Abandoned Brooklyn Tour!

Courtesy of FreeNYC.net:

Abandoned Brooklyn

Date: Saturday, January 24th
Time: 7:00pm
Location: UnionDocs (322 Union Ave, W'burg)
Cost: Free

To kick off 2009, UnionDocs presents a photographic exploration of Brooklyn's industrial neighborhoods, abandoned airports, deserted train stations and empty powerhouses. Abandoned Brooklyn documents a transitional moment in Brooklyn’s history, as it moves from its industrial past towards a future that seems to be dominated by luxury apartment buildings and chain stores. This exhibit is curated by the documentary collaborative UnionDocs and kicks off a new season of their Documentary Bodega screening series. As part of the opening night event, there will also be a screening of the film Covered Tracks - a short documentary about an abandoned homeless city underneath Manhattan.

Lusting After the Raveonettes

Yet another good show! The Raveonettes are one of the few bands I've seen lately who were better live than on their albums. Sample songs can be heard on their Myspace page; I had only been familiar with their most recent album, Lust Lust Lust, prior to the show last night at Webster Hall, and I maintain that this latest album is their best work to-date.

Videos below.

Upcoming Events This Week/Weekend

To help myself stay organized and invite friends, stalkers and others who have chanced upon my blog, I am going to list events I plan/hope to attend tonight and in the coming days...

• Wed, 1/14/09, Soulgasm, Dance Party, Sin Sin Bar, East Village
• Wed, 1/14/09, Scout Tufankijan Book Launch Party for Yes We Can, a photo-book covering Obama's campaign, DUMBO
  
• Thurs, 1/15/09, Handmade Music Night, Music-Making Party/Spectacle, Bushwick
• Fri, 1/16/09, The Raveonettes, Music Show, East Village, Webster Hall
• Sun, 1/18/09, Eight, Theater, PS 122, East Village
• Monday, 1/19/09, 23rd Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., BAM, Brooklyn
  

Tonight, 1/14/09, Wed, I am going to Soulgasm at Sin Sin Lounge in the East Village, which will be playing funk, house, dub and more. Sin Sin is located at 248 E. 5th St, between 1st and 2nd Ave. It's free before 11 pm and $5 after!

Also, as listed on Myopenbar.com, this is happening tonight:

The Obama Campaign: Photos by Scout Tufankjian

artsy booze, no cover / 6pm-9pm

Powerhouse Arena

New Feature:
Click on bar names to view more information including past and upcoming listings, maps, and other bars nearby.

37 Main Street,
at Water Street
DUMBO
(718) 666-3049

Map It | Directions

Kick inauguration week off right, with a boozy Brooklyn book launch party for Scout Tufankjian's Yes We Can. Tufankjian was the only independent photographer to cover Obama's entire campaign, including the
period before his run was announced.

1/15/09, Thursday. I am intrigued by yet another event listed on Myopenbar.com:

Handmade Music Night

PBR, no cover / 7:30pm-10:30pm

3rd Ward

New Feature:
Click on bar names to view more information including past and upcoming listings, maps, and other bars nearby.

195 Morgan Ave.,
btw. Meadow and Stagg St.
East Williamsburg
(718) 715-4961

Map It | Directions

Dorks, geeks and nerds (but not dweebs or doofuses) unite in this sprawling celebration of all things musical and electronic. 3rd Ward, crafty-bitch central Etsy.com, Make Magazine, and createdigitalmusic.com present this party-come-science fair featuring, among other things:

• a theremin made from mannequin parts
• "gestural controllers made with wood and 3-D printers"
• "over-the-shoulder musical fashion with snakeskin and leather"
• a "prepared" (i.e. f--ed-with) Nintendo System

And from the 3rd Ward website:

Handmade Music
7:30 - 10:30 pm & Every 3rd Thursday Going Forward!

