FIPS Cares Follow-up. Because We Really Do Care! (Sometimes)

Photo by Alexander Hatos, Courtesy of the NY Historical Society

FIPS'ters first I have to say thank you. A nice number of you came through to donate my Kickstarter last week. You know the one for my play about the demolition of the old Penn Station. The one I won't shut the hell up about. Well lucky for you, in a little over 24 hours, my campaign will be over.

Not lucky for me, I'm a couple thousand short of my goal. Wah waah. But fear not, you can help me solve this dilemma. If I did my back of the envelope math correctly, if everyone who saw this post pledged at least 5 bucks, right now, our project would be funded. Just sayin'. So if this sounds sensible to you, click here and do it. 

Ok end of plea. And since I love you all, I'm sharing a link to one of my Backer Exclusive Updates from Kickstarter with some recently unearthed Penn Demo photos no one has seen...like ever. 

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FIPS Broken News: Skinned Goat Heads Found Hanging Over 5th Ave. Lamp Post

Photo credit: Katherine Hurd

While this FIPSter lost hours and gained several gray hairs waiting on line to return something at the Old Navy at Atlantic Center, exciting things were happen in the South Slope yesterday -- two skinned goat heads attached by a string (a shoelace?) were flung over a lamp post on the corner of 9th Street and 5th Avenue, grossing out pretty much everyone.  

According to DNAInfo, police arrived around 11:30 a.m., but it was a driver from a Continental Car Service who took matters into his own hands by climbing a ladder, knocking the goat heads down with a stick, and then throwing them in the garbage. No word on whether he's single, ladies!

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One Less Cab App in New York. Thanks, Uber.

You’ve heard of Uber and Lyft but you maybe haven’t heard of Hailo, which is why this third-string cab-hailing app is shutting down in New York. For all three of you who used it, we’re sorry.

"We have… decided to end our operations in North America, where the astronomical marketing spend required to compete is making profitability for any one player almost impossible," said Hailo’s co-CEO and president, Tom Barr.

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Cool or Not Cool: Throwing Out Someone Else’s Stoop Pumpkin

Traditionally, my daughter starts lobbying to get a pumpkin to carve for Halloween sometime around Labor Day, and usually I summon enough fortitude to hold her off till well into October. (“Kid, you know by now that if you get and carve them too early, pumpkins will rot and get moldy and squirrels will gnaw on them.”) This year I gave in a couple of weeks early, because, as they say in the parenting books, you have to choose your battles I am weak and tired.

Thanks to a Halloween miracle, I located one of those “safe” pumpkin carving tools that, I admit, take the thrill out of Halloween by eliminating the risk of ending up in the Emergency Room with a sliced dorsal digital vein.

So she carved the thing, and because she has a taste for the macabre, she wanted to turn some of the pumpkin goo into blood spilling out of its mouth, but it had to be red, which we accomplished by mixing up the gunk with red food coloring. It looked pretty gnarly, which was the point.

Just a couple of days later, I draw the conclusion that food coloring must have sugar in it, bc the carved pumpkin is now crawling with tiny flies, like a gourd version of that head on a pike in Lord of the Flies. Which actually upped the creepy factor quite nicely. It’s not moldy, I see no squirrel teeth marks, and its mouth hasn’t fallen in on itself, but it is crawling with flies.

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[SPONSORED] The American Fine Craft Show at Brooklyn Museum - Enter to Win Fine Art or Passes to the Show

Sponsored By American Fine Craft Show at Brooklyn Museum.

Join us for the 2nd Annual American Fine Craft Show at Brooklyn Museum, part of The Art of American Craft Museum Show Series.

Created By BlankSlate

How often do you get to walk into Brooklyn Museum and walk out with some of the art? Well, on November 22 and 23, you’ll get your chance. The American Fine Craft Show Brooklyn will be returning to Brooklyn Museum, just in time for you to get an early start on holiday shopping. And if you enter our contest below, you may even win a piece of art valued at $900!

The American Fine Craft Show Brooklyn will be held in the museum’s Beaux-Arts Court, featuring the works of over 90 exhibitors, including handmade ceramics, decorative and wearable fiber, furniture, glass, sculptures, jewelry, and leather apparel. There will be fashion by Patricia Palson, ceramics by Jerry Bennett Pottery, glass by Jeffrey P’an, furniture by Doug Meyer of Rustbelt Rebirth, and much more.

The show is a fantastic shopping opportunity for collectors and craft enthusiasts. The craft show will also serve as an ideal complement to the museum’s exhibition “Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Beyond.” And because your ticket to the craft show includes general admission to the museum, you can also check out the special exhibition “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe,” as well as the museum’s long-term exhibitions and permanent collections.

Over the years, founders Joanna and Richard Rothbard have brought us the American Fine Craft Show NYC, Contemporary Art Fair NYC, and the Rockefeller Arts Festival, as well as producing July’s Berkshires Arts Festival and the upcoming Sarasota Craft Show in December. With over 30 years of experience curating fine art and craft shows, the Rothbards have an eye for great work.

You could win a hand-blown vase by Douglas Merritt or a puzzle box by Richard Rothbard

Enter our contest below for a chance to win a hand-blown vase by acclaimed glass artist Douglas Merritt valued at $900; a personalized, custom-crafted puzzle box, based on your initial or your portrait, from founder Richard Rothbard himself; or one of 50 pairs of free tickets to the show.

Hours
Saturday, November 22, 12-6 p.m. (preview for Brooklyn Museum members and press, 11 a.m.–noon)
Sunday, November 23, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Tickets
Adults: $12.00 | Seniors: $11.00 | Students: $6.00 | Children under 10: Free | Brooklyn Museum members: 50% off
Cash at entrance, or discounts online at brooklyncraftshow.com. Ticket includes general admission to the museum.

American Fine Craft Show Brooklyn, art, Brooklyn Museum