Andrew G. Wood wrote in the
Brooklyn Rail that Mardi Gras “signals a change of season as winter
gradually gives way to spring … the festival can be appreciated as a fertility
rite with participants dancing, chanting, feasting and celebrating in hope of
aiding the coming year’s growing season. In certain cultures celebrants imagine
themselves cavorting with the dead …"

PICTURED: The original
Jacques-Imos, New Orleans, 2004.

Heather took this photograph of BEAST, a tapas place that has not yet opened. Location: 638 Bergen St. at Vanderbilt, 718-399-6855. Grand opening is Feb. 25th, 4 pm - midnight. PERSON WHO ANSWERED THE PHONE: "We are hoping all the liquor licensing comes through … If not, we’ll be giving away beer and wine with the food." Quick! Someone intercept the mail.

PS. More discussion in the dailyheights forums ("Beast Bar" entry).

Anybody see this on TLC?

Teryls Barber Shop | 597 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238 |
(718) 783-9693

Entrepreneur Magazine: "Many entrepreneurs can’t afford to seek costly advice from consultants, but the TLC series Taking Care of Business gives select entrepreneurs an opportunity to do just that, in exchange for camera time. With help from four experts, dubbed the Gut Instinct Guide, the Management Maven, the Glamour Guru and the Buzz-Builder…"

"Teryl’s Barbershop"
: "Like the film Barbershop, Teryl Dixon’s barbershop has its fill of funny characters and repeat business. But the Prospect Heights, New York, neighborhood has shifted from predominantly black to white, and Dixon wants to attract new customers. …"

Patti Hagan and Jezra Kaye of the Prospect Heights Action Coalition
wrote in the Daily News: “…This project would sit on two kinds of land: a $500
million parcel now used as a … (railroad) storage yard and 10 acres of
private property, now home to 864 people and 437 jobs in 71 buildings.”

“Laws allow New York State to take private property ‘for
public use.’ But this project will not be public - Ratner and his partners will
own the arena, the team, the skyscrapers and the profits they make … Ratner has asked that $28 million of sales and income
taxes from the development be redirected back to him each year for years to
come … Another concern is how the neighborhood could accommodate
the residents of 4,500 new apartments. Public School 9 on Underhill Ave. is
already too crowded."

Wed, February 9: Ash Wednesday

Fri, February 11: Lincoln’s Birthday (Observed)

Sat, February 12: Lincoln’s Birthday

Here’s the entire 2005 calendar of street cleaning suspensions for New York City.