Mygazine

Keeping Busy During the Long Weekend

I don't know about you but by the time I made it to last Thursday morning, I was so ready for the long weekend. The true "holiday season" hasn't even started and I'm ready for a break. Looks like I'll need to pace myself. Anyway, this weekend, in between plenty of couch time, we found all kinds of things to do—some worth the time and some not.

Thursday afternoon, the boyfriend and I caught an afternoon showing on Bobby, the new film by Emilio Estevez that tells the story of 22 people who were at LA's Ambassador Hotel on the day RFK was assassinated. The cast is definitely star-studded. In addition to Estevez, the cast list includes Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Elijah Wood, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen, Harry Belefonte, Lindsay Lohan (yes, even Lindsay Lohan), Laurence Fishburne, and Freddy Rodriguez (of Six Feet Under Fame). While Stone and Moore both give great performances and Lindsay Lohan proves that she can act, even if she can't sing, the story is far too convoluted and difficult to follow for this to be the big hit that many thought it could be.

Thanksgiving was a quite day at home. In the morning, I hit Fort Greene Park with one of our dogs, Zoe. That was the extent of the day's physical activity. That night, though, we braved the icy rain for an outstanding Thanksgiving dinner at Wallse, one of my favorite holiday dinner spots. Since Dave made the reservation a couple weeks ago, I had been mentioning our plan to friends. Considering the restuarant has been open on its quiet corner in the West Village for a few years now, I was shocked by the number of people who hadn't even heard the restaurants name, let alone darkened its door. All I can say is plan a dinner there asap. It is a wonderful experience from beginning to end.

Friday was a bit of a wash since we spent it traveling back and forth between our vet dealing with a small medical emergency for our other dog, Angus. He is fine now and recovering nicely, but that night we couldn't stand to leave him by himself all groggy on pain medication.

Even though we live in Brooklyn, until Saturday neither of us had been to the Brooklyn Museum. The Annie Liebovitz exhibit running late January gave us a good excuse to make the trip. Obviously we weren't the only people who had this idea. Even when we arrived not long after noon (the museum opens at 11am on Saturdays) there was a healthy line to get in. Having be a big fan of Liebovitz's work for a long time, I was excited to see he photos up close and personal. Strangely, the exhibit is a mix of her personal and professional work. As she puts it, "I don't have two lives. This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it." Whatever. The combination of the two made the exhibit a bit confusion and hard to follow. And the museum could manage the flow of people much better so that it is easier to see and enjoy the exhibit. If you decide to give the museum a try (and judge for yourself) you can also catch "Looking Back From Ground Zero," an engaging exhibition of works from the permanent collection that includes paintings, photographs, prints, and drawings of the Lower Manhattan area around the World Trade Center site before, as well as after 9/11, and an installation of the hyper-real sculputure of Ron Mueck.

Then Saturday night, we join a full house of fans for a showing of For Your Consideration. Continuing the theme of the day, though, the film didn't deliver on its positive hype. I'm still a huge fan of Christopher Guest and what has become his house ensemble of actors but this isn't their best film.

And You Thought You Knew Fort Greene

A few months back, there was quite a bit of talk about how Fort Greene ranked as the neighborhood in the city with the highest percentage increase in real estate costs in the past year (81.9%). From what I can tell, rents are increasing too but not quite at the same rate. One thing is sure, though, there are changes afoot here in what used to be our quiet little Brooklyn hamlet.

Habana Outpost is now enjoying its second season here in Fort Greene. In the past 6-12 months a few restaurants, Ici (which got rave reviews), SushiD, and most recently Red Bamboo have opened on Dekalb Avenue. And just today I noticed a new children's boutique, Beezu, has also opend on DeKalb. The number of strollers in the neighborhood seems to increase every day so someone made a smart choice opening that place. Looks like Park Slope isn't the only place in Brooklyn for families with babies.

There are two new spots in the works at the intersection of Lafayette Avenue and Fulton (which has been less than pretty for the four years I have lived in the area). Mullane's, some type of bar or pub is under construction at the northwest corner of Lafayette Avenue and South Elliot Place (next door to the La Bagel Delight that opened a month or two ago.) Just two doors south on Lafayette Avenue, next to neighborhood staple the Academy Diner, someone is working on a space that looks like it will be either a new restaurant or bar. They are intalling a steel and glass front with a garage-door-like front that rolls up into the ceiling. When you look inside, you can already see where the bar will be and that there may be a small garden out back.

All this is great and only making our neighborhood even more liveable. But what I want to know is when can we get a good grocery store? Whole Foods anyone?

Happy Bastille Day!

Here's a nod to all my French neighbors in Fort Greene. Check out this great Bastille Day banner hanging on the side of Chez Oskar at the corner of DeKalb Avenue and Adelphi Street.