Philadelphia City Paper, December 15th, 2011

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30 YEARS OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2011 #1385 |

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ERACE | Sbraga can win them all

DENVIR | Corbett’s quiet business bailout BRADY | 2011’s top jazz

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SCAN FOR A STORE NEAR YOU.

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AS PHILADELPHIA’S HOME OF THE PERFORMING ARTS

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THE KIMMEL CENTER CELEBRATES 10 YEARS

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Celebrate the Kimmel Center’s 10th Anniversary with FREE programming in Commonwealth Plaza all month long! Sat, Dec 17, 11am PNC GROW UP GREAT

THE UKULADIES

The Ukuladies are full-scale family entertainment featuring ukuleles, singing, dancing, and comedy.

Sat, Dec 17, 1:30pm & 5:30pm TUBACHRISTMAS

The holidays come to life as more than 100 tuba, sousaphone, and euphonium players join together to perform holiday classics for fans of all ages.

Sun, Dec 18, 5:30pm KIMMEL CENTER YOUTH JAZZ ENSEMBLE WINTER CONCERT

Featuring original compositions by student members of the Kimmel’s Creative Music Program.

Fri, Dec 23, 5:30pm THE FABULOUS SHPIELKEHS

Sat, Dec 24, 11am HOLIDAY STORYTIME

Celebrate Christmas Eve with dramatic readings of holiday classics like The Night Before Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

Sat, Dec 31, 5:30pm SING IN THE NEW YEAR!

Soprano Elizabeth Racheva and oboist Amy Miller perform solo and ensemble selections by Vaughan Williams, Handel, Bach, Philadelphia composer Andrea Clearfield, traditional favorites, and more.

Sun, Jan 1, 10am – 6pm NEW YEAR’S DAY CELEBRATION

Enjoy a bird’s eye view of the Mummer’s Parade! Bring the kids for balloon sculptures, face painting, crafts, and jugglers. Write your resolution on our Resolution Wall and enjoy performances by Steve Pullara & His Cool Beans Band, Broadway Dreams, and more.

kimmelcenter.org/free Sponsored by:

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Party down old-world style with The Fabulous Shpielkehs, some Philly’s finest musicians dedicated to fostering the centuries-old tradition of Klezmer music.

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cpstaff We made this

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citypaper.net 123 Chestnut Street, Third Floor, Phila., PA 19106. 215-735-8444, Tip Line 215-7358444 ext. 241, Letters to the Editor editorial@citypaper.net, Listings Fax 215-8751800, Classified Ads 215-248-CITY, Advertising Fax 215-735-8535, Subscriptions 215-735-8444 ext. 235 Philadelphia City Paper is published and distributed every Thursday in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Bucks & Delaware Counties, in South Jersey and in Northern Delaware. Philadelphia City Paper is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased from our main office at $1 per copy. No person may, without prior written permission from Philadelphia City Paper, take more than one copy of each issue. Pennsylvania law prohibits any person from inserting printed material of any kind into any newspaper without the consent of the owner or publisher. Contents copyright © 2011, Philadelphia City Paper. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Philadelphia City Paper assumes no obligation (other than cancellation of charges for actual space occupied) for accidental errors in advertising, but will be glad to furnish a signed letter to the buying public.

contents Ahead of the curve

Hostile Witness.........................................................................7 This Modern World..............................................................10 Re:View ......................................................................................28 Queer Bait .................................................................................47 What’s Cooking .....................................................................53

djnights

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H I P H O P W O R L D T R A N C E R & B H O U S E R O C K E L E C T R O B R E A K U N K S O U L D & B I N D I E R O C K E L E C T R O R E G G A E G O T H / I N D U S T R I A L H I P H O P W O R L D T R A N C E R & B H O U S E R O C K E L E C T R O B R E A K S T E C H N O P U N K S O www.citypaper.net/djnights U L D & B I N D I E ROCKELECTROREGGAEGOTH/INDUSTRIALHIPHOPROCKWORLD IEROCKELECTROREGGAEUNKSOULD&BINDIEROCKELEC

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Publisher Nancy Stuski Editor in Chief Theresa Everline Senior Editor Patrick Rapa News Editor Samantha Melamed Associate Editor and Web Editor Drew Lazor Arts & Movies Editor/Copy Chief Carolyn Huckabay Associate Editor Josh Middleton Senior Writer Isaiah Thompson Staff Writer Daniel Denvir Assistant Copy Editor Carolyn Wyman Contributors Sam Adams, A.D. Amorosi, Janet Anderson, Rodney Anonymous, Mary Armstrong, Nancy Armstrong, Meg Augustin, Justin Bauer, Shaun Brady, Peter Burwasser, Anthony Campisi, Ryan Carey, Mark Cofta, Felicia D’Ambrosio, Jesse Delaney, Adam Erace, M.J. Fine, David Anthony Fox, Cindy Fuchs, K. Ross Hoffman, Brian Howard, Deni Kasrel, Gary M. Kramer, Gair “Dev 79” Marking, Robert McCormick, Andrew Milner, Cassie Owens, Michael Pelusi, Nathaniel Popkin, Robin Rice, Lee Stabert, Andrew Thompson, Tom Tomorrow, Char Vandermeer, John Vettese, Bruce Walsh, Julia West Editorial Interns Brandon Baker, Chris Brown, Francesca Crozier-Fitzgerald, Anna Pan, Massimo Pulcini, Alexandra Weiss, Brian Wilensky Associate Web Editor/Staff Photographer Neal Santos Production Director Michael Polimeno Editorial Art Director Reseca Peskin Senior Editorial Designer Alyssa Grenning Senior Designer Evan M. Lopez Editorial Designer Matt Egger Contributing Photographers Jessica Kourkounis, Mark Stehle Contributing Illustrators Ryan Casey, Don Haring Jr., Joel Kimmel, Thomas Pitilli, Matthew Smith Human Resources Ron Scully (ext. 210) Office Manager/Sales Coordinator/Financial Coordinator Tricia Bradley (ext. 232) Circulation Director Mark Burkert (ext. 239) Advertising Director Eileen Pursley (ext. 257) Senior Account Managers Nick Cavanaugh (ext. 260), Kevin Gallagher (ext. 250), Sharon MacWilliams (ext. 262), Stephan Sitzai (ext. 258) Account Managers Sara Carano (ext. 228), Chris Scartelli (ext. 215), Donald Snyder (ext. 213) Marketing/Online Coordinator Jennifer Francano (ext. 252) Office Coordinator/Adult Advertising Sales Alexis Pierce (ext. 234) Founder & Editor Emeritus Bruce Schimmel

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the thebellcurve CP’s Quality-o-Life-o-Meter

[ - 5]

Three Salvation Army kettles full of donations are stolen outside Acmes in the Northeast. “The worst part is how long it took for help to show up. I rang my bell for hours and everybody just ignored me.”

[ +2 ]

Swarthmore students re-create Thomas Eakins’ Gross Clinic as a giant 3-D cardboard construction. OK, Walmart lady.You can have this one.

[ +4 ]

Mayor Nutter says he will veto the controversial wall-wrap bill. “As you all know,” says Nutter, “I am a big fan of certain types of wrap. Shrink wrap. Cling wrap. Chicken Caesar wrap. But this bill is no good for the city. It is, indeed, no wrapper’s delight. Hit it, Jazzy Jeff!” But Jazzy Jeff will not hit it.

[ -1 ]

A faulty Breathalyzer machine helps a cop go free on a DUI charge. “What did you expect me to do?” asks the Breathalyzer, suddenly feeling better. “He’s my partner.”

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SEPTA’s plan to let riders pay with their debit cards is “the cutting edge of public transit,” says expert. Then he goes to order a hoagie at Wawa and his head fucking explodes. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey warns retired Philly Police Capt. Raymond Lewis, arrested at an Occupy Wall Street protest, not to wear his uniform to protests. It confuses the attack horses. PATCO riders vote to replace the trains’ yellow and green interiors with blue — thus making it one of the most modern public transit systems in the world.

[ +2 ]

The fan who started Twitter accounts for the Sixers’ potential mascots is hired as the team’s social media coordinator. Also, some blogger is the new GM, and whoever has sweetest crossover and/ or cutest kitten on YouTube can play two-guard.

[ -1 ]

The Fraternal Order of Police complains about a Northeast car dealership’s use of photos of officers killed in the line of duty in a billboard campaign.“Guess we’ll go with plan B,” says dealership. “Our December Mumiathon!”

This week’s total: 3 | Last week’s total: -4

TAKING STOCK: Nina Williams says her Woodland Avenue business is successful — but a loan could help her expand her offerings. NEAL SANTOS

[ business ]

SHARING THE WEALTH A new twist on an ancient financing method offers a lifeline to Philly’s immigrant entrepreneurs. By Samantha Melamed

M

akemah Kamara, a Liberian immigrant in a brightly patterned blouse and head wrap, does passable business at her all-purpose grocery and clothing store on Woodland Avenue near 65th Street. But, she admits, competition is fierce along this Southwest Philadelphia commercial corridor, a haven for immigrant businesspeople from at least a dozen countries — many of whom open nearly identical stores within blocks of one another. “Everybody’s selling the same thing,” she says. “I need more money to improve my business” with more, better and more exclusive inventory. Because, of course, “If you have what people want, everyone comes.” The problem is that, although Kamara has been in business for four years, she has no formal credit history. The only loans she’s taken out are from susus — the West African name for peer-lending circles in which businesspeople pitch in money toward a rotating loan that’s then borrowed by each member in turn. The business world calls it a Rotating Savings and Credit Association, or ROSCA; but the practice developed independently, and by different names, in cultures from Cambodia to Mexico — anyplace where financial services were limited. Immigrants to the city have brought the tradition of the ROSCA

with them, to the Dominican-owned bodegas of North Philadelphia and the West African markets on Woodland Avenue, where participants can sometimes get access to rotating loans worth as much as $50,000. Now a few micro-lending and business-assistance organizations are looking to use the custom as a gateway into the formal economy — and as a means to unify immigrant businesses in the face of an increasingly challenging climate. “Given … the economy, we realized that some of our applicants weren’t ready for loans: They had no savings or they had very poor credit scores,” says Bertha Sarmina, who works for Finanta, a local nonprofit. “So we decided to come up with a training program that would build on this ROSCA idea.” In April, Finanta launched its first ROSCA, a Spanishlanguage circle targeting Dominican business owners in North Philly, and in September it launched a second one in Southwest Philadelphia for individuals like Kamara. A $125,000 grant from Citi Group’s Citi Community Development Impact and Innovation Fund to Finanta and a similar Philadelphia nonprofit, Entrepreneur Works, helped enable the two organizations to put a new twist on the ROSCA tradition. In this version, the nonprofit fronts the money so that each participant can get a small loan right away — in the case of the Woodland Avenue group, either $500 or $1,000 — rather than waiting their turn for a larger lump sum. But like a traditional ROSCA, everyone shares the risk, via an agreement to assume

Susus arise in cultures where banking is limited.

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✚ GOING FOR BROKE

mean the city’s shelters aren’t full — so full that, as the Inquirer’s Jennifer Lin reported recently, they are turning families away. And winter’s just starting. —Isaiah Thompson

In the past week or so, homeless advocates who observed the triple eviction of the homeless who had gathered at Dilworth Plaza alongside Occupy Philly have been asking the city a question:

✚ RUFFLED FEATHERS

[ a million stories ]

Where’d the stimulus money go?

In 2009, Philly received $21 million in stimulus funding from two federal initiatives dubbed “Homelessness Prevention” and “Rapid Rehousing.” That assistance, reasoned some of Occupy’s homeless folks and their friends, would sure have made for a better offer than the city’s shelters, which they rejected in favor of being left alone in their tents. Activist Tricia Shore, who helped move a group of homeless Occupiers from Dilworth on the eve of the city’s announced eviction, spent last week writing increasingly furious letters to the city over the group’s plight — and over the stimulus funds, which were supposed to last through August 2012. “We the people demand an accounting of the [$21 million]!” she wrote in one email to Dainette Mintz, who oversees the city’s Office of Supportive Housing, unbelieving that the city could have received so much money and still have so few options to offer. But perhaps even more shocking is that the money really has been spent, almost all of it, on rehousing almost 1,300 people and assisting nearly 3,000 others on the verge of becoming homeless. The stimulus programs’ criteria, as this reporter noted at the time of their distribution [News, “Through the Cracks,” Dec. 1, 2009], meant many homeless folks were ineligible for help: The programs, introduced in the aftermath of the recession were essentially aimed at preventing more homelessness, and came with income requirements that many people in shelters could not meet. The programs may have worked, in other words, but that doesn’t

hostilewitness By Daniel Denvir

STEALTH ATTACK

Who would’ve thought a phrase spelled out in white balloons could spook a major sports franchise? Not artist Sarah Peoples, who requested and, amazingly, got permission to create a temporary art installation in Lincoln Financial Field last week. The concept: Write out “Bread & Circuses” using 2,800 balloons. But after much planning and a Kickstarter campaign raising nearly $3,000 for supplies and helpers — in fact, just six days before the artwork was to go up — the perhaps inevitable happened. “Three people were on the conference call,” Peoples explains in an email: representatives from the Linc, the Eagles and their lawyers. “I specifically remember them reading me the definition of ‘Bread & Circuses’ from Wikipedia.” (It’s “a metaphor for a superficial means of appeasement,” the entry begins.) The upshot: no balloons. The oddest part: When she first got the go-ahead, no one asked her the specifics of the piece. Still, Peoples says she’s not angry at the team. “I am very familiar with the rights to private property,” she writes on her Kickstarter page. The work wasn’t directed at the team or the NFL. It was an exploration of the role of the spectator. (Eagles’ media relations didn’t respond to an email by press time.) She’s hoping to find another venue and possibly add “more spectacle, more entertainment, more circus.” In any case, Peoples draws a heartening conclusion: “Apparently, art is so powerful that an organization as mighty as the Philadelphia Eagles wanted no part of this project.” —Theresa Everline

Ms. Santa PAUL GENTILE

✚ Send feedback to daniel.denvir@citypaper.net.

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³ NEW JERSEY GOV. Chris Christie, pugilist and inveterate loudmouth, likely has higher name recognition in Pennsylvania than our own secretive Gov. Tom Corbett. And, after nearly one year in office, Corbett seems to like it that way. Though a conservative to the core, Corbett has refrained from attacking public employees the way Christie has, and in doing so has avoided provoking the left’s most powerful and only truly well-funded constituency. Instead, Corbett operates quietly: With Republicans in control of state government, he is giving away Pennsylvania’s natural resources and hobbling (and then hoping to sell off) our schools. Pennsylvania remains the only major naturalgas-producing state with no severance tax. Corbett — whose 2010 campaign accepted nearly $1 million from the gas lobby — is now considering an “impact fee,” but it would send little money to state coffers. He can’t support a “tax” because he has signed the “no new taxes ever”pledge circulated by conservative D.C. lobbyist Grover Norquist (who’s touting Corbett as a vice-presidential candidate). But cutting taxes and letting corporations run wild across the commonwealth is only step one. Step two, once you deprive the government of funds, is to “starve the beast.” Corbett sought $1.1 billion in cuts to state education funding. Comparatively, former Philly schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s theft was misdemeanor: State cuts forced Philly to lay off 3,000 teachers and staff. But he’s not done yet: Step three is to privatize — an easier sell after you make “government doesn’t work” a self-fulfilling prophecy by cutting funding until it can’t work. The Senate has passed legislation to create a statewide system of vouchers for private and religious schools — tantamount to a taxpayer bailout of the Catholic Church. The legislation is unconstitutional, not to mention ineffectual. But like Corbett’s other initiatives, it nonetheless accomplishes a signature policy goal: handing over millions of tax dollars to special friends. Even the hamstrung plan to privatize state wine and liquor stores is structured as a massive giveaway to politically connected beer distributors. Meanwhile, there may be less chance than ever to speak out. Corbett hopes to sign a law requiring voters to present ID — likely to disenfranchise poor, elderly and nonwhite citizens, while doing nothing to resolve (made-up) problems of voter fraud. Corbett didn’t go to Harrisburg to solve our problems, but if you have the right connections, he can help you make money off them.

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[ is writing increasingly furious letters ]

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✚ Sharing the Wealth

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@31@C7B7<5(

1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway

ansp.org

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<<< continued from page 6

responsibility for their peers’ debts. That peer pressure drives near-perfect repayment rates. More important even than access to capital, participants are building their credit histories and getting advice.“We’re using the ROSCA as a way to draw people in, and then the meetings also serve to provide some training,â€? Sarmina says. That type of counseling could prove especially vital on Woodland Avenue, says Vaughn Taylor, project manager of Southwest Community Development Corp.’s Woodland Avenue Revitalization initiative, which helped Finanta launch the ROSCA there. He worries the abundant Afro-Caribbean groceries on the corridor are beginning to cannibalize one another — and notes that they’re further threatened by the recent opening of the Cousin’s Fresh Market, a supermarket known for hard-to-find ethnic foods of the type these groceries specialize in. “Some of these people are at risk of losing their businesses,â€? Taylor acknowledges. “So if they can band together to start buying products wholesale ‌ if they can improve their storefronts, maybe they can compete. And if all those things were achieved and they still felt they couldn’t compete, some business owners may have to consider relocating — and the ROSCA will help prepare them for that.â€? Taylor says other, informal susus already in action in the neighborhood have demonstrated the potential of collective purchasing, noting some grocers currently pool their resources monthly to bring in a tractor-trailer full of palm oil to Woodland Avenue. Among the grocers participating in the ROSCA is Nina Williams, who came to the U.S. from Sierra Leone in 1989. She says business is a little slow, but she’s optimistic about her shop at 63rd and Woodland, Nina’s Grocery and Variety, a narrow space lined with shelves of palm oil, fufu flour, hair extensions and DVDs, and fitted with freezers stocked with turkey necks, cow feet and cassava leaves. She plans to borrow money to improve her storefront and add a walk-in freezer. For now, she says, customer loyalty keeps her business humming: “Everyone has their own community coming to them. [Sierra Leonean] people come to me; the Liberian people go to the Liberians. If there’s competition, the business is healthy.â€? But the problem, says Heather Hanowitz, who runs the Southwest Philly ROSCA for Finanta, is that with so many similar stores competing, “The only thing they’re competing on is price. The difference may be 25 cents or it may be 50 cents.â€? That’s why she wants to teach her clients not only about finance, but also about merchandising, marketing, customer service — and the more basic points of supply-chain dynamics. For example, she says, many retailers shop at the same wholesaler, South Philly’s Jetro Cash & Carry. “They bring their friends and family along, and all of a sudden everyone knows what base rate they’re paying for their goods — and they don’t understand why they have to pay more.â€? There’s a lot to learn for businesspeople who have been operating informally for years in

Philadelphia. One ROSCA member, Keita Lassina, an Ivorian mechanic and owner of BB Auto Repair on Chester Avenue, has been in business for eight years without ever taking out a formal loan. He hopes to build credit so that he can purchase new car lifts, which would allow him to hire more workers. Others, like Martha Banks, a native of Liberia who’s planning to open a food truck selling barbecue, face even greater challenges being unable to read or write. “Our legal system is very complex — you need to understand taxes, you need to buy licenses,� says Leslie Benoliel, executive director of Entrepreneur Works, which is working to set up its own ROSCA. “There is an informal economy in this country, but if you want to grow your business, you have to understand what it is to exist in a more formal way.� Hawa Sheriff, who owns

“If they band together, they can compete.� Habibah’s Place, a purveyor of groceries and Islamic and African clothing on Elmwood Avenue, is a case study in the frustrations facing entrepreneurs who don’t understand regulations. Sheriff opened her store in June and was shut down in November; the Department of Licenses & Inspections told her she would need to install three sinks, because the shop sells food. She’s borrowing $1,000 from the ROSCA and hopes to save another $4,000 from her job working nights as a nursing care provider to make the upgrades. Still, as complex as doing business in Philly may be, for ROSCA members the most exciting part remains getting their checks. Al-Mamy Diaby, a Woodland Avenue grocer, seems incredulous when asked why he joined Finanta’s lending circle. “It’s a susu,� he shrugged. “Everybody like it. That’s all.� (samantha@citypaper.net)

the naked city

CUSTOM DESIGNS BEAUTIFUL ONE-OF-A-KIND PIECES GIFT REGISTRY DISCOUNTED PRICING EXPERT JEWELRY REPAIRING

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Paul B. Uhr (formerly owner of Michael’s of Suburban Square Ardmore) announces the opening of his private jewelry boutique.

