Archive: July, 2010

COVETED: Renegade Craft (no) Fair

POSTED: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 6:00 PM

Collectors of pretty things, take note: Every week, we're rounding up a what's-what of what we [heart], culled from the scores of design blogs, artist sites and Etsy treasuries we stalk on the regular. We're more than a little bitter that the Renegade Craft Fair (think Art Star Craft Bazaar on performance-enhancing steroids) isn't swinging by Philly this year. <turns to the northeast, shakes fist angrily at Brooklyn> If you happen to be vacationing in San Francisco this weekend, be sure to head to the fest and campaign for Philadelphia in 2011; if not, window shopping it is. Here are some items from our favorite Renegade SF sellers:

Small Plate: Leaves in Chartreuse, $26, Hope Johnson
Shitty Cat Letterpress Card, $5, Power and Light
Organic Fox T-Shirt, $25, Bird Mafia

Passionate Peacocks Earrings, $33, Handmade Whimsy
Whistlin' Egg Print, $16, The Black Apple
Pillow: Yellow Hens 'n' Chicks print, $28, Appetite Home

Yellow Wooden Typewriter Brooch, $16, Crafty Folk
Mustache Rocks Glass, $18, Bread and Badger
Pig Plaque, $28, Rae Dunn

PREVIOUSLY >> COVETED: The devil and the deep Blue Q

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 6:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

ICECUBE: Use Your Illusion Edition: Steven Adler and Screech hit Philly

POSTED: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 5:11 PM

Filed Under: Ice Cubes | Music | TV

©Scott Weiner 2010

Steven Adler, once of Guns n' Roses, now of Adler's Appetite. He must be craving pens.

Today's the day that Icepack online drops and honestly where else are you going to find Diplo and Harry Jay Katz in the same column? Nowhere. Vortex-urally speaking, though, it's the WHOWHATWHERE section that tripped me up. By sheer accident, Back to the Future II-like, Icepack went backward this week to a mass-loving minute he mostly missed: 1989. I never saw the unfathomably popular Saved by the Bell and though I caught Guns 'n' Roses opening for-and-being-more-awesome than Aerosmith, I didn't get the rise of Appetite of Destruction. Yet here we are on Tuesday watching Steven Adler twirl his drums while some screechy singer yowls "Welcome to the Jungle." It wasn't Axl though. It was the guy in the stickman's new band, Adler's Appetite, (co-starring Chip Z'Nuff, man. CHIP Z'NUFF) who we caught strolling and smoking in the kitchen of the Mill Creek Tavern where they played.

Adler's Appetite with Rick Stitch on lead vocals, Alex Grossi (Quiet Riot) on guitar, Michael Thomas on guitar, Chip Z'nuff (Enuff Z'Nuff) on bass and Steven Adler on drums and percussion.

The next night there was Screech — Dustin Diamond to porn and Celebrity Fit Club aficionados - from Saved by the Bell at Cavanaugh's. Diamond could've had a different life. Consider this: Diamond's Bell co-star Mario Lopez was in this column a week earlier because of his hosting duties at the Borgata. Hey, it's not Clinton wedding opulent, but it's a start. Shift to the Deck and there's Diamond talking up his referee-ing gig for Damon Feldman's Celebrity Wrestling Big Bang event with fighters Susan Finkelstein (of Phillies sex-for-tix scandal fame) and Devon James (a Tiger Woods mistress). (Remember last time Ms. James hit Philly?) Somewhere, something in Diamond must've died.

Susan Finkelstein & Dustin Diamond & Devon James

Hardcore Phillies fan Susan Finklestein, Dustin Diamond (aka, Screech from Saved by the Bell) and Tiger Woods' former paramour Devon James.

Closer to the 21^st Century, there was my Aretha Franklin sighting-from-afar at the Four Seasons, the blab that Real Housewives of New York's Alex McCord had an early morning nosh at Fork and the still unconfirmed-but-fun rumor that Michael Jackson's personal doc Conrad Murray ate heartily at Barclay Prime, while all doctors in the M.J. death probe were freed from any charges of wrongdoing. Eat up, Nero.

