Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn

Brooklyn Ink: The Life and Death of Spec. Kevin O. Hill

The Brooklyn Ink returns this morning with new stories, new features, and with news. Today they feature the story of the life and death of Kevin Hill, who was 23 when he was killed just days ago in Afghanistan. His story also serves as a reminder of those from the borough who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://thebrooklynink.com/featured/kevin-hill

BI has also expanded its Daily Roundup of news, which they say they will update throughout the day, to keep you up-to-date on news from the borough.

BI has also introduced a new daily feature -- Here is Brooklyn -- vignettes that capture the moments that animate life in the borough.

Good to have you back.

Brooklyn Blogade This Sunday at Kush Hosted by Reclaimed Home

It’s Reclaimed Home’s turn to host the rolling Brooklyn Blogade.  It's at Kush in Clinton Hill and it should be fun and interesting. A blogade is like a mini-Blogfest. A chance to meet other bloggers, talk, and get inspired. It's open to anyone interested in blogging. See the details below:

Since this is not a neighborhood blog and since I’ve lived in just about every part of Brooklyn, I could’ve chosen any location.

I chose Kush in Clinton Hill because one, I can walk there from my Bed Stuy home and two, it’s one of my favorite restaurants in Brooklyn. Like, on the top three.

So anyway, what’s a blogade all about? Well, it’s a monthly gathering of bloggers who get together to exchange ideas, encourage one another and eat. There’s usually a theme. I wanted to talk about the technical aspects of blogging, so I’m getting my web designer to fill us in on blogging from different angles.

Vanessa of Noseround Productions will look at breaking away from your average post and making your blog more interactive. She’ll bring in examples of plug-ins, add-ons and open source platforms, such as web carts and forums. She’ll try to explain ways to make your blog both user friendly and also owner friendly.

Sounds good, no? So far there are about 20 of us gathering on the 28th. If you haven’t RSVP’ed yet just give me a holla to let me know you’re coming. I’m still working out the menu, but it’s a brunch thing with a vegetarian and a vegan option. Cost will be less than $15.

Hope to see you there!

Tonight: How To Blog at BAX / Drop in Tonight If You're Interested

Due to the great success of my HOW TO BLOG class at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange I am doing it again. I hope those who participated before will continue and new people will join, too.

Learn how to blog with Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, a hands-on workshop for anyone interested in becoming a blogger and those who already blog but want to know more.

Learn from a pro.

This course will cover technical issues but also creative and conceptual ones. We will also discuss blog design, how to write a great blog post, top ten tips for new bloggers, search engine optimization, social networking platforms and more.

You don't need to know a thing about blogging. All you need is the desire to blog!

Monday nights at 7 p.m. on June 1, June 8 and June 15 at BAX on Fifth Avenue and 8th Street.

	ACCESSBAX WORKSHOPS FOR THE CURIOUS, CREATIVE ADULT HOW TO BLOG with Louise Crawford, Mondays, June 1, 8, 15 from 7-9pm. To register call (718) 832-0018 or email info@bax.org more>>

Blogfest Videos From Blue Barn Pictures

Pardon Me For Asking from Blue Barn Pictures, Inc. on Vimeo.

Un trocito de El Palo en Brooklyn from Blue Barn Pictures, Inc. on Vimeo.

Why not me? from Blue Barn Pictures, Inc. on Vimeo.

Top Topics on Brooklyn Blogs from Outside.in

One of the sponsors of Brooklyn Blogfest, Outside.in,  tracked the top topics, places, and neighborhoods in Brooklyn that got buzz and traffic so far in 2009. So if you, as a blogger, are wondering what kind of content people are looking for, we've got the top ten for you:

10. House of Yes. This Bushwick artist collective, office, and performance space includes a 50-foot high arial truss for performers to swing from. Circus troupes and other bohemian-types have performed here.

9. Aero Restaurant. This Bay Ridge restaurant was broken into in over a year ago but is still garnering attention.

8. Clinton Hill. This brownstone neighborhood, already a hotbed for blogging (number one in the outside.in Bloggiest Nabes of the U.S. 2007) has become even more popular with the launch this March of the New York Times Ft. Greene and Clinton Hill blog, The Local.

7. Toren Building, 150 Myrtle at Flatbush in Downtown Brooklyn. This glass-faced housing development has been in the public eye through every step of its construction.

6. Sunset Park High School. The Brooklyn Prospect Charter school will open this fall in a new building in Sunset Park and lots of bloggers have written about the news.

5. Atlantic Center Mall. With all the buzz about the Atlantic Yards project over the past couple years, the shopping plaza is finally getting some attention via (among other sources), crime blotters and FIPS undercover at Target series.

4. Park Slope, BK. We've got writers and we've got bloggers in this lovely brownstone neighborhood. Always a hot ticket for readers and writers alike.

3. Trader Joe's, Brooklyn. It may not have two buck chuck but it's TJs!

2. Pomegranate Market. The nation's largest kosher grocery store is in our very own Coney Island. Lots of blog mentions and lots of people reading about this place.

1. aaaaand the number one is Alex McCord. She is a hot topic in Brooklyn since starring on the Real Housewives of New York (and since the word of her nudie pics surfaced).

 And this is what outside.in had to say about their Top Ten.

So what have we learned? Time doesn't matter--place names and hot topics stand the test of time. People still want to read about them after the fact, especially if you had exclusive or breaking news at the time. And, scandal always sells, but then again, so does real estate. Make sure you tag your posts in Geotoolkit, so your stories will show up on our pages and on our partner network. Help represent Brooklyn!

Eleanor Traubman: A Woman With a Gift

 Eleanor Traubman, the producer of Blogfest, runs the blog  Creative Times, and is a people person extraordinaire. She has the amazing ability to facilitate constructive collaboration between creative people. 

Smart, organized and focused, Eleanor is a great person t o have on your team. We all owe her a tremendous debt for her tireless enthusiasm, energy, unlimited store of great ideas, and creativity. 

Eleanor: thank you for making Blogfest 2009 so successful. But we also appreciate the way you made the process so smooth and fun.

See her pictured with her equally gifted partner Mike Sorgatz, who runs Art in Brooklyn. He designed the Blogfest poster and was a key member of the Blogfest Planning group. He is also a talented painter. 

Once Upon a Time There Was A Brooklyn Blogfest

Go to Katia Kelly's lovely coverage of the Brooklyn Blogfest, which reads like a delightful children's book. I loved it. Here's an excerpt. Read the rest at Pardon Me for Asking.

It had rained terribly hard most of that Thursday on Main Street in Dumbo

No matter. Inside the PowerHouse Arena, some very busy people were at work, transforming this bookstore into a gathering place for Brooklyn's finest bloggers.

Blogging The Blogfest: What Worked, What Didn't

POWERHOUSE ARENA:   powerHouse is one awesome place for an event. Honestly, I wasn't sure how a bookstore/gallery could morph into Blogfest but it did.  The space is very well run by Craig Mathis who runs a tight ship and is very accommodating. He was helpful from our first meeting in December right until the clean-up at the end of the night. A great, well-run space and a real class act! Big cheers and thanks.

Some thoughts: powerHouse's Arena seating makes a fantastic stage (even though it's supposed to be where they seat people; we turned things around). We were able to put a video screen high above the "seating." I worried about sight lines becks of the columns but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. I heard some complaints about the sound in the back of the room?? Complaints? The bookstore/gallery atmosphere with its cool couches, pew seating and bookstore content was perfect for the Blogs-of-a-Feather.

THE SPONSORS:  We had the ULTRA GENEROUS SUPPORT of local businesses like Babeland, Brooklyn Frameworks, Whimsy & Spice Brooklyn Confectioners, D'vine Taste, Pizza Plus, Willie's Dawgs, Hugh Crawford. Alison Lowenstein, Melt, Slope Suds, Peeled and Grimaldi's

Casio GENEROUSLY donated a digital camera and watch and Yelp and City Limits, a site which, probes under-reported or entirely ignored topics, did some great promotion. Oh and Jolt Energy Gum made a generous donation of their caffeine gum (the woman from Jolt was just so nice...).

Plenty of thanks go to Outside.in, which helped out with water (and wanted to donate beer but we decided against that) and provided a fun Top Ten List of top stories in 2009 thus far.

Some thoughts: Next year Blogfest will continue to look to generous local sponsors but we need a couple of BIG SPONSORS, who are willing to help pay for the event. Maybe the answer is a government or foundation grant or corporate sponsors who believe in what we're doing and want to help us make it happen. 

Two of the sponsors didn't come through on what they promised and still managed to do promotion at the Blogfest (boo). That was a little disappointing.

TECHNICAL AND AV: Between powerHouse, Rooftop and Blue Barn Pictures we were COVERED. A great team of terrific A/V people made the night a great success.

ROOFTOP FILMS: Right here in Brooklyn we've got a great AV rental company with a great staff. Chris was fantastic in all our phone calls and emails and he also made a site visit. They gave us a great rate even though Blogfest is not yet a non-profit and threw in mics and tables for free. Big cheers for Rooftop and staff.

THE VIDEO: Bravo to Blue Barn Pictures and Adrian Kinloch for the superb videos they created for Blogfest. We can't thank them enough for their great creativity, taste, energy and hard work.

THE PANEL: Big HUGE thanks to the panelists, who were all interesting and thanks to Megan Donis, who is a skilled moderator. They were all open, articulate and comfortable on stage.

Some thoughts:  Next year we want more debate and back and forth and maybe fewer people. That said, it was a fascinating look at a range of Brooklyn bloggers.

BLOGS-OF-A-FEATHER: This worked on so many levels. It was a great way to involve even more bloggers than you can put on a program. It was also a great way to give even more people "ownership" of the event. It was also a chance for the audience to interact and talk about the work they are doing in small groups.  The BOAFs also give us the opportunity to bring up more issues than time allows during the program.

Some thoughts: Next year we might think about extending this section. At powerHouse sound was certainly an issue as a room full of 300 people arranged in small groups is noisy. Microphones for the facilitators is one idea. Perhaps we need a space with separate break-out rooms.

THE VOLUNTEERS: I can't say enough about the great help we got from 20 bloggers who pitched in on the day of and set up chairs and whatever else needed to be done. Here are their names: Joyce Szuflita  (Volunteer Co-Coordinator) – NYC School Help; Alice Crawford; Amanda Wiss – Urban Clarity

Ameet Maturu – Rice of Life; Brenda Backer – A Year in the Park; Casey Fitzpatrick – Out About Brooklyn; Cathryn Swan – Washington Square Park; Chandru Murthi – Seeing Green; Claude Scales – Self Absorbed Boomer; Elizabeth Palmer - Midnight Cowgirls; Hyatt Michaels – F.O.K.U.S.; Julio Barros – E-String Technologies, Inc.; Joyce Hanson – Good Girl Blog; Kim Maier – The Old Stone House; Martie McNabb – Memories Out of the Box; Michael Szuflita; Morgan Doninger – Puzzling NYC; Neil Carlson – Brooklyn Creative League; Peter Solomita  (Music), Groovalicious in Brooklyn; Robin Lester – Clinton Hill Blog; Tuey Connell; Yvett Velazquez

THE SHOUT OUT: Sadly the Shout-out, a Blogfest tradition, didn't really work at Galapagos because of the noise and the desire to party and talk (both understandable desires on the part of attendees).

