Category: Weeknotes

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Black and white photo of Antibalas on stage at Brooklyn Bowl.
Antibalas at Brooklyn Bowl 2025-11-15. Credit: Kenny Rennard

Caught Antibalas at Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night—phenomenal show. They were super tight and had great energy for the whole set. There were several alumni present as well, at one point, there were no less than fifteen guys on stage. Thanks to Kenny for trekking out to Williamsburg on a rainy night, not to mention providing this excellent picture.

Speaking of Williamsburg, it’s been a minute since I’ve been in that area around Brooklyn Bowl. What’s with all the massive, brightly lit billboards for Cartier, Sapphire Reserve cards and other high-end brands? Is it just me, or do they make Wythe Ave. feel more Sunset Strip than Williamsburg?

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Photo of a bronze plaque mounted on the stone wall an apartment house that reads "NO DOG FOULING" and is decorated with two paw prints.

This week’s random photo comes from an apartment house on 8th Avenue in Park Slope. I’ve seen many variations of “yo, don’t let your dog soil our building’s entrance”, but this one is just so, um, polite?

In an effort to make more things, I started working on a jukebox project I’ve been contemplating for a while. Normally, these sorts of projects only get documented when they are complete, with this one, there will be more posts along the way. You’re welcome.

By the way, the government has been shut down for over a month at this point—with no end in sight. If the administration follows through on their threat of withholding pay from furloughed workers—and those that continue to show up despite not getting paid—can we all expect a tax credit come April? I’m thinking not…

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Photo of a diver sculpture with a speaker rather than a glass window in its helmet. It is painted with gold and brown, dripping paint.
Audio Diver at Industry City

An errand took us near Industry City on Saturday. So, we stopped by for lunch and poked around some of the shops. That is where we met the Audio Diver pictured here.

I softened my YouTube ban in the last couple weeks by not totally blocking it on my computer. Unsurprisingly, I started slipping back into old ways. There are so many “interesting” things to click on in YouTube. Go there to watch something specific; the next thing you know, it’s midnight and you’re watching 35 minute clips about running an all sourdough bakery in Arizona.

My new strategy involves following the few channels I really care about with RSS. That lets me watch their new videos without being tempted by the constant stream of related or “you might also like” stuff they serve up.

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Photo of a very skinny house, not much wider than the front door. The house is overgrown with vines, the stoop is falling apart and the door is very weather beaten. The rear end of an abandoned car is visible on the left.
A very skinny house on Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn.

Programming note: The notification email has been resurrected after many years. If you subscribed ten years ago and this email comes as total surprise, sorry—no hard feelings if you unsubscribe.

I’ve wanted to check out the MTA’s annual pop-up shop, but always find out about it after the fact. My luck changed this this year, I read about Debi Mazar’s subway shopping spree while the event was still on. By the time I got there, things were somewhat picked over, but they still had a lot on offer. It was mostly signs, but there were also some other items, such as air gauges and other random train parts. I walked away empty-handed, but it was worth the price of admission if only to see the excitement of the people coming out and posing for photos with their loot.

Since I was in the area, I walked down to Coney Island. On the way I saw this incredibly skinny house on Stillwell Avenue. Despite its compact size, the owners have a difficult time with upkeep.

Coney Island is quiet in the off season, but a couple of the places on the boardwalk are open. There were a surprising number of tourists milling about, confused about he ordering system at Nathan’s. Strange to see them so far from the more popular attractions. Good on them for exploring, even if the subway ride is more exiting than the destination this time of year.

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A freshly poured pint of Guinness sits atop a stone bar. "THE CANARY" and a drawing of a canary is printed on the glass. Mixing glasses and liquor bottles are in the background.
The best Guinness I’ve had in recent memory.

We went for lunch in Crown Heights on Saturday. We were unaware of the annual Panamanian Parade happening on Franklin Avenue, but it was a nice surprise. The sometimes drenching rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the marchers or the spectators. By the way, lunch was delicious, as was the Guinness.

There’s a write-up about my Personal Newsletter in the Projects section. It’s a short one—an appropriately short post for a short project.

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