Gowanus A-Go-Go

The Gowanus Canal Conservancy wants to clean shit up and they need your money to do it. Do your part and have fun doing it tonight at the Bell House for the Gowanus-A-Go-Go benefit concert. Feel good about supporting a local cause and without having to wade knee-deep in syphilis water with a pool skimmer. All proceeds will go to the man with the plan, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental organization that actually intends to do something about this mess.

Team Colorado takes South Brooklyn.

Team Colorado embraced the competition this Wednesday during The Great Gowanus Pilgrimage Pre-Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt, and it's time to give some much-deserved props to the 303 in the 718.

We ravaged each and every bodega on 5th Ave to find plantains and gefilte fish. We searched high and low for Park Slope's Famous Pink House and Maggie Gyllenhaal. We were tea-bagged at the Tea Lounge. We repped Team Colorado on the bathroom walls at the High Dive (left), and serenaded the bartender at Bar Reis. All while trying to navigate South Brooklyn on smart phones after a few too many free shots.

And although we may not have convinced a vest-clad Food Coop employee to come back to the Bell House with us for bonus points, and maybe we didn't make it all the way to Ikea or even Carroll Gardens for that matter, we did have our moment of pride and glory. That's right--for an extra 25 whole points we fished up some of that toxic syphilis sludge we call Gowanus Canal water.

And although we may have received more disgusted and horrified looks than praise and glory, we were proud of our cunning and innovation. In the last ten minutes before the end of the hunt, we threw together pieces of found garbage and created our very own canal water trapping device.

So maybe we didn't win, or even come close, but we braved pollution and disease alike. We explored unknown territory and even learned a few things about South Brooklyn. And most importantly, we had a hell of a good time.

The Art of Taxidermy.

The results are in from the Carnivorous Nights Taxidermist Contest, and the deserving winners of this roadkill-cum-furry friend contest have been announced!

Every year the Secret Science Club brings Pet Semetary to life at the Bell House for a night morbid fun. This year, Ryan Matthew took the grand prize for his petrified wrassling kitties.

And how could be forget Takeshi Yamada, 2006 Grand Champion of Taxidermy and this year's recipient of the Most Twisted Prize? Yamada is also the artist behind Coney Island Library's exhibit "Museum of World Wonders: Cabinet of Curiosities," displaying such fascinating and disturbing dead things as a bunny with a tail and a two-headed baby made from Yamada's own skin.

P.S. WATCH THE VIDEO! I guarantee you will find a special place in your heart for this lovable freak, or some-sing like that.

the daily [mis]haps

There was a time before repairmen, before the giant silver platter we call mass-production served us our every whim for the low low price of a five minute walk to the convenience store. Well, it's time to put those opposable thumbs to good use at The Fixer's Collective. Have a broken anything? Evil wire-breathing umbrella?Whip out those tools every Thursday at Proteus Gowanus and rediscover what it means to be self-reliant.

Maybe too hands-on and not enough indie-glam to satisfy your needs? Check out the Brooklyn Indie Market in Carroll Gardens, where this saturday you can witness the steampunk fashion show.

If you have yet to take advantage of the musicopia of indie bands inundating New York as part of the CMJ Music Festival, then you owe it to your indie-deprived ears to hit up the FREE show tonight at the Bell House hosted by the Gothamist and Brooklyn Based.

the daily [mis]haps

First of all, I just have one thing to say:           

North Brooklyn   vs.   South Brooklyn

And now that that's been established, a further tribute to the hotness that is South Brooklyn: 

Adrien Grenier is not only a resident of South Brooklyn, but he's also so hot that we stalk him all the way from his eczema ointment shopping spree at the Park Slope Food Co-op to Paris. 

In other news, The Brooklyn Start! Heart Walk in Prospect Park raised money to save lives this past weekend.  

So, if you're looking for somewhere to chill tonight with the attractive and compassionate humanitarians of South Brooklyn, Langhorne Slim is playing a show at the Bell House.

Unleash your Inner Nerd at The Secret Science Club!

Ever wonder what two black holes spinning next to each other sound like? Well, now you can stop wondering! Tonight, the Bell House in Gowanus is hosting another installment of the Secret Science Club. This week features Astrophysicist Janna Levin discussing gravitational waves and the amazing symphonies in space that these waves create. All that awesome science-y speak and I get to hang out at the Bell House? I'm there!

The “Secret Science Club” meets Tuesday, October 13 at 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, p: 718.643.6510 Subway: F to 4th Ave; R to 9th St; F or G to Smith/9th

More information can be found here:
http://secretscienceclub.blogspot.com/