Some thoughts: Next year maybe the Shout-Out could be part of the show again but we may have to limit it to 20 bloggers so that it doesn't run as long as it has in recent years. Or maybe we don't need it anymore.

GALAPAGOS ART SPACE: Cheers for Galapagos; the people there were seriously fantastic. The staff is great, welcoming, accommodating and generous. Hailey Rhatigan responded to my first email request of the space within minutes with a: "We'd be thrilled to host 300 bloggers on the night of Blogfest!" And their enthusiasm never let up. Big cheers for Galapagos who also said, the crowd can stay until 2am if they want.

THE AUDIENCE: What a crowd of interesting, enthusiastic people! Thank you all.

Some thoughts: Diversity is still an issue. While I think this year was better in that department Blogfest still wants to reach out to people of different skin colors, ethnicity, and socio/economic groups. We also want geographical diversity (all parts of Brooklyn, that is, otherwise what right do we have to call it the Brooklyn Blogfest?). That said, this year thanks to outreach on the part of many, we made some strides in that direction.

FOOD AND DRINK: Okay. We decided on no-alcohol for the program and a cash bar at the party, which seemed to work. We were expecting free iced tea and snacks but that didn't happen.

Some thoughts: Did people really miss white wine and beer at the show? We've always had alcohol at the after-party and not at the show (except the first Blogfest, which was pretty wacky). Last year the beer was meant for after but people found it first thing...

NEXT YEAR: The Fifth Annual Blogfest will very likely be a full day event with morning and afternoon workshops, an evening program, Blogs-of-a-Feather and an afterparty. What do you think of that?

SAVE THE DATE:  Oops we don't have a date yet. But a Saturday in early May. Or maybe April would be better. It may be the cruelest month, but there's too much going on in May! And June: forget about it.

Blogging the Brooklyn Blogfest: A Great Night Down Under the Bridges

Thursday night the rain stayed away and the crowd didn't. Approximately 300 attended the Brooklyn Blogfest at powerHouse Arena. At 6:30 the bookstore/publicspace was already getting crowded and by 7:30 when the houselights were turned off, the room was packed.

The show began with an Video Opener by Blue Barn Pictures, a fun montage of last year's event. That was followed by a somewhat nervous welcome from me (Louise Crawford). I described the past three blogfests:

The Brooklyn Blogfest started in 2006 at the Old Stone House in Park Slope with about 100 bloggers. That was back in the stone ages of blogging and things were just heating up in the Brooklyn Blogosphere But it was a great event and it was obvious that it would have to happen again.

Every time we do these things it feels like a whole new world out there.

At the first Blogfest, we were just thrilled to meet each other and put a face to a name of someone we'd been reading online. At the second Blogfest, it felt like a social movement and we found out that Brooklyn was the bloggiest place in the United States. That was exciting. Last year we were at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Fourth Avenue and on the program there were bloggers, or course, but also representatives local newspapers, television and radio.

This year there are more blogs than ever. Newspapers, television, twitter, facebook everyone is blogging and it's getting harder and harder to define exactly what a blog is. But in Brooklyn we know what it is. It's what everyone in this room is doing and it comes in many shapes and sizes, many flavors and styles.

I also announced that there would be a cash bar and free food at Galapagos. Then it was time for Adrian Kinloch's Picture Brooklyn: A Tribute to the Borough's Photobloggers, an exquisite montage, edited by Kinloch, who also wrote the electronic score, which featured 20 photobloggers including:

Brenda Becker, ayearinthepark.typepad.com; Tim Becket, cityofstrangers.wordpress.com; Adam E
bigskybrooklyn.blogspot.com; Andrew Gardner, street-level-nyc.blogspot.com; Meg Groome
libertyontenth.blogspot.com; Sharon Kwik, bedstuybanana.com; Amy Melson, brooklynometry.blogspot.com; Lisanne McTernan, foundinbrooklyn.blogspot.com; Janah Terese, eatbrooklynfood.blogspot.com; Lola Zarus, cherrypatter.com; Jonathan Barkey, nolandgrab.org; Tracy Collins, freakinblog.com; Hugh Crawford, onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com; Jake Dobkin, bluejake.com; Nathan Kensinger, kensinger.blogspot.com; Lorna Keuning, lornagrl.com; Adrian Kinloch, britinbrooklyn.com; Chris Kreussling, flatbushgardener.blogspot.com; Robin Lester, clintonhillblog.com; Lara Wechsler, larawechsler.com

As a video intro to the Why We Blog panel three short vignettes made by young filmmakers at Blue Barn pictures were shown. The first one directed by Max Kelly, son of Katia Kelly, was about Katia and her neighborhood blog, Pardon Me for Asking. The second portrayed a young woman who has cancer, who writes an inspiring blog called Why Not Me. The third one was about a woman who blogs about life in Brooklyn, in Spanish, for an audience in Barcelona. All three videos were incredibly well done, spunky and very interesting.

The panel was up next. Hip Slope Mama, Bed Stuy Banana, Jake Dobkin of Gothamis, Anne Pope of Sustainable Flatbush and Tracy Collins of Another Friggin Blog. A very pregnant Megan Donis was the moderator.

The panelists introduced themselves and it was really fascinating to hear the different reasons why people blog. Here I will quote from Josh Frank's report on the Blogfest in Time Out:

Lopata, a stay-at-home mom, said she got into it to “brand [herself], stay active and stay legitimate” during her time out of the workforce; Dobkin claimed it was “talking smack” that got him started in the blogosphere.

There was one common thread: None of these bloggers write about themselves. “It’s not about you,” Dobkin claimed, adding that successful blogs are about something that other people are interested in (e.g., Tracy Collins‘ photo blog about the Atlantic Yards project, or Bed-Stuy Banana’s blog about her neighborhood).

Anne Pope told the crowd that the 2007 Blogfest inspired her to become a blogger and she talked about the way her blog and her environmental activism are linked.

I enjoyed hearing from Bed Stuy Banana about the sometimes contentious relationship between the blogger and the community she lives in. "Some people want to see this neighborhood as a place of beautiful brownstones and trees. So if I write about a bullet hole in the sidewalk people hate me. I just write the truth of what I see."

Jake Dobkin, whose Gothamist blog is enormously successful thanks to Dobkin's business school smarts and Jen Chung's talent as a reporter, told the crowd: "No more new blogs. Not another small neighborhood blog. You guys need to come together, figure out ways to work together," he told the crowd with purposeful provocation. He also announced that he was going to do a guerilla Blogs-of-a-Feather if people wanted to learn more about monetizing their blogs and advertising."

Needless to say that group was well attended.

The second part of Picture Brooklyn followed and then came the Blogfest dedication to Robert Guskind. Brenda Becker, who writes,  A Year in the Park, spoke eloquently about Bob's influence on citizen journalism and shared an interesting thread in Bob's work:

"With his emphasis on Coney Island and the Gowanus, strange cats and stray pit bulls something connects all of it," Brenda told the group. "Bob could see beauty in that which was broken. And he could see what could be in it again. How a polluted canal could be Venice. A street couch could be absurdest theater. A broken, miserable Coney Island  could be turned into something great."

The Robert Guskind video by Blue Barn pictures featured an interview with Bob created for last year's Blogfest. There was also footage by Bob of the Gowanus Canal and audio from an interview Bob did with Brian Lehrer  all edited to Jesus and Mary Chain's "Dirty Water."

Throughout the program I announced the Top Ten stories that captured the attention of Brooklyn blog readers. This list included: Target, Trader Joe's, Park Slope, the Toren Building, the Atlantic Mall...When I find that list I will post it here.

Finally, it was time for the Blogs-of-a-Feather, a new concept that was rolled out this year. It was a chance for attendees to get together in small groups throughout the powerHouse space to come together with others who blog about similar things.

This concept worked even better than I expected. People did gather and talk and talk and talk; it may have been the best part of the show. I'd love to hear from people who participated in one. How did it go? Did you meet interesting people? How could these groups be better, etc.

At 9:30 or so the crowd moved to Galapagos where, I hear, there was an incredible skirt steak hero from Fairway (it wa completely gone by the time I arrived at 10 p.m. There were also hot dogs donated by Wilie Dawgs, 20 pizzas from Pizza Plus, Middle Eastern Specialties from D'Vine Taste, and more from Fairway.

We tried to do the Shout-Out over there but it didn't work out because people wanted to talk and party and the Blogfest tradiition didn't really work in that particular setting. But a few brave Shout-Outers did get up. The raffle winners were announced and the party went on until mid-night.

The rain never came. And Blogfest 2009 was a great night in Brooklyn down under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

Brooklyn Blogfest 09: Panel

An interesting view of the panel discussion on the steps of the Brooklyn Blogfest stage at Powerhouse Arena with (left to right: Tracy Collins, Another Friggin Blog, Anne Pope, Sustainable Flatbus, Jake Dobkin, Gothamist, Sharon Kwik, Bed Stuy Banana, Melissa Lopata, Hip Slope Mama, and Megan Donis, moderator.  Pix by Henry Lowengard

We are recruiting a volunteer crew for Brooklyn Blogfest 2009, which is on Thursday May 7th at Powerhouse Books in DUMBO. The after party is at Galapagos - right across the street.If you want to join this incredible team of people, email ETraubman@aol.comBENEFITS OF BEING A BLOGFEST VOLUNTEER

• Meet incredible people
  
  
• Free exposure for your website or blog: we post a link to you on our website Brooklynblogfest.com
  
  
• Half price admission - $5
  
  
• Three free raffle tickets for all kinds of goodies
  
  
• Create good Karma - what goes around comes around

Brooklyn Blogfest Has a Long List of Sponsors

Brooklyn Blogfest is a labor of love by a large group of volunteers, local bloggers  who have donated their time, energy and creativity to put the event together. But there's also a long list of local (and not local) businesses who have made a generous contribution to the event. And the list is growing every day. If you'd like to be a sponsor or donate an item to the Blogfest raffle let me know (louise_crawfordATyahooDOTcom. You will be in great compnay. Here is the current list of sponsors:

Brooklyn Blogfest Wishes To Thank Its Generous Sponsors: 

PowerHouse Arena is a laboratory for creative thought. Home to a world-renowned art book publisher, Powerhouse Books, the arena is a gallery, boutique, book store, performance and events space located at 37 Main Street, in New York City's Scenic DUMBO neighborhood.  Powerhouse Arena showcases a series of landmark exhibitions, performances, and controlled mayhem fusing the worlds of art, photography, design, fashion, pop culture, advertising, music, dance, film and TV into a glorious whirwind of captivating spectacle.

