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Arts and Entertainment, Music

Tale of the Tweets: Streisand Comes Home to Brooklyn for Concerts at Barclays Center

October 14, 2012

Brooklynites of a certain age are kvelling this weekend as Barbra Streisand, Erasmus Hall’s favorite alum (with apologies to Neil Diamond, natch) plays a two night stand at the brand spaking new Barclays Center. Some of her classmates were on hand as well as Atlantic Yards Report’s Norman Oder who was making doubly sure traffic in the area was running smoothly.

The Daily News’ Jim Farber writes, “In her very first number, Streisand fiddled liberally with the lyrics of “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” adding shout outs to Erasmus High, her old yeshiva, and salty lox.”

Check out all in action in our the Tale of the Tweets after the jump. Continue Reading…

From the Web

Music

Brooklyn’s Solange Knowles and Dev Hynes Unleash the Song of the Year

October 6, 2012

While her brother in law Jay-Z was grabbing headlines this week opening the Barclay’s Center, Solange Knowles dropped what is arguably the song of the year on Tuesday.

The Carroll Gardens resident’s catchy new single “Losing You”, produced by Williamsburg’s (by way of Essex, England) Dev Hynes is already garnering critical acclaim. And if that’s not enough Brooklyn for you, it’s been released on Terrible Records, the label run by Grizzly Bear bassist Chris Taylor.

Photo: solangemusic.com

Solangemusic.com

You need look no further than Spin’s Phillip Sherburne, who bestows the song with the distinction of being a game changer to know that it’s one of the most remarkable tunes of 2012:

“Losing You,” produced by Blood Orange’s Devonté Hynes, isn’t without its precedents, though; in fact, it fits in nicely with the retro-leaning, R&B-inflected house that’s all over the so-called underground right now. There’s not really a name for this stuff, despite Seth Troxler’s best efforts to make the term “underground pop” stick — thankfully, it hasn’t — but you can hear it running through a loose network of dance-music DJs who have jettisoned cold, Teutonic techno in favor of Latin freestyle, vintage vocal house, and other sounds that make sense at the Miami and Los Angeles rooftop parties where they hold court. Jamie Jones, Lee Foss, Soul Clap, the Wolf + Lamb extended family, and Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels crew have been caning the hell out of this aesthetic for a while now, and it’s clearly been taking hold, making its way into the Beatport sales charts alongside much more obviously overground electro-house fare. For Solange and Hynes to have picked up on the trend and brought it back into the R&B fold suggests that, whatever you’re going to call it, the sound has well and truly arrived. About damn time: Anything to save us from the deluge of over-compressed trance stabs and moombah-trap silliness that currently defines the overlap between “urban” and “electronic” music. There’s plenty of mediocrity in the wannabe-Balearic house scene too, but in the hands of Solange and Hynes, it feels like a breath of fresh air.

The video, filmed in South Africa by Melina Matsoukas, is a beautiful mosaic of fashion, color and style. While her older sister may be a better dancer by normal standards, Solange’s stomp will make you instantly fall in love with her.

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment, DUMBO, Features

Creativity Meets Community at the Dumbo Arts Festival

October 1, 2012

The streets of Dumbo were commandeered this past weekend by everyone from fire-wielding welders to a five-year-old puppet master, thanks to the neighborhood’s grand annual tradition known as the Dumbo Arts Festival.

More than 500 artists and 100 programming partners participated in the 16th annual celebration, which once again successfully achieved its mission of shining the spotlight on Brooklyn’s cultural side. The entire neighborhood was transformed into a creative wonderland throughout the duration of the three-day festival, as studios, galleries, storefronts, park space, street corners, building lobbies, bridges and even shipping containers became canvases for artistic expression.

“I thought a lot of the photo pods were really interesting and compelling,” remarked first-time festival attendee Melinda Lin of the shipping containers on Main Street. The containers had been repurposed into tiny photo galleries showcasing images from Papa New Guinea and other areas of the world, as part of the foto/pods 2012 exhibition by United Photo Industries.

