Bay Ridge ~ Four Years Later

It's been four years since I moved to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn from the West Village in Manhattan, and I haven't regretted a minute. So much has changed in my life over that time -- mostly for the better. Most notably that I've had a change in landlords and a relatively modest rent hike for my floor-through, and I retired from my office job this past March.

I remember my move as if it were just yesterday. My cousin, Linda and her college-aged son, Mark, came in Linda's van. We filled it on two trips and I left 12 Fifth Avenue for good, after living there, rent stabilized, for 18 years. Kevin was along to assist.

Some of the boxes from the move remain unpacked. Wonder what's inside!

The first thing I noticed upon my arrival was the window display across the street at McAteer Florists. Live, pure-white, giant turkeys in a pen of straw. It was a bit surreal but I knew this was going to be my kind of neighborhood.

The day after the move, I just had to return to look at them. A young mother was there with her three little kids. She sounded just like Fran Drescher in The Nanny when she shouted, "Look, kids! Turkeeeys! Turkeeeys! Aren't they adorable?" Yep, this was home for sure.

And so it has remained home to me. I am thankful for so many things this year, including the love and support of my friends. I am especially grateful to have Kevin as my downstairs (and only) neighbor in the building, and our friends on the ground floor, in Ammari Deli, who take in our larger packages from USPS and UPS.

This Thanksgiving, Kevin will be having a dinner with friends, and I'll be making mashed turnips, basically the way my mom used to. I'll be spending Christmas with cousin Linda and her family. Oh, and as for the turkeys, they were sent back to a preserve the Monday after that Thanksgiving weekend, never to return. Too much upkeep I was told.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving -- whoever you are and wherever you'll be.

Jive Turkeys

"Conservatives bashed Macy's via social media for the inclusion of a drag queen and a musical number from the Tony Award winning Broadway musical Kinky Boots during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," read The Advocate on-line today.

People, chill out and grow up! That's what Dj Buddy Beaverhausen has to offer on this matter.

"Conservatives immediately took to Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media to bash Macy’s for the inclusion of a musical number from the Tony Award winning Broadway musical Kinky Boots in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade," according to the source Back 2 Stonewall.

Oh, puh-leeze, dahlings! From what I saw, it was SUCH a gay parade overall. Kristin Chenoweth! Joan Jett! Those campy cheerleaders! And those over-the-top fabulous floats! Get over yourselves, haters!

“Macy's worst decision ever with your cross dresser show on Thanksgiving, you've completely removed the family part of thanksgiving,” someone posted on Macy’s Facebook page. “Absolutely disgusting, whoever made that decision should be fired.”

“Not happy with the drag queen show,” another person wrote. “Not a conversation I wanted to have with my five-year-old on thanksgiving morning.” Really? It would be that hard to discuss?!

I would say that, for most people, it was such a mild and fun-filled parade performance. Wonder if Cyndi, Harvey Fierstein or Jerry Mitchell will have responses. It's like bitching about the witch in The Wizard of Oz  presntation being an anti-Christian symbol. How simple-minded! Why, if it wasn't for LGBT people in the arts, entertainment would be a snooze. We all know that! Besides, Kinky Boots has been such a huge success on Broadway, it's obvious not many people are offended by it.

Buddy B says fuck 'em if they can't take a little cross-dressing. Ain't they ever seen Uncle Miltie? Drag has been part of popular entertainment since theater began. Tell it to the ancient Greeks and to Shakespeare! Sheesh!

Thanksgiving Day in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn 2013!

Thanksgiving day has come! It's a cold (just above 30 degrees) but sunny, almost cloudless day in New York City and a humbly mellow, small-scale celebration this year for Buddy Beaverhausen. Greetings from Bay Ridge!

The morning started with Kevin's, my friend and downstairs neighbor, breakfast of home-baked zucchini bread and pumpkin-flavored coffee. We sat at the living room coffee table and watched some of the Macy Thanksgiving Day parade on tv.

I was very impressed by NBC's fluid, kinetic camera work with all the swooping and the zooming and the dollying. And many of the floats were fabulous. As far as performances we saw, Cher Lloyd and Debbie Ryan were not so fabulous. They sound like the same person, that person being just about any current girl singer with the cookie-cutter voice. 

