by Daniel C.) Go to the make a donation page of Develop Don’t Destroy website.

If you prefer to donate by mail, please mail your contribution
                    to:
                   
                    Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn 89 Fifth Avenue, PMB #150
                    Brooklyn, NY 11217
                   
                    Make Checks Payable to:
                    Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn

I found this on Gowanus Lounge.  Beautiful Smile’s daughter works at a afterschool program at the Gowanus Houses Community Center. So I am super interested in this request for computers that may be sitting around your house. Hey Hepcat: don’t we have a lot of comptuers hanging around – in the hallway – I keep stubbing my toe on them? Can we give them away?

Have a computer sitting around that you’ve outgrown? We came across an
email from a local resident who is putting together a computer training
course for the Gowanus Houses Community Center
"to teach kids in public housing the fundamentals of computers using
free and open source software." The resident, Kevin Hardiman, says he
is "looking to the community for computer donations – full computer
systems desired, but incomplete system will be evaluated – to drive the
program." He is seeking people or businesses willing to donate old
unused machines or that would be intesting in helping, and can be
reached at kevin (at) opensourcebrooklyn (dot) com.
The program is being developed in conjunction with the Gowanus Houses
Community Center, and has the support of the Gowanus Tenant Association..

MAKOR:
35 West 67th Street
January 25, at 7 p.m.

Money Changes Everything is an anthology of essays edited by Elissa
Schappell and Jenny Offill.  At least one of them lives in Park Slope
and both are responsible for another fun anthology called "The
Friend the Got Away."

Tonight, there’s a reading/discussion at Makor, sponsored by the 92nd Street Y at 8 p.m, tonight called MONEY: THE LAST TABOO.

Marian Fontana, author of "A Widow’s Walk: A Memoir of 9/11", Ruth
Konigberg, Schappell and Offill will read excerpts from the book and talk.

Thanks Gowanus Lounge for posting about this fun and funny Develop Don’t Destroy event. They are holding a fundraiser for their Legal Fund on Tuesday, February 6 at 8:30. The event will take place at Union Hall at 702 Union Street in Park Slope (at
Fifth Avenue). Comedians include Michael Showalter, Eugene Mirman,
Kristen Schaal, Jon Benjamin, Andrea Rosen, Chelsea Peretti, Gilad
Foss, Patrick Borelli, Robin Cloud and "special guests." Doors at 8.
Ticket are $20. For more information go to Develop Don’t Destroy.

Screenings of "Brooklyn Matters," are being held several times in coming weeks. (Check out Gothamist’s review of the documentary here.)
There’s one on Jan. 31, from 7-8:30PM, hosted by the Boerum Hill
Association at Belarusian Church, which is at 401 Atlantic Avenue (at
Bond Street). There is another screening on February 1 at 6PM at the
Pratt Institute at the Higgins Hall Auditorium, which is located at 61
St. James Place(at Lafayette Avenue). And there is a screening on
February 27 at 7:00PM hosted by the Fifth Avenue Committee, which is at
621 Degraw Street(btwn 4th & 3rd Ave.).

Yesterday at Sweet Melissa’s, I was eavesdropping (I might as well just come out and say it).

OSFO was doing her homework and I was listening to snippets of conversation at another table.

So sue me.

Anyway. A nice young man, Daniel Eppelbaum, a student in the seventh grade at Brooklyn Friends, was drinking Earl Gray tea and eating a scone waiting to go to his choral practice.

Already impressive.

His mother handed him an envelope. "Do you have an letter opener," he asked. She didn’t so he carefully opened it with a knife.

"Oh it’s a response to the letter I sent him," he said.

My interest was piqued. Who was "he"?

"He" was our Borough President, Marty Markowitz. And this young man had written him a letter about something that bothers him a lot.

At this point, I was talking directly to Daniel and his mother. I apologized for eavesdropping and I came right out and said: tell me more.

