The Weekender & More!

Oh, my, god...SUNSHINE!!! In time for the holiday weekend. Well, there's the chance of rain, but maybe today is a good sign. What's up this holiday weekend? Need some ideas? Scheck it out...

Tonight chill at the cove with the LIC Community Boathouse's Friday Night Chill Paddle.
Meet at Hallet's Cove (just north of Socrates Sculpture Park) at 6:30 for a relaxed skyline tour of the east rivver. The Chill launches as 7 and you'll be back by 9.

If you're looking for a new swimsuit check out Plum Boutique. They've added new designers and have quite the cute swimwear collection.

For a nice treat, enjoy a french meal, brunch or dinner, in Le Sans Souci's backyard garden.

Starting Saturday party it up at PS1's warm up. 10 bucks gets you into the hotttest party in town. From 2-9pm check out the museum and then dance to the tunes spun by some of the hottest DJ's. The party happens in the couryard of the musum. Dance in the middle of the installation of the winner of the Young Architects Competition.
Hot.
Hotter? Get to the museum between 12 and 2 and the admission is gratis.

Weather not cooperating? Spend time inside some of our local museums. There's the aforementioned (like that SAT word?) PS1, and there's AMMI, where you can take in a movie. And let's not forget the Isamu Noguchi Museum. There's also Opolis at the Flux Factory.

As is every weekend, Yoga and Tai Chi at Socrates and free kayak rides at Hallets Cove.

Now, since I am heading out of town for the week (alright!) to two cities that are slightly flooded from the recent rains ('doh!) I've got to fill you in on the up and coming activites.

Obviously we've got to talk fireworks. We've got some of the best views of the Macy's fireworks show. The best spot is Gantry State Plaza in LIC. There are some nasty rumors that the City Lights (those high rise buildings) prohibits non residents from entering a state park. I highly encourage you to check out the fireworks there, and point out to anyone who may prevent you that it is a state park, not a private one. Hopefully that won't happen, but if it does we should tell our councilman.
Another great spot, the queens bound platform at the Queens Boro Plaza station. It's a little loud but you can totally see.
Or try your roof, you could get to know your neighbors that way.

After the show head over to Waltz-Astoria for Tuesday night comedy hosted by Matt Taylor.

Beginning this Wednesday are the Sunset Films at Socrates. Bring your blankie and watch Walkabout from Australia this Wednesday at sunset.

Wednesday Waltz also hosts it's open mic night.

That oughtta keep you busy until I return.

The Weekender

This weekend looks like a washout what with expected thunderstorms. Bummer! After spending such a nice evening in the park this week celebrating Solstice I was looking forward to more of the same. There are some neat outdoor activities I discovered, so let’s hope no one is doing any rain dances until Monday.

One neat way to hide from the rain is at the Flux Factory’s Opolis, its third manifestation of Comix Fluxture. “These exhibits have brought cartoonists and illustrators into the gallery to create comics narratives that also function as installation art. The ongoing objective of the series is to create works of art to be read intimately—as a comic strip—but also contribute to an overall installation spectacle.” The cartoonists have been assigned “city blocks” in Flux’s main space. They then design the buildings and spaces that make up the city. It sounds really neat. The opening reception is Saturday at 7pm and admit is free. The space is open - Fri. 4-7 pm, Sat & Sun 12-5 pm.

If the weather holds out Saturday night enjoy some burgers and a movie about burgers over at the Water Taxi Beach. Gothamist and A Hamburger Today are presenting their first food event here. Tickets are priced at either $9 for 2 burgers or $16 for 4 burgers. That sound like a lot of burgers! And while you much away catch the flick Hamburger America at dusk.

If you’d rather stay indoors Saturday night at 9pm head over to Waltz for their Talk Wine series. $25 gets you in to sample the various wines and complimentary goodies. Make some new friends while bonding over a glass of vino. I have got to get myself over to one of these! I’m just a little shy around strangers, so if I have to talk about the wine I get a little antsy. Anyone want to come with me? John is of the same mindset which is why we bailed at the last minute the last time we planned on going. Anyone, anyone Bueller?

Sunday has more great outdoor fun, provided the weather holds up. First up is LIC bar’s summer long Rock N’ Roll BBQ! Awesomeness. The fun and food starts at 4, band starts at 4:30 and it goes til 8. Bonus, our fave local Chef Jonathan Forgash will be handling the food. Oh Yeah! (unfortunately the website is in need of an update)

After the BBQ Hell Gate Social presents Hell on Reels, Astoria’s own Moving Picture Festival. Check out the unique short format moving image works, including documentary, narrative, music video, animation, design and experimental films. The outdoor screening starts at 8:30 and doors open at 7:30.

