Vox Pop on CNN

CNN's Campbell Brown show sent a camera crew over to Ditmas Park Wednesday morning to get the scoop on Vox Pop's much blogged about communal capitalism model. They talked to Debi Ryan, Sander Hicks, and a local family that invested $1,000 in the Cortelyou coffee shop.

One funny thing- when the segment aired on CNN last night the news ticker at the bottom of the screen (the one that shows unrelated news bites) flashed "Statue of Liberty replica decapitated on YouTube." Kind of neat that two separate stories about our little neighborhood hangout spot have made national news in the same week.

Check out the full segment below:

Gone Soy Fishin'

Flatbush Vegan is on vacation this week in the Outer Banks. We will resume our (ir)regular posting schedule sometime next week.

Filmed in Flatbush: The Groomsmen

I was dreading having to watch "The Groomsmen" just for the Ditmas Park parts. The DVD cover makes it look like some awful Wedding Crashers rip-off. But it actually turned out to be a pretty heartfelt movie. Plus, lots of Ditmas Park scenes and a little Prospect Park South action thrown in there as well.

The film is set in a quiet Long Island neighborhood. But who cares where it's supposed to be. This film is all about the real locations. And from the very first scene Flatbushers will recognize the place Ed Burns and Brittany Murphy's characters call home as 298 Argyle (pictured). Donal Logue's character lives just a few blocks away at 173 Westminster (below) and Matthew Lillard's character is just across the street at 182 Westminster.

It looks like most of the principle actors were on set for the Ditmas Park shoots. Jay Mohr moons his buddies on one of the SWARM streets, John Leguizamo rocks the mic with his bandmates in the driveway and garage of another home. If you like to see the neighborhood in film, this one should not be missed.

As It Turns Out, Kent Theater Does Suck

We've been meaning to see a movie at Kent Theater since we moved to the neighborhood. It's within walking distance, it could have historical value (some say Woody Allen used the theater in "The Purple Rose of Cairo") and movies are $5 on Wednesdays and $7.75 the rest of the week. We'd read complaints about it online and knew there were some drawbacks so we set the bar as low as it could go and ventured to the far off land of Below Avenue H to check it out.

The lower ticket prices mean that Kent has to cut some corners, including having just one person in both roles of ticket-taker and concession-seller. The woman filling these positions snapped at us to "come closer" so she could reach over the snack counter and look at our tickets. Couldn't she tell we were first-timers?

The compromises continued once we were in the actual theater. During some of the most poignant, and quiet, parts of our movie, (Pixar's "Up," not in 3-D) we could hear dialogue and very loud rumblings from the movies showing in the two other theaters. At another point, a woman walked into our theater and yelled her friend's name. Her friend, who was there with her young daughter, yelled back and once they were sitting together they chatted and also rustled a plastic bag throughout the film, apologizing when shushed but not getting any quieter.

The distractions weren't only auditory, though -- the screen had a large tear in it that was visible for the majority of the movie. Patrick had a sneaking suspicion that his chair was wet, but he was too scared to touch it to confirm his hunch. All this combined with the small size and high placement of the screen make it tough for anyone to get lost in the movie. We found ourselves distracted so many times that we completely lost the fun of the movie-going experience. What started out as a hopeful outing quickly turned into "Checked it off. Never doing that again."

Disappointing Lineup At This Year's MLK Concert Series In Flatbush

Every year good ol' Marty Markowitz gives Brooklyn two really great free summer concert series. The one in Asser Levy park in Coney Island usually caters to the older, whiter crowd (last year's highlights included Liza Minelli and Huey Lewis and the News). But the real treat is the Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series held in Wingate Field every year. It's within biking distance of Ditmas Park and you can stop by Four Seasons on the way for a delicious vegan dinner. A couple years ago the series brought superstars like Lauryn Hill and Slick Rick. Last year the lineup was even better with Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and John Legend. All FREE.

So I've been eagerly awaiting this year's lineup announcement and have been checking the Brooklyn Concerts website nearly every day because I am obsessed like that. The lineup was finally announced last night and yikes is thing disappointing. Teena Marie? Anita Baker? Who? There doesn't even appear to be a Carribean night like in past years. There's one "TBA" date in there, so maybe Marty will come through and bring someone really great. But right now this thing is just sad. And I know, they are free shows, I really have nothing to complain about. Except I do. Because last year we got John Legend. And this year we get Robin Thicke. Son of Alan.

