The Weekender

I love me some rain. Especially warm spring rain. Most especially when that rain washes away all the icky nasty ice that is still all over the neighborhood. I want to take my cart out for a stroll to the Laundromat and the grocery store-but not if I’m going to get stuck in ice and muck.

Tonight head over to Waltz. If there’s an act you catch there it should be Annie Fitzgerald. She has such a great voice, wonderful melodies and awesome lyrics. Check out her myspace page to sample some tunes. I can be a music snot, and I really like what I heard today. I try not to accept myspace friend requests from bands. If it’s something I like, I’ll just bookmark the page. This here gal I’m friend requesting-I think she’s that good and she’ll be going places. There’s something great about discovering new, great and as of yet unheard of artists. Waltz is just the local spot providing us Astorians with great music. She goes on at 9 and it’s a $5 cover (reasonable) and a $7 minimum purchase (which should be easy to accomplish).


Waltz seems to like it’s the place to be on weekends (oh why aren’t you or something like you closer to Broadway?! Oh yeah-probably too pricey and/or you’re not a trashy euro lounge). This Saturday from noon-7pm head over for their weekly Mini Arts and Flea Market. Stop by to support local craftiness or contact them about selling your own craftiness.

Later that night at 9 they host their monthly Talk Wine Series. 7 reds paired with tasty treats to go with the flavors. Kevin Rose won’t be able to host and do any actual talking but you can still head over and sample all the tasty wines for a participation fee of $25.

If you’d rather get your groove thang on then put on your walking shoes and head over to Hell Gate Social since Astoria’s own DJ Lo-Fi will be spinning the groovy tunes starting at 9:30. Word on the street is he’s throwing in some extra 80’s flavor for those missing it the last time he was there. No cover for this one.

Saturday beware of Ferrari Driving School cars around 3:00 if you live near the movie theatre. I’ll be having my evaluation for driving lessons. I’ve never done anything close to driving a car before in my life. Hell, I can’t even ride a bike. Be afraid, be very afraid. They are actually making me attempt to drive. Anyone want to tell me what’s where in a car?

If your’re feeling artsy fartsy this weekend here’s a sampling of what’s happening at our local art spaces:

PS1-they have multiple new exhibits that have only been up for about 2 weeks.
Not For Sale
Sillicone Valley
Tom Sandberg
Vik Muniz: Reflex
Jonas Mekas: The Beauty of Friends Being Together Quartet
Abbas Kiarostami: Image Maker

Noguchi Museum
Shin Banraisha: A Cultural Memory

Chocolate Factory Theatre
Drifting Awake

AMMI
Screening Mondo Cane as part of the Great Documentaries series.
Also: Climates and Army of Shadows at 2, 4:30 and 6:30 respectively.

The Sculpture Center
Monica Bonvicini: Never Missing A Line


This oughtta keep you occupied. Make it a great weekend. And run if you see me in the drivers side of a car!

PS-LATE BREAKING
Lookie at what I just read about:
TONIGHT (Friday) at Last Resort...
9:30 Dami (folk)10:30 slow/dynamite (experimental)
11:30 Va Va China (jazz electro)
12:30 Highway Gimps (rock psych)
with DJ Ex Machina playing techno and industrial tunes from 1:30 on
Last Resort is a new music venue "inconveniently located in Queens". That's what the nonsensenyc list-serv has to say about us. Be that as it may, our last show was a ragingly good time, with or without the endorsement of the Williamsburg hipsterati. Come out tonight for an eclectic lineup of good music.
Cost: $4 suggested donation (money goes straight into the drywall fund so we can construct gallery space/a projection wall)
All ages
Byob
Indoor bicycle parking
Directions:Last Resort Art Space is at 8-63 Astoria Blvd between 8th St and 12th St. Don't ring the buzzer, just come to the 2nd floor.
SUBWAY from anywhere: N/W line to 31st St/Astoria Blvd. Walk west (aka the direction of decreasingly numbered cross streets) for 15 minutes.
Alternative SUBWAY from anywhere: (If you go this way it's only an 11 minute walk BUT if you can't follow directions you'll get lost and we'll have no sympathy.) N/W line to 30th Ave. Walk west (in the direction of decreasingly numbered cross streets) on 30th Ave til 21st St. Cross the street and make a right. Walk to 29th Ave and make a left. Walk to the intersection with 12th St. 12th St intersects 29th Ave at an oblique angle and looks like an alley. Make a right onto it anyway. Walk one very short block to Astoria Blvd. Cross the street and make a left. Last Resort is a few doors down on your right.