Galapagos Art Space is a performance space and bar, offering multidisciplinary bills of theater, performance, live music, dance, film, and visual art.

 Blue Barn Pictures, Inc. is a multimedia production company providing the highest quality images to suit the needs of its clients. Blue Barn Pictures' successful history includes producing imaging for: Canon USA, ExxonMobil, PerkinElmer, Casa Nova Pendrill, EZpass, the Element Agency, Media 100, Armani Exchange, and Worldwide Fight Services.

Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great and not so great in your neighborhood.

Rooftop Films is known internationally as one of the most dynamic film festivals in the world. In 2009, they screened more than 20 feature films, almost all of which were New York, U.S. or World Premieres. This combination of brilliant, original programming and stunning outdoor venues makes Rooftop Films one of the best-attended film festivals in New York.

Outside.in is the best place to discover news happening around you. They  make it easy to check out stories, events, and local discussions within your city, neighborhood, or immediate surroundings. Thousands of sources, including bloggers, newspapers, and even Twitter tweets help you be "in-the-know" about what's happening in your back yard.

Casio is one of the  world's leading manufacturers of consumer electronics and business equipment solutions. 

Babeland offers top quality products, a pleasant place to shop, and most of all information and encouragement to women who wanted to explore their sexuality. Claire Cavanah and Rachel Venning opened the first Babeland store in 1993 in response to the lack of women-friendly sex shops in Seattle.The store's popularity with both women and men eventually led to two more stores in New York and one in Los Angeles, as well as a thriving website.

Peeled Snacks make three tasty and nourishing varieties of fruit & nut mixes that became Peeled Snacks. Peeled Snacks are made with ingredients that you recognize. Large, easy-to-eat pieces of fruit and nuts provide a natural source of vitamins, minerals and fiber - with NO added sugar or fat. The nuts are dry roasted and lightly salted. And for the chocolate lovers, we use the finest rich dark chocolate with 61% cacao in our Shock-olate variety.

Melt is a restaurant in Park Slope, which aims to bring people together, meet and mingle, taste life and experience something new. Innovative New American classics, big on taste in the open kitchen and a taste of style with the sleek, modern decor all at an affordable price.

Slope Suds is a multi-service Park Slope salon and soap bar offers an escape from complicated city life.

Pizza Plus has served real Brooklyn pizza since 1987 on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. A very attractive neighborhood place with super delicious pizza and other Italian entrees.

D’Vine Taste is a gourmet market on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. Nalie Elsebaie, a native of Lebanon, runs the store with the help of her two brothers. Besides the wonderful selection of olive oils from Spain, France, and Italy, they carry five olive oils from Lebanon, which Elsebaie describes as having a stronger, greener taste. Make sure to sample the fresh fig treats, with figs imported from Lebanon

Brooklyn Frame Works provides custom picture framing with an emphasis on preservation. Serving Park Slope Brooklyn since 1997, their friendly staff is happy to help customers design the ideal treatment for your cherished artwork.

Whimsy & Spice Brooklyn Confectioners create the ultimate accompaniment to tea and coffee, our shortbread cookies and biscotti, elevated and enlivened by the use of fresh ground spices, aromatic flavors and roasted nuts, can also be enjoyed alone. Choose among 3 deliciously complex shortbread flavors for a delicately crisp cookie: Chocolate Orange Cardamom, Honey Lavender, or Brown Sugar Gingerspice, or try one of our biscotti, Cinnamon Chocolate Malt or Chocolate Chili Cashew, which are twice baked to crunchy perfection. All of our cookies and sweets are hand rolled, hand cut and hand packaged in Brooklyn, NY, using only the finest ingredients with no added preservatives or artificial flavorings.

Alison Lowenstein is the author of City Weekends: Greatest Escapes and Weekend Getaways In and Around New York City.  She is the author of City Baby Brooklyn. She is also a contributor to Time Out Kids, and her work has appeared in Parenting and Babble among other publications.

Dweck Center: Fort Greene and Clinton Hill - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

The New York Times and Brooklyn Public Library Present an event at the Stevan Dweck called Fort Greene and Clinton Hill — Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. It sounds interesting but I can't be there (dang) because that's the night of Hugh Crawford's opening at the Old Stone House.

But if you dare to miss Hugh's opening you can go. Just go ahead. See if I care.

WHAT:
A lively discussion about two of Brooklyn’s vibrant neighborhoods. The event will be moderated by New York Times metro reporter Andy Newman, who runs The Local, the new blog on NYTimes.com that focuses on Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

WHO:

--Brooklyn native, author and filmmaker Nelson George, whose new memoir “City Kid” recalls his life in the borough.

--DK Holland, publisher of The Hill, a 25-year-old
semiannual magazine about Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

--Carl Hancock Rux, playwright, poet, musician and author of the Obie-award winning “Talk” as well as essays about Fort Greene’s history.

--Jonathan Butler, founder of Brownstoner and co-founder of Brooklyn Flea market.

WHEN:
Tuesday, April 28 | 7:00 – 8:30 PM

WHERE:
Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture,
Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn

ADMISSION: FREE

Bagels with the Borough President

Marty Markowitz and his staff invited a group of bloggers for breakfast on Thursday morning. It was a mostly convivial event held in a large conference room at Borough Hall. Coffee, bagels and muffins, courtesy of La Bagel Delight were provided. In attendance were: Atlantic Yards Report, Brownstoner, Flatbush Gardener, Pardon Me for Asking, Noticing New York, Gerritsen Beach, The Local (the New York Times' blog) four representatives from Brooklyn Heights Blog, which is soon going to roll out The Brooklyn Bugle, Self-Absorbed Boomer (who is also with Brooklyn Heights blog) and Ditmas Park Blog

I think the event was an effort by Marty and his staff to say to bloggers: we want to work with you, we want you to call us for information about what goes on in the BP's office, etc. Maybe even:  we take you seriously. 

The first half of the meeting was "off-the-record."  I know whatever Marty said was supposed to be off the record but what about all the interesting things the bloggers said? We talked about journalistic ethics, advertising, and the role that blogs play in Brooklyn. In the last half-hour or so, Marty took questions from the gathered group and that was on the record. Topics covered included access to the Brooklyn budget, Dock Street (the tower in DUMBO that could block views of the Brooklyn Bridge), Superfund status for the Gowanus Canal, Lundy's, digitizing of the Brookyn Daily Eagle at the Brooklyn Public Library, the use of Bloomberg's non-profit  for Marty's charities and more. 

In answer to Katia Kelly's question about the EPA's possible designation of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site Marty said. "I am trying to get a grasp of what it would all mean. Trying to get a handle on it."

About Dock Street, it was mentioned that historian David McCullough, author of a book about the Brooklyn Bridge will be meeting with Marty next week.

I was impressed and surprised that Marty invited Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report to the breakfast. Oder, who describes his blog as "a watch dog blog that offers analysis, commentary, and reportage about Forest City Ratner's planned $4 billion Atlantic Yards project, the largest ever in Brooklyn, to build a basketball arena plus at least 16 high-rise buildings," has been a real thorn in Marty's side about the Atlantic Yards. But not inviting Norman would have been a serious omission, of course. So give credit where credit is due. Needless to say, there was some tension and even conflict during the event between the two.

But I can't remember if that part was on or off the record.

It's always fun to attend blog gatherings because it allows you to put a face to a blogger that you know only on-line. The bloggers were asked to introduce themselves to the group and say a little bit about their blogs and whether we think of ourselves as journalists or not. We were also asked to describe our business model...

What business model?

I could tell that Marty is somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of blogs. He says that he "does email" but that's about it when it comes to computers. "I don't do Facebook, blogs. I don't have time." He said that his wife is the one who reads the blogs and told Oder that she even reads Atlantic Yards Report every day. Marty's staff also feeds him information about the blogs and what the commenters are saying. His staff members did seem to have an intimate knowledge of most of the blogs present. 

Check Out the Blogfest Website: Lots of Information There

Find out why Brooklyn is the Bloggiest place in the US at this year's Brooklyn's Blogfest on May 7th at 7 p.m. at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO.

And check out the Blogfest website which is now chock full of information about the Blogfest. You can also register online.

Alao: be on the look out for cool Blogfest posters designed by Mike Sorgatz.

Calling All Photobloggers: Entries Invited for Blogfest 09

This is a call for entries for the video montage of photoblogger's work, to be projected at the May 7th  Blogfest event in Dumbo. This is a great way to share and see your work on a big scale, and the entry criteria is pretty simple.

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FRIDAY APRIL 17th

Any format of capture is fine, digital or film, but the images must be emailed to us as RGB jpgs.

You can submit up to 10 images, at a minimum size of  1920x1080 pixels each, but try and keep the overall package less than 10 megabytes.

Each filename must start with your real name, so something like joe_sixpack_redhook1.jpg

All the images should be 'zipped' into one folder with your name and blog, like this:
joe_sixpack_blogging_about_brooklyn.zip

The email should contain your full blog name and URL, as well as your own name and any special instructions as to how you would like us to credit the images. Ideally the images you submit will have appeared on your blog, but you do not have to be a dedicated photoblogger. Either your blog is based in Brooklyn, or the images will have been taken in or of Brooklyn.

Important

By emailing us images your are confirming that:

• You are the photographer and you own all copyright, license or usage rights to all of the images you send
• You are granting us permission to use your images to publicize this year's Blogfest, and future Brooklyn Blogfests, online and in print through a variety of publicity materials
• You grant us permission to show a detail of your image, or reproduce it in full, alone or with other photographers work

Email entries to:

photobloggers AT brooklynblogfest DOT com

The Making of the Brooklyn Blogfest 2009

To plan Brooklyn Blogfest 2009, a great group of bloggers have come together to make it the best Blogfest yet. In the past, I was generally in charge of planning the program and choosing the speakers. That may account for the somewhat overlong line-up of speakers.

Okay, so I had a hard time saying no and everyone sounded so interesting (and they were!). This year we're trying to streamline the show and give it a more focused feel.

The centerpiece of this year's program will be a panel discussion, Why We Blog: Voices, Visions and the Realities of the Blogosphere. The moderator and the panelists will be announced in the coming weeks.

The planning group has been brutally honest about what worked and what didn't at past Blogfests. Creating a more diverse  Blogfest, one which represents  more neighborhoods in Brooklyn and a more diverse group of people, was a top priority.

