Special Events

Friday, October 23, 2009

The L Reader Party Tonight: Music- and Film-Makers Califone at 92Y Tribeca

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 3:07 PM

Califone just released their sixth album All My Friends Are Funeral Singers earlier this month, which is also the score of a new feature film by band member Tim Rutili. The movie and the band will be playing at a special L Magazine reader party ((that's right, we're throwing you a party!) and multimedia extravaganza tonight a 92Y Tribeca (200 Hudson St at Canal St). Click here to get a special L Mag ticket discount, doors open at 9pm with free Sam Adams for the first fifty folks between 9-10pm. In the meantime, here's a music video wrapped in a movie trailer to give you an idea of what you're in for:

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Friday, October 9, 2009

It's Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, So You All Have to Buy Me a Present

Posted by Jonny Diamond on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 10:13 AM

Yeah, it's true, me and my kind have an earlier, better Thanksgiving than you. Ours is to commemorate the time Hoser Jesus skated across an unfrozen lake and scored a goal on Hoser Satan. Basically, it's pretty much like this very special Ellen Page Canadian Thanksgiving video. Enjoy.

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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Today is (Twitter) Tuesday(s)!

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 4:22 PM

The L Magazine Twitter
We almost forgot to remind you (our readers who don't follow us on Twitter, that is, the rest of you may proceed as usual) that today is our weekly Twitter Tuesday giveaway, where we reward a faithful Twitter follower with a random and awesome prize. Past Twitter Tuesday goodies have included DVDs and CMJ passes, and though I can't say what today's items are, let's just say that I was very tempted to rig the giveaway and take them myself. This week's giveaway is happening imminently, so head over to our Twitter page now.

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Saturday, October 3, 2009

Manhattan Bridge Turns 100 This Weekend

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 8:06 AM

Manhattan Bridge under construction in 1909

The Manhattan Bridge, in whose shadows we L Mag folk toil every day, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend—technically, the big day is tomorrow. There are free walking tours today, a parade and fireworks (!) tomorrow, and more in the week ahead. Time Out New York (experts on all things way old) have all the event info here.

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Friday, October 2, 2009

The Blessing of the Animals is Here!!! Jebus Doolittle!!!

Posted by Jonny Diamond on Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 12:07 PM

St. Francis of Assisi
My favorite only reason to go near a church is happening on Sunday... The Blessing of the Animals at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a truly awesome fun time involving the beloved pets of the city (along with music, food, and goodness), all in honor of St. Francis "Fra. Doolittle" of Assisi. I'm serious here, people, it's like a Medieval Faire [sic] wherein you'll find camels and llamas and parrots and dogs and cats and hamsters, all of them waiting in line to be blessed by Episcopal priests in their fanciest vestments. Once the animal has been blessed, it has a three-hour window in which to tell its person how it really feels.

(My wife tells the story of being at the Blessing of the Animals in 2001, less than a month after 9/11, when they blessed all kinds of rescue dogs who'd been working at the WTC site. The church was packed and there wasn't a dry eye in the place.)

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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Nobody Cares About This But Me: Hockey Season Starts Today

Posted by Jonny Diamond on Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 10:52 AM

This is a very special day for me, so I want you all to be nice: it's the beginning of the professional ice hockey season. Look, it's hard being a Canadian in America—between my confusion over health insurance and being legally prohibited from talking to American women, sometimes I wonder why I even bother. So please respect my irrational love of watching giant men mince around on ice chasing a hard, round little object, even if it's just for today.

And here's a video that I watch occasionally when I'm particularly homesick. It's Stompin' Tom Connors (the Canadian Johnny Cash/Woody Guthrie) singing "The Hockey Song." (Go Leafs go!)

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Friday, September 18, 2009

Don't Spend Your Day Looking for Park(ing) Spaces

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 10:45 AM

Today is Park(ing) Day in New York and around the world, which means that parking spaces throughout the city will be taken over by local community groups and organizations and used as public parks and activity spaces, and most frequently covered in sod to make the park-parking space analogy all the more explicit. Click here for a map of all the Park(ing) spaces throughout the city today, and here's a taste of what last year looked like:

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Etsy's First Craft Night in Dumbo

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 11:51 AM

recipe cards by moon tree press
Etsy, online purveyor of all artisanal goods indie, crafty, DIY and otherwise unusual, just finished unpacking in their new digs in L Mag 'hood Dumbo (hi neighbors!), and this afternoon they're opening the doors to their new space for their first weekly Craft Night in Brooklyn. Tonight's workshop is a recipe swap, with letter-pressed recipe cards (pictured) by Moontree Press. Click here for more details on today's Etsy Craft Night and those to come.

