Catch the last “services” of Chico MacMurtrie’s Robotic Church in Red Hook this weekend. Photo: Lori Zimmer
2014 has brought us a lot of frightening things, and Halloween is the perfect way to let go of the darkness. The Friday timing means you are far more likely to wind up at a party, and the weather will be balmy enough for flimsy costumes (though we’re predicting lots of hazmat suits this year, especially if you’re trick or treating at the Gutter). Don’t forget to set your clocks back on Sunday, and start dreaming now of all that work, or sleeping you’ll do in that extra hour. The only ones who will be more productive than you are the marathoners. 61 Local is treating runners to a beer and a sandwich for $9, and if you plan on cheering them on, a Mac Off at Littlefield will help you warm up afterward with 20 renditions on the world’s most comforting dish.
And, if you just want to be past all the slutty squid costumes and discarded PowerGel packets, take a deep breath and look forward a week–BAM just announced that they’ll be screening shorts from the local web series High Maintenance (we interviewed the creators awhile back) on Monday, Nov. 10, good news for anyone with a sense of humor.
Here are seven other ways to stay busy this week.
Wednesday, Oct. 29: Weyes Blood, pronounced “Wise Blood,” and inspired by a Flannery O’Connor novel, is an apt name for a band performing during a gory week. Natalie Mering is the singer-songwriter behind it, and her music, says BB writer David Chiu, is hard to classify. Raised on Joni Mitchell, weaned on New Wave, her sound is rooted in folk, but “also modern-sounding and experimental and her mature singing voice belies her young age.” Hear her haunting, powerful vocals tonight at Glasslands in celebration of her latest album recorded in Greenpoint.
Thursday, Oct. 30: The internet–ice bucket challenges, basic bitches and all–will come alive tonight at the Bell House during the sixth annual Hallowmeme, when crafty, Internet savvy folk dress up as all that goes viral on the web. Kate Hooker, who’s an old pro at making Hot Cheetos and Takis costumes, suggests going just for the people watching alone (though you’ll want to come as some meme). Entry is free with RSVP, the costumes, priceless.
Friday, Oct. 31: There are so many Halloween parties to choose from each year, we put Oriana Leckert of Brooklyn Spaces on the case to suss out the best ones. Here are a few more options just in case: Videology is screening Witchboard and putting out ouija boards for you to conjure up the departed, BAM is holding a free costumed dance party with DJs in the upstairs cafe, and 61 Local has invited artist Iviva Olenick (maker of handstitched tweets we adore) to lead a pumpkin painting session at 6:30pm followed by carving at 9:30pm, with a $1 off drinks if you come in costume.
Saturday, Nov. 1: After an intense evening of trick-or-treating, you’ll need something to distract the kids from all the candy left in their bags. The answer is the Hill Country Fall Fam Jam in Downtown Brooklyn for an afternoon of live music from local roots band The Three Gentlemen, face painting, bead making with Urban Glass, plus plenty of grub to keep you and the kiddos happy. Shake Shack will be serving its frozen custard on nearby Willoughby Plaza, Hill Country is offering $8.50 brisket and mac kids meals that you’ll want to eat yourselves, plus happy hour specials, all in Hill Country’s stroller-friendly, 11,000-square-foot space.—N.R.
Sunday, Nov. 2: If you haven’t been to church in forever, and don’t plan on going soon, make an exception this weekend for The Robotic Church. Inside the Norwegian Seaman’s Church on a quiet Red Hook street, you’ll find a menagerie of metal sculptures by artist Chico MacMurtrie, which come to life in the nooks, crannies and rafters of the 19th century building. We went last year and the experience still makes us grin. Tickets are $15 and there are just a few spots left for this weekend’s last services.
Monday, Nov. 3: Taking a joke to its most extreme point, and then driving it 1300 miles further, is a hallmark of comic writer Simon Rich, whose Shouts & Murmurs are like a cross between Shel Silverstein’s hyperbolic poems and Sarah Silverman’s shocking jokes. Tonight the New York native heads to BookCourt in Cobble Hill to discuss his new short story collection, Spoiled Brats, featuring many of the outrageous stories that originally appeared in the New Yorker, like one about a man who returns to life in present-day Brooklyn after spending 100 years brining in a vat of pickle juice in the Williamsburg factory where he once worked. The book is Rich’s fourth and has already garnered praise from The Guardian and The New York Times for its smart tales of millennial life seen through Rich’s hilariously bizarre lens. The reading begins at 7pm; be prepared to laugh till it hurts.—N.R.
Tuesday, Nov. 4: Wine regions are sort of like Brooklyn neighborhoods–you’re always on the hunt for one you love that hasn’t been discovered yet, that’s authentic and interesting, but undervalued, so it’s still affordable. Does that make Georgian wines (the country, not the state) the hot new neighborhood? Fittingly, you can find out in Ditmas Park, at The Farm on Adderley on Tuesday night, during their Georgian Wine Dinner. John Wurdeman, a winemaker from Pheasant’s Tears Vineyard in the village of Tibaani, will explain what you are tasting as you sample Georgian wines, which are aged in traditional clay vessels called qvevri that are lined with beeswax and buried during the aging process. Taste multiple wines, pepper Wudreman with questions, and sample several courses from The Farm’s kitchen, all for $80; for tickets email thefarmonadderleyevents@gmail.com.
Tips this week by Nicole Davis, Annaliese Griffin and Nikita Richardson.
