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Icepack Illustrated
Miley Cyrus is back in town and already her boyfriend is all hot-n-bothered. OK, not really. Yes Cyrus returned to her man, currently residing in NJ while filming Paranoia in Philly. No word yet on when/if she’ll finish those MilkBoy Studio tracks started in August that we dropped exclusives on weeks ago. As for her fiancé Liam Hemsworth, there he was Saturday night at Midtown Continental, being nice to the crowd, taking pictures with pre-bridal revelers and POWEE, he very possibly gets pelted with a rock and goes into Saturday-night’s-alright-for-fighting mode. Cheggitout.
The annual holiday DeBella DeBall has gone lowdown and dirty and upscale and tony in its history. For year 30, it’s a spruced up, dressy affair at Vie on North Broad, this Dec. 14. This invite-only faithful listener affair of his WMGK-FM radio show will feature music from Johnny O & The Classic Dogs of Love, David Uosikkinen’s In The Pocket, featuring The Hooters, Tommy Conwell and The A’s’ Richard Bush.
No vandalism is good vandalism, but when you graffiti Le Bec Fin on Walnut Street and steal Fergie’s bike, you hurt us all, especially considering that, according to bike-know-it-all Michael McGettigan, that bike of Ferg’s has seen 20 years of faithful service. Tis a shame at any time, this season in particular.
If you haven’t read my Southwork preview in CP, you really should. Beyond gearing up for the release of its debut CD this weekend, the Philly septet drops its first-ever video for “Peace of Mind” today. They liken the video to brainwashing techniques used on characters in the TV show Lost. Ooh, spooky.
Before we hit WHOWHATWHERE, let us thank Lindsay Lohan for not punching anyone in the face or ramming into our cars during her time here to see-and-hear her man Max from the Wanted at Wells Fargo Center’s Q102 Jingle Ball last night after a stay at the Omni Hotel. There was no attempt to keep LiLo’s visit a secret. Her arrival was announced from the stage and the station took a photo that wound up on TMZ. Flaunt it.
Philly’s good film news is that Paranoia has been back for a week with filming having resumed on Monday. So far, Liam Hemsworth and co. have lensed at the long unused Tangerine (for a club bar scene), the Four Seasons (a hotel bar scene) and Rogue’s Gallery (a bar bar scene). Solid stuff. Sadly though, Greater Philly Film Org doyenne Sharon Pinkenson tells me that David O. Russell and Bradley Cooper’s next film (after Silver Linings Playbook) the one Cooper told us in August during The Words premiere at the Prince would start filmin in spring 2013 (the ABSCAM flick with Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jeremy Remer) — is now headed for Boston. “Pennsylvania is out of tax credit money,” exclaims Pinkenson. Is there no Kickstarter we can cobble together for this?
Speaking of getting money together for something worthy: Philly’s Ropeadope record/apparel label, along with the Nelson Riddle Foundation, is looking to benefit musicians of New Jersey and New York hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy. Ropeadope did the same in 2005 with its “renew Orleans” program which raised nearly $100,000 for musicians hit by Hurricane Katrina. Buy a shirt and proceeds go to “renew jersey” and “renew york” relief efforts.
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Tashan publicist and all around gadabout George Polgar told me Tuesday morning that Bob Dylan ordered take out before his Monday night show at the Wells Fargo Center. Not just any old meal but a nosh (a largish nosh at that) from Tashan delivered to his dressing room. Weirdly enough, he used his real name (Robert Zimmerman) after paging through the modern Indian menu from which he got four orders each of gol gapa, goc naan, tandoor shrimp, lamb chops, Afghani chicken kabab and the Mangalorean sausage. That’s a big order. I hope he gave some to Charlie Sexton, his guitarist. So skinny that boy.
Greater Philadelphia Film Office doyenne Sharon Pinkenson says the second round of Paranoia shooting is “scheduled for second week December.” That’s a wrap.
After George Perrier's collaborative dinner with Al Paris at Heirloom the master French chef must have wanted to lighten his load — which is why he unburdened himself of cookware and the like in his still-for-sale Chestnut Hill home according to Craigslist, Curbed and Dan Gross.
