TOPAZ ARTS OPEN HOUSE 12/1/07

TOPAZ ARTS’ 7th Annual OPEN HOUSE: “SEEN and UNSEEN”
Saturday, December 1, 2007, 3–6pm: free admission

TOPAZ ARTS announces its 7th Annual Open House on Saturday, December 1, 2007 from 3pm to 6pm. Now in its seventh season of providing programs andspace for the performing and visual arts, the multi-faceted arts center TOPAZ ARTS opens its doors for an afternoon of celebrations, featuring an exhibition of new work by visual artists Philip Brutz (stereoscopic photography) and Alan Ulrich (sculpture), an exclusive silent auction ofartwork by emerging and established artists, followed by the premiere of new poetry in performance “The Beauty of Ghosts” by Luis H. Francia at 6pm.

A feast for the arts and the community, the Open House event is free from 3-6pm and includes complimentary food and drink. The performance of The Beauty of Ghosts on Saturday, December 1 at 6pm and Sunday, December 2 at 3pm has a suggested admission of $10. TOPAZ ARTS is located at 55-03 39th Avenue in Woodside, Queens. Subway directions: #7-train to 61 St. or the R, V, G trains to Northern Blvd. Details and directions are available at www.topazarts.org.

A Park for Drunkards!

Say! I got an idea. Let's grab a coupla drinks and go hang out with the dirty bastards at Noonan park.

Tell Gioia - The Super Hero of Sunnyside all about it.

Where's My TV At?

In between the "a" and the "t," as my old English teacher might say.

Or gone into premature reruns because of the writers strike.

One of us is a WGAeast member hoping that our employers, collectively known as the AMPTP (the modifier "dastardly" is optional), come to their senses so we can go back to work.

Here's a video that explains why we are on strike:



And here's another video that tells you a little more about the AMPTP:

Wear Your Love For Queens--Or Eat It

Online vendor Queensbound emailed us to ask if we'd tell you about her online store, where she's selling t-shirts, tote bags, stickers, and chocolates emblazoned with an "I Heart Queens" logo. Designer Clara Elend lives in Sunnyside and has this to say about her work:

Much of my art is inspired by New York City, and particularly by Queens. This borough is full of diversity in its residents, architecture, landscape, and art. Often overlooked by outsiders, Queens and it's working class aesthetic inspires a love and loyalty in its residents. After living in Queens for three years and falling in love with it, I noticed that there were no cool, well-designed shirts about Queens. So I decided to make my own shirts and created Queensbound to pay homage to this kick-ass place.

These shirts are great for when you put the gang together for a rumble down at Newtown Creek with some Soc's wearing Greenpoint neighborhoodies.

Zog Sports Winter League Sign Up

After a great fall season in Queens with our Touch Football and Outdoor Soccer leagues, ZogSports is back with Dodgeball and 3-on-3 Basketball in Astoria this winter. ZogSports, the charity-focused, social, co-ed sports league for young professionals in their 20s and 30s, is excited to bring even more members of the Queens community into ours!

ZogSports has spent the last four years helping young New Yorkers break the monotony of the typical day – work/gym/bar/home - by offering sports leagues, trips, social events, and volunteer opportunities. To date, they have brought together 33,000+ participants and given more than $290,000 to charity.

Participants can sign up as an entire team or as an individual/small group and we’ll place them on a team. Teammates get to know each other at the organized post-game happy hours at local bars.

Dodgeball

* Where: PS 235 Academy for New Americans (30-14 30th Street) in Astoria
* When: The league will begin the first week of January and runs through early-mid March. We play Tuesdays and Thursdays (about 1 game/week). All teams will play their games on a mix of nights and game times. Games start at 7:15, 8:15 and 9:15pm.
* What: It’s like you remember from elementary school, but we use Nerf-quality balls instead or hard rubber. It's 6 on 6 with at least 2 women on the court. Each "match" is round-robin, 4 games against 2 opponents. There will be 2 divisions of play: Players/Sorta Players and Casual/ Extremely Casual.

3-on-3 Basketball

* Where: PS 126 - Albert Shanker (31-51 21st Street) in Astoria
* When: Games will begin the first weekend of January and run through early April. The league will run on Saturday afternoons with games beginning from 12:00pm-4:00pm.
* What: Just like the name, it's 3-on-3 and you need at least 1 woman on the court at all times. You'll play a three-team round robin format. Each "match" is a 6-game round-robin, in which each team plays 4 11-minute games against 2 opponents (with sudden death overtime). The matches last 80 minutes. There will be 2 divisions of play: Players/Sorta Players and Casual/ Extremely Casual.

As a philanthropy-focused organization, ZogSports donates a portion of all proceeds to charity, and helps all participants Play For Your Cause by making donations to winning teams’ charities of choice. Teams have the opportunity to win both on the field as well as off, with awards given for Best Team Name, Best Team Spirit, and Best Happy Hour Team. ZogSports also partners with local charitable organizations to promote/co-sponsor their events, and organizes charity events of its own.

Traders Joe's in Under an Hour--No Kidding!

My friend Sarah and I took a trip to the new Forest Hills Trader Joe's today. Trader Joe's is always my first port of call when I travel to LA, for snack foods and Greek-style yogurt and frozen delights to keep me from spending money at the city's generally underwhelming restaurants (though they have us way beat on Mexican and sushi).

You might be thinking, what kind of crazy person goes to a new Trader Joe's on a Saturday afternoon? I mean, haven't we learned by now that weekend shopping in Queens can be a nightmare of epic proportions? I have never been more homicidal then the day the Target had no shopping carts on the third floor. None. Not a one.

But I'm here to tell a happy tale.

We got parking right away. The lot was crowded, but not overflowing.

Inside, it was a bit of a madhouse, but only because it seemed like everybody knew each other. Everybody was catching up with friends, happy to have bumped into them next to the whole wheat pasta or while reaching for the same box of pluots. Such a far cry from the outright hostility from other customers that you routinely encounter at Pathmark. (And I am the worst of sinners in this regard.)

The aisles are a bit cramped, but it can't really be helped--there are some structural pillars that block your way. Best strategy is to park your cart at the end of the aisle, where there is plenty of room, and walk up and down.

The selection is just as marvelous as I'd hoped, and I had to work really hard to keep within my budget. Wesley urged me "don't spend too much money." Not difficult, because unlike Whole Foods, Trader Joe's is known for reasonable pricing. I bought some freezer meals that will be great after the baby shows up (any day now).

I finished shopping before Sarah, because she was not operating under the same unreasonable budgetary constraints as I was. Plus, she likes to read the labels looking for low sodium and superfoods. So I finished before her. There was room by the manager's office for me to hang out and be out of the way. I asked a manager if he minded if I sat on the floor (oh, my aching back!). And do you know what he did? He got me a freaking chair, people. Like, with a back and everything. If you've ever been pregnant in Queens you know how rare it is to get any special treatment--like a seat on the subway.

We sailed through check out and were waited on by very friendly, cheerful check out clerks and baggers. And you will not believe what happened next. Did you know that they have an employee in the parking lot to help you put your bags in the car and to return your shopping cart? So you don't have to? I have never heard of such a thing.

We left the parking lot smiling. And back at home, Wesley and I at the shit out of some Trader Joe's chocolate chip cookies.

Flashy Video about Forest Hills

A little fluff piece about Forest Hills that was sent to us:



How much does it reflect the reality of the neighborhood? It seems to be downplaying or ignoring any Queens-ness in favor of praising luxe condo life and mall stores...