Tag Archives: Brooklyn

2014/07/14 · 7:10 pm

Brooklyn is the Center of World (Cup)

WorldCupHeadquartersWell, it’s finally over. After a month of great, often breathtaking games matches and gorgeous goals, the World Cup finished its 2014 run in Brasil yesterday, leaving us both sad and already overflowing with excitement for 2018 (and 2022 on our home turf?) I watched more soccer football in the last month than I had in my whole life prior, and it’s not even close. Even more, I think I watched more of the beautiful game in the last four weeks than I have of baseball all season. And I love baseball. But the Mets are mediocre and uninspiring, and just plain difficult to watch. And, well, the World Cup worked very well with my current unemployment flexible schedule. Will I continue this trend and begin to tune into MLS games on a regular basis. Probably not (last night’s Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers prime-time matchup notwithstanding). I already went down that road four years when I really thought I was going to be big LA Galaxy fan, and that didn’t last long (but that’s the worldwide appeal of David Beckham, I guess). Truth is, I’ll probably finally get back into baseball post-All-Star break, or, perhaps, if the Mets continue to make mediocre an art form, I’ll just kill time until hockey starts again (whose void was filled so wonderfully, and at just the right time, by the World Cup). But I’ll be ready for 2018 in Russia, and I’ll always treasure the last month, when I felt at one with the world and the world felt like it came to Brooklyn (and I spent way too much time in a bar before 5pm).

My lasting memory, I think, will be that every bar, cafe, restaurant, McDonald’s, hair salon and tax preparation office seemed to be broadcasting the matches, trying to capitalize on a popularity that I didn’t quite realize the tournament possessed. There was no shortage of establishments showing the matches, and, it felt, no shortage of people who were interested in watching. Walking around Brooklyn, it sure felt that soccer, after two decades of promise, had finally arrived.

World Cup Bars Brooklyn, Greenpoint

 

Our collective  fútbol fever may now have subsided, not likely to return for another four years. But from now until then, we’re still infected, with another outbreak just lying in wait, from Brooklyn to Chicago, from Seattle to Kansas City, to Los Angeles to the White House. I look forward to the relapse.

 

 

 

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Filed under Across the pond, Local Flavor, Matt Christopher Books, New Favorite Show, The Roaring 10s!

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2011/01/14 · 9:13 pm

Parting Shot: The Storm Before The Storm

“Oh, that’s where I left that!”

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2011/01/12 · 8:56 pm

And Speaking of Brooklyn and Snow, It’s the Danza Moment(s) of the Week!

Keeping with today’s Brooklyn theme (not to be confused with today’s ripping people off theme, or today’s “and speaking of” theme, or yesterday’s robot theme), check out the first few minutes of the Who’s the Boss? pilot, as Tony and Samantha pack up his windowless child molester van old, beat-up blue van and depart the Universal Studios backlot Brooklyn.  As a bonus, we’ve included the original opening credits, which feature additional footage of the iconic van’s journey to the Bower home in Connecticut (no footage of the cast?  How bold!  Perhaps, an homage to the Taxi opening?)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

In addition, keeping with today’s snow theme, here’s a short clip of Danza from Taxi that can serve as your go-to video the next time a blizzard rolls through:

And speaking of ripping people off, was this Taxi clip perhaps the inspiration for the Bosom Buddies cabin episode?  Makes you think.

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Filed under Buffy & Hildegarde, Local Flavor, Makes You Think, Rip-off, Who's the Boss?

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2011/01/12 · 6:37 pm

And Speaking of Williamsburg, Today is 1.12.11 (Williams’ Burg?)

Which is the zip code for the Brooklyn neighborhood, the snow-covered part of the borough where Jumped the Snark operates from (thanks to comic genius Mike Still for pointing this out).  The area is much maligned for its preponderance of hipsters, but, let’s face it, it offers better bars and better restaurants and better coffee and better pizza than everywhere else.  If you don’t live here (or in the 11222), you’re probably just jealous (plus it offers easy access to the Long Island Expressway without having to live in Queens).

In honor of this once in a century occasion, we could have gone with the Hipster Olympics, shot all around 11211, most notably in its McCarren Park, but let’s mark this momentous day with something a little more recent, a little less anti-hipster.  We’re speaking, of course, of Brian Williams’ story of the year, a brilliant monologue we’re sure you have seen (we hope!), but absolutely adore.  Williams doesn’t name the neighborhood specifically, only utilizing the borough-general term “Brooklyn,” but when he mentions ironic glassframes and artisanal cheeses, you know he’s really talking about Williamsburg.

Need more Williamsburg related content?  Here’s a scene from Delocated shot inside Bedford Ave’s Spacecraft.

Make sure to celebrate with some small batch coffee and locally sourced meats!

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Filed under Brilliance, Cross Country Hipsters, Lady Holiday, Local Flavor

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2011/01/12 · 4:21 pm

Planet Hoth: Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Unlike Stephen Colbert and Rolling Stone magazine, here at Jumped the Snark we’ll admit it when we borrow from others, which is why we’re obligated to point out that background image used in our current website header is not our own, but courtesy of fellow Williamsburg resident Henry Hargreaves.  During the Blizzmageddon Hargreaves had the genius vision of Brooklyn as Hoth, photoshopping Empire Strikes Back characters and vehicles onto the snow-white Williamsburg canvas, including Luke and Han gathering their bearings in front of the Hess station on Metropolitan Ave.  In fact, it was the composite of the AT-AT used in our header that informed us that we should probably wait another day or two before returning to Brooklyn after the storm, as in the distance we spotted a White Castle, and knew that the ice planet Hoth in these photos was just mere blocks from our own apartment.  So, Mr. Hargreaves, we owe you a debt of gratitude for not just creating these brilliant images (which we’ve gladly appropriated), but also for tipping us off to the horrible post-blizzard conditions in the neighborhood.  May the Force be with you.

