looking forward to...

Friday night's Reparations program at JACK. Finally a place where all that is going on can be discussed. There is a movie being shown, but hopefully there will be some meaningful discussion as well. Have to get off Facebook. And hopefully (I want to make this a positive statement) some of the participants will realize that there is a real fight going on in the city---to stop the abusive gentrification in and around JACK (and especially further south). Also, some antigentrification work planned for tomorrow--will report more on that as it evolves.
   Yesterday, dropped off flyers for the 9/9 march at Molasses and at Cobra, where the owner was nice enough to accept them. Then had a nice talk with Bruno, who was bartending at Starr Bar about planning the after party on the 9th. We also talked about what he and his volunteers were doing in Bushwick in terms of educating the people living there about the Mayor's rezoning plan-there is a lot of commitment there, but he lacks people to help. How long will it take to make "non-political" people realize that they should get involved, that what the Mayor has planned will effect all of them?
     At any rate, most of what I hoped to do in Bushwick was accomplished.
   After that, I headed to Greenpoint, a place I have not spent much time in this summer. A graduate of Friends class of 16, Ewen, told me he was interning there this summer and invited me to come to one of the independent movies that they were showing on Tuesdays. This was the only Tuesday that I could make it--since I arrived at the Lorimer L stop early (as usual) I decided to walk the approximately 15 blocks to Freeman Street. An interesting walk north on Manhattan Avenue---many stores, a few new bars, etc. Imagine my surprise when I bought my ticket for the program to discover that Ewen would not be there--kind of disappointed, I probably would not have gone if I thought he was not going to be there, but---what the hell---there I was, and the ticket was only $8.00, so I stayed.
The evening consisted of two documentaries--both about India in the 70.s, The first a propaganda piece by the almost dictatorship of a government that ruled India from 74 to 76, claiming that things were better in the universities, and the second---a really brutal documentary, documenting the horrible torture that any prisoner considered "political", had to experience. Really brutal beatings and in some cases, killings. Very few people brought to justice after a kind of democracy had been brought back in the late seventies. Very intense---yet it taught me something about India I did not know. Afterwards I spoke to one of the curators of the space---he was very gracious and very pleased with the work that Ewen had done. Hopefully, I can pass this on to him.
    I was tired, but would not leave Greenpoint without trying out a new bar. And, of course, there was one, that I had scoped out on my way there, right around the corner. It was called Barley, and I went in to eat and watch the Yankee-Met game, at that point in the sixth inning. One look at the menu freaked me out---nothing under $10.00! Well, of course, it is NY in 2017. I thought about leaving, but I had come in---I found a Kale Caesar Salad that was only $9.00. (No coke or beer, just a glass of ice water). It was not exactly what I wanted, but I had to keep to my budget. It came soon after, and was really very good---perhaps among the best Caesar's that I have tasted. The bartender was friendly but not particularly talkative---though I struck up a very nice chat with Yolanda, a Greenpointer who was there with her husband, and who liked the place very much. Finally it was time to leave---I payed my bill---$12,00 with tax and tip (pretty good for nowadays). I liked the place, I would probably return there at some point.
    Headed to the subway, but somehow, with all my fatigue, decided to walk some more. Did not want to end the evening. (it was about 9:15) Wandered west on Greenpoint Ave--looked in a few places, because the salad was light, but decided not to go in anywhere. Took the 62 bus to north 7th, and then the L back to Manhattan.
   Today is the one day of the week that I have no plans, And maybe that is a good thing, I am kind of exhausted from all the action of the past few days. A movie? Maybe---Maybe a visit to La Flaca---all is open, will report tomorrow.