Lin, a Manhattan resident, was one of thousands who thronged the streets of Dumbo during the course of the festival, which was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“We’ve gotten a lot of people who are Dumbo residents and then a lot of people who have traveled from different boroughs – and even different countries – to come to the festival,” noted Elise Gonzalez, who was selling merchandise for the Dumbo Improvement District at a booth under the Brooklyn Bridge.

Indeed, international visitors abounded, with tourists from Korea to Israel making their way to the neighborhood just to check out the Dumbo Arts Festival.

“I learned about the festival in Time Out and thought it sounded interesting,” said Yael Hurwitz, a tourist from Jerusalem, Israel, who had last visited New York City 20 years ago. “I think it was a really great event,” Hurwitz added, noting that she was especially impressed with the Entasis Dance performance in Main Street Park, which involved dancers positioned themselves around sculptures to become living extensions of the artwork.

Every conceivable artistic discipline seemed to be on display during the festival, which offered attendees an extraordinarily comprehensive view of the creative community in Brooklyn and beyond via indoor and outdoor art installations and exhibitions, large-scale projections on store facades and the anchorage of the Manhattan Bridge, and performances that encompassed music, dance, poetry, comedy and even the circus arts going on all throughout the neighborhood.

Festivalgoers also had numerous opportunities to get an up close look at the actual creative process, thanks to events like the Molten Iron Spectacular, which involved the heating and pouring of iron to create souvenir medallions that were then handed out to the crowd. It made for a dramatic spectacle on Plymouth Street, where flames were shooting out of a portable furnace that had been transported from Buffalo, New York for the event.

“We wanted to show the public a little bit about our process,” said sculptor Mike Dominick, who organized the event with fellow members of the Sculptors Guild. “People never get to see what goes on behind the curtain of the foundry and we take that away so you can actually see what happens,” explained Dominick, whose group had returned for the second year to conduct their iron pour at the Dumbo Arts Festival.

Other festival events encouraged attendees to delve into the creative process by trying it out for themselves via interactive exhibitions and art-making activities. At the Monster Drawing Rally hosted by the Dumbo Arts Center, for example, visitors of all ages drew and colored on massive sheets of paper tacked to the gallery walls. And tucked away in the gallery’s side room was a bubble drawing station run by Philadelphia-based artist Tim Eads, a first-time festival participant who taught visitors how to make colorful artwork using bubble solution tinted in a variety of bright hues.

“My work is really about trying to create these childhood fantasies, if you will, so I think of things that I used to love as a kid and just go crazy with that,” explained Eads, who described his art installations as “wacky machines.” One such installation, Traveler, drew a steady stream of curious onlookers to Eads’ bubble making station. Adorned with a feather skirt and comprised of a mannequin stand, fan, lamp parts and a motor, Traveler pumped out bubble after bubble that elicited squeals of glee from various visitors.

“It brings out the kid in everyone,” remarked festivalgoer Natalie Biggs of Flatbush, as she eagerly awaited an opportunity to create her own bubble drawing. Biggs, who had not previously attended the Dumbo Arts Festival, came away impressed with the celebration. “It was an enlightening experience that inspired wonderment and curiosity.”

The festival’s creative environment also sparked impromptu performances from artists who were not part of the official lineup, such as a charming puppet show on Main Street put on by five-year-old Ling Ling “Corn Snake” Ende of Bushwick with the help of Pablo del Hierro, a puppeteer visiting from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“I asked him what should happen between these characters and he told me,” explained del Hierro, a member of the Puerto Rico-based traveling puppet company Poncili who was in town visiting Ende’s family. “Poncili is largely based on having child-directed shows.”

“We’ve been working together in the studio – all of us playing, creating things and making music,” added Adam Ende, Ling Ling’s father and the director of Brooklyn-based Jawbone Puppet Theater. “I came to this festival two years ago to visit and since the spring, I’ve been doing these street shows with my son, so I wanted to come and do them here.”