Posted by A.D. Amorosi @ 5:11 PM Permalink | Post a comment

JUST DO IT: "Ancient Rome & America" tonight at the National Constitution Center

POSTED: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 4:16 PM

Filed Under: Just Do It

The National Constitution Center's multimillion-dollar "Ancient Rome & America" exhibit has been on display for months, so why are we nagging you to go see it on a random Thursday evening? The reasons are twofold:

The exhibit closes on August 1, which means your history-buff heart has but three days to catch the NCC's collection of 300 Italian and American artifacts; and
It's "$5 after 5 p.m." night — if you head Independence Mall way after work today, you'll save $15 on admission, which is a pretty sweet deal.

If you're still not sold on the idea, read what Shaun Brady had to say about "AR&A" in a February edition of the City Paper and prepare yourself to get seriously schooled:

Having just overthrown a king, America's founding fathers were understandably averse to monarchies, shunning the trappings of royalty while laying the groundwork for the new nation. Empire, on the other hand. ... It seems the cultural and political innovations of the ancient Romans had long since eclipsed its more tyrannical tendencies in the thinking of those colonial revolutionaries. Accusations of American imperialism get raised like alarm bells at the outset of every modern war, but the idea — and its uneasy relation to the country's self-professed values — is as old as the Constitution itself. The National Constitution Center's exhibition explores the links between the two societies, with artifacts including toga-clad busts of Washington, Jefferson and Franklin that echo classical examples and clash awkwardly with those leaders' populist mythologies.

"Ancient Rome & America," through Aug. 1, $5-$20, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., 215-409-6700, constitutioncenter.org.

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 4:16 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Want to intern at City Paper?

POSTED: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 3:26 PM

Filed Under: Critical Mass

We're now accepting applications for the Fall cycle of A&E interns. We're looking for the bestest and brightest to join the City Paper team. Applications are due on Mon., Aug. 2 so hop on it, people! Here's the info:

Fall 2010 A&E

Internship

Interested in expanding your portfolio, improving your writing skills and gaining invaluable experience outside your college paper? Philadelphia City Paper is looking for ambitious, dedicated, creative, energetic writers who want to make an immediate impact at Philadelphia's premier alternative publication.
We are currently accepting applications for Fall 2010 intern positions. This internship requires a familiarity with the Philadelphia area and an interest in contemporary arts and culture. Primary responsibilities include keeping up with weekly beats for our listings section and writing weekly entertainment-oriented columns. Interns typically put in anywhere from 10 to 20 hours per week (scheduling is flexible). Other duties include:

Pitching/writing short pieces for the weekly agenda/arts agenda sections

Pitching/writing features for the arts, music and food sections

Pitching/writing content for our various blogs

Conducting research

Transcribing interviews

Fact checking

Developing and pitching your own story ideas

Participants should preferably be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program. Recent graduates may also apply. All majors are welcome, but candidates with a background in journalism, communication or English have a leg up. We are more than willing to work with your school in regards to college credit. All internships are unpaid. To apply, mail a cover letter, rÃ©sumÃ©, three references and three clips (no more, no less) to the address listed below. Also, include when you can begin and end. We are also accepting e-mail applications (see contact address). No phone calls, please. Act fast, because these positions don't stay open for long. DEADLINE FOR FALL 2010 APPLICATIONS IS MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2010. Molly Eichel Deputy A&E Editor Philadelphia City Paper 123 Chestnut St., Third Floor Philadelphia, PA 19106 email: molly.eichel@citypaper.net

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 3:26 PM Permalink | Post a comment

BUY US THIS NOW: All About Philadelphia Game

POSTED: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 7:56 PM

Filed Under: Shopping

[source]

Plaid Pony Vintage is currently hawking an All About Philadelphia Game made in 1982 by the Chamber of Commerce. For only $20, you too can play what looks like a acid trip version of Monopoly:

[source]

From Plaid Pony:

This game was made by the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and features all the Philly hot spots from 1982. Stop on by Encore Books or the News Stand, listen to Easy 101 and WFIL, and take in a concert at the Spectrum. The object is to collect 8 "travel cards". A must have for the Phillyphiles.

