Category Archives: brooklyn

You’re now shopping with the mother&*#@ greatest

Posted on October 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

Finally, after two years since opening, Jay Z has come to Trader Joe’s Brooklyn:

Hova loves HABA (<—grocery store humor)

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Hail! Hail!

Posted on October 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

Weather keeps happening to New York!! Who would have thought? Dave and I were at Brazen Head last night when the skies unleashed, soundtracked the entire time by the bar’s resident townies who exclaimed, loudly, that all their life they’ve never seen anything like this in Brooklyn:

why hail-o!

 

Hail to the streets. Notice the river flowing down Atlantic Ave.

Clearly this entire hail storm was orchestrated so that we can all remember a tragically underrated song from the Pearl Jam’s unfairly forgotten 1996 album, No Code.

“Hail Hail”

For more pics and video, check out Brooklyn365.

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Super Mario: 25 years reppin’ Brooklyn

Posted on September 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

Let’s say you’re in bed a little bit longer in the morning than usual due to the previous night’s very fun but very nerve-wracking stand-before-and-audience-and-talk event. Let’s say a friend recently gave you access to her Netflix Instant password, and you just realized the wealth of nostalgic 80s cartoons on the site (Voltron … vehicle edition anyone??). Maybe you notice things you’ve never seen before. Like, apparently, the Mario Bros. lived in Dumbo?

Plumbers: the first step to gentrification

via the Super Mario Bros. Super Show starring Capt. Lou Albano.

hmmm:

16-bit DUMBO, via lovebryan.com

Maybe you would have read about them in the local print media at the time:

Brooklyn Times was in the tank for the Marios

Apparently in 1989 Brooklyn Times, you could buy a front-page centerpiece display ad, which crowded out the lede story about a teacher’s union contract. Does anyone know if the cartoon counts as canon? My guess is not, seeing as I don’t remember Cyndi Lauper appearing in any game.

Anyway, I know it’s 10 days late, but happy 25th anniversary Mario! Who knew that when my mom bought you used from some local college kids for my fifth birthday that you’d implant yourself in our collective consciousness  be the most influential art form of our generation.

#Sigh. I’m going back to bed.

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A List of Beers H. Jon Benjamin Drank on Stage Last Night at the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival (in ascending order)

Posted on September 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

Pilsner Urquell (tallboy)

Red Stripe (tallboy)

Amstel Light (tallboy)

* NOTE: it is not clear how many of each variety he drank, only that he was continually drinking from each can on stage, while co-host David Cross stuck mostly to Tecate (tallboy).

“I have a hangover kids. Do you know what that means?”
“You’re drunk?”
“No, it means I was drunk yesterday.”

Also, here’s a picture of Eugene Mirman in a dunk tank:



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BK tornadoes nearly killed George Bailey 121 years ago

Posted on September 17, 2010 | Leave a comment

Yesterday’s maybe/maybe not tornado was hardly the first to rock the county of King’s. I’m not sure who first found these 19th century Brooklyn Eagle clips, but they were posted online from the Brooklyn Public Library:

BK Eagle June 22, 1858 full article BK Eagle, Jan 10, 1889 full article

Highlight from the 1889 story: “The varnish factory of George W. Bailey had one corner of the building blown down by the force of the gale.” George! Everything will be OK!!

And a meandering, meditative highlight  from the 1858 incident:

“From the contemplation of the harrowing spectacle, the mind turns in horror mingled with the sorrowful sympathy which goes out to the stricken sufferers from every kind heart and generous mind. Nothing more appalling has taken place in this country in recent years. It makes a shocking contribution to the list of disasters with which the new year has unhappily opened, conveys a sharp and penetrating reminder of the helplessness of man when the gigantic forces of nature are arrayed against him, and emphasizes the fact that, after all, the climatic and atmospheric conditions amid which we live grant no immunity from the dangers monopolized [I think some text is missing here] longer much comfort for the inhabitants of this Temperate Zone in reflecting upon the horrors of the simoon, the earthquaake, volcanic eruptions at Krakatoa and elsewhere and the march of pestilence beneath Southern skies. Beside and earthquake, we have had one blizzard, and now follows the tornado, bringing to our doors not only the story of death and destruction but an intimation that the scope of its deadly work is becoming broader every year.”

They don’t write em like that any more.

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BK TORNADO ATTACKS EVERYONE, UNLEASHES BILL PAXTON NOSTALGIA

Posted on September 17, 2010 | 2 Comments

BROOKLYNTORNADOPOCALPYSE 2K10!!

Everyone in NY today was stunned by the sudden, furious and fast storm that swept through the city and left much carnage in its wake, even killing someone in Queens when a tree fell on a car. Was it actually a tornado? As of press time, the Weather Service was still looking into it. But it certainly looked hellaciously windy from our 5th floor perch on State Street. Here’s what was going on just one block over on State Street between 3rd Ave and Nevins, where you will see one very large tree was uprooted (though it did not appear any person or property was injured).

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As roommate Lars put it: So much for being the Greenest Block in Brooklyn.

But seeing as this is 2010, every single second of this tornado/whatever has already been internet catalogued and is now googleable. Brooklyn365 has a good roundup of videos of the storm, and Pat’s Papers posted this one of some bros doing as bros do in a crisis (hint: saying “DUDE!!” a whole lot) in what could likely become the Double Rainbow video of this news event. But NY Mag is the winner so far by finding the best torNYdo pic so far, featuring Twitter user Jazzy BK and her niece Sara:

what are you looking at?

All this, by the way, appeared on the internet within 30 minutes of the branches falling outside our windows, long before even the WCBS news van showed up on State Street that evening. Crowd sourcing!

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Posted in actual occurrences, brooklyn

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Nutsackett Up (shameless self-promotion)

Posted on September 16, 2010 | 1 Comment

Dear blog reader(s?) –

As any of you who has attempted to have a conversation with me well knows, the reason I write so prolifically is because my ability to speak coherently has all but completely atrophied over the years into a miasma of stuttered sentences, awkward pauses and more “likes” than a Kanye Facebook status. Despite this, people have recently started asking me to talk out loud in front of small crowds

As such, fellow Brokelynite Beth Hoyt has invited me to ruin what is usually a very nice (and free) evening of storytelling at The Sackett bar in Park Slope this coming Wednesday at 8 p.m., where I will be sandwiched between several people who are much better at this than I (see below). Continue reading →

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Posted in brooklyn, soapbox friends

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