Come All Ye Faithful: cHURCH OF MONIKA Opens In Brooklyn

Beginning Sunday, January 17 at 11a.m., the faithful are invited to the OPEN SOURCE gallery for the cHURCH OF MONIKA. 

The cHURCH OF MONIKA's mission is to use art as a surrogate for religion. They say they take "a non-denominational and tolerant attitude in our journey through life and our hope is to build an alliance with people of all faiths and world views. We suffer no delusions of grandeur, but seek only to inspire and be inspired by the art of life and community." 

The “Church” will be a moderated town hall type of meeting rather than a sermon with topics varying each week. Snacks and coffee will be served. 

On Jan. 17, Lily White will take the pulpit. On Jan 24th, The Union Street String Band will lead the inspiration. Open Call: artists, writers, etc. 

Open Source Gallery, 255 17th street between 5th and 6th Ave (street level) in South Slope, Brooklyn 

Photo: God's Grafitti, by Rodigo Paoletti, Creative Commons license

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paoletti/ / CC BY 2.0

 

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Predictions For 2010, Brooklyn and Beyond

Will the stock market go up this year? What will Tiger Woods do next? Will stiletto heels come back into fashion?

Some folks have amazing foresight and have predicted what will happen in 2010. Using arcane methods (no, not Bing), we have uncovered these predictions, and are generously sharing them with you:

Predictions for 2010

- The American stock markets will rise by 10-15%, defying many observers. Seeking Alpha

 - Tiger Woods does not set foot on a golf course in 2010, but he will sit down with Oprah on a prime time TV special that will be the highest rated show of the year.  SeattlePI

- Russian academic Igor Panarin predicts the U.S. will fall apart. Around  early July, the U.S. will break into six pieces, with Alaska reverting to Russian control. Wall Street Journal 

- Facebook will go public and the IPO will be a huge financial success.  Sean Ammirati, COO readwritewe

- Tweeter Regular Ron predicts, "Joe Biden will step down as VP."

- Bin Laden dies; a secret experiment attempts to clone a famous person; Florida sees three major hurricanes. Psychics and Mediums Network

- There will be an above-average probability of major hurricanes hitting the U.S. this year.  Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University

- 2010 will mark the beginning of the end of U.S. dominance of the web. John Battelle's Search Blog

- The start of WWIII. The war will begin in November of 2010 and will end in October of 2014.  CompleteAll 

- Mobile devices will become our primary devices. Government 2.0 

- Stiletto heels and tie clips will make a major comeback. Digital City 

Brooklyn in 2010

It turns out that famous Brooklynites have also made predictions for the year 2010. In an article in the Brooklyn Eagle a number of Brooklyn residents -- from Borough President Marty Markowitz to Judy Stanton to Karen Auster -- share their revelations about the new year.

BP Markowitz predicts, among other things, that "the shovels will hit the ground on the Barclays Center/Atlantic Yards project" and "Asbestos removal at Loew’s Kings Theater will get underway, bringing the famed theater one step closer to a new life."

Harold Egeln at the Eagle predicts that Mayor Michael Bloomberg will make a bid to buy the “gingerbread house” in Bay Ridge, up for sale at $12 million.

Read more Brooklyn 2010 predictions here.

Photo by Benleto, Creative Commons license

http://www.flickr.com/photos/benleto/ / CC BY 2.0

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Would You Pay Fox a Dollar a Month?

You may have noticed that Fox programming is still being shown on Time Warner Cable. According to Marketwatch, Reuters and WPIX a deal has been been reached, but no one is saying how much Time Warner has agreed to pay Fox for the "privilege" of broadcasting their shows.

We're told that Fox (owned by News Corp.) wants a dollar a viewer, per month. Naturally, whatever Time Warner pays Fox, it will eventually end up on your bill.

Would you pay a dollar a month extra to watch shows (House -- American Dad -- Family Guy -- Glee) that Fox supplies for free over the air and online? Would you pay a dollar on top of that $65 a month you're already paying Time Warner for channels you probably don't watch? Is it time for a la carte programming? (This allows you to pay for only the channels/shows you want to watch.)

Let us know what you think -- Take the poll on the sidebar to the right, under the long ad. We'll tally the results next week.

(Regardless, we're rewatching the first season of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse on DVD tonight. We are just waiting for more Alpha.)