Kevin said the vocalist of The Sound Set sang like "a low-rent Justin Bieber." Auto-tuning doesn't go well with lip-synching on a float and a close-up on tv. 

Real talent was on hand with The Goo-Goo Dolls, Kristen Chenowith (a boffo "New York, New York" -- eat your hearts out, bimbos; loved Cheno's hair), and Joan Jett, singing "Any Weather" (impressive song). She was looking great; not every person Joan's age can pull off jet-black hair but it went well with her nip/tuck. And we adored her fitted red leather coat!

At 2:00, we walked one block down (which I now consider good exercise) to Lighthouse Cafe.

A four-course meal for $21.95 + tax and we each tipped our gracious waitress $10. (I mean, she even took our picture together and she's at work on a major holiday. ) Such a feast, I took home a ton of turkey, yams and a slice of pumpkin pie in a doggy bag. (And then had a two-hour "nap." Blame it on the tryptophan, the bossa nova or a sluggish metabolism? Can't decide. I'll have to sleep on it.)

The main course was a bounteous pile of turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots with a pile of stuffing under the meat (dark and white both). Previous to this: a cup of cream of turkey soup (my choice), bowl of green salad (my choice of dressing: o&v), a free glass of red wine, bread basket. 

The aforementioned piece of pie was for dessert. With an already full belly, I may not have been gluten-free but opted to be glutton-free. It came home, possibly for tomorrow's breakfast. The meal, all in all, was a foodie's comfort-food wet dream.

I am thankful to the Lighthouse (7506 Third Ave., Brooklyn, NY). There was no lighthouse when the pilrgrims landed at Plymouth Rock I understand, nor was there Lighthouse Cafe when the Greeks landed in Bay Ridge. The Lighthouse will also be open on Christmas Day. 

I am also thankful to Bay Ridge itself, a neighborhood I enjoy for so many reasons. In fact, tomorrow is the second anniversary of my move here. 

I hope all my readers across the USA had a happy, a very special Thanksgiving. We have so much to be grateful for and it feels really good to take a time out to celebrate that fact. The feasting is merely symbolic. (Pretty good symbolism, though, in my book!) Because it's not what's on the table, it's who's around it.

Old friends, old friends sat on the park bench like bookends ~ Paul Simon

Giving Thanks for Divas on Thanksgiving 2013

Posted on a fan's Facebook Page

Thanksgiving has arrived, my turkeys, gobble gobble! Of course, Buddy B has so much to be thankful for this year, especially not having to cook for guests! (Ain't nobody got time for that.) I'm thankful for going to Bay Ridge's Lighthouse Diner, Thanksgiving afternoon, two blocks away, with my friend who called in the rezzies. Give me a bloody mary and a plate of lasagne and I'll be grateful, pilgrim! And, hey, Plymouth rocks! But also, I am thankful to the harvest of contemporary divas who keep us dancing and inspire us with their awesome voices.

Martha Wash has been our divine diva for five decades now, as a solo artist and as the voice of Two Tons of Fun, The Weather Girls, Black Box and C&C Music Factory. I am truly thankful for Miss Martha! And I adore her current album, Something Good, which is a perfect ~ and very inspirational ~ gift for the holidays. Available at Amazon.com.

I'm thankful for Cher! What a legend, icon, superstar diva, with an outstanding six-decade career. Her new album, Closer to the Truth, is marvelous and I highly recommend it for the holiday season and beyond!

La La Brooks, Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector. 1960s girl-group divas who survived Phil Spector and continue to have vibrant careers today! All have albums available on Amazon; Darlene and Ronnie having Christmas cds. Our Ms Brooks has a new album this season on the indy Norton label.

Cyndi Lauper! What more do I have to say? One of the outstanding pop vocalists of our lifetime. And she even recorded a Christmas album. Guess where you can get it!

Madonna and Lady Gaga continue to impress, tantalize and titillate. (Though neither has yet done a holiday cd; get on it, girls!)

Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand -- both boasting Christmas cds no holiday collection should ever be without.