Alright, Luke, time to take down that AT-AT.  Let’s not deprive local residents of their Crave Cases any longer.

via Gothamist

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Filed under Count Bleh, Cross Country Hipsters, George Lucas Doesn't Need More Money, Local Flavor, Other people's stuff, Robots, We'll Get It In Post

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2010/11/19 · 3:24 pm

Top Chef Contestants are Just Like Us!

Not, not because we also wear Crocs!  GROSS!

But because we have the same taste in bagels as Top Chef: Chicago cheftestant Nikki Cascone.

Cascone kept a week-long diary of her meals for Grub Street’s Diet of the Week, and had this to say about her Saturday morning:

Second breakfast. I HAD to have one of my favorites: two eggs over-medium, Swiss cheese, and turkey bacon on a whole-wheat bagel from La Bagel Delight in Brooklyn. Take it from a born-and-raised New York girl: They are the best bagels in New York.

(it should be noted that Cascone is extremely pregnant and that is why she has been eating multiple breakfasts, NOT because she is a hobbit)

We could not agree more with Cascone’s assesment of Bagel Delight, which has long been our favorite bagel shop in the borough, nay, the whole world (just ask our brother in LA, whom we overnighted bagels for his birthday a couple years back.  La Bagel Delicious).  And we also respect Cascone’s sandwich order, although when we splurge we go for real bacon.  Can’t do better than the genuine article.  And, at that point, why get a whole wheat bagel?  Just go for the gusto, Brooklyn!

We also have to commend Cascone for having the courage to open a restaurant that specializes in Jew food, Octavia’s Porch, which is set to open at the end of the month.  Take it from a born and a raised Long Island Jew, we’d rather eat pizza.  But if she’s set on trying to make gefilte fish more palatable, well, god bless her.

And if any of you stop in at La Bagel Delight, ask for Frank or Amanda and tell ’em Seth sent you.

(can we also add how excited we are for Top Chef: All-Stars, premiering December 1?  We can?  Great!  We’re super excited for Top Chef:All-Stars, premiering December 1.  Can’t wait to see what kind of Crocs Marcel is going to wear)

Via Grub Street

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Filed under Local Flavor, Top Scallop, Woody Allen, Bar Mitzvahs & Bagels

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2010/03/12 · 5:05 pm

Sorta In Memoriam: Tom Westman (and a brief discourse on celebrities and moral turpitude)

And so begins my long overdue thoughts on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.  It’s a shame we have to start on such a sour note.

A few weeks ago my mom and I were talking about the Tiger Woods scandal (it was what she came up with after brainstorming topics for dinner conversation) and she asked me if there was some one in the public eye, a role model perhaps, that would really break my heart if they were exposed to be in some kind of scandal or lascivious activity.  I told her that as I’ve become an adult I’ve learned to let go of such things, that as a 26 year-old you can’t put another person, especially a public persona, on such a pedestal.  She suggested that we should hold these people to a higher moral standard, but I argued just the opposite, that with celebrities – actors, musicians, athletes, politicians – we should expect less adherence to a moral code.  These are people who are told they are great, they are special, and thus think they are exempt from common behavior, that they are above the law, both legally and morally.  Now there are, of course, exceptions, but too often their celebrity status goes to their heads, and they think the rules don’t apply to them.  And the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and the less we should be surprised when they do.  Sad but true.  So to answer my mother’s question, there was no one I could think of whom I believed in so deeply that any discovery of indiscretion would be utterly soul crushing (unless it was revealed that Tom Hanks has cheated on Rita Wilson with a harem of Golden Corral buffet attendants, but I can think of almost nothing less likely).

However, a couple nights later I sat down to dig into the premiere of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and I realized that I was mistaken.  There remained at least one person I felt that strongly about, whom I believed to be nearly infallible, with whom I couldn’t fault and would be shocked to learn of one.  And that man is former Brooklyn firefighter Tom Westman.  Yes, as a fellow Long Islander I’m biased.  But the way he so thoroughly dominated Survivor: Palau is really unparalleled in the show’s history, and he did so by a mixture of uncanny physical prowess and the utmost integrity.  In my eyes he played a flawless game, and perhaps became the last role model standing.

Read on: The one true Hero…

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Filed under Century 21 Reality, Freak Out Control, In Memoriam, Local Flavor, Mancrush, Tribal Council

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2009/10/08 · 9:41 pm

Juno & Maeby Fünke Writing a Show About My Life

Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat and Har Mar Superstar are executive producing and penning the script for a new HBO show entitled Stitch N’ Bitch.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story focuses on:

…two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles’ Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists — of any kind.

Alright, fine, my move was from Park Slope to Los Feliz.  And I’m just a solitary not very cool dude.  But still.  Eerily similar.

I wonder if they were inspired by Bloc Party.

(And fyi, Ms. Page, if you’re going to be filming in the neighborhood and need extras, I’m eminently available)

Ellen Page to pen comedy at HBO

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