The Weekender

Gun hey fa choy! Ok, I spelled that miserably wrong but if you sound that out you can say Happy New Year to those celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year and the Year of the Golden Pig.

Flushing has all sorts of things going on to celebrate.

A heads up for those training into Manhattan this weekend-7 train service is suspended so expect a whole bunch of extra passengers to join you at Queensboro Plaza. Read the letter from councilman Gioia urging residents to protest the continued disruption of the 7 line(I promise-no more quote formatting):

___________________________________________________________________
Dear Friend,

Please join me this Saturday, February 17th at 11:00 A.M. at the Vernon Jackson Subway Stop in Long Island City, to send a clear message to the MTA that the continued weekend shutdown of the 7 train is unacceptable, and to ask for more relief measures for Queens residents.

As you may already know, the MTA plans to suspend service between Times Square and 74th Street in Jackson Heights on the #7 Line, which covers the end of February and the entire month of March. Last weekend, service was also suspended between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza.

Put simply, when the #7 train is not running, the people of Queens suffer. By shutting the train down for such an extended period of time, the MTA is literally erecting a barrier for the hundreds of thousands of people who are trying to get to work, visit with friends and family, buy groceries, or visit a restaurant or museum. Having grown up here and taken the #7 train all my life, I am outraged that the MTA continues to neglect the people of Queens.

I look forward to seeing you this Saturday and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 718.383.9566.

Sincerely yours,

Eric Gioia

____________________________________________________________________

And, may I just say, Holy Crap-it’s friggin COLD out. Bundle up with your covers and stay indoors. Make it a Blockbuster weekend. Warm up with some mulled wine at home, or a warm spiked cider or hot toddy. Mmmmmm, I so wish I wasn’t at work now that I mention all those yummy warm drinks. Or you can head over to Waltz Astoria or the Beer Garden this weekend for some treats that are sure to warm you up.

Check out this Beer Garden shindig-

Here's the weekend Waltz Astoria line up:
Friday (Feb. 16)
9pm DAVE RUDBARG & FRIENDS
$10 Cover, $7 Drink Minimum

Saturday (Feb. 17)
12pm Mini Arts & Fleas Market (7pm Closing)

9pm LITTLE EMBERS
$5 Cover, $7 Drink Minimum

Enjoy the weekend! Make it a great one.

The Weekender

Brrrrrrr.
Is it ever going to warm up? I feel like I’ve been hibernating. Leaving only for work And that’s no fun. Let’s see how things are heating up in Astoria.

Tonight Waltz brings us the City Beat Opera Singers, a group of seven singers all the early stages of their professional careers. City Beat Opera is devoted to performing traditional and contempory classical and operatic repertoire as well as blending in musical theatre and cabaret genres. No Cover and a $7 drink minimum. Show starts at 9.

Saturday from 12-7pm Waltz opens it’s doors for it’s Mini Arts & Fleas Market. Stop by to support local art and craftiness. I’m not sure what’s up this weekend but a sample of what they offer is jewelry, knitwear, queens inspired items, CDs and more. Sounds like when I get my jewelry cases and photography portfolio in order (finally) I’ll be swinging by to snag myself a very affordable spot. Check out the website if you are interested in becoming a vendor yourself.

Saturday night Hell Gate Social brings us the spinning of Astoria based DJ Lo-Fi. Spinning a complete mix there should be something everyone can enjoy. Free music starts at 9:30.

