At the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Memorial.

Roar! Yesterday was the 99 year memorial of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. The memorial was held at Judson Church the same place they have Bailout Theater. Since it was only the 99 year memorial the evening sort of served as a preview for next year's centennial.

Here I outside of Judson Memorial Church across from Washington Square Park. It turns out the Triangle Shirtwaist Company was just a few blocks away.

1911-2011? I guess this is going to be next years banner.

They had all sorts of different performance pieces at the memorial service. This one was an interactive art piece where audience members carried around these shirt patterns on poles to mimic ghosts. It was a really great effect.

There were also several song and dance numbers and even a couple plays. I really liked hearing bluegrass music about unions. It just seamed so appropriate! Roar!

The absolute standout performance of the evening was this avant garde, puppet theater piece. It combined elements of traditional hand puppets with shadow puppets to great effect. I also really liked all the little touches like how the main hand puppet was being sewn from the machine she was working on. I really can't wait to see the full version next year! Roar!

It's Business Time!

Roar! Today was the Brooklyn Business Expo. It was a neat little event for all sorts of small businesses and non-profits located in Brooklyn to come and promote themselves. It was also free! However, the main reason I went to go check it out was it was located over at Steiner Studios by the Brooklyn Navy Yard!

Here I am at Steiner Studios, one of the largest movie studios outside of Hollywood. They've shot all sorts of great movies here including Spider-man 3!

Here is the main hall of the expo. There were all sorts of great businesses here. I really liked all the catering companies who were giving out free food. It was all really delicious! Roar!

The halls of Steiner Studios are lined with all sorts of great history! It was so neat to get into the studio for free!

Here I am on the roof of Steiner Studio overlooking the Brooklyn Navy Yards. The Navy Yards are closed to the public so this is the best view you can get of it with from the outside. The Navy Yard has been in use since the revolutionary war. It's amazing to think that they have been building ships here for over 200 years. 

The Brooklyn Business Expo was such a fun way to spend the day. It was great to go see Steiner Studios and get a glimpse of the Navy Yard plus it's nice to know that local business is thriving here in Brooklyn. Roar!

March of the Elephants!

Roar! Last night was the annual march of the elephants. Every year when Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus comes to town they march their elephants through the Midtown Tunnel and down 34th street to Madison Square Garden. Normally it's a big production and there is a huge turnout of people, but last night the weather was really terrible and not even PETA came out to see the elephants. 

Despite the weather, I did go to see the elephants. I met up with my friend Mr. Tusks from Gerritsen Beach. He was really excited to see his larger relatives march down 34th street to perform in the circus. Being a circus performer is apparently quite prestigious among elephants. Roar!

It was dark and rainy, and little hard to see the elephants, but there they are having a good time.

Mr. Tusks was so happy! He didn't mind making the trip up from Gerritsen Beach at all. After the elephants went by we tried to find a place to buy some peanut butter ice cream but everything was closed. Oh well, we'll just have to plan ahead next year. Roar!

Ridgewood Walking Tour and Roaring at the Reservoir 2!

Roar! Yesterday was the first day of spring and I decided to go on a walking tour of south Bushwick, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven with the Shorewalkers Appalachian Mountain Club. We started over at Gates Ave and Broadway and then headed down Bushwick Ave towards Ridgewood. 

As much as I love my neighborhood, admittedly there isn't much to see in south Bushwick. There was this cool apartment building though! I really like how the paint blends in with the sky! Roar!

After we "got some miles in" on Bushwick Ave we headed up to the ridge top by Force Jet Ave in Queens. This is the street where they used to pump the water up into the reservoir. I wonder if we'll be going there again today? Here we are at the top of the the ridge looking out over south Brooklyn towards Jamaica Bay.

There sure are some amazing houses up here on top of the ridge! We're definitely in Queens. Roar!

Yay! Next, we headed over to Ridgewood  Reservoir! I wrote about it in my very first post, Roaring at the Reservoir. It was really cool to come here and experience it with a big group.

Here is an early blooming Japanese Honeysuckle. It may look pretty but this is an invading plant species not native to North America. It's a huge problem!

This time I got check out the pumping stations! Let's see, maybe if I turn this nob right here... Nope not gonna budge. This equipment is rusted pretty bad, not even my dino strength can move it. Roar!

Next, we headed down into Woodhaven and walked along the J train tracks. Here is where we passed the sight of Dexter Field where the Brooklyn Bushwicks, one of the first multi-ethnic baseball teams in the country, played its games. Dexter Field is a shopping plaza now. Roar...

