Philadelphia Weekly back issues from February 2008:
THE ANGRY GRAMMARIAN
Feb 06, 2008; ... Design of the Cross For the moment, the graphic designers are beating us. That's unacceptable. The angry art directors at design-police, org have put together a fully downloadable kit of stickers to affix to signs, billboards, doctor's office magazines and more. From "Stretched ...
On the Case
Feb 06, 2008; ... UPDATE A surprise confession may help solve a Strawberry Mansion murder. Months ago Gwen Harvey's faith pulled her through the period of intense anger she endured after learning that someone had robbed and murdered her 22-year-old son as he rode his bike through Strawberry ...
Eyeless in Gaza
Feb 06, 2008; ... An Egyptian soccer star shames U.S. sports millionaires. In a world where mainstream media dumb down news reportage with inane sports metaphors, sometimes it takes sports to remind us of the gravity of the actual news. While the press acts like extras on Gossip Girl as they assess the ...
A Tale of Two Breweries
Feb 06, 2008; ... WHEN YARDS BROKE UP1 THE COMMUNITY; FOCUSED PHILADELPHIA BREWING COMPANY WAS FORMED. WILL KENSINGTON EVER BE THE SAME? By 10 p.m. they're dancing. In the cluttered, half-painted temporary tasting room of Kensington's Philadelphia Brewing Company (PBC), darts fly, the B-52s wail, ...
Q-licious: A Mad, Mad Tea Party
Feb 06, 2008; ... LORD OF THE STRINGS Sat., Feb. 9,7pm. $35-$75. Girard College, 2101 S. College Ave. 215.887.7100. www.spiralq.org Spiral Q Puppet Theater has been slinging puppets since before Team America: World Police redefined the concept of sex with strings attached. Spiral Q's all about ...
"Frida and Me: Common Threads"
Feb 06, 2008; ... T.G.I. FRIDA Through Feb. 23. Free. Projects Gallery, 629 N. Second St. 267.303.9652. www.projectsgallery.com Frida Kahlo put up with a lot of bullshit-polio, a near-fatal bus accident, a cheating husband, a slutty sister-and she totally owned her facial hair issues. Talk about ...
Building a Broken Mousetrap
Feb 06, 2008; ... CLOGOSPHERE Thurs., Feb. 7,7pm. $5-$7. International House, 3701 Chestnut St. 866.468.7619. www.ihousephilly.org When Dutch punks the Ex visited New York's Knitting Factory on the third anniversary of 9/11, the city was feeling more than a little colicky. The ignoramus-packed ...
A Bob Marley Birthday Celebration
Feb 06, 2008; ... READY DREDDY GO Africa Unite Wed., Feb. 6, 8pm and 10pm. $12. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com Wed., Feb. 6, 8pm. $8. Khyber, 56 S. Second St. 215.238.5888. www.thekhyber.com Poor Bob Mariey-a great musician and activist reduced ...
Knitzkrieg!
Feb 06, 2008; ... ON THE RADAR The axis of needle exists-and they're pissed. A few weeks ago I wrote a whimsical column playfully attacking what I assumed was an entirely fictional menace to society-the "knit-Nazis." You can imagine my surprise when my inbox was flooded with furious, ...
REVELATIONS
Feb 06, 2008; ... Jamie Capaldi Gargani, Pole Dance Instructor "I get girls from all walks of life. When the strippers come to me, they're there because they want to up their game. Sometimes we'll take a field trip to the strip club. We don't see very much we don't already do. I've never been a stripper ....
LIT GLOSS
Feb 06, 2008; ... LIT GLOSS Given its topic, Tuminq White should be a great book. It's the memoir of an African-American man, Lee Thomas, whose skin is losing its pigmentation, turning from deep brown to pasty white. The implications are enormous. What does it mean to lose such a key piece of your ...
OPENING RIFF
Feb 06, 2008; ... Winter Wonderland The opening night of this year's Northern Liberties Winter Music Fest includes a nod to the good ol' days in the form of a bluegrass jam featuring Mason Porter and the awesomely named Wissahickon Chicken Shack. Comprised of eight mostly classically trained musicians, ...
