Astorian Weekend Edition 25.11.09

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Thus starts the official holiday season. Thanksgiving is a time for gathering with friends and family, expressing gratitude, and of course, eating! Judith has a great rundown on places to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in town, so if you are not preparing the meal yourself, here's some excellent options where you can get some local deliciousness in your belly.

Friday hails Black Friday, and boy do retailers need your business. One local Astoria business that I particularly love is The Little Soap Shop. Vivian is holding a sale, natch, so you'll find 20% off everything in her store that day, from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. One thing she makes that I especially love is a citrus lavender reed diffuser, which users wooden reeds sipped in scented oil to spread a wonderful fresh aroma throughout the room.  And how about SITE's cupcake ornaments! How cute are they?!? They look good enough to eat!

On Sunday, stop by Immaculate Conception School (21-63 29th Street) for their Annual Flea Market. The event lasts from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Vine Wine in LIC (12-09 Jackson Ave) will be open tonight until 11:00 p.m. - score! if you're still in need of happy libations. And on Thanksgiving Day, they are open from 10:00 am to 4:00pm! Tonight's wine tasting (5:30-8:30 p.m.) will involve three of their six Thanksgiving-themed wines. They've even boxed up these wines in a cute carrying case for your convenience. There is a $50 box and a $75 box, both saving you approximately $15 each.

Mix (40-17 30th Ave) is a new cafe/lounge in Astoria, and they hold a stich n' bitch each Saturday starting at noon. If you knit, crochet or partake in any other fiber craft, come on by to enjoy fellow needle nerds, and perhaps you'll even come away with something new for your stash. What a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Since the kids are home (including kids at heart) this weekend, The Museum of the Moving Image (35th Avenue at 37th Street) will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during Thanksgiving weekend with hourly screenings of short animated films from Pixar. Screenings will take place in Tut's Fever Movie Palace, and will include Luxo, Jr. (1986, 2 mins); For the Birds (2000, 3 mins); Jack-Jack Attack (2005, 5 mins); and Presto (2008, 5 mins).

Astorian Weekend Edition 25.12.08

Merry Christmas to all of you that celebrate the holiday! I expect a lot of your time will be spent with family and/or friends, and eating delicious food. According to my sources, Thursday will be one of the nicest days we've had recently, with partial sun and no deep freeze temperatures. A walk in Astoria Park might be nice way to spend time outside and with your loved ones.

The 26th brings us another day of rest (and Boxing Day!). It'll be cloudy and grey, so why not hang out in one of the local cafes for a few hours? The other day I was at Cafe Soleil (37-14 Astoria Blvd) on Astoria Blvd and had a delicious cup of tea and a fantastic chicken and green apple salad sandwich. Omonia (32-20 Broadway) is always a good bet, and further south is funky Cafe Bar (32-90 34th Avenue).

Another option this weekend is to take the family to the Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave) for their Animation Workshop. From December 26-31 (and January 2-4), workshops are daily at noon and 2:00 p.m. and 60 minutes each. "Children learn the history and technique of stop-motion animation, and then make their own short films, which will be shared online. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Materials fee: $5 per child. Space is limited. Call 718.777.6820 to reserve." They're also showing the delightful short film The Red Balloon in Tut's Fever Movie Palace, daily at 1, 2, and 3 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday night, Astoria Music & Arts presents their first Holiday Surprise, a 3-venue "Rock n' Crawl" down 30th Ave, with live, original music by Astoria musicians. Boite Cafe (40-17 30th Ave), The Quays (45-02 30th Ave), and Shillelagh (47-22 30th Ave) are the venues, and a variety of bands will perform. Crawl starts at 6 p.m. at Boite and is expected to go til 2 a.m.

Astorian Weekend Edition 19.07.07

Even the week's end starts out rainy, we should have a beautiful weekend. On Saturday, there are a couple of Trunk Sales going on. The Trunk Sale put on by the Astoria Craft Collective will have jewelry, accessories, and clothing. It will be at the patio on the corner of 29th Street and 35th Avenue, 11am-5pm, plus there will be refreshments! It goes on rain or shine, but it looks like a dry Saturday. Candy Plum (30-98 36th Street) has a lot of t-shirts to offer with a 10% discount. 1-3pm and they'll have sweets and snacks. If you can't make it to either of the Trunk Sales, you might consider the Blooming Company at another time, a cute little boutique on 31st Street between 23rd Ave and Ditmars.

There's always plenty of music happening in Astoria, and this weekend is no different. Stop by Waltz on Thursday for Samba music, performed by Anthony Lanni and friends ($2 cover and a $7 drink minimum). Check out their newly renovated digs, too. Hellgate Social that same night presents indie punk rock in the form of The Johns. HGS also has a movie planned for Sunday around 9pm.

Time Cafe (44-18 Broadway) this weekend has live jazz during brunch on Sunday. Hear the Jacob Varmus Quartet from 12-3 while you enjoy some tasty food. And if you were thinking of heading to Sparrow (across from the Beer Garden) for brunch at 10:30am, you might want to reconsider - I tried eating there last Sunday at 11am and they were still closed! Best bet - check them out at noon. I also hear Ovelia (34-01 30th Avenue) makes a superb frappe.

Head to the AMMI for more horror films, including 1970s classic Carrie and 21st century Japanese film Itchi the Killer. Warm Up at PS1 is Saturday from 3pm-9pm, and particularly interesting sounding that afternoon is Eric Singer's LEMUR (League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots)

More fun, here.

Astorian Weekend Edition 14.06.07

Get involved with local issues at the Friends of Gantry Neighborhood Parks in Hunters Point. You don't have to be a member, just the desire to pitch in. Meet at Citylights (4-74 48th Ave and 5th St) in the 3rd Floor Activity Room at 7pm.- ppssst, thats kind LIC over there but eh, same hood.

Jazz away your Friday night at Go Wasabi (29-11 Ditmars Blvd) with some live piano action. 7:30pm-10pm enjoy some sushi with your tunes.

Local mainstay McCann's (36-15 Ditmars Boulevard) s having the first of its summer trips to Atlantic City on Saturday. Fun and friends await you, and for a mere $55 you get the full trip, some breakfast chow, movies on the bus, and refreshments on the way. If you still want to get your party on after getting back in, enjoy the one hour open bar back at McCann's. $20 and a phone call (718-278-2621) reserves your seat.

Astoria Waterfront folks bring health awareness to Astoria Park at 10 a.m. on Saturday with workshops, classes, walks, and clinics for all. There will be reps from the Transportation Alternatives of Western Queens Committee there, too. This event is hosted by the Astoria Park Alliance. Enjoy the great outdoors!

Spend Sunday with dad for Father's Day and grab a Gyro Mania (28-53 36st St.) quick meal that will only put you back $10 for a platter of fries, salad and choice of protein, before heading over to the Museum of the Moving Image (35th Ave @ 36th St) to partake in their summer of gory movies with The Devil's Rejects @ 6:30 p.m. This super awesome scarefest will be preceded by Bambi Meets Godzilla for a chuckle.

pic of chicken souvlaki platter from my dinner on monday.