As the elder Ende packed up props and puppets, his son was reluctant to leave. “The show’s not over!” he called to the crowd. As your Brooklyn Bugle correspondents looked around at all the art and performances going on around us, we couldn’t have agreed more.

Photos 1- 35 by Tim Schreier
Photos by Lori Singlar
Click on image for larger version

Tale of the Tweets: DUMBO Arts Festival

This year’s DUMBO Arts Festival tried to convince folks that hackeysack is art. Yeah, no.

Storified by Brooklyn Bugle · Sun, Sep 30 2012 10:42:43

RT @CaliVegax3: RT @CaliVegax3: #brooklyn #dumbo #arts #festival #awesome #footbag #hackysack #competition @ Dumbo Art Festival http://instagr.am/p/QLNpw7LoIp/Phat Tyre Footbags
Entasis Dance by Eve Bailey at Dumbo Arts Festival. Really great. http://pic.twitter.com/dLCI46xHKevin McCoy
DUMBO Arts Festival #latergram #freesaturday http://instagr.am/p/QNSk0xPGWM/MssMac
DUMBO Arts Festival #BrooklynParent @ Dumbo Arts Festival 2012 http://instagr.am/p/QNSrWXrwnO/WolfgangImmaDoDiz
Fish Heads DUMBO Arts Festival #streetart #streetartislife #dumbo #art #festival #brooklyn #fish #heads #nof http://instagr.am/p/QNJiW2E-XR/anthonyderico
Just posted a photo @ Dumbo Arts Festival 2012 http://instagr.am/p/QNLFU_HBbY/HA
A day of Art & Culture #DumboArtsFestival #dumbo #newyork #arts #festival @ Under The Brooklyn Bridge http://instagr.am/p/QNNQnbHDTe/Simon Massey
Under the Manhattan Bridge at last night’s DUMBO Arts Festival http://pic.twitter.com/RvlxURXjmichael espiritu
Perfect day for this. @ Dumbo Arts Festival 2012 http://instagr.am/p/QNN4iuxBfW/lauren farmer
DUMBO arts festival today at 2 pm right outside the York stop on the F train @Bike_at_W4 @MJenness @i_d_clairez http://pic.twitter.com/nTxeGKWKThe People’s Puppets
Love this at the Dumbo Arts Festival. #brooklyn http://twitpic.com/azutnhlauren farmer

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment

Manic Antic: 38th-Annual Atlantic Antic Draws Thousands Of Brooklynites

September 30, 2012

Despite an early afternoon shower and cool temps, Brooklynites came out in force Sunday for the 38th-annual Atlantic Antic, which spans one mile along Atlantic Avenue, from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue. Check out many more pics on our sister Brooklyn Heights Blog here. (Photos: Chuck Taylor)


Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7848

From the Web

Brooklyn Nets, Events, Features, Music, Sports

Players Be Playin’, Haters Still Be Hatin’ — Tale of the Tweets: @BarclaysCenter Opens with Jay-Z

September 30, 2012

Brooklyn’s controversial Barclays Center opened this weekend with a series of concerts by Jay-Z who is a (teeny tiny) part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets, the arena’s home team.

Protesters, still clinging onto the notion that politicians tell the truth and keep their promises, gathered outside as fans filed into the show. The road to Brooklyn having it’s first major sports team in two generations was indeed a bumpy, slimy and sordid road. For a full account of how Brooklyn got this arena and what was learned about how things get done in the borough, read Atlantic Yards Report’s definitive primer.