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen and Our City Radio are grateful for our enduring divas and give thanks unto them. Not a turkey amongst them.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and may God bless us all this holiday season! Stay safe, stay warm, stay tuned into Queens Our City Radio.

Happy Thanksgiving with SCTV

The satirical Canadian tv series, SCTV, was as outrageous in the '70s as it is today, and gave good Thanksgiving, too!  Here is Andrea Martin's character, Edith Prickley's, hilarious turkey stuffing (to "Macho Man") for Thanksgiving:

Then there was Dave Thomas as Al Pacino, "Cruisin'" a turkey.

Enjoy! And have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! Good eatin's to everyone!

Giving Thanks 2012

Thanksgiving 2012 is almost here, which has special significance for me because I moved to Bay Ridge the day after Thanksgiving last year. http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2011/11/ciao-manhattan.html

My mother passed away on October 1, 2011 and I was devastated, struggling to keep sane because, at the same time, the Greenwich Village apartment I lived in for 18 years was being sold and my place would undergo such complete renovation, I'd temporarily be displaced and my life absolutely disrupted. My friend Kevin alerted me to an apartment that became available in his building in Bay Ridge. And so I moved, and it's basically been a very happy year, living through the seasons out here to this anniversary.

Next week, I expect the last vestiges of Halloween will be gone from the neighborhood and pumpkins will turn into magical lights to celebrate the holidays. Bay Ridge is famous for its Christmas displays as neighbors do it up big and tour buses come by night to delight passengers. http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2011/12/festival-of-lights.html

I hung a wreath on the door for Thanksgiving (above) to mark and honor this past year. I am living in a floor-through now, in a three-story building, my only neighbor is Kevin, downstairs, being one of my best friends who I've known for many years. On the ground floor is a deli, and the guys who run it are princes; they always have our backs. I love that. I'll have to get them a holiday gift this year; some small token of my appreciation.

We've gone through a lot over the year: sale of the house to a new landlord, for instance, though we remain optimistic about our continuing tenancies here. And, of course, the recent hurricane that still has interrupted service on the subways back and forth from Manhattan to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. But there were also so many good times during 2011/12: going down to Kevin's to watch tv (notably, Smash on wintery Tuesday nights http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/05/smash-according-to-beaverhausen.html); his coming up to chat, have some laughs, listen to music and share wine or cocktails at my living room's art deco-designed glass-and-black lacquered wood coffee table, sitting on the shags and throws; and having overnight, out-of-town guests; people that I've known for decades and whose company I adore. I very much enjoy where I'm living and I want it to continue.

So, there is so much to give thanks for this year; one year down the road. May there be many more years to come. And thanks, Mom, I know you're always there, watching over and guiding me.

I wish all my readers in the USA a Happy, safe Thanksgiving holiday and, to all my blog readers from Indonesia to Ukraine to Tunisia, I am deeply thankful for you all and wish you a season of love, peace and fulfillment. And hot dance tracks! ~~ Dj Buddy Beaverhausen

Dj Buddy B's Holiday Tobogan Ride

With Thanksgiving but a week away, it's time for me to make like disco Santa and distribute my perennially popular "Merry Happy," in time for the holidays, to the coolest bars, lounges and shops in NYC. I put the cd-r on my boom box tonight to have a listen and, damn, if I didn't impress myself! This strictly dj-promo-only 2010 cd-r continuous mix isn't for sale. It includes dance remixes of Charo, Julie Andrews, The Supremes, Dolly Parton, The Carpenters and many more. I know it will rock the season for those exposed to it.

Friends who may be without it may request a free copy by messaging me:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dj-Buddy-Beaverhausen/121433544617989


I hope to pull a brand-new 2012 promo together over this weekend that will include Donna Summer, Andy Williams, Darlene Love, Bananarama, Al Green, Mae West and Joan Crawford! Give people something fresh for the holidays. Hope it souffles. Wish me the best with this endeavor. And, of course, I'll be working my blog's Christmas Countdown once more, after Thanksgiving.

I always say that, once you hit Halloween, you're on a wild tobogan ride down till you hit New Year's Day. Ok, here Dj Buddy Beaverhausen goes down that slippery slope, headed towards the holidays! In the meantime, happy shopping and partying, y'all!