Want. Please send this game to: Team Critical Mass c/o City Paper 123 Chestnut St., Third Floor Philadelphia, PA 19106 The epic trash talk has already begun. h/t Natalie

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 7:56 PM Permalink | Post a comment

BIG UPS: CP's own Andrew Thompson gets robbed, lives to StorySlam about it

POSTED: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 6:19 PM

Filed Under: Big Ups

Many of you know Andrew Thompson for his hard-hitting City Paper news reportage on guns, cops and more cops — but did you know he's also adept at spinning a delightful yarn? Us neither — but AT proved us all wrong last night at one of First Person Arts' twice-monthly StorySlams. On the topic of "A Date to Remember," Andrew told a tale of getting robbed in Philadelphia — which he insists is a rite of passage — and won first place for the evening, which means he gets to go on to participate in November's Grand Slam. Check out the vid below — the visual quality's not great, but the audio's all there, so pretend he's on WHYY and enjoy.

julia.

Posted 2010-07-28 15:03:16

Nice. Congrats, Andrew.

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 6:19 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: "Pennyslvania Guys" by Sloppy Secondz

POSTED: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 5:40 PM

Filed Under: Comedy | Now See This

A parody of Katy Perry's "California Gurls" from Sunbury, PA's own Sloppy Secondz, the writer's of such classics as "Work that Shaft" and "I Love this Whore." Sigh. ...Hangs head in shame.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 5:40 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Movies that are still awesome: Stay Tuned

POSTED: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 4:35 PM

Filed Under: Movies

I dread watching beloved movies from childhood because they generally never live up to their former glory (I'm looking at you Drop Dead Fred). But I can gladly confirm that Peter Hyam's 1992 unnecessarily satiric Stay Tuned is still as ludicrous as a I remember it being from countless cable viewings. Although, I probably didn't get the irony of a movie about the evils of television when I was, like, seven.

Stay Tuned features John Ritter and Pam Dawber (A TV satire featuring Jack Tripper from Three's Company and the one who wasn't Robin Williams from Mork and Mindy? In a movie for children who were mostly likely born after those shows ended their run? Of course!) as a marrieds Roy and Helen Knable who hit a cold spot in their relationship and are sucked into their TV by an ominously large satellite, sold to Roy by a ginger villain named Spike (Jeffrey Jones, aka Principal Rooney from Ferris Bueller's Day Off). It's Spike's job to gather souls by killing people off while they are trapped in various TV-parody scenarios. Why? Because making a movie about real world moral lapses leading to damnation just isn't as family friendly. Plus, Eugene Levy makes an appearance as comic relief, which is exactly what Eugene Levy is supposed to do in the movies (just ask all those accountants who have to sift through his American Pie franchise money). Jones, with his pallid skin tone and nasally voice, is one of those character actors that will never ever have a Paul Giamatti-in-American Splendor, or even Joe Pantoliano-in-Memento, moment because he can only play creepy (Ravenous), wrongfully patronizing (Ferris Bueller, Beetlejuice) or both (Deadwood), which makes sense because he's probably a pedophile. Sans his alleged affinity for 14-year-old boys, Jones is this perfect villain: He's physically imposing without being scary. He wants you to fear him but you just can't. Because, well, look at him...

pics24h.com

Jones as Principal Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The plot is secondary to the parodies of then-current TV fare, like The Fresh Prince of Darkness, thirtysomething-to-life and Different Strokes, featuring two old men experiencing their own aneurysms. The crown jewel it Stay Tuned's crown is the animated interlude by the legendary Chuck Jones in which Dawber and Ritter are transformed into cartoon mice. It's one of those breaks in a movie that you would otherwise forget but brings you back so viscerally to childhood it's almost as if you were sucked into some ominously large satellite. Watching that part, I'm sitting in the crook of my parents old L-shaped couch, eating popcorn and watching Ritter and Dawber try to evade the evil Robo-Kitty.

There are other parts like this — namely the random break for a Salt 'n' Pepa music vide0 — that hurtle you backward in time, but that's the reason that movies live on, whether the retention of their awesomosity needs to be debated or not. Because some part of you wants to be sitting on your parents' L-shaped couch, eating popcorn and watching John Ritter as a cartoon mouse.

