Amusing the Zillion

Jan 23: Coney Island Goes to North Brooklyn, Lower East Side

January 23, 2013 by Tricia

Usually we tweet event listings instead of posting them on the blog, which is why you should be following ATZ on twitter. Today is an exception since there happens to be a trio of Coney Island special events outside of Coney, where it’s freeeezing on the Boardwalk. The three events are pretty much at the same time so you’ll have to choose…

“Last Summer at Coney Island” at Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture

When “Last Summer at Coney Island” premiered in August 2010 at BAM, the audience got teary eyed during the scene in which Astroland’s lights were extinguished, ride by ride, for the final time, and the illuminated Astrotower made its last descent. The award-winning documentary by JL Aronson chronicles changing times in Coney Island with riveting scenes featuring Thor Equities CEO Joe Sitt and Astroland owner Carol Hill Albert, among others. The film ends with the City Council passing the rezoning in July 2009. Presented as part of the Film Wax series “Brooklyn Reconstructed,” the screening will be followed by a discussion with the film-maker and Nate Bliss of the Alliance for Coney Island and NYC Economic Development Corporation about how Coney Island is faring today.

Wednesday, January 23rd at 7:00pm at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, 11215. Suggested $5 donation.

Coney Island Circus Sideshow at the Slipper Room

While Coney Island USA’s theater is closed for renovations after flood damage from Superstorm Sandy, the Coney Island Sideshow is performing on Wednesday nights all winter long at the Slipper Room. This week’s stars are knife-thrower extraordinaire The Great Throwdini and his target girl Lynn, and sword swallowers and fire eaters Kryssy Kocktail and Adam Realman. Last week Adam debuted the sensational act shown in the video — blowing up a hot water bottle till it bursts!

Wednesday, January 23rd. Doors at 7:00 pm, Show at 8:00 pm. Slipper Room, 167 Orchard St, New York, NY, 10002. Over 21. Tickets $10.

Brews for the New York Aquarium at Brooklyn Brewery

Sponsored by the Young Patrons Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Wednesday’s “Brews for NYAQ” is a fundraiser for the New York Aquarium, which is also closed due to damage from Sandy. The event includes drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and a presentation at 8:30pm by Jon Forrest Dohlin, WCS Vice President and Director, New York Aquarium. In Charles Denson’s film shown above, Dohlin dives Coney Island Creek in a Mark V diving helmet. The film was shot several days before the hurricane and the flooding of the Creek.

Wednesday, January 23rd from 7:30pm-10:30pm. Brooklyn Brewery, #1 Brewers Row, 79 North 11th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249. Tickets $50 online, $65 at door.

Rare & Vintage: 1960s Chance Skydiver Car

January 21, 2013 by Tricia

Chance Skydiver Car. Neven + Neven Moderne, Hudson, NY

It’s sad when retired carnival rides go unsold or are broken up for parts. We can only hope the old cars find an appreciative new home. For $3,500, you can spin yourself silly in this restored Skydiver ride car being offered by Neven + Neven Moderne, an art dealer in Hudson, New York. “Has wheels (not attached), for moving. Can be mounted to spin, or can sit on wheels,” according to the item’s description.

Produced from 1965 to 1979 by Chance Manufacturing, the Skydiver was a Ferris wheel-like ride whose cars were equipped with a steering wheel that let riders do barrel rolls. It’s considered a classic by ride aficionados but very few parks and carnivals have Skydivers nowadays.

During its heyday, state fair midways featured as many as three Skydivers in a row for the flash. Coney Island had a Skydiver as well as Chance’s one and only double Skydiver, called the Tumbler. Both rides were owned and operated by the McCullough family, who had rides in Coney Island for more than 50 years.

If you want to ride, you can still find a Skydiver at Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania, Silverwood in Idaho, and at fairs played by the traveling carnivals Christiansen Amusements, Campy’s Amusements and Powers Great American Midway.

Music Video: Coney Island by Antje Duvekot

January 20, 2013 by Tricia

This video of singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot’s “Coney Island” wasn’t shot on Coney’s beach but the dark beauty of the lyrics and the old footage pulled us in:

well the Empire State is gleaming
and it’s a perfect Friday night
hold me down
’cause I am feeling high as a kite
’cause I’m not living for the landing
tonight I’m living for the flight
don’t wanna capture the moment
i just wanna let it go by

’cause in a world so full of troubles
i think we’ve seen enough
and they’ll still be here tomorrow
when the sun comes up

The song is from “The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer,” voted top album of 2009 by Boston folk station WUMB. Duvekot, a native of Germany, lived in Delaware, New York City and Vermont before becoming popular on Boston’s folk scene. “Her rise to prominence can be attributed to a paper plane voice fluttering through breezes with a reedy Irish lilt and keen lyrical sense of dignity and destruction,” says the Boston Globe in a review of her new album “New Siberia.”