UMM ... DROP
Feb 06, 2008; ... Every singer/songwriter should be as playful as Nicole Reynolds, who resembles a giddy kid no matter what she's singing about. This Arduous Alchemy, her newish follow-up to 2006's 20-song Wolves Won't Eat Us, opens with a pointed lyric- "Would you give me your lung if I needed a lung?"-and from ...
Gaye Day
Feb 06, 2008; ... POWER OF SOUL The biggest, baddest fuck-you album ever gets reworked. As Valentine's Day fast approaches, and couples all over the land plan to get together, whisper sweet nothings into one another's ears and pull out the strawberries and chocolate sauce to get all sticky and ...
DEFEND ITS EXISTENCE
Feb 06, 2008; ... DEFEND ITS EXISTENCE Rivers Cuomo Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (Geffen) It's common knowledge that most rock snobs were into Weezer at some point. I'm not just talking about tolerating the radio singles or YouTubing that Sumo wrestler vid after five too many drinks ....
White Williams
Feb 06, 2008; ... White Williams Sat., Feb. 9, 9pm. $10. With Ecstatic Sunshine + Rings. Johnny Brenda's, 1201 Frankford Aye. 215.739.9684. www.r5productions.com "DIY" may have overtones of the self-made go-getter, pulling up by the bootstraps, but Joe ("White") Williams doesn't sound like he's ...
Liars
Feb 06, 2008; ... Liars Sun., Feb. 10, 7:30pm. $10-$12. With No Age. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 866.468.7619. www.r5productions.com Drums Not Dead, the third album from Liars, delivers what it promises. The percussion-heavy songs are a welcome relief from They Were Wrong, So We ...
Sole and the Skyrider Band
Feb 06, 2008; ... Sole and the Skyrider Band Thurs., Feb. 7, 9pm. $8 With Telephone Jim Jesus + Popo. Khyber. 56 S. Second St. 215.238.5888. www.thekhyber.com Sole, whose driver's license reads Tim Holland, recorded his latest album Sole and the Skyrider Band holed up in a studio in Arizona. They ...
Vampire Weekend
Feb 06, 2008; ... Vampire Weekend Thurs., Feb. 7, 8pm. Sold out. With Sam Rosen. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 866.468.7619. www.r5productions.com Despite their recent graduation from Columbia, the members of Vampire Weekend have already ditched the 9-to-5 daily grind in favor of an ...
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues Band
Feb 06, 2008; ... Cat Power and Dirty Delta t Blues Band Fri., Feb. 8,7:30pm. With Appaloosa. Starlight Ballroom, 460 N. Ninth St. 215.769.1530. www.r5productions.com Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) has always been an evocative performer whose bare-wire emotionality was designed to shock and ...
Leon Russell
Feb 06, 2008; ... Leon Russell Sun., Feb. 10,7:30pm. $26-$45. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com The "master of space and time," as Joe Cocker dubbed him, has been laying down piano and guitar on classic albums for half a century now, starting in Phil t ...
Wayne Krantz
Feb 06, 2008; ... Wayne Krantz Fri., Feb. 8, 8pm and 10pm. $15-$20. Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St. 215.568.3131. www.chrisjazzcafe.com He's the hippest of jazz-rock guitarists, with a tart, slithery attack that's earned him sideman spots with Chris Potter, Steely Dan and Morph the Cat-era ...
Seeing Red
Feb 06, 2008; ... Seeing Red With its latest signing, Mad Dragon records becomes a force to be reckoned with. Mad Dragon Artist Showcase Fri., Feb. 8, 7:30pm. $10 (free with Drexel ID). With Redwalls, Matt Duke, Andrew Lipke, Swimmers + Takeover UK. Mandell Theatre, 33rd and Chestnut sts ....
Puppet Love
Feb 06, 2008; ... Puppet Love The ICA's marionette show is hard-hitting fun. "The Puppet Show" Through March 30. Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th (St. 215.898.7108. www.icaphila.org Artists enjoy being in control. They're puppeteers. And as you can see in the Institute of ...
A Taste of Home
Feb 06, 2008; ... A Taste of Home The Ugly American's biscuits are the truest form of patriotism. Ugly American 1100 S. Front St. 215.336.1100. www.uglyamerican philly.com Cuisine: Regional American. Hours: Mon.Thurs., 5-10pm; Fri.-Sat., 5-11pm; Sun., 11am-3pm and ...
