See you later...gator!

Clio...

We were cleaning out some photos and we found this video of you. You by far might be the funniest person that we know, of course your accent only makes it funnier to us. Silly Americans huh?

Have fun this summer and we look forward to seeing you soon. She will be on the Jitney by mid July.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

It started with the usual visit to Fulton Bikes before a long ride. Then brunch in Queens. I was syched to get another welcome to Brooklyn sign shot. This was at the Pulaski Bridge and it seems to be my favorite thus far. The days dynamics changed a few times in the earlier part of the afternoon. We were supposed to have 2 of our married coupled friends over for a meal but that fell through due to circumstances that married couples have, so we went with plan b. There seems to always be a plan b in our lives, it's pretty amazing how that works. So it was back in the bike lane, riding through Williamsburg again. He got a flat on the way to Beks Bday BBQ and luckily it was not far from the bike shop, the detour was well timed because as soon as we got inside the sky opened for the daily downpour. Todays was terenchal but unlike the last 27 days of them there were 2 presents left in the sky. I once believed that Oz existed at the other end, today I was just grateful I got to share the beauty with some pretty cool new friends.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

This is not my "all-time favorite" MJ tune, but I do love this song. This is just my little way of showing my condolences to the Jackson Family.

Jackson Five - Can You Feel It
Uploaded by sofresh305. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

The Bike Ride Series

I have been able to ride my bike to work Mon - Thurs. It did rain at the end of the day on Wed, but I was able to wait it out. This is just a short clip of the ride back into Brooklyn from the Manhattan Bridge.

I hope that you enjoy my terrible footage.

Seasons Change

Finally, a reprieve from the rain today. I feel like Brooklyn may be going back to normal. I was starting to believe that it was going to rain forever and ever, that the seasons would never change again. That Prospect Park was going to float off into the abyss. The past 20 or so days have been so long, miserable and wet. My rain boots sprung a leak, my bike seat has been soaked, the roads are as slippery as bacon grease, his mood has been for shit ( I think it's that weather depression thing people in Seattle get). Even the kittens have been crazy at night. I am not sure of the forcast tomorrow but if I had to put money on it and I have the day off I am pretty sure it will be a wet one. Lots of stuff has happened in the past couple of weeks. A personal revelation (that took place at Coney Island) that God does not punish me for my past and he can only heal me in the present. That there is such a thing as global warming. The pro lifers (who are murders) won another battle against our (women when I saw our) rights. Iran has some crazy shit happening. There has been nothing in the press about the cops who murdered one of there own and left him to die. I had to fire someone at work which sucked but I also get to hire someone which will bring them some happiness (now I just have to figure out who). He is getting ready to wife me. Our neighbors have cooked out every night the past 2 weeks no matter what the weather. AA anniversary parties are better than Andrew W K's club. Lenny Dykstra (the namesake for one of the kittens, the other is Mookie Wilson) lost all his 10's of millions of dollars and is still a giant ass hole. He has started falling asleep every night before me. And finally my daughter made it through 9th grade. It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks in Bed Stuy while I have sat in front of the TV and took it all in. Hopefully we will be back on our bikes and life will return to normal, sans the rain.

This past weekend...

It turned into a fun, but not so relaxing weekend.

There was Coney Island on Friday night to enjoy the fireworks with friends. I was the only boy and I have to say the the ladies were as giddy as a bunch of teenage girls. We all had a blast! We rode out with one of our friends, and it was her first bike ride out to Coney Island. It was a late night, but it wasn't a school night so it wasn't too bad.

Then a rainy Saturday, I worked a party in New Jersey. Good looking out on the gig JRC. If you have ever been to Port Authority, you know how weird that place is, both SKETCHY and confusing at the same time.

Sunday we helped a friend move and it was a rough start to the day, but it ended with dinner at Bed Stuys own Peaches and an episode of True Blood.

Raining Again...

Will it ever stop?

It seems that I've been buying Metro Cards more often than I'm comfortable with.  I just want to ride my bike, but there seems to be no chance of that in the near future.  What to do?

This weather makes me want to stay in bed and sleep while the rain hits the window, but I can't I have to get up for work.  What is the point of a rainy day, if you can't sleep in?

Due to the inability to ride my bike, I am not able to take pics for this blog or write any interesting posts.  It seems that I am stuck writing stories about the weather, and trying to find music with themes of rain in them.  YEAH!!!!!!!

I would be very easy to put The Weather Girls, It's Raining Men video on here, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate or worthy.   ;-)

Angie Stone - No more rain
by foxysoul

Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again
by Discodandan

Bed Stuy Love...

Last year I took my mother to Hattie Carthan Community Garden and there was a United Nations Brooklyn Farm Tour and we had an awesome time in the garden with other Bed Stuy residents. I was fairly new to this part of Brooklyn and my mother was impressed with the community.

Yesterday, there was the International Food Festival, but I wasn't able to attend. I had to go to a bbq in Park Slope to help support a friend.

Anyways, I hope you all had fun...

Here is a video/song that I was listening to when I decided to write this blog.

John Forte Restoration Plaza

Sorry, we wanted to add this to the previous blog, but we had some technical difficulties. Please do yourself a favor and listen to his words.

John Forte Restoration Plaza...Bed Stuy from Todd Whitney on Vimeo.

Photo Exhibit?

I often try to "understand" art and I never do. I guess I'm not that sophisticated or cultured. Anyway, my friends at ALIFE Rivington Club (click the ARC on the bottom left) had another fun event. There was music (not my type), and a young hip(ster)/downtown crowd. 

I hung out with longtime friends and saw another guy that I hadn't seen in years.

