Photogenically intoxicating. Tres Brooklyn. Photo via BkRV Facebook.

Brooklyn branded booze is all the rave lately and everyone has someone on their gift list that appreciates presents of the inebriating variety. From gin to rye to wine to rum, bitters, beer, and bourbon,  you could probably cover your whole gift-worthy circle with cheer in a bottle. Brooklyn as a brand symbolic of “the good life” started with Brooklyn Brewery back in the 70s, but Absolut was the first to stamp Brooklyn on vodka. But that crap tasted like Spike Lee’s secret bathtub moonshine formula and was probably distilled in the vodka equivalent of a sweatshop. Brooklyn Republic Vodka is the true vodka of our borough. Distilled with New York wheat, the formula is blended and purified in small batches with Brooklyn tap water in the company’s plant near the Navy Yard. We don’t know much about vodka tasting (except that it mixes great with, well, anything), but the New York Times describes it as having a “clean aroma, bright flavor and smooth finish.” $24.99 (and under) available and liquor stores throughout Brooklyn.

Pepsi+Chicken=vomit chip flavor [AdAge]
NYPD is “friends” with the gangs of NY [WSJ]
Dirty gchat may be unconst. according to Scalia logic [VICE]
The drunken disorderly sexy Santas are coming [McBrooklyn]
It’s cheaper and more awesome to stay in Brooklyn [USA Today]
Latest delivery technology: Burrito dropping drones [Grub Street]
“Hipsters” form alliance in response to extreme hate in Germany [L Mag]
Last look inside Domino Sugar Factory, before it gets condo’d [Free Wmsbg]
At home film festival and other lame free stuff to do this winter [Biz Insider]
Looking for holiday gifts? Try The Loom, Bushwick’s non-evil mall [Bushwick Daily]

Being this handsome not guaranteed. Actually, never mind, we guarantee it.

What better way to spread your love of Brooklyn then by outfitting everyone you know with stylish digs from your favorite blog? The Brokelyn Apparel shop features an affordable selection of our premium logo tanks and tees designed and handmade locally by Brooklyn Royalty designer and Manufacture NY director Bob Bland.

Because people apparently don’t understand puns anywhere in the rest of the world, your giftee will get a lot of folks staring at their chest being like ‘Where’d you get that awesome Brooklyn shirt? Oh wait (double-take) “Brokelyn”?! That’s hilarious!’ Given this inevitability, we especially favor this green and orange racerback tank. Though, given that “everyone looks busty in it” maybe don’t gift it to your girlfriend or tween cousins. (more…)

Deck the halls with boughs of organic holly. Photo by *Bitch Cakes* via Flickr

Produce, sure, pesticides are bad. Meat, well, yea who knows what those weird poultry plumping hormones could do to us. But organic Christmas trees? Really? Besides the pretentious bragging rights attached to buying a (more expensive) “organic” tree, is there really any reason for a tree that exists entirely to be chopped down, adorned with tinsel and then die in a week to be chemical-free? Unless some hip artisanal restaurant is making Douglass Fir soup, what’s the point? (more…)

For the local surf community, hurricanes and other storms provoking surging swells are often a welcome opportunity. But Sandy was a beast of a different breed, ravaging coastlines and destroying beaches, changing the sand bars and jetties and breaks, and with them the lives and livelihoods of NYC boarders long and short. This Sunday, brush off the holiday market fatigue and soak up some winter stoke while supporting local surf-gear merchants at the Brooklyn Surf Flea Holiday Bazaar.

Whether you’re a goofy footer, love one, or just dig the Endless Summer vibe, stop by the languid Picture Farm Gallery space from 2-8pm and shop local while enjoying drink specials, tunes, and surf flicks. Ten percent of all proceeds will be donated to Sandy relief efforts.  (more…)

Don’t cry, you can still afford to live in Brooklyn. For now. Photo by Rachel DeLetto

BREAKING! More people want to live in Brooklyn, so rents are going up. This according to a muckracking report from the New York Post. Median rental price in Brooklyn is up 10.1 percent from 2011 as compared to Manhattan which saw a a 1.4 percent increase. Yes that’s a big difference. But the rental market in the City has been pushing the boundaries of insanity affordability for decades. It’s still cheaper to live in Brooklyn, at least for now.  (more…)

Forgotten, but not gone. via Comm 663

Everything old-timey seems to come back en vogue eventually. But the payphone is one relic destined to be denied retro nostalgia resurrection. Everyone and their subway panhandler has a spacephone these days and our mobile dependency is only growing stronger with every next-gen iPhone. But there are still 11,000 active pay phones in New York City that are mostly sitting idly collecting gross city grime. Mayor Bloomberg and his tech/digital advisory team want to know what you–innovative tech-savvy urban dwellers you are–think the future of payphones should be. Enter the Reinvent Payphones public design challenge for a chance to help modernize the communications infrastructure of your city. (more…)

Someone at the White House is definitely on pot [Jezebel]
Fast food workers want a revolution, well you know [Gawker]
Maury Povich’s daughter struggles to rebuild Lobster Pound [NY Times]
Want to help Red Hook? Go buy something [Grub Street]
City censors provocative anti-war art in McCarren Park [DNAInfo]
Wyatt Cenac talks video games [Gameological Society]
This is clucking ridiculous [mcbrooklyn]
No free pass for missed Sandy PS Food Co-Op shifts [FiPS]
How’s your quality of life in Barclays Brooklyn? Help NYT be on it [The Local]
Sandy washed away Coney Island’s retro seediness [NY Magazine]

Soundtrack this injury and you can start your road to the Grammys. via HitFix

“My roommate” was watching Teen Mom the other day and there was one song that played on loop throughout the episode and I thought, “Damn, if I was this band I’d be kinda pissed at my manager.” But I also had never heard of the band before so it was cool that they were getting play in a show that exposes them to a (sadly) huge number of viewers. Find out how to get your songs featured in teen dramas and into the ear holes of the youth of America at a Music Industry Secrets event at Knitting Factory on Tuesday, Dec. 4.  (more…)

Someone figured out how to make money off Gowanus toxic sludge [DNAInfo]
Temp. injunction granted to block Carroll Gardens homeless shelter [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
We told you about the G Train meeting, here’s what happened [Brooklyn Paper]
Theory: Li Lo is actually a method actor, always in drunk & disorderly character [Gothamist]
Another Brooklyn reality show to make us look like even bigger assholes [The L Magazine]
Life tip: Lower your expectations and you won’t feel like such a failure. Duh. [xoJane.com]
Organic produce and coconut water are a waste of money, says science [Business Insider]
BPL opens first “Green” library in Kensington [Brownstoner]