CNN hits up Bklyn: "The Rise of the Local Chain"

The Brooklyn Beat has been m.i.a. for a while as its editor-in-chief has been gallavanting around the country working like a madwoman on the Auto Show Circuit (and yes "Diary of An Auto Show Model" will be updated soon) and would like to apologize for its lack of juicy blog-worthy tid bits. One of these days it will be back in action, but until then we'd like to share a video clip we stumbled upon thanks to Twitter. CNN did a fabulous piece on "The Rise of the Local Chain" and chose noneother than our fine area of Brooklyn to focus on. We here at The Brooklyn Beat are proud. Check it out!

German American Friendship Day Party

I had the pleasure of attending the German American Friendship Day Party in Central Park last Saturday. It was a festive day full of music, dancing, bratwurst and of course beer, beer and more beer! I captured some images and video to share my experience. PROST!

Pizza in the Cone

Pizza in the Cone, the grab and go pizza treat made famous in Brazil and popular in many countries around the world, has finally made it's way to United States. And where did they choose to open their first US location? Why Astoria of course! Traditionally a Greek American area, Astoria nowadays is multi-ethnic and you can find a little bit of everything in this quaint Queens neighborhood.

When I walked by the store I found it hilarious, and the Brazilian style signage definitely caught my attention, a sexy model smiling with her mouth wide open about to take a big bite of her cone pizza. Their key marketing messages which read "the new way to eat a pizza" and "simply delicious and fun" also made me chuckle.


Obviously I had to walk inside the store and check it out for myself. Originally I found it silly, but then I realized that the concept is actually not that much different then the traditional New Yorker way to eat a slice, folded in half. They just took it one step further by baking the pizza ingredients inside the cone shaped dough. This way you can "grab and go" and eat your lunch en route to your next destination. With our high paced pedestrian lifestyles, Pizza in the Cone should actually fare well here in NYC.

I did some internet research and found out that there are three rival companies here in the USA, CrispyCones , Konopizza, and Kornet Pizza who opened their first location in Kansas, go figure! The future of portable food is here! Perhaps we will see a Brooklyn location in the near future. . . . .

Mommy Needs a Cocktail

Nabe blogger Melissa Lopata, known in the world of Twitter as @HipSlopeMama, has co-founded a new business with Ellen Bari called Momasphere. Momasphere is an organization that is focused on empowering moms and celebrating individuality. Their unique events will change the way we think of social networking for moms, they are not "child-centric" and hope to "reawaken & celebrate" the multiple aspects of womanhood, not "just" being a "mom." On top of having time away from family to replenish oneself, network, and make new friends, moms can revel in that proceeds of the events go to Madre, an international women's organization that uses human rights to advance social justice for women. Pretty cool stuff.

The first Momasphere event (which will soon be bi-monthly), "Mommy Needs a Cocktail," will be held this coming Sunday, September 13th at Melt Restaurant in Park Slope. The event is co-sponsored by everyone's favorite sex shop, Babeland and will be moderated by Carolyn Castiglia, a mom comedian who has been seen and heard nationally on VH1, MTV2, NBC's Last Comic Standing, Nick-at-Nite's Funniest Mom in America 3, The Maury Show, ABC World News with Charles Gibson and Sirius/XM Radio. Babeland will also lead a fun and informative mini-workshop ~Sex Toys 101 for Moms~ and they'll give away free gifts! All that plus a free cocktail (or mocktail), hors d'oeuvres, raffle prizes, professional portraits, free massages and more! For more information on the evnt and to buy tickets, click HERE.

FLOAT

Yesterday I embarked upon the long inter-borough journey of taking the G to the 7 to the N train in order to get to Astoria. I then walked 10 minutes on Broadway to Vernon to finally arrive in LIC and escape into the FLOAT exhibit at the Socrates Sculpture Park. For those of you not familiar with the Sculpture Park, it is a large open space located on the East River just across from Roosevelt Island. It was a landfill until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community members transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents. The fascinating history of the park is told eloquently in this short video that you can watch here:




I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the park. I was just excited to have a Sunday evening off and be able to enjoy the beautiful weather. I picked up a brochure detailing the 2 day exhibit which explained that it is the 4th in a biennial series of "interactive installations and ephemeral sculptural works." The artworks were to be presented as "encounters and interventions for the passerby" and would feature performances and temporary sculptures created by 15 artists specifically for Socrates Sculpture Park. Although I did receive a BFA in Drama from Tisch School of the Arts and took my fair share of classes in the Experimental Theater Wing, I've always had a hard time understanding "performance art." As strange as it may seem to me (as my brain just does not work like that), it fascinates me. I love to see what people create and how they choose to express themselves within these mediums.

As I entered the park I was immediately distracted by screeching sounds on the microphone. It was "open mic" hour and small children were approaching the stage to take a stab at their own form of "performance art," by making bizarre sounds and occasionally singing, encouraged by a middle-aged man wearing a skirt who was the creator of the Silk soymilk sculpture (pictured below). "Strange" I thought, but it seemed to go with the theme of the day (starting them young, right?) There were also artists demonstrating dying techniques and if you brought an article of clothing to them they would transform it into a vivid indigo hue. There also was an arts and crafts table for children which was a big hit.