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tonight's Summerscreen Grand Finale: Fame, 80s Costume Contest, Debauchery, Tearful Promises to Keep In Touch Over the Winter

Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 8:24 AM

Tonight is the very last night of this year's edition of Summerscreen, The L's free outdoor film series at McCarren Park, and before the leaves all die and youth is lost, you should head over to Bedford Avenue and North 12th Street. The gates open at 6pm, the better for you to enjoy the happy hour-priced Sixpoint beer and Wines of Australia, um, wines; the food from San Loco and the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck, and music from local acts Bottle Up & Go and the Nouvellas.

Since tonight's movie is the awesomely 80s high school musical Fame, it is imperative that you dress appropriately. The best 80s costume — emphasis on the legwarmers and leotards — as adjudged by a panel of experts (Savit?) will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Bubble Lounge, and a free pair of Roos (80s sneakers, natch).

And then... that's it. Stick around after, we'll be the ones at Turkey's Nest, sitting silently in the corner, wondering where the summer went.

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Monday, August 24, 2009

Spike Lee's Birthday Party for Michael Jackson Moved to Prospect Park

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 10:35 AM

Michael Jackson party in Prospect Park
Last week Spike Lee announced his intention to throw a big, loud, joyous party in Fort Greene Park on what would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday, had he not died last month. The two collaborated once on the music video for Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us" (the prison riot version, not the partying in the streets of Rio version).

Of course, the idea of a big old party that might attract as many as 10,000 people didn't sit so well with residents near Fort Greene Park, so a kerfuffle was raised, and now the party has been moved to Prospect Park. The event will still be free at 5pm on August 29 and feature music by DJ Spinna, but it will be held in Nethermead, which presents obvious marketing fodder for comparisons between Neverland (Jackson's amusement park ranch) and Nethermead. Like, for instance, "Remember the man from Neverland at Nethermead," and "Brooklyn's own Neverland at Nethermead." Spike Lee promises: "All over the world, people are going to be celebrating his birthday. But he's going to hear Brooklyn; Brooklyn is going to be in the house. Deep."

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Friday, August 21, 2009

Spend Your Last Summer Saturdays on the East River

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 12:41 PM

rowing in Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York City
This has been our first real summer week in a while (well, all summer), and the heat makes you yearn for dips in the water. Don’t head to the beach, though, head to the East River instead! Every Saturday for the rest of August, the Village Community Boathouse and Downtown Boathouse offer free rowing and paddling. At Dumbo Cove, in Brooklyn Bridge Park (right under the Manhattan Bridge) rowers venture out in Whitehall gigs and even sometimes head over to the Brooklyn Bridge, if conditions are right. Kayakers, both singles and doubles, stay within the cove.

Before each session, rowers and paddlers are given an introduction, and are required to wear lifejackets and sign waivers. It's all free (and totally safe, really), and offers a breathtaking new way of looking at New York City. Click here for more information, and then head down to Dumbo Cove on August 22 (11-3pm) and August 29 (2-6pm).

(photo by Nadia Chaudhury)

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Tonight at Summerscreen: Wild at Heart

Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 8:26 AM

You'll recall that the heavens opened up and rained their disapproval down upon us at the end of July, when Summerscreen — the L's free outdoor film series in McCarren Park — was scheduled to show Wild at Heart. So we're very happy to present tonight's make-up screening, as ever on Bedford Avenue and North 12th Street (across from the Turkey's Nest). The gates open at 6pm, and you should come then, to drink happy hour-priced Sixpoint beer and Wines of Australia, um, wines; to eat food from San Loco and the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck; and to listen to local bands Dinosaur Feathers (the glitch-folkies sounded great at Northside) at 6:30pm, and Bridges and Powerlines at 7:30pm. The film starts at dusk; in the meantime, Henry Stewart's program notes are after the jump.

Continue reading »

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Tonight at Summerscreen: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, (Scattered) Rain or (Eternal) Shine

Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 12:30 PM

2d37/1250094355-eternal_sunshine.jpg
There may or may not be pockets of rain spilling out over Brooklyn tonight, but, regardless, Summerscreen, the L's free outdoor film series in McCarren Park on Bedford Avenue and North 12th St, will continue on tonight regardless, with a screening of the optimistically titled Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Gates open at 6pm, for Happy Hour featuring cut-rate Sixpoint beer and Wines of Australia wines until 7:30pm, along with the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream truck and Mexican drunk food from San Loco, and music from Small Black at 6:30pm, and, at 7:30, The Blue Album Group, Brooklyn's inevitable 90s-nostalgic Weezer cover band, as if you weren't feeling swoony enough tonight. My colleague Ben Sutton's program notes, after the jump.