There will be more events at ALIFE this summer and I'm sure that I will be at a few more. I didn't get pics of the party, I wasn't really in the mood and I didn't have the camera.

A long way from eating mangos in Trinidad with attorney's

We have inadvertently kind of been following Mr. Forte since W commuted his sentence from federal prison in December. We first saw him at The Roots opening night at the Highline Ballroom where he blessed the stage and was officially welcomed back to New York. He has passed him on the streets of SoHo and we have posted one of his videos on this blog. His presence is gigantic and his words are powerful. We caught him tonight at Restoration Plaza in the Stuy speaking to a group of brown and black young adults from BK as he put it.

The young people were about to receive certificates from NYC Justice Corps. They are young folks who have been involved with the law. This is their shot to not fall off the edge completely and spend 7 years and 4 months in prison like John Forte did.

The teacher who gave the invocation talked about, experience being the greatest teacher. Having a black President, the young officer Omar Edwards who was (I believe viciously murdered by a white cop), slavery and John Forte from Brownsville, Brooklyn.

John Forte came to the stage smiling and gave a brief history of himself. He spoke to them as a man with knowledge and shared his thoughts...He said things like, a life of success can turn into a life of disaster in an instant. Your best friends can become strangers, you rather look like a million bucks rather than save a million bucks.....He shared how in prision he felt like a "chump" not a baller. He explained that him still living is proof that a mistake can be over come. He told this graduating class to celebrate their achivements of the program. That they are stepping stones to a greater life.

He also shared a quote by William James "man can alter his life by altering his way of thinking." I am going to assume that some of these young brown and black skinned kids have never heard or listened to simple sayings such as these.

He sang 2 songs for them. This was about the summer of 2009 graduating class of the NYC Justice Corps. Good luck to them all.

As Forte said to them "keep going, keep going, keep going, the world is yours.

As always I love Bed Stuy.

Shout out to Bed Stuy Blog! Thanks for keeping us in touch with the "goings on" in Bed Stuy.

GOOD Pizza In The Stuy

I am a "pizza snob", and Saraghina's finally opened there doors.  It was a long time coming and I don't have to eat Papa John's anymore.  She can eat Elio's and enjoy it.

We arrived a bit late, 10:00.  Work and our visit to church basements sometimes mean that we eat late at night.  We rode our bikes there...of course.  

I can't say how excited I am that quality pizza is a 1.5 blocks away from our house.  

I understand that they aren't open completely, but from what I can tell this will be an appreciated new destination in the neighborhood.  We waited 20 minutes for a seat and the staff, I believe one was the owner, were all so polite and apologetic.  I really appreciate that.  We wanted to try a couple of different pizzas but they ran out of a few items.  I do not think that they anticipated the turnout.  When we got there, people were still showing up to be served.

We settled for a salad, margarita pizzas, and she had the mousse.  I enjoyed the salad, but I really enjoyed the pizza.  It was perfect in my opinion.  She enjoyed the mousse too.  We cannot wait until they have their full menu and open up the space completely.

I am sure that we will be enjoying visits to Saraghina's...hopefully they will have delivery service too. 

Not even in the top 15

I have been sitting here trying to spend less time on facebook. That unfortunately leads me to spend more time on Yelp. I Yelped Bed Stuy and was laughing and appalled at the same time. Andy's posts crack me up and I know he really loves Bed Stuy but some of the other misfits leaving their reviews have left a nasty taste in my mouth for tonight's dessert. Between the fear that strangers are trying to instill in each other and the blatant disrespect of its residents, I just want to make clear what an amazing place this is to live.... We are on the south side of the Stuy. We can walk out our door and have an amazing brunch at Peaches, go to Fulton Bikes to get a tune up, sit in the most beautiful Garden Of Hope,  chill out at Bread Stuy and so on.... I rarely if ever hear gun shots and if we do I am pretty sure they are the celebratory kind not the murderous. If you give these kids a rep they feel they need to live up to it. Now I am not saying it's the safest place in the world it's a big city and crime does occur. People get shot, pitbulls attack, bodegas get robbed but that same shit happens in middle America they just call it by a different name.  

Here is a list of the 15 most dangerous cities according to the FBI's UCR:

1. Atlanta 2. Miami 3. St. Louis 4. Tampa 5. Little Rock 6. San Bernardino, CA. 7. Baltimore 8. Baton Rouge 9. Detroit 10. Flint, MI. 11. Chicago 12. Washington, DC 13. Oakland, CA. 14. Birmingham, AL. 15. Kansas City, MO.

Balki Bartokomous Resides In Bed Stuy...

Actually he doesn't but my friend/co worker Niko aka The Bulgarian Price aka Balki now lives in Bed Stuy.  He has been here for a little over 2 months and we haven't seen him since he moved into the neighborhood.

He doesn't know Brooklyn that well and since we ride ALL OVER this lovely Borough, we decided to have a picnic in Prospect Park with him.  When you ride bikes and other people don't, it can be a little annoying, but WE love him anyways.  I told him how to get to the park via MTA and it was a really quick trip for him.

We sat out in the sun, had some food and drinks and caught up with each other.  We both used to work in the same boutique in the East Village and we both got new jobs at the same time.  Needless to say, ALOT of catching up to do.  

He borrowed her bike and it was funny to watch him ride a bike for the first time in a long time.  I joked that it isn't like riding a goat in Bulgaria.  I showed him some cool spots in the park.  I think he might have found "HIS" spot.

Here are some pics of Niko in Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza.

Welcome to Brooklyn and more importantly BED STUY..."don't be ridiculous cousin Larry".