Keep your happy white family happy

When I first read about Toygaroo — the “Netfilx of toys” — I was really hoping it was a rental library of like, German tile games. It’s not, which is unfortunate for me, BUT if you’re a Brooklynite with kids, Toygaroo may be just the ticket to a fat wallet and a happy child. Maybe? Certainly, it has the potential to be super space-saving. The premise is Netflix-simple: you subscribe to a plan (4 toys, 6 toys or 8 toys, to be delivered in bundles either every month or every other month). When your kids get bored with their haul, you FedEx ‘em back using the pre-paid label, and the elves at Toygaroo send off the next batch in your queue.

A huge portion of the website is dedicated to assuring you that the toys have “No Yuck Factor,” which is Toygaroo-ese for “these toys have been cleaned really, really thoroughly between uses via steam, bleach, manual inspection and shrink-wrap”. As the site points out, that’s probably at least as clean or cleaner than the toys you buy new, which makes me feel worse about store-bought toys (kids! ew!) rather than better about Toygaroo toys.

The prices range from $25 for four toys every other month to $53 for eight toys a month, assuming it won’t traumatize your kids to give their loot back (but they get more! Also, this is maybe an important life lesson? And if your kid really falls in love, you can buy the toy in question directly from Toygaroo at a “discounted price”).

The only caveat is that, at least for the moment, the toy selection seems pretty limited, especially for school-aged kids — heavy on the Mr. Potato Heads and aggressively educational digitized “games” (will it be the “Learning Laptop” this month, or the “Phonetic Pals”?) and light on … well, things 6-year-old me would want to play with. The options for younger kids seem more promising, but again, it’s not particularly inspired: a plastic dump truck, a doctors-office-style “Classic Bead Maze,” rainbow blocks. Still, there’s enough appealing stuff to keep kids entertained, at least for a few months.

So parents, we ask: will Santa be bringing Toygaroo subscriptions down the chimney (up the fire escape?) this Christmas?

Already looking forward to the summer.

McCarren just became the first of the five Brooklyn park set to receive free wifi, thanks to tech ninjas who installed the routers quietly over the weekend. While Brooklynites all sat around, none the wiser, stealing wireless from the downstairs neighbor as usual, I donned my sturdiest flannel, braved the cold wind and set out to test drive the new signal before others discovered it and starting hogging my bandwidth. Sure, they installed it just in time for the part of the year when the parks won’t exactly be crowded all day, and the service is only free for a bit before you have to pay [Updated below]. But does it work well enough to make it worth lugging your laptop and travel coffee mug down to the park? 

Loading Pages: Far superior to my home wireless or any I’ve used in Brooklyn cafes or restaurants, the wireless can be found under “attwifi” and showed five bars of connectivity, which it delivered. It worked quickly to load pages and refresh feeds on my mobile device (iPhone) and computer (Macbook… why does Apple own my life?). Brokelyn, Facebook, and Google load and reload rapidly.

Twitter: It’s fantastically fast. Just don’t show your excitement through excessive caps Tweets, because we will un-follow you. The shame!

Netflix: Streaming a movie or TV episodes on Netflix is lightning quick on this network. One second I was perusing the less-than-appealing options, the next I was happily watching Meet Joe Black. I didn’t even see the loading circle I’ve become so well-acquainted with in past months!

Be warned: If it’s even remotely sunny, there will be glare on your laptop. Glare guard it up or just squint; for free wifi, it’s worth it. If it wasn’t soon to be unacceptably cold outside, I’d relocate my work station to a McCarren bench (freelance outdoor chic, I’ll call it). I’m hopeful that wind, rain and snow storms won’t knock out the service as we venture further into the deep freeze of winter.

UPDATE 10/12: A spokesperson for AT&T says the service will in fact be free for the length of your time in one of the parks: “The wifi is free for however long they want,” spokesperson Flavia Draganus said. “At the parks AT&T have chosen (including these) users (with any provider) have free wi-fi throughout their time at the park.”

Screenshot from McCarren.

Follow Meredith: @MereOfTheOlsons.

Not feelin' the Flix any more? You have options

Did today’s rage at Facebook’s changes make you temporarily forget your rage at Netflix’s way bigger changes? Let us refresh your memory because, between upping prices, removing instant-access Party Down from our lives and adding a silly sounding new service, you’re probably wondering what to do. The good nerds over at Wired have got your back with this complete rundown of eight Netflix alternatives, from iTunes and RedBox to Hulu and Vudu. Wired’s Mike Isaac runs down the prices, selection, pros (“wired”), cons (“tired”) and ranks each one. Handy, right?

Homage by Rommel Alama.