Another musical-but not free-option is to head to Waltz Astoria at 9:00 for a bossa nova and soul performance by Ranjit & Justin. $5 cover and $7 drink minimum.

Sunday from 12-6 is PS1’s opening day celebration. Check out eight new exhibtions featuring a range of artists, both established and emerging, throughout the building.
While there check out this interesting exhibit called Not For Sale.
"Not for Sale presents unavailable works by some of the art market’s most sought-after talents—artworks that the artists refuse to sell, reserving them for their own collections. Although the choice of medium may vary, ranging from painting, drawing and photography to installation and sculpture, all the work on view is united by the meaning it has for the artists who made it and their desire to hold on to each piece, no matter what the bidding price. Whether big, as in Mark di Suvero’s large-scale steel sculpture in the courtyard, or small, as in Christo’s smallest package, all of these works are decidedly not for sale."

Finally, you can wrap up your weekend at Hell Gate Social where they’re screening the documentary American Hardcore indoors at 8:30. Inspired by Steven Blush's book "American Hardcore: A tribal history" Paul Rachman's feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.

Make it a great one! And stay warm!

Being Civic Minded

There are lots of ways to give back to the community we call home. Be sure to check out any of the events below. I'm especially excited about the Astoria Park Group Meeting. I love spending time in the park. Oh, how I long for warm days to picnic by the bridge....

Astoria-LIC Waterfront Parks Alliance Meeting
What: Join us to help figure what we can do to improve our Astoria/LIC waterfront parks and our waterfront as a whole.
When: Wednesday, February 7, 6pm
Where: Greater Astoria Historical Society Quinn Building 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor Long Island City, NY 11106
Who: All Are Welcome!
Why: To join together with friends and neighbors to re-envision our waterfront and improve our neighborhood.More info: Please call 718-706-8044, 917-902-9165 or email Emily.Maxwell@parks.nyc.gov

Astoria Park Meeting
What: Formation of an Astoria Park group:
Currently, we are in the beginning phases of forming a Astoria Park group. The group hopes to bring together nearby residents and organizations to work together to ensure the overall health of the park. We are currently a collective group of Astoria Park users interested in clean ups and gardening days, advocating for physical park improvements, partnering with other program and events that take place in the park, environmental education, and creating literature/brochures. Whew, as you can see we have generated many ideas in a short period of time! Please come join us refine these thoughts and add your own ideas in one of our first meetings on February 12th at 6:30pm in the basement of the Steinway Reformed Church.
When: Monday, February 12th, 6:30pm
Where: Steinway Reformed Church, 41-01 Ditmars Blvd at 41st Street
Who: All are welcome!
More info: If you have questions please call Helen Ho at 718-520-5913 or e-mail at helen.ho@parks.nyc.gov. Helen works with Partnerships for Parks and also happens to be an Astoria resident.
(yay Helen! )

FEB 15 PADDLE PEDAL PARTY!!! Volunteers needed! 01-20-2007
Hi All,It's that time of year again, when we join with our bicycle brethren to celebrate, fundraise, and envision a new New York City where people explore and commute under their own power, by road and river. Okay, street and strait. :) Our partners on this are The Foundry, our kind hosts ( http://www.thefoundry.info ) and Recycle-a-Bicycle ( http://www.recycleabicycle.org ), who are fellow tenants in the converted waterfront district meat building that landlord Plaxall Inc. ( http://www.plaxall.com ) is helping us to convert into a community arts, ecology and recreational hub. To make this an event greater success than in previous years, LIC Community Boathouse Director of Arts and Events John McGarvey needs your help! To name just a few vital responsibilities, volunteers are needed to:Design promotional flyers right away! Print flyers at a discount Coordinators for flyering, set-up, cleanup, entertainment, food & beverages, silent auction, special guest list outreach, publicity Door greeters and shirt sales The good news is that much of this has been established and learned from last year and 2005. So please step up!Also, we need a new finance director as Norma contends with the happy craziness of preparing her wedding!If you'd have fun being part of our happy crew, please email both:john (at) licboathouse (dot) orgerik (at) licboathouse (dot) orgWarm regards,The Crew

The Weekender

Don’t even get me started explaining my long absence. Let’s just jump right into the weekend shall we?