By appointment only-call 610-449-1527 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 1305

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[ the naked city ]

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FAR SIGHTED ➤ “YOU KNOW, THIS just might work.” That utterance sums up the spirit we’re celebrating with our 2011 Big Vision Issue. For the third year, we’re giving a warm newsprint (and online) hug to a handful of Philadelphians who have proven themselves willing and able to hurdle preconceptions, routine thinking and the quivering, keeps-you-up-at-night anxiety of the new. These Big Visionaries are an eclectic crew who have shaken up the realms of politics, arts, activism, food and more. Some have recently burst onto the scene. Others have been around longer but have made a particular impact this year. For example, our journalism/media winner, The Notebook, which covers Philly’s public schools, was founded in 1994. But this year its writers were impressively on top of several major, high-impact education stories (Arlene Ackerman, anyone?), with their reporting even earning kudos from The New York Times. To arrive at our winners and runners-up, nominations were made by City Paper staff and contributors, and then voted on by the editorial board. There were a lot of worthy candidates, a testimony the ambition and creative energy that hums all around us. Remember that next time you’re tempted to badmouth our city. —Theresa Everline (theresa.everline@citypaper.net) BIG VISION NOMINATING COMMITTEE Mary Armstrong, Shaun Brady, Mark Cofta, Daniel Denvir, Theresa Everline, M.J. Fine, Matt Hotz, Brian Howard, Carolyn Huckabay, Gary M. Kramer, Drew Lazor, Samantha Melamed, Josh Middleton, Patrick Rapa, Nancy Stuski, Isaiah Thompson

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➤ 2 0 1 1 AWA R D W I N N E R S

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REVOLUTION RECOVERY

■ PHOTO BY JESSICA KOURKOUNIS

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THE WASTE NOTS

HONORABLE MENTIONS

SUSTAINABILITY AND DESIGN ✚ RACE STREET PIER This multilevel public space created by the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. and designed by James Corner Field Operations (of New York’s High Line fame) is handsome as hell, and a promising step in revitalizing the waterfront north of Market Street. ✚ THE CITY’S BIKE LANES The Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities gave us new bike lanes on 10th and 13th, studied possible ones for Market and JFK, and painted the Ben Franklin Parkway lanes green, among other initiatives to make bicycling STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN It sounds yawn-worthy, but it’s a far-reaching project for using eco-friendly measures to reduce the amount of contaminated water that gets into rivers and streams.

A NORTHEAST PHILLY warehouse surrounded by mountains of debris may seem an unlikely site for an alchemist’s workshop, but somewhere within these trash heaps, Avi Golen and Jonathan Wybar are conjuring gold from the dross of modern life. “When we look in a Dumpster,” Golen says, “we see commodities where other people see waste.” Revolution Recovery was founded in 2004 when Golen and Wybar rented a parking lot at a scrap-iron yard and began hand-sorting Dumpsters, separating wood, metal and drywall that could be reused. The company has since expanded exponentially at a time when the construction industry has taken an enormous hit. “We were growing so

fast,” Golen says, “if the recession hadn’t hit, I don’t know if we could have kept up with it.” The idea behind Revolution Recovery is to keep construction, demolition and manufacturing waste out of landfills, and to preserve and repurpose those materials. In the company’s hands, recycling becomes not just a noble goal but a route to profitability: The more they can extract from the waste stream, the more they can sell. Their mission statement stresses a notion of community, and Golen and Wybar have put their Dumpsters where their mouths are by facilitating the creation of Recycled Artist-in-Residency, a program — started by Fern Gookin, then a Philadelphia University sustainable design stu-

dent, and the Dufala Brothers — that allows artists to cherry-pick the grounds for materials. Larger operations are following their path, but it took two guys with a pickup truck to lead the way. “We think this will be the future of how to handle waste,” Golen says. “We’re a pimple, but where the big players are operating landfills on hundreds or thousands of acres, miles high, we can do the same amount of material on three-and-a-half acres, and we’re selling it all back out.” —Shaun Brady FINDING THEIR REPURPOSE: Jonathan Wybar and Avi Golen, photographed on Dec. 2 at Revolution Recovery.

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easier. ✚ THE WATER DEPARTMENT’S

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THE CLASS ACT

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THE NOTEBOOK

IT LAUNCHED IN 1994 as a quarterly newspaper, and 15 years later it was still just a four-person operation. But in the past few years, the Notebook — the newspaper and blog covering Philly’s public schools — has doubled its work force and, more importantly, made a name for itself by being the go-to source for major education news. The Notebook has broken stories like widespread cheating on standardized tests, gone in depth on topics like the political demise of former Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, and gotten major scoops like the leaked list of schools now slated for closure. But editor Paul Socolar says the coverage that made the biggest impact was uncovering backroom dealings by the School Reform Commission (SRC), which put pressure on a contractor to pull out of a job at Martin Luther King High School in Germantown. “I think that really crystallized for a lot of people how far the SRC had strayed from being a transparent, principled public body,” Socolar says. The result was the dramatic overhaul of the SRC this fall. The nonprofit Notebook is leveraging both the old-school tradition of public-interest journalism and a new model of partnerships, such as hiring a journalist in collaboration with WHYY. That additional reporter, says Socolar, gave them the manpower to sift through hundreds of pages of documents and ultimately uncover the cheating scandal this summer. Going forward, the Notebook will be following stories with significant meaning for our city and its youth: school closures and the disposition of those properties; testing, its impacts on education and the validity of test scores; and the challenges facing the most underserved communities. “We hope by covering [these issues] in depth over the course of the school year,” says Socolar, “that we can help make sure smarter decisions are made.” —Samantha Melamed GRADE POINTS: In front of Germantown High School on Dec. 7, the Notebook staff, from left: office assistant Noreen Neal, web editor Erika Owens, outreach fellow Jason Lozada, reporter Benjamin Herold, co-founder and editor Paul Socolar, managing editor Wendy Harris, membership associate Allison Budschalow and contributing editor Dale Mezzacappa. Not pictured: business manager Corey Mark. The banner is the original logo, designed by Notebook co-founder and cartoonist Eric Joselyn.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

JOURNALISM AND MEDIA ✚ JUMP MAGAZINE Started this year by Temple journalism professor George Miller, Jump is a quarterly glossy magazine that gets students involved in showcasing everything related to Philly music. ✚ PATRICK KERKSTRA A writer for PlanPhilly, The Inquirer and others, Kerkstra has gone in-depth on subjects such as how tax-delinquent properties thwart development, shining a light on unsexy subjects that have a major impact on our city. ✚ FLYING KITE This weekly online magazine/newsletter offers features about neighborhoods, entrepreneurship, culture and more in a smart, friendly format. ■ PHOTO BY MARK STEHLE

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THE VOTER PROMOTERS

THE NEW CITY COMMISSIONERS

■ PHOTO BY NEAL SANTOS

HONORABLE MENTIONS

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS ✚ DAVID OH A scandal over his military service record, manufactured by union boss “Johnny Doc” Dougherty and others, couldn’t defeat this independent-minded Republican, now at-large city councilmanelect. ✚ BUSINESS PRIVILEGE TAX REFORM Philly’s tax burden is still substantial, but two new laws — one co-sponsored by Council members Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and Bill Green excluding the first $100,000 in gross receipts, and a second introduced by Councilman James Kenney exempting new businesses for two years — should encour-

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age more small businesses to set up shop in town. ✚ BLIGHT COURT Mayor Michael Nutter “put all property owners on notice” that Philly will no longer tolerate blight, and established a new Municipal Court division to require repairs or impose fines. We hope it will live up to its promise.

THE CITY COMMISSIONERS, the office that oversees elections in Philly, has long been known — by those who knew of it at all — as a bastion of patronage with a clunky website and a reputation for opacity. Back in 2008, Stephanie Singer, a former math professor, decided to do something about it by creating her own website with searchable election statistics. That project turned into an open-information groundswell that helped Singer, a Democrat, overtake longtime Commissioner Marge Tartaglione in May’s primaries. Then in November, Philly voted into office not one antiestablishment commissioner but two, electing, along with Singer, Republican Al Schmidt, part of the “Loyal

Opposition” faction running against Philly’s Republican Party machine. Since then, Schmidt and Singer have outlined a plan of reform, accountability and transparency. Schmidt says his first step will be a department-wide performance review to eliminate waste and improve services. Singer’s priorities range from the basic, such as putting forms online, to broad-reaching efforts to create a culture of service and build civic engagement by collaborating with community groups, businesses and other city agencies — for example, perhaps mailing voting information with water bills. The most important thing, Singer says, “is to serve all the voters and all the candidates equally.” And that means taking partisanship out of the office,

Schmidt adds. “Our campaign has really been about nonpartisan issues. It’s been about fair elections, and it’s been about honest government.” He notes that the former Republican City Commissioner was “never heard from in the meetings … and that didn’t serve us well or the city well. There’s a reason why a seat is reserved for a minority party, and it’s not just the Republican Party. I see part of the job is to represent not just our party, but other minority parties, as well.” —Samantha Melamed ELECTION WATCHERS: Al Schmidt and Stephanie Singer, photographed on Dec. 2 at Broad and Sansom streets.

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THE SCENE BUILDER

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SEAN AGNEW

SOMEBODY CAME KNOCKING on Union Transfer’s door the other day, hungry for some pasta, and Sean Agnew had to break it to him: The Spaghetti Warehouse is no more. Its kitschy, cavernous dining room has been converted into a giant, state-of-the-art rock hall with three bars, long balconies and a wide stage. For Agnew — who first started booking gigs back in 1996 at dirty punk dives like Stalag 13 in West Philly — Union Transfer is the realization of a dream long on the backburner. Oh, he and his built-from-scratch booking empire, R5 Productions, still put on shows at Johnny Brenda’s, Kung Fu Necktie and the sweaty, gritty basement of the First Unitarian Church. But after years of Agnew having to deal with noise complaints, makeshift venues, L&I headaches and overall underdogging, Union Transfer is a home base and a safe haven, a legit and beautiful concert hall that is inviting for beer-drinking/coat-checking older crowds but also true to R5’s all-ages origins. Agnew and his Union Transfer co-owners — 4 Corners Management (Avram Hornik and Mark Fichera, of Philly nightlife mainstays Lucy’s and Drinker’s) and The Bowery Presents (the much-respected indie promo company behind NYC clubs Bowery Ballroom, Terminal 5, etc.) — were clearly aiming to impress. There’s the D&B Audiotechnik sound system and the massive lighting rig, but most remarkable is the wheeled stage. For a smaller act where a cozy atmosphere will do, they can keep the place to about 500 people. For concerts with higher demand, the stage is rolled back, the balconies are opened up and the place looks like it could hold some 1,200 comfortably. Whether it’s Odd Future, Gillian Welch or the War on Drugs, there’s an arrangement to make the room fit the show. Somehow, despite its shine and polish, the place fits Agnew, too. —Patrick Rapa SOUND INVESTOR: Sean Agnew, photographed on Dec. 8 inside Union Transfer at 11th and Spring Garden streets.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

MUSIC

✚ POPPED! Days of rain foiled the plan, but the idea for this music festival, featuring the likes of the Hold Steady and Titus Andronicus, held outside in FDR Park, with a wealth of food options, was definitely a swing for the bleachers. ✚ YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN Tapped to become music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, this young, vibrant conductor is not letting that little bankruptcy problem get him down. ✚ WXPN’S THE KEY More than just a music news blog, thekey.xpn.org has made the most of its online medium and in-house studios by posting a slew of excellent original recordings by local artists. ■ PHOTO BY NEAL SANTOS

December 16, 2011 – Mid-February, 2012

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Members-Only Preview at 5:30 pm Performance by Nick Cave at 7 pm

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Performance and Opening Reception Friday, December 16, 2011, 6–8 pm

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Nick Cave: Let’s C

The Fabric Workshop and Museum 1214 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA The New Temporary Contemporary 1222 Arch Street For more information, please visit our website at fabricworkshopandmuseum.org or call 215.561.8888 Free parking provided for Members and Donors Performance will be broadcast throughout the Museum Image: Nick Cave, Speak Louder, 2011. Buttons, wire, bugle beads, upholstery, and mannequin. 98 X 68 1/2 X 54 inches (installed). Photo by James Prinz, Chicago, courtesy of Nick Cave and the Jack Shainman Gallery, NY.

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THE PLANT CHAMP

VEDGE RESTAURANT

■ PHOTO BY NEAL SANTOS

HONORABLE MENTIONS

FOOD AND DRINK ✚ FOOD TRUCKS A wave of successful trucks serving inventive dishes has washed over Philly, and in its wake we got our first edition of the Vendy Awards and LOVE Park’s transformation into a food truck haven. ✚ COOK This state-of-the-art kitchen classroom is a place to learn and experi-

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ment, courtesy of restaurateur Audrey Claire Taichman. ✚ FEDERAL DONUTS Fancy doughnuts. Fried chicken. This new spot (from a team that includes CP contributor Felicia D’Ambrosio) proves that a focus on two items plus plenty of pre-opening buzz can add up to a cool, untapped concept.

PHILLY IS ENJOYING the beginnings of a vegan boomlet. Blackbird and Grindcore House have wedged into the local pizza and coffee scenes, respectively, and more options — a fast-food operation in Rittenhouse; a raw-food café on 12th Street; a hoagie cart in West Philly — will soon join in. But no restaurant of this ilk was met with more excitement than Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby’s Vedge, which opened in November. Thank reputation. In 1994, Landau opened a café called Horizons inside a Willow Grove health-food store. After several expansions, Landau and wife Jacoby relocated Horizons to Seventh and South, where it operated with great success before closing this summer. Now, with

the slightly posh, fine-diney and fully vegan Vedge, which shifts focus from meat-aping proteins like seitan and tempeh and places it back on vegetables, Landau feels he’s reached “the pinnacle of the Horizons progression” — and its enthusiastic acceptance here represents a noted shift within our often meat-fixated dining culture. When Horizons opened, Landau “didn’t even have the word ‘vegetarian’ on the menu,” he says. “Vegetarians were made fun of — like, ‘Put on some tie-dye, smoke some pot and make some veggie chili, man.’” Now in 2011, Landau is sure “you can get a great vegetarian meal anywhere in the city.” Vedge tops the options, thanks to its smart approach. There’s “no literature and no lessons” to

digest before navigating the small-plate menu. “No one wants to be told how to eat, how to drink and how to live,” says Landau. “I’ve always wanted it to be about food, not a diet. Vegan or vegetarian is a diet. Vegetables are food.” Jacoby is pleased by Vedge’s clientele. “We get strict vegans and we get people who tell me how they went deer hunting the other day.” The very young Vedge is already fixing to wear Philly’s vegan crown — but it’s also on its way to becoming one of the city’s destination restaurants, period. —Drew Lazor THE PRODUCE DEPARTMENT: Owners Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau photographed at Vedge, 1221 Locust St., on Dec. 9.

1426 West Susquehanna Ave.

through the

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10-25% off our used bikes and selected merchandise Free fender and rack install with used bike purchase

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December

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Holiday Bike Sale13th

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NBW's North Philly

Come find the perfect gift this season while supporting Neighborhood Bike Works! for more information please visit our website neighborhoodbikeworks.org

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THE STRUCTURED THINKERS

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PARTNERS FOR SACRED SPACES

THE NONPROFIT NATIONAL organization Partners for Sacred Places (PSP), formed here in 1989, operates from a simple premise: Churches have an important economic effect on the community. In the past few years, PSP has made its mark in our city, says executive vice president Tuomi Joshua Forrest: “Philadelphia is our R&D laboratory for new programs, the epicenter for the movement.” PSP’s 2010 study, “The Economic Halo Effect of Historic Congregations,” with the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, found that 12 representative congregations contribute $52 million to the city’s annual economic value. Nevertheless, congregations face decreasing memberships and shrinking resources. PSP’s program Arts in Sacred Places focuses on churches’ unique but often overlooked asset: their spaces, which arts organizations sorely need. The big idea, Forrest explains, is to “use the full array of resources and programs in a new, strategic way.” One example of this revisioning is the theater and offices opened in October by six small companies — the Off-Broad Street consortium — in Center City’s First Baptist Church. The program is nonsectarian, notes Forrest. Much space is available for theater, dance and fine arts groups, and not only in Center City. Projects are under way in Kensington and south of South Street. These are “not landlord-tenant relationships, but more substantial.” Combining arts groups and churches can come with complications. “Arts fear work might be censored, churches wonder what’s appropriate,” Forrest admits. Yet they have a shared mission — to grow and reach new people — and Forrest has found an overwhelming number of interested groups. Overall, PSP pursues complex solutions to complex issues. These developments make neighborhoods more livable and attractive, says Forrest. “Streets are clean, property values go up, arts and social services are more available. … This lifts up what’s best about this city.” —Mark Cofta ROOM, WITH A VIEW: Partners for Sacred Spaces’ Tuomi Joshua Forrest, Bob Jaeger and Karen DiLossi, with the Rev. Edward Sparkman, senior pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church, 2040 Christian St., where this photograph was taken on Dec. 9.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

ARTS

✚ RESURRECT DEAD: THE MYSTERY OF THE TOYNBEE TILES Not only did filmmaker Jon Foy and the stars of this Philly-focused doc find a truly fascinating subject to dig their lens into, they actually solved the mystery. That never happens. ✚ GENDER REEL Under leader Joe Ippolito, this inspiring organization empowers Philly’s transgender community through multimedia art. ✚ JJ TIZIOU An already-prolific performing arts photographer, Tiziou took to the proverbial/actual skies in 2011, unveiling his “How Philly Moves” mural on the façade of a Philadelphia International Airport parking garage. Imagine how many folks have seen it from I-95 since October. ■ PHOTO BY NEAL SANTOS

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THE GALVANIZERS

OCCUPY PHILLY

■ PHOTO BY NEAL SANTOS

HONORABLE MENTIONS

ACTIVISM AND WATCHDOGS ✚ PROTECTING OUR WATERS Founded by Iris Marie Bloom, this grassroots environmental alliance is a feisty fighter against shale gas drilling and other threats to our drinking water. ✚ AZAVEA The geographic software company (along with various partners) was at the forefront of civic-minded

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technology this year, launching an opendata portal, encouraging residents to make their own redistricting maps, and creating a real-time Election Day incidents map. ✚ RAICES LATINO PRIDE This new group seeks to generate more involvement in the local Latino LGBTQ community.