Interactivity was another priority.  That's why we added Blogs-of-a-Feather, breakout sessions at the end of the program that will give particpants a chance to meet with other bloggers who share their interests. These groups will be facilitated by notable bloggers in each category of blogging (place, social activist, photo, political, popular culture, food, home & garden, historical, and others).

Like last year, video segments are being produced for the show. Brit in Brooklyn is creating a video tribute to the photo bloggers of Brooklyn. Blue Barn Pictures is creating an opener, as well as short videos about interesting bloggers in Brooklyn. Blue Barn also created the Brooklyn Blogfest 09 teaser video, which is already circulating and was directed by Sharon Dowdell.

And what about the Shout-Out, that fun and democratic portion of the program, when new bloggers are invited to get up and share their blogs with the world? That's been moved to the after-party at Galapagos, where there's a great stage. There are strict rules of course: speakers are limited to a certain number of sentences (we talked about Twitter length lol). Say what you absolutely need to say, give out your URL and be on your way. Last year, 60 people got up and it was fantastic (and long). This year it will be just one element of the party at Galapagos, where there will be a cash bar and free snacks and lots of time to hang out and network.

The Blogfest is on May 7th at 7 p.m. at PowerHouse Arena in Dumbo. Please register online at brooklynblogfest.com. Admission is $10, $5 for students and seniors. We're encouraging people to bring exact change so that the line will move quickly. The afterparty is at Galapagos, which is right across the street. Directions and information at the website.

Spread the Word: Brooklyn Blogfest 2009 on May 7th

Find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in America at the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 7, 2009 at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO.

Brooklyn Blogfest 2009, an exciting, idea-filled event for bloggers, blog readers and the blog curious is where you'll find: Insight. Advice. Inspiration. Resources.

Here's your chance meet your favorite bloggers; learn about blogging; be inspired to blog.

"Where better to take the pulse of this rapidly growing community of writers, thinkers and observers than the Brooklyn Blogfest?" ~ Sewell Chan, The New York Times

This year's event will take place on May 7, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the powerHouse Arena in DUMBO.

The Details

Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest
May 7, 2009
Doors open at 7 p.m.
powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Admission: $10

Brooklyn Blogfest after-party
Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
(right across the street from powerHouse Arena)
Cash Bar and refreshments

Tell Your Friends and Family: Blogfest 09 is May 7 at 7 p.m.

Find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in America at the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 7, 2009 at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO.

Brooklyn Blogfest 2009, an exciting, idea-filled event for bloggers, blog readers and the blog curious is where you'll find: Insight. Advice. Inspiration. Resources.

Here's your chance meet your favorite bloggers; learn about blogging; be inspired to blog.

"Where better to take the pulse of this rapidly growing community of writers, thinkers and observers than the Brooklyn Blogfest?" ~ Sewell Chan, The New York Times

This year's event will take place on May 7, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the powerHouse Arena in DUMBO.

WHY WE BLOG will be the theme of a high-profile panel discussion and this year, Brooklyn Blogfest introduces BLOGS-OF-A-FEATHER, special small-group sessions, where you can meet with bloggers who share your interests.

Once again, there will a VIDEO TRIBUTE TO BROOKLYN'S PHOTO BLOGGERS and the annual SHOUT-OUT: a chance to share your blog with the world!

Whether you live to blog, blog to live or are just curious about this thing called blogging, you won't want to miss Brooklyn Blogfest 2009, the best Blogfest yet.

For more information or to register, visit the  Brooklyn Blogfest website.

To find out about sponsorship opportunities for Brooklyn Blogfest, contact Louise Crawford (e: louise_crawford@yahoo.com, c: 718-288-4290).

The Details:

Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest
May 7, 2009
Doors open at 7 p.m.
powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Admission: $10

Brooklyn Blogfest after-party
Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
(right across the street from powerHouse Arena)
Cash Bar and refreshments

About Brooklyn Blogfest 2009:

Whether you live to blog, blog to live, or are just curious about this thing called blogging, you'll want to attend the premiere annual event for bloggers in Brooklyn and beyond.

At Brooklyn Blogfest 2009: listen to some great speakers; shout out about your blog; and network with fellow bloggers during special breakouts. Meet your favorite bloggers; learn about blogging; be inspired to blog at Brooklyn Blogfest 2009.

Brooklyn Blogfest 2009:

Brooklyn Optimist: A Tale of Two Greenpoint Newspapers

Here's an excerpt from Brooklyn Optimist's interesting posts about the two newspapers of Greenpoint:

Now that the Greenpoint Courier has gone the way of the New York Sun, the Optimist wanted to take the opportunity to recognize his neighborhood's two remaining newspapers: The Greenpoint Gazette and The Greenpoint Star.

The Optimist is a regular reader of both these papers and even coughs up 35 cents to buy the Star each week at his corner deli, even though getting it for free doesn't require inordinate ingenuity. As a former weekly newspaper editor, I enjoy these local papers, even though by the time they hit the stands, I've generally read all of their stories on blogs like New York Shitty, Greenpointers, and Brooklyn 11211.

Women's Herstory Induction Ceremony At Brooklyn Borough Hall

I guess it's Women's History Month because this Thursday, March 12, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham will host the annual Woman’s Herstory induction ceremony and reception at Brooklyn Borough Hall, honoring women who have made invaluable contributions to their communities, Brooklyn and New York City .

And the winners are:

Winner of the Lucy Burns Activist Award:

Susan Anderson, chair, Towns Square, Inc.

Winner of the Shirley Chilsom Leadership Award:

Pamela E. Green, executive director, Weeksville Heritage Center

Winner of the Emily Roebling Business Award:

Monique Greenwood, president & CEO, Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns

Winner of the Betty Smith Arts Award:

Susan Feldman, artistic director, St. Ann ’s Warehouse

Winner of the Lady Deborah Moody Founders Award:

Dr. Nicoletta Pallotta, founder, Women Against Violence:

Winner of the Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Humanitarian Award:

Dr. Nancy Talavera, director of psychiatry & neurology, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Cente

Cool Blog: Women and Hollywood

There's  a cool blog out there produced by a Brooklyn resident, which makes it a Brooklyn blog even though its subject matter isn't Brooklyn at all.

The blog is called Women and Hollywood:  News and commentary about women and Hollywood from a feminist perspective. I for one find it very interesting. Here  blogger, Melissa Silverstein explains what the blog is all about:

Ever notice that most of the films in mainstream Hollywood are by and about boys? Women & Hollywood does and is tired of it. Women & Hollywood will focus on bringing attention to the films, TV shows, theatre and other entertainment that highlights women and our contribution to the culture.

This blog will focus on what’s going on for women in Hollywood: what movies are being made; what directors are getting jobs; what projects actors are working; and will call attention to the continuous disparity that dominates Hollywood.

Yesterday: The Local on Brian Lehrer

You can listen to yesterday's podcast of Brian Lehrer's show about The Local, the new Brooklyn blog run by the New York Times here.

So this morning, besides watching in something between awe and horror as our in-boxes rapidly filled up, my colleague Tina Kelley and I got to talk to Brian Lehrer on WNYC 93.9 FM, and answer questions about The Local.

Here’s the clip, for those who are interested. Just click on the little arrow below the W in WNYC.

New Blog on the Block: The Local

So the New York Times is blogging in Brooklyn. The new blog is called The Local and it's based out of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, already two of the bloggiest communities in America. But that doesn't mean they don't need more local coverage. More is more.

The Local is an experiment in hyper-local journalism by the Times run by seasoned reporter Andy Newman. They are also staffing it, I believe, with students from the CUNY School of journalism.

In that familiar Times Roman type we all know and love, The Local's mission statement blurbbage says that "it provides news, information, entertainment and informed conversation about the things that matter to you, your neighbors and your family, from bloggers and citizens who live, work and create in your community — as well as journalists from The New York Times." 

The editors of The Local were on Brian Lehrer, like, 2 seconds ago. They wanted to put me on when I called in but the segment ended before I could get on.

What was I going to say?

I was going to say what I say to all new bloggers. Welcome to the neighborhood. Glad that you're here  because the more coverage of Brooklyn the better. I'll even bring the welcome wagon by if you want. Some advice: keep it real, do it with passion, love and a true interest in the community that you're covering. And post frequently.There are some hungry blog readers out there.

Caroline McCarthy Talks Back to OTBKB

I heard from Caroline McCarthy, one of the speakers at Tuesday night's Mashable: Next Up NYC event at the 92YTribeca.

A technology reporter for CNET, that's her on the right in the picture on the left from Moblogic on Flickr.

She had this to say about my post, State of the NYC Blogosphere: A Bunch of Twittering 20-Somethings.

"Glad you liked the hula hoop story, and thanks for coming! 

"I do, however, want to take issue with the "Would you want to see a doctor who didn't go to medical school" remark -- that's apples and oranges in my opinion.  I didn't go to journalism school because I was offered an entry-level reporting job without it, and hence had the option to learn a craft from skilled editors and reporters (my colleagues' resumes run the gamut from BusinessWeek to the LA Times),  while earning a modest salary.  If I'd gone to journalism school, I would've driven myself into debt from paying tuition while being uncertain about what the job market would be when I graduated.

"It's not a new phenomenon; many of my 30- and 40-something colleagues who picked up the profession a decade or two ago did not attend journalism school either. My background was so completely off-the-grid (I was a history of science major) that when I interviewed for the CNET job, the editors had to give me a writing test because I had no writing samples to provide.

"Anyone can *try* to be a journalist, and anyone can contribute to the news.  Making a living off it, well, we all know that isn't easy.  Most of the audience, we knew in advance, was coming from the marketing and PR sectors and was interested in hearing about blogging as a business and its potential for profit in the current advertising recession. 

"So that's why we talked about what we talked about.  As an East Villager -- a neighborhood that SHOULD have a great culture of independent blogging -- I'm jealous of how well they've caught on in Brooklyn.  That said, if my downstairs neighbor is any indicator, maybe we are on our way. :)"

March 12th at Brooklyn Reading Works: The Annual Memoir-A-Thon:

On your mark, get set, MEMOIR!

Brooklyn Reading Works presents the annual Memoir-A-Thon. Curator Branka Ruzak has gathered together a stellar group of memoirists, whose work touches on: incest, teenage psychiatric incarceration, an AIDS sanitorium in Cuba and more,

Robert Goolrick reads from "a blistering family memoir of a life deformed."

Mindy Lewis writes in honest, unflinching prose of a teenage stay on a psychiatric ward.

Elena Schwolsky shares her experience working in an AIDS Sanitorium in Cuba.

Erica Silberman gives us nuts in her pockets and tissue up her sleeve.

