Real Journalism written by people
Mothers of reinvention. “It’s never too late to be what you might have been,” according to writer George Eliot, who spoke from experience. Born in the UK in 1819, Mary Ann Evans found her audience using the masculine pen name in order to avoid the scrutiny of the patriarchal literati. Reinvention, of style if not self, is in the air […]
Our tech-dominated society is generous with its glimpses of dystopia. But there’s something especially chilling about the captive audience meetings in the documentary Union, which screened at the New York Film Festival and is currently playing at IFC Center. Chronicling the fight of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), led by Chris Smalls, to organize the Amazon fulfillment warehouse in Staten […]
Park Stickney is a harpist who lives in Switzerland and Sunset Park. He played recently in a Sunset Park bar, solo, duet and in trio* all together a set of jazz infused miracles. His banter was almost as captivating as his music, and another of his gifts which he freely shared, The performances were a rich alchemical mix and transformed […]
Hey there Brooklyn! Welcome to “Tits Up Brooklyn!”, the first column about the musical mayhem that is happenin’ in our borough. I am musical maven Medea Hoar, your local music slut. Why music slut you may ask? Well, because, musically speaking, I’ll try anything once, and if I like it, you betcha I’ll be back for more. Summer in the […]
Red Hook is long overdue for its close-up. And this month, it gets one. Running November 1-10, the 2nd Annual Red Hook Community Cinema film festival showcases 25 films made in, about, or that feature the neighborhood. The series opens Friday, November 1 with Isaac Dell’s Boys at Twenty at 7 p.m., followed by a costume party at 9. Like […]
This morning I enjoyed a special benefit of my impersonation of an art critic when I attended the press opening of the Brooklyn Museum’s 200 Anniversary Celebration exhibitions, “The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition” and the extensive reimagining of the museum’s ” American Art” collection. The “Brooklyn Artists Exhibition” includes over 200 artists and occupies the ground floor galleries which once held the magnificent American Indian collections. […]
If you value listening to your inner voice, you know there are many ways to access this wisdom. I’ve studied astrology since I was a teenager, meditate daily and keep a dream journal. Now, I’m exploring tarot—not for the first time. Stepping into the unknown (The Fool) I had a brief flirtation with tarot when I first moved to New […]
Sunny’s Bar is a community staple in Red Hook. It has served local patrons and out-of-towners alike for over a hundred years, first as a lunch spot for dockworkers, and since the 1990’s as a archetypal Red Hook watering hole. Now, it is also the subject of a play, titled The Wind and the Rain: A story about Sunny’s Bar. […]
Who says a jazz band can’t play rock music? George Clinton didn’t quite ask that question on the 1978 Funkadelic track “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” but it’s a logical implication of the various permutations of the lyric, which questioned genre divisions at a time when radio and television were still segregated, even if schools weren’t. These […]
By the time you read this, Bud Powell’s 100th birthday (September 27) will have passed, with a 24-hour broadcast from WKCR and a 25% discount promotion from Blue Note records on the two Powell LPs on their label currently in print. So after blowing out the candles, let’s take a look at how that is a tragedy. Powell was the […]
The 62nd New York Film Festival kicked off September 27 with Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel. What followed on the main slate was one heavy hitter after another: U.S. premieres of The Room Next Door, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, Brady Corbet’s Oscar frontrunner The Brutalist, Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada, and Hard Truths, […]
Review of “Static,” by Brendan Gillen Review by Michael Quinn New York has always been a magnet for ambitious creative types. Making it in this city rewards you with a unique badge of honor—though success here often comes at a high price. How much are you willing to pay? This question lies at the heart of “Static,” the well-paced debut […]
A belated Baldwin birthday bash. After being rained out on August 2—the proper centennial of the outspoken author and activist James Baldwin—the release concert for Meshell Ndegeocello’s No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin (CD, LP, download from Blue Note Records) in the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series was rescheduled for August 14. As it happens, that night was […]
