Below: Afterward.
(Top photos: Dan Rosenbaum; bottom: Smoking Nun)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Fire Claims Local Laundromat, Liquor Store
Just three doors from home in Brooklyn Heights, a fire this morning swept through two neighborhood businesses on Montague Street: a laundromat and liquor store. (Damnit, this is horrifying. Carrying booze in bulk is heavy when you have to use public transportation or walk it!). Fortunately, there were no injuries, though the small, one-story building looks like a loss, with the roof removed, and rain forecast for Friday.
Below: Afterward.
(Top photos: Dan Rosenbaum; bottom: Smoking Nun)
Below: Afterward.(Top photos: Dan Rosenbaum; bottom: Smoking Nun)
Sertab & Demir: Back In The States!
Our friends Sertab and Demir are back in the U.S., after recording Sertab's upcoming Turkish album at home, and appeared on TV in Boston Wednesday morning. Sadly, the host is a clueless idiot: "Do you like performing live?" Um, well, she's been doing so for the past 17 years, fool...
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Census Report: Brooklyn's Sunset Park & Green-Wood Cemetery
When I saw Tinatin this afternoon after spending several hours in the field for my gig with U.S. Census, 
she giggled when I announced that I had a fabulous day. "No, really," I said. "This is every bit the adventure I hoped it'd be." Truly. I ventured out today with my supervisor O and fellow Crew Leader D to lock down a couple sites for "enumerator" training in April. These are the folks that we Crew Leaders will send from apartment to apartment, tracking down info from those that fail to return their questionnaires.
There are specific nabes where we're coming up short for training facilities, so today, in O's's car, we set out to tackle Sunset Park, an area of Brooklyn that I've never seen.
We targeted churches—and I managed to nab one, after a tenacious conversation with Pastor Cruz, who turned me down, until I started "preaching" about "contributing to your neighborhood and community." It was a total sales job. And in the end, he agreed to lend space for the Census, five days, 40 hours, free of charge. Score!
The particular area we focused on looked like New York City in the 1970s: dedicated local businesses; an ethnic focus, depending on the block, of Chinese (I never knew there was a Brooklyn "Chinatown"), Latins or Muslims; and a mix of beautiful old brownstones and older, crumbling apartment buildings and potential crack houses (sniff that one above left), with numerous churches and public schools. Tell me that's not a fucking adventure. Loved every minute.
Below: Note the Police security camera looking over the block. I thought these things only existed in movies.
O, D and I were so empowered by the accomplishment that we 
decided to take a detour to the Green-wood Cemetery, founded in 1838, a national historic landmark that's several blocks southwest of Prospect Park, between the nabes of Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park. In addition to its grand entrance, it boasts the highest point in Brooklyn, where you can actually see the Manhattan skyline, along with 600,000 graves—including toy retailer FAO Schwarz, code dude Samuel Morse, musician Leonard Bernstein, gangster Boss Tweed and glass guy Louis Tiffany—across an expansive, hilly 478 acres.
Above: The grand entrance, so tall that cars drive underneath.
The cemetery's chapel.
Can't fool me: Cats are disciples of the devil. This pussy is here to suck the soul from the living.
Below, the view inside a mausoleum! Like they need an illuminated Jesus to light their way?
One of the coolest sites is the monument for Minerva, 
the Roman goddess of wisdom, perched high on Battle Hill, the cemetery's peak. It was built by Charles Higgins in 1920, in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Long Island, the first major battle after the Declaration of Independence. Her waving hand is reciprocated directly 3.5 miles to the West by Lady Liberty’s upraised torch. The girls actually wave to one another, which you can see here, if you squint really hard. Maybe. (Better bet: Click on the image and you'll see Lady Lib in the distance.)
D peaking inside a mausoleum. Boo!
