Kids everywhere are tasting the return of education next week and not liking it one bit. But maybe a little Sunday school will sweeten the deal? This Sunday, Sept. 5, is the first of three September Read & Eat Sundays at Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint. To kick off the free series (with tastings) this weekend, Brooklyn food writer and chef Cathy Erway will share her favorite end-of summer recipes with produce picked right there on the rooftop. Then the series continues on Sept. 19 with Anna Lappe (whose adult-sized samples of locally-grown infant food have us more than slightly curious) and finishes on Sept. 26 with professor and NY-food expert Annie Hauwk-Lawson. 
September Sunday school for the stomach
This weekend: MJ b’day bash, Floyd from The Machine, Pool Parties’ last dip
FRIDAY
8pm: Talk dirty to me: get tips and hints for keeping us your partner hot in the bedroom. bonus: free lube samples! Babeland (Park Slope), free.
9pm: The Machine (honing their Pink Floyd skills for 20+ years) perform a mix of Floyd standards @ Brooklyn Bowl, $15
5pm-3am (thru Saturday): Puppets Jazz Bar (South Park Slope) is facing the possibility they may have to close their doors. help to keep them open at this two-day fundraiser. no cover, pay what you can.
Water-balloon dodgeball for a worthy cause
Photo from FunnyChill.com
You’re only a little more than halfway through the workweek and feeling full-on postal. We understand. So we’re telling you this because, frankly, we’re tired of reading about Steven the JetBlue flight attendant and Jenny the HOPA girl. Take out your frustration Saturday, at Greenpoint Open Studios‘ dodgeball-style water-balloon-fight fundraiser for their big event (Oct. 1-3). It’s $10 to play, which gets you hurling water balloons for a good cause and a sweet raffle ticket to boot. If you’re on the winning team and your number’s drawn, you’ll win half the entire amount raised.
Gypsy Fest off; free camping instead
Gypsy camping on an abandoned airport: Scooby Doo plot or your weekend?
So Gypsy Fest was canceled, due to not having a “vending license” or some such legal whatever the organizers didn’t get. But if the fest piqued your interest, you get a consolation prize: free camping! Camping in Floyd Bennett Field is usually $30 a night, but, since organizers did pay for that permit, you can top the Frugal Traveler and sleep out under the stars for free. Just be prepared to share the space with a few dozen bummed festival-goers.
[CANCELED] Get gypped! Find new old music at Tabor fest
Returning performer The Kreptatka Bar Band. Photo by NightLife Baby
UPDATE 8:10 p.m.: Anna reports the organizers have CANCELED the festival due to “circumstances beyond our control.” We’ll post more information as it becomes available. -Ed.
Back before “Bohemian” was code-word for “hippie”, it was a misapplied code word for “gypsy.” This weekend’s Gypsy Tabor Festival, presented by Mehanata bar, celebrates the older meaning of the word, and with a nice beach-front breeze to boot. You can expect to find belly dancing, flute-making workshops, drum circles, movies and a ton of music, and you can expect to pay zero dollars for this free outdoor festival. And you just might see a certain Brokelynite fire dancer in action.
This weekend: Free BBQ, free cupcakes, free music, cheap pie
FRIDAY
5-7pm (every fri-sat in august): Yay for free barbeque! the Bell House has a new patio, serves up free burgers + hotdogs. plus: $3 Newcastles and vodka lemonades all night. (via email)
8pm: Rooftop Films: doc. The Last Train Home follows one family during the largest human migration in the world, when 130 million people left China’s industrial cities to return to their homelands. followed by filmmaker Q + A. Old American Can Factory, $10.
This weekend: Peepshows, Sharon Jones, yacht rock and finding a roommate
FRIDAY
7pm: Experimental organist Marco Benevento performs an original score to Roger Corman’s 1960 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s House of Usher (starring Vincent Price). White Magic sets the tone. Prospect Park bandshell, $3 suggested donation.
8pm: The Playboys of the Western World and White Wedding play your fave yacht rock, classic rock, and ’80s tunes @ Brooklyn Bowl, $5.
8pm: Peek-a-boo! CUNY prof. Amy Herzog gives an illustrated lecture on peepshows and the evolution of Times Square 1965-1975. Observatory, $5.
Help make the Cyclone’s macho mascot
NY's Brewster McCall, a Mr. Cyclone semi-finalist
There must be something about the Cyclone that screams out “let’s have a contest.” Is it just the historic ride’s hard-working PR department? Or something about Coney Island’s old-timey, freak-show-wholesome appeal that naturally lends itself to public display? Whichever, we’re smack in the midst of another rollercoaster-runoff: this year’s Mr. Cyclone Contest. There are 21 semi-finalists left (14 Brooklynites), all hoping to become the ride’s next macho mascot. Vote for your favorites online to narrow the field to seven for this Saturday’s live finals.
This weekend: Cheap cheesecake, Celebrate-BK headliners, Animation Block Party
FRIDAY
Junior’s Cheesecake celebrates 60 years with 60-cent slices of heaven (reg $5.99)
7:30pm: The Swell Season (you remember them from Once) bring their folk-rock stylings to Prospect Park’s Bandshell, $3 sugg donation.
8pm (thru sun): BAM and Rooftop Films present the “Animation Block Party,” showcasing foreign and domestic independent, professional, student animation and shorts. Bonus: after party at Bar Matchless with free beer + rum! 50 Beford Ave. $9-11.
Mini Zine Fest highlights DIY publishing
Lean mean zine machine
Zines, it zeems, are having a comeback these days. Maybe because all the flannel and lo-fi guitars around town make us wistful for the 90s. Maybe Brooklyn is home to too many underemployed writers with lots of time on their hands (ahem). But probably it’s because we all love DIY so much, from wine-making to condom popsicles, that we never let a crappy job market keep us from putting work out there anyway. So what’s all the fuss about? Find out for yourself at Pete’s Candy Store on Saturday at the free Mini Zine Fest, a showcase of more than 20 zinesters, including graphic artists, photogs and bookmakers. We could spend this whole post telling you why you should care about these low-rent Henry Luces, but we’d rather show you:
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