Continue reading »

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Alas, Tonight's Summerscreen Screening of Fame Has Been Rescheduled for August 26

Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 10:51 AM

43a7/1249483872-fame.jpgSomeday, Summerscreen, the L's free outdoor film series at McCarren Park, will continue with the second half of its 2009 lineup. That time is next week, August 12th, when we show Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Which was once our Closing Night film, and is now our second Opening Night film, we guess, to be followed on the 19th by Wild at Heart's rain-date screening, and on the 26th by Fame, which was to be tonight, but has been rescheduled, on account of scattered thunderstorms all evening. So, see you next week (and the week after that, and the week after that). Endless summer, guys.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tonight's Summerscreening of Wild at Heart Rescheduled for Wednesday, August 19th

Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 11:15 AM

4b7b/1248880509-wildrain.jpgThis hurts us more than it hurts you, guys, but dig: it is most emphatically not going to be nice out tonight. Tonight's edition of Summerscreen, our free outdoor film screening at McCarren Park, was to be David Lynch's kinky Wizard of Oz remake Wild at Heart has been rescheduled for Wednesday, August 19th. This isn't so bad, if you look at it a certain way: With Wild at Heart now closing the series, Summerscreen '09 will end with Nicholas Cage singing "Love Me Tender" to all of Williamsburg. We couldn't have planned it any better. (In fact we didn't.)

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Tonight at Summerscreen: 24 Hour Party People

Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 2:12 PM

318c/1248286256-24hrpartyppl.jpgWe're just hours away from the third night of Summerscreen, the L's free outdoor film series/McCarren Park block party, tonight showing 24 Hour Party People, Steve Coogan's US breakthrough and Joy Division's umpteenth revival. Doors open at 6pm for Happy Hour featuring Sixpoint craft beer and Wines of Australia, and food from San Loco, Two Boots, and the ice cream truck. And if the movie's not enough music for you, local bands Bright Brown and Phil and the Osophers play at 6:30 and 7:30.

Program notes after the jump...

Continue reading »

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Tonight at Summerscreen: Evil Dead II

Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 10:10 AM

2835/1247667010-evil-dead-2.jpgSummerscreen, The L's free outdoor film series at McCarren Park — now with several hundred percent more Port-o-Potties! — returns for its second week to Bedford and North 12th, in the playground opposite Turkey's Nest (and on the sidewalk, if you got a to-go cup). Doors at 6pm, with Happy Hour prices on Sixpoint beer and Wines of Australia until 7:30, at which point you'll be serenaded by Motel Motel. And then, at dusk, the movie.

Confession: I haven't seen Evil Dead II yet. (Yet.) But Ben Sutton has. His program notes follow, after the Jump! Jump!

Continue reading »

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

If You Missed the Year's First Summerscreen, Here It Is in 60 Seconds

Posted by Mark Asch on Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 8:18 AM

Here's Reality Bites, and all the attendant hoopla, last Wednesday at the first Summerscreen of the year. Do it all again tomorrow night for Evil Dead II, and in the meantime, note that even the view from behind the chain-link fence is pretty nice:

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Thursday, July 9, 2009

Reality Bit, Huh?

Posted by Mark Asch on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:51 AM

summerscreen_realitybites.jpgSo, thanks to the several thousand of you who braved the long bathroom line at Turkey's Nest (we'll have port-o-potties by next week's Evil Dead II screening, promise) to come to eat, drink, listen to music, and then settle in and watch Reality Bites at last night's Summerscreen kick-off.

Reality Bites being a movie very close to my heart, it was really rewarding to see several thousand people being as into it as they were; the whole experience, really — people inside and outside the chainlink, sneaking in or not sneaking in food and drink — was pretty exciting and made The L Magazine's collective heart grow three sizes with pride. You can check out photos on our Facebook page, or, if you're lazy, wait for Andrea to post a slideshow right on this here blog; if you took any pictures yourself, let us know with a comment, an email or a Tweet.

See you next week...

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Tonight's Literary Upstart Finals, $1 PBR Cans, and You

Posted by Mark Asch on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:00 AM

dd87/1247151623-litup.jpgIt will be in many ways like the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. And in just as many, possibly more ways, it will emphatically not be anything like that. What will tonight's fevered climax of The L Magazine's Literary Upstart: The Search for Pocket Fiction be like? Well, to get an idea, you can watch video of June's semifinal reading: Jonny's introduction to the show part of the show; each of the five readers; and the judges announcing the winner. (For whatever reason, probably because of a video glitch, the video cuts out just before the entire audience surged forward to the stage and mobbed Jonny like at the end of Day of the Locust. This is, arguably, just as well.)

Anyway! Tonight, four marvy readers will duke it out for publication in the L's Summer Fiction Issue, a highly coveted Giant Novelty Check, a smaller, equally coveted Actual Check, and assorted other schwag, in front of a panel of discerning literati, drunken L Mag staffers powering through their Summerscreen hangovers, and you, presumably taking fullest advantage of, yes, the $1 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Come join us at the Slipper Room at 7pm, won't you?

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