Food reclaimed from the trash, from Alex Mallis's film Spoils.
Last month we featured an article on foraging in Prospect Park for food (read: living like a rabbit) that casually besmirched Dumpster diving as an inferior means of procuring free eats. If trying to determine which berries and fungi in the wild won’t seriously disrupt your digestive system or poison you is a little too much work (hey, it worked for the guy from Into the Wild, right?), then maybe selecting the edible parts of pre-screened throwaways may be the way to go.
Dumpster diving is nothing new, particularly for fans of counter-culture literature from the 60’s and 70’s. Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman endorses it among other survival skills for “Amerika,” but filmmaker and inveterate Dumpster diver Alex Mallis has repackaged diving as a different sort of political act in his new film, Spoils: Extraordinary Harvest. Read the rest of this entry »
When is it worth braving the full-contact shopping?
We all know Trader Joe’s houses a bounty of economical delights and a helpful army of Hawaiian-shirted staffers… but, guh, the fustercluck of a crowd, always, during most of the store’s hours. And oy, for many of us, the schlepping. So here’s what’s worth dragging your cart on the subway and getting mauled by urban assault strollers for, and what’s better bought at your corner bodega. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you one of the people expected to line up at Trader Joe’s at Court Street and Atlantic Avenue today for a job application? Don’t wear a business suit, make sure you’ve got a brand-appropriate hobby like ice-kayaking and know your portobello ravioli from your dried mango with chili. So says a Trader Joe’s Mole, who supplied us with inside info on what the store will be looking for in new hires and how it’s all going to go down. All you, Mole:
The store will be accepting the first 70 applicants both today, from 5 to 7, and tomorrow, from 3 to 5. What they will probably do is take your completed application, bring the 70 people upstairs and briefly screen each one. Then they’ll review everyone and call certain people back for follow up interviews. No one at the store is sure how many people they’re looking to hire right now (one of the bosses said “it depends on how busy we are”) but there’s no one on the crew doubts that we could use lots of extra hands right now, what with a wave of departures recently and our new 10 p.m. closing time. None of the interview questions are stumpers: They’ll ask you about your past work experiences and what you favorite products are at Trader Joe’s, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
Brooklyn Trader Joe's, photo by Pete Jelliffe.
We don’t have tons of info on this, but we heard on Twitter (from TraderJoesBK) that Trader Joe’s at Court Street and Atlantic Avenue is accepting applications from 5 to 7 today and 3 to 5 tomorrow, but only from the first 70 people in line. Whether that means 35 applications today and 35 more tomorrow, or 70 each day, we’re not sure. But the thing here is that if you’re interested (hello 10 percent discount and HEALTH INSURANCE FOR PART-TIME EMPLOYEES!) show up EARLY and don’t be surprised to see American Apparel-sized lines at the store. Will supply more details as we get them…
This is all Sue can do to contain her rage.
Living and working in New York City since 2000 has made me an angry person. I’ve had a ton of crappy, low-paying jobs, from babysitting children of models, movie stars and poor people, to working in a bakery, to selling skateboards. And, of course, waiting tables, teaching yoga, styling photo shoots, selling textiles, throwing parties, doing admin work for nutty professors, cleaning up vomit in a bowling alley … Don’t make me continue. People in New York will do stuff like come in 20 minutes late to yoga class, change their babies AT A DINNER TABLE FOR DINING, and “forget” to pay you on payday.
I know I’m not alone. So to channel my emotions in a healthier way, I wrote a one-person character show about my work-induced anger problem called Minimum Rage, playing Oct. 20 at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre in Chelsea. If you don’t come, I can’t promise you won’t be the target of our collective rage behind your back. But you can start commiserating by reading stories of the crazy crap my fellow Brokesters have had to hold their tongues on in the name of paying their rent. Add your own in the comments. Read the rest of this entry »
Food reclaimed from the trash, from Alex Mallis's film Spoils.
Last month we featured an article on foraging in Prospect Park for food (read: living like a rabbit) that casually besmirched Dumpster diving as an inferior means of procuring free eats. If trying to determine which berries and fungi in the wild won’t seriously disrupt your digestive system or poison you is a little too much work (hey, it worked for the guy from Into the Wild, right?), then maybe selecting the edible parts of pre-screened throwaways may be the way to go.
Dumpster diving is nothing new, particularly for fans of counter-culture literature from the 60’s and 70’s. Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman endorses it among other survival skills for “Amerika,” but filmmaker and inveterate Dumpster diver Alex Mallis has repackaged diving as a different sort of political act in his new film, Spoils: Extraordinary Harvest. Read the rest of this entry »
When is it worth braving the full-contact shopping?
We all know Trader Joe’s houses a bounty of economical delights and a helpful army of Hawaiian-shirted staffers… but, guh, the fustercluck of a crowd, always, during most of the store’s hours. And oy, for many of us, the schlepping. So here’s what’s worth dragging your cart on the subway and getting mauled by urban assault strollers for, and what’s better bought at your corner bodega. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you one of the people expected to line up at Trader Joe’s at Court Street and Atlantic Avenue today for a job application? Don’t wear a business suit, make sure you’ve got a brand-appropriate hobby like ice-kayaking and know your portobello ravioli from your dried mango with chili. So says a Trader Joe’s Mole, who supplied us with inside info on what the store will be looking for in new hires and how it’s all going to go down. All you, Mole:
The store will be accepting the first 70 applicants both today, from 5 to 7, and tomorrow, from 3 to 5. What they will probably do is take your completed application, bring the 70 people upstairs and briefly screen each one. Then they’ll review everyone and call certain people back for follow up interviews. No one at the store is sure how many people they’re looking to hire right now (one of the bosses said “it depends on how busy we are”) but there’s no one on the crew doubts that we could use lots of extra hands right now, what with a wave of departures recently and our new 10 p.m. closing time. None of the interview questions are stumpers: They’ll ask you about your past work experiences and what you favorite products are at Trader Joe’s, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
Brooklyn Trader Joe's, photo by Pete Jelliffe.
We don’t have tons of info on this, but we heard on Twitter (from TraderJoesBK) that Trader Joe’s at Court Street and Atlantic Avenue is accepting applications from 5 to 7 today and 3 to 5 tomorrow, but only from the first 70 people in line. Whether that means 35 applications today and 35 more tomorrow, or 70 each day, we’re not sure. But the thing here is that if you’re interested (hello 10 percent discount and HEALTH INSURANCE FOR PART-TIME EMPLOYEES!) show up EARLY and don’t be surprised to see American Apparel-sized lines at the store. Will supply more details as we get them…
