Friday, October 27, 2006

The Weekender

Shnikeys, where did fall go? What happened to enjoying a few weeks of nice cool, brisk weather? Why is it so damn cold? Where’s global warming when you need it (I jest folks, I jest) I know it could be colder so I must take advantage of this before, well, it snows. Ack! I used the dreaded s word. I just can’t believe the sudden turn, and right before my favorite holiday of the year, Halloween.

Just a heads up about the train this weekend, since lots of you ghouls and goblins will inevitably have something to do in Manhattan. There is NO N train service from QBP to Ditmars in BOTH directions. There will be shuttle buses provided. Also know that the 7 isn’t running past QBP to Manhattan. So that platform is likely to be mobbed by the shuttle bus flow and the 7 train riders. The R is running normal after a few weekends of zipping past local stops. But I’ve got quite a few activities that can possibly make this an All-Astoria Weekend if you’d just rather not deal with it all.

Running through November 12th, Art-O-Mat presents their new exhibit Sacred Spaces: Altars for Dia de los Muertos (in English, that’s Day of the Dead). Tradionally celebrated in Latin American countries the Dia de los Muertos is an important cultural event where families believe that the souls of the dead are all around them, they gather at the local cemeteries to visit and honor their dead. Four local artists, Luisa Gloria, Sylvia Hernandez, Zoe Morsette and Louise Weinberg offer their interpretations of the altars that some families keep in their homes to remember and honor their dead relatives or saints. From personal homages to political statements, this exhibit sounds very interesting.

Friday night the Astoria Performing Arts Center opens it’s production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin. The play is a hilarious and thoughtful take on what a fictitious meeting between Picasso & Einstein might have been like at the start of the 20th Century.
The show runs: October 27, 28 @8pm
October 29 @6pm
November 3, 4, 10, and 11 @8pm
November 5 and 12 @6pm
Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Students and seniors pay only $12.

Friday night is also Fatty's 4th Annual Costume Ball Extravaganza Halloween Party. At 10pm a $15 cover gets you in to enjoy "Ghoulish Giveaways! Freaky Floating Bottles! Phantasmic Prizes! " with DJ Meatman droppin the funky beats.

Saturday Waltz brings us our monthy dose of the Talk Wine Series with Kevin Rose. But I think Kevin won’t be at this one. So this might be more of a wine and treat appreciation night than it is a learning about wine night. Although its more fun to learn while you drink, it’s still plenty fun sampling 7 wines along with fruit, cheeses, chocolates and live music to accompany them. An RSVP to Waltz is a good thing to do, since the series is becoming quite popular and there’s also a $25 participation fee.

Finally, on Sunday maybe we can go back to enjoying the Beer Garden. You know, hipsters hate the cold so maybe they’ll stay on their side of the Newtown Creek and let us enjoy the Beer Garden’s Halloween Party and the book launch of Queens: What to Do, Where to Go (and How Not to Get Lost) in New York's Undiscovered Borough by Ellen Freudenheim.
Come by between 5 and 8pm dressed as your favorite Queens neighborhood; best costume wins a copy of the book. You’ll be able to purchase the guide, have it signed by the author and enjoy a pitcher…hopefully with NO lines.

Friday, October 20, 2006

The Weekender

The Mets, they were so close.
If you need to drown your sorrows over last night's game Waltz Astoria has got a happy hour tonight from 7-9pm with selected Beer & Wine for $3 and a Free Snack Bar. Free snacks are always extra yummy. After 9pm it's game night. No, not sports, board games. Get your Scrabble on.

Saturday is primed to be a nice day. Get in the sunshine and trips to the park while you can. Walk around the neighborhood and see what hidden gems you can uncover. I hope to be able to take my new camera out for a walk.

Sunday has the possibility of a little rain so take advantage of the last weekend you can see the Art-o-Mat exhibit The Long Island City Series: Paintings and Prints by Sharon Florin. You can also drop in later on Sunday for their Poetry Night series.

You can also do the community some good by participating in It’s My Park Day. Stop in to Rainey Park from 11-4pm and help improve the park. Also enjoy puppet shows and art workshops courtesy of the City Parks Foundation.

And if you’ve got a geek itch that you can’t scratch head over to AMMI to see their latest exhibition Star Trek: 40 Years of fandom. They’ll also be screening films by Donald Richie, with himself in person Saturday at 2pm. Other movies will be showing, check their site for more details.

Make it a good one folks!

Friday, October 13, 2006

The Weekender

It's awfully chilly out, but things in Queens are starting to heat up. The Mets are going full steam ahead in the playoffs and they're goin all the way. Some of you are wondering why this Yankee fan is rooting for that other NY team. Well, I gotta tell yas, I may be a Yankee fan now, but I was raised a Mets fan (converted during my rebellious adolescence and never looked back). I like to think of myself as a NY fan. I won't root against the Mets, unless they're playing the Yankees. So congrats to the Mets, go kick some ASS!

Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year, is coming up and Socrates Sculpture Park is getting the ball rolling with the 6th annual Halloween Harvest Festival on Saturday. Swing over from 11-3pm and listen to creepy tunes with DJ Luzmob; have your palm read and your hands painted with henna; enjoy a special artmaking workshop with Materials for the Arts; transform your face with face painting by Agostino Arts; pick a favorite in the Canine Costume Contest; and try harvest foods from a local restaurant.
Tarot and henna by the river, now that's what I'm talking about.

Prior to the festival stop by for some eco learning. Check out what I found below:
Partnerships for Parks is kicking off our support to New York City's current and aspiring waterfront stewards with a Water Quality Testing and Monitoring workshop. Interested in New York City's water quality, the health of the East River, or urban marine life? Join Partnerships for Parks, City Parks Foundation, and the New York City Soil and Water Conservation District in this hands-on workshop. Participants will learn how to:*Catch, sample, and release East River wildlife—flora and fauna; *Test key water quality features including nitrates, phosphates, pH, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen; and *Learn about options for ongoing water quality monitoring, including where to receive resources, training and support.
Start out for the environment, stay for some spooky fun.

If you're looking for a new spot to grab a drink and a dinner, or pub grub, check out Indigo(2850 31st St). Got the chance to check it out with the astorians.com gang last night. It was really nice. I spent most of the time in the backyard, complete with outdoor firelplace and retractable roof (would've been cool to see it in action though). It was so nice in the back most of us forgot we were outdoors until leaves fell on us. They have a small but yummy looking menu. Actually they have two, unfortunately I ordered off the dinner menu w/o realizing there was a bar menu as well-which I much rather would have ordered from, I was in the mood for bad for me food. So in keeping it small and light(I didn't want dinner) I got a crabcake off the appetizer menu thinking that for $10 it would be big. Nope, the plate, though, was huge. It was tasty though, just a bit small. The inside of Indigo was very nice though I spent little time in there.
Go on check it out. This place should stick around.

This is also the last weekend to catch Best of Friends: R. Buckminster and Isamu Noguchi at the Noguchi museum.

Also, this weekend A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints opens in more screens including Kauffman! Whoo hoo, go on go see it now that it's in own backyards.

If you're looking for action tonight, Waltz Astoria brings you some rock n roll from The Limit. And newish lounge Wassi has DJRU spinning tunes from 10-4pm, both tonight and tomorrow.

Saturday I'm definitely going to check out the Halloween Festival, a nice chill early afternoon before I start to get things ready for my birthday party! Oh, yeah.
Enjoy!