The Civil War Memorial... with markers that were obviously quite recently put in place, since they actually sit on top of the grass. I realized that I'm probably not particularly welcome here, since I grew up in Virginia. That makes me a Confederate—on Yankee soil. Oops. At least I didn't smoke over any of these guys.
she giggled when I announced that I had a fabulous day. "No, really," I said. "This is every bit the adventure I hoped it'd be." Truly. I ventured out today with my supervisor O and fellow Crew Leader D to lock down a couple sites for "enumerator" training in April. These are the folks that we Crew Leaders will send from apartment to apartment, tracking down info from those that fail to return their questionnaires.There are specific nabes where we're coming up short for training facilities, so today, in O's's car, we set out to tackle Sunset Park, an area of Brooklyn that I've never seen.
We targeted churches—and I managed to nab one, after a tenacious conversation with Pastor Cruz, who turned me down, until I started "preaching" about "contributing to your neighborhood and community." It was a total sales job. And in the end, he agreed to lend space for the Census, five days, 40 hours, free of charge. Score!The particular area we focused on looked like New York City in the 1970s: dedicated local businesses; an ethnic focus, depending on the block, of Chinese (I never knew there was a Brooklyn "Chinatown"), Latins or Muslims; and a mix of beautiful old brownstones and older, crumbling apartment buildings and potential crack houses (sniff that one above left), with numerous churches and public schools. Tell me that's not a fucking adventure. Loved every minute.
Below: Note the Police security camera looking over the block. I thought these things only existed in movies.
O, D and I were so empowered by the accomplishment that we 
decided to take a detour to the Green-wood Cemetery, founded in 1838, a national historic landmark that's several blocks southwest of Prospect Park, between the nabes of Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park. In addition to its grand entrance, it boasts the highest point in Brooklyn, where you can actually see the Manhattan skyline, along with 600,000 graves—including toy retailer FAO Schwarz, code dude Samuel Morse, musician Leonard Bernstein, gangster Boss Tweed and glass guy Louis Tiffany—across an expansive, hilly 478 acres.
Above: The grand entrance, so tall that cars drive underneath.
The cemetery's chapel.
Can't fool me: Cats are disciples of the devil. This pussy is here to suck the soul from the living.
Below, the view inside a mausoleum! Like they need an illuminated Jesus to light their way?
One of the coolest sites is the monument for Minerva, 
the Roman goddess of wisdom, perched high on Battle Hill, the cemetery's peak. It was built by Charles Higgins in 1920, in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Long Island, the first major battle after the Declaration of Independence. Her waving hand is reciprocated directly 3.5 miles to the West by Lady Liberty’s upraised torch. The girls actually wave to one another, which you can see here, if you squint really hard. Maybe. (Better bet: Click on the image and you'll see Lady Lib in the distance.)
D peaking inside a mausoleum. Boo!
The Civil War Memorial... with markers that were obviously quite recently put in place, since they actually sit on top of the grass. I realized that I'm probably not particularly welcome here, since I grew up in Virginia. That makes me a Confederate—on Yankee soil. Oops. At least I didn't smoke over any of these guys.
Great American Taxi's Smoking Nuns
Have we started a revolution here at The Smoking Nun? Publicist friend Cary Baker couldn't resist sharing with meese the second release from jam band Great American Taxi, "Reckless Habits." Street date for the new disc was March 2.
Taxi is currently touring the States, with upcoming stops in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Fran, Denver and Chicago.
How could I not love this?
Taxi is currently touring the States, with upcoming stops in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Fran, Denver and Chicago.
How could I not love this?
Senate Gets It: There Are No Jobs
Frankly, I'm stunned. First, that a meaningful measure for the long term actually passed the Senate today, allowing the nation's 
unemployed to continue to receive unemployment and COBRA benefits through the end of 2010. And second, that Republicans didn't find a way to derail the bill, out of simply spite for any Democrat success... Not that they didn't try. The 62-36 vote came over protests from conservatives who say it adds too much to the national debt. Yeah, well, you can 
bite my debt.
