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Archive: June, 2012
Artists are starving. Art collectors are billionaires. In an effort to reverse this age-old inequality, Inliquid presents the 13th installment of Art for the Cash Poor — a weekend block party dedicated to affordable art. Held at the Crane Arts Building (1400 N. American St.), the event features over 100 artists with offerings priced well under $100. From the clothing of Orgotton (yes, that's chic talk for “organic cotton”) to the dreamy etchings of Sheila Burstein, the event is the perfect place to track down a one-of-a-kind gift and support up-and-coming local artists — all without breaking the bank.
An all-star music lineup will provide the tunes, featuring local favorites The Downtown Club, New Brunswick rapper Wali Lundy and ambient/Mariachi/surf rockers Gringo Motel, just to name a few. If you need to catch some grub after all the jamming and art-collecting, a wide selection of Philly food trucks will be dishing out their delicacies. The whole shebang kicks off with a special opening party on Fri., June 8 at 8 p.m. and continues Sat., June 9 and Sun., June 10 from noon to 6 p.m.
View galleryDouble Dare was a childhood staple for those of us who grew up in the late '80s and early '90s. We all wanted to catch pies in comically oversized pants and travel through a giant ear canal toward obstacle-course victory. But most of all, we wanted to be slimed. Children begged their parents to take them to Orlando just for a chance to come in contact with the unnaturally colored stuff.
Alas, none of us are immune to time, and as we grew older slime became a dated obsession. Still, many of us never lost our attachment to messy, slapstick entertainment. The managers of Frankford Hall understood this and organized a beer-themed version of our favorite childhood game show for Philly Beer Week. They dubbed it "Dunkel Dare" and convinced the man, the myth and the legend Marc Summers to host.
One of the most annoying things about Wizard World, the traveling comic-con of adventure-film fanatics, comix nerds and sci-fi freakazoids that took place over the weekend at Pennsylvania Convention Center is that you really can’t get near the animals in captivity without waving a banana at them. Translation: The meeting of all the Star Trek captains, the reunion of Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell (that’s Quantum Leap to the novices) and getting alltogthertooclose to Avengers’ Chris Hemsworth as a member of the press — even if you had something pre-arranged — was a non-starting situation unless you were paying someone to stand still for you. That’s how these guys make their money at these conventions, which is fine for the fans but not the working press. Ray Bradbury would’ve turned over in his grave if he had been dead last week. That could be why Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere began to hide from intrepid Ice photog Scott Weiner in his series of three photos — he wasn’t paying her. One-time Superman Dean Cain was nice but if you notice, his steely gaze was just off to the left of our lens. The reason? No money for the Man of Steel. Luckily, comic strip god Stan Lee and the unexpectedly cool Sean Patrick Flenery and Norman Redus from the dark lark Boondock Saints saved the day with their cool. My heroes.
With Colin Farrell filming away from downtown and Sigourney Weaver lost in South West Philly, you haven’t heard much about the Philly filming of Dead Man Down and Political Animals for a minute. But there is some other local-shoot news: USA Network’s Animals just hired Vanessa Redgrave to play a lesbian Supreme Court Justice. “The buzz is fantastic so we’re hoping to get an order for more episodes,” says Sharon Pinkenson, exec directress of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, excited too that Redgrave will be working in Philly. While Pinkenson goes on to say that Dead Man Down will wrap its local shoot around the 20th of June and Political Animals goes till mid-July, she also confirmed the rumor I started several weeks ago in Ice Ill when I mentioned that Harrison Ford would be in town. The reason: Paranoia, a tale of corporate intrigue filmed by a British production company co-starring Liam Hemsworth, Embeth Davidtz and Gary Oldman. Yes, Gary Oldman will be in Philadelphia. Dag. “We’re expecting a late July start in Center City mostly for Paranoia,” states Pinkenson.
?uestlove has been championing Afrobeat for years. But the most Fela moment of the picnic went to Tune-Yards. (?uestlove and the woman behind Tune-Yards, Merill Garbus, actually collabbed on a Fela tribute. Their single “Lady” dropped last week.) Bass, two saxophones, drums and at times a ukulele, Tune-Yards wailed in exuberant polyrhythms. They were a perfect fit for the Roots Picnic. They shared the shindig’s eclecticism not for eclecticism’s sake, but for actual love of the music. The best moments of the picnic were just that… whennn the sound was actually working.
DJ Diamond Kuts went unheard beyond the first few rows. She introduced Ms. Jade, but the reaction was also muffled, as not everyone got the memo. (The rain of day two made the sound far worse. Audible grunts peppered Rakim’s set as the power issues stifled classics like “I Know You Got Soul.” I mean, of all the songs…) Even when the sound was working, the system was disequilibrated. It was one of those shows where the bass seems to be at its max so the beat punches like Pacquiao. The whole upper body throbs but everyone loves hip-hop too much to shy away.