If you like happy hours but hate to drink, shame on you. OK, no shame. Sazz and Briar Vintage, the next-door-neighboring girl and boy antique clothier at 60 and 62 N. Third are having big storewide sales with 40-30 percent off of scores of stylish goods on Black Friday, Nov. 23. I buy all my monocles there.
If you’re even thinking about that second casino license, the application deadline is due now, Nov. 15, to the Pennsylvania Gaming Board by the end of the business day. So far, Bart Blatstein and his friends at Hard Rock gaming, Wynn Resorts, Penn National Gaming and the Goldenberg Group are supposed to be ready to drop $50 million to the Gaming Board if they get the license. We’re guessing these boys have the loot. But do they have the pencils to fill in the dots by today?
Philly big media week: Oyyyyyyy, c’mon now. First Arthur Kade got a new vocation (“celebrity interviewer”) on Extra for having interviewed Gen. David Petraeus’ m-m-mistress Paula Broadwell on his self-named blog. (Two things here: First, I think he calls himself that and second, how come the one day in nine years I’m not watching premium cable do I have to see Kade? KAAAAAAAADE.) Then Celebrity Boxing promoter Damon Feldman, who we love but he’s straining the bromance here, got hit upon by Radar for trying to get back the diamond ring he “engaged” Octomom Nadya Suleman with when she fought for him in Feb. 2012. The pricey publicity stunt gone bad — 1.5 carats, a $7,500 diamond ring marriage proposal now unrequited — got filed this week with the Marple Township Police Dept.
The first Philadelphia Annual Philadelphia Dog Fashion Show is back for year two this weekend at the Hyatt at the Bellevue, Nov. 16, and the whole event from the cocktail reception to the pooch runway walk to the Philadelphia Boys Choir performance benefits the PSPCA Humane Law Enforcement. Not only will your door charge purchase the HLE Team new bullet proof vests, you’ll get to see Philly DA Seth Williams, the dog show’s honorary chairman, model on the catwalk. I mean dog walk.
Let’s start with two worthy charities, shall we? Everyone should be flooding into Atlantic City to keep that town afloat fiscally. All the casinos and hotels, quite frankly. Revel, the new kid on the block, is pushing that agenda with its nightclub, Revel’s HQ, donating all ticket and door sales from this weekend’s entertainment to Hurricane Sandy relief in AC. Check out, Bambin AN21 and Afrojack, the toast of Jay-Z and Grandmaster Nutter’s Made in America fest this summer. Then there’s 102.9 MGK’s 11th annual John DeBella Turkey Drop with its partner City Team Philadelphia. On Nov. 20 starting at 6 a.m. DeBella and his mustache will broadcast live and accept monetary and turkey donations at Love Park on 16th & JFK Blvd. They’re looking to top last year’s goal of 10,000 turkeys that will go out to less fortunate families, individuals and shelters in the area. Do that.
It’s nice that Penn grad John Legend still ID’s Philly as his home. He’s doing this show, My City, My Music on Fuse TV (see Comcast Xfinity On Demand) where he’ll speak with Jose Garces at Distrito and White Dog Cafe manager Michael Hodges, both near the campus he loved.
The Tiberino family will not be denied. While muralist Raphael Tiberino goes small starting Nov. 9 (at Locust Moon Books at 34 S. 40th) and shows off paintings, prints and dread-and-sex filled sketches that you catch him doing while bartending at the Troc, his whole clan (dad Joe, sister Ellen) pull out the stops for a big-screen showing of their most recent film, The Mural which, unless my scene hit the cutting room floor, I’m in. Nov. 15. Trocadero. Yes yes, y’all.