Part party, part mixer, part Science Fair, and part performance, this is an informal chance for geeksters and the geek-curious to come together, relax, and discover new sounds. The evening is a gathering of inventors of new instruments & music technology. Featuring circuit-bent toys, custom software and patches, interactive digital & visual instruments, custom electronics, electricity-powered noisemakers, DIY robots and new acoustic instruments. And it's open to everyone from hard-core hackers & newcomers to music lovers who want to learn about the DIY music scene.

To sign up visit http://beepit.eventbrite.com/.

On Friday, 1/16/09, I am going to see The Raveonettes at Webster Hall.

And Sunday, 1/18/09, I am seeing the performance Eight at PS 122, a play about the intersecting lives of twenty-somethings in London.

Monday, 1/19/09, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day features a tribute to MLK, Jr. at BAM, starting at 10:30 am.

Instead of No Pants: Flavor-Tripping!

It's too cold to try to find those shenanigans, though I expect it will attract quite a lot of attention. I can't even imagine not wearing pants (or at least tights) on a day like today. Thank goodness for publicity and the internet; it's guaranteed that footage of No Pants 2k9 will be available for viewing from the warmth of my apartment.

Instead of that, I think I am F_I_N_A_L_L_Y going to make it to a "flavor-tripping" party tonight, and I can't *wait*! Especially since I have decided as my New Year's resolution to cut back on drinking, this is the perfect Saturday night adventure, snow be damned.

There is even a blog devoted entirely to flavor-tripping parties: Flavor Tripping.

Post- event update: Don't get your expectations too high; I barely noticed a difference in food flavors from the so-called miracle fruit. The biggest difference is that it makes sour food taste more sweet than sour.

Upcoming Shenanigans: No Pants 2k9

Unless you count riding my bike through Bushwick and getting called "mamacita" and "mi amor" by the passing Mexican bicyclists as a cultural activity, the past few days have been a bit absent of cultural activities for me. But I do see my biking and tutoring around Brooklyn to offer its own cultural insights.


Anyway, for some non-conventional cultural activities, I have gotten word of this event happening this Saturday, January 10th: No Pants 2k9, sponsored by Improv Everywhere and happening in cities throughout the U.S. and worldwide.

The concept is that everyone meet at a specified point, act like they don't know each other and claim that the mass pants-removing is entirely coincidental. This pants-free group then proceeds to ride the subway together sans pants, the whole time acting calm and oblivious that they are part of a larger sans-pants group. Unfortunately, Improv Everywhere asks that you both do NOT show up if you plan to be a spectator only and that you do not photograph the event. There will be photography of it, rest assured, though, from the Improv Everywhere crew as well as undercover and/or disregarding participants. Oh, and they ask that you not wear any underwear that is too controversial or offensive, like a thong: the point of the activity is to amuse NYC observers, not to offend or shock them.

From the Improv Everywhere website, a snapshot from a previous No Pants event:

FYI, it's not illegal to walk around in your underwear in NYC.

Details from website:

When: Saturday, January 10 at 3:00 PM, Sharp! (Over by around 5:30)
Where: Meet at Foley Square at the black sculpture/fountain. It’s near the Brooklyn Bridge 6 train stop, between Centre and Lafayette, just north of Duane. (Google Map)
Bring: A backpack and a metro card.
Do not bring: A camera (we’ll have several photographers on hand)
Wear: Normal winter clothes (hat, gloves, etc)
Facebook: You can RSVP to the Facebook Event
After Party: For those over 21, there will be an official No Pants after party at Sidebar, 15th Street and Irving Place. First drink is free if you arrive without pants.

Growing Up Here, Post-21...

I feel like having yet another birthday and New Year's in NYC has brought me to closer, more openly familiar and developed terms with the city. That and it has also become embedded in me somehow, in my psychological and sociological make-up. I have the opportunity to be very serious intellectually and professionally, while still maintaining a sense of liberty and youth. Yet you haunt me, NYC, your habit of feeding vices and your reliance on money.

For now, my cultural tastes of the city are reigned in to smaller, more local activities, like bike-riding, potlucks with friends, and going to neighborhood bars with some extra draw, like the campfire at Union Pool...