Philly rap duo OCD was spunky. They make hip-hop that’s too homegrown to be called “teeny bopper,” but as the title of their viral YouTube success “City Kids” suggests, their music is definitely for younger contingents.
When St. Vincent gets into the zone, she moves like a tinker toy, teetering away from the microphone then back. St. Vincent’s zone sounded like an ’80s dungeon. Things got a little lighter midway through, only for her to play all of her remotely danceable numbers in sequence before closing with an ear-shattering Pop Group cover. Her skill on guitar went without question, but the order of her set list was utterly puzzling.
Rashad Corey (pictured) presents Stomp the Runway, a premiere fashion gala designed to raise money and awareness for domestic abuse victims in Philadelphia. Inspired by the death of local model Vanessa “Ms. Banks” Watson, the proceeds of this event will go to Watson’s family and Women Against Abuse, the only non-profit organization in the area that provides shelter services to victims of domestic violence.
Famed Philly broadcasters MoShay Laren and Kendra G will host the evening’s festivities, which will include food, drinks, live music by DJ Hollywood and a silent auction. The runway show will showcase styles by designers Autumn Kietponglert, Shooney Frederic, Ava Bishop and more.
Tickets will not be sold at the door, so make sure to act fast. The super speedy among you will reap additional rewards, as the first 100 guests to purchase tickets will receive premium gift bags courtesy of Spa East.
Fri., June 15, 7 p.m.-11p.m., $40, TRUST, 249 Arch St., 215-592-8400, stomptherunway.com.
Each Wednesday, Chris Brown digs into our overflowing listings bin and pulls out a little something-something to do every day of the week.
When we chatted with The Heads of State a few months back, they didn't mention any work involving pianos but here we are. Along with other artists such as Justin Duerr and Terry Adkins, this bit of design whimsy gives us custom decorated pianos to be strategically placed throughout University City as part of the "Heart & Soul" project. At the opening reception tonight, make a move and tickle some ivory. Wed., June 6, 6 p.m., The Porch at 30th Street Station, universitycity.org.
When you send an email to a friend, where does it go? If you answered “to my friend,” you are very smart, but can you tell me how it physically got there? Among its many revolutionizing facets, the Internet does away with physical space: An email sent to someone in the next room takes roughly the same amount of travel time as an email sent to a relative in China. Thousands of miles are traversed in a matter of seconds and space ceases to exist. Yet, space does exist, even in the strange realm of the Internet.
In his new book Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, Andrew Blum uncovers the mystery of the web, giving nuts-and-bolts explanations for the seemingly magical powers of online communication. From the room in Los Angeles where the Internet first sparked to the 10,000-mile underwater cable connecting Europe to Africa, Blum provides the blueprint for the physical web behind the virtual web. Hear him speak for free at the Free Library (1901 Vine St.) tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and discover exactly how it is that you — and your cousin in Venezuela and her friend in France — are reading these words that I never sent to you.
Gay pride celebrations are typically marked by rainbow parade floats, bedazzled drag queens and lots and
lots of Cher. A great excuse for a party, Pride is also about overcoming oppression with the most effective non-violent tools we've got: honesty, love and unabashed displays of queer identity. In a world where mainstream media fails to represent the full range of human sexuality, pride celebrations are not only fun but a necessary occasion for support and acceptance.
On Friday at 7 p.m., the William Way Center (1315 Spruce St.) will invite performers and community members to share their stories of coming to terms with queer identity. Appropriately titled "Being Queer Saved My Life," the event will focus on solidarity within the LGBTQ community, exploring all the joys and hurdles of veering from a straight-life path. Among the many talented perfomers are local trans activist Rae Drew, author Freddy Shelley and Philly Gay Calender creator Steve McCann. Each performer will be given ten minutes to monologue, recite poetry, speak, sing, etc., and audience members will have a chance to share their own stories during an open-mic segment. A great kickoff to Pride Weekend, all proceeds will go to local LGBTQ organizations, including The Morris Home, a new recovery home specifically for trans inviduals. $10.
And you thought the Schuylkill at rush hour was a long commute. Tonight, our overheated and under-inhabited neighbor Venus will pass between Earth and the sun. This rare astrological event will begin for Delaware Valley viewers at 6:03 p.m. and will be visible until the sun sets at 8:24 p.m. And it won't happen again for another 243 years.
The transit of Venus can be viewed, at The Franklin Institute (222 N. 20th St.), in a program led by Chief Astronomer Derrick Pitts. The Institute will host planetary geologists Dr. Vicki Hanson and Dr. Tracy Gregg for a 4:30 p.m. presentation in the Fels Planetarium before heading to the roof for front row seats of Mother Nature's finest, complete with astronomical telescopes.
(jodi@citypaper.net) (@gij0de)
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