"What's going on tonight?"

Q: How many times have Mindy and myself gotten the question, "What's going on tonight?"
The answer is countless.

Why do you think we made a blog with information, reviews and CALENDAR WITH EVENTS COMING OUT OF ITS BEHIND?!

Now, no one I know can use, "I didn't know about that show/event?" as an excuse. It's on the calendar!

So let me now share some tips on how to stay connected to the NYC To-Do List. Firstly, sign up for a Google calendar! It's quick simple and kicks Outlook's ass. You can have email reminders for events sent to yourself, handy right?

Secondly, there is the crazy invention since the dawning of the blogosphere called RSS feeds? If you use Google Reader, Bloglines, My Yahoo!, any feed reader or have a bookmark tab on your web browser (they all have that right?) you can subscribe to the NYC To-Do List blog posts. It will provide you with the most up to date information and rants Mindy and myself have blogged. Just go to the bottom of this page and select "Subscribe: Posts (atom)". But don't get to addicted to RSS feeds or else you may not be able to enjoy all the amazing shit going on in the outerwebs (a.k.a. the place beyond your computer screen or "reality").

Speaking of which, here are some ways to spend your weekend and feed yourself at the same time!

Friday July 10th, TODAY!
The charming and talented Jason Anthony Harris will be playing a FREE show at Goodbye Blue Monday this evening at 9pm. Hungry too? Order some of the sandwiches and cafe eatery Goodbye Blue Monday provides and enjoy the show!

Saturday July 11th, Tomorrow.
Afuche, who we know and love (and not just because we know them) is playing with Rimsky and Hungry Hands in Ryan's Basement. To enter this show you'll need to know someone else who is attending, if you know Mindy or myself personally give us a ring! The show is FREE but donations are always accepted (donations in the form of cash or beer are especially appreciated). Cheap eats right around the corner at Fresco Tortillas, I'm sure members of Afuche will join me in giving Fresco their stamp of approval.

You don't know us personally?
Check out Huggabroomstock at Goodbye Blue Monday, there is a huge BBQ and music festival from 2pm to late night! Bring something to throw on the grill.

Sunday July 12th, The Day After Tomorrow (is a horrible movie).
Moviehouse @ 3rd Ward is BACK! And they are doing a FREE screening of two raunchy sketch comedies; Titsburg and Who Died? - The Frank Zip Story. Before the screening grab some more than "just a slice" of pizza at Roberta's (it's a little pricey but so delicious) and right near the Morgan L stop.

You are a broke hipster?
Your solution is at the Bushwick Country Club, from 2pm to 4pm FREE Ice Cream.Net and Bushwick Country Club have teamed up to provide you with FREE BBQ and FREE Maker's Mark Milkshakes while it lasts. Shoot some putt putt after stuffing yourself with some grilling and milkshakes. You'll still have time to make it over to the Moviehouse Screening, too!

And we would like to thank Heidi for her lovely posting about us on Skirts and Tights! This a shout out in response to a shout out. Hell yes! Even old school MTV didn't have that many shout outs at once!

-Alyssa

Because 3rd Ward is sexy!

I love 3rd Ward, with an undying passion.

I love their workshops and classes on everything from silk screening to welding. I'm dying to take the woodworking classes. Plus, if you are a freelancer and join the Freelancers Union you can get discounted rates on every class 3rd Ward offers!

I also love their FREE EVENTS which almost always involve FREE DRINKS.

I'm a big fan of the Sweatshop Social Nights where they bring out home-brewed beer and a group, Bags for the People, show you how to sew reusable bags that are then donated to local greenmarkets. I'm happy to reduce the use of plastic!

Or the Handmade Music Nights, hosted by Create Digital Music, where I love to hit on nerdy boys and chug PBR.

And the Block Party they threw at the beginning of May was unbelievably awesome!

So keep it coming 3rd Ward, I want you so hard. So hard in fact that I should have made my Sex Cells submission about your gorgeous ass.