SeannyBoy

Posted 2010-07-28 12:13:45

Not to be disagreeable, but I'm going to have to disagree on this one. The word "awesome" should not be spoken within 10 minutes of any mention of this movie.

It's terrible, from start to finish. Anti-funny. If there are a couple laughs in this, you're so beaten down by the suckage that they don't even register.

Admittedly, some of my hatred for "Stay Tuned" is undoubtedly derived from the guilt of having suggested some family and friends watch this when it was in theaters, and we were looking to kill some time on a rainy day at the Jersey shore. It wasn't long into the movie before I was sinking into my seat in shame and wishing I never opened my mouth. 

But my deep-seated shame should only serve as a warning for CP readers who never saw "Stay Tuned." Avoid at all cost.

In related business, when we went to see "Stay Tuned" at that shore theater, Bobby Clarke was in the lobby buying tickets to the only other movie being shown — "Unforgiven." He wasn't the greatest GM, but he made the right call that day.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 4:35 PM Permalink | Post a comment

THE CURATOR: Screwing with American history, cartoons onstage and Shakespeare for free

POSTED: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 8:35 PM

Every Tuesday, Critical Mass pokes around the blog world so you don't have to.

Metropolis

— Mathew Craven does a stand-up job of profaning our country's history in his new exhibit at Grizzly Grizzly, "Future Myths," as ArtBlog tell it, Basically, the dude cuts up textbooks and has a field day with every artistic tool out there — Adobe Photoshop, markers, you name it — the century doesn't really matter. After he's through, the world of our founding fathers has gone from 18^th Century drab to Sergeant Pepper psychedelic. — Make Major Moves reports our favorite animated rockers Gorillaz are coming to Philly this fall. Virtually, most of the band should be present. But no one is quite clear which members will physically show up. Either way, their shows throws together live musicians, art and visual effects so everyone feels like they're romping around in a "Dirty Harry" video. — If the prologue of Shakespeare's Henry V is any indication, all you need for a bitchin' show is, "A kingdom for a stage, princes to act / And monarchs to behold the swelling scene." Uwishunu wants you to consider yourself king/queen for two weeks when the Philadelphia Shakespeare Co. performs Henry V for free. — While Sam Adams already gave the re-released Metropolis the review treatment, Carrie Rickey takes a more historical approach to Fritz Lang's Art Deco masterpiece.

Posted by Will Stone @ 8:35 PM Permalink | Post a comment

MUSIC MADNESS: Win tickets to see Antibalas on Thursday -- WE HAVE OUR WINNER

POSTED: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 5:23 PM

Filed Under: Music

Antibalas blasts the Afrobeat through your ears and straight to yours hips. Their big claim? Antibalas is "America's only live Afrobeat party," and we want to give you an invite! Anitbalas takes the stage at the Kimmel Center this Thu., July 29 and we've got two tickets for the first person to e-mail the answer to the below trivia question to molly [dot] eichel [at] citypaper [dot] net: Congrats to Alan R. who answered correctly.

Antibalas were recently involved in a critically-acclaimed musical. What is the musical and what was the band's role?

Fela!; Antibalas arranged and performed the music.

Antibalas, Thu., July 29, 8:30 p.m., $20, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 5:23 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Behind the scenes of local film A Man Full of Trouble
What we're trying to do this weekend
CONCERT REVIEW: The Postal Service @ The Mann 6/17
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Sunny, Tony and the return of Do No Harm
NOW SEE THIS: Salinger film trailer
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Indian fare rules, Dunder Mifflin lives on, Tom Jones is a god
REVIEW: Archer Live! @ the TLA 1/11
CITY PAPER WRITING CONTEST 2013: Send stories! Send poetry!
CONCERT PHOTOS: The National/Dirty Projectors @ The Mann Center 6/7
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Pink. Diner en Blanc 2. Breaking Glass and Milkboy at the movies. And so on.

About this blog

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.

Follow Critical Mass editors Patrick Rapa and Emily Guendelsberger on Twitter:

@mission2denmark | @emilygee

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