A blog about our Brooklyn neighborhood.
Send news, tips, gossip, and rants to ditmasparkblog [at] gmail.com.
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Residents of 18 St. between Ditmas Ave. and Dorchester Rd. will be living on the Boardwalk on Friday, but will have to park their cars somewhere else for the day
Film crews will be setting up camp on March 9 to shoot a scene for the popular HBO show, staring Brooklyn’s own Steve Buscemi.
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Carlo Costa and Ryan Ferreira Duo play Sycamore on Saturday. Photo by by Chiara Bernasconi.
Tonight 3/1
* Austrian jazz improvisational singer Lana Cencic is at Sycamore, 9pm.
* Nominated for a “Jazz Act of the Year” award, Miss Tess plays The Castello Plan, 9pm.
Friday 3/2
* Friday night mixed doubles league at the Prospect Park Tennis Center, 8pm.
* Lora Faye and The Howl are at Sycamore, 9pm.
* Comedy night with Mike Fiorito at 773 Lounge, 10pm.
* The Q train is running normally this weekend!
Saturday 3/3
* Sustainable Flatbush composting open hours, 11am-1pm.
* Flatbush Farmshare Community Meal at Flatbush Reformed Church, 12pm.
* Carlo Costa / Ryan Ferreira Duo with Sandra Weiss, Sycamore, 9pm.
Sunday 3/4
* First Aid & CPR with Baby Be Safe at Midwood Martial Arts, 4pm.
* The weekly jazz series Underground Works is downstairs at Sycamore, 8pm.
Monday 3/5
* Josh Deutsch’s Pannonia and Flamenco Avenue play Monday Night Ramble at Sycamore, 8pm.
* Upstairs at Sycamore, it’s Monday Night Vinyl Club, 8pm.
* Guitarist and composer Gene Segal is at The Castello Plan, 9pm.
If you have a neighborhood event happening over the weekend that you’d like to see listed, send us an email by Wednesday afternoon.
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Songwriter and neighbor John Munnelly, who recently wrote a great song, painted, and made a video for our ArtSpace series, has a LAUGHJOHNLAUGH show debuting on BCAT TV this weekend:
12 midnight Saturday 3rd to 12:30 am Sunday 4th
In addition to the ArtSpace video, he’ll have two world premiers of music videos he’s made: “Did I leave the cubicle (or did the cubicle leave me?) THE CUBE” and “Antigua (Ooh Ooh Antigua).”
BCAT TV is on channel 35, 68, 83, or 43, depending on your cable provider.
Comments Off
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Neighbor Christoher Sheard is playing his last night of a month-long residency at Sycamore tonight, along with two other musicians he says “write fantastic lyrics.”
Sounds like a nice way to spend a rainy evening. The show starts at 8pm in the basement, and here’s the lineup:
8pm – Carl Banks
9pm – Lily Virginia
10pm – Christopher Sheard
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
It’s the last Tuesday of the month, which means th basement variety show Tiny Dangerous Fun! is at Sycamore at 8pm. The night’s MCs–John Leo (Handshake Uppercut, Peg-ass-us) and Andy Sapora (Flying Karamasov Bros)–will lead a wild bunch of performers, who include:
• Magic: Torkova, torkova.com
• Music: The BJ’s, beccabernard.com, jenniferharder.com
• Clown: Song & Dance Man (pictured left), billydeebedlam.blogspot.com
• Burlesque: Lily Stitches, facebook.com/lilystitches
• A Wonder Minute: Tanya Solomon, youtube.com/drflummox
• Clown Striptease and Monologue: Stephen Bracco, stephenbracco.com
For more information on how you can be considered for a slot, see the performer sign-up form.
Tiny Dangerour Fun!
Tuesday, February 28
And the last Tuesday of each month
Sycamore, 1118 Cortelyou Rd
$10 at the door
Comments Off
Monday, February 27th, 2012
The WFMU radio show Airborne Event is hosted by neighbor Dan Bodah on Monday nights from from 9pm to midnight. The New Jersey-based, listener-supported, non-commercial radio station is in the middle of its 2012 pledge marathon, and Dan invites you to listen to his show tonight (and every week) and pledge if you can:
I’ll be celebrating the 10th fun-raising marathon I’ve done at totally independent, listener sponsored freeform radio station WFMU. Folks can donate by calling 800-989-9368 or online here, and we have tons of prizes we are giving away. For $75 or more, donors will get a CD collection I put together with super rare tracks from the WFMU cassette tape library called “Break the Tabs & Check Dolby B.” They’ll also be in the running for a grand prize pack featuring an Ion Cassette-to-MP3 converter and a couple of tapes. Just a dollar a day (a $365 pledge) earns you the right to force me to humiliate myself by singing any pop song of your choosing live on air, whether I know it or not. Plus mountains of swag.
