Astorian Weekend Edition - August 2
By Meg of Joey in Astoria

Welcome to the first weekend in August! It's going to be a hot weekend - great for staying inside in the a/c or sweating outside. On Thursday, stop by Tell Astorya Cafe (37-05 28th Ave) for a talent content. Sign up at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.. You have eight minutes to wow us with your talent! If open-micing isn't for you, head to Waltz (23-14 Ditmars Blvd) for some great Brazilian music in the form of Sambasaurus ($2 cover, $7 min).

Thursday night also brings us the Waterfront Concert Series - the Marvelettes are performing this week at Astoria Park. Bring a blanket, some food, and friends and enjoy one of NYC's best city parks.

On Friday, you are invited to an opening reception of a group show at LIC's The Space. The show, "1s ad 3s", features artists Eileen Cohen, Adrienne Dowd, Chris Harris, Cristian Pietrapiana, Brandon Schreck, Aleks Zelenina, Jaya Lamba, and Kristy Schopper.

Saturday of course, bring us Warm Up at PS 1. This week's lineup: Psychic TV and Flaming Fire. DJs include Cool Gypsy Bogdan (Turntable Lab), In Flagranti (Codek Records), plus Ned Rothenberg. After Warm Up you can head to Water Taxi Beach afterwards for some dogs (meat and soy!) and fries, and views of the East River and Manhattan. If you want to stay cool, for years people have gone to the movies, and you can too at Astoria's own MMI. Gone are the horror films and now they're showing a bunch of films from the Nixon Era. I'm sure they will be thought-provoking gems.

On Sunday, consider participating in Bike New York's Savvy Cyclist Workshop. Here, you can hone your cycling skills with instructor, Emilia Crotty. It's an all day affair, 9-5. Meet at the Recycle-A-Bicycle training center, corner of 46th Avenue and 5th Street. Everyone must bring a bike and helmet. (Register 212-932-2300x131, emiliac@bikenewyork.org)

Also on Sunday is the last Pub Quiz at the Irish Rover (28th Ave and 38th St) for this season. They pour a great Harp, by the way. Best I've had in the area. That same night, Socrates Sculpture Park (32-01 Vernon Blvd) presents an evening of outdoor video at 7 p.m. This is part of the L.I.C., NYC Video project.