Sunnyside Shorts Film Festival

From their site:

Welcome to THE SUNNYSIDE FILM FESTIVAL INC. web site. Teresa Ward and Sherry Gamlin, two long-time Sunnysiders, are continuing the summertime fun in 2008 with brand new and independent films from Sunnysiders and filmmakers from all over the world.
Our sponsor this year is Murphy's Bar! (49th St & Skillman Ave in Sunnyside) A BIG Thanks to Mike Murphy for his generosity and support.

On Saturday, Sept 6th
Location: The Sunnyside Gardens Park, 39th Ave and 49th St. Time: Sunset (around 8pm).
Come at 7pm and listen to traditional Irish music provided by Donie Carroll, Dan Neely and members of The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra.

Rain Location (same date): The Sunnyside Community Center, 41-31 39th St. between Queens Blvd & 43rd Ave. (see DIRECTION page tab on left).
Time: 8 PM

Restaurant Month--Participating Restaurants

HT to Angus on the Sunnyside NY yahoogroup.

Here's how it works: pick up the Woodside Herald any week in September and look for the Restaurant Month insert. Cut out the coupons and bring them with you for the specials.

. Ariyoshi Japanese Restaurant Special: Cup of Saki or green tea ice cream with dinner
. Bliss Bistro Special: Glass of wine or champagne with dinner
. Bliss Street Station Special: Glass of wine with dinner
. Dazie's Restaurant Special: Glass of wine and dessert with Prix-fixe Luncheon
. Foxy's Diner Special: Glass of wine or dessert with dinner special
. New York Style Eats Special: Dessert with dinner
. P.J. Horgan's Pub Special: glass of wine with dinner
. Pete's Grill Special: Glass of wine and dessert with dinner
. Quaint Restaurant & Bar Special: Glass of wine, beer or soda with dinner
. Sidetracks Restaurant Special: Glass of wine with dinner
. Rose Restaurant Special: dessert and wine, tea or coffee with dinner
. White Castle Special: Cut out our ad and receive a free breakfast sandwich.

Every time you visit one of these restaurants (whether you bring a
coupon or not) you can enter a drawing to win a package of twelve dinners
for two (not including alcohol or tips), one at each participating
restaurant.

Just Trying to Get a Haircut

Today we were blessed by a visit from the grandparents so I was able to kiss baby Ruth goodbye and go get a much-needed haircut. Being that she can't go longer than 43 seconds without needing her BOOBIE!!!!! I decided that a venture to my beloved Will at Whistle in Manhattan was out of the question, so I headed over to Hue. I also decided to throw an eyebrow wax in there so I could feel like a sexpot again.

I've gotten my hair cut at Hue twice before, largely without incident, though the cut I got when I was 8 months pregnant was accompanied by a diatribe on the horrors of birth and the agonies of breastfeeding. Um, if I am turning the pages it's because I am reading a magazine so please stop talking, okay? I will still give you a tip, don't worry.

I showed up right at 12:45 for my eyebrow wax, and then sat there on the couch thumbing through a ratty Glamour for 20 minutes. When they called my name, I said that since it had been 20 minutes I could no longer get an eyebrow wax because I didn't have enough time to wait around. The woman up front was like, "But she can do it in like two minutes! Or you can come back for a free one tomorrow or Sunday." I wasn't sure I was brave enough for a two-minute eyebrow wax, but I reckoned that even spermy brows would be an improvement over the caterpillars that have hitched a ride on my face. Thankfully, two minutes got me natural brows--and no charge. I figure they forgot that I made the appointment.

Up next, the haircut. The woman up front hustled my over to the stylist where they proceeded to argue with each other over what kind of cut I wanted. I said, "Just a trim, clean it up, and I'm growing out my bangs," and when the stylist asked, "How about some face framing layers" the up front woman jumped in and said, "That's not what she wants." They went back and forth for a few minutes and I figure they came to some sort of conclusion that sounded like they weren't going to shave my head or give me a perm so why fight? It's not my nature.

Things started to get dicey in the shampoo seat, but that's really my fault because Wesley and I have joined the "no poo" movement and have been using only baking soda and apple cider vinegar on our hair for the last 3 months. It totally works, I'm so not even kidding about that. So I asked her not to use shampoo, just a little conditioner on the ends and she said, "Is it because you just had scalp surgery?" Why yes I have! Don't pull too hard, it'll come right off!

