Weekend Triathlon

I'm no longer going to Cincinnati, OH for the weekend so I thought I'd provide the general public with my ultimate outdoor weekend in NY.

It's almost hot and sunny so take advantage of your momentary break in the clouds.

This is my master plan for a weekend triathlon out of and around NYC. A bike, food, wine, less than $20 and possibly a swimsuit is required.

Begin Saturday, early morning. Bike the 18 mile ride from Williamsburg, BK to The Cloisters along the Hudson River Greenway. Picnic with a bottle of wine and some food and then tour the Cloisters (pay only a $1, since it's donation anyway).


View Larger Map

Hop back on the bike and take the Hudson River Greenway down to Pier 96 on 57th St and the Hudson River. Downtown Boathouse offers free kayaking from 9am to 5:30pm every weekend. Kayak to your hearts content.

Or if you prefer swimming stop by the Riverbank State Park and enjoy views of the Hudson and an Olympic sized pool for only $2.

Get on the bike and finish up the last 10 miles or so back to BK.

Nap. And then head down to the FREE NYC Opera performance on the Pier at South Street Seaport!

Get up early Sunday and be prepared for a day full of hiking and the Hudson. Go to Grand Central Station to catch the Metro North to Croton-Harmon ($8.25 one way) and hike the 3 miles to the start of the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail at Croton Gorge Park. The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct have a FREE map of the trail from the Croton Dam Plaza to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, click above. Hike south along the trail and just north of Ossining is the large Crawbuckie Park, take a picnic if hungry. Continue south pass by Sing Sing. Continue until you've hiked the 15+ miles to Tarrytown (aka Sleepy Hollow). Eat food and visit the cemetery. Catch the train from Tarrytown Station back to the city ($8.25). Hikinglite has put together a rundown of the bike ride along the Croton Aqueduct Trail.

Get home and take another nap.

That's my actively filled weekend. Thank goodness it's starting to look like summer outside.

-Alyssa

Galactic Origins, Festivals and Acoustic Beach BBQs

Go see BLAST! Playing June 12-18 @ Cinema Village
You will be enthralled watching scientists try to get a telescope into space using a hot air balloon and all the things that can go wrong. I love this documentary. And at the IFC showing last night, I found out about FREE Stargazing at Columbia University. Tonight may not be the best night but for future reference, nerds here is your new date night excursion.

Starting tonight and until Sunday, is L Magazine's Northside Festival. Hundreds of bands and art openings will flood Williamsburg. Come and check out Arminda and myself put on some moves for Afuche, playing Saturday at the Hooves on the Turf Showcase, 1pm, Trophy Bar.

And the indie music booking agent, Todd P, will have an Unamplified Acoustic Show and BBQ on Rockaway Beach - Fort Tilden, noon this Sunday. The line up is overwhelming and unplugged, it's FREE and all ages! I'll be biking out there from Bwick when I recover from my hangover. Anyone want to join me?

-Alyssa

First Bryant Park Movie of the Summer

One of the few shining reasons I can manage to tolerate midtown is about to start again - Bryant Park Summer Film Festival! The lawn opens Monday at 5pm and McCool is saving space with her trusty lawn blanket. I plan to bring hummus and pita from Crisp and wine or something along that line will surely be involved. The movie starts at dusk and they always show a classic cartoon beforehand. Also, be ready to clap and dance to the old-school 80's HBO Feature Presentation clip.

Monday, June 15th:
The Sting (1973) starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford



-Mindy

Because 3rd Ward is sexy!

I love 3rd Ward, with an undying passion.

I love their workshops and classes on everything from silk screening to welding. I'm dying to take the woodworking classes. Plus, if you are a freelancer and join the Freelancers Union you can get discounted rates on every class 3rd Ward offers!

I also love their FREE EVENTS which almost always involve FREE DRINKS.

I'm a big fan of the Sweatshop Social Nights where they bring out home-brewed beer and a group, Bags for the People, show you how to sew reusable bags that are then donated to local greenmarkets. I'm happy to reduce the use of plastic!

Or the Handmade Music Nights, hosted by Create Digital Music, where I love to hit on nerdy boys and chug PBR.

And the Block Party they threw at the beginning of May was unbelievably awesome!

So keep it coming 3rd Ward, I want you so hard. So hard in fact that I should have made my Sex Cells submission about your gorgeous ass.

-Alyssa (aka Ginger)

P.S. Go check out the Sex Cells Gallery Opening this FRIDAY, FREE: drinks, sexting-porn and tunes from DJ Alden F. Fonda and Unicornicopia!

Alyssa and Arminda join forces

This blog has been on hiatus for a while, but behind the scenes, Alyssa and I have created a kick-ass calendar that we think fully encompasses some of the coolest FREE things happening in Brooklyn and the city for the summer (think of it as a one-stop calendar shop).

As a result, Alyssa is now co-pilot, the layout has been updated, and the calendar is on view for all to see.

xoxo,
Arminda

The Current Live Stream

Southern Illinois Meets NYC

Wow, I haven't blogged in over two months! By now anyone who might have read this has definitely lost hope. I still want to share places and events, though!

New LES spot for rare beers and wine: Sweet & Lowdown
123 Allen St (at Delancey), 212-228-7746

And in other news, Salukis at Madison Square Garden!
Friday, November 21— Madison Square Garden
• Basketball Game – 5 p.m.