Robert Goolrick is the author of The End of the World As We Know It, described by the New York Times, as "a blistering family memoir." His novel A Reliable Wife, will published by Algonquin Book on April 7th. He worked for many years in advertising and lives in NYC.

Mindy Lewis is the author of Life Inside: A Memoir (Washington Square
Press), named a 2003 Book of the Year by the American Journal of Nursing and
an ELLE "Must Read". She is also the editor of Dirt The Quirks, Habits and
Passions of Keeping House, forthcoming from Seal Press this spring. Her
essays have been published in Newsweek, Lilith, Poets & Writers, and Body &
Soul magazines. She teaches at The Writer¹s Voice of the Westside YMCA, and
has also taught at Brooklyn College and the Metropolitan Center of Empire
State College/SUNY.

Elena Schwolsky public health educator in NYC who is writing a memoir
about her experience working in an AIDS Sanatorium in Havana, Cuba in the
mid 90's.  Elena spent ten years on the frontlines of the AIDS epidemic as a
pediatric nurse in Newark, NJ.  When her husband died of AIDS in 1990, she
found her voice in writing and began to explore the intersection of her
personal and professional experience.  In 2001, Elena was honored with an
award for her writing from the Barbara Dane/Money for Women Fund.

Erica Silberman reads from her collection of essays, Nuts in My Pockets,
Tissues Up My Sleeve. She is a playwright, essayist, and screenwriter. She has written
sixteen times for theAtrainplays, a twenty-four hour theatre project. Her
plays have been produced or developed at The Ensemble Studio Theatre, New
World Stages, Playwrights Horizon, the Stonington Opera House, and the
Metropolitan Playhouse. She is published in Teachers and Writers, and will
be published in Playscripts, and Sunday Salon 'zine. Erica has been featured
on NPR's PRI. She is a mentor at Girls Write Now and the co-president of The
New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts & Media.

The Where and When

Thursday March 12th at 8 p.m.

The Old Stone House

Fifth Avenue and Third Street

State of the NYC Blogosphere: A Bunch of Twittering 20-Somethings

On Tuesday night,  I found my way into a noisy cocktail party at the 92YTribeca, where I knew no-one in the crowd of twittering 20-somethings.

Billed as a night of networking, conversation and new ideas, I entered the buzzy, jargon-filled world of Mashable NextUp NYC .

But it was too noisy for conversational networking and most attendees were too busy staring at their iPhones to bother reading each other's name tags. I was, however, approached by a very nice PR woman for Gerber and Nestle, who remembered me from another event and we had an interesting chat about the delicate business of approaching bloggers about product giveaways. 

The state of the NYC Blogosphere was the question of the night and a line-up of "high-profile" speakers tried to tease out an answer.

Mostly, the speakers, some who came prepared, some who spoke off the cuff, approached the topic circuitously but some revealed themselves to be savvy mediafarians, unable to fathom a world where people don't spend their day staring at an iPhone.

Maybe that cool rectangle is the brave new world.

But if Twitter is the state of the blogsphere I feel alienated—even if I do spend my day staring at my iPhone (and maybe I should actually activate my Twitter account).

Still, disappointment pulsed through my veins. I was hoping for something really exciting and visionary. But there was no vision in sight: The NYC new media world is just like the old media world dressed in cool tech clothing.

For me this event was the opposite of the Brooklyn Blogfest as it had none of the local fervor, social activism, entrepreneurial passion or nutty creativity of that event. And there was absolutely no mention of Brooklyn, which is KNOWN to have more blogs than anywhere else in the USA.

For this crowd, New York blogging is Gawker and Nick Denton. End of story.

It's all about page views, ad sales and how to drive people to your site with clickable headlines. Which isn't to say that I didn't learn a hunk about what's going on in the big city. Because I did.

In fact, I much enjoyed adorable Nicholas Carlson's spiel about how to write a headline. A senior editor of Silicon Alley Insider, he was funny without being snarky and quite smart about this twittering, new media world.

The word aggregation was in high usage. But Carlson did say humorously, "It is a good idea to bring something original to the Internet from time to time."

This was not an entrepreneurial group of self-starters. These were bloggers and publicity folks who probably studied new media at college and actually get paid to work for some of the larger blogs like Gizmodo, CNET, Gawker, The Daily Beast and Silicon Alley Insider. They graduated into a world where "print is dead" and they have little sentimentality about that and no intention of going to journalism school.

Which is fine by me. But some old-school-types find that vexing. Like the 30-year-old guy sitting next to me, who grumbled, "Would you want to see a doctor who didn't go to medical school."

A communications professor, he sneered at the idea that anyone can be a journalist. "This generation is so entitled," he told me.

I did enjoy Caroline McCarthy, a staff writer of CNET News/CBS Interactive, who told a funny story about posting a photograph of a hula hoop in the hallway of her East Village apartment building to Twitte. The next day, she heard from her downstairs'  neighbors, who twittered back with:  'Hey that's our hula hoop.'

"That's how you meet your neighbors in 21st century Manhattan," she told the crowd. That got a big laugh and I loved it.

We bloggers in Brooklyn are always wondering where all the local Manhattan blogs are. But I guess the Manhattan scene is, like Manhattan, younger, glitzier and more fame and fortune-oriented.

Hyperlocal it ain't. This crowd wants to reach the millions out there who read Boing Boing and watch You Tube. They want the hits and the ad revenue.I know, I know, you gotta make money somehow. But still...

When new media becomes status quo it does lose its edgy eccentricity. Maybe that's why it's still so scrappy and fun out here in Brooklyn. Even better, Manhattan doesn't even know we exist.

Ond day soon they'll find out about us. Just like the Manhattan-centric, once upon a time, discovered the clubs, restaurants, and art spaces of Williamsburg, the great restaurants of Fifth and Smith and the brownstones of Park Slope.

Feeling under the weather like everyone else I know AND eager to get home to Obama's speech, I dragged my sorry and misunderstood Brooklyn self out onto the streets of Tribeca.

 I left before the keynote,which meant I didn't get get to hear Bryan Keefer, who is director of product for The Daily Beast.(what does that mean?) and co- authorr  All the President’s Spin: George W. Bush, the Media, and the Truth. The book grew out of Spinsanity.org, a group blog he co-founded that was devoted to debunking political spin.

The Daily Beast, isn't that Tina Brown's new blog? I wonder if she's ever been to Brooklyn?

Delicious on the Slope Full of Bloggers on Sunday

It was a full house at Sunday's Blogade at Delicious on the Slope, a very hospitable restaurant located at 641 President Street (between 5th and 4th Avenues) in Park Slope.

The Brooklyn Blogade is a montlhy get-together of bloggers, blog readers and those interested in becoming bloggers.

There were 30 people there, including City Councilmember David Yassky, who is a blog reader and is  running for City Comptroller.

The following are the bloggers who joined the festivities. And check out their cool blogs.

hipslopemama.blogspot.com
artinbrooklyn.com
bluebarnpictures.com/blog
fallinglight.wordpress.com
sheepheadbites.com
saucytart.typepad.com
twobitsofstring.com
ttstone.com
thisbarsucks.com
Luna Park Gazette
spacecadetgirl.com
newtoyork.com
seeinggreen.typepad.com
washingtonsquarepark.wordpress.com
midnightcowgirls.blogspot.com
rosemariehester.com
womenandhollywood.com

otbkb.com

Meet the Bloggers: Today at Delicious on the Slope

TODAY I am hosting the January Brooklyn Blogade at Delicious on the Slope (641 President Street between 5th and 4th Avenues) from 1-3 p.m

These monthly events are for bloggers of all stripes, blog readers, and those who are interested in becoming bloggers.

We will spend some time discussing the upcoming Brooklyn Blogfest, an annual gathering of Brooklyn bloggers in May. But these blogades are also a great chance to share information, network, and get to know interesting people.

So come on out:

The Where and When

Brooklyn Blogade hosted by OTBKB
January 25th from 1-3 p.m.
Delicious on the Slope
You can order brunch or lunch or just have a beverage
641 President Street between 5th and 4th Aves.
Question: louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com

New Brooklyn Blog on the Block: Brooklyn Mabel

You are going to love this blog. It's called Brooklyn Mabel and it captures the many moods of Mabel, who is funny and shy—but not that shy. She's also introspective and oh-so-neurotic.

She even wrote about birthing the blog:

Push.............................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Puuuuuuuuuuuuuushhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Just one more big push and she's out!!! Congratulations, you've just given birth to your first blog. Oh, my god, now what do I do? Do I have to take care of it? Feed it? Pay attention to it when I'm tired and just want to space out?

Why do people write blogs anyway? As soon as I made the decision to write this blog it started freaking everyone out. My 10-year-old son Trevor was stressing out, "Are you going to write negative things about me? If I get in trouble are you going to post it on your blog?" Trevor asked in a worried voice. I think he's scared that the whole frigging world is going to know about his self conscious prepubescent life.

When I told my sister Wanda I was writing a blog, she felt threatened. "That's so selfish, why do people write blogs? They should spend more time outside getting some exercise. You're just going to sit inside and be a shut in? What are you going to write about? You want everyone to read about your life, your private business? I hope this isn't going to cut into our chatting time."

But Brooklyn Mabel is determined to blog. She comes from family of journalists and majored in journalism in college—and hated every minute of it. She even worked in public relations and advertising post college, which she detested.

But she's a born writer and her blog covers many things, ncluding painful and honest stories about her mom, who has Alzheimers and lives in nursing home.

Most times when I visit Renaissance Gardens, my mother and the other residents are in their wheelchairs in front of the television. Their eyes are not looking at the screen, but at some random spot on the rug or the arm of their wheelchairs.

Today when I walked into the activity room next to the dining room, I scanned the back of the heads of the patients to find my mother. One woman looked like her and I had to stare at her a few times to make sure that my mother's appearance hadn't changed drastically. No, that wasn't my mother, just someone who resembled her.

I walked to her room, and she was laying in her bed.  I thought she was asleep, but she wasn't.

"Hi Mom! Happy Birthday!" I said. "Happy Birthday!" my mother repeated. She often mimics what is said to her and doesn't initiate much conversation.

Vagina World, a post about her family's visit to WACK!: Art and the Feminist Revolution at PS 1 (closed May 12th) is certainly worth a read

As I walked into the feminist art exhibit last week, there was a painting of people entering an art show through a giant psychedelic vagina. As you walked further down the hall, there was a huge piece of red fabric resembling the vulva and clitoris. This was Vagina World.

My son Trevor and husband Kevin were not really digging the exhibit. "I guess I can't really relate to it," they both chimed in together. Well, they could still support female power even if they weren't female.

My parents Ruth and Phil considered themselves liberated feminists. They had a couples women's lib party. They thumbtacked slogans written on cardboard on the groovy corkboard wall in our living room. The only saying I recall was, "Herstory not History." I remember my mother wearing a purple psychedelic dress and holding a gin and tonic.