This weekend is all about the Super Bowl, well, that is if you are a fan of that kind of football. Me, on the other hand, I prefer the other kind of football. The Super Bowl really serves as my reminder that Spring Training is coming up. Bring on the baseball!
But Sunday can just become a good excuse to drink and eat wings…mmm wings. Speaking of-AM NY recently said Astoria has got some great wings over at Mary Maguires-who is sure to be airing the SB.

If the Super Bowl isn’t your bag, well we can keep you occupied the rest of the weekend and you won’t even notice people shouting either, “Go Colts!” or “Da Bears!”

Waltz Astoria serves us some more great tunes this weekend. On Friday they welcome the Stephane Wrembel Trio at 9pm. $10 cover and $7 drink minimum. Here’s what they have to say:

"French Guitar virtuoso Stephane Wrembel has canneled the very essence of
Django Reinhardt and has been praised for his ability to incorporate
French Gypsy jazz with a unique combination of music from all over the
world."

Saturday at 9 they welcome The Last Broadcast

“a five-piece band that has been taking NYC by storm with their unique
combination of hip-hop, soul and rock. Their performances often provide a
narrative (cross from rap and public annoucment) set to a rhythmic backdrop with
occational improvisation by solo instruments. Their music is funky &
contagious, street-ready yet sophisticated.”

$5 cover and $7 drink minimum to enjoy the tunes.

This is also one of your last 2 weekends to head over to Art-O-Mat L.I.C. and catch Eye See, an informal installation of neon and drawings by New York based UK light artist Clare Brew.

“Charting the formation of colours against time, Clare Brew has created a work
comprised of neon lines. The inspiration for this work derives from
contemplating the effect of one color on the eye’s perception of another
color. The installation is a visual aid to understanding the phenomenon of
light. Eye See is an opportunity to see the early stages of an evolving project
in Light.”

Continuing on in our community’s great little art world Flux Factory offers us HELLo an an

“examination of functional spaces/objects and the symbolism they are charged
with in the sphere of fine art”

The Chocolate Factory Theatre offers us both theatre and art to stimulate us. Swing by and catch Photographs by Iannis Delatolas.

“In his dreamlike scenarios, Delatolas visits the empty isolation of America's
postindustrial landscape - a gas station in Brookings, Oregon; a drive-in movie
theater; a dirt road in Vieques, Puerto Rico - hoping for a glimpse of hope in
what is both a romantic darkness and a metaphor for losing one's way.”

Or, if you’re in the mood for theatre make reservations for Force. Force is a trilogy of plays: Wanderlust, Threshold, and Convergence.

"Told on an epic scale through dreams, travel, memories and magic realism, Force
dissects the idea that man is as capable as nature of creating stupendous beauty
and awesome destruction."

Finally the big game.

Here’s what AM-NY had to say about Mary Maguire’s and their wings:

Mary McGuire's: This casual restaurant and sports bar is a sure
bet -- you can put a few dollars on a Keno game in the betting parlor while
savoring a large portion of wings (served mild or hot) with creamy blue-cheese
dressing. On Tuesdays, die-hard wings fans can get them for 20 cents apiece if
they dine at the bar. (38-04 Broadway, Astoria; 718-728-3434; 12 wings for
$7.95)

And their dinner specials are pretty darn tasty as well.

Otherwise Hell Gate Social is throwing a Super Bowl Party. Watch the game on their HUGE indoor wall and enjoy free buffalo wings (mmmmmm wings) and drink specials starting at 5.

Now, all of this ought to keep you busy.
Get out and make it a great weekend.

Oh and props to Punxsutawney Phil for seeing his shadow and bringing hopes of an early spring. Rocking good news.

sorry bout the funky formatting. i was trying something new that looks perfect on preview but no so much when published.