Friday Night in Stuyvesant Heights: MoCADA's 13th Annual KIDflix Film Fest of Bed-Stuy presents "Being Elmo" at Fulton Park

This evening the B46 Limited bus took us from its start in Williamsburg across Broadway and down Malcolm X Boulevard to Utica and Fulton, where we got off to spend a great night in pretty Fulton Park watching the intriguing documentary Being Elmo, part of the 13th annual KIDflix Film Fest of Bed-Stuy, a presentation of the wonderful the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA).

We've been riding the B46 bus on Utica Avenue for decades,  Fifty years ago, as an 11-year-old, we took it from near our house at Avenue N to Church Avenue to buy some comic books and magazines -- the September 22, 1962 issue of Time had a very young Ted Kennedy on the cover, along with a photo portfolio of "The New New York" inside -- at the outdoor newsstand at the bus stop there, only to realize we left ourselves with just a dime, not the fifteen cents carfare we needed to get back home, so we ended up having to walk the 22 blocks back.

See, we still remember we were once a kid ourselves.  Although the KIDflix Film Fest is aimed at kids, their parents and other adults need not feel bored because MoCADA makes sure the movies are ones grownups would enjoy, too, high-quality productions like this year's documentaries What's on Your Plate?, The First Grader, Freedom Riders, and tonight's presentation of Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, director Constance Marks' fascinating 2011 portrait of Kevin Clash, the man behind the popular Sesame Street Muppet.

Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, the film highlights Kevin Clash's remarkable determination, talent, passion and perseverance from his childhood in Baltimore's African-American community through his adolescent breakthroughs  working with his meticulously handmade puppets and finally to his emergence as the voice and spirit of Elmo, the most lovable and innocently childlike of the Muppets.

We missed the 6:30 p.m. appearance of Elmo,

At about 7 p.m., we got to Fulton Park

-- a cheery, leafy oasis directly across Fulton Street from Boys and Girls High School, it's named (like Fulton Street, after Robert Fulton, the first successful launcher of the steamboat.

The park offers paved paths for walking, jogging, biking and dog-walking, as well as a playground and plenty of space to relax. How did we never stop here before? We liked the little park animals designs on the stones by the fences.

At this point, a large crowd of kids and their parents were already in their seats or nearby.

As Wikipedia's entry on the KIDfest Film Fest notes,

The festival was founded and is organized by local artist TRUE with the help of MoCADA Executive Director Laurie A. Cumbo. It has been produced in partnership with African Film Festival, Inc. since 2003, and has also collaborated with arts organizations such as DCTV, Red Clay Arts, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, Scenarios USA and others. It is funded, in part, by corporate sponsors, governmental agencies, and audience contributions. The festival is an extension of MoCADA’s public outreach programs, and strives to present films that further the museum’s mission, to “…give a more accurate portrayal of contributions to the historical, artistic and cultural landscape of the world by people of African descent.

The organizers also try to showcase local and independent filmmakers and films made by youth. Screenings are often preceded by live music and dance performances and workshops that are thematically linked to the night’s films. Selections have included: Amandla: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony; The Boys of Baraka; Bronx Princess; Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed; Slingshot Hip Hop; and War/Dance. Each year, the festival ends with an interactive “Sing & Dance-Along” to The Wiz that features puppets, a costume contest, and a tribute to Michael Jackson and Lena Horne.

After we watched a short film about the groundbreaking PBS kids' show The Electric Company, several community people who were longtime supporters of the KIDSflix Fest gave a few brief remarks. The tall (6'10") and impressive Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., the Democratic District Leader in the 56th A.D., said that five of the kids in the crowd belonged to him and his wife Michelle.

The incomparable Laurie Cumbo - a real community treasure - was introduced before the Being Elmo began, and she made a few announcements. Tomorrow night, Saturday, will be the showing of The First Grader to make up for last Friday night's rainout, and next Friday night will be the showing of The Wiz, along with the tribute to Michael Jackson and the costume party which Laurie said she intends to win. (Kids and adults can dress as characters from The Wiz or Thriller.)