Death Register
Feb 06, 2008; ... FROM THE MARKET We kill the planet when we shop-but so what? After dozens of posts on Whole Foods' recent decision to do away with plastic bags by spring, the discussion on Philly Blog devolved into an ugly exchange between a pro-plastic (PP) punter and a proponent of the string ...
EAT BEAT
Feb 06, 2008; ... Eat It for Love! Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and we know some of you will be punished by your significant others if you don't mark the occasion by going out to dinner. Of the multitude of options out there, we got a kick out of two: Marigold Kitchen's $45 four-course prixfixe ...
Abort in a Storm
Feb 06, 2008; ... Abort in a Storm Last year's Palme d'Or winner rides into Philly on a wave of acclaim. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days B Director: Cristian Mungiu Starrinq: Anamaria Marinea, Laura Vasiliu Opens Fri., Feb. 8 Winner of the Palme d'Or at last ...
EYE CANDY
Feb 06, 2008; ... THREE SWEET PICKS TO GET YOU THROUGH THE WEEK. Across the Universe DVD What: Sixties history, romance and Beatles songs. Why: "We're in the middle of a revolution, Jude!" That's the level of deadly dialogue in this earnest, literalistic phantasmagoria. But the ...
THE SIX PACK
Feb 06, 2008; ... Six Films That Deal With Illegal Abortion Love With the Proper Stranger (1963): Filmgoers in 1963 who flocked to the new romantic comedy starring Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen with the cute poster were in for a surprise: Cute and romantic and comedie though it may be, the film concerns ...
TV
Feb 06, 2008; ... TV Pleasure for Sale B Mon., 11pm. Sundance Channel Take HBO's softcore Cathouse, suck out all the fun and frivolity, throw in a bunch of traumatic sexual baggage and you have Pleasure for Sale, the six-part documentary series on the Sundance ...
New Releases
Feb 06, 2008; ... New Releases Honeydripper Directed by John Sayles B Reviewed by Matt Prigge Now showing Is there a filmmaker less stylistically attuned to a film about music than John Sayles? Where his British counterpart Ken Loach fills his movies with infectious ...
Ongoing
Feb 06, 2008; ... Atonement Adapted by playwright Christopher Hampton from Ian McEwan's breathlessly acclaimed, doom-laden love story spanning WWII and beyond. B (S.B.) The Bucket List Directed with an astounding lack of interest by the once-talented Rob Reiner, The Bucket List stars Jack ...
Repertory
Feb 06, 2008; ... Ambler Theater $3.50-$8.50.108 E. Butler Ave. 215.345.7855. www.amblertheater.org The Neverending Story (1984) (Shown on DVD): Ironically, eight minutes were snipped for the American release of this lavish West German English-language production, which plunges viewers ...
JUICY, JAGGED, JAZZ
Feb 06, 2008; ... Legendary jazz is hard to come by. Unless, that is, you happen to be at the Kimmel Center. From tributes to jazz icons to soulful expressions from the heart, Verizon Hall is the place to be for jazz. Growing up with a jazz master can have its inspirational moments. ForT.S. Monk, son of ...
Bad Call
Feb 06, 2008; ... NEIGHBORHOODS A girls' soccer team elicits racist epithets in South Philly. "If a white adult calls a 9-year-old African-American girl an 'effing animal,'" says Walter Stewart, "I think that's racial. They're calling her less than human." When the Anderson Monarchs-the ...
Why Do I Love Obama?
Feb 06, 2008; ... Let me count the ways. Are you voting for Hillary or Obama, and why? It seemed like a simple question when I emailed it to a few friends last week. But the responses revealed two things. George Bush got elected, twice, because people are stupid. And I need new friends. To ...
The Real (Estate) Deal
Feb 13, 2008; ... COST OF LIVING So far Philly has avoided the worst of the housing crisis. Crossing Walnut Street in Old City, in a hurry toward tall glass doors, realtor Celeste Barbadoro yells over the sound of the pouring rain, "This is the coolest by far." And even in the midst of a ...
Not to Be-Labor the Point, But ...
Feb 13, 2008; ... Minority membership still an issue, the unions get their way. Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. is disappointed, and rightfully so. For one, he was sold out by his colleagues. Two, he and his colleagues were once again snubbed by the city's building trades unions. The ...