Ditmas Park is an ongoing inspiration to Airborne Event–neighborhood guests have included saxophonist Jeff Hudgins’ band the Frightingales and composer & ethnomusicologist Thomas Ross Miller. Cuddle Magic, who played Sycamore & Ditmas Acoustic last year, will play live on the show on March 26th, and plans for possible remote broadcasts from Castello Plan’s Monday night live music series have been under discussion. Plus my CD premium for the 2008 WFMU marathon was “Gems from Cortelyou,” full of recordings picked up at local yard sales and featuring the thrift shop next to Cinco de Mayo on the cover.
WFMU broadcasts on 91.1 FM and online, and again, a tax-deductible pledge can be made online here.
Saturday, February 25th, 2012
Neighbor Andy Novick just launched a new audio blog, and the first entry is a recording of Crooks and Perverts playing at The Castello Plan this past Wednesday. To help celebrate The Castello Plan’s second anniversary tonight, the band will be back to play some more–you’re welcome to stop by to join in the party, but if you can’t make it, Andy will have a tape delay of the performance up on his site. He notes the site is optimized to look best on an iPhone.
Comments Off
Friday, February 24th, 2012
The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, whose members include several neighbors, will be whisking the audience off to ‘Paris in the Twenties’ with a program, conducted by Artistic Director Nicholas Armstrong, that will include “Parade” by Erik Satie, “Pacific 123” by Honegger, Les Biches by Poulenc and Suite from “The Firebird” (1919) by Stravinsky.
There’s promise of sirens, bottle-o-phone (!) and cracking pistol shots, so it should be a fun performance. A reception to meet the musicians will follow the concert with free refreshments.
Paris in the Twenties, Symphonic Music
Sunday, February 26, 3pm
Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity
157 Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights
Suggested $15 donation; children free.
Comments Off
Friday, February 24th, 2012
For the final installment of this month’s ArtSpace series, please welcome back photographer Ilya Nikhamin. Be sure to click on each photo to view it larger and see the incredible textures.
Task for the week: Draw inspiration from a neighborhood material.
Artist: Ilya Nikhamin
How does living in Ditmas Park feed/inspire/affect your work?
In the wee hours of the morning, Ditmas Park is a quiet neighborhood and it stays quiet for most of the day. Not every street, and not every window, but the quiet is pervasive. I like that we’re not in the bustle of some neighborhoods and not in the doze of others. I always say to my friends, we are in Resi-ville. It’s residential but with a lot going on. Something about this balance is very appealing and comforting.
Tell us about the material you chose–where you saw it, what drew you to it, etc.
The material is Cement and Steel. Two materials. We are of this stuff and surrounded by this stuff. It’s everywhere and never noticed. But it’s incredibly varied and encompassing. I’ve also included a photo of the bark of a tree–something that neither cement nor steel can replicate.
About Ilya
Ilya Nikhamin is a photographer. Better Than The Noise is his blog. During the week you can find Ilya at Roy’s Sheepshead Cycle; Village Voice called him “Brooklyn’s best bike guru.”
If you need headshots/portraits, publicity or website photos, or event photos, please contact Ilya at hillclimber@gmail.com for rates and availability. Check out his Flickr page for past work.
More info on ArtSpace:
To all the artists who have participated in all these ArtSpace series so far, thanks for sharing your creativity with the neighborhood. If you’re an artist who would like to participate in the future, email the following to ditmasparkblog@gmail.com:
Your name
Your email address, phone number, and website (if you have one)
Where you live (cross streets are fine)
What type of artist you are (painter, photographer, etc.)
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
You’ve seen his take on porches, debris, corners, and another artist’s work, and today we welcome this ArtSpace favorite back for another fantastic turn!
Task for the week: Draw inspiration from a neighborhood material.
Artist: William Bredbeck
How does living in Ditmas Park feed/inspire/affect your work?
