Gibby Haynes & Joe Wenderoth at Issue Project Room July 3rd @ 8pm.

I seem to be doing nothing but event announcements here...whatever happened to stuff I find on the street?! I actually found a working air conditioner today, so there!

Anyway. Todays announcement is for a POETRY reading. My roomie from last summer, Ben, knows poet Joe Wenderoth from Minnesota, he is best known for his book of poems called "Letters to Wendy's". Gibby Haynes is somewhat of a renaissance man who is probrably best known for being in the Butthole Surfers. He has collaborated with many including John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin and Johnny Depp, to name only the biggest two. I remember seeing "The Butthole Surfers" at Danceteria back in thee olden days, an acid trip that you didn't need to take acid to experience, intense is too mild a word, that was in his clothespins on the nipples period, two insane drummers,fire,showering the audience with little printed cockroaches ...anyway I digress, I imagine Tuesday night will be a bit calmer. Here is the blurb my friend Ben sent me via Joe Wenderoth long distance:

Gibby Haynes (butthole surfers dude) and I will be doing a collaborative performance in the issue project room series in Brooklyn on july 3rd at 8pm. If you know any folks who might be interested and in that area, please let them know. I took this on sort of late and would appreciate help in alerting anyone who might want a go.

Issue Project Room is now located at "The Old American Can Factory" at Third Avenue and 3rd Street.

Reading starts at 8pm.
10 bucks.

Like Bo Diddley? GO to Don Pedro's tonite!

I have been hearing great things about Don Pedro's Bar in "east" williamsburg, it has been becoming a popular garage/punk venue as of late, it's very close to Crypt Records. The usual cast of music aficionados will be spinning. Here's the deal: Top DJ's spin Bo Diddley records, cover versions of Bo Diddley records and anything with the Bo beat (with the exception of "Faith" by George Michaels)!
Record Slinger Line Up:
Billy Miller and Miriam Linna(Norton Records)
Tim Warren(Crypt Records)
Todd-o-Phonic(Telstar Records)
Dave The Spazz(WFMU- Music To Spazz By)
Rex Doane(WFMU- Fool's Paradise)
Andy Maltz(Little Killers/ Underthings)
Bazooka Joe aka Joe Diddley(The Thing With Two Heads)

Honoring Bo Diddley all night long!

FREE ENTRY!
Don Pedro's is at 90 Manhattan Ave @ McKibbin.


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Surreal experience on Hoyt Street. Surreal band on Sunday.

OK so I kind of had a bad day today. Lots of personal stuff had me feeling down. Work. Relationships. You name it. It all sucked. So, I take the train home and can't help but notice one of my all time idols of all time, Jim Jarmusch is on the F train, so I play it cool and as the true NYer that I am... ignore him. Through the years I've seen him in bars, at art openings, seeing bands....but, but, (this is a few minutes later) NEVER on Hoyt Street asking me for directions! O.K I'm a star struck girl here, he was looking like JIM JARMUSCH, silver pompadour, baby face & cool 40's shirt...made my day or shall I say my night. He was on his way to that place (Issue Project Room) with the silo on Carroll St. by the canal which as of Sunday will be called "The Yard".

So on Sunday at "The Yard" (formerly "Issue Project Room")a band all the way from France is playing called Babylon Circus along with Wax Poetic.

The Yard is located at 400 Carroll Street between the canal and Bond St.
Gates open at 3pm.

This is what the people at the Yard have to say about what is upcoming:

I wanted to let you know about a new venue we're opening July 1 on the Gowanus. We're calling it the yard, its a beautiful outdoor space on the water where we've planned a film andconcert series series. There is also a silo on the property in which we're curating small music & art shows. The land is destined to become condos in a few years, but before that happens we'd like to make the most of it to create a new music and art destination in the neighborhood.

It all sound great except that bit about "the land is destined to become condos..."

Check it out before it gets plowed down.

The latest Carroll Gardens activism in a nutshell.

