Been There/Done That: March 22

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Been There/Done That: March 22

POSTED: Monday, March 22, 2010, 4:42 PM

Filed Under: Been There, Done That

When we're not editing and writing and proofing and stressing, we A&E editors keep busy getting our culture on. We watch TV, we go to the movies, we attend rock shows and theater performances and workshops — hell, we even occasionally go to the ballet. (Mostly, we watch TV.)

Since we (that'd be Patrick Rapa, music editor; Carolyn Huckabay, arts editor; Molly Eichel, movies/agenda editor; and occasionally Holly Otterbein, staff writer/arts patron) know Philly's teeming with artsy happenings, we'll give you a weekly roundup of where we've been and what we've seen. But we can't see it all.

We're taking a cue from Team Meal Ticket — who diligently report on how they've spent their foodie weekends — and opening the floor to you: Leave a comment and let us know what you've been up to since Friday at 5.

CH: Carolyn Huckabay
HO: Holly Otterbein
ME: Molly Eichel

What We Watched:

— Saturday night, I attended the closing performance of Kun Yang/Lin Dancers' spring show at the Painted Bride (which we previewed). Highlights: a white-faced solo dancer who somehow held a giant, open fan in his mouth for 10 minutes; passionate, sometimes angry couples dancing out their relationship woes in the world premiere of Autumn Skin; the adorable older woman who read a show-opening poem; the presence of Scott McPheeters. —CH

— I'm late to the Breaking Bad party so I've just seen the pilot (the third season premiered last night on AMC). But holy mobile meth lab, is that episode good. Bryan Cranston is pitch-perfect as the cancer stricken amateur drug dealer Walt and Aaron Paul comes outta nowhere as Walt's former chem student turned meth-dealing mentor. The pace of the show is just fantastic: The pilot starts strong, gripping from the beginning and never letting you go. I'm excited to watch the rest. —ME

— Sunday evening I watched Up in the Air, and basically cried throughout the entire thing. Something about the look on George Clooney's face when he realizes his own inevitable isolation broke my heart. —CH

— Saw The Devil and Daniel Johnston (thank you frighteningly spot-on Netflix recommendations!), a sad, sad documentary about the titular musician whose mental illness creeps up on him in his early 20s, wrapping itself around his Christian fundamentalist background and relationship with his mother. I don't even know his music that well and still liked it — it's nice to see a "crazy artist" not romanticized. —HO

— Watched Italian flick/Palm d'Or runner-up Vincere — about Mussolini's alleged first wife Ida Dasler, who he had committed so she wouldn't cause trouble — and No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson by Hoop Dreams director Steve James. Too bad I can't tell you what I thought yet. You'll have to wait until I write the reviews (Vincere opens Friday, March 26 April 2 at the Ritz Five and No Crossover gets its Philly debut at the Philadelphia Film Society's spring mini-fest). —ME

What We Read:

— I spent the majority of my Sat./Sun. lounging on the banks of the Schuylkill, which essentially bars me from reading anything of weight or substance. So I picked up the first entry in the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris because a) I like True Blood and b) my boyfriend had it at his house. It's not well written; Harris isn't Faulkner, or even Rice for that matter. But it's perfect for riverside lounging. —ME

— I've recently decided to take on the behemoth Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, so I read a little of that, and then when I started drowning in the footnotes and feeling lazy, I read a few of his short stories and essays. "Consider the Lobster" is great, but I regretted reading it when I went to the Italian Market later that day. —HO

— Finished a must-read article for any movie on Clint Eastwood by David Denby from the New Yorker. I hate on Denby (I'm an Anthony Lane girl, myself) but Clint is my ultimate badass icon and my affinity for him would be described by some as fanatic obsession. [No, seriously, this poster is hanging directly behind me. Or simply ask something like "What movie does Clint look best shirtless? (The Beguiled) Or, "What is Clint's best line?" (From Magnum Force —Sunny: What does a girl have to do to go to bed with you? Harry Callahan: Try knocking on the door.)] Swooooon. —ME

What We Listen To:

— During the winter, I mostly like to listen to the solemn Bruce Springsteen records (Darkness on the Edge of Town, Nebraska, second disc of The River) but during the summer, I switch over to the bouncier ones (The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, Born in the U.S.A., first disc of The River). But it's an interim season so I went with the first disc of Live, 1975-1985 because I listen to the third disc too much. For the record, I listen to Born to Run all the time. —ME

— I thought it only appropriate to listen to nice-weather music, so spent the weekend with the easy, breezy Toy Soldiers and The Spinning Leaves. Do they know each other? They really should. —HO

— Can I get a hell yeah on how motherfucking epic Titus Andronicus' The Monitor is? Ep-Ic. —ME

— My love of Janelle Monáe was stoked by her recent Philly appearances, so I also rocked out to her Chase EP. Can't wait for the May 18 release of The ArchAndroid. Do y'all think I could rock the pompadour? —ME

Where We Went:

— Yelp's Philly Homegrown Party, at CITYSPACE's headquarters (which we previewed), was weird and fun and felt a little like a frat party at times, with its winding staircases and showers filled with ice. Free stuff is always cool, though, and there was plenty of that — also, 'twas cool to see Kenzo art space Pterodactyl there with its own table. Venues grow up so fast! —HO

Brian Howard

Posted 2010-03-22 13:51:37

Spent much of Saturday listening to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' The Brutalist Bricks and an iTunes genius mix based on The Hold Steady's "Constructive Summer" while painting my kitchen.

Unfortunately, I missed the Folding Bike Race, but caught a few laps of some of the collegiate races at Memorial Hall.

Spent much of Saturday evening high on paint fumes and watching and rewatching Jon Stewart's brilliant skewering of Glenn Beck.

Also watched Up In The Air. Liked it a lot.

Marc Steel

Posted 2010-03-22 22:55:40

I wound up catching most of Hook on late night commercial tv and watched it to the end. Not afraid to admit it. The movie doesn't rule or anything, but it brought back some memories. Then watched The Pacific, which is turning out to be insanely insane. 

Listened to the last Pearl Jam album for the first time in a while, as a fan it's holding up. Just Breathe is simply beautiful. Then a friend put on an Allman Brother's show we both had gone to from Camden in August of '07. Absolutely wicked set.

noah

Posted 2010-03-23 15:42:56

holly-
  i'm in Toy Soldiers, and yes, we do know the Spinning Leaves, though not well enough in my opinion.  isn't their record great?  hopefully we'll get a chance to play a show with them soon.
-noah skaroff

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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