POSTED: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 8:30 PM
 |
| credit Scott Weiner |
| Harry Jay Katz and Debra Cruz. |
Just in time for Christmas:
XIPWIRE Inc. and
Gyro Advertising, two Philly-ians, start the "
Hero or Anarchist" ad campaign that'll run through January 2011. The Philly-based on-line and mobile payment firm XIPWIRE calls itself a secure service through which to donate to
WikiLeaks, this while other electronic payment providers have ceased. "Our motivation is really simple," writes XIPWIRE founder
Sharif Alexandre in the company's promotional notes. "While people may or may not agree with WikiLeaks, we feel that the recent decisions made by companies to refuse to process donations on their behalf effectively silences voices in this democracy. In fact, it was the
Citizens United case that basically equated donations with our first amendment right to free speech. If the Supreme Court ruled that government doesn't have the power to regulate that form of speech then we feel corporations shouldn't have that power either." Yay you.
Is Dec. 29 the day of infamy and plum pudding for
Stephen Starr's
The Dandelion. Or will it simply have to wait until Jan. 3 or 4 as is currently being discussed?
It hasn't been announced yet but
Atlantic Records (who just bought up
Roadrunner Records) and
Rolling Stone magazine will start a contest come January 2011 where they roam the country, sign eight artists and run cover-worthy features in the mag. My sources told me that one of the first artists being looked at for the Atlantic signing is Locust Gap, PA-to-Philly transplant
Thom McCarthy, the folksy soul man behind
I Lost Half of My Album & My Favorite Hat in the '92 Flood.
 |
| credit Scott Weiner |
| Snooki |
WHOWHATWHERE: I never saw so many mentions of
Jamie Foxx — not singing, not acting — as I have this week. There was the eat-a-thon/hang at
R2L, his visit to
Daniel Stern's place, the
Lakers game, then the visit to
Vault for a listening party. Suddenly, Foxx's lobster mac-n-cheese was big on the local blogging menu. The CD he was promoting (
Best Night of My Life) and the charity he was here for (
Joy to the World) was good too.
Kate Gosselin and her brood were spotted racing
Rocky-like up the steps of the
Philly Art Museum with
TLC cameras in tow after attending a
Flyers game. Before hitting a screening at
International House, karate expert/actor/director
Crispin Glover was spotted at the Art Museum area
Whole Foods. Isn't this the same Whole Foods where
Michael Cera went during the
Scott Pilgrim junket? Get your ass to South Street, punks.
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi did a pre-holiday meet and greet at
Sizzle Tans in NJ over the weekend and got something like $11,000 for an hour's appearance. Fantastic. The next run of
Jersey Shore starts Jan. 6 and
Sammi "the Sweetheart" Giancola and
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro will appear at every racist's fave hang,
McFadden's on N. Third, Jan. 22. Ugh.
Danny DeVito and wife
Rhea Perlman ate at
Davio's and no bottles of Limoncello were harmed. It wasn't as much ladies-filled fun as the
Trey Songz event at
Sigma the day previous, but
Keri Hilson did a listening session for her new CD
No Boys Allowed at Sigma Sound.
Tim Gunn of
Project Runway ran nattily around the
Cleopatra exhibition at the
Franklin Institute with writer
Ada Calhoun, with whom he is authoring a book on costume design for 2012. We're glad we snapped
Harry Jay Katz and his new missus
Debra Cruz on the day of their wedding two weeks ago. Katz writes: "Debra had a stroke on our wedding day and spent the next four days in
Lankenau Hospital — it was more expensive than The Four Seasons. I must have a crippling affect on women." Luckily the new missus is doing better. "She's 100% fine and dandy now — thanks to the marvels of modern science." Now get thee to honeymoon.
The Mayor,
Bob Brady,
Mummers bosses, emcee
Eddie Bruce and members of the
Fralinger String Band and
Fancy Brigade Association announced that for 2011's New Year Day parade, the focus is family (face painting, craft booths at the
Kimmel), better sightlines on Broad Street (more bleachers), there would be DJs summarily positioned along the route (?!) and that nationally people had better start respecting the Mummers parade like the do Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Damn straight.
A quick farewell to
Trudy Pitts, the Philly jazz scene legend and mistress of the local Hammond B3 organ sound who passed this week at age 78. Growing up, hearing her name in tandem with that of her husband,
Mr. C (drummer
Bill Carney) always brought a smile. Only hearing their music was better.
