Labor Day(ish) Parties
It doesn’t get more colorful than the 41st Annual West Indian-American Labor Day Parade, the Crown Heights festival that promises more than 70 floats, millions of revelers and, most importantly, tons of delicious Caribbean food. site>>

No backyard? You can still have a Labor Day BBQ at Williamsburg’s Art Land with grilled grub (free with drink purchase), soul-spinning DJs and drink specials. site>>

‘Tis been a good summer for The Yard’s “Sunday Best” series, and this week they close out with local neo-disco DJs Metro Area, plus resident DJs Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin and Doug Singer. site>>

Later that night, Black Betty hosts its Sunday samba shakedown, Brazilian Beat Brooklyn, only this time you won’t have to worry about work the next morning. site>>

Ra-Ra Music
BAM kicks off the West Indian Day festivities with a screening of “The Other Side of the Water,” about the Haitian-American musicians who perform at the southern end of Prospect Park every summer Sunday. One of our favorite bloggers, Anne Pope of Sustainable Flatbush, did the sound design and final mix. site>>

As we sent this out, there were still tickets left for Saturday’s Sonic Youth show, THE LAST McCARREN POOL CONCERT EVER (as far as we know). site>>

Homebrewed
Greenpoint bar The Diamond is offering up to 10 pairs of homebrewers and chefs the chance to show off their concoctions at the fantastically titled “Whose Homebrew and Snacks Kick the Most Ass?” Fifty tickets are available to both an afternoon and evening tasting session on September 28; at the end of each, you’ll get to vote for your favorite pairing. Grand prize: a trip to Stoudt Brewery’s Oktoberfest, in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. Got a batch brewing at home? The Diamond’s currently accepting three more entries. Just want to taste the goods? A $20 donation to East New York Farms, made at the bar, nets you a ticket. site>>

From Black Rock to Denver
Burning Dems (burningdems.wordpress.com) is a brilliant blog conceit: two Brooklynites go west for the week to cover the Democratic National Convention and Burning Man, and draw comparisons between these two spectacles of American culture.

NoFo Field Trip
The second annual North Fork Foodie Tour returns next Sunday Sept. 7, and to enjoy a day of organic farmstand ogling, oyster-shucking, and dairy-ing, you should set the wheels in motion now. site>>

In the Shadow of No Tower
Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel “In the Shadow of No Towers” gets a grand re-imagining next Thursday, Sept. 11, at Issue Project Room, where Eric Bogosian and musicians like Elliot Sharp will score an animated film based on the book with live music and spoken word. Reserve early. site>>

Stand up, Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn!
Brooklyn’s most notable poet, Walt Whitman, gets a musical tribute from the Opera Project’s Caroline Worra tonight in Fort Greene Park. site>>

Sent by Keith, Nicole, and Nina.
“Other Side of the Water” photo by Josh Farley. Homebrew photo via Reid2008 on Flickr.