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ISSUE . October 19th, 2006
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Cover Story


Horse Country
A heroin epidemic runs wild in Bucks County.
by David S. Barry
Annual median household incomes in townships near Doylestown surpass the $100,000 mark. It is a county where less than 6 percent of the population live below the poverty line. This should not be heroin country.


Opinion


Slant:
Carnage is Untidy
No one in Philly or Baghdad can stop the violence
by David Faris and Wendy Ginsberg
When a 5-year-old girl from Strawberry Mansion was felled by a stray bullet on Sept. 25, she became the

Editor's Letter:
How the Dead Live
by Duane Swierczynski
Sometimes I use this space to talk about the cover story. But this week, I want to tell you

Loose Canon:
Retaking the Delaware
Instead of courting developers, Street is now paying attention to people.
by Bruce Schimmel
Last week, the contest between developers and residents tilted sharply in favor of the people. The man most to

Feedback:
Letters to the Editor
It is a shame what the Philadelphia Parking Authority is doing to cab drivers with GPS [Naked City, "Fare Play,"


Naked City


Naked City :: Square RoutesSquare Routes
Piazza on Passyunk is more than a good time; it's about building a community.
by A.D. Amorosi
Amanda Leahy and Matt Rader's monthly festivals on East Passyunk are all about "creating situations."

Running Numbers
A scholarly look at the digits that matter.
by Nick Norlen
Nick Norlen runs down the numbers that shape your life.

Fine Print:
Best of the Worst
Talking with author/outfielder Danny Litwhiler, star of the dreadful 1942 Phillies.
by Andrew Milner
The Phillies won 85 games this year, but in the 1940s it took them two seasons to win that many. Danny Litwhiler remembers.

Icepack
Amorosi on the news, gossip and bitchiness beat.
by A.D. Amorosi
Level gets tipped. Bamboo sprouts. Penthouse to invade Emerald City? Temple of Bon Matin and the Baptist Preachers. Mark Smith meets Mr. Carter. Plain Parade and Swearing At Motorists bid adieu. And so much more.


News


News :: Tusk LuckTusk Luck
What's gray, has a trunk and could send you to prison for 40 years?
by Rod L. Wilson
How two West Philadelphia women who deal African art on the Internet found themselves facing prison and millions in fines.

The Bell Curve
City Paper's Quality-o-Life-o-Meter
When news breaks in Philadelphia, we make jokes.

Booth Ache
To avoid scandal, legislators will reintroduce bills to safeguard elections.
by Bob Finkelstein
Will this be the last election Pennsylvanians have to worry about whether their votes actually counted?

Two Minutes With...Rosita Johnson
Philadelphia Area Black Radical Congress
by Jared Goyette
Rosita Johnson says the biggest threat to voters' rights are "machines that have no paper trail."

200 Reasons to Worry
by Philip Tanfield
When the city started looking for new voting machines, election officials traveled the country to see their options in action and went with the Danaher/Guardian Voting Systems ELECTronic 1242 model. During this spring's primary, many malfunctioned.

Philly Blunt:
Hold 'Em Accountable
by Brian Hickey
It's a good thing we here at City Paper are ordering new business cards this week. Seems as if I have a new title: domestic terrorist.

Underworld:
Customs Busts Them
Feel like you're being watched? At the airport, you are — very closely.
by Brendan McGarvey and Gabriele J. Valentine
Customs agents at the Philadelphia International Airport have been busier than normal lately, including the bust of a man wanted for a brutal rape on the West Coast and discovering heroin hidden in baby formula bottles.

Political Notebook:
Stumping in Enemy Territory
With the general election closing in, Republicans pull out the stops for Santorum.
by Mary F. Patel
Young Republicans endorse Santorum and Rizzo. Peace and Not Guns fights the violence. Rendell, Obama and Kerry on the stump.


Arts


Arts :: Winners' Tale
Theater:
Winners' Tale
CP's theater critics place their bets on the Barrymores
David Anthony Fox: [The Barrymores] aspire to the glamour and grandeur of the Tonys, but have the corny small-town in-joking of a Kiwanis Club dinner. Mark Cofta: I'd love to see the ceremony clock in at under three hours.

Web Exclusive
Arts Picks:
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Paul Taylor: man of many moods.
by Deni Kasrel

Culture Shock:
Things that matter to people who matter
Alexis Simpson, Allan Espiritu, Dave Jadico, Christine Weiser
Sugar Bush Squirrel, Seoul, Pillsbury Doughboy Doll, LitPAC

Art:
Inside Job
Activist artist Peggy Diggs responds to worst-case scenarios.
by Robin Rice
Diggs's most recent inspiration was an apocalyptic vision of the future outlined in an internal Pentagon report on global warming.

