Movie: Killer of Sheep

This came in my email box from the Museum of the Moving Image, and it sounds intriguing:

World Cinema Showcase
KILLER OF SHEEP
Friday, April 3, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
At LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, 31-10 Thomson Ave (at Van Dam St), Long Island City
U.S. 1977/2007, 83 mins.

The best-reviewed film of 2007 was made 30 years ago, but not released until it was restored last year by the UCLA Film and TV Archive. A landmark of African-American independent cinema, Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep is also a neo-realist drama steeped in the lyricism of the blues, about a South Central slaughterhouse worker (Henry G. Sanders) who struggles to support himself and his family.

Tickets: Free for Museum members / $10 non-members / $8 CUNY students. Members RSVP to 718.784.4520. Advance tickets available online ($2 surcharge) and on day-of-show at the LPAC box office (718.482.5151).

SITE Turns Two!

SITE, the cute design store on 34th Ave, turns 2 years old today! They're going to celebrate, too - check it out. From their website:

SITE is...2!!! Come join is as we celebrate two amazing years! Wine boxes, cupcakes, totally amazing trunk shows, music, party specials, and general merrymaking!!

Thursday, April 2nd 7-10 p.m.

R.S.V.P and get more info here. (Facebook)

SITE
35-11 34th Ave
Astoria
718-626-6030

Upcoming Astoria Park Alliance Meeting

Just wanted to let you know the details of the next Astoria Park Alliance meeting:

Tuesday, April 7th
6:30 pm
Steinway Reform Church (Ditmars Boulevard and 41st Street)

The agenda will include, among other things:

• April 22 Queens Drinks hosted by Astoria Park Alliance at Bohemian Hall
• Earth Day April 18
• New York Cares Day April 25
• It's My Park Day May 16

Hope to see you there!

Queensboro Bridge Turns 100 on Monday

I mentioned it briefly here - the Queensboro Bridge (aka the 59th Street Bridge) turns 100 on Monday. The NY Times has an article on it - here's an excerpt:

One of the ugly ducklings? Not to Bob Singleton, an author of "Images of America: The Queensboro Bridge" and a trustee of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, which, by the way, will serve birthday cake on Monday at 7 p.m. at its headquarters. Other festivities are planned for late May and early June, mirroring events that took place 100 years ago.

"It's really the quintessential American bridge," Mr. Singleton said. "You get a massive feeling of the use of steel that went into that bridge. It's a graceful bridge when you take a look at what they tried to accomplish, and it's an iconic symbol of the city. It's been in movies from 'Dead End' in the '30s to 'Spider-Man.' But it's very unassuming as it goes about its work."

Read more, here:
To Fans, Queensboro Bridge Is a Steel Swan, Not an 'Ugly Duckling' [NY Times]

One More for the Weekend and One for Monday

Just saw these and wanted to let you know about them:

Friends of Gantry Neighborhood Parks Clean-Up
Join the Friends of Gantry Neighborhood Parks to spruce up Hunters Point.

Saturday March 28st
For more information, call (718) 340- 1836 or email gantryparkfriend@aol.com


All Star Symposium on the Queensboro Bridge
Celebrate the bridge’s centennial at the community’s official birthday party. Learn about the engineering of the bridge and see how photographers have captured it on film.

Monday March 30th
7:00 p.m.
Greater Astoria Historical Society offices
4th floor of the Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway

Call for Artists: AMandA in Wonderland

I received this in my inbox and wanted to pass it on. Please note that April 3, 2009 is the deadline for applying. Please contact astoriamusicarts@gmail.com for a copy of the application form.

Greetings From Astoria Music & Arts and the Wonderland Collective!

We would like to invite you to be part of an event we are putting together for April 18th 2009 called... AMandA in Wonderland. We are calling upon all fellow conspirators: artists, musicians, djays, dancers, performers, fire spinners, spoken word, comedians, filmmakers, organizations, collectives, and other creative energies, to be a part of this celebration.

Wonderland and Astoria Music & Arts are both dedicated to the enrichment of the artistic community in the Astoria/LIC area and beyond. Only with a network and community of artists will this come to fruition. This is a great opportunity for all of us to build together.

AMandA in Wonderland is going to be a fundraiser for Astoria Music & Arts. We are planning numerous events around LIC with all of this culminating in a huge festival in Astoria Park on July 25th and we want all of you to be involved!

We have already received grants from Queens Council on the Arts and the City Parks Foundation. We feel very strongly that we as a community and citizens need to seize our public spaces for celebration.