I received an email from CORD this morning about their progress on the petition against the potential building on 360 Smith Street. I was also told that someone has posted tiny pamphlets to the trees at the Carroll St. station. If I wasn't alerted to this my uncaffeinated self would of sleep walked right on by them. A lot of time and care were put into these little three fold pamphlets put out by another new Carroll Gardens activist group "The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Squirrel Association". Will the powers that be take a squirrel seriously? Read below what CORD's take is on it.
Here is an update from CORD:

"So far our petition has generated 7oo signature in under a week! (on-line and off-line combined)...please continue to spread the word! Thank you Thank you!....and now.....If anyone wants to help us/volunteer to make signs or collect sigs they can email us at the blogsite (where they can also sign the petition)and now,here's a little story i will call "just plain nuts"...Someone has posted tiny fliers on the trees at the 'endangered" subway plaza (F train at Carroll St) at the site of the proposed development: 360 Smith Street.While you can magnify the text in the pics i will also write some of it here:inside it reads: "We've been handed our eviction notice! Soon all the trees that have been our homes will be chopped down to make room for a 70' tall building. Let your chirping be heard and help preserve the character of this neighborhood we all love! Under that it says: Just have a human sign this, put it in a stamped envelope and address it to:
Ms. Amanda Burden, Chair
NYC Department of City Planning
22 Reade St.
NY, NY 10007-1216

Dear Ms. Burden:

On behalf of all the squirrels of Carroll Gardens, we need your help to preserve our beloved neighborhood. It is nuts to build a 70' tall building at 360 Smith St. and 2nd Place. 2nd Place is a lovely brownstone street with 35' deep front gardens decorated with flowers, statues and fountains.The proposed Scarano building would stick out like a sore paw! The
developer is exploiting a loophole in the zoning law that is unique to Carroll Gardens. He can build a bigger because 2nd Place is technically a "wide" street due to the deep front gardens. (The developer is also allowed to claim the new private school which is built on an adjacent portion of his property is a "community facility" to gain more square footage for his proposed new building. Cord) Though it may be in the letter of the law, it is surely not in the spirit of the law. Don't let this happen on your watch! We respectfully request a moratorium on all new construction over 50' tall in Carroll Gardens until this issue can be properly addressed.

Sincerely, XXXXX"

on the back it says "c. 2007 Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Squirrel
Association (CGNSA)" on the front it says: "Squirrels Unite! All the trees on this plaza will soon be cut down...Don't be left out in the cold this winter with no place to store your nuts!"

The CORD blog has also picked up this story and is advising petition signers and readers that they"can also e-mail Ms. Burden. Go to this link:
Limit your email to 150 words or less"

Found in Brooklyn

I'm just musing here...has anybody noticed that almost the entire block on Bond Street between 2nd & 3rd Streets is for sale all of a sudden? Both sides of the street! I know that the corner building (Bond & 2nd) was architecturally unsound, friends of mine were forced to move out of that building for that reason about 10 years ago. The floors were completely slanted. It was sinking. They said that the building was in danger of collapsing. Then it looked like they put some sort of support beams in and new people moved in. I guess who ever owns those building's knows that it probrably the right time to cash out on them as I heard that "luxury brownstone" style buildings will be built on that vacant corner. Question, why are all condos "luxury", is it mandatory that those two words go together? What makes them so "luxurious"? Do they have saunas, hot tubs, maids, nanny's,elaborate security systems what?! Those luxury condos or whatever are going to be right smack in the middle of traffic going to and from the new Whole Foods. Bond Street is going to become very busy once that is built. That is if they ever clean up the toxic waste dump that it is going to be sitting on!

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts * Free Show Thursday at the Hudson River Piers

I went to a high school that actually DISCOURAGED me to go to college! I remember going to the guidance counselor and she was pointing me in the direction of "trade school". Maybe it was because I usually failed my math & science finals and had to go to summer school. I dunno, I do know that I always did great in art(and english)so it was logical for me to try and do something with that. At the time (1981) Graphic Design was called "advertising art" actually I didn't even know what it was but I did know that I had to make a living somehow, the concept of just painting or creating art was a foreign concept! Anyway,so I find out that in order to get into an "advertising art" program I have to show a "portfolio". What's a portfolio? In retrospect I can really look back at my art teachers and say that they were completely self involved and really didn't give a crap about their students. I figured out what a portfolio was on my own. I did 18 x 24 charcoal drawings of all my favorite rock stars, Joan Jett was among them, I also drew Richard Butler from the Psychedelic Furs and Joe Strummer from the Clash. In addition I did a woodcut of Johnny Lydon (aka Rotten) playing the fiddle with flames behind him (this one actually won an award in a high school art competition!)and a silk screen of the Ramones. Well, I could go on about the uselessness of the adult population in my high school but that is not the point of this post.