Now here’s what the folks who were there this weekend had to say:

Tale of the Tweets: Jay-Z Opens Barclays Center

Jay-Z opens Brooklyn’s Barclay Center with a bang. Here’s the tweets to prove it including from our own @JasonShaltz:

Storified by Brooklyn Bugle · Sun, Sep 30 2012 09:57:40

Best picture from last night!!!! #jay #barclayscenter! http://pic.twitter.com/cpYQEHbIAmSassy_SoWhat
Jay-Z Opens Up Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (Freestyles & Speaks On Opening) 9.28.12nigeldmedia
#throwindiamonds @barclayscenter http://instagr.am/p/QLgke9v6IS/Jason Shaltz
Went to @barclayscenter last night in Brooklyn. It was amazing! @JayZ had us all on our feet. Such an incredible talent & businessman.Earvin Magic Johnson
Can I get an #Encore #jayz #brooklyn #barclayscenter @ Barclays Center http://instagr.am/p/QNJZKUK-ab/Kryminal Ink
We outchea #NETS http://instagr.am/p/QLbdnXv6DH/Jason Shaltz
Round 2…lets go. #jayz http://instagr.am/p/QLbgHZv6DI/Jason Shaltz
Pickin winners @barclayscenter http://instagr.am/p/QLbrceP6DV/Jason Shaltz
Security check. #ThrowinDiamonds #JayZ #Night2 http://instagr.am/p/QLdG7NP6Eo/Jason Shaltz
#recap #brooklyn #barclayscenter http://instagr.am/p/QNKDYvI2OZ/Yasmin R.
rollingstone: Jay-Z played an epic Brooklyn homecoming gig Friday at the new #BarclaysCenter. You can read ou… http://tmblr.co/ZmJoSwUNCtohMatia Peebles
Your first full house! http://yfrog.com/h0oabwujj @barclayscenter #hellobrooklyn #openingnightBrooklyn Nets
Joint was so Live #brookyln #BarclaysCenter #Jay-Z #Concert #NY http://instagr.am/p/QNF-8lg546/Juice
Jay-Z (@s_c_) made a fan outta me…Opening wknd @barclayscenter w/ @MNAlshooler! #concretejungle #dreambig http://instagr.am/p/QLxbQFBKQk/Meg Chambers Steedle
JAY-Z Barclays Center Interviewnbanets

Photo: The Shaltzes

From the Web

Books

Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “Carry the One” by Carol Anshaw

September 21, 2012

What’s done cannot be undone, and this is the lesson the three young protagonists of Carol Anshaw’s novel “Carry the One” must learn in the harshest possible way. Carmen, Alice and Nick are the three children of Horace and Loretta. We meet the siblings at Carmen’s wedding, at an artists’ cooperative in Wisconsin where Alice lives. The siblings’ parents, “hipsters and atheists, way too cool for weddings,” do not attend. Nick has driven up with his girlfriend, Olivia. Late in the evening they get in the car to return to Chicago after the wedding, along with the folksinger who has performed at the wedding. Alice and Maude, the groom’s sister, having begun an affair, decide to catch a ride back to the city with them. It’s a crowded car, and Carmen sees them off, worried when she notices that they are driving with only the fog lights. Olivia, driving, hits and kills a 10-year-old girl in the dark.

None of the siblings caused the accident, yet each of them, honorably, carries a sense of responsibility for the events that night. They are very young when these events take place in 1983, and the novel follows the course of their lives during the next 25 years. Carmen, pregnant at the time of the wedding, becomes a social worker and mother to Gabe. The marriage breaks up, but she eventually remarries, though she is never certain whether this second marriage is a mistake. Alice, a painter like their father, copes with her eventual success and the fact that this success overshadows and even threatens their overbearing father. Nick, a very young astronomy graduate student at the time of the wedding, loyally visits Olivia during her prison term. He also maintains contact with the mother of the girl who was killed. Oh, and dulls his pain with drugs, more and more of them.

Nick, Alice and Carmen don’t spend all their time working out their guilt, but the sense of complicity motivates many of their subsequent acts. Nick manages an unlikely career around the edges of academic astronomy for a while, but sinks further into addiction. Alice achieves great personal success, but is unable to develop a stable relationship. When one arises, she is surprised, feeling, perhaps, that it is not something she is entitled to enjoy. Alice and Nick continue to hope, unsuccessfully, that they will capture their mother’s attention. Carmen is less forgiving of their parents, who essentially forced them to grow up on their own, but more forgiving to her siblings than they are to themselves.