OCCUPY PHILLY WAS big. And indeed, it still is: a big headache for the mega-rich and so much bigger than anyone could have anticipated, when it originated with a small group of people pitching tents in New York’s Zuccotti Park on Sept. 17. As the NYPD brutalized and arrested occupiers, protesters from the around the country arrived, and the news media sat up and paid attention. Soon, occupations sprung up worldwide — including here in Philadelphia. On Oct. 4, hundreds packed into the Arch Street United Methodist Church and, in what to observers seemed like a miracle of mass decision-making, quickly elected to start occupying Dilworth Plaza two days later.

The movement’s message, protesting the overwhelming political and economic control that the super-rich (“the 1 percent”) have over the rest of us (“the 99 percent”), succeeded in articulating a deep-seated anger over economic inequality that has been festering but muted since the 2007 financial crisis — and even well before. The movement was, of course, not perfect. Occupy’s technically “leaderless” and thus open to anyone: Some who made their way in front of microphones sounded stupid, including the persistently conspiratorial and crazy Ron Paul people — but, hey, those guys show up everywhere! The movement’s membership and demands, however, are much bigger: Just peruse the stories at wearethe99-

percent.tumblr.com. Even those who’ve soured on the occupation find the message infectious. The Daily News, which see-sawed overnight between lionizing the movement and dubbing them “Occupy Filthy,” continues to trumpet their message of economic justice. Even Mayor Michael Nutter felt compelled to defend the reconstruction of Dilworth Plaza as “built by the 99 percent for the 99 percent.” Though dislodged on Nov. 30, the movement likely won’t stop occupying Philly’s political agenda anytime soon. —Daniel Denvir GROUP PARTICIPATION: Occupy Philly protesters photographed on Nov. 27, three days before they were evicted from Dilworth Plaza.

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artsmusicmoviesmayhem

icepack By A.D. Amorosi

³ I’LL MAKE MY WAY to a chilly Atlantic City this

weekend for DEVO at the Showboat (Dec. 16), a quick bite at Michael Schulson’s Sampan at the Borgata, and a dip into the Pool at Harrah’s for a nightcap. But A.C. will be a colder, sad and lonelier place now that The Colonel (Dabney Coleman), Angela (Aleksa Palladino) and most particularly — but not shockingly — Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) are gone from HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Sure, rumors spread since October that Pitt was axed by his agent for being difficult “on set and otherwise.” Series co-creator Terrence Winter says Darmody’s slaughter occurred because that’s where the script took them, but still. Couldn’t they have knocked off Nucky’s creepy brother Eli? HBO could’ve wiped out the cast of Luck — the lame Michael Mann show that followed Boardwalk’s finale — it was so bad. Saying. ³ Why did Philly ignore Spank Rock,its lewd son of party rap, when he dropped his long-awaited Everything Is Boring and Everyone is a Fucking Liar this summer? Make a Christmas present of being there for him at Voyeur Dec. 17. for Making Time’s two-buckbash. ³ Here’s some out-of-nowhere DJ news: Tommy Up — the hamburglar proprietor of PYT in the Piazza whose Paperstreet club productions have seemingly taken a back seat to flipping tony meat patties for hard cash — will start a oncemonthly party at the Trestle Inn, where he’ll do something he hasn’t previously: spin. “Mainly, it’s just to get me out of the neighborhood,” says Up, a NoLibs fixture. ³ Know who else is up to something he’s not known for doing? Eighth and Fitzwater’s Little Bar owner Michael D’Addesi. He’s got a punk band, FLN, which’ll make its debut on the roof of his club on Jan. 15, during a private release party for the upcoming Mohican disc. ³ Keep your eye on a flourishing new relationship between Old City neighbors Ristorante Panorama at Front and Market and the dapper brotherly proprietors (Eric and Ryan Berley) of the newly opened Shane Confectionery and The Franklin Fountain.Madefor-Panorama candies, ice creams and gelatos are in the offing. Stay tuned. ³ Remember Icepack told you exclusively how Pine Bros.’ soft cough drops, started in this fair town in 1870 by J. Herman Pine and now rebranded by Victoria Knight-McDowell (Airborne products) and her screenwriter/director husband, Thomas Rider McDowell,would relaunch this weekend? Well, rather than hold an event at the Pat’s/Geno’s area as discussed, Rudy “Tutti” Grayzell (who says Elvis Presley turned him on to Pine drops) and Jerry Blavat will drop the drops outside Hard Rock Café (12th and Market) at noon on Dec. 16. Rocking, yes. But not coughing. ³ More ice at citypaper.net/criticalmass. (a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

LAUGH FACTORY: At Saturday’s quirky Comedy Dreamz showcase performance, expect bad impersonations, performance slapstick and insult dancing — plus plenty of actual jokes. JESSICA KOURKOUNIS

[ performance art ]

WILDEST DREAMZ A hodgepodge creative troupe gathers for an evening of comedy d’art. By A.D. Amorosi

W

hen it comes to Philly artist types pursuing standup, you might imagine lots of jokes about the Cremaster Cycle and several did-you-hear-the-ones about Richard Prince and the nurse. Yet Comedy Dreamz, a troupe of avant-comedians performing Saturday night at the Barbary, goes beyond taking shots at the New Museum or Giant Robot Gallery: Their sense of streamof-consciousness verbal teasing will allow the evening to get very physical, very fast. Think In Living Color meets Un Chien Andalou — or the cast of Basquiat dancing through Pi. It helps that Comedy Dreamz — originated by members of the Space 1026 collective — is peppered with the likes of Philly raconteurs. Laris Kreslins does a bit where the audience is forced to listen to audio from a vintage Kiss concert while watching him paint his face like Peter Chris, while local standup giants such as Doogie Horner, Steve Miller-Miller, Carolyn Busa, Sidney Gantt and Chris Cotton fill in the gaps with more traditional punch lines. “We like the ‘real’ and ‘regular’ comedy scene,” says Andrew Jeffrey Wright of the comic teaming he’s crafted with compatriot Rose Luardo. “We want to be a part of it just as much as we want to be a part of the art scene.” When you consider that Wright’s basis for all art is the use of ridiculous humor, it all starts to make sense. Kreslins’ need for cheek harkens back to a simpler time, when he

was living in Brooklyn and performing at Pete’s Candy Store, for an event called “Comedy by Non-Comedians.” “It was exactly what you’d think it was, a night of people who I thought were funny, but did not think of themselves as comics,” says Kreslins, who tried doing the same thing at NoLibs spots like The Standard Tap, teaming up with Philly’s most whack avant-garde pack. “It was a beautiful disaster,” says Kreslins of the performance that included potted plants being thrown against fake brick walls and restraining comedians who got too physical. “Things really got out of hand.” That sort of free-for-all is the perfect root for what Kreslins and the Space 1026ers are now taking on in terms of bad impersonations, performance slapstick and insult dancing. But what of the “real” comedians who take part in the murky mirth? What do they think of all this surrealist nonsense? “They run their own show, or world, and it’s completely freeing,” says Helium favorite and Comedy Dreamz participant Carolyn Busa. She notes that though some comics are at ease with the artist-only crew, some “working comedians” get “creeped out” when the likes of Wright, Luardo and Kreslins refuse to break character. “I think people were a little scared at first, but because it was so different people finally relaxed and realized comedy works in so many ways other than a mic and a bar stool. Besides, I think we all should be doing jokes about the Cremaster Cycle.” (a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

Just picture the Basquiat cast dancing through Pi.

✚ Sat., Dec. 17, 8:30 p.m., $5, Barbary, 951 N. Frankford Ave., 215-634-7400,

comedydreamzzz.blogspot.com.

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[ a slightly faceless air of politeness ] ³ weirdo disco

Much like last year’s quietly enchanting debut by their Hotflush labelmates Mount Kimbie, the eponymous bow from Brooklyn postdubstep duo Sepalcure — polymathic beat luminaries Praveen Sharma (aka Braille) and Travis Stewart (aka Machinedrum) — filters the diffuse diaspora of U.K.-bass micro-genres into a focused, delicately detailed set of gently fluid, pointillistic grooves, frayed vocal fragments, and warmly woozy atmospheres, whose slightly faceless air of politeness and familiarity hardly diminishes its ample, unassuming charms. —K. Ross Hoffman

There are your humdrum, workaday cosmic disco epics, and then there are your mega mutant bongos’n’lazers boogiethons about being abducted by actual space alien disco freakazoids, which is pretty much how it feels to listen to Mungolian Jetset, a couple of Norwegian knuckleheads with some seriously screwy musical superpowers. Schlungs (Smalltown Supersound) boasts their tightest compositions yet, but it’s best when their penchant for deliriously proggy absurdist kitsch —K. Ross Hoffman excess is left fully unfettered.

bestof2011 By Shaun Brady

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³ electronic

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TOP JAZZ

³ rock/pop The Really Cooks may be the only “food

³ folk/celtic Starting with celtic harp accompanied by subtle bodhan, segueing into accordion and fiddle, then the familiar voices of John Roberts and Tony Barrand, the aural refreshment of Jennifer Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra’s latest, Song of Solstice (SunSign), is gratifying. The subtitle, “Celtic Music for Midwinter,” should tell you this is not the average Christmas album. Many tunes are hundreds of years old; others were written to enfold all who feel a sense of awe at the time of solstice.

rock” band in Philly. Wait, they definitely are. Blending elements of ’60s British pop and tongue-in-cheek themes, the Really Cooks serve some of the bounciest tracks around on their self-released Dr. Lemonade Stand.There are disco dance beats on “Dances in High Heels,” “Pitchforks and Knives” has Viking chant verses and “Mr. Carlisle” could be mistaken for Simon & Garfunkel. Hit thereallycooks.com for recipes, then go to The HeadHouse tonight (Dec. 15, headhousephilly.com) to see them live.

—Mary Armstrong

flickpick

—Brian Wilensky

[ movie review ]

BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY

The Veil (CRYPTOGRAMOPHONE)

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This sprawling, fangs-bared live set reunites three longtime compatriots — saxophonist Tim Berne, guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Jim Black — for a ferocious trio date. Berne’s scything alto, Cline’s extraterrestrial eruptions and Black’s scrapyard barrage meld into an intensely inventive whole.

SAMUEL BLASER Consort in Motion

Sweet, but not so deep.

BLUE)

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CRAIG TABORN Avenging Angel (ECM)

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Always an intriguing collaborative presence, Taborn’s solo piano debut is a work of unusual mystery, provocative depth and intellectual clarity. MATTHEW SHIPP Art of the Improviser (THIRSTY EAR)

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To celebrate his 50th birthday, Shipp offers a monumental two-disc survey of his iconoclastic artistry, one solo, the second with his latest trio. STEVE COLEMAN & FIVE ELEMENTS The Mancy of Sound (PI)

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Coleman’s acolytes have overtaken the jazz world of late, but the saxophonist/composer >>> continued on page 28

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hugs and kisses. The route to that representation is remarkably smooth in Constance Marks and Philip Shane’s mostly superficial and completely sweet documentary, which provides plenty of talking heads to repeat fellow puppeteer Fran Brill’s sentiment that “[Clash] is most comfortable in his own skin when he is Elmo.” Explains narrator/interviewee Whoopi Goldberg, Clash has always loved TV — in particular, Captain Kangaroo on weekday mornings and Disney on Sunday nights. When he was a boy, the make-believe characters transported him to magical places, far away from Baltimore’s “Chocolate City.” Kevin endured some teasing from classmates as he began making puppets and putting on shows for sick children (he was, of course, accused of “playing with dolls”), but even as his sisters resented the attention he got, his parents encouraged his art and imagination. Being Elmo goes on to track Clash’s journey from working on a local TV show to New York, where he met Kermit Lowe, Frank Oz and eventually Jim Henson. Brought on board with the Muppets for Dark Crystal, Clash seized an unlikely opportunity: When puppeteer Richard Hunt couldn’t sort out how to make Elmo work, he tossed the puppet into Clash’s lap — literally. The rest may be history, yet the film doesn’t look much at the rest. There’s been tension along the way — Clash mentions that Henson had no black puppeteers before he came on, and also notes that his ex-wife was annoyed by his obsession with taping Elmo’s commentary on her pregnancy — yet for the most part the movie keeps to the cuteness, reflecting on Elmo’s performance — and maybe his essence, if he has one. “He’s the pure innocence part of Kevin that I think he always wants to be,” says puppeteer Bill Barretta, “but people would think he was crazy if he did it all the time.” —Cindy Fuchs

OF

A quantum leap beyond so much trite jazz-classical fusion, Swiss trombonist Blaser, ably abetted by undersung keyboard wizard Russ Lossing, bassist Thomas Morgan and late drum legend Paul Motian, vividly transforms the music of Monteverdi and other Italian composers of the Baroque and Renaissance into airy, cerebral beauty.

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(KIND

[ B ] ELMO REPRESENTS LOVE, says Kevin Clash of his self-made world of endless

TALK WITH THE HAND: In Being Elmo, puppeteer Kevin Clash remembers being teased as a kid for “playing with dolls.”

BB&C

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✚ Top Jazz

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SIREN SONGS proves again that he continues to evolve. His latest forefronts Jen Shyu’s abstract vocalese as an integral element of Coleman’s singular pieces. DAVID S. WARE Organica (Solo Saxophones, Volume 2) (AUM FIDELITY)

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WADADA LEO SMITH’S ORGANIC Heart’s Reflections (CUNEIFORM)

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The great AACM trumpeter/composer revisits and reconceives Miles Davis’ ’70s electric period on a double-disc set, backed by an ensemble of young all-stars who offer a fresh and combustible take on funk-rock-jazz fusion.

DARIUS JONES TRIO Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) (AUM FIDELITY)

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[ arts & entertainment ]

Robin Rice on visual art

The second in a series of solo releases documenting the sax titan’s return to public performance following a kidney transplant, Organica consists of two stunning concerts featuring his ever-muscular tenor and the debut of a sinuous sopranino. Proof positive of not only Ware’s vitality but the irrepressible force of his creative mind.

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<<< continued from page 27

Unlike so many of his hyper-intellectualized peers, young saxophonist Jones draws from the gut rather than the head, unleashing torrents of brawny sound from his alto. That’s not to suggest he’s any less forward-thinking, however, as this envelope-shoving second volume in his musical autobiography, centered on his rural Virginia upbringing, shows.

REZ ABBASI’S INVOCATION Suno Suno (ENJA)

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The Pakistani-born guitarist delves into his heritage with a suite of compositions inspired by Qawwali music that never feels like a forced hybrid. It doesn’t hurt that Rudresh Mahanthappa and pianist Vijay Iyer, both of whom know something about interweaving cross-cultural influences, are also on hand.

CURTIS MACDONALD Â’ 1]`S 2c] Â’ 50 @/; Â’ # 50 62

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Community Immunity (GREENLEAF)

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The young Canadian saxophonist’s debut is a showcase for his angular, tension-filled compositions. A sharp first step, full of surprises and, especially, promise. (s_brady@citypaper.net) ✚ Our Top Albums of 2011 coverage continues next week when Mary Armstrong rounds up the best roots music of the year. In the meantime, we’ll be rattling off our favorite songs of 2011 on our A&E blog, Critical Mass (citypaper. net/criticalmass).

Manipulations of the Organic leaf forms fits well here. The absence of two-dimensional collage is a surprise, and despite the show’s subtitled reference to modern and contemporary, no attempt is made to define or categorize movements. But perhaps that’s for the best. Flirting is best enjoyed on an experiential rather than a theoretical level. ³ THE WOODMERE’S com-

FLIRTING WITH ABSTRACTION: MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART OF PHILADELPHIA/ MARY L.G. HOOD AND PHILADELPHIA MODERNISM | Through Jan. 8, Woodmere Art

Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave., 215-247-0476, woodmereartmuseum.org

Âł PHILADELPHIA’S PLACE IN American Modernism, and American Modernism’s place in Philadelphia, are at the heart of two exhibitions at the Woodmere Art Museum this month. “Flirting with Abstractionâ€? is built around a group of paintings that Karen Segal has promised the museum. This gift will almost certainly cement Woodmere’s reputation as the premier repository of regional Modernist abstract painting. The exhibition of 75 works by Philadelphia artists includes many complementary pieces from the permanent collection. If you’ve ever been smitten with a Philadelphia abstract or Modernist painter, from poetic Warren Rohrer to energetic Doris Staffel to marvelously moody Stuart Shils, chances are there’s an example in this show. Its title, “Flirting with Abstraction,â€? makes it clear that total commitment to abstraction is not required. Most of the paintings record an artist’s internal dialogue — so flirtation is a happy description — with pigment, ground, gesture and vision. Painter and art writer Bill Scott contributed an essay to the catalog, “An Artist’s Thoughts on Abstraction.â€? He is acquainted with so many of the artists — including Segal herself — that one can’t help but suspect he was a key figure in organizing the show. It’s easy to see the truth of Scott’s contention that the apparently effortless felicity of his own paintings is rooted in nature. Representational references in Jane Piper’s white-out edited still-life works and garden paintings are even clearer; and some pieces, like Rose Naftulin’s luscious blue and green Lily Pond, are more Fauve than abstract. Segal’s oil pastels, executed in meandering calligraphic color, are distinctive and infused with immediacy. A small, resonant translucent-red panel with black splotches reminded me what an accomplished painter Bruce Pollock is. There’s even a work by Ree Morton, who died at the age of 41 just as her career was moving into high gear. She is often associated with the Pop movement, but her

panion show, “Mary G.L. Hood and Philadelphia Modernism,� is fascinating in the way it illuminates chunks of the 20th century in a particular affluent and artistic New Hope corner of Pennsylvania. Hood (1886-1967) and her daughter, Agnes Hood Miller (1908-1967), might be called semi-professional artists. They worked diligently at painting, each on her own. Mary kept 350 live birds in the basement and designed her own clothing. They studied, hosted artistic events, exhibited briefly and once

It’s better to flirt on an experiential level. traveled to Mexico where they visited the house of Diego Rivera and met him for a few moments. Mary Hood’s paintings are often successful. She had a delightful sense of color and feeling for line (as in Untitled, pictured, detail) reminiscent of her teacher, Arthur B. Carles. She spent way too much time (years!) making a needlepoint stair runner documenting the history of her house. This show is fleshed out with a number of related works from the museum’s collection. The catalog to the Hood show includes a wonderful account of Mary Hood and her house, Springdale, by her granddaughter, Sarah Hood Bodine. For anyone interested in Delaware Valley painting, this and the handsome Segal show catalog would make excellent stocking stuffers. (r_rice@citypaper.net)

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curtaincall David Anthony Fox on theater