Ying Tong: A Walk With the Goons
Feb 13, 2008; ... GOON CRAZY Wed., Feb. 13, 7:30pm. $37-$52. Through March 16. Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. 215.546.7824. www.wilmatheater.org. The Goons begat Monty Python who begat The Young Ones and Bottom and The Mighty Boosh and all the other great British shows that marry surrealism with ...
"You People"
Feb 13, 2008; ... JIMMI SCHMENDRICK Wed., Feb. 13, 6:30pm. Free. Through May 9. Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 1338 Mt. Vernon St. 215.627.6747. www.rodephshalom.org If the last time you made it to synagogue was for your secondcousin's bar mitzvah back before ...
LIT GLOSS
Feb 13, 2008; ... LIT GLOSS I began reading former 60 Minutes producer John Marks' Fangland out of obligation. I've written here about magazines, poetry, comic books, memoirs and philosophical treatises. But I've never written about fantasy or science fiction, probably because I can't bear it. I've tried ...
Tug of Love
Feb 13, 2008; ... ON THE RADAR Is Western culture being drowned by a jism tsunami? Hi, my name's Roderick Quaderly. No, it's not. But that how Americans pronounce "erotic quarterly," which is so cute. I know this because the phrase echoed around the office after we received a copy of Boink: ...
TRICKS
Feb 13, 2008; ... letters@philadelphiaweekly.com Peter Pitchford www.magicbymanipulation.com "There's competition with people like Vernon the Circus Idiot who show up and clown around. Tney make magic look bad. I want to put them out of business. When most people think magicians, they ...
DEFEND ITS EXISTENCE
Feb 13, 2008; ... DEFEND ITS EXISTENCE Spice Girls Greatest Hits (Virgin) There was a time when liking the Spice Girls was akin to admitting defeat. With their idle declarations of empowerment based on cosmetics and sex rather than institutional reform, the Spice Girls signified ...
Love Drunk
Feb 13, 2008; ... Old-fashioned love songs are anything but. A great Trinidadian intellectual named Haddaway once asked, "What is love?" Over the years, plenty music artists have given this oh-so-important query a go. For Pat Benatar, love is a battlefield. For Linda Ronstadt, it is a rose. For ...
EAT BEAT
Feb 13, 2008; ... Eat It and Drink It, Eventually! "It is not an Italian gastropub," says owner Nicholas Miglino of Sticks & Stones, his forthcoming resto-bar at 1909 E. Passyunk Ave. What is it then exactly, Mr. Miglino? He can't say for sure, citing thin-crust pizza, nachos, lamb burgers, roasted ...
Big Bad Tad
Feb 13, 2008; ... Grunge's true hero is exposed in a new documentary. letters@philadelphiaweekly.com Tad came before Nirvana. It was 1991, an unconscionably hot August night, and the Seattle quartet-led by their namesake, the hulking and hairy singer/guitarist Tad Doyle-took over the stage ...
Above Average Joe
Feb 13, 2008; ... Above Average Joe A South Philly cafe serves up a taste of the old country. Even for a novice unaccustomed to stop-sign slides and impromptu games of stickball, South Eighth Street is a fairly painless drive. Until you get down around Dickinson, where the road becomes a Lexus ...
EYE CANDY
Feb 13, 2008; ... THREE SWEET PICKS TO GET YOU THROUGH THE WEEK. 2 Days in Paris DVD What: Valentine's Day option No.1. Why: Why do couples stay together, even If they seem mismatched, hostile or competitive? That's the deeper question behind Julie Delpy's charming, ...
Modern Greek
Feb 13, 2008; ... A Cypriot family preserves its roots in Philly. Three-year-old Leander Pitsillides stares at his supper: fresh artichoke salad, handmade sausage with red wine and coriander, roast potato and pistachio keftedes (a Greek meatball). But something's not right. He gestures for a squeeze of ...
THE SIX PACK
Feb 13, 2008; ... Six Director's Cuts or Expanded Editions That Are Inferior to Their Theatrical Cuts Apocalypse Now Redux (1979/2001): A temporarily whimsical Willard stealing Kilgore's prized surfboard, the stranded Playboy bunnies offering their bodies for fuel, the lengthy French plantation scene, ...
