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Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll.

Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll. published on 2 Comments on Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll.

Day 2 of my friend plugs! Who doesn’t like sex and drugs and rock n roll? Well, not really drugs. But who doesn’t like gossiping about sex and drugs and rock n roll? A-ha! My friend Judy McGuire, a sex-n-love advice columnist who has interviewed some pretty important rock stars in her time (like Joe Strummer), wrote an entire book on the subject.

The book launch party takes place this Thursday, July 12th at Powerhouse Arena in Dumbo. It’s sure to be a blast and if my opinion is not enough to convince you, refreshments will be served.
Very Good Indeed.

It’s Atlantic Dammit!

It’s Atlantic Dammit! published on

I’m a bad friend. My BFF, t-shirt designer Deb, made these statement tees and I never gave her a plug. Oh, but everyone else did! Nah, I’m not in the dog house, but I’m the last kid in town to feature these Brooklyn activist shirts on my blog.

Remember the whole Atlantic Yards fiasco? Eminent domain? Promises of low income housing and jobs that never materialized? Protests from the community? Yeah well, what’s done is done. What’s done can’t be undone.

But that doesn’t mean Deb…or anyone else…has to stop bitching about it.

The story is that Barclays Bank bought the subway station name rights and now the Atlantic/Pacific stop is called “Barclays Center”. First of all, as much as New Yorkers accept change, we are creatures of habit. Anyone calling The Triboro “RFK Bridge”? How about the Queensboro “Ed Koch Bridge”? Hell’s Kitchen?

You get my point. But to add insult to injury, the name “Barclays Center” wasn’t something that was earned. It was bought (kind of like our current elections). Popped on a project that many people are unhappy about.

Looking at the half full glass, one can always say that it could have been worse. Could have been called “Forest City Ratner Station”.

Get yer t-shirts here.

Related Deb interviews at DNA and Prospect Heights Patch.

Burning Down the House

Burning Down the House published on 1 Comment on Burning Down the House

fire

This is a public service announcement!

Am I the only one who gets so annoyed with smoke alarms going off whenever I cook (which isn’t often) or when the battery starts dying that I just take them out altogether? Yeah, bad idea.

The other night I received a text from my tenant after I went to bed that he smelled something burning. After I was all like “WTF, Dude? I’m trying to sleep!” I went to check out the house and lo and behold, as soon as I opened bedroom door I saw smoke everywhere!

The culprit was an outlet but the REAL culprit was a cat. Do I have to spell out what that cat did to the outlet to nearly kill us all? It was a GFI outlet near the sink but I guess those don’t react too well to piss. By the time we got down there, we didn’t see any flames and the outlet and circuit breaker had tripped, but the wall was hot and the smoke looked as if there was an actual fire.

So, a few precautions if you have bad peeing cats. Keep those outlets covered! Of course, being eternally mid renovation, we didn’t even have an outlet cover to protect the wires. That’s probably why it was so bad. Put something in front of outlets or use child safety plugs.

And the good news is that I went out and bought smoke alarms! The bad news is that I’ve yet to install them.

End of Life

End of Life published on 2 Comments on End of Life

Untitled

New York has lost a bunch of history over the past 20 years but the sad news about Life Cafe is a particularly tough one.

Just nine months after losing their East Village location due to greedy landlords, now the owners must close their doors in Bushwick for the same reason. Kathy and her husband David John will not seek to open up again in another area as they plan on semi-retiring.

I frequented Life Cafe on 10th and B in the 80’s and the only reason I ever find myself in Bushwick is if I’m craving Life’s scrambled tofu for brunch. Always preferred the less cramped 10th Street space.

It should be noted that both locations opened in those neighborhoods pre-gentrification. Kathy was a pioneer on the business scene when others wouldn’t take risks in those areas.

The risk paid off both times. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. Thank you for bringing us Life, Kathy. You will be missed.

Gross Laundry Story

Gross Laundry Story published on

laundry

We all know about cleaning the lint filter in dryers but how often do we clean the washing machine filter? For me, it’s never. In fact, I didn’t even know my washing machine had a filter or trap.

Let’s backtrack a bit, shall we? I’ve mentioned before that I’m no fan of Frigidaire appliances. We already replaced the dryer last year but we were holding off on the washer because it still worked (intermittently). About 6 months ago, I started noticing a sulphury smell whenever the wash would drain. I knew that something wasn’t right but the clothes came out clean enough.

