DailyHeights

Katrin writes: “OK, so we don’t really have a stoop, but we’re improvising! What’s for sale: Clothes–Gap, Banana Republic, J Crew jeans, mostly women’s size 8-12 $7-10; skirts, shirts, a few leftover winter items. Also some vintage-type items and other women’s clothing sizes 4-6. Shoes/boots. Books and a few CDs. Household knicknacks. 159 Eastern Parkway, between Washington and Underhill.”

BREAKING! Until just moments ago, it was unclear whether Atlantic Yards Smackdown, TO BE HELD THIS COMING THURSDAY, May 26 at Freddy’s, would see any professional representation from Prospect Heights’ own Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) Triangle. This “Fertile Crescent,” bounded by Vanderbilt, Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, is where some of Brooklyn’s scrappiest RPS toughs have honed their skills in informal pick-up games, illuminated only by the warm orange-white Creamsicle glow of the streetcorner Rock-N-Stop.

Now, cast all speculation aside, and please welcome our first entrant from the RPS Triangle:

PLAYER NAME: CHRIS GILMORE (a.k.a. “Slice”)

REPRESENTING: Vanderbilt Ave.

EDUCATION:
RPS Dojo of West Tokyo (B.S.)
Masters in Scissorology, Wes Chapman’s School for the Carpally Gifted (West Pico Campus)

Team: Independent, despite aggressive recruitment by multiple Class B/C RPS teams

SIGNATURE THROW/GAMBIT: “Triple EEK” method, learned in the wilds of Prospect Park

BOAST: “It is my destiny to win the tournament and make my mark on the world! Stand aside!!”

STRATEGY TIP: If you expect SLICE to lead with Scissors, you have a lot to learn about RPS Strategy. In the first few rounds, try Paper-based strategies, including Scissor Sandwich (paper, scissors, paper) or Brooklyn-style Reverse Denouement (paper, scissors, rock). When you confront Gilmore in the Championship Rounds, the only question is: do you have the guts to stick with Toolbox (scissors, scissors, scissors)?

GET GUARANTEED SIGN-UP in ATLANTIC YARDS SMACKDOWN!

ISA writes: “Here is my ProHo cutie, Fizzle, sitting like a person.”

“I got him from the Bay Ridge cat lady, and when she took him out of his cat carrier, he was just all over the place, like he had been struck by lightning. His habits are: sitting on keyboard, unplugging the modem, eating sugar, and competitive purring. He also likes to sit like a person. The photo is just one of many where he is sitting up and watching TV.”

UP NEXT: The Prospect Heights Penguin. SEND IN YOUR CUTIES! [email protected]

(That’s Park Place between Underhill and Washington Avenues.) This is the annual Block Party and Plant Sale of the Park Place/Underhill Ave. Block Association. From what I understand, it starts around noon.

What to expect: Free games, pony rides, live jazz and other performances (“A stage will be set up and your neighbors will be showing off their talents!”); plant sale, tag sale, book sale, bake sale

What you can do: Volunteer to cover shifts at the various stands; sign up to “sing a song, recite a poem, do a dance or tell a joke” on stage; or donate used household items, books, and baked goods. Also, “the Block Association requests donations of $15-$25 from neighbors who have private stoop sales the day of the party.”

The NEXT MEETING of the PP/UA Block Association is next Wednesday, Apr. 20, 8 pm, at 155 Underhill Ave. On the agenda: block party final planning; Brooklyn Planning Department meeting regarding Atlantic Railyards.

Check message boards for details.

The Americans UK. The music is not bad either–old school, loud, fast, wall-of-guitar a-blazin’. In short, would you kids please turn that racket down? Here’s CoolerThanYou.mp3.

Cari (Dogs Steal Yarn) says: “They support knitters … shouldn’t knitters support them?”

The Americans UK are playing PIANOS This SATURDAY, 4/16/05, at 8 PM, $6 cover.

It’s nice. Try it.

Laura B writes in the ProHo Forum: “In addition to Outdoor Loudness Season, I’m afraid it’s also now Outdoor Crime Season. Last night a woman was apparently held up at gunpoint on my block (St Marks betw Carlton & Vanderbilt) at around 10:30 pm, a time I usually consider relatively safe to walk home alone. She screamed and he ran away; I admire her bravery but it’s probably not what I would have done.

“Anyone like to share experience, advice, or strategies for avoiding being a target, or what to do if you are one?“

NOTE! Go to the message boards to share experience, advice or strategies.

Lucky for you. Happy Weekend, Prospect Heights.

Namaskar, Inc. | 643 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238. 718-636-1967.

Just a friendly reminder to leave your windows and front doors wide open in observance of Outdoor Loudness Season (OLS), sometimes referred to as “Spring.” Please be sure to maintain minimum decibel levels, particularly when washing your car, or pulling up to the curb to pick up your friends.

Those living in apartments on 4th or higher floors may need to increase stereo volume to compensate for distance from the street. Rule of thumb: simply double the standard blasting volume to be sure you’re in the “safe zone.”

Is Your Friend/Relative/”Connection” At Home? No need to use your cell phone during Outdoor Loudness Season. Just be sure your to have the bass pumping, and your windows rolled down, BEFORE you double park on the opposite side of the street. If double parking is not available, block a fire hydrant. Please be sure to spend at least 5 minutes crossing the street, knocking on the door of your friend who is clearly not at home, and then walking, slowly, again, back, across, two, lanes, of, traffic (allow an extra 2 minutes if neighborhood babies are napping in bedrooms facing the street).

Musical selections are no longer mandatory for 2005 (ref. “Hey Ya/When I Move, You Move” alternate-side blasting regulations of 2004). However, playing prerecorded tapes of dancehall reggae deejays grunting and yelling at strategic intervals (i.e., “HUUNNNH!”) is widely encouraged.

The Jackson Five, though pioneers of Loud in at least one respect, are expressly forbidden for the duration of The Season. [IMAGE CONSULTANT: J5-Collector.com]