PhotoWedns 3/18/09 Thank You, Gowanus Lounge

A place to rest.

A "Street Couch" as coined by Robert Guskind of GowanusLounge.com

Brooklyn is a place to rest. Lounge even. That's the way I see it.
No matter how much posh, chic, glass walled, towering steel is projected on us I'll always see Brooklyn as the living room to Manhattan's rumpus room. Being raised in a brownstone on a tree lined street and traveling to Manhattan for BIG shopping, BIG movies, and other types of BIG fun will form that mentality. Some people might want an eight-foot diameter disco ball in their living room, not I. That's why I go to clubs. In Manhattan.

The blog Gowanus Lounge reminded me of that sensibility. If you don't know it's a blog whose view was the Gowanus section of Brooklyn and whose focus seemed to be all things in the world that effected Brooklyn and vice versa. The blog presented a stream of thought provoking neighborhood news, upcoming events and lighthearted features such as the "Street Couches Series" where they'd post a photo of couches that for reasons left to the imagination, furnished the curbside. I enjoyed the challenge posed by the Street Couch Series to look at more than just the literal and apply my imagination to something others might regard as worn and past it's prime. That's how I took it anyway.

Unfortunately, the founder of the blog Robert Guskind, who some have referred to as the "Brooklyn Blogfather" passed away a few weeks ago on March 4th. As I wrote in comments on other blogs I never met him but I enjoyed Gowanus Lounge and am happy that his loved ones are continuing the site.

So last week I was walking through Prospect Heights, (me old stomping grounds) I found not one but two Street Couches, one on the curb and the other footsteps away, on deck.

And suddenly I wasn't just walking down the street surrounded by the discarded past, I was part of an urban fantasy scavenger hunt. I'd found treasure! I whipped out the camera, snapped some pics and thought how simply fortunately it is that Guskind decided to share his views of Brooklyn and imagination with us.

Thank You. Rest (Lounge even) in Peace, Robert Guskind.

Great set of 70's Brooklyn photos on Flickr

Photo from Flickr by user Whiskeygonebad.

Someone passed a flickr link to me of a photoset belonging to photographer "Whiskeygonebad". I knew nothing about the guy, but his photos are a great mix of family memories, everyday hanging out, and teenage bravura all dressed in a palette of 60's, 60's and especially 70's Brooklyn. He's posted photos from as far back as the 40's as well. Check out his works if you want another idea of how many eras and worlds exist all in Brooklyn.

"Whiskey" in addition to having a great compositional eye, is Italian, grew up in Boro Park. Looking at his 70's pics I felt like I was viewing the art directional inspiration for Saturday Night Fever. Here's that 70's set. [Flickr]

Surprise Layoffs at Brookdale Hospital

Suddenly laid-off Brookdale Hospital Registered Nurse on NY1

News around Brooklyn: 200 surprise layoffs at Brookdale Hospital. How many ways can this story be unfortunate? Which is worse, that 200 workers came in to work this week and only then learned that they had been laid-off, or that the public hospital servicing areas of Brooklyn where crime is still a serious problem, Brownsville, East New York (and to a much lesser degree East Flatbush) is hemorrhaging workers whose absence seems likely to affect care at the hospital. Details from NY1 complete with first person accounts.

And somewhere Al Bandiero is smiling

I was listening to 92.3 K-Rock this afternoon when suddenly the most annoying song (in a world of annoying songs) came on and wouldn't go off. The sound of ticking was the only thing heard and I keep waiting for the vocoder to drop when finally I realized, I was listening to the last moments of the station 92.3 K-Rock. I'd read earlier that they were changing formats, and the same afternoon I faintly heard mention of the change coming at 5pm. Sure enough, it was three minutes to 5, and the ticking wouldn't stop. Cheekily they punctuated the ticking with a heart monitor going flat line.

The first song seemed to be a Kanye remix, the fifth or sixth? DMX. awesome, how many not laid off frustrated workers were in the middle of their turnpike commute jonesing for some Bon Jovi when they had to listen to the Ruff Rider himself growl at them from the mid 90's. I'm sure Obama will get the blame for this change.

For those who read this and have some remorse for the former modern rock format, renamed 92.3 NowFM (lame, but it's always now, no?) all I can say is it was 1985 when the great dance station 92 KTU became K-Rock, (yeh they hopped over to 103.5 but everything changed) ending a station that was one of the most heard in the Disco era in NYC. Al Bandiero anybody?

Sadly it does leave the city that much closer to cultural hegemony.

For a sample of what used to be heard from 92.3 on the dial check this sample.