Arts Picks:
Ron English/John Puglisi
"Industrial Pop"
by Kelly White
Subversive prank artist Ron English likes to stir things up, but it's for the sake of shattering convention.

What's Eating the Gilbert?
Gilbert Building Celebration
by Amanda McKenna
Just ask Chinatown: The Convention Center must be fed. Next on the menu is the Gilbert Building.

Barack Obama
Dreams From my Father
by Billy Kekevian
The junior senator from Illinois' autobiography transcends politics in its candid look at race relations, college life, family troubles and success.

The Zoo Story
Edward Albee's first play was written on a whim while he was still a young New York City Western Union messenger.
by Zach Pontz
Edward Albee's first play typically appears on a double bill. Not this time, though. "We really want the audience to focus on this play," says director Steven Wright.

Dance:
Rockin' Robbins
The Pennsylvania Ballet opens its season with an all-Jerome Robbins program.
by Janet Anderson
Robbins forever influenced the way we look at dance by creating an easy-feeling blend of ballet and Broadway.

Theater Review:
Elder Hostile
Murderers
by David Anthony Fox
You'd think it almost redundant to murder the denizens of a Florida retirement community, but comeuppance is comeuppance.

Grand Madame
Madame Douce-Amere
by David Anthony Fox
So at first glance you might expect a love story, something romantic and perhaps slightly sad ("douce-amère" does mean "bittersweet," after all). You would be right, but that's only part of the story.

Man Without a Plan
The Pillowman
by David Anthony Fox
LIke many promising couplings — director Jiri Zizka and Martin McDonagh's hellishly funny play — this one has its rocky moments.


Arts Agenda


Arts Agenda :: Catch It or Regret It
Last Chance:
Catch It or Regret It
It's now or never
by Rachel Frankford
The Story of the Dora Factory, AllTURNatives, Windy City

Arts Agenda Picks:
Just Do It
Red Light Winter
by Lou Perseghin
Sex sells. But that's not why Theatre Exile's founder/producing artistic director Joe Canuso picked Red Light Winter as this season's fall show. OK, maybe it's one reason.

Just Do It
Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain and the United States 1931-1945
by Amanda McKenna
According to Jacqueline Atkins, textiles curator at the Allentown Art Museum, many national governments across the globe have been using threads to spread a military agenda.

In The Event That...
Vampires Get Your Blood Pressure Rising
by Rachel Frankford
Everything you thought you knew about vampires is wrong. Dead wrong.

On The DL
Wondrous Cold: An Arctic Journey
by Rachel Frankford
It might be a good idea to check out some photos of glaciers -- while we still got 'em.

Galleries
Galleries are usually open Tuesdays through Saturdays; please call the gallery for exact days and hours. Receptions are denoted by

Museums/Exhibits
Museums and exhibits have varying schedules; please call for exact days, hours and prices. 1601, 10th and Tasker sts., 215-218-3840.

Performing Arts

Readings/Book Signings
ANDREA EHRLICH AND RICHARD BANK The poets (both of whom happen to be lawyers) read from their respective works as


Movies


Movies :: Too Much Too SoonToo Much Too Soon
Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette is a victim of her own wealth.
by Sam Adams
This Marie will not be the vain class enemy of the popular imagination, imprisoned in the sugar-spun prison of the period piece.

The Chosen Few
Small in scope, the New York Film Festival unearths disproportionate treasures.
by Sam Adams
Curated rather than collated, the New York Film Festival replaces the furious too-muchness of your average fest with a healthier, more manageable daily diet.

American Ugly
Ungrown adults protect their children from themselves.
by Cindy Fuchs
If you conclude from its opening scene that Ronnie's the "time bomb" in Little Children , you'd only be partly right.

Screen Picks
Brian De Palma's Murder a la Mod and Warren Beatty's Reds
by Sam Adams
Based on the title and the year of its release (1968), you'd expect Murder a la Mod to be a brisk exploitation romp: bare breasts, flashing lights, a brief appearance by the Strawberry Alarm Clock. But that wasn't Brian De Palma's style.

Repertory Film
The week in rep
—compiled by Tami Fertig


Music


Music :: Into the GrooveInto the Groove
Space 1026 co-founder Max Lawrence launches his own limited picture-disc line.
by Andrew Parks
"I hate to make it sound sagelike," says Maximillian Lawrence of Ian MacKaye's advice, "but he was like, 'It's not the things that you say yes to that define you; it's the things you say no to.' I was like, 'Word up.'"