Brooklyn Mabel, welcome to the block. You can bet that we'll be reading

Sunday: Park Slope's Fabulous Fifth Avenue Fair

Hop on over to Fifth Avenue this Sunday for the Fabulous Fifth Avenue Fair.

That's right, the action begins on Sunday May 18 all along Fifth Avenue from Sterling to 12th St. 11 am - 7pm.

It's a crazy, crazy crowded event that still has a great neighborhood vibe even if it has plenty of the generic street fair stuff (zepploe trucks, socks, weird brooms, etc). But hey, that's a NYC street fair.

I wouldn't miss it for the world (and never have).

There's loads of local character and stands from all the great Fifth Avenue shops and restaurants we love. Best of all, it's a great day for running into friends. So be there or be square. Here are some highlights.

Local Crafts & Artists (Berkeley to Third Streets)

Dine outside with Fabulous food from your favorite Fifth Avenue Restaurants, including Stone Park Cafe, Blue Ribbon, and others.

There's the Puppetry Arts Theatre, where kids can make fun puppets ( 2nd & 3rd sts.) and that groovy Antique Car Show, where you can vote for your favorite (1st & Garfield)

This year there's a M.S. 51 Flea Market & Talent Show ( 4th & 5th Sts.) and of course there are those kiddie rides between 3rd and 4th Streets.

Shop your favorite Stores for Antiques, Gifts, Apparel, Jewelry and more and enjoy live Music throughout.

Nancy Nancy, which will be closing on May 23rd will be sharing her wares in front of her shop (near Carroll Street) on Fifth. Say good bye to Mary, owner of Nancy Nancy and find out what she's up to next. Or you can read her blog.

Thanks to Bob and Judi, those cool boosters and pioneers of Fifth Avenue for keeping in touch.

Photos by Urch at Flickr

Blogfest Portraits Online Now

The portraits that Hugh Crawford took of Brooklyn bloggers (mostly) at the Brooklyn Blogfest are online now.

If you want to use a picture on your blog, leave a comment or email Hugh and he will contact you.

Prints are available at prices ranging from inexpensive to pretty expensive depending on size and quality at Smugmug.

If you'd like a fine art print of one of the pictures, please get in touch with Hugh:  hugh(at)hughcrawford(dot)com

Brooklyn Blogfest: What Does It Want To Be?

The Brooklyn Blogfest started in 2006 as a joke. Sort of. I run Brooklyn Reading Works, a literary reading series and decided that it would be fun to do a reading dedicated to bloggers.

On the poster I called it the First Annual Brooklyn Blogfest. It really was kind of a joke. I made the poster in September but as the date got closer and closer, I realized, hey, I better organize this thing.

By then, there were quite a few bloggers. So it really was the first annual blog gathering.

Initially I thought it was going to be like these geeky computer conventions I used to go to with Hepcat back in the late 1980's. He was a big Amiga Computer guy and we'd travel up and down the east coast (and even out west) attending these conventions, including Siggraph on one occasion.

The first Blogfest was geeky and fun. A bunch of bloggers in the upstairs room of the Old Stone House. And just about everyone there spoke and did sort of a show-and-tell. It was a very long evening but a fun one.

You could describe it this way: a meeting of co-conspirators, who had never met in person but had been following the activities of one another

There was barely anything to eat or drink because I didn't expect too many people to come. I thought it would be like a poetry reading. I didn't know any of the bloggers personally and who knew they'd all show up.

They did. In droves.

Brownstoner came incognito because he still had a day job. Gowanus Lounge introduced himself to the crowd. No Land Grab and Norman Oder were there, as was Lost and Found and the ever lovable Dave Kenny of Dope on the Slope, delivered a hilarious PowerPoint presentation about the evolution of blogging beginning with cave paintings.

Joe's NYC and Travis Ruse both presented incredible slide shows of their work. I read the opening paragraph of "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn" by Thomas Wolfe, the story that inspired the name of my blog.

That, my friends, was the first Blogfest.

The second Blogfest was in 2007. A huge number of people crowded into the Old Stone House. Some people had to be turned away due to concerns about fire code regulations. The program was a bit more organized. It wasn't quite the fun, free-for-all of that first year but a lot of interesting ideas were shared. Lumi Rolley, of No Land Grab, gave Norman Oder a superhero cape for for his his journalistic masterwork,  Steven Berlin Johnson, talked about place blogging, Pastor Daniel Meeter blessed the event with a dutch benediction, Brownstoner talked about quitting his day job.

Afterwards, some complained that there was too much about development and real estate. Too much about Atlantic Yards.

Everyone, however, loved that the party was sponsored by Partida Tequila. Getting them as a sponsor was a real coup. And people enjoyed the margaritas and the Mexican food.

This year was a whole other kettle of fish. I knew we had to get a bigger space and when I toured the Lyceum I was smitten by that big, historic building and the feeling of the performance space. I also noticed the huge screen and video projector and got it into my head that we could show video.

There were rental fees involved, which there never were at the Old Stone House (because of Brooklyn Reading Works). This was going to be a much bigger deal.

Thankfully, many people got involved and I even had a slew of co-producers/partners in crime, including, Eleanor Traubman and Mike Sorgatz of Creative Times, Petra Syrmister of Bed-Stuy Blog and Adrian Kinloch of Brit in Brooklyn. Blue Barn Pictures volunteered to make a video and Morgan Pehme of Brooklyn Optimist put together a beautiful Tribute to Brooklyn's photo bloggers.

Twenty or so bloggers showed up to set up before the show and it was a wonderful collaborative effort.

The presentation to my mind was diverse and interesting. There was a nice selection of bloggers, who brought up many interesting points about the lack of diversity both racial, economic and geographic. The videos were a high point, as was the Shout Out when more than 60 new bloggers got up to share their blogs with the crowd.

I got a variety of comments from people after Thursday's Blogfest:

--quite a few people loved the event

--one blogger thought it was an exercise in self-congratulation and self-promotion.

--others found the ideas interesting

--one guy said there should be more readings from blogs and less speeches about blogs

--one guy said we shouldn't charge for the event but should charge for the liquor; it should be a free event.

--someone said it just needs to be a party.

--others were inspired by the speakers and the shout-out; it made them feel like blogging.

All in all, it makes me wonder if there needs to be another blogfest and, if so, what the blogfest needs to be. A good question that I'm sure will be discussed in the coming weeks.

Whatever happens, it's been a fun journey getting from that first one, which was conceived in jest to the third one which was a great collaboration and a thoughtful program and party.

So How Was the Blogfest?

Like a bride at her own wedding, Thursday night's Brooklyn Blogfest at the Brooklyn Lyceum is mostly a blur for But it was also an incredible gathering of a vivacious "tribe" of New Yorkers.

Brooklyn bloggers.

As I said in the Blogfest video by Blue Barn Pictures, Brooklyn bloggers are a smart, ambitious, entrepreneurial, creative, opinionated and enthusiastic group and they're a lot of fun to hang out with.

The Blogfest back story is just as fun as the event. For months, there's been lots of  behind-the-scenes planning and organizing by a large group of bloggers drawn from the Brooklyn Blogade, an constantly expanding group of bloggers who meet monthly all over Brooklyn. My co-producers Eleanor Traubman and Mike Sorgatz of Creative Times, Adrian Kinloch and Petra Symister deserve the lion's share of the credit (their links are below). 

20 bloggers showed up at 6 p.m. to do whatever needed to be done. Bloggers set up video equipment, chairs, tables, food, beer; they made name tags, signs, manned the money table and more. It was a sight to behold.

You can be sure they did it with gusto. I thank them all. 

When Amanda from Brooklyn Fudge showed up with her signage and her pretty cake plates I wanted to kiss her. She helped set up the "hospitality area" along with Angela of Red Mango Bakery, the folks behind much of the vegan baked goods at many Brooklyn cafes and Danielle of Habeas Brulee who runs Jack, an occasional restaurant that is open for one seating per night every other week or so.

I was equally thrilled when Bierkraft delivered the 17 cases of beer, that were paid for by Outside.in, the company that is fast becoming an essential resource for place bloggers.

Pre-show, I had no idea what to expect. On Thursday I started to get the feeling that the event might be well-attended. But I also had my doubts. I always have doubts and lots of worry.

What if nobody comes?

By 8 p.m. I knew we'd have a crowd. A very good crowd.

As is often the case at special events, there were some pre-show technical challenges (video, ah video). Still thanks to a great crew spear-headed by Adrian Kinloch (Brit in Brooklyn), Morgan Pehme (Brooklyn Optimist), the guys from Blue Barn Pictures and two incredibly helpful guys from the Brooklyn Lyceum, we were ready to go by 8:20 or so.

While the crowd filed into the downstairs performance space, that used to be a bath, DJ Solo P from Groovalicious Entertainment entertained the crowd with a great selection of groovalicious music including calypso favorites and other fun stuff.

The Lyceum was full of friends and strangers when the video, Place Matters; Blogging My World filled the enormous screen.

Blue Barn's video was, as expected, fantastic and it contained the biggest talking heads in High Definition video you've ever seen, who conveyed something of the feisty spiritedness of the small group of Brooklyn bloggers, who were interviewed.

The video, which included an appearance by NY Shitty's mascot, Hannah the Hardhat, was followed by short, consistently interesting speeches by a diverse group of bloggers and journalists:

Eleanor Traubman of Creative Times spoke about the community that formed around the planning of Blogfest

Petra Symister of Bed-Stuy Blog, spoke about the need for diversity in the Brooklyn blogosphere, especially in the realm of place blogs, which, she said, are very homgenious in terms of race and economic class.

Greg Sutton, Megan Donis and Narina from Brooklyn Community Access Television spoke about their new series, A Walk Around the Blog and showed a short trailer.

Miss Heather of the blog, New York Shitty talked about the interactivity of blogging, "I am not merely putting something out in the world for people to read. My blog is not a monologue; it is a dialog with my readership," she said.

"Keep the dead rat stories coming," she said in closing.

Gowanus Lounge's Robert Guskind, in his sonorous, low radio announcer's voice, suggested that the word blog has less and less meaning because there is so much unique content online. He urged those who are "thinking about starting a blog to stop thinking about it and to start doing it." especially in underblogged areas like Sheepshead Bay and Sunset Park.

WNYC talk radio host and recent winner of a Peabody Award, Brian Lehrer, appeared in a video personally reaching to bloggers to send stories for his CUNY-television weekly news show. After Lehrer's clip, Gersh Kuntzman, editor of the Brooklyn Paper, wondered aloud about the future of blogging and the destructiveness of mean-spirited blog comments.

