QNS Bloggers Represent

I've never been much for meta-blogging - blogging about other blogs. But since I'm abandoning you all, I'd like to leave you in capable hands. There are *lots* of bloggers going around these days. Some of them really stink. But some don't. So I'll try and do a little round-up for you.

There aren't any other blogs about the neighborhood, religiously, but there are many hybrids, and there are several non-blog websites just about Astoria.

I'll start first with the food blogs. Far and away the best blogger in our neigborhood is BeXn. BeXnlog really writes about all food, but lives in Astoria and covers it now and then. It's fab. Also worthy, tho sporadic, is Savortooth. She's heavier on Astoria, but lighter on content in general. Roving Gastronome is sort of random in my opinion, but claims Astorianess. Also, accomplished flckrist Maura of mauradotcom has recently launched a nose for wine for you to wash those down with.

The most Astorian of the Astoria blogs is probably my pal Flooz at Gud Stuf NYC. She loves Astoria and she's hiper than I could ever dream of being. It gets pretty scrappy from there. There's Karenspuppy writing some weird teen drama type stuff. There's also this blog focusing on Ditmars, which appears to be both dead and confused in the use of various punctutation. Tough one. You're going to be sorry you skipped that day. Thisshowagain is an Astorian podcast who has a blog of thier show. It's fun.

Several newer Astorian blogs have cropped up very recently and are sort in the too new to review category, but seem worth a try. Some actually aren't that new, but like re-runs, are new to me. Astoria Life: New York Minutes doesn't seem to be about Astoria at all currently, but it is about life in New York and the author is Astorian and appears to occaisionally wander here. Also not distinctly Astorian, The Haps has very recently come on the scene, and appears to have a similar world view to me. So, that one looks promising, assumeing you like this site.

That's pretty much where the blogs end. There are several websites about Astoria. You all probably frequent astorians.net. And of course, it's no secret that I write for Queens.About.com. My buddy John does a nice job of keeping us posted with what's going down. My Astoria is sort of similar to astorians - less of a scene with a bit of content. There's also Forgotten Astoria - part of the forgotten NY circuit. This guy's into presvervation and all that. It's worth a read. And the Astoria flikr group which is really fun (founded by moi).

You're welcome to chime in about your own blogs, but enough with the soft-core porn site, k? We don't need to know if you're a loser - Astorian or not.

Joey in Vermont

So, there's no easy way to say this. Except maybe from behind my computer. I'm moving to Vermont. Yep. I'm moving to Burlington, Vermont at the end of the month. Why? 'Cause it's awesome - not that Astoria isn't, but Astoria and I are just going our separate ways.

The good news is that I have a list of things I've always been meaning to check out, but never relayed to you. Like my coffee cart guy, I'll be popping a fresh one out for you every day - until I run out.

I'll miss you guys - thank you for reading! By the way, I hope we can stay in touch - in January you'll be able to catch me at my new url - Joey in Vermont.

Addendum: New Joeys

Astoria Weekend Edition 05.12.02

Usually there's a weekend lull between Thanksgiving and Christmas when there's not much to do. Well, I guess we missed it 'cause there's lots happening. We are apparently full force into holiday madness. It's going to be tough, too, because we're all recovering from last night's inaugural ladies night at Sunswick.

After work, celebrate the joys of the Queens Library system with some ragtime music. I know, neither of us have ever been to the Queens library, but given that our local bookstore stinks, maybe it's worth a shot. Event starts at 5:15, but duck out by 6:30 when the pols start in.

Saturday, instead of duking it out at Macy's do some local shopping. Who doesn't love a hip homemade gift? Check out Art-O-Mat - if only for the name. Shopped 'till you dropped? Well, you better not let the Senior folk at Jacob Riss Settlement House put you to shame. They've been known to do so, particularly to the DJ playing at their fundraiser Saturday at 8pm. Party rages 'till 1am for $12.