We live right across from the Parade Ground and love the proximity to the park and energy of active people running around. In 10 minutes I can walk over and sit by the lake and reflect. Out of everywhere I have lived in this big city over the last 22 years, our neighborhood feels more like a real neighborhood than anywhere else. People smile and say “Hi” to me when I pass them on the street. Also, as Emma noted, it’s a great place to raise a wee family.
Tell us about the material you chose–where you saw it, what drew you to it, etc.
When I was a kid we used to drive up to the Rideau Lakes region of Canada, and on the way we drove through a small town that I think was Lowville, NY. I couldn’t wait to get to that town because all the fire hydrants were painted like different crazy characters. It was like the town was infested with leprechauns! I doubt that NYC would ever consent to such an idea, but I thought it would be cool if our neighborhood had a similar infestation. Eugene, OR and Cleveland, OH, among many others, have had fire hydrant art programs.
About William
William works at a video game company. He enjoys making art and music and being the best daddy, husband, and neighbor he can be. If he could be anywhere. he would be jumping in a lake right now.
You can contact him concerning lake jumping opportunities at wbredbeck@gmail.com.
More info on ArtSpace:
ArtSpace #29: Ilya Nikhamin tomorrow.
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Pianist Jason Yeager, accompanied by vocalist Tammy Scheffer, plays The Castello Plan on Monday.
Tonight 2/23
* Last day to see the Uncover Church Avenue art show at the Flatbush Library.
* Enjoy a cocktail and make a necklace at Craft Night at Sycamore, 7:30pm.
* Hear the quality tunes of Crooks & Perverts at The Castello Plan, 9pm.
Friday 2/24
* Friday night mixed doubles league at the Prospect Park Tennis Center, 8pm.
* The Sweet Potatoes play 773 Lounge at 9:30pm.
* Rumblefoot hosts a Surf Dance Party at Sycamore, 10pm.
* FINAL WEEKEND: Shuttle buses replace the Q train between Prospect Park and Atlantic Ave again this weekend, starting at midnight. No shuttle buses, but you’ll have to transfer to/from an N/R train at Whitehall Street.
Saturday 2/25
* Sustainable Flatbush composting open hours, 11am-1pm.
* Brooklyn College Women’s Basketball is in the finals at CCNY, 3:00pm.
* Learn the art of the rum cocktail at Sycamore’s Cocktail Course #2, 5pm.
* Kill Henry Sugar and Mamie Minch play Sycamore, 9pm.
* Josh Sanders & Friends are at 773 Lounge at 10pm.
* Toast The Castello Plan’s second anniversary, 10pm.
Sunday 2/26
* Have your electronics etched by the Police Department on Avenue K, 12pm.
* Celebrate Dominican Independence at Latin Fever Dance Studio, 5pm.
* The weekly jazz series Underground Works is downstairs at Sycamore, 8pm.
Monday 2/27
* The new residency program Monday Night Ramble is at Sycamore at 8pm.
* Pianist Jason Yeager and vocalist Tammy Scheffer are at The Castello Plan, 9pm.
If you have a neighborhood event happening over the weekend that you’d like to see listed, send us an email by Wednesday afternoon.
Comments Off
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
Today for ArtSpace we have one of our most prolific participants, a talented writer who has looked for a position as a porchsitter, explored poetry with roots in sixth century Arabic verse, and seen a subway ride through the eyes of a first-timer. Thanks for bringing us another, Kasia!
Task for the week: Draw inspiration from a neighborhood material.
Artist: Kasia Nikhamina
Vignette for a Sunday
Inside St. Rose of Lima, bread and wine turn into body and blood. Meanwhile, down the block, in the garden on the corner, an avocado pit, once firm and impervious, falls apart at the slightest touch. It has mellowed in the heat of the bin; it comes out richer.
The collection in the garden gives lie to the notion that these are austere times. Believers come bearing the remnants of their meals – carrot peels, egg shells, apple cores, potato skins, coffee grounds, and much much more. Combined with leaves and sawdust, this will become the blackest of golds.
We shovel in concert, turning the bins in which the scraps are gossiping. The air smells jubilant. “Rejoice! Rejoice!” toll the bells at St. Rose of Lima. “Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”
How does living in Ditmas Park feed/inspire/affect your work?
If I had to move to another neighborhood tomorrow, the saddest thing for me would be the loss of the Compost for Brooklyn garden.
Tell us about the material you chose–where you saw it, what drew you to it, etc.