And click here in case you have no clue what a Saluki is...

ATTN: Female Night Owls

This is not so much a nice To-Do, as it is a nice To-Know. There is a service called Right Rides that will pick up women between 12am-3am on Saturday nights (a.k.a. Sunday morning) within certain parts of the 5 boroughs. The service is meant to get women home safely late at night.

It caters to Bed-Stuy, as well as most of the surrounding areas, so I am all about it! Click here for a full list of the areas they provide service to. But if you have a dude with you, they won't pick you up. Tell your guy to be a man and protect you as you walk home!

Free Stuff for last week of July

I have been a terrible little blogger as of recently. I am DOING fun things, just not blogging about what is to come.

Here are the remainder of my July FREE activities that I have planned for myself:

Thursday, July 24th
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit, Movies with a View @ Brooklyn Bridge: FREE
Synopsis:

"The annual Giant Vegetable Competition is days away and Wallace & Gromit’s humane pest control service, “Anti-Pesto,” is doing big business. But who exactly is changing into the mysterious Were-Rabbit, trashing and eating all the prized veggies? Find out in this 2005 Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature."

Friday, July 25th (in the wee-morning hours)
Feist performing for Good Morning America @ Bryant Park: FREE

Sunday, July 27th
MGMT and the Ting Tings @ McCarren Park Pool: FREE

Wednesday, July 30th (also other dates available)
12 Ophelia's @ McCarren Park Pool: FREE
Synopsis:

"Twelve Ophelias centers on Hamlet's Ophelia coming back to life, out of the water, to try to overcome her history and forge a new destiny for herself. She finds herself in an Appalachian Elsinore, Denmark by way of Deliverance—where Gertrude runs a brothel, Hamlet and Horatio slum it, and nothing is what it seems. In this squarely American and gritty interpretation of the Hamlet myth, Twelve Ophelias asks how it is possible to break old cycles and start afresh when the past so completely permeates your life."

Union Pool will let you do BBQ Parties?

Blog from July of last year on Union Pool's Myspace:

Birthday BBQs @ Union Pool!!!

Hey all,

All summer long Union Pool is offering up our hot grill for your party needs. All you have to do is contact us via unionpoolbooking@yahoo.com with the details of the party you'd like to hold, and we'll let you know the availability. We supply the grill and sell the booze from 3pm-7pm. You supply the people and the food. Weekend dates only, now through September.

Love, UP

I wonder if they are still doing this again in 2008? Afternoon BBQ, anyone?

Bubble Battle NYC 2008

June 21st at 6:16pm, NewMindSpace will be organizing another Bubble Battle scheduled in Manhattan. Location TBA shortly.

RSVP to the NYC Facebook Invite here.

Here is more info on the after party from the NewMindSpace email I received:

The afterparty will be at an incredible space, and if everything goes according to plan, will feature the amazing giant Lite-Brite built by Jason Eppink for our party BRITE! in Toronto last weekend (which featured New York's own AC Slater and Udachi) among many other awesome creations and chiptunes music all night long!

See photos of the Lite-Brite here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasoneppink/tags/litebrite/

BrooklynVegan and I totally think alike

I have been working on my own excel-version of a Free Events Calendar for NYC, but today BrooklynVegan released their own online-version (http://www.brooklynvegan.com/events.html) which totally kicks my ass.

Bookmark it and live by it for the summer.

Big Apple BBQ!

Ahhh! Big Apple BBQ is back in a big way on June 7th-8th in Madison Square Park. It all goes down between 12-6pm each day and it's 8 bucks a plate.

Once again, 17th Street Bar & Grill of Murphysboro, IL will be in attendance, showing the rest of them how BBQ is done. I am totally bringing my SIUC student ID with me when I go to their booth. And yes, I have still held onto my ID after all this time, thank you very much.

My Ideal City Getaway

I know this blog is supposed to highlight city events. However, I am so burnt out on NYC right now, all I can think about is escaping from it!


Here is the rundown on my fantasy weekend:


Friday:
Head upstate to the Catskill mountains
Once I have arrived at the Breathe Inn located in a small town called Lanesville, immediately flop down on the comfy bed in my Mali Studio bedroom

Saturday:
Wake up for some yummy breakfast
Go canoing or tubing on the Esopus
Maybe take a cooking class if I feel like it
Drive 20 minutes over to Woodstock, NY for a Midnight Ramble with Levon Helm

Sunday:
Sleeeeeep in
Have one more yummy breakfast
Begrudgingly head back downstate to reality




Sigh.... does it have to be a dream?

Bryant Park events announced!

Bryant Park announced their Monday movies for the summer, which makes me look forward to June even more than before! Also they announced their GMA concerts line-up, if I can get my ass outta bed early enough. Though I think Feist on July 25th might be a good enough reason for me to head to Bryant Park early on a Friday! =)

2008 HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival

The lawn opens at 5:00pm for blankets (no plastic tarps please) and picnicking. The films begin at dusk (typically between 8pm and 9pm).

June

Mon 16: Dr. No

Mon 23: Bride of Frankenstein

Mon 30: Hud

July

Mon 7: The Man Who Came to Dinner

Mon 14: Fail Safe

Mon 21: Arsenic and Old Lace

Mon 28: The Apartment

August

Mon 4: Lifeboat

Mon 11: The Candidate

Mon 18: Superman

http://bryantpark.org/