There are a lot of fantastic positive changes that could eventually spill over from the #OccupyWallStreet movement currently celebrating a “Day of action” by parading around the five boroughs and generally fouling up folks’ day with traffic jams. Yes it is inconvenient but on balance there needs to be attention paid to the stifling income inequality in this country. In that sense these protesters are fighting the good fight.

That said, couldn’t we get a better looking bunch of people out in front of these important issues. Hippies, have taken the rein of this movement and perhaps that is fair or maybe it is 2011 and we should be doing better. Instead the front lines of  our economic revolution are being  manned by white kids with dreadlocks, drum circles, and a stench akin to a pile of kids sleeping in their own filth for a month. Is this the best and most active we have to offer? There are good enough looking folks tweeting about this stuff.

If anything is going to bring down this movement it is the trend of smelling awful, playing bongos and letting our collective hair knot and tie until they are huge clumps of grease.

The music video for the first single off of the self-titled Evanescence, “What You Want” was recently filmed in Brooklyn. When you think of independent, angry youths with a lot of spunk and character, the only natural location to find them is Brooklyn. Duh.

The stage sequences were filmed off Jefferson Street, but other notable locations include the Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island, and the subway system. The video is a return to form for the band and reminds me much of the stuff from Fallen but more evolved and mature.

Even though Amy Lee sings, “Do what you, what you want,” I find it very hard to believe frantically running through the streets of New York and freaking out in an empty subway station while belting out melodious rhymes at stratospheric octaves are her idea of a good time. That being said,  she’s definitely doing what she wants performing on stage so I’ll give her at least that.

A select group of diehard fans were chosen to be the audience featured in the video. You can see them head bashing, jumping, and yelling in ecstasy in a grungy looking warehouse, which naturally could be found in Brooklyn. This is reminiscent of the band’s 2003 hit “Going Under” where Amy Lee dives into the mosh.

If we want to see them live again, we’ll have to wait until they return to New York on their full-blown tour.

There are a lot of great places to hang out in Park Slope, but these days very few seem to be on the forefront of both hanging out and entertaining like Union Hall. Union Hall is a sprawling space able to facilitate some ornate library like seating areas up front before opening up into a fully functional bocce ball court. The space is being used, it’s often hard to navigate the crowd. The bar staff is workman-like and the selection of brews and booze is sturdy. A more limited bar is downstairs in their performance area.

That’s right a performance area. This spot plays host to a wide array of musical and comedy acts. On top of those shows are also a variety of opportunities for you to take the stage. You can be a participant at upcoming Juice Box 90′s, Under Pressure: The Queen And David Bowie Sing Along, or you can perform every Friday with your hosts Karaoke Killed The Kat. This show is fun every week as anyone in the world gets up and sings in front of the most supportive crowd around. It happens every Friday at midnight.

If you’re just looking to get a drink, play a game or see a show this is the bar to go to.

Brooklyn is known for many, many things. One of the coolest things you can check out this fall are the upcoming art exhibits. Take in a little culture before your night out on the town.There are so many exhibitions going on in New York city you should take at least a gander at some of the impressive work people produce. It could inspire you to try some art of your own.

The MINUS SPACE reductive art gallery at 98 4th Street, Room 204 is showcasing an abstract color painting exhibit entitled Pointing a Telescope at the Sun for approximately one more week. This exhibit contains art from acclaimed New York City artists: Gabriele Evertz, Vincent Longo, Doug Ohlson, Robert Swain, and Sanford Wurmfeld.

The intention of the artists was to create works visually stimulating to the viewers, edging on its visceral and transformative effects. It will be open Fridays and Saturdays, Noon – 6PM, until September 17th.

The upcoming exhibit after that will be the first of many in their new space opening at 111 Front Street, Suite 226. It’s a collection of work by the late New York artist Ted Stamm. this overall comprehensive is an exploration of his body of work from paintings to street interventions and more. If you’re into raw abstraction then this is something you will not want to miss.

It’s Fashion Week in New York but Brooklyn has never really adhered to the whims of the style tyrants over in Manhattan. Instead Brooklyn style circa 2011 is going in a million ways at once. It’s the cut off shorts and bright yellow tank tops on a Williamsburg hipster. It’s the older gentleman in Bay Ridge sporting a sharp looking hat, dress slacks and overalls, with a dirty white undershirt. It’s a Parkslope mom rocking yoga-pants even though she hasn’t gone to yoga in three days. It’s the dude in Bushwick keeping it crispy in all black everything and his Yankee fitted low.

In Brooklyn fashion is everything all of the time and that is because Brooklyn is never just one thing. Every race, culture and sub-culture has a nook in the borough. The economic lines are as blurry as the neighborhood distinctions and the folks on any given block can be moving in a thousand different directions at once.

Clothes are not life in Brooklyn as they are in some sections of Manhattan. There are certainly fashionistas in every neighborhood but they define the way they dress as apposed to letting the way they dress define them. The restless nature of Brooklyn style means that here every week is Fashion Week and everything is always in season.

That was my first New York earthquake. It was my first earthquake ever, actually, which I’m ashamed to say, especially since I used to live on the West Coast, earthquake central. People would always be like, hey did you feel that earthquake last night? And I’d be like, no. I didn’t.