If you are interested in collaborating with us for this event on the 18th, summer festival, or any other events, or know of any other organizations or performers that would be interested in working together please contact me directly or email astoriamusicarts@gmail.com and we can start planning these events together.

Blessings :)

Mike Tummolo, AMA and Wonderland!

For additional info on the organizers
Wonderland on Facebook and their blog
Astoria Music and Arts on Facebook

Astorian Weekend Edition 26.03.09

Thursday brings us the Carnaval a Brick Cafe, a fashion show featuring local designers. Stop by to check out the goods, have a drink, and maybe even buy something! Later that night head to Waltz for a musical benefit for Autism. $5 at the door and a $10 food/drink minimum. Festivities start at 8 p.m.

Maybe work on your Queens Sky postcard? What a cool project.

On Friday there's samba at Cavo (42-18 31st Ave)! Four amazing samba dancers start the show at 8:30 p.m. Come enjoy food and drink and dancing!

If you are curious about what's up with the Two Coves Community Garden, take a stroll down 30th Ave and check it out. They are doing a lot of planting right now, but being near a vibrant open space is always refreshing. On your way, consider stopping in Frank's Bakery (36-02 30th Ave) for some tasty apple strudel, or on your way back, drop in at Vesta (21-02 30th Ave) for a glass of wine and some food.

Update on Dutch Kills Bar

News via liQcity. Sounds like April is the month they're going to open:

"We just got our refrigeration in this week, so we’re back to a construction site for just a couple more weeks. We’ll be opening in April.Our sinks, our plumbing, and the refrigeration are things we take very seriously. We’re juicing fresh to order behind the bar, so all of that has to be meticulously planned, and we can’t just slap that together and expect the same level of quality that we have at the other bars. We’ll also be introducing a hand-cut, made-to-order ice station behind the bar, so when you order a drink, someone will actually cut the ice right in front of you."

Dutch Kills Bar whipping online media into a frantic cocktail [liQcity]
Dutch Kills Bar Opens Soon [Joey in Astoria]

Vine Wine and Vesta Team Up This Wednesday

How cool is that? Lovely LIC wine shop Vine Wine, and Astoria fave restaurant Vesta are working together to present a food-wine tasting pairing. If I were free, I'd totally be there.

This Wednesday's in store tasting is not to be missed. Vine will be teaming up with Vesta Trattoria and Wine Bar in Astoria. We'll be pairing three Italian wines with delicious food provided by Vesta. These wines (which can also be found on the Vesta wine list) range from a bright, springy Sauvignon Blanc to a rich, spicy Primativo.

Vine and Vesta

• Tere de Gioia, Sauvignon Blanc
• Salvalai, Pinot Noir
• Flaio, Primativo

DATE: March 25th
TIME: 5:30 - 8:30pm

Vine Wine
12-09 Jackson Ave
Long Island City, NY

Swap and Book Drive Success!

So, I understand that the clothing swap and book drive was a HUGE success! A press release on the event came out this weekend and I wanted to share it with you here:

Swap-O-Rama Sweeps Astoria

Saturday, March 21st - A.R.R.O.W. Community Center was jammed full of men and women of all ages looking to swap clothing, shoes and handbags as a way to save the environment and save money.

As people arrived, event co-organizer Robyn Sklar explained how it all worked: "You bring clothes, other people bring clothes…and then you swap. It's a great way to clear out your closets and get free new-to-you clothes."

The event turned into an impromptu fashion show at times, as people tried on items and sought opinions from other swappers. Close to 200 people attended by the time the day ended, almost double original expectations.

"We were thrilled at the turnout," said co-organizer Lynne Serpe. "Everyone really understood how swapping clothing is a free and easy way to live green, by promoting reuse. And who doesn't want to look good while doing good?

As far as anything not taken? "We donated twenty bags of shoes and clothing to the Hour Children Thrift Shop on 12th Street," Lynne explained.

"We also donated at least 1500 books to the Queens Library," she continued. "After all, libraries are the ultimate in reuse, which is why we partnered with the Astoria Book Club on a book drive."

This event was sponsored by Triple R Events: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the Astoria Book Club. Triple R Events is a project of Lynne Serpe and Robyn Sklar. Serpe and Sklar are long-time Green Party members who don't just vote green - they live green. They organize monthly green events in Western Queens that are fun and educational, not boring and preachy. April 18th is their Second Annual Queens is Green Fashion Show.