PS. Check out my curbed.com pick-up. Thx, Lock.

PPS. As always, find out what in the heck is going on in the rest of QNS.

LIC % Change

Well, LIC's getting the shit upzoned out of it. That's no newsflash. But check out the map Curbed has posted showing the developable square footage in LIC. As a professional geographic information specialist myself, I have some cartographic issues with this visualization, but it's intruiging nonetheless.

I must confess, I detect no snottiness in this Curbed post, either. Nice work, Lock!

Bosnian Food in Astoria

There is a sizable Bosnian community in Astoria, in case you hadn't noticed. In truth, I don't know that much about it, but I have noticed the tasty burekas (savory stuffed pastries) and cevapi (skinless little sausages) that abound. There's also stuffed cabbage and peppers and cheap yumminess. The two best places I like to go are Cevabdzinica Sarjevo on 34th Av just West of Steinway and Djerdan #1 on 31st Av between 35th & 34th. Perfectly hearty, cold weather comfort food.

Astorian Edition 05.11.14

I know you're exhausted from the 11:59 debut of Harry Potter last night so, tonight, pick up a bottle of wine and netflix it. It's no news to you that our neighb has kind of slim pickins in the fruit of the vine, so read up on a nose for wine to arm yourself.

Saturday hit the QNS Film Festival. It's never to early to study up to shock and amaze your friends at your oscar party. Oscar-entry Paheli is showing at Kaufman Zukor Studio Theatre (part of the studios - how cool is that!) at 8pm. Meander down the street afterwards for late night bites at Jasmin for arepas. Soooo good.

Sunday, critically-acclaimed Perhaps Love will be playing at the same locale at 5:30 to send off the festival. (There are actually a ton of good movies playing all weekend long. You might just want to camp out somewhere on 35th Av.) After the festival might be a good time and start working your way down the QNS Michelin list. Malagueta is the only Brazilian entry. It's on 36th about 5 blocks West of the subway line. That'll be one down, 12 to go.

QNS Michelin Guide

Can't get your hands on the uber hot new New York Michelin guide? No worries. Here's a list of the 13 Restaurants in QNS that made it. Most are in Astoria & LIC.

My Notes:

1) Malagueta - It's okay - I wouldn't make a big deal of it, tho.

2) Brick Cafe - can be pretty damn good. I like it, but if it's in, Le Sans Souci should be, too.

3) 718 - eow. This place is such a downer. It's lame and it has annoying plates.

4) Tournesol - yeah, this place is good, too.

Astoria Film Festival

Don't you wish that Astoria-Sunswick area got more out of being Hollywood East then all the black turtleneck clad cliches hanging around Cafe Bar? Well, finally the studio set is giving back to the neighb.

Head's up for the third annual Queens Film Festival - entirely in Astoria! The Museum of the Moving Image, Kaufman Astoria Theatre, and the Mario Gallery will be hosting. Support this uber hot event.

See John picks for the event.

Scuttlebutt Section

Word on the street is that something cool is happening with Astoria Beach near Socrates Sculpture Park. Wouldn't it be great to create more public access to our waterfront, regardless of what it is called? Ahem.

Sklar makes an impressive showing for the Green Party in Long Island City Council race. "Robyn consistently received over 25% of the vote in many areas". Read her site.

'Ya know, because there aren't enough hyperthyroidial towers going up in Long Island City. Read Article

Locale (pictured above) on 34th Av appears to be opening up soon. I hear it's a lounge. I also hear the same for Section B on 31st Street. Except I'm not sure that's what it's called. Whatever happened to cool places that aren't all tripped out on Eurostyle?

Brick Cafe owner died during a scuba diving accident this past month. Very sad news. The future of the restaurant is still up in the air to my knowledge. We wish you the best, Brick & family!

Garden of George on Steinway appears to be reopening very shortly as a restaurant.

Brooklyn Industries has apparently opened a store on Steinway. That's just weird.