Fox / Time Warner Friday Night Deadline Looms 

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Fox / Time Warner Friday Night Deadline Looms

Fox Broadcasting was still being carried by Time Warner as of 5:40 p.m. on Friday, Jan.1 -- 17 hours after their contact ended in a name-calling, fist-shaking dispute over viewer fees.

John Daly of The Daly Planet posted a tweet saying there a 6 p.m. deadline is in effect. The Monitor speculates the truce will extend at least through the Sugar Bowl, starting at 7:30 p.m

According to the Wall Street Journal, however, the two combatants are "getting closer to a new television-programming deal that could be finalized as early as Friday night."

That possibility hasn't yet filtered down to the grunts, however. A Twitter post by Bianca Janosevic observes "Just saw the anchors on Fox 5 news take a dig at Time Warner and give out the # for calling on behalf of Fox."

(We can all agree that viewers will have to pay more money for their media fixes. The only question is how much?)

UPDATE: A deal has been cut. Would you pay Fox a dollar a month to watch their programming?

Photo by Tanakahow, Creative Commons license

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

 

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Remembering Brooklyn Heights' Celebrity Residents

Following the death of famous Brooklyn Heights resident David Levine, Karl Junkersfeld (a Brooklyn Heights Blog contributor) put together this video remembering Levine and a host of other Brooklyn Heights notables.

From Washington Roebling to Walt Whitman, from Carson McCullers to Gypsy Rose Lee, from Arthur Miller to Norman Mailer to David Levine -- it's amazing how many greats lived, worked and played in Brooklyn Heights. Our thanks to Mr. Junkersfeld for this walk down memory lane.

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Mysterious Lamppost at Brooklyn's MetroTech

What could have possibly blown this lamppost into such a shape?

Strange forces are at work at MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn!

Photo by MK Metz
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Saint Ann's Headmaster Moving On, Bookstores' Twitter Battle, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The headmaster of Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights will morph into the headmaster of Brooklyn Friends School next September. Brooklyn Eagle

- After nearly six years, the new entrance to the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Terminal is finally open to straphangers. The Brooklyn Paper

- A lounge and backyard garden is proposed for 71 Pineapple St., just off Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights. Brooklyn Eagle

- You've been waiting for this: The "Queerespondence Guide to New Year's Eve." Brooklyn the Borough

- A survey confirms it: service at many Brooklyn post offices really sucks. Your Nabe

- Twitter battle: Local bookstores are flaming each other on Twitter, accusing the others of such crimes as "steeling customers' kidneys," having books "full of bodily fluids," and printing "on baby panda hides." Huffington Post


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One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

The Christmas garland festooning the fence of the First Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights is punctuated by bright red ribbons -- and one miscellaneous red object, as shown.

Photo by MK Metz
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Going Gaga Over iPhones, Food Vendors and Exploding Manholes, Plus More Brooklyn Briefs

- We're saved: AT&T resumes online sales of iPhones in New York City. Crain's NY

- The New York City Economic Development Corporation has submitted a formal request for developers' bids to revitalize a 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse in Sunset Park. The Real Deal and Crain's NY

- The Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home will have to pay out nearly $19 million to the family of a 76-year-old patient neglected so badly he ended up with more than 20 bedsores. Fox News

- They've got grills and electric generators, and lights that are left on continuously. Now Bay Ridge residents are complaining about corner food vendors selling franks and falafels. Brooklyn Eagle

- We The Free is turning into Free People on Smith Street. And we do care. Pardon Me For Asking

- It's manhole explosion season again! OTBKB

- Pencil Factory Lofts get served, and work is halted once again. New York Shitty

- Vox Pop, the Flatbush left-liberal coffeehouse, has been closed for back taxes. Brooklyn Eagle

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ABC Super Store in Downtown Brooklyn Closing; 'Something New' Coming In

ABC Super Store, the super cheap emporium at 427 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn, is going out of business after almost 16 years. A manager told McBrooklyn that the store would be out sometime in January, and that "something new was coming in," but he didn't know (or didn't care to share) what.

According to Property Shark, architect Felix Pustylnik was paid $300,000 on Nov. 10 for "proposed second floor commercial inside existing envelope, partitions and plumbing."

Currently, ABC uses only the ground floor. The second floor has no windows facing Fulton Street, as seen in this photo we took around Thanksgiving.

Whatever it's going to be, it will never be as fabulous as the old Horn & Hardart Automat, which used to be at this location. (You can read more about this on the Lost City blog.)

Photos by MK Metz
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