ARTS . Culture Shock

This Week in A & E

Things That Matter To People Who Matter


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Published: Nov 15, 2006

Hot tea

With the temperature dropping, there's nothing like a lovely cup of hot tea. To get the full British experience you should buy an imported blend that has more grams of tea per bag than American-made varieties. I'd recommend PG Tips, available at ShopRite and Wegmans. Make sure the water is boiling, preferably using an electric kettle, and pour it directly onto the teabag. Leave for two minutes or mash vigorously with a spoon. Serve with milk or lemon and your sweetener of choice. New research shows that even black tea contains helpful antioxidants. Sixty million Brits (and several hundred thousand expats) can't be wrong!

—Anna Evans

Author, poet, Quick & Dirty Poets

Neo-Tech

I found this book in the trash recently that I can't get out of my mind. It's called Neo-Tech by the late Dr. Frank R. Wallace. It's something of a self-help book that claims to lay down the law of logic and cut out all the mystical brainwashing humans have been enduring for the past 3,000 years (the "3,000 year hoax," he calls it). The man is for totally abolishing all organized government and religion and has come up with a plan to make it work (!?). Dr. Wallace claims that without this hoax in place humans would have long ago achieved biological immortality and by this time yielded "abiding prosperity and happiness for all human beings." Good luck doctor, wherever you are.

—Mike Murray

Sculptor, owner of White Couch artroom

Helmet head

My sister bought me a bike helmet after I'd been biking Philly bare-skulled, rain or shine, for nearly a year, and I wore it begrudgingly. It's hard to stuff a hat under it in the winter, and it's too damn hot to wear one in the summer. Two accidents later, I don't "forget" my helmet so often, especially with numerous dislocated-hip, cracked-tooth, half-fingered, fractured-skull friends around to remind me. But could everyone (bikers included) please learn the rules of the road, if just for that first 80-degree day of spring when I like to re-enact the carefree, wind-in-my-hair, dunes-roaming bike rides of my childhood? Cheers.

—Claire Iltis

Artist and designer

Hittin' the gym

So I joined a gym a couple months ago. It's not one of those big gyms like Bally's with TVs all over and rows of treadmills. It's just a small local gym where I can go and work out without feeling uncomfortable. I don't think I'll end up looking like LL Cool J or 50 Cent, I'm just trying to stay healthy and improve my stamina for when I'm performing onstage. I usually cut on the iPod and run or walk on the treadmill for like 45 minutes to an hour, and then I hit the weights for another 15 minutes. I can't really say I'm seeing any major results yet, but I always feel better about myself when I leave. Now if only I could quit my addiction to Wawa Classic hoagies and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but one thing at a time.

—Side Effect

Hip-hop producer/MC