Our good friend Erin sent us this invite to what sounds like a great after parade Halloween Party. She writes:

Please check out the attached invite to a Halloween party
featuring New Orleans’ own Hot 8 Brass Band! It will be a once in a
lifetime experience — 3 Horns, 3 Trombones, 2 Drums, Sax, and the
Big Tuba!

The band will be marching in the Halloween Parade and will be playing
well into the night!

Who: The Hot 8 Brass Band direct from New Orleans w/Spank and other
special guests from New Orleans!
What: 2nd Line Brass Band
Where: Don Hills 511 Greenwich at Spring Street
Time: post parade 11 p – ??
Date: 10/31/05

On Saturday we spent our evening cruising the various Halloween happenings in Red Hook.

We started off at the Liberty Heights Tap Room. We stopped in for a quick drink to kill some time before heading on to our main event. Turns out there was a benefit concert – with a bunch of bands playing Elvis Costello covers. The space is really cozy and family friendly, exposed brick walls, brick oven pizza, nice long bar and in the back, nearly a separate room with a cool stage area. Seems like a nice local place, and when I say local I don’t mean local hipsters, just a local Red Hook crowd. Plenty of parking too, because if you’re not a local more than likely you’re driving or taking the bus.
www.libertyheightstaproom.com

Around 11:00 we sauntered over to Lillies Salloon for Hee Haw Hell for what turned out to be the main event of our evening – Van Hayride! The bar itself is wonderful. A dark, yet lush country/urban combo with a dash of kitsch and lots of Art Deco detailing (this picture doesn’t do it justice). We thought that Frank and his gang from the movie “Blue Velvet” would have felt at home lounging on one of the sofas. www.lilliessaloon.com.

Lillies Salloon with Van Hayride

We had the pleasure of listening to an excellent Van Halen cover band called Van Hayride. They put their own honkey-tonk meets Elvis mark on the classic tunes. They also pointed out just how chock full of life-lesson Van Halen songs really are. jackgraceband.com

After filling up on Van Hayride and Makers Mark we headed over to our last stop. Lidos – a little hole in the wall that we call home every Friday night. And on this Saturday night you could just barely make out the mostly human forms through the pea-soup fog. Our fav was Carrie, s/he looked quite lovely dripping blood. Lido 200 Columbia St Brooklyn, New York 11231 718-858-9322

Lidos Bar

Not sure what to do this Halloween? Check out GooGhoul.com – a good resource for finding Halloween happenings near you. Thanks to Gothamist for the link.

I know you’ve been anxiously awaiting this post, unsure of what to dress up as for Halloween and time is running out. Well, the wait is now over. OYG has just posted a wonderful selection of Halloween masks for you to cover up your scary face!

Lots more to choose from!

But The Warriors is also a hipster williamsburg halloween shin-dig. and its happening again on Saturday October 29th, 2005 10pm-4am. Get a gang together and dress up in matching outfits!

Click here for pics from last year. (no this is not a picture of us)

Found this metallic foil art over at our friend’s place this weekend. Turns out she has been holding onto this gem since the 80s. It is a real treat to see dragons, fiery sci-fi landscapes and pilots coexisting in one fantastic, 3-d, shiny medium. Thanks Dorothy!

I recently went to LA for a long weekend, and well, we spent our time (and photos) on eating. I’ve come to the conclusion that while Brooklyn is the best place in the world, it could use at least one key import from the west coast – In and Out Burger!
Here is a quick look at some of our choice culinary delights.

1. In and Out Burger: We went there directly from the airport – it was a necessity.

2. Freshly Baked Ginger Sugar Souffle: I don’t know any diners in Brooklyn that cook you a fresh souffle and charge you only $3.50 for it. It is well worth the 35 min wait.

3. Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles: From what I understand the tradition of chicken and waffles started in Harlem, as an after party treat for folks leaving the cotton club. It is good to know I don’t have to go all the way to LA to have it again – but can anybody recommend a place in Brooklyn?

4. Noodle Planet’s Boba World Crazy Green Apple bubble Tea Shake Thing: brightest colored drink I have ever seen, purchased at Noodle Planet, a great noodle joint in an old Big Boy restaurant with a sci-fi theme. (The big boy is still there)

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN NOTE:
Ok, and I know this post is about food, but I should also make mention of Knott Scary Farms. An awesome amusement park turned Halloween Haunt with 12 mazes (haunted houses), more smoke machines than you could shake a stick at, and scores of extras giving you a good jump at every corner. This alone (even without the in and out burger) is worth the trip to LA. If you love Halloween you MUST go.

My business partner went away to LA and taped this rasterbated image of our landlady Mrs. G on the wall next to my desk. Now I’m not lonely anymore.

Rasterbate your landlady

Want to be the envy of everybody this halloween? Well, it is too bad this Chachi costume isn’t still in circulation, otherwise you could. Chachi is so hot right now. For more great retro costumes check out this site. Going as an asteroid is a pretty – um – interesting idea also.

but you can’t make him like it!

Entertain the tourists, do some shopping, have a Bloody Mary and chew the fat… Zombiecon is this Saturday.

Come on down tonight and join the teeming masses of prog fans at Lido Bar in Red Hook. Prog night happens every third Tuesday of the month. As D.J. Doctor Progsnob says “Music and booze to feed your inner dweeb!”

http://www.prognight.com/

If you find yourself home, bored on a rainy day with a sleepy cat – try balancing a bunch of stuff on them – like these guys do.

Rob and Brian (two italian cousins from staten island) came by today to install our new alarm system. We asked if they wanted to order lunch with us – which launched us into a conversation about some of their fav lunch spots. Seeing as they are two guys who spend their days driving around installing alarms and eating sandwiches (primary roast beef sandwiches) from every corner deli in the tri-state area, we think they probably know what they are talking about.

Defontes
“I grew up with the guy whose grandpa started that place”
“Whenever you got a bunch of workmen lined up around the corner at lunch time you know its good”
379 Columbia St., at Luquer St.; 718-625-8052. (carroll gardens)
Try the: egg sandwich with sausage, the roast-beef-mozzarella, the valentino: roast beef, mozarrella and fried egg plant.

L& B Spumoni Gardens
“What, you’ve never been there?”
“No”
“They have the best jalamar there”
“What is jalamar?”
“C-A-L-A-M-A-R-I – in italian the c’s are pronouced as J’s – where you from anway?”
2725 86th St. Brooklyn, NY 11223 718.449.1230/718.372.8400
Try the: pizza and of course the calamari

Roll-N- Roaster
“They’ll put cheese on anything.”
Emmons & Nostrand Ave, Sheepshead Bay.; 718.769.6000
Try the: burgers and cheese fries

John’s Luncheonette
“They’ve got the best roast beef sandwiches with this dark gravey they put on it. They only used to serve it on Tuesdays, but now I think they serve the sandwich everyday.”
1643 McDonald Avenue (718) 627-6735
Try the: Roast Beef Sandwiches on Tuesdays

Brennan & Carr
3432 Nostrand Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11229 (718) 646-9559
Try the: Roast Beef Sandwich

Denino’s Pizza
524 Port Richmond Ave. (Staten Island) at Hooker Pl. 718-442-9401
Try the: Pizza

you all may have seen this video before, but it is always worth a second or third or tenth viewing.