For more information, visit http://www.3R-events.blogspot.com

Did you go? Let us know your experience in the comments!

New Products at The Little Soap Shop

Vivian, proprietor of The Little Soap Shop, sent us an email about a new product available:

Our current new product is Enchanted Dragon's Blood! A seductive combination of vanilla & musk with lily, jasmine, blood orange & grapefruit. It comes in organic body lotion & organic shower gel. It's a delightful scent!

I love their products, personally. One of my favorites - on the opposite scent side of the Enchanted Dragon's Blood - is their simple, basic olive oil bar soap. I can use it on my face, it is so gentle. Their lotions are really nice, too, and contain no parabens. Their soy candles are gentler to the environment as well (most candles are made with petroleum products), and smell great.

The Little Soap Shop
22-07B 36th Street
Astoria
718-704-4408

UPDATE - here are the hours of The Little Soap Shop:
Tues, Thurs & Fri 10:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Wed. 10:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sat 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Sun 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Photo credit: The Foodista

Water Taxi Beach Events Up

Just saw in my feed reader that Water Taxi Beach has announced their upcoming music season! Here's some info:

Sunday, March 22, 2009

2009 Music Season

2009 is shaping up to be something special. With 3 beaches it will mean three times the music. WTB / LIC (Long Island City) will keep playing some great underground house along with some special events produced by Dance Here Now.

At WTB / LIC will have paid music events Thurs - Sunday for entire season (Memorial Day Wkd to Columbus Day Wkd).

Our WTB / LIC 2009 Grand Opening is Memorial Day Weekend

For even more info, go here.

[Photo from Streetsblog]

Additional Delicousness

While walking down 30th Ave to dinner at Les Minots last week, I stopped in at Frank's Bakery (36-02 30th Ave) and bought - yes - a zeppole! I was delicious. I now remember buying one from them last year and really enjoying it. I also bought a little strip of their apple strudel. Can I just say, yum?!?? It was really good. I loved the big sugar crystals on top and the sweet apple filling. There were raisins, and normally I don't like raisins in this sort of thing, but in this case it worked for me.

So, if you are craving something apple-y and sweet, give it a try. I think it's $7.99 a pound, and you can get any size strip you like. Sorry I don't have a picture - I ate it before I could even think of pulling out the camera! Perhaps I'll have to stop in again for another bit so that I can take a picture... yeah... that's it! :)

Astoria Artists are Awesome

Yes they are!

There's a group of artists in Astoria that want to meet you. They say "Astoria Artists are Awesome" and are interested in bringing artists of all sorts (visual, physical, sounding, etc.) together, along with the spectators, the supporters, and the critics, to make the arts in Astoria "more visible and more of a thing to do on a Saturday night for local residents."

Led by dancer Esther Palmer, they meet a couple times a month, once for drinks and chatting, once for a meeting to talk more in depth about the arts in Astoria. They are having one of their meetings this weekend. Join them on Saturday 3/21 at Cafe Bar at 2:30pm to discuss what AAaA is doing/can do/should do to promote the growth of the artistic community in Astoria.

I know they'd love to see you!

Carnaval a Brick Cafe Next Week

The lovely ladies from KrisTees and Candy Plum have put together another fashion event! Here's the info:

I am very happy to announce that KrisTees & Candy Plum boutiques have gotten together once again to bring you another AWESOME Astoria Event!

Carnaval a Brick Cafe will be held on Thursday, March 26th at the Brick Cafe on the corner of 33rd Street & 31st Avenue.

Starting at 6PM and going till 10PM, we are inviting you to enjoy a very intimate evening of shopping among local designers launching their new spring lines… from tees, to jewelry, baby wear, house wares and accessories, there is something unique and handmade for all! Upon entering, you will receive a complimentary aperitif and then it is off to an atmosphere of spring innovation!

RSVP for the event to astoriafashion@gmail.com or call 718.721.2299.

We’ll see you there!

Reminder! Spring Swap and Book Drive on Saturday

Just wanted to remind you all about the upcoming spring swap and book drive. We wrote about it a month ago, and the event is almost here! Greater details here, but the logistic info is below:

Spring Clothing Swap and Book Drive
Saturday, March 21
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
ARROW Community Center
35-30 35th Street (between 35th and 36th Avenues)
Astoria

The books will be donated to Queens Library and any leftover clothes will be donated to Hour Children Thrift Shop. Hope to see you there!