And if in the end this horrible event has shaped their lives, each has been able to find a moment of respite from it. Anshaw convincingly describes heartening growth and development over the years. Because of an accident the three siblings must look back unforgivingly at their younger selves; the creator of this unusual and moving book has given them the gift of grace even as she does not allow them forgiveness.

On her blog, Carol Anshaw has acknowledged that the novel’s ending is ambiguous. I have my own interpretation, and readers have posted their ideas in the comments to Anshaw’s blog. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

Have a book you want me to know about? Email me at asbowie@gmail.com. I also blog about metrics here.

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights, Real Estate

It Pays To Live In Brooklyn: We’re The Second Most-Expensive City In The Nation

September 6, 2012

This isn’t necessarily the kind of statistic that fosters a giddy smile. According to a story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn is the second most expensive city in the nation, topped only by our sister to the west: Manhattan. The Washington-based Council for Community & Economic Research based its survey primarily on housing. There is no neighborhood breakdown, but past studies would obviously place Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Williamsburg at the peak of the borough’s hierarchy.

Behind Brooklyn are: Honolulu, San Francisco, San Jose, Queens and Stamford. Conn. The Council’s evaluation ranked 300 American cities based on other factors, as well, including utilities, transportation, grocery prices (damn you, Gristedes!) and prescription drug prices.

Using the number 100 to represent the national average, Brooklyn ranked at 183.4 overall: 129.9 in groceries, 126.4 in utilities, 104 in transportation costs and 111.1 in healthcare—along with a whopping 344.7 in housing. Manhattan’s average was 233.5. The Eagle points out that this means housing costs in Brooklyn are more than three times the average American city, like Erie, Pa., or Charlottesville, Va.

Borough President Marty Markowitz told the Eagle, “Brooklyn is thrilled that so many successful men and women, particularly in professional fields, have chosen to live here, adding to our economic diversity and making it one of the most desirable places on the planet to live, work and play. But we are also mindful that Brooklyn must never be a place of only the very rich or the very poor.”

Carlo Scissura, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, added, “As Brooklynites, we want to be No. 1 in everything, but I don’t think we want to be Number 1 or 2 in this survey. We want to keep the middle class here. We don’t want them to leave.”

(Graphic: Chuck Taylor)


Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/47235

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights, Events, Food

Dellarocco’s Of Brooklyn At Hicks & Montague: Open For Biz Tuesday

July 28, 2012

At last! Dellarocco’s of Brooklyn, the new local brick-oven eatery at 214 Hicks Street, one door south of Montague, is set to open for business Tuesday, July 31. The eatery held a soft opening Friday, featuring pizzas cooked in its wood-burning brick oven imported from Italy, which were oh so delectably light & tasty. The restaurant also features a wine & beer cafe, offering local Brooklyn brews. And for dessert: hand-made cannoli. Update: Our man Karl was on hand with his cam. Video, as well as more text and photos, after the jump.

Dellarocco’s is owned & operated by Brooklyn-bred brothers Greg and Glenn Markman and Joseph Secondino (who has known the bros for 30+ years). The three are also partners of the Heights Cafe next door at 84 Montague Street. Dellarocco’s has a separate kitchen and operates as an independent biz. (See photos below.)

The tasteful boutique-style dining room boasts 15-foot ceilings, with a menu specializing in personal pizzas. It is open seven days a week, from noon to midnight. As you might guess from the image, delivery is also available. (Photos: Chuck Taylor)
Dellarocco’s owners Joseph Secondino, Glenn and Greg Markman.
Hopeful signs of success for the local eatery.
Joe, Glen, Greg… owners of Dellarocco’s Of Brooklyn.
The owners with Chef Pasquale Cozzolino in center.


Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/44910

From the Web

Events

Coney Island Boobies: The Mermaid Parade 2012

June 24, 2012

A half million folks crowded Coney Island today for the 30th annual Mermaid Parade. The beloved march of self expression is a rite of summer in Brooklyn and this year was no exception. Check out reactions from around the Twittersphere or whatever the kids today are calling it as well as Brooklyn Bugle photos by Tim Schreier.