At Brooklyn Friends, they encourage kids to be community minded. So Daniel decided write a letter to complain about the infrequency of the B67
bus — especially when he’s coming home from school at 6 p.m.

"Sometimes I have to wait twenty minutes for the bus to come," he said. His mother concurred. "He’s tired. He’s got this heavy backpack. It’s hard at the end of the day."

Well, Marty Markowitz wrote back. He said he was going to follow up on it — and speak to the muckity muck who’s in charge of the B67 bus. But first, he wants Daniel to get back to him on the exact details of which bus and what times he rides the bus.

Daniel has probably already written back—he seems like a really responsible kid. I’m curious how this is going to play out. What will Marty do after he gets Daniel’s second letter? Will he make this a top priority? Will he get in touch with Daniel again?

STAY TUNED TO OTBKB FOR MORE ON CITIZEN-7TH GRADER.

I for one hope Daniel’s letter gets results. I think that we have to wait WAY too long for that Seventh Avenue bus. So I am going to stay on this story.

Daniel said that he wrote two letters to George W. Bush in order to complain about his policies in Iraq and all he got was a photograph of George and Laura with their autographs.

He is obviously a big believer in writing letters to public officials and newspaper editors. 

He comes by it honestly, his mother said. "It’s something the people in my family do," She herself has had two letters to the editor published in the
New York Times.

Impressive. 

If anyone who reads this knows Daniel can you tell me if I’ve spelled his last name right. Also, tell him to get in touch. I’d love to publish the correspondance. louise_crawford@yahoo.com

INDEPENDENT LENS: BILLY STRAYHORN: LUSH LIFE will premiere on Thirteen/WNET Tuesday, February 6 at 10 p.m. As part of UMOJA!, the station’s annual on-air celebration of Black History Month.

The Blue Note soundtrack album, which will be released Tuesday, January 23, will feature new performances of Strayhorn compositions by Bill Charlap, Elvis Costello, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, and Dianne Reeves.

A few spots remain for the screening. If you would like to attend, please email your name and total number of persons to carol@encoremag.com, no later than noon on Jan 23. A return email will confirm that you will be admitted.

The screening starts promptly at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 23 at BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY. A Q&A with director Robert Levi will follow, moderated by Blue Note Records CEO Bruce Lundvall.

This event has been made possible by Blue Note Records, Thirteen/WNET, ITVS/Independent Lens, Washington Square Films, Robert Levi Films and ENCORE Magazine.

This arrived in my inbox this morning. I am assuming it was sent by Mike Daisey himself. He lives in Carroll Gardens and maybe he or his publicist reads OTBKB. His performance piece INVINCIBLE SUMMER tells the story of "the last glorious summer before everything changed. Starting with the bizarre history of the MTA’s epic subway system, Daisey crafts a startling vision of his Brooklyn neighborhood before and after one terrible day, setting an intensely personal story of a family in crisis against the backdrop of massive social upheaval. Invincible Summer is a tale of loss and democracy for our time brought to life by one of the theatre’s fiercest and funniest storytellers."

FROM THE NY TIMES:

THE lights went up too early, the cramped theater was swelteringly hot and Mike Daisey, looking a bit nervous alone onstage, could see himself sweating profusely in the mirror on the wall behind the audience. It was going to be one of those shows.

“Camus once said that the only real philosophical question is whether or not to kill yourself,” he said in a recent workshop performance at Collective Unconscious in TriBeCa of his new monologue, “Invincible Summer,” currently running at the Public Theater as part of the Under the Radar festival. “I’ve always wanted to start a wedding toast with this.”

It’s a good line that had received huge laughs the last time he delivered it, half a year ago at the Spoleto Festival in South Carolina, but this crowd merely chuckled. “All I was thinking then was that I wanted to kill myself,” he said the next day.

