Icepack

Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.

by A.D. Amorosi

As I write, I'm navigating the sartorial waters of what to wear to the voting booth Nov. 4. It's a law — now. But wearing my finest tri-corner hat and Paul Smith pantaloons to the polls has always been an imperative. Dressing frivolously never stops me from thinking seriously. My splendidly dressed friends at 3Kingdoms — Mikal Kamil and Dan Levin — are proof of that. The well-heeled Philadelphia duo created/hosted a wealth of big events under their Music is Our Oil banner (citypaper.net/articles/2008/01/31/heeding-oil) in connection with CITGO Petroleum, which is owned by the Venezuelan government, and its president, Hugo Chavez. "But in our ongoing race to make Chavez look sexy cool and have us do our Henry Kissinger thing, we had to make our next event bigger," says Kamil. Enter Oct. 11's "Beta Test" concert (for their org's 2009 tour that they'll film for documentary purposes) at the "Rock & Roll Exxon" at 2330 Aramingo Ave. "It's PimpMyExxon time," says Kamil about tricking out the gas station from 3 p.m. on with political cartoon-y backdrops (see below) and a stage for Matt Duke, Adam Monaco, Hezekia, Nickelz, Preston Swift and more to play for that day's press conference. On Oct. 11, these hip-hoppers and scratchy alterna-rockers will gig for free and get their gas tanks full. And when it comes time for whomever flies-and-plays on 3K's world tour, they will go to oil-rich countries to barter music for what they're estimating will be 20 million barrels of oil. The 20 million barrels of oil will be transferred into 125-gallon MIO gas cards, which will be distributed to 3.2 million Americans thru the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) program. "What we were able to do with heating oil for Philadelphia's needy — work with local governments, sponsors and players in the entertainment industry — we want to do with gasoline," says Kamil. "We have to show the separation between gasoline dealers and big oil."

► Political cartoonist John Overmeyer, when he isn't working with the 3Kingdoms guys (above) on their PimpMyExxon graphics, is consulting Armen Terzian on the look of his soon reopening Café Clave live-music coffee shop at 43rd and Locust.

► When DJ/buyer Michael Anderer and Socialite promoter Scott Conant ain't serving mimosas at Matthew Izzo Lifestyle where they work, they're hooking up with Izzo and HeaD AreA Salon for "A Better Cause" — an event benefiting Susan G. Komen's "For the Cause" charities at 1109 Walnut St., Oct. 15, 5 to 9 p.m. Champagne'll flow and every Serenity candle you buy sends $5 to the Komen charity. And its after-party gets spun by Anderer at Vango at 10 p.m.

► WHOWHATWHERE: Youknowandyouknow Sarah Palin watched five minutes of her boss's first debate at the Irish Pub. But when she stayed at the Westin, her staff was witnessed larfing their heads off at the SNL Tina Fey imitations on the barroom television. More yuks: When Donald Trump did Chairman Tower's ribbon-cutting ceremony indoors on a windy day at Trump Taj Mahal, he was heard to make a joke about his coif — something about hearing the weather report's call for wind and not wanting anything to happen to his hair.

► Allison Polans is the new booking lady Upstairs @ World Café Live. You know her as a Feist-y singer for papertrees. I know her as a Barrymore winner for her 2007 collaboration with Brat Theater. See which side wins when Polans plays Milkboy Oct. 16.

► It's Greek to me: Questions of whether Stephen Starr's takeover of the Broad Street Diner may go designer Mexican (my spy) or sophisticated Greek (new rumor afoot) may be moot if the project doesn't happen at all due to rumored structural problems. But remember, when Starr and I spoke about the space, the restaurant-er (who's opening his steak house Butcher & Singer at the end of the month — with Johnny Cash's nephew Shane Cash doing the grilling) noted that he grabbed BSD without a solid idea of its concept and that he had one year to un-grab it. Speaking of food roomah: Sounds like Jose Garces' 20th and Sansom land grab will have a pricey whiskey bar as one of its components.

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► Lullaby mavens Stephen Bluhm and Phil Matthews bring child-synth-songs to Tritone Oct. 11 with Umlaut. (Search for Bluhm crooning "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" at Green Line on youtube.com.)

► Bye to Martin Hamann, exec chef at Four Seasons. Hello to Martin Hamann, new exec chef at the Union League.

► Last week, Corinne Thornton hosted DVLF's Heroes of the LGBTI community event for Kevin Lee, openly gay PA state House of Representatives candidate. On Oct. 12, she's organizing Sapphire Fund's cash-raiser brunch at Germantown Ave.'s Cresheim Cottage Café. Give her money so she'll relax: corinne.thornton@sapphirefund.org.

► Whether you're an arriviste or old head to South Philly's SoWash, you've met Wayne Tisa. The bushy-mustached, big-glasses-wearing Tisa manned the CVS at the corner of 11th and Washington like the kindly, pragmatic Mr. Fix-It ex-Marine that he was. Tisa passed away suddenly last week. While his co-workers hooked up a sweet funeral Mass at St. Paul's Church, customers and friends alike — I was both — stopped to pay their respects and show how much his passing affected the community. He'll be missed.

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)