She also had a quiz for the kids to win discount coupons to local stores (we all got ones for Brooklyn Swirl, the frozen yogurt place on Marcus Garvey Boulevard). Kids answered such questions "What is the famous Bed-Stuy bed-and-breakfast on McDonough Street?" (Akwaaba - we have a friend in Oakland who stays there whenever she's in New York) - and "What does akwaaba mean?" (welcome, in Twi) and "Who is the director of Crooklyn?" (hint: initials are SL).

Then Being Elmo came on, and we stood by the fence in the back and really enjoyed it.

And as we rode home on the B46 bus through Stuyvesant Heights and Bushwick back to Williamsburg, we thought about how grateful we were that we decided to come to tonight's KIDflix Fest show.

Wednesday Night in Williamsburg: Mark Wholesale, Inc. Ribbon-Cutting Celebration at the Lot on Rodney Street and Broadway

Coming home from the concert at East River Park, as we got off the J train at Marcy Street, we heard klezmer music, and as we turned onto Rodney Street just north of Broadway, just behind where we're currently living, we saw a gorgeously decorated party at the vacant lot.

A poster at the entrance described this private party for VIPs as a "ribbon cutting" and names Mark Wholesale, Inc., which has its business on Bedford Avenue, so I guess they're opening something here. Cool.

There was a lavish display of lights, liquor and food under a big white party tent, and Hasidic men were gathering at small tables in front of it. Soulful klezmer music was playing, and a man with a sweet voice sung lulling songs in Yiddish. We stared from behind the chain link fence and listened to the pleasant, highly amplified music. The smell of seared beef - filet mignon? - made even a vegetarian a little swoony, so we left after a while of being outside, listening in.

Even as we write this at 10:30 p.m., from our bedroom, which faces South 5th Street, we can still hear the party band playing klezmer.

Wednesday Evening on the Lower East Side: SummerStage presents Lyricist Lounge 20th Anniversary Show with DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock at East River Park

(Photo courtesy of James Early)

We were at the East River Park amphitheater tonight for SummerStage's continuing celebration of SummerStage's 20th anniversary celebration of the acclaimed hip-hop brand, Lyricist Lounge. Tonight's show, better attended than any of the many events we've seen here, featured an old-school face-off, Pete Rock vs. DJ Premier. The very large crowd loved it, as it brought back many memories yet seemed fresh.

As we were reminded from the stage at the beginning of tonight's show, thirty years ago, this amphitheater served as the setting for climactic and thrilling last scene of the seminal hip-hop film, Wild Style, which we saw at the Brooklyn Public Library as part of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival on July 10.

As William Faulkner would say, hip-hop has not only endured, it has prevailed.

The SummerStage promo stuff said:

A respected part of hip-hop music and culture, Lyricist Lounge has hosted hundreds of live showcases featuring the best up and coming talent while acting as a career platform for many of today’s superstars. Lyricist Lounge hosts a night featuring two legendary DJs battling it out for turntable supremacy.

Pete Rock, also known as Soul Brother #1 and The Chocolate Boy Wunda, is a producer, DJ and rapper and is one half of the critically acclaimed group, Pete Rock & CL Smooth. He has arguably pioneered the fusing of jazz, funk and soul into hip-hop as well as laid down the blueprint for beautiful soulful productions in hip-hop. About.com ranked him #3 on their “Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers” list. Pete Rock’s production has appeared on many of hip-hop’s most important records: Heavy D’s Peaceful Journey, Nas’ Illmatic, and Kanye West/Jay-Z’s Watch The Throne to name a few.

Christopher Edward Martin, better known by his stage name DJ Premier (also known as Preem, Premo, or Primo for short) is a producer and DJ and is the instrumental half of hip-hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru. DJ Premier recognized as one of hip-hop’s most important track masters his style is aggressive and raw. About.com ranked him #1 on their “Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers” list and Rolling Stone identified DJ Premier as arguably “hip-hop’s greatest producer of all time.” DJ Premier’s production has appeared on many of hip-hop’s most important records: Nas’ Illmatic, the Notorious B.I.G’s Ready to Die, Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and numerous others.

Here's a video of the opening, courtesy of luvjonezmusic, who has four more from the show:

The show came to an abrupt halt when the power went out. We waited a while, then along with a bunch of people, went over the Grand Avenue overpass over the FDR Drive, grateful we got to hear and see as much as we did tonight.