The Shadow Monster, Saturday, Oct. 16

This weekend you can see lightning-strike victims, a corpse dumping ground, a half-naked Bushwickian and a battle for water rights in Michigan all in the same place. It’s the Red Hook International Film and Video Festival we’re talking about, a two-day showcase of shorts and features, Brooklyn-centric documentaries, fiction and experimental films hosted by Red Hook’s Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition. Best yet, it’s all free, and that includes the popcorn and Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie. (more…)

Help with the horses at GALLOP NYC

As the summer doldrums of un(der)employment run into fall, there’s only so much more you can take of casting letters into the job-market black hole while plugging away at the future Oscar-winning screenplay. Time to shake things up. Brooklyn’s full of volunteer gigs perfect for turning your routine on its under-used head, and for giving back to the borough a little bit too. Here are a few ideas that’ll beef up the resume (and get you out of the house) while you’re waiting for that big break. (more…)

Fancy food trucks are practically de rigeur in NY these days, with the high-quality likes of Schnitzel & Things, Van Leeuwen and Eurotrash getting attention all over the city’s most esteemed media outlets. But how to find that nearest four-star truck when you’re dashing to your retail late-shift, tired of showing up smelling like gyros and tzaziki? Well, now, as they say, there’s an app for that. I Love Street Eats is a free iPhone application that shows recent locations of gourmet meal trucks selling everything from Tex-Mex to Belgian waffles. It’s currently available in NY and seven other cities around the U.S., and it relies on vendors to update their locations daily. And if you can’t afford an iPhone, the Website has all the info too.

via num num chronicles

This was a New Year’s Eve for partyers, starting on a Thursday night and leading into a multi-night, celebratory weekend that put lame, midweek Dec. 31s to shame. And just maybe you woke up Monday and stared into those bloodshot eyes in the mirror, vowing to do it differently in 2010. Go out less, workout more, maybe even take up a hobby. Here’s one worth a try: making some good old, 25-to-life, brewed-in-a-bag prison wine. (more…)

The coordinates of the mysterious Brooklyn Dumpster-pools have been uncovered! Earlier this month, ReadyMade magazine reported that a group of artists had transformed three trash bins into urban swimming holes, but the crew didn’t want to give away the location for fear of attracting crowds. But the guessing game is officially over. Red Hook? Greenpoint? Williamsburg? Nope, nope and nope. (more…)

The most impressive example of “upcycling” we’ve seen yet: a bunch of arty types have turned a handful of construction Dumpsters into three swimming pools somewhere in Brooklyn, where they host Friday pool parties.

The photos turned up this week in on the blog of crafty DIY bible ReadyMade magazine, which says pools are the brainchild of Macro/Sea, a murky group of art-world scamps that includes skater/author Jocko Weyland. Their mission is “to do projects we find interesting” including making as-yet-unseen new uses of abandoned strip malls. Dumpsters too, have been neglected amid the downturn, and these have been painted, sealed with 6 ml. lining, given a sand base, and then again sealed with a tarp, so they’re “not dangerous at all,” writes ReadyMade’s Andrew Wagner. The builders have also surrounded them with spiffy Trex-like decking.

So where are they? ReadyMade will say only that they’re “in Brooklyn.” Apparently Weyland doesn’t want to say for fear of attracting crowds, but the industrial surroundings suggest Williamsburg, Greenpoint or Bushwick… or Red Hook? Any guesses? Read the full story here.

Brooklyn Bowl. Photo by Adam Macchia.

Last night’s opening of the much-hyped new Brooklyn Bowl elevates everything about ten-pin to a new level: the food (courtesy of Blue Ribbon), the music (it’s also a concert venue) and the prices ($50/ hour during premium slots!) The place certainly bucks the trends; two landmark alleys, Mark Lanes and Bedford Bowl, have closed in recent years. So how does the glammy new joint stack up against the remaining Brooklyn lanes, price wise? A comparison. (more…)