I was inspired to write this piece by sifting finished compost during open hours at the garden one Sunday. I recognized the melody of the St. Rose of Lima bells as a hymn I sang as a child during Catholic Mass, and got thinking about Sunday rituals.
In the photo, the compost is heaped on a cutting board to underscore how things come full circle.
About Kasia
I write The Mayor’s Hotel, a creative prose blog, and plays. I am obsessed with birds and childrens’ books, among other things.
If you’d like to contact Kasia about her work, she can be reached at:
themayorshotel@gmail.com
www.themayorshotel.com
Bio photo by Ilya Nikhamin.
Compost photo conceived by Kasia Nikhamina; shot by Ilya Nikhamin.
More info on ArtSpace:
ArtSpace #28: William Bredbeck tomorrow.
Comments Off
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Today ArtSpace welcomes back an artist who has previously contemplated her commute on the subway and watched the epic battles on Ocean Parkway.
Task for the week: Draw inspiration from a neighborhood material.
Artist: Emma Assin
How does living in Ditmas Park feed/inspire/affect your work?
I feel at home in Ditmas Park. It’s green enough, quiet enough, and, best of all, brimming with young families like my own. My drawings totally come from the things and faces and attitudes I see around me, and if I walk around here enough, I always return home with an idea. I feel like everyone I meet here is an artist of some description–there’s a lot of creative energy flowing in this pocket of Brooklyn!
Tell us about the material you chose–where you saw it, what drew you to it, etc.
I chose the back wall of Cafe Madeline (is it still called that??). I painted a family portrait using this wall as a backdrop. Cafe Madeline, for a long time, was our home away from home on the weekends. I enjoy the playful decor–specially this one wall of fussy wallpaper, juxtaposed with the unfinished walls around it. We’d been wanting to have a family photograph taken in front of this wall for a loooong time–and we’ve never gotten round to it–so I decided to paint/draw one instead (it’s acrylic, pen, and pencil). Hopefully anyone who knows us would recognize our family from the picture–our 2-year-old amazed me by doing so!
About Emma
Born London 1981; transplanted to NY 2008. Interactive developer; frustrated artist. Delicate flower; Legend of Zelda fangirl. Lover of all things animal. Married to a sweet, sweet guy and mother to an even sweeter one.
If you’d like to contact Emma about her work, she can be reached at bitty-blog.tumblr.com.
More info on ArtSpace:
ArtSpace #27: Kasia Nikhamina tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Want to make a piece of jewelry you’ll actually wear? Want to have a cocktail while you’re making it? Then you should sign up Craft Night at Sycamore on Thursday, February 23 at 7:30pm. For The Makers, a DIY boutique jewelry tutorial company based in New York, will show you how to make an agate necklace (materials included) while you enjoy a signature cocktail. Tickets are $15 and are available online here.
Comments Off
Monday, February 20th, 2012
Welcome to the third week of February and a new ArtSpace series!
For this round, we asked artists to select a material from around the neighborhood to draw inspiration from. They didn’t have to actually use the material in the work, just had to be inspired by it. So it could be brick from an apartment building, bark from a tree, iron from a metal grate, a section of aluminum siding on a house, a porch’s wood slats, etc.
We’re starting the week off with a bang–introducing a new ArtSpace participant, who managed to incorporate painting and song into his piece. Enjoy!
Task for the week: Draw inspiration from a neighborhood material.
Artist: John Munnelly
How does living in Ditmas Park feed/inspire/affect your work?
I am primarily a songwriter aka LAUGHJOHNLAUGH! and have been supported and encouraged here. The first place I really played “out” in NYC was the Chris-Punxsatawny open mic at the old Cornerstone bar (aka Solo) on Cortelyou and also later at Vox Pop. I record music at Newkirk Studios right in the heart of Ditmas Park. I was selected to play as the guest performer in the Flatbush-Tompkins Church Spring Concert which was really a tremendous honor and was blessed to have a full choir singing my song “Peace,” and that experience validated my songwriter ambitions. I love the architecture of the Victorian houses; the wooded streets and avenues brings a little of the forest and nature to the concrete city.
Tell us about the material you chose–where you saw it, what drew you to it, etc.