Heather Johnston, producer of a wonderful food blog called sogood.tv talked about her evolution as a video blogger and delivered the Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers.

Big gratitude to Morgan Pehme of Brooklyn Optimist for his  Tribute to Brooklyn's Photo Bloggers, a montage of photographs by some of the best, including Fading Ad Blog,  Joe's NYC, Flatbush Gardener, Bed-Stuy Banana, Park Slope Street Photography, No Words Daily Pix, Brit in Brooklyn, Forgotten NY and many more. All I can say is WOW. It was a beautiful tribute to these hardworking and creative folks, who are capturing what's going on on the streets and skylines of Brooklyn.

Chris Kreussling of Flatbush Gardener talked about the Brooklyn Blogade as an opportunity to attach a face to a blog at monthly meet ups. This group is constantly looking for new recruits: those who blog and those who are thinking about blogging. The next one is on June 22 at noon at Root Hill Cafe on Carroll Street and Fourth Avenue. Come one, come all.

Finally, Rob Lenihan, the wonderful blogger behind the very well written Luna Park Gazette, told the crowd it was time for the Shout Out, everyone's chance to announce their blog to the world.

Imagine my surprise when 50 or more people lined up for the microphones. Thank goodness  we had that timer/buzzer with us (operated by my daughter).

In the next few days I will post a list of all the bloggers who did the shout out; it was a high point of a great evening.

The party and the schmoozing went on until around midnight. A good time was had by all. For me it's a bit of a adrenaline blur.

But I loved it. I really did. More thoughts to come...

Pix by Flatbush Gardener

Reaction to the Blogfest

Not surprisingly, there's lots to read about the Blogfest.  I am feeling tired from last night so I swiped these links from Gowanus Lounge about the Blogfest. Thanks Bob (I knew you'd understand).

· Brooklyn Blogfest [Reclaimed Home]
· Gratitude [New York Shitty]
· Brooklyn Blogfest 2008 [Sustainable Flatbush]
· Blogfest 2008 Coverage [Flatbush Gardener]
· Blogfest 08 Photoset [Flatbush Gardener/flickr]
· Brooklyn Blogfest is a Hit [Brooklyn Optimist]

Everyone had a lot to say.

Brooklyn Skeptic  wrote with her signature skepticism that the Blogfest was an exercise in self-absorption. She did, however, like the free beer. Angela Freeburg with NBC Universal made a short video and had a more upbeat take on the event.

Hundreds of bloggers came out to promote their blogs, discuss the evolution of blogging, and network while munching on Mexican food, sipping Brooklyn Beer, and indulging in sweets like wasabi brownies provided by Brooklyn Fudge.The blog-fest enabled blogging pros and new bloggers to discuss the blogosphere, a rapidly changing world that covers everything from vegan food to hyper-local news.

Creative Times listed some of her personal highlights, including

The evening concluded with the Shout Out, where roughly 60 bloggers from the audience came to the mics up front to introduce themselves.

People stayed well past the ending of the program to dine on the donated edible goodies, mingle, and get their portrait taken by Hugh Crawford of No Words Daily Pix from Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn.

A personal highlight from Blogfest was being part of the team of bloggers and non-bloggers who pulled together as Staff to make every aspect of the event go well, from the food to the DJing, to the sound system. It definitely takes a village to raise a Blogfest.

New York Shitty, who delivered a terrific speech at the Blogfest about her life as a blogger, seemed to enjoy the fest even if it was in Park Slope:

Anyone in the know will tell you schlepping one’s ass from Greenpoint to Park Slope and back is no picnic. This usually entails taking the G to F. Getting to the Brooklyn Lyceum is a bit more complicated. Do I want to transfer at the 4th Avenue Station for the M(aybe) or R(arely)? No, I have more faith in my feet than those trains, thank you very much,

All in all, a good time was had by all. Personally, I'd like to thank Gerritsen Beach for all his help during the clean up help at the end of the night. I am now, officially, a fan of his blog, which is dedicated to Gerritsen Beach Offering current news, links and reviews and not memories.  

R

Order Today: Get this Blogfest T-Shirt for Only $8.99

If you order soon from the Brooklyn Blogfest Shop you can have this lovely Blogfest T-shirt with a cool logo design by award winning designer Elizabeth Reagh of Brooklyn's Good Form Design.

Get back to basics with the Brooklyn Blogfest Value T-Shirt. Enjoy a great look and fit at a reasonable price.

The Brooklyn Blogfest Value T is made of cool, midweight 100% cotton and is perfect for casual summer days.

• Midweight 100% cotton
• Standard fit

Watch the Blogfest Promo by Blue Barn Pictures

Have you seen the 30-second promo for the Brooklyn Blogfest yet?

The video was produced by Blue Barn Pictures, an international multimedia production company located in DUMBO. 

At the heart of Blue Barn are producer/directors, David Castillo, Jim Farmer and a dedicated production staff committed to delivering projects with expertise and vision. .

Blue Barn has traveled around the world to work on projects for a variety of clients.

They're a real interesting group of people. They spent an entire day interviewing 25 Brooklyn bloggers in their DUMBO studio on high definition video.

Currently they're editing a 4-minute version of those interviews. That video will be called: Place Matters; Blogging My World and will premiere at the Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum. 227 Fourth Avenue just steps from the R train's Union Street station.

But for now, check out the 30-second Blogfest promo and see what good work they do over at Blue Barn Pictures.

What to Expect at the Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at the Brooklyn Lyceum

The Brooklyn Blogfest is an annual gathering of bloggers, blog readers, those interested in blogging and those passionate about Brooklyn.

This year's event is at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Fourth Avenue and President Street just steps from the R train's Union Street station.

Come one, come all. There's a suggested donation of $10 and only $5 for students. There will be light refreshments and other goodies from Maria's Mexican Bistro, Red Mango Bakery, Brooklyn Fudge, and beer courtesy of Outside.in

Blue Barn Pictures is also a sponsor of the Blogfest.

The 90-minute program also includes the annual Shout Out, a chance for new bloggers to spread the word about their blogs to the world. Afterwards there will be plenty of time for networking, beer and conversation.

Here's the line-up for the program. The show begins at 8 p.m.

Video: Place Matters: Blogging My World by Blue Barn Pictures

Speaker: Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn (Louise Crawford)

Speaker: Creative Times (Eleanor Traubman)

Speaker: Bed-Stuy Blog (Petra S.)

Video: A Walk Around the Blog Promo by Brooklyn Independent Television

Speaker: New York Shitty (Miss Heather)

Speaker: Gowanus Lounge (Robert Guskind)

Video: A Word from WNYC's Brian Lehrer

Speaker: Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers presented by So Good (Heather Johnson)

Speaker: Top Ten Tips for Photo Bloggers presented by Brit in Brooklyn (Adrian Kinloch)

Video: Tribute to Brooklyn's Photo Bloggers (produced by Brooklyn Optimist)

Speaker: Bloggers Reach Out: The Brooklyn Blogade presented by Flatbush Gardener (Chris)

The Shout-Out: Introduced by Luna Park Gazette (Rob Lenihan)

Mini Blog for the Brooklyn Blogfest

For information about the Blogfest as it develops, go to www.otbkb.com/the_brooklyn_blogfest. See that logo that says Brooklyn Blogfest on the right hand side of this page. Just click on that.

Over there you'll find all kinds of info about the Blogfest. If you have more questions, get in touch with me, Louise Crawford at my email: louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Here are the basics:

Date/Time: May 8, at 8 p.m.

All are invited, no need to RSVP or get tickets. The Lyceum holds 300. Everyone welcome, bloggers and non-bloggers alike. It's for those who blog, who read blogs, who are interested in blogs, and/or passionate about Brooklyn.

Location: The Brooklyn Lyceum at 227 Fourth Avenue at President Street in Park Slope. Just steps from the R train's Union Street Station.

Suggested donation is $10 and $5 for students to offset costs of this big event.

The program will last approximately 90-minutes. Afterwards there will be ample time for beer, snacks, conversation and networking.

See you at the Blogfest!

Brooklyn Bloggers Work Together to Create May 8th Blogfest

Join Brooklyn's blogging community at the Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

From my vantage point, the planning of this event has been an amazing coming together of all the smart, creative, and collaborative energy of the Brooklyn blog community!

Thanks to Creative Times, Michael Sorgatz, Bed Stuy Blog, Brooklyn Optimist, Gowanus Lounge, Brit in Brooklyn, Blue Barn Pictures, Habeas Brulee, Outside.in and many more, this will be the best Blogfest yet.

And don't forget, this event is for bloggers, fans of bloggers, and people who wanna blog.

Find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in the United States at the Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum at 270 Fourth Avenue (at President Street) in Park Slope.

“Where better to take the pulse of this rapidly growing community of writers, thinkers and observers than the Brooklyn Blogfest?” wrote Sewell Chan in the New York Times last year.

The blogfest is an event for bloggers and non-bloggers alike and it brings together citizen journalists, place bloggers, photo bloggers, special interest bloggers, and the creative, quirky, and personal bloggers that make the Brooklyn Blogosphere such a fascinating place to be.

Come hear: Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Creative Times, Bed-Stuy Blog, Gowanus Lounge, New York Shitty, Flatbush Gardener, and Luna Park Gazette.

Special features include a video by Blue Barn Pictures, a salute to Brooklyn’s photo bloggers, Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers plus a special message from WNYC radio talk show host Brian Lehrer and promo for Brooklyn Independent Televisions, A Walk Around the Blog.

Learn about blogging; be inspired to blog. Best of all, participate in the annual SHOUT-OUT: A chance to share YOUR blog with the world!

OTBKB Meets with Brit in Brooklyn

Plans for the Brooklyn Blogfest are afoot and OTBKB just met with Brit in Brooklyn about the audio/video aspects of the Blogfest.

Brit in Brooklyn is the Blogfest's AV guy! How cool is that?

He will also be putting together a Top Ten Tips for Photo Bloggers that will be a takeaway at the Blogfest. There will also be a Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers takeaway.

Brit in Brooklyn really knows the photo blogging turf and has lots of great advice. I really look forward to seeing what he comes up with.

All Welcome to Blogfest: A Public Event for One and All

Just to be clear: Bloggers and non-bloggers alike are welcome at the Blogfest, a public event for one and all, on May 8th at 8 p.m.

The Lyceum is BIG and we can hopefully accomodate everyone who wants to be there.

Come to the Brooklyn Blogfest and find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in the United States at the Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum at 227 Fourth Avenue (at President Street) in Park Slope.

“Where better to take the pulse of this rapidly growing community of writers, thinkers and observers than the Brooklyn Blogfest?” wrote Sewell Chan in the New York Times last year.