Since he burst on the scene at the 2001 New York International Fringe Festival with “21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com,” an expertly constructed monologue about the madness behind the Internet boom, Mr. Daisey, 34, has been one of the hardest-working and most accomplished storytellers in the solo form. His plays, which include multiple narrative threads, echoing off one another and intersecting in the most unexpected ways, have received consistently good reviews, earning comparisons to premier yarn-spinners like Spalding Gray and David Sedaris. But what Mr. Daisey does is considerably different in at least one respect: He works without a script. Read more HERE.

MORE IN THE CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE…

Continue reading ONLY SIX MORE SHOWS OF THIS ACCLAIMED BROOKLYN STORY →

Here it is, this week’s Smartmom from the award-winning Brooklyn Paper:

Everyone knows about Teen Spirit’s cool and unusual forays into rock and roll. But few are aware of the Oh So Feisty One’s burgeoning interest in classical piano.

More than a year ago, OSFO started hankering for piano lessons. Smartmom knew that Mrs. Kravitz’s daughter, and OSFO’s best friend, Beauty Girl, was taking lessons, from a local teacher named Helen Richman.

“Why don’t you come to the recital?” Mrs. Kravitz suggested. “It’s in the senior center on Grand Army Plaza.”

A few Sundays later, they went to the social room at the center, where an overflow crowd watched as Helen introduced her piano and flute students, who each played a solo and a duet with confidence and enthusiasm.

The atmosphere was low key and low stress. If a child flubbed up he/she just started over. No tears. No tangles.

Smartmom was particularly impressed by the graceful way all the students bowed.

Afterwards, there was fruit punch and homemade cookies, which reminded Smartmom of the violin recitals she attended as a young student.

Smartmom sidled up to Helen, who is probably the most glamorous-looking piano teacher you’ll ever meet, and asked her when OSFO could start.

“I’m pretty booked up right now,” Helen said with a syrupy southern drawl and huge helpings of kindness and concern. “But I’ll see what I can do for y’all.”

At the first lesson a few weeks later, Smartmom learned why the kid’s bows were so impressive. Helen teaches a modified version of Suzuki for piano. And all lessons begin and end with a bow.

Thanks to Helen’s teaching techniques and OSFO’s willingness to practice, the 9-year-old was playing lovely two-handed pieces within a couple of months. The children learn certain pieces by ear (listening to a CD that Helen provides). Simultaneously, Helen teaches them sight reading and theory.

Everything was going swimmingly. Except for one thing: OSFO hasn’t had a proper instrument to practice on. She’s been using an old keyboard Hepcat bought in 1989 plugged into one of Teen Spirit’s bass amps.

It was time to graduate from something very makeshift to a more piano-like piano.

Smartmom grew up with a grand piano in the foyer of her family’s Upper West Side apartment. It was a Knabe, given to her maternal grandparent’s when they were married in 1920.

Although Smartmom took violin lessons and later guitar, the piano got quite a workout during her childhood. Diaper Diva studied the instrument, although she got little help from her father, who played a weird kind of atonal jazz as a way to unwind after work.

Sure, Smartmom would love to buy an upright piano, but neither money nor space allows for such an extravagant purchase at this time.

She asked friend, composer and pianist extraordinaire Louis Rosen what to look for in an electronic keyboard.

“Weighted keys. Make sure it has weighted keys so it feels like a piano,” Rosen said.

So last week, Smartmom and Hepcat ventured over to the Guitar Center at Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Center Mall and were directed to a Casio Digital Piano, a full-sized standup piano with 88 weighted keys.

Hepcat made a face. “It sounds pretty good, but it doesn’t really look like a piano,” he said. Hepat was raised with an old Steinway piano that his mother bought at a local museum sale. Then Hepcat pointed out a nick on the keyboard cover and made another face.

The salesman offered to take more than $100 off. Smartmom was sold.

Hepcat kept looking around at the groovier-looking keyboards. But Smartmom had her heart set on the faux piano look. It played into her fantasy that a home should have a piano — not a keyboard on an ironing board-type stand.

Hepcat thought the portable keyboard would be great “in case OSFO starts a band or something. It’ll be easier to move.”