The original inspiration for the song was Avi’s/ArtSpace very first and original theme [which was ultimately scrapped for another idea—Ed.] which was about “autumn beginning in the middle of summer”—the leaves dropping prematurely in august. The artwork on view in the video was inspired by the real fall leaves. Every day I would take a morning walk and revel in the diversity of color and shape of the leaves in the neighborhood which I tried to reproduce in the artworks. A bit like the diversity of the neighborhood itself.
Summary: The music-video is thematically leaves and is a combination of the song inspired by the very first ArtSapce/Avi invitation and later by the neighborhood foliage.
About John
John has written a lot of songs and came to live in America because he always wanted to and happenstance. Born in Cavan, Ireland, he is engaged to be married to a girl from the neighborhood. He loves color, humor, and guitars. He is a live music performer. He loves to have fun, Antigua, creativity, making music, art, and videos. He wants to release an amazing collection of songs, collaborate with other great creators, and has ambitions to finish an animated video/music project, a children’s music/educational/TV show, and basically create great art. He wants to find other musicians for a superb/amazing/class-act band. He lives on Newkirk and he has been a computer teacher and an IT guru and general factotum at an online retailer. As an actor he features as “Link” in a spoof comedy-action movie titled “Hectic Knife,” to be released in 2012.
John would love more local support for his music, video, and art—please buy, review, or tell people about “The Bum Song” single out now on iTunes.
Blog: laughjohnlaugh.com
Music/Mailing List: Reverbnation
Contact: Sign up to the mailing list or email “add to mail list/Ditmas” to laughjohnlaugh at gmail dot com, come to a show, suggest a local venue where I may play, or consider me for a slot/show at your venue.
More info on ArtSpace:
ArtSpace #26: Emma Assin tomorrow.
Saturday, February 18th, 2012
Coming up on Monday, February 20, we’ll begin posting the 6th of our ArtSpace series, in which five local artists will present a piece inspired by some material found in the neighborhood. From brick to bark, there’s plenty to find, but it’s up to them to see the art within.
In addition to work from four terrific previous ArtSpace artists, we’ve got one new addition who happens to be a musician! So until Monday, please click around and enjoy some of the work they’ve done in the past.
The artists (not necessarily in order of appearance):
Ilya Nikhamin
Kasia Nikhamina
William Bredbeck
John Munnelly
Emma Assin
Comments Off
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
The Robert Ross Band is at 773 Lounge tomorrow.
Tonight 2/16
* Sarah King and The Smoke Rings are at The Castello Plan, 8pm.
* High-grade vintage tunes are spinning at We Live in Brooklyn, Sycamore, 9pm.
Friday 2/17
* Shabbat in the Round & Chinese Dinner Buffet at EMJC, 6pm.
* Friday night mixed doubles league at the Prospect Park Tennis Center, 8pm.
* The Triborough Trio is a unique acoustic group playing at Sycamore, 9pm.
* The Robert Ross Band is at 773 Lounge, 9:30pm.
* Shuttle buses replace the Q train between Prospect Park and Atlantic Ave again this weekend, starting at midnight.
Saturday 2/18
* Sustainable Flatbush composting open hours, 11am-1pm.
* Honeydew’s Kids Valentine’s Tea Party, 11am.
* Newkirk Cares Collaborative Steering Committee meeting at Salud, 11am.
* Brooklyn College Basketball: Men’s Quarterfinals, 1:30pm.
* Jazz twins the Le Boeuf Brothers are back at Sycamore, 9pm.
Sunday 2/19
* Brooklyn College Basketball: Women’s Quarterfinals, 1:30pm.
* Flatbush Community Garden Winterfest at Sycamore, 4-8pm.
* The weekly jazz series Underground Works is downstairs at Sycamore, 8pm.
Monday 2/20
* Presidents’ Day: No trash or recycling collection, no mail, no school, libraries are closed, and alternate-side parking is suspended, but you still have to feed the meter.
* Small batch whiskey tasting at Sycamore, 8pm.
* NYC-based musician and composer Roxy Coss is at The Castello Plan, 8pm.
* The new residency program Monday Night Ramble is at Sycamore at 8pm.
If you have a neighborhood event happening over the weekend that you’d like to see listed, send us an email by Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Bruce Zeines for Bonnie Youth Club (1221 Church Ave)
The five designs that will be painted onto roll-down gates on Church Avenue have been chosen. From a student at Erasmus to a participant in our own ArtSpace series, the Church Avenue BID’s Uncover Church Avenue mural project features a great representative swatch of our artistic neighbors. Please join us in congratulating them!