Web Exclusive
Local Support 017
New podcast available for download now.

Suite Spot:
Agitprop Props
Peter Burwasser on Classical
by Peter Burwasser
The intensity of the Dmitri Shostakovich centennial, at least here in Philadelphia, is astonishing. Every major performing organization is packing their seasons with music of the 20th-century Russian master.

Soundadvice
Get Out!
Settlement Faculty Recital, Jerry Douglas,Mat Maneri's Pentagon, Ben Kweller/Sam Roberts, Dying Ground, Catie Curtis

Music Picks:
The Trolleyvox
The Trolleyvox Present The Karaoke Meltdowns
by Michael Pelusi
The Trolleyvox Present The Karaoke Meltdowns is an appropriate moniker for the band's most assured and diverse yet.

Mojave 3
Puzzles Like You
by Sam Adams
It's been a long road from the snowy wash of Slowdive to the sun-drenched pop of Mojave 3's fifth long-player.

Amos Lee
Supply and Demand
by Nicole Pensiero
It's been a quick climb for former Philly schoolteacher/Tin Angel bartender Amos Lee these past few years. Granted, it didn't hurt to have Norah Jones handpick him to open her 2004 world tour.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Featuring violinist Hilary Hahn
by Peter Burwasser
There is not a season that goes by in the classical music universe that does not include one or more freshly minted Curtis grads making a stir.

Tomasz Stanko Quartet
Lontano
by Shaun Brady
Stanko's patient long-term investment in a trio of teenaged musicians has come to full fruition a little over a decade later.


Food


Food :: Down by the RiverDown by the River
At Water Works, an older crowd packs a young chef's restaurant.
by Trey Popp
After more than two decades of vacancy, the Schuylkill's neoclassical gem has a new tenant with ambitions as upscale as the architecture.

Feeding Frenzy
Restaurants opening, closing and pending
by Drew Lazor
Heaven's Fine Dining, LaScala's, Rae, DineIndie.com

What's Cooking:
The Week In Eats
Just Desserts, World Tapas Tour, Argentina Wine, Flavored Vodka, Living Foods Diet
by Amy Strauss

Small Bites:
Hack Snacks
Cabbie fare
by Jessica Loughery
We asked a few waylaid wheelmen about their favorite places to dine on the run.

Top 5:
Autumnal Eats
Legends of the Fall
by Megan M. Erwin
1 Pumpkin Gnocchi, 2 Sour Cream Apple Pie, 3 Squash Casserole, 4 Mushroom Barley and Swiss Chard Soup, 5 Hot Toddy

Watering Hole:
The Public House
It's Where We Drink
by Lou Perseghin
Philly bars are often stuffy affairs with dim lights, low ceilings and smoky, stale air. Not The Public House, man. Not by far.


Agenda


Agenda :: Mystic Rivers
Agenda Lead:
Mystic Rivers
The Strange Allure of the Red Carpet Queen
by Brian Hickey
What did Joan Rivers learn from the death of her 12-year-old Yorkie? "Feed your pets whatever they want. Life is short and pleasures count."

Agenda Picks:
On The DL
Youth Media Slam!
by Sam Tremble
It rarely occurs to experts using "the youth problem" as a talking point to let the kids speak. That's why Scribe Video Center's Gretjen Clausing organized the Youth Media Slam!

Web Exclusive
Day Tripper
Mount Vernon Cultural District's First Vintage Modern Market
by Amanda McKenna
Tired of the same old vintage stores and flea markets?

Justify Your Existence
National Action Campaign Against the Diamond Trade
"We want to expose the truth about the whole diamond industry being based on exploitation and oppression and brutal conditions for African people," says Alison Hoehne.

Kids, etc.
Big Fun for Little Ones
by Jessica Loughery

Just Do It
Women's Hockey 101
by Kelly White
Puck-watching is not a sport mired in first downs and end zones.

In The Event That...
You Long for a Place Where Spandex Is Not Only Allowed, But Encouraged
by Zach Pontz
Do your weekly biking excursions consist of weaving in and out of traffic, avoiding tanker-sized SUVs and inhaling tons of noxious fumes?


Paper Doll


Paper Doll :: Cradle of Love
Paper Doll:
Cradle of Love
Adult babies and diaper lovers are the new town criers — so what's all the fuss about?
by Ashlea Halpern
When Miguel (not his real name), a 24-year-old graphic designer living and working in Montgomery County, has a rotten day at the office, he likes to go home, peel off his work clothes and slip on an adult incontinence diaper.


 
 
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