Limbo Shtick
Feb 13, 2008; ... Limbo Shtick In Bruges is a delightful mixture of the sacred and profane. Sure, we could all probably go the rest of our lives without sitting through another indie about foulmouthed, wise-cracking hitmen. But acclaimed playwright Martin McDonagh's droll, affecting feature debut ...
OPENING RIFF
Feb 13, 2008; ... letters@philadelphiaweekly.com Too Much Too Late Rock critic Richard Meltzer never wrote anything funnier than his account of a mid-'70s food fight with the New York Dolls, David Johansen and Meltzer flinging handfuls of macaroni salad at one another at a Mercury party, leather ...
UMM ... DROP
Feb 13, 2008; ... letters@philadelphiaweekly.com Halloween would be a better time for Philly's Dead City Psychos to return from the grave, but who are we to look a gift corpse in the mouth? Five years after retiring their third incarnation, the forbidding punks are giving it one more go with a reunion of ...
Definitely, Maybe
Feb 13, 2008; ... Definitely, Maybe Directed by Adam Brooks D+ Reviewed by Sean Büros Opens Fri., Feb. 15 Passing itself off as a romantic comedy despite being neither . romantic nor particularly comedie, writer/director Adam Brooks' terminally bland, brutally overlong tale ...
Diary of the Dead
Feb 13, 2008; ... New Releases Diary of the Dead Directed by George A. Romero B Reviewed by Matt Prigge Opens Fri., Feb. 15 For George A. Romero, one zombie movie a decade has been enough (minus the '90s, alas), each film summing up its respective decade with the ...
2007 Academy Award Nominated Shorts
Feb 13, 2008; ... 2007 Academy Award Nominated Shorts Reviewed by Matt Prigge Opens Fri., Feb. 15 The short film is a rich and underviewed art form, but you wouldn't know it from the 10 nominated for this year's Oscars. Like those on the foreign-language film panel, the live action and ...
Repertory
Feb 13, 2008; ... Ambler Theater $3.50-$8.50.108 E. Butler Ave. 215.345.7855. www.amblertheater.org The Secret Garden (1993) (Shown on DVD): After hits like Europa Europa and Olivier Olivier Polish filmmaker, Agnieszka Holland went to Britain to film the umpteenth film or TV version of the ...
Ongoing
Feb 13, 2008; ... Atonement Adapted by playwright Christopher Hampton from lan McEwan's breathlessly acclaimed, doom-laden love story spanning WWII and beyond. B (S.B.) Caramel Filmed between wars, Caramel doubles as an accidentally forlorn time capsule of a period when Beirut was inching ...
TV
Feb 13, 2008; ... TV Eli Stone B+ Thurs., 10pm. ABC "I recently found out I could be a prophet," says lawyer Eli Stone, played by handsome Brit Jonny Lee Miller with an exaggerated American accent. He's at the foot of the Himalayas surrounded by Sherpas, but not really. It's just ...
Karl Rove
Feb 13, 2008; ... RED MEANIE Wed., Feb. 20, 8pm. $5. Irvine Auditorium, 3401 Spruce St. www.specevents.net Need more Satan in your life? You're in luck. Known alternately as the most evil man in the world, "Bush's brain" and simply "the architect," Karl Rove has been not so much a thorn in the ...
The Brady Hunch
Feb 13, 2008; ... LEADERSHIP Is best schools CEO already in position? Last summer Tom Brady was sure he'd be the next CEO of the Philadelphia School District. After all, the district had already turned to the chief operating officer when Paul Vallas abruptly resigned in the wake of a massive ...
Strange Bettingfellows
Feb 13, 2008; ... CASINO OPPOSITION HAS UNITED TWO VERY DIFFERENT RIVERFRONT COMMUNITIES. With news coverage about Philadelphia's maybe-imminent casinos languishing below the fold for a couple years now, one could be forgiven for tuning the issue out. But don't. Instead, go to Fishtown and ...
TAKE ME TO THE RIVER
Feb 13, 2008; ... COMMUNITY GROUPS' WATERFRONT PROPOSALS AT A GLANCE. Commissioned by John Street to lead a planning process with the help of a diverse advisory board, Penn Praxis issued a broad-based proposal titled "A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware." The proposal, released in November, cited ...