WHYTORTURE IS RIGHT ³ DERANGED FAMILIES, REPUBLICAN dogma ratcheted up to dangerous heights, a first date from hell at (wait for it) Hooters — now this is my kind of holiday show. It may not be yours, of course. But starting with the syntactically haywire title, Christopher Durang’s Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, on stage now via New City Stage Co., is a hilarious return to form for the quirky playwright. It’s irreverent, it’s crazy, it’s … well, I think it’s heartwarming. Felicity has had better days. After a night of drinking and godknows-what, she’s just awakened next to a man she’s never met. It turns out they’re married, and his name is Zamir. He’s sometimes endearing, more often prickly, and Felicity wonders if he’s a terrorist. Is he? Not entirely clear (“It’s Irish,” Zamir says of his name, when Felicity asks about it). But Leonard, Felicity’s father, is convinced from the get-go. (Of course, when it comes to secret lives, Zamir has nothing on Leonard, who regularly absents himself from family life to tend to his butterfly collection.) As for Luella, Felicity’s mother, she’d probably prefer a more conventional home life — that is, in the infrequent moments she’s able to focus on the present. The above is about as close to a plot summary as I can offer — not only because I don’t want to give away the surprises, but because there’s not much of a story. Durang’s world of wacky comedy fueled by outrage and pain, familiar from plays like Beyond Therapy, The Marriage of Bette and Boo and Sister Mary Ignatius

Explains It All for You, has never followed orthodox dramaturgy, as his fans and critics point out with equal fervor. Audiences have to take it as it comes. For me, that’s part of the joy. Durang is both a playwright and an actor of delightfully offbeat charm, but in recent years he’s written less — and some of the later work (Miss Witherspoon in particular) seems to reach out for deeper meaning. Ordinarily, one might call this maturity, but to me a few of the recent plays lacked the brio of old. I’m happy to report it’s all back in Torture. It’s as if the Bush Doctrine has refueled Durang’s creative tanks. (At least it was good for something.) One of my favorite Durang tricks is the stream-of-consciousness non sequiturs that flow through the dialogue. Here, Luella is given to musing on the theater, and one of her monologues — about Tom Stoppard’s Coast of Utopia trilogy — had me laughing so hard

I think I missed the next five minutes. This was delivered by Marcia Saunders, in a superb performance that captured the essence of Luella, a doting mom from Maplewood, N.J., in all her sadomasochistic glory. Equally fine was Paul Nolan’s gleeful Leonard, and there was stellar support from Russ Widdall as a minister/porn filmmaker, Sonja Robson as a Southern matron/amateur spy and Ed Swidey as … well, I don’t know quite what he is. (See, I told you this doesn’t make sense. Just go with it.) Sam Henderson (Zamir) has exactly the right unpredictable mix of sweet and scary. Ginger Dayle (Felicity) is properly hapless, but she lacks the turn-on-a-dime range that’s so necessary in Durang. Director Michael Brophy’s production is generally fine, though it sometimes lacks a degree of sharpness, and is slowed down by scene changes (they’re necessary, but so is speed). Ultimately, Torture is a special piece for specialized tastes — but no Durang fan should miss it. Through Jan. 8, 2012, $24$26, New City Stage Co. at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-563-7500, newcitystage.org. (d_fox@citypaper.net)

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FILMS ARE GRADED BY CITY PAPER CRITICS A-F.

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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

✚ NEW

BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY|B

YOUNG ADULT|B-

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED

Read Cindy Fuchs’ review on p. 27. (Ritz at the Bourse)

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL Read Drew Lazor’s review at citypaper.net/movies. (Tuttleman IMAX)

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS|A-

COLUMBIA PICTURES AND METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES PRESENT A SCOTT RUDIN/YELLOW BIRD PRODUCTION A DAVID FINCHER FILM DANIEL CRAIG ROONEY MARA “THEMUSICGIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO” CHRISEXECUTIVE TOPHER PLUMMER STELLAN SKARSGÅRD STEVEN BERKOFF ROBIN WRIBASED GHT ONYORITHECK VAN WAGENINGENORIGINALLY JOELY RICHARDSON BY TRENT REZNOR & ATTICUS ROSS PRODUCERS STEVEN ZAILLIAN MIKAEL WALLEN ANNI FAURBYE FERNANDEZ BOOK BY STIEG LARSSON PUBLISHED BY NORSTEDTS SCREENPLAY PRODUCED BY STEVEN ZAILLIAN BY SCOTT RUDIN OLE SØNDBERG SØREN STÆRMOSE CEÁN CHAFFIN DIRECTED BY DAVID FINCHER LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES STARTS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21 CHECK

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Girls want to date them, guys want to be them (OK, and also probably want to date them): Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return for a 1891-set Holmes sequel with all the same great fight scenes and premeditated plans of attack. But this time around, they’re dealing with an academic enemy. Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), the coolas-a-cuke evil mastermind behind world destruction, is a university professor and renowned author who’s created a supply (of machine pistols) — and all he has to do is trigger a world war to create the demand. But even the bleak fate of the world can’t bring down the mischievous Holmes (Downey Jr.) and always-skeptical Watson (Law), whose endearing bromance gets even sillier in round two (cue Holmes in drag, pulling Watson to the floor — to dodge bullets, of course). But A Game of Shadows isn’t as fluid as the first film, with disjointed scenes that unintentionally slow the pace. Though it runs a little long, Shadows picks

The creative team behind Juno — director Jason Reitman, writer Diablo Cody — proposed a slightly different bent for their wordy, smart-ass female lead this time out. Imagine if the lingo-tripping Juno were her small-town Minnesota high school’s prettiest, meanest blonde, dating the handsomest, nicest boy, to the envy of all. After their bust-up, she moves to the big city for a successful writer’s career, leaving her strip-mall townies in the dust. Fine. But Young Adult’s Mavis Gary (a rumpled, boozing, eye-rolling Charlize Theron) is a glad-to-be-unhappy ghostwriter for a tween-girl book series whose quickly unraveling life (the series is canceled) gets another jolt when she discovers that her now-married ex-beau (Patrick Wilson) had a baby. Deluded by her own tattered level of urban sophistication and battered beauty, Mavis heads back to that hometown — its watering holes intact, peopled by the least-popular, most-beat-upon guy in school (Patton Oswalt) — with seduction, at any cost, as her goal. Reitman and Cody paint their coming-of-middle-age portrait with a dark palette this time out: bleaker comic twitches, neon-dappled nights, blasé suburban tones. While the banter between Theron and Oswalt’s characters is a sharply sardonic and, at times, tender brand of chatter in league with Cody’s best, its forlorn denouement and self-revelatory ending is surprisingly trite. —A.D. Amorosi (UA Riverview)

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A haiku: In real life, chipmunks sometimes eat small frogs and mice. Maybe next Squeakquel. (Not reviewed) (Pearl, UA 69th St., UA Grant, UA Riverview)

up toward the end (thanks in part to multiple high-stakes explosions), and visionary director Guy Ritchie’s visual effects and cleverly produced shots remind viewers that this is an action movie and an artistic one. The easy-onthe-eyes star power doesn’t hurt, either. Always nice to see you, Holmes. —Anna Pan (Pearl, Roxy, UA 69th St., UA Grant, UA Riverview)

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‘‘THE MOST FUN

YOU’LL HAVE AT THE MOVIES THIS YEAR!” Joel D. Amos, MOVIEFANATIC.COM

“IT’S EVEN BETTER

THAN THE FIRST MOVIE.” Tom Snyder, MOVIEGUIDE

“ROBERT DOWNEY JR. AND JUDE LAW ARE AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME.” Patrick Stoner, PBS FLICKS

“EXTRAORDINARILY BRILLIANT!”

✚ CONTINUING THE DESCENDANTS|B+ Although it’s laced with understated humor, The Descendants is Alexander Payne’s first “serious” film, which is more a matter of tone than thematic heft. George Clooney’s performance is almost entirely inward-focused, a study in slowly thawing withdrawal; it’s a cousin to his turn in last year’s The American, only without the art-house abstraction. There’s perhaps a bit too much self-conscious maturity here; Payne’s exploring new territory, but it also feels like he’s holding himself back, attempting to evolve through repression. The film could have been livelier without straying too far from its commendable nuance. —Sam Adams (Ritz East) HUGO|B+ Martin Scorsese’s depiction of film-

Sandra Varner, CELEBRITY PROFILES

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THE IDES OF MARCH|B Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) is a real up-and-comer, press secretary to Mike Morris (George Clooney), the

Betsy Sharkey

“ CHARLIZE THERON PLAYS MEAN TO PERFECTION.

IN ‘ YOUNG ADULT’ THERE IS SOMETHING

“AWE-INSPIRING ACTION AND RAZOR-SHARP HUMOR.

THIS IS WHY WE GO TO THE MOVIES!”

making pioneer Georges Méliès is an effusion of uncontrolled passion and paralyzing heartbreak, a late-night missive scrawled in the heat of emotion and destined to be wadded up and tossed away in the morning light. Adapting Brian Selznick’s novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Scorsese has found a means to fully express his irrational and overwhelming adoration of the silver screen, and in a children’s film no less. But there is an undeniable magic to the worshipful re-creations of Méliès’ productions, and an electric wonder when these still-entrancing films jostle their way onto a screen usually reserved for only the modernest of spectacles. —Shaun Brady (Pearl, UA Riverview)

ABSOLUTELY MESMERIZING ABOUT

WATCHING A TRAIN WRECK UNFOLD ON SCREEN.”

“

Mick LaSalle

HHHHH”

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF UP IN THE AIR AND THE WRITER OF JUNO

CHECK DIRECTORIES FOR LISTINGS

liberal governor vying for the presidency. But he doesn’t just view the job as a career ladder with a built-in paycheck — he really believes Morris will improve peoples’ lives once he moves into the White House. That doesn’t mean he’s guileless — since no one in the game can stay clean for long, Myers is soon painted into a nasty corner. As director, Clooney starts and ends The Ides of March with impressive precision, bottling the brawniest chunk of Myers’ trajectory without burning minutes on his rise or eventual fall. —Drew Lazor (Ritz Five)

J. EDGAR|C Clint Eastwood’s penchant for sweeping out the dusty corners of bygone eras is done no favors by his bundling of the private J. Edgar Hoover, more myopic than biopic. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hoover is a twitchy, odious caricature; while screenwriter Dustin Lance Black does well parsing the man’s much-dissected preferences, stoking real human warmth between Hoover and his suspected lover, these moments are infrequent, as Eastwood is too fixated on his jumping-bean narrative to think about whether we care about the people who comprise it. —D.L. (Ritz Five)

LIKE CRAZY|CDrake Doremus’ low-key weeper charts the transatlantic travails of a young couple (Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin) in a long-distance relationship. The film’s improvisational style facilitates a strong turn from Jones as a privileged Brit who doesn’t seem to understand that overstaying her student visa can have irrevocable consequences, but it also makes for shapeless scenes and the monotonous rhythm of separations and reunions. Most critically, Doremus asserts the couple’s bond rather than instilling it, which is to say it feels more like a structural obligation than a perfect match. —S.A. (Ritz Five)

Jake Hamilton, FOX-TV

SPECIAL MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 EVERYWHERE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16

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MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE|B+ Elizabeth Olsen makes a striking debut in Sean Durkin’s movie about a young woman decompressing from her time in a nebulously defined cult. The details of the group to which she belonged are left vague, but whatever beliefs they might espouse are less important than the sense of belonging. Whatever’s happened to her, she’s damaged beyond all but extensive repair, and it’s not clear what it will take for her to mend. —S.A. (Ritz Five)

his points too hard, until they detach from the narrative and become freestanding works of their own; yet late in Shame, McQueen and cowriter Abi Morgan tilt the story on its side, revealing Brandon’s addiction as a mere symptom of a deeper rot, one that, for once, McQueen merely implies rather than pounding into the ground. —S.A. (Ritz Five)

THE SITTER|C If you find yourself in the market for a bizarre “It Gets Better”-style pep talk administered by a pre-weightloss Jonah Hill shortly after a scene featuring a codpiece-wearing Sam Rockwell commanding an army of muscle-bound indentured servants in hot pants, then David Gordon

Roger Ebert,

++++

“

“

“Michael Fassbender delivers a riveting, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him performance.”

“Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender give unusually daring, committed performances.”

Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) is a wet-eared assistant director on Lawrence Olivier’s The Prince and the Showgirl who becomes Marilyn Monroe’s (Michelle Williams) minder and confidant. With Monroe’s marriage to Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott) already foundering, it falls to Colin to act as her one-man entourage — or at least, so it goes in his story. There’s a fundamental imbalance between the high-wattage star and her no-profile hanger-on, one the movie does little to address. Ultimately, the movie uses Colin to get close to her, just like any other bloodsucker. —S.A. (Ritz Five)

SEE IT FIRST FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 IN AND SELECT THEATRES

CENTER CITY VOORHEES Landmark’s Ritz Five Rave Ritz Center 16 (215) 925-7900 (856) 783-2726

Show us your Philly. Submit snapshots of the City of Brotherly Love, however you see it, at: photostream@citypaper.net

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NEW YEAR’S EVE|D Following his ploddingly obvious take on Valentine’s Day, Garry Marshall focuses his sitcom’s-eye-view on the hours leading up to the Times Square ball-dropping. The all-star cast plays out a thin gruel of mawkish end-of-

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MY WEEK WITH MARILYN|C+

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Growing up in a small town called Smalltown, Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (voiced by Peter Linz) are inseparable — that’s because the human/puppet twosome are brothers who’ve conveniently bonded over their love of The Muppet Show since childhood. Making Walter a Muppet is an easy way to give Gary and main squeeze Mary (Amy Adams) a foot in the door once the trio travels to California to tour the dilapidated Muppet Studio, which they learn is scheduled to be demolished by evil oil exec Tex Richman (Chris Cooper, having fun). The problem is that Walter is lame and annoying, a clueless, codependent whiner who’s a total hindrance on his brother’s relationship, his sole purpose being coaxing elder statesman Kermit (Steve Whitmire) into getting the gang back together for a benefit show to save the bricks. Yes, puppets can be unlikable. I was surprised, too. —D.L. (Pearl, UA Riverview)

SHAME|B+ Michael Fassbender takes on the role of Brandon Sullivan, a cocksure Manhattan executive whose serial sport-fucking quickly reveals itself as an insatiable compulsion. Brandon’s rhythm is upset when his younger sister (Carey Mulligan) turns up in his apartment, desperate for both financial and moral support. Steve McQueen has a weakness for pushing

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THE MUPPETS|C+

year yarns, not one of which wouldn’t crop up half a dozen times in any given TV Land marathon. The generic stereotypes are bad enough, but less forgivable is the fact that Marshall’s vision of Manhattan is as white as Happy Days. Screenwriter Katherine Fugate makes sure each storyline gets its heart-tugging speech, and a midnight toast never came as such a relief. —S.B. (Pearl, Roxy, UA Riverview)

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MELANCHOLIA|B+ If Antichrist was Lars von Trier’s anguished depiction of his own crippling depression, which was so severe he couldn’t hold a camera steady for years, Melancholia is a coolly fatalistic reconciliation that not only accepts but embraces his illness. While it’s not as clinically detached as Dogville, Melancholia has a bloodless beauty, not unlike its pale-skinned heroine. The movie doesn’t stint on its planetsize central metaphor, building to a climax that puts the scope of modern movie theaters to vigorous use. But for a movie about losing control, Melancholia sometimes exercises too much of it. —S.A. (Ritz at the Bourse)

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Green’s dippy, unbalanced The Sitter is the ticket. Green, who has both successes (Pineapple Express) and stinkers (Your Highness) filed in his stonerfied gross-out cabinet, lands a punch somewhere in the middle with this movie, which sets narcissistic screw-up Noah (Hill) on an unsuspecting Manhattan with three children of privilege in his haphazard care. A fouled-up take on Adventures in Babysitting, the movie’s at its strongest when it lets Hill just do his goober-fied, incredulous, voice-fluctuating thing — well-worn shtick, yes, but it’s often funny alongside the earnest performances of the kiddies, in particular the sour, all-pupils Blithe (Landry Bender). The Sitter goes too far, though, when it tries to be sweet — Noah’s multiple “just be yourself!” speeches, whether they address blossoming tweenage sexuality or how to embrace one’s inner beauty, are rendered preposterous by the inclusion of characters like Rockwell’s psychotic codependent coke dealer/ homosexual harem overseer. It’s all too silly to be taken seriously, which also prevents the proceedings from seeming irresponsible. —D.L. (Pearl, UA Riverview)

THE SKIN I LIVE IN|AAntonio Banderas plays Robert Ledgard, a cosmetic surgeon obsessed with creating a more durable synthetic replacement for human skin. His guinea pig is a woman (Elena Anaya) who lives locked in an upstairs room in his massive house, her body covered by a form-fitting suit and her face encased in a translucent mask. Watching her exterior tells us little; it’s the way the pieces fit together that reveals. The Skin I Live In is Pedro Almodóvar’s best film in more than a decade, supremely confident and deeply unset-

tling, with a climactic twist that all but requires repeat viewing. —S.A. (Ritz at the Bourse)

Stewart and Taylor Lautner looking sullen. —D.L. (Pearl, UA Riverview)

A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS|B-

TOMBOY|A It’s summertime, and Jeanne (Malonn Lévana) and Laure’s (Zoé Héran) mother is distractedly pregnant, so the girls are left to find their way around their new neighborhood. When Laure meets a new friend who mistakes her for a boy, she takes on the new role without thinking it through. She renames herself Michaël and, over the rest of the summer, sees how different life is for boys: They can take their shirts off, play soccer, flirt with girls. Laure can’t anticipate how complicated her secret will become; yet when Jeanne gets wind of what’s going on, the sisters hang on to the secret, exploring the possibilities of boyness. It’s this relationship that shapes the film: Even as Laure is “found out,” the film doesn’t resolve the dilemma of gender she’s stumbled on. —Cindy Fuchs (Ritz at the Bourse)

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART 1|D This is easily the shittiest and most listless Twilight yet. The creepy wedding of vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and mouth-breathing human Bella (Kristen Stewart) begins the proceedings. Bella hopes they’re gonna do it soooo much on their Brazilian honeymoon … and just like that, she’s kicking around barefoot with a blood-sucking baby inside her, prompting an interminable series of arguments about the value of life between supernatural beings who can’t even die. Though there is some action involving wolves growling at each other, all the heavy lifting/biting is relegated to 2012’s Part 2, leaving us with nothing more than Pattinson,

The third Harold & Kumar works familiar territory with a handful of decent new jokes. It’s been six years since the two college stoners landed at Gitmo. As life has pushed Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) apart, circumstances pull them together, beginning with a quest to replace a flamed-out Christmas tree and eventually putting them on the wrong side of a Russian mobster (Elias Koteas) and Santa Claus himself. The 3D provides the opportunity for a handful of gags, often about the surge in subpar 3D, but mostly just accounts for an unnecessary bump in the ticket price. —S.A. (UA Riverview)

YOUNG GOETHE IN LOVE|B The boldly crazy 23-year-old Goethe (Alexander Fehling) wants to write poetry and plays, but his initial hopes are dashed by his father, tired of his son’s ridiculous scribbling. Dad quickly sends young Goethe to work as a law clerk for Kestner (Moritz Bleibtreu), where our protagonist soon meets a poor but feisty woman who is engaged to the dispassionate Kestner. A duel, a tragedy and, ultimately, The Sorrows of Young Werther ensue. Young Goethe is both utterly conventional — particularly the love triangle — and completely gratifying. It is precisely the film’s popular, undemanding qualities that make it so appealing. —G.M.K. (Ritz at the Bourse)

✚ REPERTORY FILM

7855, amblertheater.org. The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992, U.S., 85 min.): Dickens gets puppet-fied. Sat., Dec. 17, 11 a.m., $4.

