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Icepack Illustrated
Before we get going here, let’s pay condolences to the Tartaglia family of the Italian Market. Joe Brown Tartaglia, co-proprietor of Connie’s Ric Rac passed away after a long bout with brain cancer. He was a funny guy and will be deeply missed
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Before we start, give a laurel and hearty handshake of congratulations to one-time City Paper editors Brian Howard and Carolyn Huckabay for tying the knot last weekend, honeymooning in Mexico and making it back in time so that the prettier half of that coupling got to the 12-hour Knights Arts Challenge Awards ceremony for her job with Canary Promotions. Congrats goes too to those $2 million+ Knights grant awardees, some of whom have coupled with each other for what promises to be some seriously bizarre work, 43 projects to be exact. Like a $60,000 pairing of Pig Iron Theater and Dr. Dog for an indie-opera, and Stacey Wilson asking visual artists and DJs to collaborate. There are a few winners that are questionable — like curator Theresa Rose commissioning art projects at restaurants (doesn’t Starbucks and Dirty Franks do that without giving anyone a drink let alone money?) or giving the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia $50,000 to hire artists to paint bike racks (surely, biking artistes would do that out of love). I kid. Spend away. You can find all the winners at knightarts.org.
Damon Feldman, the man behind all things Celebrity Boxing, refuses to go down and out for the count. Bar him from state sporting matches — even with pillow gloves — and he finds a way in. This time, Feldman’s got a public official (Congressman Bob Brady) two red letter causes (autism, anti-bullying) and an actual boxer (Bernard Hopkins) to help him get back to Philly. On May 2, Feldman and co. will hold a press conference to announce a series of fights, a New Champions of Tomorrow Professional Boxing reality series for Philly’s Channel 4 and a secret new venue to play in — which will probably be the New Alhambra/ WWE/Asylum space at West Ritner in South Philly that AEG has/had on hold. As for John Bolaris, he wrote his bye-Philly note in his Metro column this week, saying how he was leaving for New York City in June for jobs-un-described. The main news here is that I didn’t even know he wrote for the Metro until a friend told me, so there’s that. John, thanks for the good times, the girls, and the wonky vacation plans.
With this weekend’s passing of Vince Montana, Jr., the backbone to all that was disco, Philly soul and local Latino and Nuyorican soul — Philly International Records, MSFB, the Salsoul Orchestra — has gone. He was the vibe and the vibraphone and deserved a place in every music hall of fame that would have him. Luckily, there’ll be a place for him amongst the next fleet of inductees into Philadelphia’s Walk of Fame. I spoke with Vince for CP here. A true treasure.
The rumors have been greatly exaggerated. Word went around that master chef Georges Perrier might be retiring from the whisk and the sauce pan but the comes news that he’ll take over Chip Roman’s Mica May 7-11 with a menu of his own designing. Guess Georges just wanted to be free of his bricks and mortar locations.
Never question Hova. Though we found out here that Made in America 2 was all but a done deal the day after MIA 1, you had to wonder what the sequel would look like bill-wise since Jay-Z is playing with Justin Timberlake throughout late summer (including stops in Philly and NJ). By now you know that Jay, Live Nation and Budweiser has two Philly dates, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, with Beyonce, her sis Solange and Nine Inch Nails topping the bills. Along with announcing MIA2 news, Hova dropped a new tune today on his website is response to Congressional hassles with his Cuban links.
Billy Weiss, the co-owner of Woody’s, just opened his Rosewood lounge on 13th and Walnut, a Hollywood-themed cocktail spot done up in purples and golds with lots of chandeliers that you can enter on Walnut or through Woody’s.
Look in the sky — it’s a bird, it’s A Little Night Magic. That’s the name of the video display that Philly-based artist and photographer Jenny Lynn made for the rim of the PECO Building’s Crown Lights system. The 30-second video runs every five to 10 minutes every Friday night until April 26, as part of PECO’s Art in the Air program done in conjunction with the Phila-based Breadboard.
DJ Apt One, we salute you for taking those snippets of Random Access Memories — Daft Punk’s new album — that ran on SNL and making a loopy mix of the clips.
I’d like to take a minute to talk about Philly author Buzz Bissinger and his self-outing-essay in GQ, his sexual self-repression and his addictions to couture shopping and, more specifically leather. That he may be psychologically scarred and driven to dangerous compulsion (and cow hides) that he feels requires therapy and care: do it. Get help. Bravo. I applaud the self-awareness. That he wrote about an addiction to high end shopping — in a GLOSSY MEN’S MAGAZINE — yeah, that seems a spurious thing, even though the advertising possibilities (say with his love/need for Gucci) could have been endless. (Note to self, find a similar synergy with Tom Ford’s ad reps and start talking). The bigger problem is how media outlets act as if men don’t shop for fine high end clothes? REALLY? Isn’t the media’s obsession with everything from Mad Men to Neil Patrick Harris’ character on How I Met Your Mother based on the sartorial splendor of the peacock-ing male. Read TIME.com (if you must) and you’ll find why Time is so radically out of date. Call me, boys. I do nothing but shop for clothes. And Buzz, come shopping with me and my friends. We’ll get you in to some nice suits and away from leather. As a friend of mine said, “no 59-year-old man should wear leather unless he’s a Jim Morrison impersonator.”
Everyone who dropped food onto their whites and jumped into the fountain at the last Diner en Blanc, prepare for the best. Diner En Blanc 2: The Sequel will occur — on — ta da, my birthday, Aug. 22. I will expect white roses. Found that out at Serrano’s spring dinner/new menu affair of which I’ll have more to tell you next week.
Busy week for Philly movie stuff. Rich Wolff’s Breaking Glass Pictures was supposed to open his new transvestite-prison flick K-11 at the re-designed/re-opening Roxy Screening Room soon-ish. With the Roxy not yet open though, K-11 — opened on screens in 14 other cities — just hit Comcast’s on demand this week. For those who know not their K-11 lore, this is director Jules Stewart’s flick starring Mexican superstar Kate Del Castillo (as the transvestite prison boss) and Red Widow’s Goran Visnjic. Wolff pulled out a press clip calling the film a “deranged John Waters remake of The Shawshank Redemption” with which I wholeheartedly agree.
First Jay Z’s 40/40 Club in Atlantic City announces it’ll stay shuttered for good (they battened down the hatches during Hurricane Sandy and never re-opened since), Now comes word that Sammy Hagar’s AC outlet, Sammy’s Beach Bar is dead in the water. Mr. Can’t Drive 55 can’t come to an agreement with Caesars Hotel and Casino Entertainment group. Word has it that Hagar will look to other area casinos for a partner. You saw how things worked out between Hag and Eddie van Halen, so there’s that.
Brittany Lynn is a drag revolutionary, being that she was the first ever drag Mummer. At the very least, she is the tallest of Philly’s drag doyennes. Tonight, March 14, Lynn will host “Get Sacked” at Sugarhouse Casino starting at 6 pm. Nothing dirty. Philly’s LGBT athletes will join Lynn, her Drag Mafia and the Andre Richards Salon for a night of good clean gown-wearing frolic.
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