|
|
|
Archive: March, 2012
Alden, Pa.-raised, University of the Arts graduate Shane O'Neill is in for the fight of his life tonight. At the very least, it’s the fight of his tattoos' life as he is one of three challengers for the championship prize on this evening’s finale of Spike TV’s Ink Master series, which airs at 10 p.m.
O’Neill was set to be a cabinet maker before he got interested in tattooing and started working for his illustrator pal Jon Ellis. After striking out on his own, he opened two of his own tat parlors, the Tattoo Shop, in Willow Grove, Pa. and another in Middletown, Del.. Tonight’s prize of $100,000 will be given away by professional goatee and Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro.
Watch the video below to see O'Neill do his stuff before tonight's big-bang finale.
(a_amorosi@citypaper.net) (@ADAmorosi)
Las Vegas will always have The Hangover, but what about Atlantic City? Say hello to Mancation, a locally produced buddy-adventure romp minus the blackout. The film stars Matt Kawczynski as Vince, who finds his wife in bed with another woman right after his wedding. This prompts his buddies, one of which is played by Joey Fatone, to take him to Atlantic City for a weekend of bro-bonding and tail-chasing. But unexpectedly Vince runs into an old crush, played by The Wonder Years’ Danica McKellar.
In anticipation of this week’s test screening at the Troc, director Frank Vain, a native of Haddonfield, N.J., sat down with City Paper to tell us more about the film's creation process.
City Paper: How did this film come to be?
Frank Vain: The story is a concept I’ve had for a little while. I hired a friend of mine to write the actual script. My group of friends has pretty much been working on indie films in the area for the last couple years, so everyone came on board to produce it together. This is the third one we’ve done as a group in the last three years. Each one goes a little bit bigger, and we bring in bigger named talent and get a little more money in the budget.
CP: When and where did you shoot the film?
FV: This one features a lot of Philly and the Jersey Shore. The story itself takes place in Atlantic City but we shot all over the shore. We shot during last March and April. One of the parts of the movie involves a flower show and we went into the one in Philadelphia last year to do some behind the scenes shooting. We shot about 25 percent of the film in Philly.
Every Monday, James Friel rounds up the week's sure-bet live shows.
Monday: The man with the beats and a beard, DJ Bearbait (Chris Ward(Drummer)Pattern is Movement), is spinning jams by everyone from Ambrosia and Kanye West to Grizzly Bear and Jay-Z, creating electric indie/hip-hop mashups. 9 p.m., $12, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684.
Reporter Meg Augustin takes you inside some of Philly's most fab dwellings to showcase our city's unique grasp on design and architecture.
Two weeks ago, we featured the first half of designer and author of The Painted Home Denise Sabia’s house tour. Her DIY and trash-finding ways have turned her country house into a chic home fit for dinner parties and kid-friendly living for less. Sabia’s design style and savvy has been described as “hot glue and a ponytail holder” for her MacGyver-esque abilities. Unlike many design bloggers and DIY-ers who may do their own carpentry or electrical work to keep expenses down, Sabia shows how the average homeowner can do simple projects with simple tools for a big impact. Today, we’ll take you through the rest of her home to show you more of her ingenious design ideas.
Guest Room
The guest room features two twin beds that Sabia found and repainted in a charming black. The room’s back wall is covered with old book pages that Sabia attached with wallpaper glue. This cheap and easy wallpaper idea was also used in the hall stairs for a unique and charming backdrop to family photos. The bedside table utilizes an old cabinet where suitcases can function as drawers. The guest room also sports a breakfast tray that Sabia made from old cabinet doors.
View gallery
With the help of City Paper film critics, movies editor Josh Middleton counts down the weekend's six new movie releases, from least- to most-worthy of your precious time and hard-earned dollar bills.
No. 6: I'm all about potty humor, but I think I'll draw the line at Temple alums Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim's first feature-length film, Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, which critic Patrick Rapa says gives screen time to "just about every bodily liquid and its corresponding sound effect." He does say, however, that it's a film that "needs to exist." So if "seeing Eric sloshing in a bathtub filled with fresh diarrhea" sounds like your idea of a good time, have at it, gross face! Read the rest of Patrick's review here. (Ritz at the Bourse)
By now the Music Issue may have you all fired up to start reviving your slumbering musical genius. The Philadelphia Folksong Society is there to help you out with the Cabin Fever Fest. Fest sounds omniously like sitting and consuming, but put that thought out of your mind. Tomorrow's event won't be the same without you voice and/or instrument.
One workshop I can personally endorse is Gather Round, led by Kathleen Sullivan and Connie Koppe (of Enchanté, famed for their French cabaret renderings.) The title accurately represents the activity, it is simple, empowering and delightful to hear ones own voice as part of an instant harmonic whole. Best of all, if you like this workshop the leaders can hook you up with the monthly gathering.
Slo Mo is back from India where he studied their style of steel guitar, so count on stretching your ears with him. Sharon Katz is hosting a session called Funky and Fun featuring group singing, rhythm and movement from her South African home. Kenny Ulansey (pictured) will empower you to improv world music style and Stephe Ferraro (Boris Garcia) will get you entrained as he traces the history of the drum circle.
Were you among the festivarians who put HogMaw on the main stage last year? Come be part of their bluegrass and beyond experience. What ever you do, if you've got an instrument bring it. If not, be ready to sing and shout and drum with hands and feet. There is promise of a life changing day for all involved, and we've only divulged half of the first half!
Sat., March 3, noon-9:30 p.m., $38, Unitarian Society of Germantown, 6511 Lincoln Drive,215-247-1300, pfs.org.
Art-geek extraordinaire Courtney Sexton presents a weekly selection of Philly's must-see gallery exhibits. This week: art out of (and in, and around) the box at Clay Studio, the rhythm of the tides at Muse, and nature, nature, nature at Woodmere Art Museum.