What the heck are they building in the old Tupelo space? It is a Cow-Town, or what?

Honest to Vinshnu, do we really need two new banks on Broadway between 31st Street and Steinway? BCP and Washington Mutual moved in this past week. At least there's a free ATM now.

so long, ten63. You've been a good pal. Read NYT Article.

Oh, PS. Cup was sold a few months back. Did I mention that? That might be the explanation for the hipster 'tude and rapid decrease in the taste of food. Doozy.

An Astorian Nose for Wine

Fellow Astorian blogger Maura, of Maura dot com, has just launched a wine blog! It appears she has a nose for wine. yay!

Arepas in Astoria

In the space where my beloved yet now-defunct Cravo & Canela once sat is now Jasmin. Don't let it's namesake scare you off. Jasmin is a real deal QNS Columbian cheap-eats arepa place.

The place is small, just a few tables, but decorated with care. It's already been open for five months on 34th Av between 31st Street & 32nd Street, but it seems to be flying stealth.

I went there with my partners in crime, MegC and Soozi Floozi. We all got arepas. I got the arepa with guac, tomatoes, and chorizo. Meg got guac and corn and Floozi, choose the classic plain areapa. Arepas, undressed, aren't much to look at. They look like a big fat pita. But these were up to the challenge - warm, most and delicious. Perfection with and without toppings! And cheap, too.

Since we were reviewing we deciding to stuff ourselves and all ordered entrees as well. MegC got a succulent chicken dish. Soozi got a moist sweet pork chop, and I got the mofungo - especially mashed chicken and plaintain. Sooo good. Mine would have been a tad bit dry if it hadn't been for the giant vat of beans served with our meals that I added to my plate.

As an added bonus we sipped Columbia soda which I'm nuts about. This place was awesome cheap eats in true Astorian fashion.

Astoria Gets Curbed

Curbed: so jaded and pretentious they can't even appreciate our lovely neighborhood. Their loss, my gain. Quite literally in this case.

Astoria Weekend Edition - 05.11.10

We have to wait another week to see Daniel Radcliffe on the big screen. In the meantime, get your fantasy/sci-fi film fix Saturday at the Machinima Film Festival at MMI. "Machinima, derived from the words 'machine' and 'cinema,' is the process of making animated movies using the software engines and imagery of video games."

You can discuss how Machinima has rocked your world over Kabobs and other goodies at the Kabob Cafe on Steinway. Savortooth says it's good, and she hasn't steered me wrong, yet.

Sunday we can support our local Astoria filmakers and check up on The not-quite-new-anymore Sparrow. They're actually raising money for their film which I think is both creative and funny. Regardless, you can catch my favorite bluegrass act Brownbird Rudy Relic and get yourself a "limited edition" T-shirt in progress. And hope to Vishnu they've done something with that awning. Event starts at 8, music at 9.

If you hate The Sparrow's awning so much that you have the skip the film fundraiser, you have another option. At 7 you can catch lic bar's second blues event in the series.

What ever happened to Thursday and Friday?

Vote Today!

Hey all you Astorians - I know you're planning on voting today. Every one counts!

Find your polling place here. PS. The guy I sit next to at work *made* that handy little app, it's slow, tho. Be patient.

Also, learn about Prop 2 here. It's a bond you get to vote on to help fix up our transportation system. I'm voting yes!

New in Astoria in TONY

Floozi is always on the Astorian prowl. Check out her catch in TONY.

Astoria Weekend Edition 05.11.04

You know that local foods are all the rage, but we don't exactly have bean fields here in Astoria. Ms. SpatulaLove has reinvented local foods as a community event. Contribute to her meals and follow the exciting outcome.

The freaks running the New York Marathon will whiz by Long Island City Sunday morning. You can catch them at your favorite Vernon Blvd haunt and you should. It's your duty as a non-marathoning New Yorker. Give a rightous last hurrah to soon-to-be defunct ten63, or check out John's picks. And Make sure to cheer on Astoria poet Stephen Cramer. He'll be #2557.