-Alyssa (aka Ginger)

P.S. Go check out the Sex Cells Gallery Opening this FRIDAY, FREE: drinks, sexting-porn and tunes from DJ Alden F. Fonda and Unicornicopia!

Free Stuff for last week of July

I have been a terrible little blogger as of recently. I am DOING fun things, just not blogging about what is to come.

Here are the remainder of my July FREE activities that I have planned for myself:

Thursday, July 24th
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit, Movies with a View @ Brooklyn Bridge: FREE
Synopsis:

"The annual Giant Vegetable Competition is days away and Wallace & Gromit’s humane pest control service, “Anti-Pesto,” is doing big business. But who exactly is changing into the mysterious Were-Rabbit, trashing and eating all the prized veggies? Find out in this 2005 Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature."

Friday, July 25th (in the wee-morning hours)
Feist performing for Good Morning America @ Bryant Park: FREE

Sunday, July 27th
MGMT and the Ting Tings @ McCarren Park Pool: FREE

Wednesday, July 30th (also other dates available)
12 Ophelia's @ McCarren Park Pool: FREE
Synopsis:

"Twelve Ophelias centers on Hamlet's Ophelia coming back to life, out of the water, to try to overcome her history and forge a new destiny for herself. She finds herself in an Appalachian Elsinore, Denmark by way of Deliverance—where Gertrude runs a brothel, Hamlet and Horatio slum it, and nothing is what it seems. In this squarely American and gritty interpretation of the Hamlet myth, Twelve Ophelias asks how it is possible to break old cycles and start afresh when the past so completely permeates your life."

Union Pool will let you do BBQ Parties?

Blog from July of last year on Union Pool's Myspace:

Birthday BBQs @ Union Pool!!!

Hey all,

All summer long Union Pool is offering up our hot grill for your party needs. All you have to do is contact us via unionpoolbooking@yahoo.com with the details of the party you'd like to hold, and we'll let you know the availability. We supply the grill and sell the booze from 3pm-7pm. You supply the people and the food. Weekend dates only, now through September.

Love, UP

I wonder if they are still doing this again in 2008? Afternoon BBQ, anyone?

BrooklynVegan and I totally think alike

I have been working on my own excel-version of a Free Events Calendar for NYC, but today BrooklynVegan released their own online-version (http://www.brooklynvegan.com/events.html) which totally kicks my ass.

Bookmark it and live by it for the summer.

GATH at Union Pool on Tuesday

Gregory and the Hawk will be playing at Union Pool this coming Tuesday (4/01). Oh, and other bands are playing too: Silje Nes, Curtis Harvey, My Favorite Things.



Did I mention that I love love love GATH? Let's go sing along.


Union Pool (Lorimer L Stop); $ TBD

Let's get Down & Derby!

I wanna get my swerve on! Just hand me some skates and a strong drink!

Unfortunately, prior engagements might prevent me from attending this AMAZING event, but I really, really, really wish I could go. Get more info here (official site), here (Myspace page), and here (Studio B).

Holy Fuck, it's M.I.A.!

M.I.A. is playing McCarren Pool on June 6th with Holy Fuck as the opening act. To quote a snippet of gchat conversation with Jesse:

me: duuuuude, i just found out M.I.A. is gonna be at McCarren Pool on June 6th with Holy Fuck opening

jesse: holy jesus! hipster hellllll!

You may be right, Jesse, but it will be worth it. Tickets go on sale this saturday (3/29) at 11am. I will set my alarm to wake up from whatever hungover stupor I may be in so that I can secure my spot in the deep end of the pool.

BBQ, Bourbon, Brews, & Blues in Brooklyn

Those are arguably the five best possible "B" words ever, and they all come together at one spot in Brooklyn (obviously). The Daily Specials information below is pulled directly from the Bar BQ homepage:

Daily Specials
Monday Nights: Blue Monday. Live Blues. Free bourbon of the week fron 7-9:00 and $2 Blue Point pints. Music starts around 7:00.
Tuesday: $2 Yuengling Kegger and live music. Starts at 8:00
Wednesday: Brooklyn Fire Eaters meet for a hot sauce hootenanny. Live Bluegrass starts around 9:00.
Thursday: Kids eat free from the kid menu
Friday: $3 Happy Hour Drafts
Saturday/Sunday: All day happy hour 12:00-6:00

Any day but Thursday (kids? they don't drink bourbon!) sounds like a sure-fire good time.