• Bruce Zeines for Bonnie Youth Club (1221 Church Ave)
• Rudjessy Secours (pictured below) for Richie Rich (1219 Church Ave)
• Sherry Ginsberg Davis for Iglesia Pentecostal (1115 Church Ave)
• Nu Ryu for Children’s Corner (1101 Church Ave)
• Catherine Rutgers for Drive Time Radio (1111 Church Ave)
Uncover Church Avenue received over 50 submissions from artists throughout Brooklyn, including students from Erasmus Hall High School. The community was invited to vote–if you haven’t seen them yet, you can still take a look at the submissions, which are exhibited at the Flatbush Library through February 24.
“This part of Church Avenue is a very interesting zone, with stores on one side and homes on the other,” said 20-year resident Catherine Rutgers in a statement released by the BID. “My goal was to enhance a wonderful and complex environment, and bring eye-catching, refreshing brightness to the storefronts.”
Uncover Church Avenue is sponsored by AvenueNYC, a program from the NYC Department of Small Business Services, Astoria Federal Savings Bank, and the Brooklyn Arts Council. This program is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. In Kings County the Decentralization Program is administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (BAC).
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Christopher Sheard has been making music for a large part of his life. Whether the inspiration comes from growing up in our area or one of the other places he’s hung his hat, he’s back here now, living near Church Ave, and trying to bring some of what’s made his life great back to the neighborhood. Every Wednesday night in February he’ll be at Sycamore, playing a residency with a curated list of musicians, no cover. I asked him some questions about his influences, the residency, and what makes Sycamore such a terrific hidden gem for live performances.
Tell us a little about how the residency came to be.
CS: February is typically a slow and cold month (although this year certainly seems to be an exception) so I think it’s a good time to stay put in one spot, as opposed to trying to play all over the city. I brought up the idea of a residency to John Hagan, who’s a good friend of mine (and a good man in general), I knew him way back when he was working the counter at Vox Pop, and he was cool with it.
It’s nice to have a place to play for a couple of weeks in a row and give people multiple opportunities to catch a show that they might otherwise miss because of typical New York scheduling. Then, having different performers play each week to open the show helps keep it fresh and interesting. That and the outlandish swim suits I wear onstage.
How did you pick the musicians that are playing the residency with you?
CS: There are some really fantastic musicians taking part. When I put the residency together I wanted to have a real variety in styles and voices. Denitia Odijie is soulful singer/songwriter. When she sings everyone stops what they’re doing, it’s incredible. Pete Sinjin plays great folk and rockabilly and he’s got deep roots in traditional American music. You just have to hear Wataru Uchida play saxophone, and his Brazilian jazz trio is incredible. Carl Banks and Lily Virginia write fantastic lyrics. Everyone who’s playing has something unique and special to offer. And then there’s me of course.
Comments Off
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Names You Can Trust presents ¡MAMBO! at Sycamore on Saturday.
Tonight 2/9
* Coat drive at the Flatbush YMCA Gymnasium, 3-6pm.
* Bob Parins’ Pint-Sized Cocktail Orchestra is joined by Hot Sardines canary Miss Elizabeth at The Castello Plan, 8pm.
Friday 2/10
* Open house at PS 139, 8:45am.
* Friday night mixed doubles league at the Prospect Park Tennis Center, 8pm.
* Jonah Parzen-Johnson Michiana, Gym, Dear, and Steven Lugerner (Narratives) are at Sycamore at 9pm.
* Joe Var Veri plays at 773 Lounge, 10pm.
* Shuttle buses replace the Q train between Prospect Park and Atlantic Ave again this weekend, starting at midnight.
Saturday 2/11
* Sustainable Flatbush composting open hours, 11am-1pm.
* Free community meal at the Flatbush Reformed Church, 12pm.
* Compost for Brooklyn and Salud Present Herbs for Health Workshop, 2pm.
* Names You Can Trust presents ¡MAMBO! at Sycamore, 10pm.
Sunday 2/12
* Valentine’s Day(ish) Happy Hour Fundraiser for the Cortelyou Library Friends Group at Sycamore, 4-8pm.
* Natural Winemakers’ Dinner at the Farm on Adderley, 8pm.
* The weekly jazz series Underground Works is downstairs at Sycamore, 8pm.
Monday 2/13
* Brooklyn College Basketball: Women @ 6pm, men @ 8pm. Games are free!