[ movie shorts ]

A Swingin’ Summer (1965, U.S., 80

THE BALCONY 1003 Arch St., 215-922-6888, thetroc. com. Die Hard (1988, U.S., 131 min.): “Now I have a machine gun. Ho, ho, ho.” Mon., Dec. 19, 8 p.m., $3.

min.): Intrepid teenage rock promoters book the Righteous Brothers and the Rip Chords at their local dance pavilion. Thu., Dec. 15, 9 p.m., $9.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE BRYN MAWR FILM INSTITUTE 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610527-9898, brynmawrfilm.org. Miracle on 34th Street (1947, U.S., 96 min.): If you don’t feel like watching it on Lifetime. Sat., Dec. 17, 11 a.m., $5.

INTERNATIONAL HOUSE 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org. Viridiana (1961, Spain, 90 min.): A nun finds it hard to uphold her religious principles when she visits her creepy uncle. Sat., Dec. 17, 7 p.m., $9.

MEDIUM RARE CINEMA 7141 Germantown Ave., regrettablesincerity.com. Burn! (1969, Italy, 115 min.): A mercenary stirs up a slave revolt in the Caribbean to improve the British sugar trade. Thu., Dec. 15, 7 p.m., $7.

Cha-Cha’Razzi, 1918 S. Bancroft St., facebook.com/undertheinfluenceseries. Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas: This pre-digitial-agefocused film group screens Black Christmas (1974, Canada, 98 min.) and Gremlins (1984, U.S., 106 min.) in “gorgeous VHS.” Sun., Dec. 18, 7 p.m., $2 suggested donation.

WOODEN SHOE 701 South St., 215-413-0999, woodenshoebooks.com. Sita Sings the Blues (2008, U.S., 82 min.): The Indian fable of Ramayana, set to the music of 1920s jazz siren Annette Hanshaw. Sat., Dec. 17, 4 p.m., free. What Would Jesus Buy? (2007, U.S., 90 min.): An examination of big business’s dependence on Christmas and the tactics used to make us wanna buy, buy, buy. Sun., Dec. 18, 7 p.m., free.

PHILADELPHIA FILM SOCIETY Balcony at the Troc, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-6888, filmadelphia.org. Rare Exports (2010, Finland, 84 min.): A ragtag group of adventurers digs into the Korvatunturi mountains to find the secret of Christmas. Tue., Dec. 20, 8 p.m., $3.

More on:

citypaper.net

SECRET CINEMA

AMBLER THEATER 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, 215-345-

✚ CHECK OUT MORE

International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org.

R E P E R T O R Y F I L M L I S T I N G S AT C I T Y PA P E R . N E T / R E P F I L M .

INVITE YOU AND A GUEST TO AN ADVANCE SCREENING

LOG ON TO

WWW.GOFOBO.COM/RSVP

AND ENTER THE RSVP CODE CITYZYD9 TO DOWNLOAD TWO “ADMIT-ONE” PASSES TO AN ADVANCE SCREENING. WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. ENTER TO WIN A PASS FOR TWO BY TEXTING CODE AND YOUR ZIP CODE TO 43549

is the story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

(EXAMPLE: CODE 19102) No purchase necessary. While supplies last. Texting services provided by 43KIX/43549 are free. Standard text message rates from your wireless provider may apply. Check your plan. One entry per cell phone #. Late and/or duplicate entries will not be considered. Winners will be notified by phone. This film is rated R for some violence including disturbing images, and for language. Must be 13 years of age to enter contest and attend screening. Sponsors are not responsible for lost or redirected entries, phone failures, or tampering. Employees of Focus Features and the Philadelphia City Paper are not eligible. Deadline for entries is Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 5 PM ET.

OPENS IN PHILADELPHIA DECEMBER 23

No purchase necessary. Limit two passes per person while supplies last. Theater is overbooked to ensure a full house. Arrive early. Passes received through this promotion do not guarantee admission. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, except for members of the reviewing press. This film is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action, violence and some language. Must be 13 years of age or older to download passes and attend screening. Anti-piracy security will be in place at this screening. By attending, you agree to comply with all security requirements. All federal, state, and local regulations apply. Summit, Philadelphia City Paper and their affiliates accept no responsibility or liability in connection with any loss or accident incurred in connection with use of a prize. Passes cannot be exchanged, transferred, or redeemed for cash, in whole or in part. We are not responsible for lost, delayed, or misdirected entries, phone failures, or tampering. Void where prohibited by law.

CHRISTMAS DAY In

and 2D Theaters

www.darkesthourmovie.com

the naked city feature

CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR IN ELEGANCE OVERLOOKING THE CITY’S SKYLINE HIGHER LEVEL PRESENTS THE 7TH ANNUAL…

@7<5 7< E7B6 / A7HH:3 Ob @cbV¸a 1V`Wa AbSOY 6]caS

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INVITE YOU AND A GUEST TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING

NEW YEARS EVE

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# %' # #

@CB6¸A 16@7A AB3/9 6=CA3 260 South Broad Street. Philadelphia, PA. 19102

www.citypaper.net/win This film is Rated R. Must be 17 years of age or older to receive a pass. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. While supplies last. One entry per person or address. Winners will be chosen at random. Each winner will receive one (admit-two) pass. No phone calls, please. Seating is not guaranteed. Entries must be received today by 6 PM.

www.dragontattoo.com

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IN THEATRES WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21ST

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For your chance to win a pass, go to the contest page online at:

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feature

NEW YEARS EVE

JOIN THE PARTY ON

NEW YEAR’S EVE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2011

Ask about our special overnight room rates at the Loews Hotel

ENJOY THE EXCEPTIONAL & FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE OF A NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION PREPARED BY OUR CHEF, TOM HARKINS. 5:30PM - 7PM SEATING $60 PER PERSON* A LA CARTE OR FOUR-COURSE PRIX FIXE MENU 8:30PM – 11PM SEATING $125 PER PERSON* INCLUDES FOUR-COURSE PRIX FIXE MENU, SELECT OPEN BAR, CHAMPAGNE TOAST, PARTY FAVORS & LIVE DJ 9:30PM – 1:30PM OPEN BAR PACKAGE $75 PER PERSON* SELECT OPEN BAR PACKAGE, CHAMPAGNE TOAST, PARTY FAVORS & LIVE DJ

FOR RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CALL 215.231.7357. *TAX & GRATUITY NOT INCLUDED

FOR OVERNIGHT ACCOMODATIONS • WWW.LOEWSHOTELS.COM/PHILADELPHIA

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NEW YEARS EVE

feature

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NEW YEARS EVE

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NEW YEARS EVE

feature

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763 South 8th Street (corner of 8th & Fulton) www.palomafinedining.com www.facebook.com/palomarestaurant 215.928.9500

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HELIUM COMEDY CLUB

www.heliumcomedy.com | 215.496.9001

LISTINGS@CITYPAPER.NET | DEC. 15 - DEC. 21

the agenda

[ waltzes, reverb, songs about girls ]

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the

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I PUT MY HAND UP ON YOUR HIP: Dancing with the Stars becomes theater extravaganza at the Annenberg this weekend. CHAMPIONS OF THE DANCE

IF YOU WANT TO BE LISTED:

Submit information by email (listings@citypaper.net) to Josh Middleton or enter them yourself at citypaper.net/submit-event with the following details: date, time, address of venue, telephone number and admission price. Incomplete submissions will not be considered, and listings information will not be accepted over the phone.

THURSDAY

12.15 [ jazz ]

CITY RHYTHM ORCHESTRA

—Shaun Brady Thu., Dec. 15, 7 and 9 p.m., $15, Chris’ Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St., 215-5683131, chrisjazzcafe.com.

Eric Scotolati dons several disguises to expose the cover-up. A harlequin in the works, his Maniac — we never learn his real name or story — toys with a hardworking cast playing hapless cops who admit, “Corruption is the rule.” When a journalist (Rachel Gluck) threatens to take the story public, the play confronts the audience with her dilemma. Laugh all the way, but be ready to be put on the spot. —Mark Cofta

[ theater ]

ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST Americans don’t see much political farce, perhaps because we experience too much in the news, so Curio Theatre Co.’s revival of Dario Fo’s 1970 dark comedy Accidental Death of an Anarchist may perplex some with its deliberately uncomfortable mix of slapstick violence and ethical conundrums. When the police try to pass off an anarchist’s death while in custody as a suicide, suitably manic

Through Jan. 7, $20, Curio Theatre Co., 4740 Baltimore Ave., 215-5251350, curiotheatre.org.

[ dance ]

CHAMPIONS OF THE DANCE If you think ballroom dancing is old-fashioned, you haven’t been watching Dancing with the Stars.The Annenberg Center welcomes the hit ABC show as theater extravaganza, with a cast of internationally known ballroom champions. Along with 10 dance power-

houses, the program features celebrated husband-and-wife team Anna Trebunskaya and Jonathan Roberts. Trebunskaya affectionately calls ballroom “a huge subculture,” of which she’s been a part since childhood: Her ballroom dance career began at age 6 in Russia, where both parents were professional ballroom dancers who taught and performed. If you love watching Trebunskaya dip and twirl on TV, you’ll be thrilled to see her without an 8-second delay. —Janet Anderson Thu., Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Dec. 16, 8 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 17, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 18, 2 p.m.; $20-$62, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org.

[ visual art ]

ARTS ON SOUTH If the holidays are about giving, South Street’s got your Cut-Throat Santa party beat. Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is hosting its next round of Arts on South — a program that loans

unrented South Street retail stores to local organizations and artists — just in time for the holiday shopping season. For this four-month round, four temporary artist spaces will include The Bikery, a bike repair and education space that will host a two-month artist-in-residency program; The Autumn Society, a collective of global illustrators; Mighty Vision, a Mighty Writers program educating youth through comic books; and the Community Cultural Exchange, a nonprofit aiming at creating community through arts and culture. This round also marks the launch of South Street’s Storefront Program, an Arts on South initiative placing artists’ work in select business storefronts. It’s a great excuse to head to South for some creative holiday cheer — and perhaps a few unique gifts Santa might have missed. —Meg Augustin Wednesdays to Sundays through April 15, 3-8 p.m., various locations along South Street, artsonsouth.wordpress.com.

FRIDAY

12.16 [ multimedia ]

NICK CAVE: LET’S C Performance art can be a dicey genre. Sometimes it means that an artist will sit still and stare blankly ahead, challenging the audience to “get it.” Other times it means strobe lights, amplifier reverb — and challenging the audience to “get it.” Nick Cave’s upcoming effort at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, on the other hand, is simply a celebration. The artist has been working hand-inhand with FWM to construct a space where his unmistakable “soundsuit” creations — multimedia forms made of wire, fabric, instruments and all sorts of wacky found materials — could run free. The result? Architectural Forest, a sprawling bamboo playpen built for

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Sure, they’ll be ringing in the new year at the Westin Hotel with elegant charts and “Auld Lang Syne” in a couple of weeks, but the City Rhythm Orchestra will really get a chance to flex its muscle for another special

occasion: the 100th birthday of innovative pianist/composer/ bandleader Stan Kenton. The Philly-based big band expands to 23 pieces in order to do justice to one of the most diverse and influential bodies of work in jazz history.

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The Agenda is our selective guide to what’s going on in the city this week. For comprehensive event listings, visit citypaper.net/listings.

—Chris Brown Performance and opening reception, Fri., Dec. 16, 6 p.m., free, through mid-February, Fabric Workshop and Museum, 1214 Arch St., 215-561-8888, fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.

[ jazz ]

CIAN NUGENT

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Dublin-based guitarist Cian Nugent’s hypnotic playing fits squarely into the Takoma school pioneered by John Fahey and carried on by recent disciples like Glenn Jones and the late Jack Rose. But his music takes definite personal departures, into the folk music of

his homeland or flower-psych singer-songwriter moods. Of the two long-form pieces on AILBHE

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big-time sounds and major dancing. As evidenced by a sprawl of YouTube videos, this generally involves soundsuitwearing performers taking to the streets and letting loose for the masses. This time around, a proper spot has been built so the crowds can come to them. The soundsuit performance will be recorded for the Forest during an opening reception, so if you can’t make it Friday night, you can still remain aurally enchanted well into the new year.

his CD Doubles (VHF), one is a starkly melodic solo piece gradually subsumed by a tense drone; the second is a rollicking journey that couches Nugent’s sound in a gentle chamber aura. —Shaun Brady Fri., Dec. 16, 8 p.m., free, with William Tyler and Zillions, Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., bowerbird.org.

[ rock/pop ]

SUMMER FICTION At the beginning of the year, Philadelphia’s imperial pop crafter Bill Ricchini told CP he was taking to the baroque side of his songwriting skills — Beach Boys, Zombies,

Bacharach, waltzes, strings, reverb, songs about girls — for his (then) upcoming band project, Summer Fiction. While songs on its eponymous debut like “By the Sea” or “Throw Your Arms Around Me” could have easily fit on moody Ricchini solo efforts such as 2005’s acclaimed Tonight I Burn Brightly, the rest of Summer Fiction is rooted in a coming-of-age cycle that’s restless and zealously free. Now for the close of 2011 and the holiday season, Ricchini has tucked into the merry-andbright for the Bowie-and-Bing worthy “Christmas Eve for Two” produced by Steve YutzyBurkey from the Swimmers at his Fishtown studio. While Ricchini’s Christmas tune is warm and weird, and promises to ward away the cold, Summer Fiction’s live show should be a coldly bracing slap in the face brisker than any northern wind. Ho ho. —A.D. Amorosi WXPN’s The Key Sessions Live with Summer Fiction, Pink Skull and Attia Taylor, Fri., Dec. 16, 9 p.m., free with registration, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., thekey.xpn.org, johnnybrendas.com.

[ the agenda ]

SATURDAY

12.17 [ shopping ]

CRAFTY BALBOA Keeping things fresh is the motivating force behind this year’s Crafty Balboa holiday gift bazaar. “I don’t want to run the same show over and over again,” says organizer Amy Buller about the faces making up the 50-plus DIYers who’ll be selling their wares. Among the rookies are printmaking outfit Wishbone Letterpress and scarves-and-caps purveyor Garbella; also be on the lookout for gifts from the old-timers, like dope tees by Exit 343 and gig posters by Largemammal. —Chris Brown Sat., Dec. 17, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Broad Street Ministry, 315 S. Broad St., craftybalboa.blogspot.com.

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queerbait

³ ALL-ACCESS POINT

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Having a computer handy is something most of us take for granted — it’s come to feel downright essential. But according to the Knight Foundation and the U.S. Census, a gasp-worthy 41 percent of Philadelphia households are still without a basic processor and/or Internet capabilities. Shocking, right? To bridge the divide in the LGBTQ community, the William Way Center is unveiling its revamped CyberCenter and Multimedia Lab.William Way Executive Director Christopher Bartlett says the puny three-computer area that was previously sectioned off in the lobby has moved into its own 340-square-foot room, complete with 11 19-inch desktop PCs, a printer/scanning station and an LCD projector available for educators to rent out for computertraining sessions. The overhaul comes courtesy of a “refresh” grant from the David Bohnett Foundation (DBF), an L.A.-based org that provides funding for technology sites in 60 LGBTQ centers across the country. “We’re interested in the sense of community the labs provide,” says DBF’s Paul Moore when asked why it’s important to supply this type of service to gay-specific neighborhood centers. “It’s essential for the community to have a warm environment to meet up and learn basic computer skills.” Bartlett says the workstations are in high demand within the queer community, but he’s hoping to usher in new crowds that don’t typically take advantage of the Center — like disabled people and straight allies. His attention-drawing plans start with tonight’s flashy kickoff party, featuring free cocktails, a tour of the new digs and entertainment by DJ Triptonik and the fab Messapotamia Lefae (pictured), who promises to show up in a “cyborg” ensemble made especially for the festivities. #youbetterwork. Thu., Dec. 15, 6:30 p.m., free, William Way Center, 1315 Spruce St., 215-732-2220, waygay.org. (josh.middleton@citypaper.net)

the agenda

SASHA ALEINER

Josh Middleton on the LGBTQ scene

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[ the agenda ]

Have an upcoming LGBTQ event? Give it here. E-mail listings@citypaper.net.

HOLIDAY OFFICE PARTY

—A.D. Amorosi Sat., Dec. 17, 8 p.m., $10, Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art, 531 N. 12th St., philamoca.org.

[ shopping ]

PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENT CRAFT MARKET When she established the Philadelphia Independent Craft Market five years ago, local artist Julie Raboczi says, “There weren’t so many places for Philadelphia crafter[s] to sell their things.” But even with rival homegrown festivals popping up all over town, Raboczi’s still drawing in crowds with two

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This whole show is a handily subversive event that’s good for the soul, the dancing feet and those with a mind for avantgarde pop. Banned Books, last seen splitting a 10-inch single with Arches on the local Magic Death Sounds label, have a lo-fi noise-pop ax to grind. Howling old Algernon Cadwallader and its one-time members of Halfway to Holland do the angular-yet-chipper rhythmic thing better than even the best of the DFA/LCD NYC bands. And they’re cuter. Cutest still is Hop Along, Frances Quinlan’s stuttering minimalist rawk act whose giant sugary choruses sound brilliantly odd against such pot-banging percussion and epileptic guitar figures. The

Dangerous Ponies is a queerfriendly, large-scale ensemble led by Chrissy Tashjian, who happens to like its messed-up circus-y pop grooving on the good foot. La la.

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[ rock/pop ]

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GRO

UP THERAPY BAR

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NEW YEARS EVE

foodanddrink

feedingfrenzy By Drew Lazor

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f&d

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³ NOW SEATING

Guacamole Mex-Grill | The de Luna family’s homey sit-down Mexicano restaurant has opened along the West Philly stretch already home to Four Worlds Bakery and Whispering Leaves. This Woodland Avenue kitchen, run by Rodolfo de Luna (using many family recipes), features well-loved dishes like tamales, chile rellenos and empanadas; order at the counter and eat at one of the 22 seats, or take your carne asada walking. Guacamole is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. 4612 Woodland Ave., 267-408-1414.

