It’s been a real month for chance encounters, serendipity, and small-world moments in the great human particle collider of NYC. I (nearly literally) ran into a friend from Pennsylvania on the sidewalk for not the first but the second time this decade. This time was in Brooklyn, last time (circa 2016) was in Manhattan. Jared: three boroughs left.
Then I went to the final performance of the Flotsam River Circus, only to realize/discover that the lead troubadour is Jason Webley, writer of the beautiful Last Song, which I probably heard indirectly via Welcome to Night Vale.
Two people I met recently only to find out we were in the same room in 2016 and 2018 (respectively) via photos. One of those rooms in Ecuador.
Strange attractors, we are.
¶. Tonight 8pm: trivia
Bridge & Tunnel Brewery, Ridgewood, NYC, free
We got last place again two weeks ago, so we got to choose the first round topic: domestic cats.
¶. Friday 6pm: drink with journalists who have little “PRESS” slips in their hats and feel like it’s 1958
Lavender Lake, Williamsburg, NYC, free
Gabriel writes The Fine Print which will make you realize 2008 was just as much a foreign journalistic era as the fast-talking why-I-oughtta black-and-white characters in films I’ve never seen. Bunch of them are meeting up for drinks and I need to see what it was like. I’ll be there for the afterparty, biking in from another thing.
¶. Sunday 2pm: nepo baby lookalikes for Cuomo
Union Square Park, Greenwich Village, NYC, free
Do you look like someone who would be invited to a “bipartisan fashion show”? Can’t figure out how to direct your donor-advised fund to a registered 527 campaign? Start focus group testing your chants, leak your talking points, rally for Andrew “Boyfriend Cliff” Cuomo in Union Square this Sunday afternoon with your fellow grassroots nepo canvassers. The line should be shorter than last month.
¶. Wednesday October 1, 8pm: musical bingo??
Bridge & Tunnel Brewery, Ridgewood, NYC, free
Rich, the owner of the brewery, bought a “musical bingo” bar game package and I volunteered to help run it, alternating every other week with trivia, mostly so that I can use my power to squash musical bingo if it ever threatens trivia. No idea how it works—come by and find out.
¶. Wednesday October 8, 8pm: trivia
Bridge & Tunnel Brewery, Ridgewood, NYC, free
See above.
¶. Thursday October 9: anyone in Indianapolis?
Plump’s Last Shot, Broad Ripple, Indianapolis
I’ve got a free night in Indianapolis on my way to a family wedding, and I’m hoping to finally visit my famous uncle’s restaurant. Anyone around?
¶. Saturday October 25, 4pm & 8pm: a folk horror chamber music ensemble, now on CD
The Windjammer, Ridgewood, NYC, $30ish
My pal Concetta is releasing her 2024 album on physical media at last, and I typeset the liner notes. I’ll be at these concerts slinging CDs.
¶. Through October 19: Hipster Hitler, JoJo Rabbit, Pixar, Hamilton, prewoke Tumblr, and postwoke X collide
Asylum, Kips Bay, NYC, $80ish but check Theatr
Tweets like the one that inspired this show are why I bought the domain twitter.museum (reply if you have ideas, so far just staying out of trouble for managing to snag it). I managed to get a cheap ticket to the premiere last week. Little rocky but great stuff, worth the full security scan at the door (impressive feat to pull off requiring that for your show at an improv theater).
¶. Through February: The COVID Material Culture Museum
The City Reliquary, Williamsburg, NYC, $10
When I ran into Jared it was while sweaty and lugging two pannier bags of equipment and last-minute artifacts for my COVID Material Culture exhibition, the afternoon of the opening, a few Wednesdays back. So many of you came by (over 100 by front desk’s count). We did shots out of Moderna vials. I’m so happy to finally have it on display.
The exhibition runs through February, and is open any time the City Reliquary is (typically Saturday & Sunday noon–6pm). I’m working on a COVID film festival, showcasing some of the (mostly short) films about, during, disrupted by, or canceled because of circa 2020. You’ll hear about that here.
¶. Saturday November 1, 7pm: The Awl: The Book: The Book Talk
Village Works Bookstore, East Village, NYC, free
Hold the date, just confirmed this morning. So many connections here. Village Works is a bookstore that feels like 2005 across the street from my apartment: no phones, open til 1am, smut shelved next to Phaidon. The Awl Dot Com was one of the first and best profitable blogs that I read in high school, and recently learned edited from an apartment on my block! The Awl: The Book is a lovely hardcover I designed, featuring some of The Awl’s best pieces, and the writers looking back on them. I’m proud of it.
We’ll be hosting a little signing/meetup/launch party/something. Save the date and stay tuned to here, or better yet flaminghydra.com (where I pop in to do design). They are the aforementioned “we”.
∞. Does anyone have experience running a mobile barista (espresso + milk frothing) setup on battery or solar power, for 100 customers over 6 hours, using water tanks? No outlets, no plumbing.
Please reply. Thank you.