* Hear soulful voice and violin of Charlie Burnham at The Castello Plan, 8pm.
* The new residency program called Monday Night Ramble is at Sycamore at 8pm.
If you have a neighborhood event happening over the weekend that you’d like to see listed, send us an email by Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
One World Symphony, which includes neighbors such as artistic director and conductor Sung Jin Hong, will help you sow the seeds of love this Valentine’s Day with a free brunch-time concert at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in Manhattan. They’ll play romantic serenades by Dvorak and hot jazz by Duke Ellington, beloved classics by Bach and Beethoven and the long-lost Romance by African-American composer William Grant Still. Here’s the program:
Duke Ellington: Concerto for Cootie (arranged by Andrew Struck-Marcell)*
Duke Ellington: Ko Ko (arranged by Andrew Struck-Marcell)*
William Grant Still: Romance (arranged by Sung Jin Hong)*
Antonín Dvořák: Serenade for Winds
Antonín Dvořák: Serenade for Strings
Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for Two Violins
Ludwig van Beethoven: Allegretto, Symphony No. 7
*In celebration of Black History Month
One World Symphony’s Love Brunch
One Performance Only!
Tuesday, February 14, 11am
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, 296 Ninth Avenue at West 28th Street, Manhattan
FREE! All are welcome. Concert length: approximately 85 minutes without intermission. Program may be subject to change.
Comments Off
Monday, February 6th, 2012
Filmmaker and neighbor Martha Shane is working with Dan Nuxoll of Rooftop Films on a fascinating documentary about a woman who scammed Nuxoll out of a video equipment rental fee, but, when the filmmakers looked into it further, they found out she was a much more complicated con woman.
The Mystery of Marie Jocelyn is a pretty crazy story, which follows Marie Castaldo from a film festival in Queens to counts of fraud and animal abuse in upstate New York, and ultimately to London, where the woman lives after being deported, and it’s a story they’d like to finish telling.
They’ve got a Kickstarter campaign going to raise money to finish the film, which they tell the Daily News they hope to have done by next year. The filmmakers need to raise $22,880 by February 23–to learn more about the film, and to help them reach their goal, visit the Kickstarter page.
Saturday, February 4th, 2012
A sign near the Tot Lot on Argyle at Cortelyou says you’ll have to move your cars by Sunday at 6am (which might make parking extra difficult tomorrow, with the Greenmarket right there, too). This parking restriction is because of a film shoot for something called A Case of You, which looks like it’s a feature film by Justin Long’s new production company, due out in 2013, that will star the actor/producer himself. Deadline New York has some details on the plot, which is:
…the story of a young writer (Long) who pursues his ideal girl with the help of her online profile. After he starts a relationship, the guy has to figure out how to keep up the facade he’s created that allows him to appear her perfect match.
So move your cars, and look out for the Mac guy on Cortelyou on Monday.
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
PS 154 in Windsor Terrace is hosting its annual Prospect Park Craft Fair in May, and they are currently accepting applications from artists who would like to vend at the fair.
They’re looking for people who sell original art and crafts (no mass merchandise)–past vendors have included folks from our area, like Marina’s Knittery and Hungry Cat Cafe Jewelry. The vendor fee is just $80, and proceeds go to help fund the arts program at the school. Applications are due Thursday, April 5.
If you’d just like to shop, save the date for the fair: Saturday, May 5, 10am-6pm.
Comments Off
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
She started out couch surfing in Brooklyn, but musician Sharon Van Etten tells the New York Times that she’s finally settled in Ditmas Park, and she shows them around in a nice profile:
One freezing Sunday, she gave me a tour of the neighborhood. She pointed out the liquor store with the ridiculous clerk and the flower shop that serves alcohol. We passed a guy huddled outside a bodega, drinking a 40-ounce beer in the early afternoon. He looked like somebody you’d want to leave in peace. He gave Van Etten a hesitant look of recognition. Van Etten stopped and threw out her arms. “Hey, man!” she said brightly, recognizing him as a landlord from a few sublets ago. “How ya doin’?”
They’ve also got a great video of her and Heather Woods Broderick performing, surrounded by the flowers in Sycamore’s front room.
Sharon’s new album, Tramp–which was produced by neighbor Aaron Dessner of The National–comes out on Tuesday, February 7, and she’ll be on tour through spring, with three performances in NYC later this month.
Listings Local Blogs