Local developer Brian O’Neill is remaking this city from the South West on down. He’s got the will and he’s got the ways and means. O’Neill also has the focus and force to see a personal project through — the self-publication of a book that his late great mom Peggie O’Neill penned just before she succumbed to cancer last year called Juggle Without Struggle: Five Secrets, Four Weeks, Nine Minutes to Inner Peace. The developer says the book deals with the on-going struggles of single parenting and the spiritual tenacity women have to bear up under the weight of financial troubles and personal goals. On Nov. 2, at 6 p.m., O’Neill hosts a book release celebration at the Philadelphia Country Club that’s open to the public. He’s a good man. She was a smart woman. You should go.
That Cameron Crowe/Emma Stone movie that Philly native Bradley Cooper is attached to make after he finishes his duties next spring on David O. Russell’s next filming-in-Philly ABSCAM flick may just be an older script that Crowe had in his dresser drawer. Word has it that Crowe may be re-working Deep Tiki, a comedy that was supposed to go in front of the cameras in December 2008 with Ben Stiller (instead of Cooper) as a “disgraced U.S. military weapons consultant who is deployed to a dormant base in Hawaii to supervise the launch of an advanced spy satellite as a response to aggression from China.” That’s funny?
Several Jersey boys and their friends on this coast will take part in a hastily booked benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Sandy this Fri., Nov. 2. on all NBC networks (Bravo, CNBC, USA, MSNBC, E!). Look for Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi — along with Billy Joel, Christina Aguilera and Jimmy Fallon — to take part in the televised relief effort with proceeds benefiting the American Red Cross.
Back in September, I told you about a strange small Italian restaurant that was opening underneath the Walnut Street Bridge. All we knew that it was called Sotto and that its cast of characters seem to move exclusively by night. Or maybe that was me, I was moving exclusively under the bridge by night. Weird, right? OK. Well, several neighborhood Icepack tipsters checked out the BYOB joint, Sotto Ristorante Italiano, found out it was operated by the same folk that run Radicchio Café, and had a three-person multi-course meal (they raved about the lobster ravioli) that ran under $100. Yesterday The Insider confirmed that owner Luigi Basile is indeed serving up classic trattoria fare, so there you go.
Ricardo Lagomasino is one of the great Philly journeyman drummers. You’ve heard him in the guitar army-ing Many Arms and the sax attacking Extreme Fishkin amongst other projects. Now Lagomasimo has his own lean spacey sunshiny chamber act, The Sea Around Us, whose new album (Amor Fati) is finished and whose next gig is set for Nov. 1 at MilkBoy Philly with Jounce and Icewater on the bill. You can hear some older Sea music here or see them playing a live track here. Have it your way.
A little bird in the big publishing biz tells me that Laura Burkhardt is back where she started — topping the masthead at Where, the Philly hotel-motel-holiday innnnnnnnnn magazine that she left for PR game. No word yet on what’s what with editor Kristina Jenkins and the rest of the crew.
Nobody does Sinatra like the King of Atlantic City, Joe Piscopo. Sinatra wouldn’t have had it any other way what with the blessing he gave Piscopo (cufflinks, etc). Paisan Joe and his orchestra have two Sinatra tributes coming Nov. 1 at The Madison in Riverside.
When last I spoke with J. Andrew Greenblatt, he was taking over the Roxy Theater and talking about this week’s start of the next Philadelphia Film Festival. What wasn’t reported during our chat was the fact that the PFF was hooking up with fest sponsor Comcast Xfinity, to launch a Festival Video On Demand (VOD) channel. The channel allows viewers the opportunity to view a small handful of narrative films included on PFF screens this coming week along with shorts and additional festival ephemera, some for free, some for rent. Plus, with the rise of non-theatrical releases hitting the VOD market on a daily basis, Greenblatt and co. will use the Comcast partnership to premiere flicks through the aegis of PFF’s curatorial programming. With Bradley Cooper not coming out for Silver Linings Playbook, you might as well stay home and watch PFF. Psyyyyche. Keep your eyes out for Playbook director David O. Russell and co-starring Philly folk Brea Bee and the mistress of the Tiffin-Tashan empire Madhu Narula, to hit the red carpet tonight.