Despite the fact that I was compelled to do a portrait of Queen Joan, I have NEVER seen her live. I will on Thursday night at the Hudson River Piers at West 13th Street or thereabouts. I would of posted a current picture but I am saddened by the fact that she has gotten "work" done and looks like a cross between Courtney Love and Steven Tyler, WHY Joan? WHY? I know (well I've HEARD, I never seen her live) that she still rocks the socks off the kids more than half her age so I will forgive her....

Sign the Carroll Gardens Petition Now!

As I said before, people in Carroll Gardens are pissed off! If you take the subway from the Carroll St. station you should know what I am talking about. The threat of large buildings in the historic brownstone area are looming and residents are making sure their voices are heard via this petition. Also, read more on the story on The Gowanus Lounge and also at the new blog that the neighborhood group has started that focuses on this hot issue.

Mermaid Parade 2007 was Mah-va-lous dahling!!!

This was definitely THE biggest Mermaid Parade I have ever attended in all the many years I've been going. It was great to see that so many people came out to show love for this truly special place.The parade has come a long way from when the classic cars were allowed on the boardwalk and it was pretty easy to get a good viewing spot! Getting a good spot to view was bit of a problem. I did get there early but lost time trying to hook up with friends, I ultimately gave up and had a good time on my own having the freedom to check out the parade from all different areas. M.C. Chris T. (some Rock & Roll trivia on Chris...he used to be in a popular NYC hardcore punk band from the early 80's "the Nihilistics" and also the East Village band "Missing Foundation"! He's come along way from performing "Kill Yourself"!) did a great job entertaining the crowd with a running commentary on all the paraders. The creativity and good spirit of the parade was really something else. The only dark cloud was when Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz went by on a float spouting some his typical rhetoric. I became possessed and started heckling him much to the annoyance to people standing near me (sorry i couldn't help it!.) Funny thing is I used to think Marty was cute now I wish he would just GO AWAY!!!!! Here's a few pictures, I actually didn't take many, I get sensory overload sometimes and shut down!Flicker has a gizillion images up already, here is my 2 cents worth...Elvis is everywhere.Pimped out mirrored garbage truck makes it's way up Surf Avenue.
The Queen of the parade this year was actress, Patti D'arbanville.
There were alot of politics in the parade this year (as well there should!) The best political one was the one mocking Thor equities with a guy dressed like Thor, sorry no picture!"BUMP BUMP BUMP YOUR ASS OFF!!" A Coney Island Landmark! Let's see Sitt come up with something as Brooklyn as that!


The boardwalk at 6pm.

Stop the world I want to get off (1)

Well, maybe the streets will be a little emptier.

Mermaid Parade this Saturday.

The Mermaid Parade is happening Saturday June 23rd at 2pm. It's the 25th Anniversary of the parade and it's coinciding with the last year of Coney Island before it turns into Joe Sitt's version of Xanadu.

I was recently thinking about the time I decided to be a participant rather than an observer of the parade. The first Mermaid Parade I went to to was in 1990,the reason I know this is because it was the summer of "Dart Man". Some guy was shooting darts during lunch hour in midtown into the "posteriors" (that was the word the papers used) of woman on their lunch hour.It was a great headline story for the NY Post. I was living in Astoria and a friend and I took the loooonnnnngggg subway ride out to Coney. Anyway, the year I decided to be IN the parade was the year 2000.

I was married at the time and my husband who had a fantastic imagination, would always comment on the name "Harry Van Arsdale Jr." every time we went past the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. exit on the Grand Central. In his mind, Harry Van Arsdale Jr. was an ascot wearing, martini drinking bon vivant who welcomed all the new Queens arrivals with a fresh martini. He was pro immigration. He knew that anyone who moved to Queens worked hard and deserved to relax and live the American Dream, as our families both did. "Welcome to Queens and join us for Happy Hour!"(I am not lying about this!) Hubby would be in Harry Van Arsdale character from that exit until at least we hit the Koskuisko Bridge. Somehow we came up with a plan that Harry would spread his good cheer to Brooklyn with a bunch of mermaids, me being one of them. Our theme developed as a good friend that got the whole Harry Van Arsdale concept decided to join us as -drum roll- Major. Deegan (Harry's arch nemesis). Never mind that the two had absolutely nothing to do with each other in their actual lives. Harry Van Arsdale was actually a tough guy labor leader and Deegan was a tough guy Commisioner of Housing. One was from Queens the other from the Bronx (just like my parents!). It sounded good to us.