Unfortunately I was right in the middle of urinating and so it wasn’t as much fun for me as it was for you. At first I was like, why is the train rumbling so loudly? Then I realized there is no train in this part of Brooklyn. But still it was pretty cool thinking about what was happening underneath the floor I stood on, deep in the earth’s molten core.

Now I want to be a professional earthquake wrestler. That was a baby earthquake but what about a big one? How cool would that be, if I traveled the world waiting for the next big earthquake. I’d be like the Bear Grylls of earthquakes.

But at least I was part of the Great American Earthquake. It’s been a long time since the East Coast has had an earthquake. And it will probably be a long time till the next one. At least I can say I remember when.

Whenever you say that so-and-so scene is dead it tends to come roaring back to life. Well, let’s hope that’s true because as of now original boundary pushing Brooklyn music is dead. The days of Liars, TV On The Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs running the roost are long gone, even if their contemporaries in Gang Gang Dance and Oneida still call Bill’burg home. Animal Collective have collectively jumped ship to work with each other remotely from homes in sea castles or France or something.

The last great musical export from Brooklyn might be Oneohtrix Point Never, a dramatic atmospheric electronic act that would barely register for your average fan of proper rock or even poppier electronic music. Sure his new record as part of Ford & Lopitan is a pop corrective, but it has not connected in a way that has broken him open. Possibly the most relevant on the cusp of exploding music on the New York landscape is being made by Das Racist, a rap group that has blossomed from a novelty into an unlikely meme creating dynamic musical act. They’re from QUEENS THOUGH!

There is of course no magic bullet to save the Brooklyn music scene and skyrockitting rents are not making things any easier. Instead the new trend in Brooklyn music is to shit on everyone. I feel I have done my part.

First Round Fridays Happens the last Friday of every month at The Cove in Williamsburg.

Back in the 80′s there was a comedy club on every block. These days comedy is not so wide spread. Still if you look around cool Brooklyn neighborhoods like Park Slope and Williamsburg there are lots of hilarious comedy shows popping up many are as low as $5 and some are completely free. It’s bad for the folks slugging it out on stage but great for you the entertainment starved Brooklynite not looking to drop $40 at a midtown comedy club.

You might think that the bench of talent on these shows would be lacking but you’d be wrong, dead wrong. The Cove an appropriately “cove like” bar on North 6th in Williamsburg plays host to some of the UCB’s brightest improvisers and New York’s best up and coming stand ups regularly at free shows with cheap beer specials. Recent guests have included Sean Patton, Michael Lawrence, SNL writer Colin Jost, Mark Normand and former Chelsea Lately stalwart Arden Myrin.

Myrin herself hosts, along with Lisa deLarios, a monthly show called The Party Machine at Park Slope’s excellent venue Union Hall. True to form the show hosts a mix of up and comers (Erik Bergstrom, John F. O’Donnell, Kate Berlant) and established comedy stars(Jason Sudeikis, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry).

So if you’re looking to sniff out some funny stuff don’t go to Manhattan, stay in your own neck of the woods. You’ll likely find yourself laughing harder and cheaper.

New York will lose one or possibly even two seats in the House by 2013. Thanks to the recent census and the migration of peoples to the South and East, New York will have fewer Representatives than during any time over the past 200 years.

The peak occurred during the 1940′s when New York held 45 seats. Back in 1810, 27 of the 181 representatives in the country were from our glorious state. From 15% of the total to 6% in 2013, the population of northern New York has seen the most major drops. Near Buffalo and the Great Lakes you can expect a reshifting of congressional lines.Buffalo’s population has fallen by more than 50% over the past 50 years thanks to an evaporating industrial base. That made it number 8 on Forbes’ list of most miserable American cities.

Districts are supposed to be organized by population. Each of the 28 districts in New York should have about 700,000 people, which means that the upstate areas fall short by around 100,000. And while it seems a lot of people are fleeing the city to move to the Midwest, Cleveland and Detroit aren’t quite as cool as they used to be.

That said, if prices are getting too high for many city dwellers, it may be time to find a new neighborhood. Can’t afford Williamsburg? Try Bushwick.

The L Magazine just posted its best Brooklyn blocks. I was on the lookout for one near my home and found it at 23. Best Block for Wild Parties
Morgan Ave between Maujer and ?Scholes Streets
3rd Ward, House of Yes, Rubulad: trapeze artists and homemade absinthe do, in fact, mix.

This is indeed a good block for crazy parties, and is where I intend to spend my Halloween. And just one block away, the L was kind enough to name Meserole St., Best Block for Urban Detrital Discoveries (by day), Lynchian Encounters with the Unheimlich (by evening), and Profound Malaise Bordering on Fear (by night. Best Block for Street Art was also nearby.

Certainly there were many of the best blocks that were in Williamsburg (cheap eats, drinking, dive bars, classy bars, and coffee), as is to be expected by a magazine of the L’s demographic. But that’s forgivable. Their five best blocks to live on include a nice smattering of neighborhoods besides Williamsburg, such as Greenpoint, Ditmas Park, Brooklyn Heights, and Cobble Hill. Their props for best gallery hopping went to Dumbo, and as you can see for yourself, all of the other rankings are fairly accurate.