"So, I’m great in the sack," boasted Park Slope born-and-bred author Ned Vizzini to a capacity crowd at the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg last month. Comments (3)

Smith Street doesn’t need another restaurant. The block already has more bistros than one can find in a small city. However, a restaurant that functions as a comfortable, attractive room with an upscale diner menu is a novelty on this block. Comment

The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, whose realistic dramas moved away from the romanticism popular in the 19th century, is often called the father of modern theater. Now that we are firmly entrenched in post-modern theater, his plays seem a lot less startling than they did in the late 1800s. Comment

Bouabid Gassimi (pictured at right with co-owner Jeff Jdia), the original owner of the tucked away, hole-in-the-wall, La Maison du Couscous in Bay Ridge, has left that restaurant (now under new management at 484 77th St.) and opened another cafe in the neighborhood, Les Babouches. Comment

This Saturday, Nov. 6, the Prospect Park Alliance will pay tribute to New York Mets captain John Franco at its gala fundraiser The Carousel Ball. Comment

On Nov. 6 the Brooklyn Museum will host another free evening of art and live performance. This week’s "First Saturday" lineup includes performances by Flamenco Latino (pictured) at 6 pm and 7 pm. Comment

Although "Bye Bye Birdie" is considered part of the "Golden Age" of musicals, and it is produced endlessly in youth theaters around the country, it has never been revived on Broadway. That is all the more amazing considering the show introduced some of our most beloved popular songs - "Put on a Happy Face," "A Lotta Livin’ to Do" and "Kids!" Comment

The final weekend of the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition’s exhibit of artwork, the "Solo Show," ends with an opportunity to get original art at a great price at a Nov. 7 silent auction. Comment

In addition to performances by Tony Award-winner Leslie Uggams this month and music legend Bobby Vinton in March, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts’ golden anniversary season will be made even more memorable by the dramatic renovations to its home, the Walt Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College. Comment

The MF Adams Gallery opened in its new home at 111 Front St. in DUMBO on Oct. 15 with "American Vernacular," a two-part exhibition featuring "Paintings in American Verse" by Alexander Echo and "Snapshots from the American Dream," which are found photographs from the gallery’s collection. Comment

Atlantic Yards: The most prominent activist group to protest plans for Bruce Ratner’s proposed Atlantic Yards development, Develop-Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, is holding a fundraiser on Saturday, Nov. 6. Comment

In the glossy-brochure world of real estate investment, where untouched architectural details of brownstones are of greater value than the tenants who rent them, it’s easy for dusty, low-end corner stores, or “bodegas,” like Peralta Supermarket in Prospect Heights, to get swept out. Comment

Atlantic Yards: While Bruce Ratner continues to lobby New York city and state officials and community members to support the plan to build a 19,000-seat Brooklyn arena for his New Jersey Nets, city officials in Newark are lauding the successful procurement of funds and municipal approval to build an arena for the New Jersey Devils hockey team. Comment

Atlantic Yards: Despite boasts by Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner that he has purchased an overwhelming majority of the private property needed to build a basketball arena and office and apartment towers in Prospect Heights, The Brooklyn Papers has learned that several of the largest property owners there have not yet agreed to sell. Comment

Atlantic Yards: Members of Community Board 2 are set for a fight at the board’s monthly meeting this Wednesday over the issue of board participation in negotiations for a community benefits agreement with Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner. Comment