Celebrate the fact that you didn't run the marathon with your last chance to:

a) see Josh Irving's Jazz Quintet,
b) See Rudy "Brownbird" Relic and
c) help the hurricane survivors,
all on the same night!

Astorians for Hurricane Relief is hosting its final event. Josh Irving is the sweet, sexy, jazzy headliner. Rudy, (you won't believe me 'till you see him) is a big burly dude from the Mississippi Delta, trapped inside a significantly smaller, urbanite man's body. And they both play the hell out of his guitar. Mezzo Mezzo is providing free food. That is *not* a misprint. Plus, all your buddies and pals from Astoria will be there.

Astorian Weekend Edition - 05.10.27

Goblins? Dementors? Witches and Wizards? Muh ha ha ha ha ha! Tonight ditch the scary movie (I did years ago) and curl up to the newest Harry Potter book, The Half-Blood Prince, possibly the best yet. You can find it at Seaburn Books on Broadway (unlike most other books).

Saturday wakie wakie, you'll need to get up early to pick the best pumpkin at the LIC Greenmarket. It's your Halloween pumpkin we're talking about here, so elbowing little kids out of the way is totally fair game. Just be careful; they bite.

After you've cleaned the post-carved pumpkin goop out of your kitchen's nooks and crannies, you want to do something really scary this Halloween? Clean out your cupboards. Yep. Just as I suspected: evaporated milk, tahini, lima beans, and canned chicken. Well, now they can go to a worthy cause. The LIC food pantry is having a food drive at Key Food from 10 to 3. You're in luck; they need canned goods and volunteers, too!

So, now that you've decided that alternately using your canned goods to dress up as a Gursky was a dumb idea, get it together and do Halloween in style. I'm talkin' about the Haunted Waters tour. The one and only walking tour of Old Astoria filled with real tales of the Astorian dead! Shipwrecks, murder, and other general creepiness as you "stroll past graveyards". It's a must. You can't even live here anymore if you don't go.

PS. See what's doin' in the rest of QNS at About.com.

Astorian Weekend Edition 05.10.21

"My god, it's full of stars!" No, not the Avalon realty office. The monolith. If you don't know what I'm talking about you should definitely catch Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odessey tonight (or all weekend) at the Museum of the Moving Image.

This Saturday you're allowed to start early. It's socially acceptable to drink at noon in some places, and this weekend, that place is lic bar. What's not to love? Choicey booze and live tunes from noon on. Try to stay sober though, because this is also your chance to hear a real harpischord without having to go to a renaissance fair. Huzzah! Meg Cotner and company will be playing live at Waltz at 9 PM. Don't be late, you'll want to grab a treat before the show.

Your Nano *did* snap in half didn't it! I knew it. Well, you can take that and your "decorative" Apple IIe to mac heaven on Sunday. Recycle all your obsolete electronics and associated junk. Drop off next to Best Buy with the Lower East Side Ecology Center. That stuff is *way* bad for the environment so, you might as well give it this proper burial.

PS. Learn all about QNS at About.Queens.

More Pics!

dance
Originally uploaded by Fun In Astoria.

More pics from Hurricane Relief Event II. Stay tuned for III on 11/6!

Where are the rock stars of Astoria?

IMG_5372.jpg
Originally uploaded by mrminator.

Last night, (in case you were lame and weren't there) some Astorians rocked out at Freeze Peach. Many were excellent. Brownbird Rudy Relic seriously rocked the house with the most bitchin' bluegrass I've ever heard. Plus, he donated all his proceeds from cds to the benefit. I've heard rumblings about him opening for the 11/6 event as well.

There's also a sweet little jazz trio that plays at the LIC Greenmarket. I don't even know their name.

Of course there's our own jazzy Josh Irving.

Who else?

Photo Credit: Matt Mills (thanks!)