And Celebrate Brooklyn we will.

Bust out those Google Calenders, because the long cold winter nightmare of not seeing free outdoor shows is finally over. This year’s Celebrate Brooklyn lineup is just another annual reminder of how much better and full of free stuff summer is, which should make all the other seasons feel bad when they look in the mirror. Highlights include Theophilus London, Mavis Staples, Big Boi (as previously reported), James Lidell, the awesome They Might Be Giants and, rounding it all out… Shaggy?! Sure, why not, it’s summer! Full lineup below: (more…)

They take their skee-ball very seriously at Full Circle.

Full Circle Bar
318 Grand St. (between Havemeyer and Marcy)
Williamsburg
347-725-4588

What it is: The national home of Brewskee-ball, the first-ever national competitive skeeball league.

Why we love it: It’s a mix of Brooklyn cool and boardwalk fun. Even if you’re not on a Skee-ball league you can roll your luck on one of the four Skee-ball lanes. the fun vibe at the bar is helped by the decorations made of reclaimed old skeeball machine parts and a staff so dedicated to the game they’ve got Skee-ball tattoos. Tuesdays and Thursdays are some of the best cheap nights out in all the land: not only is Skee-ball free those nights, but you get a hot dog or pretzel with every beer purchase! If you live locally, take advantage of the special “sip codes” nights every month, which is an open bar for people in the Williamsburg zips. (more…)

Hebrews his own beer.

Was Jesus the original hipster? Let’s see: supported by dad, hung out with a bunch of dude bros, couldn’t afford wine so had to make his own, tragically mocked by haters, fan of adult hide and seek … yep, this checks out. It’s an ad by Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn for its new campaign this month, on signs in Brooklyn and Queens, which Animal spotted. This is annoying, but we’re pretty sure Raptor Jesus would make short work of him.

This is me, at my job, the worst job in America.

Is your job awesome? Like, actuary or dental hygienist awesome? Well good for you because mine is the actual worst job in America! And here I thought we humble ink-stained newspaper wretches would at least have a leg up on drunken crack whore, but oh no: this ranking of the 200 Best and Worst Jobs of 2013 puts “newspaper reporter” at dead last, right below lumberjacks, who are probably consoled by all the logs they get to roll into those flannel groupies, and actor, which is inaccurate, as everyone knows that is not a real job.*

Meanwhile, at the top of the list are actuary, biomedical engineer, software engineer, financial planner and other jobs so boring-sounding I have fallen asleep several times in my bowl of Apple Jacks just writing about them. The rankings factor in physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook. So brokesters, let’s have some fun with this: how terrible is your job according to this list, and do you agree? Full-throated defense of working at a newspaper in 2013 below: (more…)

Richie Havens, who was born in Brooklyn in 1941 and grew up in Bed-Stuy, died today at the age of 72. He famously opened the Woodstock festival (the 1969 one, not those 90s style biters), and gave a gritty, folky gravitas to many pop tunes he covered. Here’s a video of him singing “Wonder Child” from Sesame Street (yes, it is Sesame Street, despite the lack of Muppets) in 1975. The sky was a nicer shade of blue because of you, Richie. (more…)

Do you have a man inside you? What about $8?

Confession time: I, like so many of you, am a Netflix moocher. I have used, loved, binge-watched and abused a Netflix account for nearly three years now, but I’ve been leeching off an old roommate’s account, which she was fine with, even if my viewing habits mix in a lot of Justice League Unlimited to throw off her heavily mumblecore-centric viewing recommendations.

These heady days of unlimited Netflix sharing, however, may be coming to an end. Bloomberg reports today the service that is changing the way we watch TV wants to actually charge you for the way you watch TV. It may soon start cracking down on the number of devices you can stream the service on, which means no more mooching off of mom and dad’s account and no more one Netflix for the whole apartment [UPDATE: Netflix has just released its "moocher plan" price: $12 for four streams!]. It’s cool, I was going to get my own account soon anyway. In fact, this is actually a pretty great sign of things to come. Here’s why: (more…)

This internship looks classy as shit.

Every now and then we like to transcend the world of cheap dive bars and free music/childhood cartoon references to help you rub elbows with the actually cultured high society of New York City. Today that comes in the form of something that will not only get you cultured, but will also give you some job experience and even a bit of pay: the Metropolitan Opera, the largest classical music organization in North America, is looking for interns! Not only does the opera pay, but interns also get to attend every final dress rehearsal for free. Details below. (more…)

Coney Island was already open for biz in this March 30 photo. Via NPR.

It’s summer! Well, it was for a sec, now it’s fussily raining or something. But it’s coming, oh yes, after a too-long winter cooped up huddled around Netflix for warmth. This is a good time to remind ourselves, however, that this summer is going to be different than any we’ve had before because of the harsh reality that many of our beaches, and the people who live along them year-round, are forever changed thanks to Hurricane Sandy.

Then there’s Coney which, magically, like how the subways came back sooner than they should, is already up and running again. The Freak Show is still drying out, and other spots won’t return at all, but the rides are back and the vital aorta of the tourist economy is pumping again. How? The answer is in this excellent report from NPR’s Planet Money, (a great podcast that Brokelyn has been remiss in not officially endorsing before). The answer has less to do with government bailout and and more to do with the neighborly support system that got us through this storm in the first place. (more…)

Great googity moogity!

Prospect Park got its first taste of the major festival experience last summer with The Great GoogaMooga. And while it was maybe a little bit of a shitshow, that’s no reason to not give it another try. So GoogaMooga is back this year, and they’ve made some changes. The festival will be three days (May 17-19) instead of two, it’ll have a larger general admission area and more places to buy the food and beers that the festival is all about. The Friday show will cost $50 and will feature the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Flaming Lips; the free shows Saturday and Sunday will feature Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Matt & Kim, De La Soul, Cults and Sharon Van Etten and 85 NYC restaurants.

Here’s the press release with all the details: (more…)

I’ll take 10 margaritas, and keep em coming until fall.

Do you hear that, brokesters? Hark, in the distance, but growing stronger every day, is the faint jingle of SUMMER 2K13, barreling its way to your doorstep like so much tanning-oil lubed Santa Claus. We’re trying our not to get too amped up yet, considering we just got like the second biggest snowstorm of the year two days ago, but the signs are starting to pop up already. Namely, Habana Outpost, that oasis of warm-weather outdoor drinking (and exquisite peeing environs), opens its gates for the season in a mere  3.5 weeks. And if a summer of slinging frozen drinks and roasted corn sounds good by you, the bar is hiring this week! (more…)