LIVER LET DIE: Sbraga’s transcendent foie gras soup, poured tableside over a vanilla-scented rose petal relish, was one of our critic’s favorites. NEAL SANTOS

[ review ]

³ CHECK, PLEASE

t feels dumb to admit it, but a year before I found myself ensconced in the understated dining room of Sbraga, I hadn’t thought this two-month-old restaurant’s namesake, Kevin Sbraga, would win Top Chef. That’s not to say I didn’t want him to win. Of More on: course I did; our shared geographic DNA compelled me to root for him, the same way I root for Joe Flacco and Matty Ice on Sundays. But in the season seven finale, I thought lean, flashy Angelo would take the title. A lot of people did. Except for Sbraga himself. “In the finale in Singapore, when I put my dishes up for the judges, I was very confident,” he says. “I saw the other contestants looking at my food, like, ‘Oh, shit.’” I’d like to borrow those words to describe my reaction to Sbraga’s foie gras soup, my first taste of the cooking I spent four months watching from my couch last year. I’d never been to Rat’s, the Starr-operated New Jersey joint Sbraga helmed pre-TV, but

Two Marathon Grill locations have been 86’d — 1339 Chestnut and 929 Walnut. The latter is now in the control of Cuba Libre owners Barry Gutin and Larry Cohen, who are working on a new concept with chef Matt Levin (Lacroix, Adsum). ³ LITTLE VITTLES

In Riva (4116 Ridge Ave.) is open in East Falls. Dinner daily starting at 5 p.m. ³ Ryan and Eric Berley of Franklin Fountain have opened their redo of Shane Confectionery (110 Market St.), the Old City sweets shop they purchased last year. Got A Tip? Please send restaurant news to drew. lazor@citypaper.net or call 215-735-8444, ext. 218.

The self-styled Sbraga is on its way to becoming one of Philly’s best restaurants. By Adam Erace

SBRAGA | Symphony House, 440 S. Broad St., 215-735-1913, sbraga.

com. Open Mon.-Thu., 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m. Four-course tasting, $45; nine-course tasting, $110.

I

citypaper.net

>>> continued on page 52

51

TOP DOG

had I known this luxurious liver love potion was served there, I would have made it my business to go. A server placed a bowl on the table, murmuring “rose petal relish” to identify the debris at the bottom. Holding a pitcher, a second server appeared and streamed the steaming soup into the bowl in a tidy milk-chocolate waterfall. The heat activated the subtle vanilla in the relish, which rose to the surface like a trove of sunken rubies, petals drifting across the surface like tiny pleasure-crafts. In the purée, my spoon found fine-diced Asian pear and crunchy crumbs of pumpernickel. The soup was lusty, as expected, but then came something unexpected: lemongrass? And notes of curry, developing like photographs in a dark room. I would order it for every course if I could, four in total for the $45 prix-fixe most guests elect. It’s a helluva deal and it says more about Sbraga as a man than a busiMORE FOOD AND nessman. He could charge twice that and DRINK COVERAGE starry-eyed onlookers would probably AT C I T Y P A P E R . N E T / pay it. M E A LT I C K E T. Sbraga’s fans won’t be disappointed. Though his Twitter feed would have you believe he spends his days cooking demos in the Caymans and talking smack with Marc Vetri, he’s at his restaurant. He was when I was there, anyway, expo-ing plates in the open kitchen that’s wrapped in planks of reclaimed Douglas fir. He did a little meet-and-greet around the softly lit room, but I’ve seen a lot smarmier glad-handing from a lot less famous chefs. People have come for Sbraga. Smarter people have come for his food, inspired ideas anchored by flawless French execution.

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Heirloom | Robert Bynum (Warmdaddy’s, Relish, Green Soul) has teamed up with veteran chef Al Paris to open this Chestnut Hill BYO, which starts serving tomorrow. The concept borrows from multiple regions of the U.S., celebrating patently American flavors and techniques — look out for sassafrasglazed short ribs, heirloom grit-crusted black bass and diver scallops with pork belly. Heirloom will serve dinner every day but Monday, with Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 8705 Germantown Ave., 215-242-2700, heirloomdining.com.

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[ food & drink ]

✚ Top Dog <<< continued from page 51

Sbraga’s food marries inspired ideas with flawless French execution. AUTHENTIC ITALIAN CUISINE Feast of the 7 fishes $39.95 per person 4 course meal or Regular dinner menu is available Taking Reservations from 3 – 9

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The terrine, for example, was textbook: tight and solid and clean, compliments quick to escape while mesmerized by the mosaic of red (fruity piquillo peppers), green (biting green tomatoes) and purplish-black (eggplant). Sbraga served a similar terrine during the Top Chef finale, though here, instead of kaffir lime and Thai basil, the cool, pressed-veggie pastiche is entwined with funky-sweet black garlic, goat cheese and jalapeño. Both the terrine and the foie soup fall into the firstcourse category, with subsequent sections listing seafood and meat dishes, then dessert. The diner, not the kitchen, builds the tasting, though I’d recommend relying on sommelier Joseph Norkus when selecting vino to match your Indian-ized fish and chips and much-lauded meatloaf. His pairings are spot-the-F-on — a bony Alsatian Riesling cut like a scythe through the rich foie soup — and cost $30 for four courses, another wild bargain. Smart but a bit sales-y at times, my server poured generously, though perhaps that was because I think I was ID’d as a critic soon after I sat down. Whether my plates tasted better than my neighbors’ I can’t say, but I was impressed with what came across my table. (The only exception was the majestic white pillar of miso-glazed cod, beautifully cooked but bland.) The smart staff stayed discreet, as well, and in the beginning, damn near ghostly. At the table, we waited too long to be greeted, and when we were, it was by a charmless back-server who proffered a drink menu and near-demanded an order. Awkward. The kitchen smoothed out the tardiness, getting the first course out quick and subsequent ones at balanced intervals. Bright anchovies were just the thing to follow the foie, minced into slivers over labneh ravioli, a brilliant, unexpected creation. Lamb came two ways, tender chop and braised belly, the prince and the pauper over savory oatmeal. Anointed with cumin-laced lamb jus, it reminded me of the cumin-style lamb at Han Dynasty, a dish that’s hard to improve upon but that Sbraga manages to. As for the Second Coming of Meatloaf, it’s made with veal mousse, foie gras and bacon-tomato marmalade. Those embellishments were not so detectable in this pork-and-beef slab; it just tastes like very, very good meatloaf. To hear Sbraga tell it, that’s the point. For dessert, Sbraga demurs to his wife, Jesmary. She slayed it with creative interpretations of tiramisu (a bowl of smoky coffee granita, chocolate and mascarpone creams and chocolate streusel) and piña colada (almond financier topped with electric spiced and braised pineapple, alongside luscious coconut sorbet). On my way out, Sbraga was no longer behind the line, but he wasn’t schmoozing or taking pictures — he was hunched over the hostess desk, going over the night’s reservations. For reality stars, post-TV life can be uncertain, but Sbraga’s future is set: the demands of a restaurant on its way to ranking among Philly’s best. (adam.erace@citypaper.net)

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[ food & drink ]

[ the week in eats ]

DOUG KEITH

✚ WHAT’S COOKING

food classifieds

The Jewel of Northern Liberties

Sunday Sessions at The Franklin Sun., Dec. 18, 9

p.m., pay as you go ³ The expert drink mixers at The Franklin are unabashed audiophiles, too, dual interests that lend themselves to the cocktail haven’s new Sunday-night series. Each week, the staff constructs a thematic soundtrack and serves appropriately named libations. This Sunday’s sesh, “Children of the Revolution,” will pair ’70s-era glam rock with drinks like the “20th Century” and the “Queen Bitch.” Oh Franklin, we’re just jeepsters for your love. Franklin Mortage & Investment Co., 112 S. 18th St., 267-4673277, thefranklinbar.com. Chrismanukkah at Devil’s Den Sun., Dec. 18, 7 p.m.,

An Even Jewisher Christmas at Zahav Thu., Dec. 22, 6 and 9 p.m. screenings, $50 ³ For the second year, Zahav is turning the Chosen tradition of Chinese food and movies on Jesus’ b-day into a full-on party. They’ll host two screenings of a crowd-pleasing film (popcorn provided, of course) that’ll be kept secret until the house lights go down. To eat, chef Michael Solomonov will cook his takes on Chinese takeout food — salt-and-pepper sweetbreads, moo shu duck with walnuts and black garlic and Szechuan-style pork belly, to name but a few. Zahav, 237 St. James Place, 215-625-8800, zahavrestaurant.com. Feast of the Seven Fishes at Amis Fri., Dec. 23, $65

³ Are you extremely unpopular with Italian people? Then simply pay your way into a true-blue Feast of the Seven Fishes this Christmas Eve Eve, courtesy of chef Brad Spence at Amis. This four-course, family-style dinner will feature restaurant spins on Italiano seafood preparations — think spaghetti with razor clams, tuna lasagna, monkfish marsala and swordfish meatballs. Amis, 412 S. 13th St., 215-732-2647, amisphilly.com.

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—Drew Lazor

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pay as you go ³ Devil’s Den hosts a drunken JudeoChristian summit of sorts this Sunday, when Daily News beer columnist Don “Joe Sixpack” Russell and Shmaltz Brewing owner Jeremy Cowan (makers of He’Brew) hold court to sign copies of their books, What the Hell Am I Drinking and Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah. The draft list will be stocked with equal-opportunity beers, from Port Brewing’s Santa’s Little Helper to He’Brew Hop Manna IPA. The kitchen will be cooking glazed ham, choco-chip cookies, matzo ball soup and latkes. Devil’s Den, 1148 S. 11th St., 215-339-0855, devilsdenphilly.com.

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By Matt Jones

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✚ ©2011 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

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CONDOS FOR SALE

BRAND NEW CONDO FORECLOSURE! Southwest Florida Coast! 2BR/2BA, Only $129,900! (Similiar unit sold for $325K) Stainless, granite, storin the evening...we were standing at my door. You age, covered parking, close to HELPitWANTED DRIVER said and I began to cry...I remember it so well. & golf. 5 minutes-downtown Top Pay on Excellent Runs! Gulf! Ask about our $500 travel This isnmy Moody him so...from your Regio al R u n s, SMalik..I t e a d y love reimbursement pkg. Call now Pinklady! (YouHometime, know my favorite color) Miles, Frequent (877) 888-7601. x54. New Equipment. Automatic Detention Pay! CDL-A, 6mo. HONEY Experience required. EEOE/ Land/ Lots for Sale AAP www. In the866-322-4039 still of the night, the dream continues, I LAND FOR SALE Drive4Marten.com just hanging around thinking only good thing get NYS & Adirondacks RusCozy Cabin w/5 Acres $$$HELP WANTED$$$ complicated and having fun.ticThat night cold I was $ 1 9 , 9 9 5 . O ve r 1 5 0 Extra Income! Assembling CD outside looking for you. I climbed up the Rocky n ew cases from Home! No Experi- proper ties & camps. MinMountain High through the sea and fromgame the lands. utes to state ence Necessary! Call our Live survey, clear ocean. For this1-800-405silly reason, New everything take title, one fully Operator Now! guaranteed! For cozy cabin 7619 at Ext. step at2450 time,http://www. the traffic keep us call a parts. Perhaps,Or details 800-229-7843. easywork-greatpay.com visit www.LandandCamps. com JOBS: ORGANIZE THE 99%

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20

%

215.670.9535

HEY JUPITER

WWW.MAMBOMOVERS.COM Sometimes I breathe you in, and I know you know...For a girl who couldn’t choose between the shower or the bath ...so are you safe, now we’re through? Though it’s easier, because yes I too do know this, thin air still leaks a lump in the throat. You, bright blue, I knew the cut was deep, but didn’t know it would burn so bad.

@2?C602@

HOW PATHETIC

William A. Torchia, Esquire Williamtorchiaesquire.vpweb.com

267.467.4322

/113<B@71 3:31B@71

then make up I am happy again. I love you baby. Let’s make this last. • AllARE types of electrical work NAMES THE SAME SOMETIMES

• Small or large jobs This •isCity to the personcorrected that name is Malik and violations • State and Insured thinks that and this city lovelicensed message was for him. NO, you are wrong this was for my baby...he is Moody Malik Call he is truly my sweetheart I am totally in love with him he is 23 and I am 38. I met him when I was 37. So I don’t think this is you...he definitely knows who he is. Tall, honey brown complexion, hazel eyes, sexy walk, and looks you in your “LOWEST PRICES INstraight THE CITYâ€? eyes when he talks to you. Makes you wanna melt. •100 Amp Circuit Breaker •Ceiling Fan Installation •Outlets Wiring •AC/WD Lines you •Home Repairs I •House love you baby, and thank forInspection telling me you love mewww.BarryFisherElectrician.com everyday...I love that about you...the first (215) time you said it was on 927-0234 Oct. 8th like 6 something

# &$' """

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820 SPRING GARDEN STREET (9TH & SPRING GARDEN) 19123

8AM TIL 4PM

OnDOUCHEBAG A Treasure Hunt! Bargains Galore! SMOKEGo THIS, So we’re huddled/in theAdmission bus shelter get Court out Free Parking Free / trying ATM /toFood of the driving downpour, and you roll in yapping on / Handicap Accessible your cell phone and light up a smoke and lucky us, we’re downwind from your worst of it OurallVendors Accept Allshitstack. Major Credit Cards! was that you weren’t even waiting for the bus like the rest of us at 10pm in the ass-cold wind and rain, we were just a convenient spot for you to shit on our lungs and then fly off like an ashtray-scented seagull. Thanks for the memories, I hope you get skullfucked by a bus.

215 - 625 - FLEA (3532) www.PhilaFleaMarkets.org

Yo, I luv you like I ain’t feel this way before but your shits drivin’ me up the fucking roof nah mean? I know why I be wanting to marry you and all that, but you’ve got to give a man a break or something. Just one little sloppy BJ for the big man downstairs nah mean? You kno, while I was breakin’ my ass tryin’ to carry that goddamn piece of shit bed, you went with your “girlfriends� for the night while you left me hangin’ all by myself in that fucking freezer of Dour U Cbedroom E S to slave over our new goddamn bed. I couldn’t even pick the bedset I wanted cause it don’t go right with the lighting in the room, and the thread count was too damn low. I had it with this bossing me around shit and I’m make suure next time you make your on goddamn bed and you help me wit my stroke game nah mean?

HEELS WALK-AWAY

You have enough sense to know that I do love you but I can’t be with you...You do know that right....why can’t you just walk away from me! Things are really strange with my current relationship, I think that may be, possibly sin cause you and me a parts. you know that I am hooked on you like no other... The moon light is too far from the star in the sky. SHOP THE COLLECTION we had terrific sex together, and after that...seems A matter of time, wait until the dust get settles. like things just hit rock bottom. You said that you Why don’t you share, some of your sweet thought. didn’t love yourself that is why you weren’t with me Besides, that would be an exciting love bed time but you could of at least told me the reason, except story. This is the time to forgive! I write a poems saying soon and you had to let me know and all this and l say a prayer and make a promise. That I saw PER ITEM shit...the time is now, we have to cut all ties with each a Blizzard Wizard told me to make LOVE not war. other...I wish you luck....I will tell you when I see you Let be kid again! let go fly kite! let make a snowif ever..you said that you want to see me, but honestly FREE WAYS, AND EVERY SINGLE ITEM IS ONLY $39.95! men!. We clean ourSHIPPING self up andBOTH decorating for the do you think that is a good idea. jolly old Hoilday. Some aromatherapy candles and cheap Martinelli’s on the table would be wonder✚ To place your FREE ad (100 word limit), go to citypaper.net/ILUIHU and Discover Your Style! ful. If youShoes smileand andmore grateful for what for your style.you have, follow the prompts. ADS ALSO APPEAR AT CITYPAPER.NET/lovehate. you will be happy. All we both side now? My line City Paper has the right to re-publish “I Love You, I Hate Youâ€?™ ads at the more women trust. will close See soon,what I need a vacation. It’s begin to look publisher’s discretion. This includes re-purposing the ads for online publication, or for any other ancillary publishing projects. like a lot like Christmas!

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61

I went into the fucking walgreens in center city and went into the diaper aisle to get somethings for my baby. I went to grab the box for the diaper rash cream and someone fucking stole the shit and CONCIERGE LEGAL SERVICES put the empty box back! I know times are hard but GENERAL PRACTICE – ESTATE & TAX PLANNING what the fuck was that...I looked at the guy that worked there saidStreet, to himSuite what the hell and 1420and Walnut 1216 thought to myself who the fuck does that. I know 215-546-1950; watorchia@gmail.com

INTRO

HOUSES We Pay Cash

-ARKET

THANKS FOR NOTHING

YOUR FIRST ITEM* OFF

WE WANT YOUR

)NDOOR &LEA

I can’t beleive that you want me back after 10 years you said that you have to love yourself and you couldn’t love me! I understand that but now it seems like it is a game, I want to be with who I am with right now. I do love you but I have to stay away from you. Can’t you understand that. Let’s just leave it alone and go our separate ways. CLOSED SAT, DEC 24TH

BUT EARLY BIRDS WELCOME!

ESCAPING THE BLEUS You most certainly love me, i know... nightmares, crazy family & all the other baggage i thought that my pretty lil’ face would disguise, you’ve seen through and accepted... Thanks Betty, my heart is yours now and forever... Even while angry, instinctively turning my head to the left, i look down & realize escaping you is no option; your name is tatted on my shoulder. I smile, wipe my tears and return my lips to yours... No matter the mood, i’ll always be Bleu for you... GENTLY MOVING YOUR EARTHLY POSSESSIONS

NOBODY

Bitch, have you ever heard of breathing space. First the fuck of all it was only 3 of us in the line and you standing all close to me breathing like you are going to pass out with your fat ass. Then you had the nerve to hit me with your bag because you were standing so close. I looked at you and rolled my eyes, you knew Apartments for that you were standing to close! People if it isn’t Rent that crowded somewhere give Featuring people their space... More Than 60 Vendors Antiques, nobody wants toVintage be crowded up onJewelry, all day...IGlassware, know I 15TH/SPRUCE: Collectibles, Furniture, 15th/Spruce: Bright Studio sure don’t especially when there is enough space to Pottery, One Of A Kind Items in Charming Brownstone, Remodeled Kitchen & Bath, go around. & Just Plain Fun Junque!

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Sand Hauling. Must have tractor, pneumatic trailers, blower. (817) 980-6095.

[ i love you, i hate you ]

A R E YO U P R E G N A N T ? Don’’t know what to do? We have many families willing to adopt your child. Please call 1-800-745-1210, ask for Marci or Gloria. We-canhelp!

DAYCARE $100 CASH Savings! Grocery am safe, I don’tStimulus feel like there is anything that can Program provides $2000 sav- BACK hurt me or come into my circle. You make feel your childme @ FIRST ings to participants of shop- Register CHOICE and refantastic. loveMAJOR being in love and IDAYCARE love the way ping sur vey. IALL Instantly. * 3 AND LOCAL you makesupermarkets! me feel while inceive love.$100.00 Like I said before, I Months to 6years * Infants Call now 877-301-1691. don’t want anyone trying -to come between I feel Toddlers - Children *us, CCIS & Accepted State CerLEGAL NOTICES: the same way I will not letDPW anyone come*between Construction bids. Statewide tifi ed * Computer Classes us. I hope to be in a good relationship with you for* eziQC, indefinite quantity Field Trips Come in and see years to come. construction contracts. Pre- how your child’s future will be

54 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |

Roehl 1-888-867-6345. AA/ EOE

classifieds

classifieds

ADOPTION

bids: December 19-23. Bid opening: Januar y 11-12. C o n t ra c t Key s t o n e P u r chasing Network for details: (888) 490-3182. Visit: www. thekpn.org

the naked city | feature | a&e | the agenda | food

Adoptions

food | the agenda | a&e | feature | the naked city classifieds

everything pets pets/livestock Please be aware Possession of exotic/wild animals may be restricted in some areas.