At least we can hop on the Q and go see Hall and Oates.

Crimes Against (Q)-Manity: People Who Ignore Pregnant Ladies

A pregnant (and agitated) reader sends in the following account:

I'm six months pregnant and quite obviously showing. Every morning I get on the B or Q train at Newkirk Ave. There are rarely any seats available. Almost every day what happens is this: I get on the train and end up standing in front of a group of seated people. Several of these people will look up stare directly at my belly, glance up at my face and promptly go back to reading or "sleeping". Often they will continually keep looking up to rudely stare at my protruding tummy. Only once have I been offered a seat, by a kind lady who said she knew what I was going through.

On Friday I was standing on the train, as usual. I looked around the car and saw that I was not the only pregnant woman on the train. In fact, there were two other pregnant women in the car with me and we were all standing! One of the ladies was much more pregnant than me.

It strikes me as unbelievably rude that in the whole car not one person was willing to give up their seat to one of three obviously pregnant women. I thought it was common knowledge that you should always give up your seat to a pregnant, elderly, or disabled person. Apparently I am wrong.

Frustratedly,
Queenie

Have your own gripe? Send it in!

Victorian Flatbush House Tour '09 Recap

After getting our map for this year's Victorian Flatbush house tour we were a little disappointed that no homeowners from Ditmas Park (proper) or Ditmas Park West would open their homes this year. What kind of tour of Victorian Flatbush leaves out Ditmas Park? But by the end of an exhausting day visiting homes in Prospect Park South, Fiske Terrace, West Midwood, Beverley Square West, and Albemarle and Kenmore Terraces, there was no question that we got our money's worth.

The only other house tour we've been on was last year's one in Fort Greene, so we don't have much experience to draw comparisons on, but the Victorian Flatbush tour was decidly different in personal charm. While the Fort Greene tour encouraged owners to leave their homes while visitors traipsed through, one of the main attractions of the Flatbush tour was the homeowners themselves.

One sassy New Zealander gave us a personal tour of her home on Beverley Road, sharing a heartwarming story about the sentimental value of her china set. Another Flatbusher told us that his Prospect Park South home is the "Christmas house" for his family and friends because of its charm and its many many large rooms, perfect for grandchildren and friends who have moved to apartments that are too small for hosting.

Some homeowners embraced their homes' victorian past, covering every spare inch of wall space with antique wallpaper and laying down lush red carpet. Others embraced the modern with sleek, stainless steel kitchen appliances, remodeled bathrooms, including one enormous jacuzzi, and even (cover your ears, Brownstoner) recessed lighting!

It was a real treat to go inside the two houses on Albemarle and Kenmore Terraces because that section of the neighborhood is so unique and seems miles from the frenzied Church and Flatbush Avenues that are only a block away. After visiting the Albemarle house, we followed the pedestrian alley that runs behind the houses, not quite sure where the next house was. We must have looked lost because a woman leaned out of her back door and told us the house we were looking for was the last one on the right. "I hope you like Sarah's house as much as Andrew's!" she called cheerily.

The backyard pictured was a hoot. There was a stack of papers at the entrance, rules to be followed upon entrance to the garden. We rolled our eyes as we read that visitors were to walk slowly, leaving several feet between them and the person in front of them, and upon encountering a stick or twig on the rock path, visitors were to step around it, not on it. However, once we reached the garden and met the homeowners, we realized they had a strange sense of humor and weren't taking themselves too seriously at all. They encouraged everyone to go, two at a time, down a mysterious, narrow path leading to a small hut tucked into the back corner of their garden. When curious guests asked what was inside the hut, the owners told them they had to see for themselves. On the rules list, the hut was referred to as "that which should not be mentioned." We quickly found out why it should not be mentioned. It was a hut full of strange animal skulls and voodoo masks and cow skins and other odd items. Decidedly not vegan. Also decidedly weird. But definitely an amusing end to a great tour.