Local PR boss Peter Breslow has been telling me all about his pal Jeff Moore of Greater Media Radio fame who started a cool networking group, Gotta Guy, during the swelter of the summer. Since June, Gotta Guy has gone viral, with its initial events jumping from just a few guys in a tent talking up the fine points of Philly entrepreneurial enterprise to 50 guys and the women who loved business in on what Breslow calls “the testosterone-fueled action.” Tonight, Oct. 18, Breslow acts as host of Gotta Guy’s third installment at Chima Brazilian Steakhouse (19th and JFK) at 6 p.m., with a locally brewed craft-beer tasting and a meat-a-thon to go with it.
I’ve been meaning to congratulate Jose Garces on his recent successes. Within the last 10 days, the Iron Chef and restaurateur gave readers and eaters a taste of his new cookbook The Latin Road Home at J.G. Domestic with several slow roasted pigs as his special guest. The next night, he and his wife Dr. Beatriz Garces hosted a fundraiser for their brand new nonprofit organization, The Garces Family Foundation at the Kimmel Center with an assembly of this city’s top chefs (including Top Chef Kevin Sbraga) helping him feed donors and prepare diners for Garces own boutique Kimmel restaurant, Volver. Then on Monday, Garces read from his new book at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Central Branch. Just saying. Have a Molson and relax a few days. You deserve it.
As if Philadelphia Film Society boss J. Andrew Greenblatt didn’t have enough to do with the Oct. 18 start of the next edition of the annual Philadelphia Film Festival, he’s just gone and signed a long term lease (6-years, two 5-year renewals after that) for the all three floors of the grandly underutilized Roxy Screening Room on Sansom Street that starts in January, 2013. The deal was a long time coming between Greenblatt and the Roxy’s landlord John Ciccone, one we heard rumors about with lots of smoke but no fire until now. “I met John a couple years ago and we talked about the Roxy,” says Greenblatt. “At the time, the timing really wasn’t right for us. More recently, however, we reconnected and began talking.” After calling Ciccone an incredible, true patron of the arts and “much more like a partner than a landlord” Greenblatt clarifies that the new Roxy would be an independent, art-house theater showing first run titles with repertory screenings, cult faves, and retrospectives thrown in for spice. Just because the Film Society has its own space doesn’t mean that it won’t continue its usual additional film showings throughout the city. “We are continuing our partnership with University of the Arts in 2013, and will be formally announcing that series right after the Festival,” states Greenblatt. “We’re also talking with other organizations about programming at additional venues. Philadelphia is critically underserved in total screens, with only 14 in Center City — 12 at the three Ritz Theaters and two at the Roxy — so we continue to need more venues and outlets for screenings.” Lastly, in taking over the Roxy, the rise of digital projection and the end of 35mm projection was something both Ciccone and Greenblatt were aware of, and both concerned that the Roxy wasn’t able to make the transition as it was currently situated. They were wrong. The new Roxy will feature new digital projection — and seats — along with holding on to the old projector. “We still love 35mm and want to keep that format alive,” says Greenblatt. “For the festival this year, we took 35mm prints wherever possible. At the Roxy, we intend to keep a 35mm projector to continue the tradition of film as long as possible, likely showing a lot of repertory films in that format. Regarding the two additional floors at the Roxy, it’s certainly something we’ll grow into. While this is not going to happen in the immediate future, we would love to build out some micro-theaters, with seating between 30-60 per theater, on those floors, in order to allow for theatrical screenings of more films, those smaller, more experimental independents or films by local filmmakers that don’t get a national distribution push.” Here’s to the Roxy push.
Del Frisco’s GM Richie Furino and the good lady Furino are taking over the cooking duties at their Chestnut Street steakhouse Italian Wine Dinner on Oct. 17 where $50 from each $250 plate gets donated to Breastcancer.org, a nonprofit dedicated to providing reliable up-to-date information about breast cancer. Hit up Jessica Kiefer at 215-246-0533 and jkiefer@dfrg.com for info.
That’s Philly electro grooop Les Professionnels’ song “Move” you’re hearing on that first episode of this (last) season of Jersey Shore. Another local sequencer, Lushlife, did a remix and an EP is soon to drop on the CNNSSR label.
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