SIAMESE KITTENS: CFA, $275 each. Call 610-388-6916

AMERICAN BULLDOG- 10 WKS, S/W, will hold til xmas. $800. 267-257-5388 AMERICAN BULLDOG PUPS: NKC Reg., parents on site, shots/wormed. $450/ea. Call 610-551-2673

62 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |

D E C E M B E R 1 5 - D E C E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 1 | C I T Y PA P E R . N E T

American Bull/Pit pups, shots/wormed, parents on premesis, perfect christmas gifts, Call (215)740-6136 American Staffordshire Terrier 2 Puppies left! 11wks $200 Edgar 267 716 0071 Basset Hound Puppies, family raised, males & females, $500. Ready December 25th. Call (610)858-3484 Bernese Mountain pups, adorable, purbred, born Nov. 2, noble parents, farm raised, M $850, F $900. (717)933-4619 Border Collie pups, pure beauties, ready christmas week, a great christmas gift, pick yours, 3M, 3F, $400. (610)888-5455 Boston Terrier pups, ACA, 1M, 2F, $550. very cute, family raised, (610)593-9800 Boxer Babiesfor Christmas. Home raised w/ both parents $650 AKC 717-278-6190 BOXER PUPPIES $600 Fawn, vaccinated AKC registered, tails done. Please call 856-905-0575

Boxer pups, AKC Registered, 3F, 3M, shots & wormed, $750. (856)495-8072 Cane Corso MASTIFF PUPS READY FOR XMAS. 443-466-3090 CANE CORSO Pups, ICCF Registered, Ready for Christmas, pick yours now. $600-$850. Call 717-442-5657 ext. 1 Cavalier King Charles M/F, 5 year guarantee. 610-800-1970 or 610-485-4020

COCKAPOO puppies, adorable, family raised, vet checked, 1st shots, will hold for christmas. $650. Call 717-278-1714 Cockapoo pups, family raised, vet checked, rdy for christmas 717.799.5235 Cocker Spaniel pups, short nosed, vet checked, shots, F- $350. (267)242.3408 Doberman Puppies, 10 weeks, beautiful, great temperment, cropped, dopped and shots. Call 215-680-4564 English Bulldog AKC reg, 10 wks, 1m, 3f, $1600. 267-664-1841. jazzsbulldogs.com

English Bulldog Puppies, AKC, family raised, health certificate, 6 females $2200, ready on 11/27. 570-922-4287 English Bulldog Pups 4M & 1F 9 wks. Champ bldln vet ckd $2200 610.287.9680 English Bulldog Pups - ACA, health certified, pretty markings, lot’s of wrinkles, $1,450 and up. Call 717-629-8137 ENGLISH BULLDOG PUPS AKC, Great X-Mas gifts. Call 215-668-4889 English Bulldog Pups AKC, M & F, S/W, health certified, papers, 856-906-6478 ENGLISH Bulldog pups FCI/AKC, Champ bloodlines 1yr health guar, 610-533-0589 English Bulldog Pups, parents on premises, papers, shots, de-wormed, vet certified, Call 215-696-5832 (Bensalem) German Shepherd Pups, AKC, 5F, ready 12/6, parents on site. $400. 215.338.2617 German Shepherd pups, Blk & Tan, s/w, farm raised, $375, 717-295-4844 (ext. 9) Golden-doodles, F1 & F1B, parents on premices, health guarantee, $500-$1000 . Call (484)678.6696 Golden Lab pups, very cute, family raised, 7M, 2F, $400. (610)593-9800 Golden Retreiver Pups AKC, English Creams, rare all white, $1200 www.icewindgoldens.com 908-797-8200 Golden Retriever AKC, OFA, CERF, Shots /wrmd guarantee 856-472-3747 www.autumngoldenretrievers.com Golden Retriever Pups, AKC, vet check, S/W, ready 12/24, $425. 717-442-5657 Havanese Pups AKC Registered, parents on site, health guaranteed, $800-$1500. Please Call 484-678-6696 LAB pups. ACA Reg. Ready Now. $400. S/W, vet checked. Yellow. Farm & Family raised. Call 610-932-8978 LAB pups, AKC, yellow, 1M, 1F, shots, wormed, vet checked, parents Hip certified, ready now, $800, 717-786-3044 Labra-Doodle pups, F1, Adorable, Vet chkd, shots & wormed. Family raised $800. 717-927-9483 or 717-968-8475 Labrador Retriever Christmas Puppies black and yellow, great w/kids. vet checked. 610-507-8711 Labrador Retriever Pups, AKC, OFA, CERF Top Quality CH lines, Ylw, Ready Christmas, 607-329-9798 or sassys-labs.com Labrador Retriever Pups, AKC, OFA CERF Top Quality CH lines, Ylw, Ready Christmas, 607-329-9798 or sassyslabs.com Labrador Retriever Pups: black & choc, S/W $300. 610.368.3387 or 610.444.4619 Maltese MALTIPOO CHRISTMAS PUPS. Shts & wrm $350 & up 267-344-9429 Maltipoo Pups - 3 & 1/2mo. old, s/w, very friendly, $225 (717) 445-7931 MINI GOLDENDOODLE Pups f1b, vet checked, 1 year guarantee. 717-355-5577 MINI PINCHER ACA F pup, great watchdog, fam. raised $600. 610-589-5445 Mix Breed Pups for sale $150. 8 wks on Dec 18th. Call 267-977-3793

Pit Bull Pups 8 wks $300-M, $350 -F NE Phila. Call 215-668-7051 Pit Bull pups, ADBA, M/F, all s/w, tight bred, christmas ready $375. 215.834.1247 Pit Bull Pups - Blue, UKC, exc. bloodlines, 3 M, 6 F, S/W $400/obo. 302-275-8792

Pitbull pups, UKC reg, solid blue, 5 F, quality breeding, first shots/wormed, $300-$500 215-820-3135 Pomeranian pups, ACA, 1M, 1F, very cute, farm raised, small size, s & w, ready 12/17, $500. Call 717-689-6363 POODLE Puppies, miniature, apricot, males, $350. (215)537-8755 POODLE PUPPIES: Standard, home raised, 2 brown, 1 white, 2 cream, all Males, $400. Call 610-489-3781 POODLE (Standard) pups AKC, red, top quality, ready now, $1500. (484)459-1418 Pug 7wks akc cert shots dwmrd vet chkd 2m $400 2f $450 2677605521 angel Rottweiler Puppies - AKC/ACA reg., shots, wormed, black & Mahagony, vet checked. 570-765-0597 / 570-837-2355 Rottweiller Pups AKC, Large, German, shots, papers, $700. 609-558-4982 Rottweiller Pups AKC, vet check, champ bloodlines,microchip $1000 610.631.0230

Scottish Terrier Pups, AKC, 2M, rare wheaton, $795. Call 610-705-3322 Shorkie-Tzu Pups , starting at $400, Financing avl, cash discount. Ready in time for Christmas! Call 484-955-6378 St. Bernard 1 boy 1 girl left pups 10 wks $600. Toni 267-446-7645 akc papers.

Westie Pups ACA Reg,vet checked, Females $800, Males $750. (717)989-8345 Yellow Labrador Retrievers - AKC reg., good quality, vet checked, family raised, M $650, F $750. Call 717-933-4037 Yorkie-Chon & Mal-Shi male puppies, 2 year health guar., $225. (610)913-0393 Yorkie pups $350-$450, negotiable, must see pics, taking deposits. 856-563-0351 Yorkie pups, AKC, vet checked, shots, ready Dec. 22nd, great presents, very nice, small puppies, Call (717)278-0932 Yorkies, Poms: Teacups 866-282-2884 www.puppytolove.com YORKSHIRE, M, F, w/ papers, 1st shots & wormed. rdy 12/15, $475. 856-426-3206 Yorkshire Terrier pups, tiny, 10 weeks, parents on premesis $700.(609)778.8998

merchandise market SOLDIERS of the Revolution by Royal Doulton, set# 350. 13 Soldiers on Rosewood Plinths. Perfect cond. asking $29,500. Terms; cert.ck. 302-654-2038

Desktops/Laptops & Repairs/ Upgrades Net ready. DVD/RW. $150. 215.292.4145

CABINETS SOLID MAPLE Brand new soft close/dovetail. Crown molding. Can add or subtract to fit kitchen Cost $6400. Sell $1595. 610-952-0033

Embroidery Machine: SWF 1501C, exc cnd, lots of extras, $5000. 610-564-3208

BD Mattress memory foam w/box sprIng Brand New Queen cost $1400, sell $299; King cost $1700 sell $399. 610-952-0033 BDRM SET: Solid Cherry Sleigh Bed, Dresser, Mirror, Chest & Night Stand High Quality. Brand new. Must sell. Cost $6000 Ask. $1200. 610-952-0033 BED A brand new Queen pillow top mattress set w/warr. $229; Full $220; King $299. Memory Foam $295. 215-752-0911

BED: Brand New Queen Pillowtop Mattress Set w/warr, In plastic. $175; Twin $140; 3 pc King $265; Full set $155. Memory foams avl. Del. avl 215-355-3878 Bedroom Set brand new queen 5 pc esp. brown $489. Del Avail 215-355-3878 NEW Mattress Sets, $99: TWIN, FULL, QUEEN, Delivery Available 215-307-1950

PIANO: Electric YAMAHA, Clavinova, w/ discs, dark cherry, $1500. 215-885-3120

** Bob 610-532-9408 ***

Books -Trains -Magazines -Toys Dolls - Model Kits 610-689-8476

Coins, Currency, Gold, Toys,

Hot Tub 2011 6 person, 7ft. w/lounger Factory warranty & cover. Still in wrapper. Cost $6000; Sell $2500. 610-952-0033

apartment marketplace

Trains, Hummels, Sports Cards. Call the Local Higher Buyer, 7 Dys/Wk

Dr. Sonnheim, 856-981-3397

Diabetic Test Strips, $$ Cash Paid $$ Nicotine patches, gum. For highest prices & pick-up, Call 215-395-7100. I Buy Anything Old...Except People! antiques-collectables, Al 215-698-0787 I BUY TRAINS Any age, make, condition 856-863-1127 JUNK CARS WANTED Up to $250 for Junk Cars 215-888-8662 Lionel/Am Flyer/Trains/Hot Whls $$$$ Aurora TJet/AFX Toy Cars 215-396-1903 SAXOPHONES, WWII, SWORDS, related items, Lenny3619@aol 609.581.8290

personals

1100 S 58th St. Studio, 1br & 2br apts newly renov, lic #362013 215-744-9077 26xx S Robinson St 1br 2nd flr, LR, Kitch. 215-727-1924, 4-7pm 52xx Rodman 1br $575 18xx 60th St Efficiency $475 Water included. Call 267-292-5274

6042 Washington 2BR $700+util 1st flr dplx, avl imm. 610-284-6652, 10-6 60th & Buist 2BR $675/mo. W/W, $2025 move-in. Call 215-356-8717 60xx Buist Ave 1Br $550 w/w carpet, 2nd flr. Call 215-605-6095 Airport Area nice 2BR $785+ duplex, a/c, gar, bsmt. Call 856-346-0747

1XX FARSON ST. Lge 1BR 1st flr apt, refrig, new paint, yd $535+ 267-645-9421 REWARD for information about incident on October 4th, 2010 on Huntingdon Pike, across the street from Wendy’s. Call Attorney Robert Gamburg 215-567-1486

40th & Cambridge 1BR $535/mo. Free utils, 3 mo mv in,Scott: 215.222.2435 4832 Cedar Ave 1 BR $585+utils 2nd floor, 1st/last/security 215-765-5008 51xx Irving St. 1br $600+utils nwly renovated, must see 610.869.3663

Dear Holy Spirit, thank you for your love and granted blessings. -C.E.

jobs CARETAKER: (Live in) for female senior, room, board, salary incl. (215)906-7551 Housekeeper, errands, PT-FT, 5 yrs exp, refs,car,bkgd chk,Overbrook,215.290.2100

53xx Race St. 1Br $550 w/w carpet, 1st flr, yard. 215-605-6095 540 N. 52nd St. 1 BR Newly renov. 215.744.9077 lic# 333911 54xx Angora Terr 1br $600 incl heat sec. 8 ok, $1800 move in. 215-219-4666 5xx N 57th St. 1BR $500/mo $800 security, Call 267-292-5274 60th & Landsdowne Lg. 1 BR plus utilities. Call (215) 747-8150

$550

60xx Locust St. 2/BR Apts $800 Hardwood fls, Ceramic bth, Rec lights. Housing Vouchers Accpt. Mike 215-554-4343 61st & Arch 100 N Millick St. One blk off of 61st & Arch. Newly Renovated Studio $1,000. Move in Chase 215-920-7777 N 61st 1BR $600 Heat & water incl, 2nd flr, $1200 move-in, Call in evening 610-259-5746

Selmer Alto Saxaphone LaVoix II - Black with gold keys, $1500 firm 609-747-9393 Caregiver for sick & elderly desires position, FT or PT, Call 215-238-1581

apartment marketplace

PARKSIDE AREA 1BR- 5 BR starting @ $700. Newly renov, new kit & bath, hdwd flrs, Section 8 OK. Call 267-324-3197

Walnut St 2br $695+ utils. renov, 215-471-1365; 215-663-0128 W. Phila 3 & 4 br Bi-Levels Avail Now 1st Mo. Rent Special 215.386.4791 or 4792

BUYING EAGLES SBL’s & TICKETS

CALL 215-669-1924

PHILLIES Full or Partial Season Tickets wanted. Call 215-915-3621

Diva Dog Grooming Salon, 1107 Cottman Ave. Affordable Dog & Cat grooming/ sitting, book your holiday appointment now! Starting @ $35. (215)983-0480

33&45 RECORDS HIGHER $ REALLY PAID

33 & 45 Records Absolute Higher $

* * * 215-200-0902 * * *

8TH & KATER 2br/1ba $995+utils. Large well kept apt, 609-965-5338

Germantown Area 2XX W. Queen Lane Eff & 1BR 1BA - Subsidized Elderly - Security - Laundry Room - Intercom -On-site Management - 215-843-9823

47XX Cedar Ave 1BR $750/mo Lg 1br/2br $750 Gorgeous tree-lined street, tastefully renovated, W/W, lg EIK, micro, oak cabs, tile BA, 3 closets +bonus, lndry, ceiling fans. Beautiful! Call 215-242-1204, 267-250-9822. 49xx Cedar Ave. 2br/1ba $1000-$1250 spacious, 1st & 3rd floor units avail, newly renovated, bsmt, w/d, 610-891-6611

Germantown 1BR (kit. & BA) 3rd floor, all utilities. Call (267) 577-2502 G’town Effic. & 1BR $485-$700 + utils. Great location. 610-287-9857 1330 Pennwood Rd. 2BR $795+ utils 1st flr, duplex, c/a, w/d, (215)620-1183

15xx N 55th St. 2br $700+ carpets, intercom, 2nd flr. 215-477-4029 Various 1, 2 & 3 BR Apts $595-$895 www.perutoproperties.com 215.740.4900

The Fieldview Apts: 705-15 Church Ln Spacious Apts near LaSalle University SECT 8 please call for immed. move-in Gas, Water, Heat Free-Move In Specials Call for immediate Leasing 215.276.5600

WARMINSTER Lg 1-2-3 BR Sect. 8 OK $99 MOVE IN ON 1 & 2 BR!! HURRY! Pets & smoking ok. We work with credit problems. Call for Details: 215-443-9500

PRIMOS 2BR/1BA $850 314 Christopher Pl Apt B 610-306-9696

16xx W Huntingdon efficiency $425+ut $1275 move in, no pets 215-559-9289 1916 W. York St. 3BR $750+utils newly renovated. Call 267-977-1221 25xx N Bancroft 2Br $490+utils 2 mo sec.+1 mo rent. (267)597-7742 30xx Broad St. Efficiency $475+ utils 1 mo. rent, 1 mo. sec, 267-975-8521 Broad & Erie 2br/1ba $525+util Broad & Erie 2br/2ba w/bsmt $700+util 2 months rent, 1 mo sec req 215-844-6911

1,2, 3, 4 Bedroom FURNISHED APTS LAUNDRY-PARKING 215-223-7000 15xx W. Thompson St 2BR $750/Mo Cozy on award winning block of home owners, tastefully renovated, close to main campus, secure, w/w, modern open kit. Call 215-242-1204 or 267-250-9822

17th & Ontario 2BR $650 2 months security, Call 215-290-8702

2345 N. 17th St. 1 BR $500 hdwd flrs, new remod. 215-868-8349 Broad St Efficiencies & Apts $550 & up furn/unfurn, utils incl, newly renovated Stacey 215-236-1612 or 302-345-6334

CAMAC ST. 2BR $575 2nd floor, 4 rooms, carpet & window treatments, back yard, (267)608-0182

313 W. Grange Ave. 1BR $650+utils 1st flr, duplex, rear yard. 215-224-1010 5849 N. Camac 1BR $650+utils Sec 8 OK 267-271-6601 or 215-416-2757 5XX W Eleanor St. 1BR/1.5BA $575/mo 1st fl, LR, DR, fin bment, byard. hardwood flr. $1725 down 267-338-6078