Nitty Gritty Details:
Kitchen open: M-F 3-11PM. Sat/Sun Noon-11PM. Bar stays open later.
Weekday Happy Hour 3:00-8:00.
689 6th Avenue (Corner of 20th St.)
The location might seem a little daunting to get to, but HopStop seems to think the R train from Atlantic would do just fine.

Get ready to Stitch & Bitch

Chrissy and I fully plan to attend the Stitch & Bitch crafting happy hour on Wednesdays from 6-9 at Southside Speakeasy in Brooklyn. You can work on your crafts and enjoy very cheap PBR tallboys and Jameson shots. Currently, I am not much of a stitcher, I do not know how to knit, and my one-time-try at crocheting when I was eight years old left me in tears of frustration. I do know how to bitch though, so I doubt anyone would kick me out. Besides, Chrissy said she would teach me how to knit, and the best way to learn how to knit is with a nice PBR tallboy by your side.

Urban Outfitters donating to BAM this weekend

You know how much I shop at Urban (more than I like to admit) and how much I love BAM (something I will gladly admit). Now one love can help another, this weekend only at the new Urban Outfitters store in Brooklyn. It is walkable from the Bergen G stop, which makes me happy!

Urban Outfitters opens its first store in Brooklyn today (166 Atlantic Avenue) and 10% of the first week of sales (through March 18) will be donated to BAM.

BAM has provided me with such amazing entertainment like Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, soon to be Paul Simon, as well as a great movie theater. Hopefully I will shop my heart out this weekend for them. <3

*** *** *** RECAP *** *** ***

Well, I ended up donating 20 buckaroos to BAM (and picked up a few cute items for Spring). Store was nice overall, but thought their shoe selection was lacking and there is no housewares section. And where were the bathing suits?!

I almost forgot about Coney Island

Brooklyn Museum is holding an exhibit entitled "Goodbye Coney Island?" through April 6th.

"An exhibition of more than fifty photographs from the Brooklyn Museum’s holdings, Goodbye Coney Island? traces the evolution of this fabled part of New York over the past 125 years. Coney Island has undergone many transformations since it first became a popular resort in the nineteenth century, and in the near future a prospective redevelopment plan may yet again change this section of Brooklyn."
- BROOKLYN MUSEUM WEBSITE

Hopefully I do not forget about this exhibit.

Study Center, 5th Floor
200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn

Moto, a sweet spot in Bushwick

I haven't been giving Brooklyn enough love - so here is a love note to Moto, a teeny, tiny Nuevo American cafe underneath the JM train in South Williamsburg. I have ate there a few times and have always enjoyed myself. It is small, dark, and mysterious - filled with good food, chocolatey beer, and sometimes even live music (though it is quite the feat to squeeze in the entertainers). Someone take me on a date. I'll split my mac-n-cheese with youuuu.

349 Broadway, Brooklyn NY 11211 (Corner of Hooper)

The 2008 Show Round-Up Post

I feel like I post about shows all the time, so here is in its most current state:

Previous
January:

• Kimya Dawson, 1/16, Europa Club: Write-up by Heidi Vanderlee
  
• Quitzow, 1/27, Mercury Lounge (proud Heidi supporter)
  
• Joanna Newsom, 1/31, Brooklyn Academy of Music: Pictures
  

Upcoming
February:

• I am the Heat, 2/13, Lit Lounge (to support Mike)
• The Magnetic Fields, 2/21, Town Hall *SOLD OUT*
  

March:

• 2008 PLUG Awards (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds/Dizzee Rascal/St. Vincent/Jose Gonzalez), 3/06, Terminal 5
• Jose Gonzalez, 3/12, Brooklyn Masonic Temple *have extra ticket*
  

April:

• Paul Simon, April, Brooklyn Academy of Music *purchasing ticket soon*
• French Kicks, April, Mercury Lounge *purchasing ticket soon*

May:

• The Black Keys, 5/15, Terminal 5

Wish List:

• Colin Meloy, 4/16-4/17, Music Hall of Williamsburg
• Feist, 4/28-4/29, Hammerstein Ballroom
• La Vita-Williams Guitar Duo, 4/28, St. Paul's Chapel
  

Colin Meloy in Williamsburg

Colin Meloy (lead singer of The Decemberists) is playing two nights in April at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (Wed. 16th and 17th to be exact).

