Whassup: A Year Ain't Nothin' But a Number Edition

BookCourt's books need some post-Sandy love (via onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com)

Haha, what? New Year's Resolutions, what? No, haha, I never-- No, I don't make -- never said I wouldn't -- *weeps and shoves face full of processed meat and alcohol* Hooray! Let's all celebrate that time of year when we can throw off the yoke of oppressive good intentions! Screw New Year's resolutions, let's all go drink too much. Welcome to Whassup: A Year Ain't Nothin' But a Number Edition:

* Saturday, Jan. 12: Sandy Read-a-Thon, BookCourt: So much literary talent oozes through the brownstone-lined streets of Brooklyn that there is literally someone narrativizing what you are doing AT ALL TIMES. They are watching you from the coffee shop windows. All those authors -- well, many of them -- turn their word talents to the post-Sandy recovery with a marathon, ALL DAY reading. Check out some Emma Straub. Have a little Jonathan Ames. And more. 10:30am-9pm.

* Sunday, Jan. 13: WFMU Sandy Benefit: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (my personal favorite musical incendiary device) headlines a live-music benefit in support of NJ indy radio station, WFMU, which suffered the storm's wrath along with much of the rest of Jersey City. 7:30 pm, $20.

* Monday, Jan. 14: Sackett Reading, BookCourt: Local MFA-alternative (which is a much-needed idea) Sackett Street Writer's Workshop hosts its semi-regular showcase of Sackett alums, including Leah Umansky, herself a great proponent of other writers and live word-sharings. 7pm, FREE.

* Tuesday, Jan. 15: Storytellers Stand Up, Tea Lounge: If you hit up a Moth-style story-slam event, you'll likely see a stand-up comic or two try out the storytelling form. FiPS' own Kerri Doherty cleverly reverses that formula, asking storytellers to exit the comfy confines of five-minute narratives to try making observations about what people's deal is. It's "all jokes, no stories." 7:30pm, FREE.

* Tuesday, Jan. 15: Battle for Brooklyn DVD release: Oh yeah, remember all that fighting and protest and then the Barclays Center happened, anyway? Well, at least we have proof that people tried to do something about it before we were forced to have access to Coldplay concerts. The doc Battle for Brooklyn, cataloguing all the eminent domain douchery, comes out on DVD today.