New Favorite Bar: Black Rabbit

Between working as an intern for an event marketing/public relations company, and waiting tables to pay my bills, I rarely get a night off. When I do, it usually entails me getting wasted with co-workers, or attempting to juggle dates with whatever boy may be in my life at the time. However, summer time inspires me to be better, with the growth of flowers and greenery, I feel this opportunity to start anew, make up for all the mistakes I've made in the past few months and join the smiling legions of peers in my neighborhood. The easiest way to join these happy people is to feel at home in my area. I've made this decision to create a community; attending events, weekly brunchs, concerts, meeting new people and trying new bars.

Well, act one in my quest for a community was to find a trivia night that I could attend semi-regularly. I'm a trivia junkie, and after trying multiple trivia nights in the city, I have found one that I want to stick with. Tuesday nights, at Black Rabbit, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. After talking my roommate into joining me, we got our spot at the bar, and embarked on an epic adventure that would leave me excited, knowledgable, and a bit hungover.

Some of the questions were entirely ridiculous and esoteric (playing a song from a Blur album and asking us to name the album, really?), and others were questions that everyone should know (like the picture round of dictators). Bonus questions were fun, and equaled a shot of absinthe (next time I plan on not drinking so much beer and just getting bonus questions continually correct). The crowd was great, drinks reasonably priced, great atmosphere, and the bartender is social and comfortable (something I find to be strangely lacking in many Williamsburg/Greenpoint bars)

All in all, I will be attending this trivia night in the future, I may have to recruit a few more troops though, my knowledge may be vast in certain areas, but severly limited in others. It's definitely one of the better trivia nights I've experienced and hey, I can walk home after several shots of absinthe. Ya can't beat that.

http://blackrabbitbar.com/

Artistic Love of my Life: Spencer Krug

Okay, so I have been mulling over this posting for months, but have never really had the guts to write it. I am a very well-known love for singer/songwriter Spencer Krug. I'm not talking a crazy stalker love, or obsession, but more of an extreme musical appreciation, that can be overwhelming at times.

Krug is the lead singer for Canadian experiemental rock band, Sunset Rubdown. I discovered Sunset Rubdown while in university in Victoria, BC, and have had a long standing love affair ever since. My concert experiences are so:

1) I missed my mothers birthday party in Montana to attend their show in Victoria, BC, unfortunately I was unable to attend the show anyway.
2) The first show I saw was at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, two days after I had moved to New York. At the time I knew nobody, went by myself, and took the subway home to 207th street, alone, at 4 AM. This was also the night that Spencer Krug walked into the empty bar I was sitting in and I was too big of a pussy to say anything.
3) Going to a second show in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, by myself, while my parents were visiting from Montana. <--this was like two weeks ago.

And now I'm contemplating a third show in September, in Ireland. I have the travel bug and I figure what's the harm it coinciding a trip with a show of my favorite band?

For those of you that haven't had the opportunity to listen to Sunset Rubdown, then I suggest you go out and do so, right now. If possible, try to experience it on vinyl, because the Random Spirit Lover album doesn't compare electronically to the vinyl version. The lyrics are pure poetry, the format is unconventional, and the systematic layering and changing of sounds is arguably unprecedented in modern indie rock.

If Sunset Rubdown isn't your thing (not sure how I feel about you), then listen to Krug's other band, Wolf Parade. A little less experiemental, just as amazing. And rumor has it that Wolf Parade will be back in the studio in October 2009 recording a new album.

This post doesn't do Krug or either band justice. This is probably why I've hesistated to write it for so very long, I cannot find the words to describe the ebullience that comes over me when I listen to Sunset Rubdown. I swear, if they ever get mainstream, I'm not sure what I'll do :)

Hipster Must-See: Moon

Okay, so I rarely go to movies in New York City. This is for two reasons, the first is that movies always take some sort of planning, making sure I'm getting to the theater on time, what theater to go to, and my life doesn't always accommodate planning. The second reason is with $12 price tags, I can't always bring myself to spend the money.

Well, due to recent drunkface activities, I've decided to give the movie going lifestyle a second chance. This morning I went to see Moon, starring the amazing Sam Rockwell. Upon never having seen any real previews of this movie, I was under the impression that it had something to do with aliens, and I guess in a way it did, but maybe it's the fact that I was misinformed that has caused me to lack a decisive yay or nay about the film.

Essentially it felt like The Parent Trap, except instead of twins, we had clones, and instead of parents, we had the government/space agency, and instead of summer camp we had the moon. It was definitely different from anything I've seen in a while, and Sam Rockwell gives an amazing performance, and I don't mind staring at one of him, so two? Okay, I'm on board. Finally, Kevin Spacey as the voice of the robot, priceless, I'm reminded of falling rose petals all over again.

I suppose that Moon is one of those movies that if you're into Sci-Fi, you'll probably enjoy, or if you just have nothing better to do on a lazy afternoon. Maybe I'll change my opinion tomorrow however, I think this movie will need some time to digest.

Hipsterville: A New Reality

Anyone who has not read the New York Times article on the falling of Williamsburg, Brooklyn real estate, go here, and please read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/nyregion/08trustafarians.html

Done? Good, now we can discuss.

I moved to Williamsburg back in September. My roommate and I share a good-sized, moderately priced two bedroom railroad apartment on the outskirts of Williamsburg (technically we are a Greenpoint zip code). At the tender age of 22, I have recently become financially independent. Yup! I pay all my own bills. Walking around Williamsburg, I realized that I was pretty much alone in this, and this article only proves a point.

I understand helping your children out and all, but is it really necessary to shell out $1,500-$2,500 a month in doing so? Or how about paying the hundreds of thousands of dollars of a down-payment on an apartment for them?

I'm a midwest girl, parents make good money, have supported me through university, but I am disgusted by Northeasterns (not all, but it seems like a good amount). I meet all these kids who have no sense of what it is like to work, or make anything of themselves. And ya know what? I. Don't. Get. It. Sure, I have friends like this where I'm from, but even they'll attest to the fact that while that may be how it is, that's not how they always want it to be.

It's sad to say, but some of the people in Williamsburg make me sad to belong to this generation.