Last week the washing machine stopped working in the middle of a wash. It wouldn’t drain or fill with water. It sounded as if the motor was trying to fill the chamber with water but nothing was coming out. I ordered a new machine in hopes that it would arrive soon enough so I wouldn’t have to hit up the laundry mat.

Six piles of laundry later, my online purchase was still pending so we figured we might as well attempt to fix the thing temporarily.

Not draining = something is blocked up. All of those socks we lost over the years?

Whomever designed this particular machine didn’t make it easy to empty the filter. We had to turn the machine over and take it apart. At the end of the day, we found about $2.00 worth of change and a bunch of pet hair blocking the trap.

I canceled the new machine and I promise to check pockets before doing a wash.

trap1

Design Sweepstakes!

Design Sweepstakes! published on

This looks cool: Apartment Guide “Your Picks. Your Place.” Sweepstakes.

Is your crib in need of a style update? Here’s your chance to win $10,000 for a design redo. Visit YourPicksYourPlace to vote once per day for your preferred room design showcasing furniture and home décor items selected by featured bloggers. The site will feature four different room designs every two weeks. By voting, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $10,000 grand prize or one of eight $250 weekly prizes to go towards your own selections for your home.

The sweepstakes runs until August 14th. Good luck!

It’s Rooftop Film Season!

It’s Rooftop Film Season! published on

Summer is here. Me? I hate the heat. I hide indoors during the day in the lovely air conditioning and come out at night like a vampire. That’s why I love Rooftop Films. It’s gotta be dark to project the movie so I don’t have to worry about that annoying hot yellow thing in the sky.

Rooftop Films is coming at ya in all five boroughs. What’s in store?

Manhattan’s Tompkin’s Square Park has “Taxi Driver” this Thursday, June 28th.

“Ghostbusters” is coming up on July 2nd in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

Celebrate July 4th in Queens with a selection of “American Experience” short films at Socrates Sculpture Park.

The Bronx Terminal Market has more child friendly films (not that I didn’t see Taxi Driver as a kid) starting with “Rango” on July 10th.

Last but never least is Staten Island with baseball themed films at Richmond County Bank Ballpark. “The Natural” is showing on July 26th.

And that, my friends, is just a small sampling of the summer films showing around the city. Check out this easy Rooftop Films schedule for more.

Bungalows For (Almost) Every Borough

Bungalows For (Almost) Every Borough published on 9 Comments on Bungalows For (Almost) Every Borough

Bungalow Court On The Bay

We all know that The Catskills have their fair share of bungalows, but what about right here in our fair city? Do you know which New York City neighborhoods still have bungalow communities?

The cute block of bungalows above is Shaler Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

City Island in The Bronx is more like a quaint seaside village than a Big Apple neighborhood. The two bungalows shown above are for sale. The one on the left is listed with Weichert for $289k and the one on the right is for sale by owner at $355k.

Well, Staten Island HAD an adorable bungalow colony right on the beach, but sadly Cedar Grove has been demolished. Out with the historic old, in with the tacky new…

Rockaway Beach Bungalows, Queens NYC

The bungalows of The Rockaways are probably the best known in the city.

It’s hard to believe, but Manhattan actually has some small single family homes left. I found these Inwood bungalows on Google satellite and was surprised to learn that they are priced under $300k when they go up for sale. Hello next project!

Correction: I confused Inwood, Queens Long Island with Inwood, NYC. 🙁

Photoville, USA

Photoville, USA published on

What could be better than an emerging photographers’ photo exhibit? An entire photography town! Dumbo’s Brooklyn Bridge Park transforms into Photoville this weekend for all of us lovers of captured moments.

Of course there will be exhibits around “town” but that’s not all, folks! Photoville features workshops, a greenhouse, a beer garden and even a dog run!

Thirty plus shipping containers will act as galleries showing the works of world photographers, with big wigs such as Magnum and Photo District News getting in on the action.

The event runs until July 1st. Check out the weekend schedule here.

That 70’s Bathroom

That 70’s Bathroom published on

photo

As in vogue as pink bathrooms are nowadays, the same doesn’t really hold true for olive, does it? I mean, it’s a nice enough color but olive kitchens and baths just don’t stand the test of time. Is it because they’re more 70’s than 50’s? Will they ever come back? Who knows? Mom jeans and frosted hair are in….well, the kids are wearing them….or was that like 2 years ago already?

Anyway, this bathroom was in my mom’s friend’s house in Staten Island. Italians. That’s a mirrored shower door so you can watch yourself pee. I like the location of the bidet just across from the toilet. You can save time in the morning and brush your teeth while you’re taking a dump.

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