Should the weather not hold up and well, outdoor movies wouldn’t prove quite as fun, head over to the Irish Rover at 7 for their weekly pub quiz. Test your knowledge and possibly make some new friends and some dough. Or at least have a pint and a laugh.

Make it a good one!

Sunset Movies at Socrates

While I was at the Solstice Celebration last night, I picked up a flyer with the park's outdoor cinema selections for the summer. If you don't know what it is, every Wednesday through the summer the park, in conjunction with AMMI, screens a movie at sunset. It's an international selection of movies with events prior to, and food as well, from the country of the movie's origin. For the 8/2 American film selection, Jonathan Forgash of Film Chefs will be back with the truck to delight our palattes and make our mouths water.
So check it out and plot out an evening to grab a blankie and a buddy and pull up some grass and grub. Look for me on my Neet Sheat with waaay too many people. I'll definitely be there for Motorcycle Diaries.

July 5th-Walkabout-Australia
July 12th-Wild Strawberries-Sweden
July 19th-Motorcycle Diaries-Brazil
July 26th-Latcho Drom-Romania
August 2nd-The Straight Story-US
August 9th-Stolen Children-Italy
August 16th-Kikujiro-Japan
August 23rd-Balseros-Cuba

Here's the link.

short short film

Astoria resident Eric Trenkamp dares to ask,
"Want to make the world a better place for democracy? Or just want to see something better on t.v. than anorexic rich sluts who can't tell time (that's right, Paris, Lindsay, Barbie, Pam, and Betty Rubble. Your 15 minutes is up). Or maybe you just want to help a swell guy who wants to get his short film on t.v. so he can call his poor Mama in Cleveland and say, 'see Ma, dreams do come true. On basic cable.' "
If you want to help out a fellow astorian, head over to the IFC Media Lab and check out Eric's short short film. Rate the film and if his ratings are high enough it will be shown on IFC.

Summer Solstice Celebration

Oh my how summer is in full swing. And how better to ring it in than at the Summer Solstice Celebration at Socrates Sculpture Park. Spend the longest day of the year partaking in all the good fun. Set against the backdrop of the river and among the latest art installation, Interstate-The American Roadtrip it’s sure to be a great time. There is so much going on I had to make this its own post.
Music provided by DJ Jonny Fego to dance to while you check out eco friendly art making workshops sponsored by The Queens Museum, The Noguchi Museum, Materials for the Arts, Recycle A Bicycle and Socrates Sculpture Park. Special performances by BMX Stunt Rider Jeff McIntyre. Face painting for the little kiddies, and the big kiddies, by Agostino Arts. The best part? Jonathan of Film Chefs is on hand to cater and I got my hands on the menu. To drool for:
Pulled pork hero with Carolina bbq sauce (mustard based) $5
Grilled chicken hero with Buffalo wing sauce $5
Maryland tuna salad hero $5
Hot dogs $4
Buttered corn $3
Goat cheese & fresh berry mesclun salad $7
Fruit salad $3
Cupcakes & brownies $2
chips
Home made: Iced tea, Iced coffee, Lemonadebottled water
Prices and menu subject to change.
So come on down, get your face painted (I may see if I could get my hand done) grab what is sure to be a super fab sammich, check out the exhibit, pull up a piece of park and enjoy the grub the sounds and the start of summer.
Oh yeah!
Event is 6/21 from 5-9pm

Help Keep Astoria SAFE

Over the weekend of June 10-11, one publicized hate crime occurred in the East Village. Two other, less publicized incidents occurred in Astoria. In one incident, a man was attacked outside the 36th Avenue subway station, both physically and with slurs, and bones in his face were broken. In a separate incident, three neighbors were attacked by about eight other men at 34th and Broadway. After a physical altercation involving slurs about race and sexuality, the men then chased them with a baseball bat. One man was refused entrance at the St. James Deli at 34th Street and 34th Avenue and later had to be hospitalized for the injuries he sustained. (NOTE: See http://astorians.com/index.php?topic=2336.0 for the discussion about the 34th Street incident.)While the police are treating these as hate crimes, we as a community need to join together to make sure that these incidents remain isolated and do not become a trend. This is an issue that affects everyone, regardless of race, gender, or orientation. We all want our neighborhood to be safe and comfortable for all.