(Featured photo by Tim Schreier)

Created with flickr slideshow.

Food

Tale of the Tweets – The Weekend at Googa Mooga

May 20, 2012

The Bonnaroo of food, Googa Mooga, hit Prospect Park this weekend. And if you ask the Twitterverse it was either awesome or a mess. With the Roots and Hall & Oates playing the event, we’re thinking awesome. Add in the photo of Coolio included here and it closes the deal. We’ve compiled some of the best Tweets from GM here via Storify. Enjoy!

Googa Mooga in Brooklyn

@googamooga #brooklyn

Storified by Brooklyn Heights Blog · Sat, May 19 2012 22:06:19

I had a great time at @googamooga. The lines were OD, but for the most part the food made up for it. Would definitely go again. #googamoogaDamien Lemon
.@HolyGhostNYC at @GoogaMooga main stage from earlier today #nyc http://pic.twitter.com/FgrFhzZjNashville Nights
@coolio was "cookin" @googamooga !! By far the funniest thing there: http://pic.twitter.com/vOOtQOrjEric Isaac
Fried chicken from @BlueRibbonNYC #extramooga @GoogaMooga. I really had to fight the crowd to get this chicken. http://pic.twitter.com/pmvlk5amKatie Chlada
Horchata shake from @biggayicecream @GoogaMooga. One of the only GA food vendors @philwnyc and I waited for. http://pic.twitter.com/i1pFObTYKatie Chlada
Shrimp sandwich from Fedora #extramooga @GoogaMooga that I had to chase a waiter for. Was not even that tasty. http://pic.twitter.com/vaH4KuoFKatie Chlada
Dirt cake from @dirt_cake. Another GA food we managed to snag @GoogaMooga http://pic.twitter.com/iW7vEL3zKatie Chlada
@GoogaMooga I have so many recommendations I don’t even know where to start. Event planning 101. Hope tomorrow is better for the lucky few.Carrie Baizer Tracy
This pretty much sums up @GoogaMooga. Almost there but not really. Left early to go home and order in. http://pic.twitter.com/EJ0AssjDKatie Chlada
@GoogaMooga I for one had a great day. People need to relax. Enjoy the park and the beautiful day along with the FREE music. Thanks !Spencer Lindenman
holy ghost! @googamooga http://instagr.am/p/K1J4tkGUuY/Laura Kadamus
I loved seeing the graceful butchery art of @AprilBloomfield #extramooga @GoogaMooga. http://pic.twitter.com/xdDe2rMhKatie Chlada
Ass ass ass ass ass #BigSean @GoogaMooga http://pic.twitter.com/BO2uj1O1Eddie Huang
The unabashed @NoReservations #ExtraMooga @GoogaMooga. http://pic.twitter.com/V2kFpTjeKatie Chlada
Smile for the cameras! Team Dirty Bird @GoogaMooga !!! What a glorious day. http://pic.twitter.com/EPYaHqhfDirty Bird To Go
@coffeeandbikes @counter_culture @GoogaMooga @jessekahn – Apollo 8.0 + @umamiburger is a truly satisfying combination. http://pic.twitter.com/sveV8pb4Tyson Stagg
@googamooga great idea tragic executionziegz
Hamageddon @googamooga http://instagr.am/p/K1K2OnIdrX/Sarah Burton
Besides ridic beer lines & black hole for all things phone/web, @GoogaMooga was sweet.. Holy Ghost! a huge highlight http://pic.twitter.com/gnFdblNeEmily Million
weird –drove past @GoogaMooga sign makin fun of it. wk later manager is like "you guys are headlining that!" who’s coming out to BK 2day?!Questo of The Roots
@GoogaMooga by the numbers — 300 pounds of horse meat, 3,000 slices of crack pie and more! http://nyp.st/M3ePdd via @NewYorkPostChristina Amoroso

From the Web