This comes the same day as news that unemployment rose in 30 states in January, with five states reporting a record high during the month (Cali, S.C., Florida, N.C. and Georgia). Overall, in January, national unemployment fell to 9.7% from 10% the previous month. Stats for February—the month that logged a full year since I was laid off from Billboard—will be released next week.
unemployed to continue to receive unemployment and COBRA benefits through the end of 2010. And second, that Republicans didn't find a way to derail the bill, out of simply spite for any Democrat success... Not that they didn't try. The 62-36 vote came over protests from conservatives who say it adds too much to the national debt. Yeah, well, you can 
bite my debt.This comes the same day as news that unemployment rose in 30 states in January, with five states reporting a record high during the month (Cali, S.C., Florida, N.C. and Georgia). Overall, in January, national unemployment fell to 9.7% from 10% the previous month. Stats for February—the month that logged a full year since I was laid off from Billboard—will be released next week.
Happy Birthday, Tinatin!
Tuesday evening, Ayhan, Donna and meese took our Tinatin out to celebrate her 26th birthday. Scene of the crime: Klimat, the same East Village hang where we imbibed for happy hour last Friday. When you're good, you're good. And that place is pretty damn spectacular. Again, the service, the ambiance and the overall quality of food and drink were superb.
Tina then came by 2C Studios today for a recording session with Ayhan, while I was out doing my Census thing. Tina and I are also working on a book together about her life as a young girl leaving the Soviet Union, and her quest for stardom in the States. We're nine chapters in, cool cats.
Tina then came by 2C Studios today for a recording session with Ayhan, while I was out doing my Census thing. Tina and I are also working on a book together about her life as a young girl leaving the Soviet Union, and her quest for stardom in the States. We're nine chapters in, cool cats.
Coming Soon: DNA's First CD Release
The first full-length CD from production duo DNA—Dennis DelGaudio and Ayhan Sahin—will be released just in time for the Winter Music Conference in Miami later this month. "Calling Card" features all vocals from Karine Hannah, and liner notes written by meese. Great cover, huh? If you click on the image below, you should be able to make out them there words I wrote.
Ayhan Interviewed For National Turkish TV
While "Gossip Girl" was filming just one street away in Brooklyn, Ayhan's 2C Studios had its own cameras on-site Tuesday, as Turkey's TRT Music, a new government-owned channel, interviewed the songwriter/producer for an upcoming series on Turkish musicians living and working in New York. Also interviewed for the show is our bud Emre Yilmaz. Stay tuned for play dates!
Below is video shot with my little Canon during the interview.
Below is video shot with my little Canon during the interview.
Daylight Savings Time Returns Sunday!
Daylight saving time kicks in this Sunday, 
meaning the days will seem longer and that hope springs eternal, um, for spring. Clocks move forward an hour at 2 a.m., so we'll lose an hour of sleep. And... so what. I'm thrilled.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
And Speaking Of MTA...
Working Families is sponsoring this ad to fight corruption by the MTA, including sending a message to billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg that working New Yorkers are fed up.
Monday, March 8, 2010
MTA Gets Final Word
Ha, har, hardy har... I left Manhattan/Chelsea's post-Oscars party after midnight to return to Brooklyn, which, for the subway, is the fuck-you hour. Sure enough, I walked from 29th Street to the Penn Station/34th Street express line, and waited 20 minutes before I realized that 
downtown trains were running on the local track—mind you—with no notice. Psych!
Another 20 minutes for the next subway, which then crawled to BK. Good news is that Oscar party guest Stephen, who works for Vanity Fair, delivered party favors with the latest issue, which kept me occupied. Thanks, MTA for getting me home... after 90 minutes. Can't imagine why New Yorkers are unhappy with service cuts.
downtown trains were running on the local track—mind you—with no notice. Psych!Another 20 minutes for the next subway, which then crawled to BK. Good news is that Oscar party guest Stephen, who works for Vanity Fair, delivered party favors with the latest issue, which kept me occupied. Thanks, MTA for getting me home... after 90 minutes. Can't imagine why New Yorkers are unhappy with service cuts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)