(The photo below shows you the Silk soymilk sculpture, and if you look in the distance the man in the blue skirt was the creator)

Now on to the "sculptures." One of the ones that caught my eye was Megumi Tomomitsu's Fantastic Plastic Collection based on her photography series. On Saturday she apparently wore a customized bag costume and then proceeded to wash, hang to dry, and fold her growing collection of plastic bags. (We all have to have a hobby, right?) Then on Sunday she placed small plastic fruits in the bags before hanging them on a tree. The bags were intended to "amplify the wind blowing through the branches for the rest of the day" and pillows were placed around the base of the tree to "encourage a momentary rest surrounded by the meditative sound of the wind." I missed the "performance" part of the art but I managed to capture a photo of the final product.



What I am sad that I missed was Paint Box, performed by Nellie Fleischner. Nellie was twisted up on a tree swing that hung in the middle of a 10ft tall wood structure wrapped in fabric. The performance was slated to happen while I was there on Sunday, but as her assistants were twisting her up to the proper height before she was to be released, the swing broke and she fell from 10 ft. high. Thankfully she bounced up immediately from her fall and was unharmed, but the performance was postponed an hour and I was unable to stay. I have a "before" photo of the box below. In order to visualize the "after" picture, imagine that when she was released, the paint cans that were hanging from the bottom of her swing were lifted by centrifugal force and paint was spun onto the fabric to create a "uniform abstraction". Sounded pretty cool, if anyone has a photo of the colorful "after" paint box, please e-mail it to me!


As I was leaving, I saw two people drilling and digging in the grass. I wasn't sure if they were doing construction on the park, or if it too was a version of "performance art." Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a daily task and "art." Do we need an audience for it to be considered art? Or is "art" simply a state of mind? It is all up to interpretation and intention. It was a bizarre day, but an exciting one nonetheless. I have posted some more photos below that I took yesterday of other installations in the park. Although FLOAT is over, the Socrates Sculpture Park hosts many other exhibits year-round. For a complete list of events, visit their website by clicking HERE.

American Beer

Brooklyn Based, one of my favorite thrice weekly e-mail list-serves that delivers pointers on the "best food, art, shops, services, and people in the County of Kings," is hosting it's last outdoor event of the summer tonight. Yes people, I said LAST, it is almost September and the summer is coming to a close (and I haven't even had a chance to don a swimsuit and hit the beach yet, how depressing is that?) and I can't think of a better way to end the heat wave and welcome in the fall than by sitting outdoors enjoying local brews and taking in a flick made by one of Brooklyn's own.

Barcade and Gutter bar owner Paul Kermizian, made a documentary called "American Beer". It chronicles a road trip that he and five friends took across the USA in June of 2002. Their mission? To visit 38 breweries in 40 days. The journey was so inspiring to one of the guys in the minivan, Mr. Jeremy Goldberg, that upon returning from the trip, he started his own brewing company, Cape Ann. Haven't tried Goldberg's Gloucester, MA made brews yet? You are in luck because if you attend the screening tonight at Hope Lounge in Billyburg, your ticket includes a complimentary glass of Cape Ann's Fisherman's Bavarian Wheat, yum!

All info and advanced ticket sales can be found by clicking HERE. As a bonus, the 50th attendee will win two "American Beer" pint glasses and a copy of the DVD. Reviews of people who have seen the film can be found on imdb. One user writes, "It's the Anti-Budweiser movie. . . . . I rushed out to a bar immediately and downed a cold one. Cheers to good beer. " Doors open at 6:30pm and the film screens at 8pm. What a fabulous Brooklyn "brew-ha-ha" evening!

2009 NYC Couch Crash Festival

A few weeks ago I wrote about the fabulous Couch Surfing website that I just found out about (if you missed it you can read the blog HERE.) Since then, I made a profile, joined the network and became a member of the NYC group. Yesterday I received an e-mail alerting me that this week is the 2009 NYC Couch Crash Festival. Couch surfers from all over the world are flying into NYC this week to participate in the largest Couch Surfing Music festival in the United States. The events kicked off on Sunday, but you've still got six more days to take part in the festivities, make some new friends, and get some couches in line for the next time you impulsively book a plane ticket to say Sweden and realize you've got no place to stay.

Picnics, Free Hugs, museums, galleries, walks around the city, bike tours, acoustic shows, dinners, large gatherings, concerts from Couch Surfing Traveling Bands, and after-parties at night are just a few of the activities on the menu. Highlights from the events list include free Bronx Zoo Day, a French dinner party, a 3 borough bike tour, $1 Food Tour, concerts at Southpaw, a Bollywood House Party, a Bulgarian Dance Club, and it all ends with a picnic on Governor's Island on Sunday afternoon. If you want to see the entire event list and find out how to get in on all the action, check out the official website by clicking HERE. Have fun!