FIPS DAILY ALMANAC: Thursday, March 22, 2012

 pic by Deepti Sahrawat

Rise and shine FIPS'ters, and welcome to your day!  In city news, some shit is going down in Union Square and in Sports, it's official: the Jets have a showboating Jesus-freak for a quarterback.

ON THIS DAY IN BK HISTORY (1956):

This article that ran in the Times back in the 50's was basically trying to figure out why woman were so stupid. No, I'm sorry. Let me get that quote right. What they asked was, "How can anyone be that stupid?" The lead of the article was: why are woman at home so easily scammed? First line: "Many common rackets that prey on gullible housewives sound so implausible." But Aaron E. Koota, head of the Special Rackets Squad in Brooklyn, cracked the code. It turns out the answer lies in "the psychology of the woman in the home, in her virtues rather than in her intelligence." Apparently a woman is easy prey to a well-spoken stranger in her home who is trying to sell her something, simply because it's the polite thing to do.  I mean, this is some real deep bullshit right here. Read it for a laugh.  

 [READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES] 

ON THIS DAY IN FIPS'TORY: 

• 2011: WHO GIVES A SHIT: Do You Bring Your Baby To Bars?
• 2010: WHO GIVES A SHIT: COMING SOON TO PARK SLOPE?  

FIPS DAILY ALMANAC: Wednesday, March 21, 2012

pic by Flickr User Tom Starkweather
Rise and shine FIPS'ters, and welcome to your day! In borough news, a BK teacher is arrested for being handsy. In celebrity goss, The Situation is in rehab and in sporting news, the Jets really don't want Mark Sanchez, huh? 

ON THIS DAY IN BK HISTORY (1863):

Mothers of Brooklyn, listen up! Did you know that when babies start teething they are exposed to such things as dysentery, fretfulness and want of sleep? Well lucky for you and those little teething rascals, there is a nursing cordial that can ease all that discomfort. That's right, Dr. Hasting's nursing cordial "can by a single dose relieve your child from pain and suffering and set your mind at rest that it is free from danger." Oh, and don't worry, unlike those other cordials on the market, it's free of morphine (Wait, that's a plus?). 

 

 [READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE ARCHIVES] 

ON THIS DAY IN FIPS'TORY: 

• 2011: LOST DOLL TRAGEDY
• 2010: A Week Ago Today... Oksana and the Monsoon

FIPS DAILY ALMANAC: Monday, March 20, 2012

pic by Flickr User Heather D

Rise and shine FIPS'ters, and welcome to your day! In national news: Starbucks is opening a juicery?! You know what that means. Pretty soon you're going to be able to get juice across the street from another juice place, which signifies the end of the universe? And in celebrity goss, this is exactly how I see Justin Bieber in my dreams.

ON THIS DAY IN BK HISTORY (1960):

I know this article is about all of NYC, rather than just Brooklyn, but honestly it's so quaint, I couldn't resist. According to the March 20, 1960 edition of the New York Times, more and more people where opting to remain "Unlisted" in the phone directory, causing woes for those directory assistance operators who had to tell customers there was no such party listed. Out of the 3,500,000 New York Telephone customers, 400,000 opted to be unlisted. An alarming increase from the 320,00 from reported in 1958. New York Telephone was "deeply concerned" about the increase, because unlisted numbers created more work for the accounting department. What they should be deeply concerned about is their inevitable extinction when they become NYNEX. Remember NYNEX? 

 [READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES] 

ON THIS DAY IN FIPS'TORY: 

• 2010: Other Most Annoying People
• 2009: MAYBE FAKESTEVEBUSCEMI IS ACTUALLY REALSTEVEBUSCEMI AFTER ALL?

FIPS DAILY ALMANAC: Monday, March 19, 2012

Photo by Park Slope Lens

Rise and shine FIPS'ters, and welcome to your day! In tech news, Apple is going to tell us what it plans to do with all its money cash, and in poltics, Mitt Romney wins the Puetro Rico primary to the overwhelming cheers of who the hell cares.

ON THIS DAY IN BK HISTORY (1893):

Who doesn't love a good row on Fulton Street? This particular fight was juicy enough that it caused shoppers to be "mightly interested" for a short time. Apparently a streetsweeper by the name of Frank Cappo was told by the contractor of a new development that his work was shoddy. So what does Cappo do? What any good lusty Italian would: he beat the dude with his broomstick, leaving a "severe and ugly wound." I mean, honestly, this could be any day at Fulton Mall. 

 [FROM THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE ARCHIVES] 

ON THIS DAY IN FIPS'TORY:  

• 2011: Here's Park Slope: Housing Works In & King of Cupcakes Out?
• 2010: Your Doorman Knows You Have Herpes
• 2009: John Hodgman, We Need Your Help

FIPS DAILY ALMANAC: Friday, March 16, 2012

cartoon by Steven Weinberg

Rise and shine FIPS'ters, and welcome to your day! The FIPS Daily Almanac is psyched to announce that illustrator extraordinaire Steven Weinberg (who is no stranger to FIPS) will be contributing an original cartoon every Friday.  

In weird science news,  male fruit flies also drink to drown away their sorrows after being denied booty. And in celebrity news, Jennifer Lawrence compares Kim Kardashian's divorce to the Hunger Games. Also Russell Brand is behaving very badly now that he and his boo split. 

ON THIS DAY IN BK HISTORY (1870):

With all the recent hullabaloo surrounding teacher's test scores being made public, I thought it would be fun to take a moment to look at teacher's salaries in 1870 throughout this fair borough. There always seems to be "a long and interesting debate" going on. Read on further for the actual proposed salary increases. 

These are yearly salaries mind you.

 [READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE ARCHIVES] 

ON THIS DAY IN FIPS'TORY:  

• 2011: The L Mag Thinks North Slope Is 'Awful'...
• 2010: POST-APOCALYPTIC OPEN THREAD 
• 2009: BREAKING: TARGET STRIKES BACK, TAKES IT RACIAL