the weekend plus

March birthday shout-outs to:
Gabriella, Nika, Phoebe & Joanne!

***

Performing @ Cornelia Street Cafe
Saturday, March 1st @
Gretchen Parlato, Jazz Vocalist

with Mike Moreno, Jazz Guitarist/Composer

and Alan Hampton, Jazz Bassist

29 Cornelia St
between Bleeker & W 4th
www.corneliastreetcafe.com
$5

9p - Gretchen Parlato
and Mike Moreno
10:15p - Alan Hampton & Special Guests

good music, good food,
good drink, good timesss!

***

Re-Zoning the "Atlantic Yards" Footprint Workshop: Saturday, March 1, 2008-10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Speculation has been increasing recently that Forest City Ratner's "Atlantic Yards" project could be falling prey to the triple-whammy of a slowing economy, the crisis in sub-prime mortgages and the global credit crunch. Big real estate deals all around the country are being put on hold or are being shelved altogether, and Ratner's planned City Tech tower project, which would have been Brooklyn's tallest building, unraveled yesterday.

All of which makes this Saturday's Hunter College-conducted workshop all the more relevant. The workshop will explore a re-zoning of the entire "Atlantic Yards" project footprint, building on the original UNITY Plan, the community-created alternative Ratner's project. With concern growing that Ratner might not build all, or even any, of "Atlantic Yards," the need to look at the area's future is critical. Urban-planning experts will lead a discussion touching on the area's current zoning, and community participants will work together to create a vision for future zoning and development. Kind of like what would happen if the state didn't seize control of the area and ram through a top-down project devoid of public input.

March 1, 2008
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
St. Cyril's Belarusian Cathedral
401 Atlantic Avenue (at Bond Street)
Hunter College CCPD would like an RSVP to 212-650-3328 or ccpd@hunter.cuny.edu, but don't let that stop you. If you just show up, they'll gladly let you take part.

The workshop is presented by the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development (CCPD), and sponsored by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods.

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, MEMOIR! Tonight, 2.28

Lisa's Note: Louise Crawford, host of Only the blog knows Brooklyn and Smart Mom columnist for the Park Slope paper forwarded the following to me:

Brooklyn Reading Works presents THE MEMOIR-A-THON!

This is the Brooklyn Reading Works event you won't want to miss. Never heard of a Memoir-A-Thon?

That's because I made it up. It's sort of a marathon reading of memoirs—but it won't be long and boring.

No way. That's because the writers are each limited to 6 minutes and that will be strictly enforced by my little bell.

At 6 minutes: ding, ding, ding.

And what a group of writers: Branka Ruzak, Mary Warren, Marian Fontana, Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein, Nica Lalli, Kim Larsen, Carla Thompson and MORE...

On February 28th at 8 p.m. come to this great event and hear the personal stories of these unique writers. Books by these authors will be on sale at the event which is at the

Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue and Third Street
Park Slope, Brooklyn

PAULA BERNSTEIN & ELYSE SCHEIN are the authors of Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited.

MARIAN FONTANA is the author of A Widow's Walk, a memoir of 9/11.

NICA LALLI is the author of Nothing; Something to Believe In, a memoir of growing up an athiest.

BRANKA RUZAK has been a writer, producer and editor for commercial and corporate advertising who spent many childhood hours listening to her father's stories and playing Croatian folk music. Always an avid traveler,her studies in Hindusthani classical music, as well as her enthusiasm for Indian novels, textiles and a good cup of chai have taken her to India and other destinations. She is currently working on a collection of essays about family, identity, culture and travel.

MARY WARREN is a freelance writer who teaches English at a local college. SHe has two blogs, Mrs. Cleavage's Diary and Eat, Drink, Memory.

CARLA THOMPSON writes a blog, "The Ride: Life Lesson for Those Who Can't Draw a Straight Line", which features her acerbic and sometimes witty musings on everything from politics to pop culture. Carla has also written a variety of articles for Women's eNews, Black Enterprise, AOL Black Voices and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution among other publications.

KIM LARSEN'S feature story, "Bad Blood," which reports on the reintroduction of DDT in the fight against malaria in Africa, is the cover story in the winter 2008 edition of OnEarth Magazine. Her essay about the untimely death of a close friend appears in the essay anthology, "The Oldest We've Ever Been."