60XX Warnock 1 BR $595+ near Fernrock Train Station,215-276-8534

71xx Devon St. 1BR $650+electric 1st floor, call 484-557-2369

1545 S. 30th St. furn, fridge, no kitchen, $125/wk, $375 move in. (215)781-8049 23rd & Hunting Park. 3 large furn., newly renov., $85-$110/wk. Call 215-960-1600 23xx N. 17th - Rooms, use of kitch/ba, $95/wk, 215-651-6564 29th & Cecil B Moore: shared kit/bath, $95-$115, Please Call 267-816-3058 29th & Ridge $100-$125/wk. furn, new renov, proof of income req 267-702-7914 34th & Baring: Room with DirecTV Use of kitchen. Call 215-620-3846 55th/Thompson furn $115/$135wk, priv ent, 4 free wks $200 sec 215-572- 8833 56th and Walnut $90-$110 week Access to kit, utils incl. 267-230-5875 56xx Wyalusing large clean rooms, $100-$110/wk. Call (215)917-1091 61st/Race St; 22nd/Tioga Priv ent, fresh paint, use of kit, w/w carpet, great loc! $110/wk $270/move in 267-997-5212 61xx Chew Ave, Mt. Airy, W Phila, Popular , $85-$100/wk. 215-242-9124 8th & Erie Area, single occupancy, $350/mo. $500 move-in 215-626-2658 Broad & Allegheney rms, kitchen use $90/wk. $370 move in. (267)338-9345 Broad & Hunting Park - $100/week, clean, near transportation. 215-206-3832 Broad & Hunting Park. Large newly renovated, furn., private BA, $110/wk. Must See! Call 215-552-5200 Broad & Olney deluxe furn priv ent $115 wk, 4 free wks, Sec $200. 215-572-8833 Frankford area rooms $110 to $115/wk per person, Sec. dep. req. 215-432-5637 Frankford, furnished, no drugs, near El, $85/wk & up + $300 sec. 215-526-1455 Germantown Area: NICE, Cozy Rooms Private entry, no drugs (215)548-6083 Germantown - Large Rooms for Rent. Please Call (215)548-4629; 8am til 6pm. Hunting Park: Furn. Luxury Rooms. Free utils, cable, internet. 267-331-5382 Hunting Park/Logan area $110 /week. Lrg rms, share kit/BA 215-668-6826 Kensington, furn, shared kitch & bth $325, prvt kitchen & bath, $495. 267-968-7043 Lansdowne - Furn’d, private bath, share kitch & w/d.$495+ 1/2 elec. 215-729-1160 NE Phila: spacious rooms, newly renov., $75-$100/week. (215)391-2797 N. Phila 1936 Napa, 5 rooms avail, 1 with priv bath, $100-$145/week 267-231-2276 N. Phila rooms for rent, Single Occupancy, no smoking, $100/wk 267.339.9839 Oaklane & Germantown furnished rms for rent, $100-$110/wk 267-266-1156 Phila. BRAND NEW ROOMS Newly Renov Rooms for rent. $80-100/wk. $160-200 to move in 267-973-2284. Richmond Room for rent $280/mo. Single Occupancy, 267-970-4553 Richmond room, use of kitch, nr transp. Seniors welcome/SSI ok 215-634-1139 South Phila, 1200 S. 26th: newly renov, spacious, walk-in closet, 215-467-5687 SW: $100-$125/wk. clean, use of kitchen. Call 610-348-0121 or 267-804-0101 SW Phila - Newly renov, close to trans. $100/wk 1st wk FREE, 267-628-7454 SW, W & N Phila, large room for rent, utils incl, newly renovated (215)768-7059 Temple U, rooms for rent $350-$450. Studio for rent $600. 267-240-6805

79xx Michener 2BR $775 newly renovated, Call 215-651-6660 80xx Thouron 1 & 2br $530-$630+util 82xx Rugby St. 2br $750+util 2 months + sec. to move in 215-410-6907 MT. AIRY 2BR/1BA 1st Floor $800+util Apartment with garage. Avail immed. Call (215) 783-1003

14xx W. 71st Ave 1 BR $625 utilities included, close to transporation and shopping. Call 215-574-2111

67xx N. Broad St. 1BR, 1BA $475 + utils EIK, LR, 3rd floor. Call 215-475-8444 Broad & Cheltenham vic. 2br $740+utils 69xx N Broad, 2nd flr, Lrg kitch & LR, Must see! 215-586-9383 or 215-850-1649

Oaklane Ave 2Br & 4Br $600-$800 2 mo. sec., w/w crpt, 215-224-6566 West Oak Lane 1BR/1BA $610 Clean and bright apt with new carpet. Foyer area with security lights. Call 215-651-1847 W. Oaklane 1Br $700+elec 2nd fl dplx,nr trans/subway 215.548.5938

C and Clearfield St. 1BR $400 $1200 move-in. Call 610-876-0604

4670 Griscom Studio & 1Br Newly renov, Lic #397063, 215.744.9077 4711 Leiper St. Studio renovated, lic#493309 215-744-9077 4840 Oxford Ave Studio, 1Br & 2Br Apts Ldry, 24/7 cam lic# 214340 215.744.9077 Harrison St. Studio $450 & 1br $525+utils 215-983-1026, 917-837-6316

10xx Fanshawe St. 2BR $675 2nd flr, kitch, Living room, 215-327-6743

Residential Life LLC-Julien/Eli Court Apts 1412 Princeton Ave. 1BR,1BA $825/mo. Convenient Living near LaSalle Uni. Starting-Stud$550, 1bdr$675, 2bdr$775 All util incl. No smoke/pets. 267.970.9106 Gas,Water,Heat Free-Move In Specials 4100 Higbee St. 1BR apt. $575 Call to schedule appt- 215.276.5600 twin house, proof of income 917.667.4101

45xx LORING ST Lge 2BR, 2nd fl, laundry, refrig, yd, bsmt. $695+ 267-645-9421 4647 Adams Ave Studio, 1br apts Newly renov. 215-744-9077 lic#433314 1 BR & 2 BR Apts $715-$835 spacious, great loc., upgraded, heat incl, PHA vouchers accepted 215-966-9371

540 Alcott Street 3BR home $850 Newly reno. New appls. 215-990-4479 73xx Montour St. 3BR $850 2nd flr, newly remodeled. 302-339-0726

1xx Hansberry St. 2br $525+utils 2nd flr, $1575 req, sec 8 ok 215-310-5225

Blvd & Pratt 1BR $590 2nd flr, clean, no pets, 215-289-2973

46xx Wayne Ave. 3br $700 fresh paint, w/d, crptd flrs 267-230-2600

Bustleton 2br/1ba $850+ 2nd flr duplex, new paint, carpets, a/c, garb. disp., deck, ceil. fans 215-354-0069

5220 Wayne Ave. Studio & 1 BR newly rehab, 215-744-9077, Lic# 507568 5321 Wayne Ave. Effic. $550 1 mo. + $200 sec, avail now 215.776.6277 607 E. Church Lane 1BR & 2BR apts. nr LaSalle Univ,215.744.9077 lic# 494336 6314 Musgrave St. 2BR/1BA $695 Heat incl Eat-in Kit Lving Rm Steps to bus/train Sect 8. Apprv. 215-913-2789

NE 2br Duplex $850 incl water bsmt,2nd flr,crpt,gar,A/C,yd 267.342.1993 Rhawn & Ditman 2 BR/2 BA $800 w/d, a/c, balcony, carpet, 609-828-2220 TORRESDALE & LEVICK ROW HOUSE 3BR 1BA $850 + Utils. 267-312-7100 Welsh Rd. 1br/1ba $850+utils fully renovated, off st prkng 215-601-5182

12xx S. Bucknell 3br $700 backyard, basement. Call 215-477-4029 13xx Stanley 2BR $650 water inclu renov,W/D hookup 267.230.2600 15xx Hollywood 3BR $775/mo. Basement, yard. Call 267-292-5274

13xx Wilton 3BR $750 renov, all crpt, W/D hk-up 267.230.2600 21xx S. Gould St. 2BR/1BA $625/mo. porch & yard 215-519-5437 69xx Dicks Ave. 3BR/1BA $875+utils Garage, deck, renov. Call 301-575-4161 SW: Elmwood Area 3BR modern, Section 8 approved 215.726.8817

7262 N. 20th St 3BR/1.5Ba Corner lot, hdwd flrs, mirror in LR. Call 856-740-9417 or 215-924-4459

29XX WEIKEL ST. Lge 3BR house, W/D, refrig, yd, bsmt, $795+ 267-645-9421

20xx Hark Ln 2BR $585+utils fenced backyd, 3 mo mvn 215-514-0653 6XX E. WISHART Lge 3BR hse $650+ New carpet & paint. 267-645-9421

E. Thayer St. 3br/1ba $750 front/back porch, fncd yd. 908.812.3566

20xx Haworth 2BR/1Ba $600+utils fenced backyd, $1800 mvn 215-779-1512 21xx Wakeling 3BR/1BA Sec. 8 OK, W/D, DW, C/A,.215-605-8747 Frankford 3BR/1BA $1150+utils W/D, crpt, fridge, Sec 8 OK 215-632-5763

14xx Vankirk St. 3BR $800 mo. Rehab Exit Benchmark Rlty 215-668-3990

2XX S. Alden St. 3BR/1.5BA $775 House (57th & Locust). Clean, carpeted. 484-318-1359 49XX Reno St 3br newly remodeled front porch, Sec 8 OK, Call 215-356-2434. 4xx N Dearborn 3br/1ba $875 newly renova., sec 8 ok. (215)416-0331 58XX BELMAR Terr Lrg 3BR, New paint, Refrig, yard, bsmt $800+, 267-645-9421

ANDALUSIA 3br/2ba $2650/mo Unique opportunity to live on 100 acre historic estate, late 19th century ranch sytle bungalow, short commute to Phila & NY. Please Call (215)639-2078

2xx N. EDGEWOOD St. 3BR $775 newly remodeled, wall/wall carpet, sec 8 ok, 3 mo. req to move in 215-989-1225

60xx Callowhill 4BR $1,000+utils front & back yard, 2 story, basement. $2,000 mvn. Call in evening 610.259.5746 61st & Arch 3br $850 hwd flrs, spacious, sec 8 ok 610.649.9009 Conestoga 3br hdwd flrs, section 8 ok 267-738-8473

OVERBROOK PARK 2 3BR’s $1150/$1200 Call 610-642-5655

21xx N. Corlies St 3br/1ba $700 small bkyd, full bsmt 215-206-5769 22xx Cleveland 2BR $650 water incl Freshly painted, Sec 8 OK (267)230-2600 25xx N Bouvier St 3br/1ba $750+utils large & newly renovated, (215)817-1858 25xx N Gratz St 3br/1ba $700+utils washer, lrg kitch, sec 8 ok (215)425-3696 29xx N Lambert 3br $800+utils w/w cpt, sec. 8 ok, no pets 215-559-9289 30XX N. Bambrey 3br/1ba $675+utils newly renov., nice block (215)868-8847 N Phila & Mayfair homes & apts avail. 1br-3br. (215)219-9257

9th & Erie 2BR/1Ba $800/mo porch, yard, Call (267)230-0171 Temp Hosp area 4br sngl fam Avail Now 1st Mo. Rent Special 215.386.4791 or 4792

Forester 2002 $5200 STICK SHIFT, 89k miles, 215-888-3703

Mercedes 450 SL 1977 $9000 silver, saddle int., runs great 215.906.5375

47xx Oakmont 3br $800+utils 12xx Greeby 3br $825+utils Call 215-725-7079 66xx Vandike 3br/1.5ba $900+utils newly renov., credit check 215-498-1807 MAYFAIR 3BR/2.5BA $1200+ close to shops/tran, n/s, n/p 215.694.4089 Summerdale 3Br/1Ba $800 fin bsmnt, deck, total renov 215.240.7641

201 N. Wilton St. 3BR/1BA $775+util New Kit & BA HWFlrs, sec sys $2325 Req. Call 215-919-8700

Altima 2.5S 2006 $11,500 sedan, 4 dr, 66K mi, exc cond, lthr seats, new tires, garage kept. 610-644-5600

ANDALUSIA 4 br/2.5 ba $2500/mo Delaware Riverfront, Unique opportunity to live on 100 acre historic estate, late 19th century reconverted stable, short commute to Phila. & NY. (215)639-2078

Rolls Royce Silver Spur 1981 $25,000 low mileage, (215)338-7920 leave msg

$300 & UP FOR JUNK CARS CALL 215-722-2111

Junk Cars & Trucks Wanted, $400, Call 856-365-2021

JUNK CARS WANTED 24/7 REMOVAL. Call 267-377-3088

A1 PRICES FOR JUNK CARS FREE TOW ING , Call (215) 726-9053

Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail 2010 $12,900. only 4k, exc cond. 609.226.5350

low cost cars & trucks Cadillac Catera 2001 Economy Sports Edition 4 door, sunroof, original miles, $3985. Call Carol 215-928-9632

Cadillac Sedan Deville 1999 $2,250 loaded, runs/looks great. 609-221-7427 Collindale 4BR $1350/mo lrg property, avail immed. 610.710.1986 Upper Darby 4br Row $900 3br row $800. Call 484-270-8639 Upper Darby Lg. 3BR $1050 + utils. Excel. cond. sec 8 ok, 610-284-5631

Cadlillac Deville DHS 2003 $4275 pearl, leather, chrome 267-592-0448 Chevy Berretta 1993 $1,350 77K mi, new insp, 1 owner 215.620.9383 Chevy Caprice Classic Wagon 1994 $1950 no rust/dents,1 own,rns new215.620.9383

Chrys Town & Country Van 2005 $3995 Voorhees 3BR/1BA Ranch $1650+utils DVD, loaded, gorgeous. 610-524-8835 1 car garage. Call (856)753-7001 Dodge Deluxe Ram 1500 ’98, 8 pass. ext., $3975 & GMC ’00 Deluxe Mini cargo, AWD, ac, lite comm., quick priv. sale, Gloucester Twp. small 2Br $1000+ $4975, both vans like new 215-627-1814 utils renov., avail immed. 856-803-0366 Ford Crown Vic. 1999 $3800 60k mi., gd cond, new tires 609.706.9011 Lexus ES 300 2000 $3,600 120k, very comforable. 856-296-4484 LOCUST LAKE 3BR/2BA $400-$625 Chalet, sleeps 9, minutes to casino & ski resorts. Call 609-722-1264

automotive

1xx Linton St. 3BR/1BA freshly painted, Sec8 OK. 215-740-4629 E Albanus St. 4BR $750 new floors, Call (718)938-2545

Crossfire Convertible 2007 $16,500/obo 34k, exc cond, fully loaded (215)850-7031

44xx N. Cleveland 3br/1ba $875 newly renova., sec 8 ok. (215)416-0331

Caravan SXT 2004 $6,400/obo 1 ownr, 68K, PW, PL, loaded 215.237.0109

MAZDA Deluxe 626 LX 2002 $3985 4 door, only 66k original miles, exceptional, quick private sale, 215-922-6113

Mitsubishi Galant ES 2000 $2495 auto, loaded, gorgeous, (610)524-8835 Nissan Maxima GLE 1999 $2500/obo bose stereo, lthr, all pwr ( 215)901-9902 Nissan Pathfinder 4WD 1995 $1,850 auto, clean, insp, runs exc. 215-620-9383 NISSAN Altima GXE 1997 $1450 4 door, auto, loaded, clean. 215-280-4825 Saturn SL 2 1997 $2195 auto, loaded, gorgeous, (610)524-8835 Volvo S70 GLT Turbo 2000 $2,400 1 owner, lthr, moonroof, CD 267.592.0448

63

RIVERTON spacious 1Br $950-$1,000 2nd floor, updated, 1 block to Riverline & 2 blocks to Delaware River. 856-952-2333

Grand Marquis Broughm 2004, 4Dr with formal roof, custom wheels, original mi, like new $7950 Call Mary 215-922-5342

P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R | D E C E M B E R 1 5 - D E C E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 1 | C I T Y PA P E R . N E T |

Warnock 1 BR $500+elec Rooms also avail, $90/wk. 267-444-5274

DOMINO LN 1 & 2 BR $745-$875 Renov, prkng, DW, near shopping & dining, mve-in special, 1st mo free. 215-966-9371

homes for rent

19xx Independence 3BR $900 hdwd flrs, lrg yrd, 1 car prk. 215-601-5182

classifieds

28 Haverford Ave 2Br $900/mo fresh paint, new carpet, private W/D in basement. Call 267-249-6141

TIOGA: Vic of Broad & Erie. Rms for rent, Seniors Welcome. $100/wk 215-226-0321 WEST MOUNT AIRY $100 and up special.in private home. 215-224-3737 West Phila 57th & Baltimore 55+ comm. Furnished rooms. Call 267-567-3311 W Phila-1BR apt avail & medium clean rm, priv entr, nr gd trans 215-494-8794

GRAND CARAVAN 2003 $5500 only 16k mi., very gd cond. (267)767-5102

the naked city | feature | a&e | the agenda | food

apartment marketplace

37xx Cresson St. 2br $925 rear deck, hwd flr, avail now267.968.7043

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Building Blocks to Total Fitness 12 Years of experience. Offering personal fitness training, nutrition counseling, and flexibility training. Specialize in osteoporosis, injuries, special needs. In home or at 12th Street Gym. Infokol@aol.com

ROCK THE JOINT ROADHOUSE RADIO

Holiday Extravaganza Fri 12/16 W/ Delco Nightingale / WRDV DJ Dave April WPRB DJs: HR Scott +The Prof/ Santa Fink The Infamous Ms. Mae and more FUN!! 8pm Fri @ JACK’S TWIN BAR Broadway + Market sts. Gloucester City, NJ

I BUY RECORDS, CD’S, DVD’S

TOP PRICES PAID. No collection too small or large! We buy everything! Call Jon at 215-805-8001 or e-mail dingo15@hotmail.com

Sexual Intelligence

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17 Rotating Drafts Close to 200 Bottles

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Happy Hour Mondays-Fridays 5-7pm $2.50 Kenzinger Pints & More! 215-634-6430 www.myspace.com/the_el_bar

Guaranteed-quality, body-safe sexuality products, lubricants, male room, sex-ed classes, fetish gear, Aphrodite Gallery SEXPLORATORIUM 620 South 5th Street www.sexploratoriumstore.com

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City Paper is very pleased to bring you our very first smartphone app! Just go to www.citypaper.net and click our martini glass icon to find out more, or type in ‘Happy Hours in the app store, android marketplace, or blackberry app world. Click the orange martini icon and get drinking. No matter where you go or when you go, you can find the nearest happy hours to you with a single click! You can even sort through bars by preference or neighborhood.

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GIVE THE GIFT THAT LASTS A LIFETIME!

Tattoo Gift Certificates on Sale! EDDIES’ 621 TATTOO HAVEN 621 SOUTH 4TH ST, middle of Tat2 Row 12-12 DAILY! 215-962-0636

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When you need to know the truth!!! Confidential, Licensed Investigators Call 24 hours 1-800-505-5423

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Collectibles, Antiques, Musical Instruments, Cameras, Electronics Check Cashing – Money Orders- Money Gram Agent. We Buy Gift Cards 645 South Street, Philadelphia. 215-925-7357

FREE PIZZA! $2 BEER OF THE WEEK! $2 WELL DRINKS! IT’S AMAZING! PASSYUNK AVE (7th & CARPENTER) 215-465-5505 myspace.com/thedivebar

STUDY GUITAR W/ THE BEST All Styles All Levels. Former Berklee faculty member. Masters Degree with 25 yrs. teaching experience. 215.831.8640 www.davidjoel.net

Christmas Services Christmas Eve - 10pm Christmas Day - 10am

All Are Welcome for Worship The Church of the Crucifixion 620 South 8th Street, Philadelphia www.crucifixionphiladelphia.org

The Real Housewives of South Philly Occupy Christmas!

The Waitstaff ’’s Holiday Sketch Comedy Show W/ Special Guests: Santa, Rudolf and Jesus H. Christ Tues 12/20 at 8pm at Helium Comedy Club 2031 Sansom Street, Tix: $15 www.TheWaitstaff.com

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KENSINGTON HAPPY MEAL! EVERY DAY UNTIL 7PM 2 ALL BEEF HOT DOGS A PBR POUNDER A BAG OF CHIPS AND A TOY ALL FOR $5

SEMEN DONORS NEEDED

Healthy, College Educated Men 18-39 ~ $150/Sample WWW.123DONATE.COM

RECLAIMED TIMBER BENCHES ON STEEL LEGS

Designed by local architect. Hand made with an elegant emphasis on detail to connections & materiality. Great for dining rooms, kitchens, the foot of the bed or your garden. For inquires & literature, call 215.923.1115

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