But Smartmom wasn’t thinking “The Archies.” She wanted a traditional piano with a metronome sitting on top. Of course, the Casio has an electronic metronome — it’s pretty high tech — but within a traditional-looking body.

With his passive-aggressive flair, Hepcat left it up to Smartmom and her “vision” of what she wants.

Smartmom knew she would have to pay — as she always does — when Hepcat lets her make a decision about an electronic item. (“Why did you buy this stupid phone/ stupid toaster/stupid printer?”)

But Smartmom whipped out her debit card and paid for the “piano” pronto. She had it delivered and it arrived less than two hours later. Not without a crisis. The delivery guy left the power supply back at the store and there was no manual.

“So your stupid ‘piano’ doesn’t even come with a power source. That’s why you got it so cheap,” Hepcat sneered at Smartmom.

“Would you two stop yelling!” OSFO begged with the experience of a child whose parents do a lot of stupid bickering. Besides, the power supply arrived within an hour or so.

Everyone seems to like the piano. OSFO has been practicing like a demon. Teen Spirit’s been trying to bang out some Daniel Johnston tunes and Hepcat likes to combine all the interesting sounds the keyboard makes.

As for Smartmom, with the faux piano in the dining room, everything is just he way it’s supposed to be.

Thank you About Manhattan for this tip:

Filmmaker Doug Aitken’s Sleepwalkers at The Museum of Modern Art is playing every night through February 12th and it’s free. This night installation, produced by Creative Time, features eight large-scale moving images projected on and around the museum.

Five New Yorkers (played by actors including Donald Sutherland and the incomparable Tilda Swinton venture into the city at night. The film is projected at eight locations around MOMA, viewers must circle the building to fully participate in the experience. You can even hear commentaries on your cell phone by calling 408-794-0886.

Sleepwalkers At MOMA

When: January 16 through February 12, 2007. Evenings from 5-10PM. Last entrance to the Sculpture Garden is at 9:45PM.

Where: Mueum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues

Viewing Areas: 53rd Street above the museum entrance, the open space connecting 53rd and 54th Streets, and The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden

Admission: FREE. No tickets are required.

Viewing Tips: There is no seating and portable seating is not permitted. Sleepwalkers is fully accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. Food, beverages, smoking, and pets are not permitted in the Sculpture Garden. MOMA staff will be available to answer questions during your visit.

Speaking of Helen Richman, whose name was mispelled in my Smartmom piece published in today’s Brooklyn Paper, check this out. Her Chocolate Chip Music series resumes on February 3rd. She’s been getting big crowds so get there early. The word is out and the word-of-mouth is teriffic. Chocolate Chip cookies at all events.

Saturday February 3; 10 and 11:30 a.m.

Baker Bobbie’s Surprise
Magic, Mystery, and Make Believe at the Opera!

Baker Bobbie reveals her singing talents and a world of opera awaits as young actors rummage in a magical trunk they find. Each prop they pull out of the trunk brings to life a different character from operas including The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel, Carmen and Romeo and Juliet. This concert features world-class singers as well as charming student performers in an exciting introduction to the drama, strength, and beauty conveyed through the human voice.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Novelist Oona Short and I were developing a children’s book a few years ago about women in baseball. Or was it a television series? Whatever. It was a great idea and I’m sorry it never came to anything. Oona also writes about baseball and is included in a great anthology called, Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend: Women Writers on Baseball edited by Elinor Nauen. Oona’s short story, “The Truth About Paradise” can be read online at Slow Trains.

All of this came to mind when I saw the NY1 headline that pioneer in women’s baseball from Brooklyn has died. This from NY1.

Betty Trezza, 81, was a shortstop in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which inspired the movie “A League of Their Own.”

She was recruited at the age of 17 and played seven seasons for the Racine Bells.

Her career highlight came when she singled home the winning run in the sixth game of the 1946 championship series.

Trezza died Tuesday of a heart attack at her Brooklyn home.