An event for bloggers and non-bloggers alike, the Blogfest brings together citizen journalists, place bloggers, photo bloggers, special interest bloggers, and the creative, quirky, and personal bloggers that make the Brooklyn Blogosphere such a fascinating place to be.

Come hear: Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Creative Times, Bed-Stuy Blog, Gowanus Lounge, New York Shitty, Flatbush Gardener, and Luna Park Gazette.

Special features include a video by Blue Barn Pictures, a salute to Brooklyn’s photo bloggers, Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers plus special message from WNYC radio talk show host Brian Lehrer and a promo from Brooklyn Independent Television's: A Walk Around the Blog.

Learn about blogging; be inspired to blog. Best of all, participate in the annual SHOUT-OUT: A chance to share YOUR blog with the world!

For additional information call or email: Louise Crawford at 71-288-4290 or louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com

The Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm: For Bloggers and Non-Bloggers Alike

Find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in the United States at the Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum at 270 Fourth Avenue (at President Street) in Park Slope.

An event for bloggers and non-bloggers alike, the Blogfest brings together citizen journalists, place bloggers, photo bloggers, special interest bloggers, and the creative, quirky, and personal bloggers that make the Brooklyn Blogosphere such a fascinating place to be.

Speakers include: Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Creative Times, Bed-Stuy Blog, Gowanus Lounge, New York Shitty, Flatbush Gardener, and Luna Park Gazette. Special features include a video by Blue Barn Pictures, a salute to Brooklyn’s photo bloggers and a special message from WNYC radio talk show host Brian Lehrer.

Special features include a video by Blue Barn Pictures, a salute to Brooklyn’s photo bloggers, Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers, and a special message from WNYC radio talk show host Brian Lehrer.

Learn about blogging; be inspired to Blog. Best of all, participate in the annual SHOUT-OUT: A chance to share your blog with the world!

Best of all, participate in the annual SHOUT-OUT: A chance to share your blog with the world!

For additional information, call or email: Louise Crawford at 718-288-4290 or louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com

Found in Brooklyn in Vox Pop Art Show

I just got word from Lisann of Found in Brooklyn that some of her collages will be in an art show at Vox Pop opening tonight:

Hey there....Last minute announcement I know but I'm
going to be in a group Art Show at Vox Pop in
Brooklyn. If you can't make the opening which is
Thursday night from 7-10pm, try and swing
by during the month!

I will be featuring my "Debt Consolidations",
assemblages made out of my cut up bills and credit
card offers. A paper shredder would of been easier but
I always seem to do things the hard way!!

The Story of a Russian Adoption: Letter to My Daughter

Diaper Diva began her blog, Mama in Waiting, when she was waiting to adopt her daughter in Russia. That was in 2004. Her daughter is now a spunky three year old Park Sloper who attends pre-school, loves to dress up in princess costumes, play with her stuffed animals, and put together jigsaw puzzles.

Recently Diaper Diva decided to get back to blogging and is writing about the months leading up to the adoption and the trips she and her husband took to Russia before she forgets all the details. I will be running excerpts from her blog on OTBKB in serial form. Here is an early post from 2004 called, Letter to S, written months before their first meeting. I have decided to use initials instead of real names. DD uses real names on her blog.

Dear S:

I think about you all the time and hope that you are being well cared for, played with, hugged, snuggled and loved. It is very hard for us to know that you are there and we can't come to meet you. We are saddened by this but know it will be very soon when we get to hold you ourselves.

Your father is very excited to meet you. He took a lot of time and thought in picking out your stroller - it's quite comfy and we think you're going to enjoy riding in it.

We also fixed up your room. We bought you a lot of beautiful furniture. A lovely crib that your father says looks like Noah's ark; an armoire which is already filling up with adorable outfits for you; and a bookcase that is already filled with books from your Aunt and cousins. There are also some very cute stuffed animals, some of which have been given to you by your cousin A. Your grandmother gave you a nice panda bear and he is sitting on the shelf right now, waiting for you.

A enjoys coming over and playing in your room. Yesterday afternoon, she came over and put her stuffed dog Sandy in your crib. She also put a diaper on him and cut a hole for his tail. It was actually quite funny. I know that she loves you already. She gets very anxious when we talk about all the delays and the political issues surrounding the adoption. She says to me: "Stop talking, it's boring...".

I think she just wants you to be here already, as we all do.

Your room is so cozy. We hung a very cute paper mobile over your crib. Your grandmother has already knitted you a lovely and soft pink blanket. It's one of the biggest knitting projects she has ever undertaken. She is almost finished. Perhaps we will bring it to Russia with us.

Until then, we will be thinking about you all the time and love you very much.

Brooklyn Bloggers: Get Ready for Your Close-Up

Today's the day!

The video shoot for the Brooklyn Bloggers video is TODAY. Here are some video tips for participants from video producer, David Castillo, of Blue Barn Pictures. Call me if you don't have a time slot for your interview: 718-288-4290

So you're going to be filmed; there are a few things you will need to know in advance.

The Date: Saturday, March 29th (TODAY!)

Please refrain from wearing:

1.White clothing
2. Shirts with logos (Mickey Mouse, Rolling Stones, Nike, I love Dick Cheney or anyone who will sue). If you have a shirt with your blog's name on it, please wear it.
3. No clothing with tight striped lines ( New Yorkers remember Crazy Eddie, we don't want you looking like his blazer)
4. Please bring a spare shirt.
5. If you wear makeup, please do not apply it until you arrive, HD does not like make up. You can apply some make up here.

Directions to Blue Barn Pictures' studio
F train to York station
Walk one block down Jay st
Make a left on Front St
The first door on your right 147 Front
Walk up one flight of stairs past the coffee shop
There will be someone to greet you at the lobby.

To confirm (if you haven't already), change, or back out of this amazing project and be hunted down to the Queens border email louise_crawford(at)yahoo.com

Contact on the day of the shoot:
If you get lost, are running late, or just need a soothing voice please contact: Louise G. Crawford
cell: 718-288-4290

We look forward to seeing you all and having a lot of fun.

Parent/Teacher Conferences As Urban Team Sport

I can so relate to this post about parent/teacher conferences. Why, they're a new urban team sport. It's from My Sidewalk Chalk, which focuses on education.

In addition to navigating parent/teacher conferences, My Sidwalk Chalk blogger, Joyce Joyce Szuflita, consults with families who are looking for a good fit for their kids nursery school through high school, public or private. She knows Brownstone Brooklyn and she can help. 718 781-1928.

Let me explain the rules. You wait with hundreds of other parents in a giant shivering mass outside the school doors like it’s a Who concert with festival seating. (Imagine how those teachers feel, trapped inside with only an endless line of “issues” before them)

If you are an “elite” NUTS player like myself, you have a list of teachers and room numbers coded by location. In a school the size of Murrow, this is key. You race to the farthest room, sign your name on the list outside the door and repeat on all lists in the near vicinity. Then you send your husband who is having trouble reading the map to sign up on other floors. (This may be a tactical error)

If you are positioned outside the door when your name comes up on the list, you may go in and have your 3 minutes. If you arrive back to the classroom after your name has already been called you go to the end of the now endless list. The art of it is to fit in a couple of the less popular teachers between the majors.

The team who finishes all their conferences in the least amount of time gets to go home and have a stiff drink

!

Bob Says: News from Gowanus Lounge

Saturday night Lola Staar's Dreamland Roller Rink was the place to be. GL's got the pix, too:

Some history was made in Coney Island last night when Dianna Carlin opened her Dreamland Roller Rink in the landmarked Childs Building on the boardwalk. It was only the second public event the historic structure in the last half century. The building--which has been made available by Taconic Investment--was decorated in white lights and billowing pink and orange fabric. The event was sponsored by Glamour Magazine and Tommy Hilfiger, which provided money for the rink, courtesy of a contest that Ms. Carlin won. They were shooting a documentary about the project last night. A rink was set up in the middle of the building. Entertainment included what one would expect at a Coney event: hula hoop people, stilt walkers and a number of scantily clad performers. Singer Ashanti made an appearance, as did actress Marissa Tomei, who spent a lot of time on skates. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was on hand for time, and most fixtures on the Coney Island scene, such as Coney Island USA's Dick Zigun were there for a while. It was an excellent night

New Blog on the Block: The Henrys in New York

The Henrys in New York came to my attention yesterday.

The blog records the journey of the Henry family, who left a perfectly nice, ordered, well-connected life in arguably the world's most liveable city, to relocate halfway around the world to live in arguably the world's most exciting city.

Reading the blog I feel like I am experience Brooklyn for the very first time through the eyes of these hyper alert, hyper interesting bloggers from Melbourne.

They write about the Food Coop, JJ Byrne Park, the Brooklyn Museum, their first Easter in New York, even walking to work in Soho, which Mrs. Henry videotapes.

The blog is intended primarily as a letter back home and that's why it has this open, descriptive and unabashedly enthusiastic vibe. Every post has an addendum called What I'm Loving, which is a shout out about a book, a place, a TV show, even a new taste sensation like eating their first Reuben sandwich. It's a great feature.

Happy Easter to the Henry's and welcome to the Brooklyn Blogworld. Here's a post called How We Found Park Slope

Step 1: ask friends from Melbourne, living in NY since mid-2007, where families with young kids live.

Step 2: research said suburb's proximity to future office, and map out potential commute.

Step 3: get a visual by hunting for clips on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKQRHldumeY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxwZxKGpThs&feature=related

Step 4: start researching apartments on craigslist.com (from Melbourne) to get our eye in re prices, sizes, desirable streets

Step 5: continue to pick up leads on school zoning etc. Then fly there and 'just do it'!

Today I'm Loving the prospect of watching 'The Celebrity Apprentice' in 90 minutes, thanks to a free sidwwalk TV found this morning on my way to work (thanks to Mark who was still at home, picked up the phone then dashed around to nab it).

Blue Barn Pictures and OTBKB are Making a Video about Brooklyn Blogging

And if you're a Brooklyn blogger, who's been blogging for at least three months with some frequency you need to be part of it.

Here are the 'tails:

The video shoot is on March 29th from 11 am until 7 pm at Blue Barn Pictures in DUMBO.

I met filmmaker David Castillo of Blue Barn at the recent Brooklyn Blogade brunch in Kensington. I liked his work, and immediately approached him about doing a short video for the Blogfest. He thought it was a great idea and we've been brainstorming about it ever since.

But we need your help. You gotta come and be interviewed on March 29th!

No, you don't need to be there all day. Email me with a 90 minute time slot that works for you. There's a wine bar in the building where everyone can wait for their close up and loosen up. my email: louise_crawford(at)yahoo.com

David Castillo of Blue Barn Pictures will interview you. All the interviews wil be edited together into a short, fabulous video for the Blogfest and elsewhere.

Do this for me. For OTBKB. For the Blogfest. For posterity.