What Can You Do?
1. Create an account on http://www.astorians.com. Under "Community Groups & Social Networking", you should see a thread (or possibly soon a board) concerning these issues and the community response. Read, discuss, get involved, stay aware as things develop.
2. Call Cesar, the community affairs officer for the 114th Precinct, at 718-626-9327. Tell him that you want this issue to be on the agenda for the precinct community council meeting on June 27.
3. Attend the precinct community council meeting on June 27 at 7 p.m. at Ricardo's By the Bridge (21st St and 24th Ave). While the police response to the incidents has been attentive (under pressure from some political groups), a more proactive response is needed from the 114th Precinct to prevent further incidents.
4. Make sure that your voting address matches your current Astoria address.
5. Call 311 when you see quality of life issues in the neighborhood. Overflowing trash, merchants ignoring problems, graffiti, fights. Mayor Bloomberg does respond to clusters of repeated 311 calls, and more calls will mean more resources. Often these issues will lead to more serious quality of life issues.
6. Stay tuned to astorians.com for an upcoming flyering campaign to raise awareness. Once it begins, print out the flyers and talk to your building management or any businesses that you frequent about posting them. We want residents to be aware, and we want businesses to advertise being part of the solution.
7. Boycott the St. James Deli at 34th St. and 34th Ave., who have been unresponsive to inquiries about the incident. Some neighbors are looking to reignite the old Safe Havens program to identify local businesses that are willing to provide shelter to neighbors in distress. As this develops, be aware of which businesses are involved and demonstrate that you support businesses that support their community. Information should be available at http://www.astorians.com.
9. Forward this email to anyone you know in Astoria.
10. ...AND THEN STAY INVOLVED! Part of the problem is the disconnect that Astoria neighbors feel. Many of us are renters, many of us spend much of our time in Manhattan, and it's easy to ignore the community around us. Get to know other people, talk on the board, come to the meetings, come to the social activities. Building a sense of community and unity in the neighborhood will go a long way towards creating the infrastructure we need to combat future problems.
Doing any one of these things will help - doing all of them will go even farther. Please feel free to distribute this to anyone you know in the neighborhood. Post on blogs, forward to friends.

Thanks to SpecialK for the time and effort putting this together

Msg from local Astoria Musician

Vote for AMANDA DROSTE at Next Big Hit!
Next Big Hit is the largest Independent Music Podcast in the world with over 25,000 listeners internationally every week, and they picked my song, "I Won't Know", for the episode Vol. 121 podcast!
Please take a moment and VOTE HERE Voting ends Sunday Night, June 11th at Midnight (EST).
Every week there is a contest called "Click to Pick the Next Big Hit". If I win, I get played again next week, and I get a photo and link on their front page. Some of you may remember I competed here before and came in 2nd place to an American Idol contestant, Jasmine Trias!
PLEASE Help me get 1st place this time!!
Please take a moment and VOTE HERE Voting ends Sunday Night, June 11th at Midnight (EST).
While you're at the forum, be sure to give me a shout-out on the boards! Also, do check out the whole show. They play 12 great independent acts of all genres, Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, R&B, Electronic and Dance! Support the whole indie scene and take a listen. I bet you find something else you like! You can subscribe to the show at iTunes (it's Free!) or you can download the mp3 of the program HERE.
Thanks so much, I appreciate your continued support!
Amanda Droste

The Weekender

Our neighborhood does not let us down for the summer! So much going on it’s hard to choose. And always such a bummer to find out all this cool stuff, and realize you can’t go, because you have to go to a wedding. Which is what I will be doing tomorrow. Open bar, open bar, open bar...it's my wedding mantra ;-)

Start your Saturday off right with free yoga at Socrates Sculpture Park from 11-12. You can also take Tai Chi on Sunday at the same time. While you are there check out their latest installation, Interstate the American Road Trip.

After that, at 3 pm, you can continue on your artistic escapades by heading over to PS1 for Iron Artist, presented in conjunction with Cabinet magazine. “Inspired by the original Japanese cooking show Iron Chef, Iron Artist is an event that invites the public to witness competitive improvised art making between contemporary artists, critique and commentary of the artwork by local art personalities, and celebrate the final works in the exhibition opening immediately following the competition.” Interactive art, now that’s what I’m talking about. Let the paint fly!
I also recommend John Lurie: Works on Paper “Like pages from a demented children's book in which dark, angry, often sexual adult preoccupations leak through the charmingly juvenile and often richly sensuous surfaces. Many are laugh-out-loud funny” —The New York Times Couldn’t have said it better myself, and so I didn’t try. It is a really neat exhibit. I felt weird laughing out loud in such a quiet space. It’s also large so it kind of echoed!

Saturday the Stanly Kubrick retrospective continues at our favorite neighborhood media museum-AMMI. This weekend’s offerings are: Killer’s Kiss, The Killing and La Ronde. Check the site for the schedule. (also airing Sunday).

Waltz Astoria rounds off the night with a Bluegrass performance by the Klezmer Mountain Duo.

Sunday is just chock full of goodness (and no wedding for me to attend-fingers crossed no hang over to attend to, ha!)