Harry Van Arsdale's outfit was basically this; a preppy looking pinstriped button down shirt, an ascot, bermuda shorts, a captain's hat, black socks w/wingtips and of course, a shaker full of martini's (being that it was Mermaid Day this was not a prop). My downstairs neighbor wanted to join us. He showed up at our door painted green. "And you are?" he lit up a cigar and told us he was a frog, like the gangster frog that sounded like Edward G. Robinson from that old cartoon, "Couragious Cat & Minute Mouse". Sure why not. So Frog had a car and we drove to Coney Island, he dropped us off and looked for parking, he ended up having to park all the way around Avenue Y and had to walk through the neighborhood alone with green face paint on (another story and the beginning of my "Warrior's 3" screenplay.) So anyway, nobody got our concept, everyone kept saying "Look! It's Thurston Howell!" Here's a tip, if you are ever in the parade or any parade, you MUST have a shtick that people can understand! I think music is the best shtick around, thank god I had the forethought to bring a water pistol as the mere spritz of water on the watching crowd generated a huge reaction, it was ridiculous, i mean people screamed like I had actually done something. I felt like a rock star, but then I ran out of water and I lost my shtick!

So shtick or no shtick, everyone should go this year, I admit there were a couple years I didn't go, like the year they first got corporate sponsorship (you would think at my age I would get over hating "the man" but I can't seem to shake it!) or when it rained but no matter what go this year. It's the last year before the reconstruction and who knows what state Coney will be in next summer. I know the "Save Coney Island" group has an elaborate dance routine in store choreographed by Miss. Cyclone 2007/ Burlesque performer Angie Potani and there will be lots of glamourous nautical themed creatures hamming it up...so go have fun and check out the Mermaid Ball at the historic "Child's Restaurant" on the boardwalk later on.(and tell them Harry sent ya)

P.S- I dedicate this photo to my friend Michael Oppedisano who passed away in 2001 and was my Coney Island beach buddy. I took this picture a month after he passed on after the parade and always felt he made me take this shot. The guy with the wings looks just like him.

Chelsea Hotel Homogenized.

I just found out about this, this is so sad. Stanley Bard the manager of the Chelsea Hotel, who has worked there for 50 years has been forced out by the Board of Directors.I had a p/t job at the Chelsea Hotel in the mid 1980's and remember Stanley fondly. NYC is really becoming land of the bland fast and furiously. Today is his last day, read his thoughts here. I don't even want to get into who is doing it, I leave that to the real estate blogs(ie:enablers).

F.R.O.G.G Meeting Tonight

Just passing on the word here... F.R.O.G.G.(Friends and residents of the Greater Gowanus) are having a General FROGG meeting tonight.
Monday, June 18, 6:30
268 Smith Street at Smith and Vine in their Tasting room

(not sure if wine will be served-F.O.B)

Doggie in the window....

Pizza Profiteering?

Once again, Ariella Cohen of the Brooklyn Paper has her finger on the pulse of what is an important neighborhood issue. Pizza! She has written a breaking story about the possiblity of Sal's Pizza on Court Street raising it's slice price to $3.00! Myself, I am loyal to Giardini's on Smith and 2nd Street where you get a slice that will sustain you for $2.00. Sal's? I like the thin crust but I have always found the size to be more of a "snack slice" you need two slices to fill you. $3.00 is a bit much, with a soda you are in almost 5 bucks. Read here for more on this controversy!

More Soul in Brooklyn. Tonight.

My Memphis hangover continues...although these guys are from Florida/Alabama way.

Clarence Reid (alter ego "BlowFly")
Roscoe Robinson
Ralph "Soul" Jackson
at Southpaw - 5th Avenue & St.John's Place

sashay on by........