60 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MAY 22, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! SPRING INTO SAVINGS ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC QC $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 6/16/14 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 6/16/14 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and EYE EXAM tting add’l. *See store for details. QC DISPOSABLE CONTACTS $99 Includes: •EYE EXAM •2 Boxes of Lenses Contact Lens Fitting additional. Clear Soft contacts brand clear spherical lenses.Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer ends: 6/16/14 DESIGNER SUNGLASSES st STARTING AT $99 Place of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Some Restrictions Apply. See Store For Details. In Stock Items Only. Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. QC Must present prior to purchase. Offer expires: 6/16/14 buzz Satirical newscast ‘The Mideast Show’ turns to Kickstarter BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com/@aaltamirano28 Laughter is the basis of a new Kickstarter campaign looking to bring Western attention to Middle Eastern headlines. Based on the structure of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” a satirical newscast all about the Middle East called “The Mideast Show” was dreamed up by Brooklyn resident Kayvon Afshari earlier this year. “I thought there was a need to create a space, create a platform where people with a sense of humor could laugh together,” Afshari said. At fi rst Afshari was going to shoot the show from his apartment using an iPhone, but after receiving strong, positive feedback on the idea he began reaching out to friends and colleagues in Brooklyn and Queens to help create the fi rst episode. The pilot episode, partially written by Jackson Heights resident Serhan Ayhan, features Afshari as the host of the show reviewing headlines out of the Middle East, a special guest, on-scene reporting and much more. However, the big challenge for the show is funding. The pilot episode cost about $15,000 to create. With the hopes of producing fi ve more episodes for the fi rst season, Afshari has turned to Kickstarter to raise a goal of $85,000. The money would go into renting a studio, camera and equipment, hire a professional crew involving camera operators, director, audio engineer and graphic designers, and post-production work. The funds would also help purchase props for the show and pay members of the creative team, most of whom are currently volunteering their time. The mission of “The Mideast Show” is to create a newscast for people who have a sense of humor about the Middle East and want to laugh together, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity, according to the show’s Kickstarter website. “There is a lack of information on the Middle East that Americans have and among some people there is not even an interest,” said Afshari. “We are embedded in this region. However, people don’t know about it.” The team behind the show is mixed with various Middle Eastern roots, including Afshari who is Persian- American. Ayhan, who is half Turkish and half Kurdish and one of the writers for the show, came up with the segment on the pilot episode where reporter Rex Huckstable takes a trip to the Little Egypt community in Astoria and speaks to residents about recent elections in Egypt. In future episodes, Ayhan said he hopes to have the chance to continue doing segments on local Middle Eastern communities. “The goal is to entertain but also educate. We’re not trying to make fun of people from the Middle East,” Ayhan said. “We want to be that bridge to educate people.” To donate to the Kickstarter campaign visit www. kickstarter.com/projects/mideastshow/the-mideastshow satirical-newscast-on-the-middle. For more information on “The Mideast Show” and to watch the pilot episode visit www.mideastshow.com. Kayvon Afshari (center) and his team on “The Mideast Show” have turned to Kickstarter to raise funds to help continue fi lming the series. Photo by Clarke Leo Michael Smith
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