First up, from 11-4 (so you can get your Tai Chi in and not miss this) is a great great event that makes me so sad that my lease prohibits me from really taking advantage. Astoria Park hosts the Mayor’s Alliance/Maddie’s Pet Adoption Festival. Hosted by Animal Haven Shelter, dog and cats, from area shelters and rescue groups, will be up for adoption. There will be a low-cost microchipping clinic ($25 each). A veterinarian, groomer, and trainer will be on hand to answer questions. Awhhhh! I want a dog. I’m quite fond of fuzzy mutts; those, and beagles and basset hounds. I’d get a cat, but that won’t go over well with the roomies.
The event actually takes place in the parking lot at 19th and Hoyt. Go on, rescue one of our furry friends and give him or her a nice loving home. It will do both you and the critter a world of good.

That same afternoon enjoy free Canoe rides in Hallets Cove thanks to our good friends at LIC Community Boathouse. Do the beach some good and help clean up while waiting your turn. Some people don’t care enough to pick up after themselves, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t pitch in and make amends. If you’re not sure where it is, just walk north of Socrates Sculpture park (that would be the opposite direction of Costco, for my directionally challenged readers-who are just like this writer). You’ll know it when you see it. The canoes should give it away. They’ll be there from 1-5.

Ok, so far with good planning you can do Tai Chi, adopt a furbaby and take a canoe ride, and maybe even catch a Kubrick flick, all in one day!

Later Sunday evening, if you aren’t pooped from all the above activities enjoy a sunset bike tour of the proposed Queens East Rive Greenway and learn about the history of the waterfront. Meet at Gantry State Plaza (48th Ave & the river) at 5 PM for the 5 mile tour(…a 5 mile tour…)

Round the night off with a Jazz performance by Susana De and a cup or glass of something lovely at Waltz.
Or go over to the Irish Rover for their pub quiz night. For me though, it’s all about the season premiere of Deadwood.

As if all this wasn’t enough, the World Cup kicks off (pun sorta intended) this weekend-today actually. It breaks my heart that Ireland isn’t in it this time. They know how to throw a football party, that’s for sure. Lots of local joints will be airing the games. Cup and the Beer Garden will be joining in on the fun. And just because Ireland didn’t make it doesn’t mean they won’t be watching it. Try the Rover, Doyle’s Corner or Nua for matches.

Now wasn’t that just fun. Too bad Monday is just around the bend. (but I took the day off, lucky me!)

Up & Coming

Sorry to have missed writing The Weekender last week. I dropped the ball. But after having gotten rejection number 2 from grad school, the only thing on my mind Friday was getting through a bottle of wine. Excuses, excuses. So I’m attempting to find all the nifty things I can for the week and let you know about them now.

This Wednesday from 6-9pm The Chocolate Factory Theatre is hosting their Taste of LIC benefit. $35 gets you: food and drink from Lounge 47, Communitea, Tournesol, Bella Via, Dorian Cafe, The Creek & The Cave, Manetta's Ristorante, LIC Bar and more! Also enjoy a wine tasting from Vine Wine, auctions and raffles, performances and exhibitions! Talk about a cheap date.

If that’s too much for your wallet, you can catch indie songstress Julia Darling doing a free show at Rockwood Music Hall at 9pm. Or you can hit the Taste of LIC first, get your fill, and pop on over to the LES to catch her show. If you’re unfamiliar with her, check out her website, I’ve been fond of her tunes since I saw her at a South Street Seaport Music Festival.

Our good friends at Waltz Astoria are keeping us entertained this week with all sorts of events. Tuesday is their Comedy night. Check out local comedians work their funny at the mic (side note: John and I were spotted on TV when Last Comic Standing aired the first round of try outs-we were in the audience). Wednesday is their open mic, and Thursday is their “Let’s Watch a Movie” night. As of now, the selection had not been posted. I’m really bummed that I didn’t get to check their calendar for this weekend and I missed another Jewelry party. Then again I would have missed it anyway since I ventured out to Brooklyn to celebrate Christina’s graduation from law school. John rediscovered the wonders of roasted pig-his first taste having been at the Puerto Rican (that’s right!) food stand at last week’s street fair on Broadway.

Also around town things are in full swing for the summer. The River to River festival has already kicked off. Check the website for full details.

Next week Bryant Park gets the big screen ready for their Monday night Movies in the Park. Always packed, but always a good time. Pull up a patch of grass and enjoy a flick. Click here for the full schedule.

This weekend will be quite the busy one for me what with the wedding I must attend on Saturday but I will get the Weekender out for you so that you aren’t sitting at home wondering what there is to do in Astoria because I didn’t get my tushie to the computer.