Are you mad as hell about the Netflix 60 percent price increase?

Maybe you’ve up and canceled your subscription — or maybe you think that 15.99 a month is still actually a good deal for unlimited movie streaming and DVDs (one at a time). Here’s what’s not a good deal: hanging onto old DVDs that you own but will never watch again. This Wednesday night (July 20), from 7 to 9, haul those pre-loved DVDs to our first-ever Notflix DVD swap at Mission Dolores.

Ground rules: real movies and TV shows only. Nothing bootlegged. Not your film class senior project, not your wedding video, not your old AOL startup discs and no VCR tapes. Desirable indies, blockbusters, romcoms, scifi, foreign, other good stuff all welcome. Bring up to 10 discs; walk away with as many as you bring, and stay for a drink or two — Mission Dolores is extending happy hour prices for the event. The popcorn is on us.

Prospect Park hipsters, 1910: Those knickers were considered incredibly tight at the time.

We laughed when Watson wrote “What is Toronto?” in final jeopardy last month, but we should have wept. Robots can do enough already – trivia is our thing! So let’s get it together and hit Watson where he’s weakest: we’ll take American cities for everything, Alex. From Coney Island to Greenpoint, Brooklyn stinks of history, and it’s our responsibility to get out there and smell it. Luckily, Brooklyn has tons of free resources for people who take their learning like their subway trips: cheap, efficient and victorious. Don’t just be in Brooklyn: become part of it by learning your neighborhood, and help us beat back the evil tide of the singularity.

PODCASTS
Until computers learn how to use our mobile devices to melt brains, we have podcasts, and there are some great free ones out there for Brooklyn.

Where did this arch come from anyway? Check the Bowery Boys for the answer.

The Bowery Boys: Bowery Boys is the preeminent New York City history podcast. While it covers the whole city, there’s a lot to be gained from the podcast on Robert Moses, in addition to more obvious discussions on the development of Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island and the Green-Wood cemetery. The Bowery Boys website supplements the podcasts with images, links and additional discussion. Random fun fact we learned: the area called Bushwick today was once known as “Cripple Bush” due to the prevalence of craggy, impassable brush.

WNET’s The City Concealed: The City Concealed currently offers 16 video podcasts about under-appreciated and historically significant places across all five boroughs. Brooklyn episodes take viewers inside the Park Slope Armory, the Brooklyn Navy Yards, the Greenwood Cemetery and Newtown Creek. Fun fact we learned: The Park Slope Armory was in use by armed forces up until the Gulf War.

MuseumCast: The New York Transit Museum: MuseumCast offers a series of quick-hitting podcasts about New York’s most important stations, including Borough Hall and Atlantic Avenue. Did you know Atlantic Terminal was one of the first four stations in Brooklyn when it opened in 1904? We do now, thanks to MuseumCast. 

NEIGHBORHOOD KNOWLEDGE
Until the machines put tolls on our sidewalks (coming soon no doubt), the out of doors is totally free. so get out there, listen and learn!

The Brooklyn Historical Society: The BHS offers short, free audio supplements for two historically rich Brooklyn neighborhoods: Fort Greene/Clinton Hill and Park Slope. These are available on iTunes, and they offer some pretty incredible stories about the people, places, monuments and businesses which make these neighborhoods what they are. More audio tours are on the way. You can hear about the history of BAM — the oldest performing arts center in the country — or when Pratt was embroiled in controversy after being accused of subversive activities, with musical intros by Black Star, Mos Def, Erykah Badu and Biggie.

Broadcastr: Broadcastr (which just launched its free beta version this past week) lets users upload and listen to stories organized on a map (right now you can tune in to stories from comedian Michael Showalter describing different Brooklyn neighborhoods). The plan is for restaurant reviews, reflections on the Brooklyn Flea, advice on jogging routes and personal anecdotes to combine and offer a compelling — and ever-changing — picture of Brooklyn life. When the mobile apps become available, users can listen to audio stories (including oral history clips from BHS’s archive) from their GPS location, like, as Broadcastr calls it, “a museum tour of the entire world.”

Do the Right Thing and bone up on your BK history

NETFLIX
Netflix doesn’t have a lot in the way of edifying Brooklyn documentaries available on instant, but they do have one very solid entry (forthcoming pun fully intended): The Brooklyn Bridge, directed by PBS favorite Ken Burns. Also, for trivia purposes it’s worth nothing that (in addition to Brooklyn bars) Netflix offers a number of iconic films set in Brooklyn available on instant, including: Dog Day Afternoon (1975); The Warriors (1979); 9 1/2 Weeks (1986); Do the Right Thing (1989); and Andrew Bujalski’s Mutual Appreciation (2005).