Once in the chair, she trimmed an inch off the very back across the bottom, then started to blowdry. I asked, "Are you going to trim the layers in the front?" She picked up the front and said, "You want me to cut this, too?" I said, "If you wouldn't mind. It's been 6 months since my last haircut and I would really like for it to look cleaned up while it grows out." She had this look on her face while she did it like I had asked her to shave a Rite-Aid logo into the side of my head.

I will say that I was quite pleased with the resulting cut & blow out. She did a nice job. But as she was finishing up, she goes, "I know what you're worried about. You just had a baby and you think your hair is falling out. Don't worry, it'll stop and come back."

And then she gave me her card and told me to ask for her the next time I come in. Roger that!

We Wanna Eat With Shauna

Seriously.

Lecture Aug. 8: Michael Pollan: Taking the Plant's Point of View

Date: Friday, August 08, 2008
Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

P.S.1 courtyard
Doors open 7 p.m., $5 suggested donation
Rain or shine

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, in collaboration with The Horticultural Society of New York, presents a lecture by the revolutionary food journalist Michael Pollan. For the past twenty years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where civilization and the natural world intersect. He is one of today's most influential investigators of what we eat and how plants impact our daily lives and culture. A long-standing supporter of The Horticultural Society of New York, the award-winning author will lecture on-site at P.F.1 (Public Farm One), a quarter-acre working farm currently installed in the P.S.1 courtyard. P.F.1 is the vibrant creation of WORK Architecture Company, winners of this year's MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program competition. With this productive urban farm as a backdrop, Pollan will discuss the power of taking the plant's point of view, what that does for us, and why it is important to solving our environmental problems.

THE RED BALLOON & PERSEPOLIS- WED AUGUST 6 at 7pm!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6 FRANCE

PERFORMANCE: The "lush and sinfully beautiful" sounds of Clare and The Reasons.
http://www.myspace.com/claremuldaur


FILMS:
THE RED BALLOON

1956, 34 mins. Directed by Albert Lamorisse. A young boy and a red balloon wander through the streets of Paris in The Red Balloon, one of the most beloved children's films ever made.

PERSEPOLIS

2007, 95 mins. Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis is a coming-of-age tale about an Iranian girl's struggles with love, religion, and politics, based on Marjane Satrapi's popular graphic novel/memoir.

FOOD: French fusion cuisine by the French Café Bistro, 718 Restaurant in Astoria

In the event of rain, this film will be rescheduled to August 27.

Block Party this Sunday!

Have you heard? Sunnyside's hosting a block party this Sunday!

Join your friends, family, neighbors, and members of Transportation Alternatives, the New York League of Conservation Voters and other local community organizations at our "Sunnyside of the Block Party" this Sunday, August 10 from 10am to 3pm. The block party will be on 46th Street, between Skillman and 43rd Avenues, in Sunnyside.

Learn how to ride a bike*, get active in your community, learn about environmental issues, have your face painted, dance, eat, jump rope, or just relax in the shade with the Sunday paper. Festivities will also include a live jazz performance from 1pm to 3pm, a book swap (leave a book, take a book), giant chess, street art, and board games.

All are welcome - free.

For more information, email SunnysideBlockParty@gmail.com or visit www.blockpartynyc.org/parties/13/read.

See you on the block!

Race & Queens

A guest post by supermarket obsessed Brendan Mckenna:

Over the course of less than two hours this evening (July 31), I witnessed two "charming" Queens moments...first, I went to a local discount store situated at the Stop & Shop shopping center off of 48th Street and Northern Boulevard. While making my purchase, an unusually talkative sales clerk rung me up. I asked where she was from, and she said, "Maspeth." I noted it was a nice neighborhood, and she noted it was beginning to decline. She was not pleased with the new elements moving in, "I'm not prejudiced, but I am not happy with some of the new riffraff." She then proceeded to talk of her father witnessing a mugging set up underneath an overpass in that neighborhood - seemingly equating it with ethnic change. She was not happy one bit about the "new" Maspeth. It is always amazing what strangers are willing to share!

I then headed over to Stop & Shop and picked up some groceries. While in the check-out line, I witnessed another, even more vivid incident. An African-American woman was shouting at an Asian couple and young daughter. She didn't like how they were staring at her, and began to yell, "You really should go back to that trashy country you came from, go eat some rice." She continued with this tirade for the entire time I was in line, even as the management tried to calm her so that she would stop yelling. Meanwhile, the approximately seven-year-old daughter was shouting in defense of her parents (who barely spoke English), telling the lady to shut up. She was protecting her parents and their right to be there (and it seemed like she was accustomed to doing this). It was a truly sad thing to witness. All very disturbing, and I get the sense that Queens may not be handling its diversity particularly well.