Also this issue: Go Ask Alice One woman's trip through the looking glass as a kids' holiday party attraction. -Laura Lewis Words to Give By A last-minute gift option with a message. -Debra Auspitz InFusion -Howard Altman

December 19-25, 2002

music

icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

I know that autumn's Rolling Stones/ Cirque du Soleil party at 1616 still looms large and that Mark Simone/aroundphilly.com's Young-Prof New Year's Eve party at The Academy of Natural Sciences and Dr. Chris Vecchio's seven-fishes bash are coming, but they'll have a heckuva time beating last Friday the 13th for party passion. If you weren't stuck in the rain leaving the over-sold Vegas bash at Avenue B (thrown by Cashman & Associates and Gyro), you were at World Fusion's cop-surrounded b-day party for Patti LaBelle's son, Troy Carter, with Eve attending, that was so packed it even took me a few minutes to get in. Now that's rough. Sweet Charity: Several years ago, former Zipperhead gal Val Velvet started a toy drive at her employ, Kadillac Tattoo Deuce in NE Philly, gathering kidstuffs for families without disposable finances. She's at 6722 Rising Sun Ave. (215-342-4062), gathering the names, genders and ages of all her charges, all in secret. "These kids have no idea who is providing what's going under their tree," says Val. "My cohort is a firefighter who dresses up in a Santa suit and delivers sacks Christmas Eve." The toy drive runs until Christmas Eve at 5 p.m. Donate and get $10 worth of service or a gift certificate good forever! At Twenty21 (Dec. 20, 6 p.m.), Robin Parry conducts a celebrity caroling choir (with Sweetie, Edgar Allen and the Poettes, Chris Shephard, kids from Maple Shade Arts Council) to raise cash for Gift of Sight Foundation. Chef Chris Scarduzio's doing Christmas old-school style, gathering kids at Brasserie Perrier on Dec. 22 to decorate gingerbread houses, where monies ($75 per child, parents attend free) raised benefit the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. Then, on Dec. 24, Bruce Cooper launches his 10th Annual Manayunk Holiday Dinner where the likes of Jake's, Bourbon Blue, Manayunk Diner, Sonoma and more donate a dinner per seat to feed the less fortunate a holiday meal. Then, for those lonely selfish heathens on Christmas Eve, Premiere Entertainment takes over Cuba Libre and 32°. Want to know where Philly's holiday music is? Thankfully, Record Cellar re-upped 1997's George Manney-produced Season's Greetings Philadelphia -- Buzz Zeemer, The Friggs, Emily Valentine (dag, this is old), Mark Boyce and wee Marah. Bill Ricchini -- who'll DJ "No Tan Lines" again Dec. 27 at The Khyber -- just dropped a Phil Spector-ish "Baby, It's Christmas" via free mp3 download. And the funky-pop kids of Kiwi released "Christmastime," at stores everywhere. This sounds fun: Fusion freak Gerald Veasley just recorded Jaguar for his due-March solo CD, remaking "Let's Do It Again." Ben Morgan and his pals in The Sand Family host their own party for their Housebroken label 7-inch, "Monkeypants," Dec. 19 at The Khyber with Adam Brodsky, Frogs and The Walkie Talkies in tow. Suddenly, I'm Barry White: Looking for that perfect bejeweled totem for the lady in your life? Check out the brand-new teaming of Patrice Amorosi's fab precious stone necklaces to Pileggi Boutique's tony couture clothing. What does MTV want with Philly? First it sends out word that they're looking to cast Crib Crashers ("Do you know someone who wants their crib to get done over to look like Nelly's? Friends who are cool katz with great personalities, 'cause we're filming them the whole time as they help us paint and move stuff"), then I hear The Real World is holding some sort of casting call at Fifth and South on Dec. 21. Fun rumor: The Rolling Stones to play Philly between Jan. 12-16? On Dec. 20, gallery owner/photog Gary Calderwood holds his first exhibit in 25 years at Calderwood Gallery on Spruce. Ex-Planet 10 drummer Noah Simon -- who spent the last several years in NYC engineering records by Charlie Hunter, Shawn Colvin and Hal Willner's upcoming Harold Arlen tribute -- produced Australian expat Greta Gertler, who'll make a local debut at La Tazza Dec. 19. Former Silk City promo whore Rhodes Mason is back -- teamed with tribute-party promoter Oona Jones -- with monthlies starting with The Toilet Boys/Sideshow Prophets Dec. 19. Unfortunate news: WEA distribution is migrating from Burbank to New York. As part of the biggest cutbacks in their 30-year history (and a possible merger with EMI), the multilabel's closing all but four branches, including N.J.'s infamous. Very sad for all of our pals in the WEA work family. Along with wishing Jesus a happy b-day and y'all a very Icepack-y Merry Christmas, the same goes for Sameric/Boyd Theater, which holds a 74th b-day fete Dec. 25 under the marquee with cake from Petit 4 Studio, to Dennio's Dan Contarino (celebrating at Shampoo Dec. 20), to DJ MG (of Anthrum Recordings fame who'll celebrate at his house and no you can't come), to DJ Sara Sherr (who celebrates Dec. 20 with Apache Grip guys Scott Rodgers, Joe Paone and Lyle at Doc Watson's), to DJ Alex Adrock (who celebrates the release of his mix-CD Omnipotent at Tribecca Dec. 19, with Frankie Bones in the house), to Gina Lililtrang and to my mom, Eda, who won't be spinning records.