NOW, USE THAT BRAIN
And after you’ve amassed all possible knowledge about Brooklyn, you must then compete against other humans to find the one who will lead us in our fight against the machines. The Brooklyn Historical Society’s semi-regular “Trivial and Convivial” event, which next occurs on March 10. It has a $10 cover, but the competition is intense, all questions are Brooklyn-centric, and the prizes go beyond the standard $15 bar tab (including brewery tours, Brooklyn Brewery merchandise, neighborhood guides and more). Go, compete and find the One; but please, not this The One.

Is it raining? Or does someone just have to pee?

This is the weekend when the movie industry re-reads its status messages and hits its own “like” button over and over again: The Oscars! If you fell behind on your screeners, it’s not be too late to catch up (or at least, prepare for 2011′s films). Brokelyn’s got you covered with a guide to nominees you can watch on Netflix, plus a roundup of matinee deals and cheapest theaters in Brooklyn, to get the big-theater experience without the big cost. If you really lurve movies, find out how to get close up on set as a movie extra. Or you can catch up on the classics with free bar movies all year long. And if all this doesn’t quite inspire you to brave the rains, remember: those free outdoor summer movies from last summer will be back this year, just a mere four months away!

Be ready for all the inside-industry zingers Jannes Francathaway will throw at you.

Every year, February provides us with a special opportunity to worship two very different Gods: one is a strange sort of rodent-priest, and the other is an anatomically ambiguous statuette: Oscar. Like Punxsatawny Phil, Oscar is a frivolous God, but in order to know when he has Titanicked us, we need to watch some movies. But how, when tickets are expensive and time, like Tom Cruise, is short? The answer, of course, is Netflix – and whether you want to catch up with the actual nominees or see the films that paved their way, Brokelyn’s guide has you covered.

Along with information about which movies are available on disc and which on demand, we’ve compiled a complementary set of Oscar-nominated films from previous years – all of which are available for instant viewing and thus at no cost if you (or your roommate) has a Netflix account. Enjoy!

AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX

The Social Network
Netflix status: Available on DVD
Also, try: Network (Nominated for ten Academy Awards in 1977)

Inception
Netflix status: Available on DVD
Also, try: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Best Original Screenplay, 2004)

The Kids Are All Right
Netflix status: Available on DVD
Also, try: Hannah and Her Sisters (Best Picture Nominee, 1986)

Toy Story 3
Netflix status: Available on DVD
Also, try: The Iron Giant; or Up (Best Picture Nominee, 2010)

Winter’s Bone
Netflix status: Available on DVD
Also, try: Bubble (Nominated for Best Director at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards – “the hipster’s Oscars”).

UNAVAILABLE, SO…

The King’s Speech
Instead, try: Henry V (Nominated for three Academy Awards in 1989). Kenneth Branagh also had to deal with the looming presence of an iconic speech in his adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, and through sheer force of ego he managed to pull it off.

The rooster abides.

True Grit
Instead, try: Stagecoach (nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1940). John Ford’s classic helped solidify, if not establish, almost all of our ideas about what a Western should be, and it was also the movie that made John Wayne – the original Rooster Cogburn – a star.

The Fighter
Instead, try: On the Waterfront (Nominated for ten Academy Awards in 1955). You know what’s realer than Boston? Hoboken. And do you know what’s sexier than Mark Wahlberg and more intimidating than Batman (or vice versa)? Marlon Brando.

Black Swan
Netflix status: Unavailable
Instead, try: The Red Shoes (Best Picture Nominee, 1949), or An American Werewolf in London (Best Makeup, 1982), or The Swan Princess (cruelly shut out in 1994). If you were awed by the overwhelming style of Black Swan, trust in Martin Scorsese and check out The Red Shoes. If, on the other hand, you love to be freaked out, try An American Werewolf in London. And if you hate self-destruction but love childhood and Swan Lake, The Swan Princess is also available.

127 Hours
Netflix status: Unavailable
Instead, try: Touching the Void (Nominated for a Best British Film BAFTA in 2004). In both films people, are bound to things they should not be bound to, and in the end a personal triumph is achieved, but at great cost. For a good time call: someone else.

OTHER NOMINEES TO WATCH INSTANTLY

While none of the 2011 Best Picture nominees are available to watch instantly, several notable movies nominated in other categories are, including…

I Am Love (Nominated for Best Costume Design)
Exit through the Gift Shop (Nominated for Best Documentary)
Restrepo (Nominated for Best Documentary)
Dogtooth (Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film)
Alice in Wonderland (Nominated for Best Visual Effects; Best Costume Design; Best Art Direction)