Next we walked up to the house where Betty Smith lived when she wrote A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I find it funny that even though Betty Smith grew up in Williamsburg, she moved to Queens to write about Brooklyn.

We finished the walk by heading to New Pop's Diner in Woodhaven. It's been around for over 30 years and is a pretty amazing diner!

After a long hike I was pretty hungry. I got the Lumber Jacks Breakfast and a Monte Cristo! They were both delicious! This meal was the perfect end to the hike. Hopefully, the rest of spring will be as nice as this first day. Roar!

T-Rex is on the... PIZZA PATROL!

Roar! Today was such a nice day out, I had just had to get outside. I thought it would be the perfect day to take the trip out to Staten Island I'd been planning and try the worlds best pizza! I decided I'd take my time getting there so I headed out my door to cross Brooklyn on my way to the Staten Island ferry.

My first stop was in Fort Greene park. Here I am in front of the Prison Ship Memorial on top of the hill. This memorial was erected in memory of all those who died on the British prison ships during the revolutionary war. They open the catacombs during Open NYC. Maybe I'll come check it out next year.

 

Next, I headed through downtown Brooklyn and over the Brooklyn Bridge into lower Manhattan. Woah! What's that crazy lady doing climbing on that lamp pole. She should be careful! Roar!

I met this huge Panda down in Battery Park! I wonder if Bao Bao knows this guy?

I can't wait for spring to get here! There were all these lovely crocus's blooming in the park. Look how pretty they are!

I found this super sweet shark hat in the park! Watch out! Here comes the DINO-SHARK! Roar!

Here I am on the Staten Island Ferry. It's a great way to see the Statue of Liberty. There she is waving her torch to me as I head for the best pizza in the world. I think she wants me to bring her back a slice. 

Woah! It turns out Staten Island has its own subway line! I had no idea, I was thought I was going to have to take a bus. Roar!

Here I am riding the Staten Island railroad. It turns out this is where the MTA sends all the old subway cars to run. Why am I not surprised? 

Finally, I've made it to Goodfella's Pizzeria! I can't wait to have a slice!

Wait, why have a slice when I can have a whole pie! I got the Goodfella's special. It has red peppers, onions, roasted garlic, and sausage. It was amazing! The man who runs Goodfella's is also really nice. He told me they are going to be opening a new location in Manhattan soon so next time I won't have to make the trip out to have amazing pizza. Roar!

T-Rex is on SITE!

Roar! This past weekend was the SITE performing arts festival in Bushwick. The festival had four main hub spaces which housed everything from theater, to music performances, to dance, as well as over twenty additional satellite spaces with all sorts of different performances. There were way to many things to see so I tried to pick a few that looked interesting and rode over to check them out. Most of the things I went to were pretty cool but unfortunately not everything worked out as planned. 

There first performance I tried to go to was called L'Echelle (the ladder). It was over on McKibben Street and was listed as "costing one dollar or one bone, lasting five minutes, and having no flash photography and no applause." It all sounded pretty intriguing so I dug one of my best bones out of storage and headed over to see what this performance is all about.

Here I am in front of 248 McKibben Street the place where the performance is supposed to happen. Now I just need to ring apartment 4V...

Let's see... 4S, 4T, 4U... What?! No 4V! Turns out the place for the performance listed in the SITE program doesn't even exist! I tried a bunch of different buzzers but no one answered and I missed the performance if it even happened at all. This wasn't the only time this happened with a satellite space. I also went to go see SUSHI which was listed as combined fake sushi with real art and the same thing happened. 

The hub spaces were a lot better organized. I went to go see some interpretive dance over at Chez Bushwick and had a great time. However, probably the coolest performance of the event was at a Satellite space way out in Ridgewood. It was called Colonial Bushwick. I almost didn't ride out to see because I was afraid it would be a waste of time, but boy, I sure am glad I did! 

Here I am visiting Colonial Bushwick, an interactive performance about colonial living in Bushwick put on by the theater group Babyskinglove.  Here I am with the head of Colonial Bushwick. I think she might be a little uncomfortable around dinosaurs. Roar!

Woah! Check out the big piece of meat that guy is cooking! It looks so delicious! Roar!

Here I am in my very own custom bonnet! Overall the colonial Bushwick experience was really great. I got to see traditional handy crafts, child rearing, and evening get an authentic school lesson! Plus, it was a really fun piece of interactive performance art! Hopefully next year's SITEFEST will have more things like this. Roar!