"Small Favors VII" at the Clay Studio
If you don’t visit any other gallery this First Friday, do yourself a big favor and make sure you get to the Clay Studio for the opening of the seventh annual "Small Favors" exhibition. Clay Studio, which focuses on ceramic arts (and though ceramics remain predominant, for the first time in the show’s history, other media like metal and fiber were accepted in this year's "Small Favors"), has long been active in promoting community growth by providing cutting-edge educational and outreach programming as well as studio and exhibition space. One of their missions is making high-quality artwork more accessible, both in terms of appeal and pricing, and this month’s exhibition particularly targets younger art collectors.
"Small Favors" opens this evening with works by over 230 artists, who were encouraged to “literally think outside the box,” explained gallery coordinator Naomi Cleary — all pieces in some way fit in (or around, or on, or through) a 4-inch-square cube. They came up an impressively diverse array of works — some fit within the box, others pierce holes through it, still others turn the box itself into a sculpture. Some even light up. In one of my favorites, ceramic flowers with wire stems grow out of the box in all directions; another contains a kitschy set of cats-wearing-cones salt-and-pepper shakers. Arranged in larger squares along the walls (some also rising out of the floorspace), the works appear as individual tiles of a large ceramic quilt. Overall, it has the effect of a Chuck Close painting, where each pixel in the portrait is its own miniature work of art. I know it may sound trite, but I mean it with all sincerity: These pieces are fun. Go see them.
Opening reception tonight, through March 24, free, The Clay Studio, 137-139 N. Second St., 215-925-3453, theclaystudio.org.
I felt dumb asking Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker about how they came to make Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. Not because questions about fast-splattering fecal matter and a wolfen-tubercular John C. Reilly seem hard to get a real and honest answer about. So I started with one that has nothing to do with the film and everything to do with their audience, the obsessives that filled the Ritz at the Bourse to see their film on Valentine’s Day. “It’s true” says Wareheim (Heidecker is on another line but says nothing). “All of the screenings have been almost 100 percent die hard fans. They’ve be fun. And not at a fair crowd at all. “
The only screening crowd that wasn’t a T&E lovefest was the infamous Sundance screening where 50 percent of the viewers were into the experience and the rest were “really grossed out” and “really didn’t want to see” what Tim & Eric had planned for them.
“Sundance was a very polarizing experience,” says Wareheim. “ When we did the Q&As some people had never seen us before and wanted to know more about us and others were just surely disgusted.”
Image submitted by winner Sara Hirschler
Earlier in the week I asked folks to send me hippy- and Hawaii-themed haikus to win tickets to the Philadelphia International Flower Show, themed Hawaii: Islands of Aloha. We got lots of good entries, but only three can win. The following readers get a pair of tickets for their creativity and overall giggle-worthiness. Thanks, guy and gals. Enjoy the flower show. I hope you get leid.
Jeff: Gidget is Surfing / Around Oahu she goes / Go Gidget Go! Yes!
Sara Hirschler: Spicoli in Kau,/ Stoked on gnarly waves until / Mr. Hand arrives
Nina Marie: Cheech & Chong get leis / on top of a volcano / High on Hawaii
March 4-11, various times, $27, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch streets, theflowershow.com.
To many Western eyes, traditional forms of Islamic dress may seem drab or intimidating, designed more for overall cover than keeping up with the latest trends. Zainah Umm Yasir, the designer behind Zainah's Closet, is here to prove that Islam and fashion don't have to be at odds. With ruffled hems and zebra prints, her styles offer a refreshing twist to traditional modes of dress. My personal favorite is the "tuxedo style" burka, which features a white collar and ribbon neck bow against a dark sillhouette.Tomorrow, she'll be displaying her wears at a ladies-only event appropriately titled The Dress of the Believing Woman's Fashion Showcase.
Tickets include a gourmet meal and beverages to enjoy while perusing all the beautiful clothing. Come celebrate this unique blend of religion and fashion, where modest is chic and traditional becomes modern again. And remember ladies: dress to impress ... in long sleeves, please!
March 3, 1 p.m., $30, Lithuanian Hall, 2715 E. Alleghany Ave., facebook.com/Zainahscloset.
- Activism
- Arts
- Arts Events
- Books
- Dance
- First Person Fest
- Last Chance
- Museum
- On the Fringe
- Philly Artists
- The Curator
- Theater
- Visual Art
- Arts News
- Artist Profile
- Arts Preview
- Street Art
- Been There, Done That
- Big Ups
- Comedy
- LOL With It
- Stand-up
- Critical Mass
- DVD
- Events
- Friday Fill-in
- Ice Cubes
- In Memoriam
- Interview
- Just Do It
- Just Opened
- Kaleidoscopic
- LGBTQ
- Art Phag
- Mailbag
- Movies
- Film Fest
- Movie Review
- On set
- Scenester
- screening
- trailer!
- Music
- 10 Track Mind
- Album
- Album Review
- Concert Review
- DJs
- Local Support
- Now Hear This
- One Track Mind
- Philly Bands
- Show
- Somebody Else Was There
- Song
- The Showdown
- concert photos
- jazz
- DJ Nights Blogged
- Night Watch
- Now See This
- Poetic License
- Printed Matter
- Radio
- Shopping
- Coveted
- Fashion
- What We Heart
- TV
- 24
- Idol Hands
- Mad Men
- ProjRun
- True Blood
- Useless Lost Recaps
- Couch Potato
- Shore Trash
- Turned ONN
- TopMod
- Video Games
- Free Online Game
- PSP
- PlayStation 2
- The 1-Upper
- Wii
- Web Junk
- CAGE MATCH
- Free Online Toy
- Weekend Omnibus
- Win