Two Coves Community Garden in the News

As I've written here before, Two Coves Community Garden is at risk: the Parks Department and Goodwill Industries' want to impose a decade-old design for a park on 75% of the garden's space. This would uproot the garden and eliminate one of the most exciting, educational, and positive elements in the community: local residents gardening and growing food and flowers together, developing connections and friendships, and providing a natural oasis of calm and beauty in the area.

The garden has gotten a lot of attention lately, so here's a rundown of the latest articles so you can get a better idea of what's been going on:

Two Coves Community Garden threatened by park plan [Astoria Times]
Community Gardeners Fight Parks Department Takeover [Queens Gazette]
Parks Finally Has Money to Address Two Coves [Queens Ledger]
Two Coves Garden seeks permanency in Astoria [Queens Chronicle]
And the Two Coves Garden website

If you feel strongly about supporting the future life of the garden, please consider writing or calling Councilman Peter Vallone and/or Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski. Here's their contact info:

Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.
22-45 31st Street
Astoria, NY 11105
718-274-4500
vallonejr@council.nyc.ny.us

Dorothy Lewandowski, Queens Parks Commissioner
Queens Borough Office
The Overlook
80-30 Park Lane
Kew Gardens, NY 11415

I also have seen pre-stamped, pre-written postcards at places like Sparrow (24-01 29th St) and Il Bambino (34-08 31st Ave), so if you are near either of those, pick up a postcard and send it on!

St. Joseph's Day Brings Deliciousness

FYI, today is St. Joseph's Day. I have a friend named Joseph, so I send him good wishes today!

It being St. Joesph's Day and all, know that Rose & Joe's bakery (home of the very tasty pizza) has St. Joseph's Bread today. It is believed by some, that if St. Joseph's bread is kept in the home, the family will never starve. What I know, is that it's delicious!

Sfinge/zeppoli are also tasty St. Joseph's Day baked items. Totally worth it. Check it out at Rose & Joes. In fairness, neighboring La Guli probably has some pretty kickass St. Joseph's Day goodies, too.

Where else in the neighborhood do you find your St. Joseph's Day sweets?

Astorian Weekend Edition 19.03.09

As the weather gets warmer, I'm noticing a lot more fun weekend options. This weekend promises a rich offering of haps from a cool photo exhibit to a rockin' heavy metal night.

This Thursday--and every Thursday moving forward--wine and beer bar, Rest-au-Rant will feature their "Live Music Thursdays" with various musicians performing some of their best works. Performances are free and start at 8:30pm. 30-01 35th Avenue, Astoria. 718.729.9009

On Friday, check out Heavy Metal Night at the much-talked-about Vikingo's Dungeon. You'll enjoy 2-for-1 beers until 9pm as well as some nostalgic heavy metal tunes. It's a good way to channel the '80s and '90s. 35-55 33rd Street, Astoria. 718.383.3000

Interested in attending a photo exhibit opening? LIC's Local Project will be showcasing the photography and other works of Sol Aramendi. The show opens this Friday with a reception from 6pm - 9pm. 45-10 Davis Street, LIC. info@localproject.org.

Enjoy a historic walking tour this Sunday from 1pm - 3pm, which goes from Greenpoint all the way to LIC. The day promises a lot of historic riches and is guided by local historian, Jack Eichenbaum. Contact, jaconet@aol.com if you're interested.

There's a new French eatery in town, Bistro Les Minots (pictured above) on 47th Street and 30th Avenue. I spied their menu and it looks mighty yummy with plenty of authentic French treats such as escargot, mussels and profiteroles. They're offering an attractive $19.95 prix-fixe everyday from 5pm - 7pm. 47-16 30th Avenue, Astoria. 718.606.2535

Local Project Open Call

This looks pretty cool, I must say:

Local Project Open Call

Queens Sky a Mail-Art Show
curated by Renzo Ortega

Participation is open to all, artists and non-artists alike.
To contribute, send a postcard with a small note that includes your thoughts, feelings, impressions, etc. about the "Queens Sky."
Use a regular postcard or be creative and do it yourself!
Photos, drawings, prints all apply.
Only standard card size (4"x6") will be accepted.

We encourage to create a Postcard specially for this show
A reproduction of an artwork is not going to be considered

Send the postcard by regular mail, do not drop it off.

Send Postcards to:
Local Project
45-10 Davis Street 1st floor,
Long Island City, NY 11101

All correctly sized postcards will be exhibited

Opening reception Sunday May 31, 2009

We suggest to send the postcards by april 2009
in order to receive your postcard on time

for more info email: renzo@localproject.org