It will be beautiful, sweet, sweet music. Looking for someone who would want to get tickets with me.

So, yeah.

Joanna Newsom, after the fact

I saw Joanna Newsom perform with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM last night. It was a breathtaking performance and now I forever want to be Joanna's friend and learn to play harp so we can play harp duets (if people do such things in real life).

The reason I am writing an after-the-fact blog is to point out that there was an empty seat next to mine. In the second row! (So close, I felt I could jump up and pluck her harp strings). And my ticket was only $35. Someone could have joined me to share in the experience. Too late now. Sigh. No one will believe how great it was.

Jose Gonzalez on March 12th

Jose Gonzalez is playing at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple (Clermont & Lafayette) on March 12th and I have two tickets. Want to come along with me? This is part of a "green" tour, so just think of the good you will be doing by coming along!

Brooklyn Arts Council Gallery Exhibit

The Lack of Desire
January 17 - April 11, 2008
BAC Gallery, 111 Front Street, Suite 218, Brooklyn
Curator: Scott Henstrand

"The Lack of Desire seeks to visually represent, from a side glance, what our desires imitate: the universal lack existing in the multiple recesses of our psyche from which our fleeting and never-ending desire springs. The artworks chosen for this exhibition offers the viewer a way to be present with lack rather than escape into the endless feedback loop of desire.

In many ways, human beings desire to keep desire from being fulfilled. Without it, we would be empty, our Self would disappear. We hunt and create objects that articulate desire, but simultaneously point to its inherent lack. In fact, lack is revealed as the positive object and desire becomes a nebulous abstraction.

How do we experience this lack? Desire drives narrative. We spin our tale around desire. Lack is the absence of this narrative and reads as a “block,” a loss of narrative and direction. This is manifest in an individual viewed from behind or the smoke of an ambiguous fire. It is disclosed in the incomprehensible blankness of a doll, inanimate and pre-language."

Sondre Lerche at Music Hall of Williamsburg (11/26)

Sondre Lerche Last.fm Page


Only heard one song by the dude, but I liked it. Would be down to check it out for kicks.

Radegast Hall & Biergarten (Billyburg)

Garden Party
Beer Hall With a Retractable Roof

Opening next week in Williamsburg, Radegast Hall & Biergarten is all your central-European fantasies rolled into one: 24-oz pints, more lagers than you can count, and most importantly, a retractable roof that leaves no doubt that you'll always be imbibing under optimal conditions.

When you step inside, you'll suddenly find yourself in a Vienna beer hall circa 1890, complete with a portrait of two Kaisers overlooking your half-liter of lager. (Never trust a Kaiser.) Sidle up to the twisting wraparound bar, grab a half-liter of Hofbrau (there are 13 lagers on tap) and don't forget the appetizers—luckily, the Austrian version of bar food is steak tartare and roast quail. Auf Wiedersehen, beer nuts.

Of course, the real revelry happens at the "garden" behind the bar. That's where you'll get some fresh air through the ten open skylights, grab the best German sausages from the grill at the back, and work on some international relations. If you want something heartier, there's Veal Schnitzel, Porterhouse Steak or Roast Pork Loin, all brought out on a plain wooden cutting board." -- Content from Urban Daddy newsletter

Anna's response to this UD newsletter: "OH MY GOD! IT'S LIKE URBAN-DADDY WAS CREATED FOR US!" You know where you will be able to find us in the near future :)

Radegast Hall & Biergarten, 113 N 3rd St (at Berry), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-963-3973