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ISSUE . November 30th, 2006
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Cover Story


On The Road
Poet Samantha Barrow rode cross-country on a mission of mercy. She brought back this diary.
by Samantha Barrow
A slam poet who stutters told me after my second feature in Denver, Colo., that he thought the writing workshops I've been doing with survivors of sexual abuse sounded cool but "almost — naw I shouldn't say it..."


Opinion


Slant:
Class Warfare
Philadelphians want more charter schools. So why won't we open them?
by Tim Daniels
Philadelphia charter public schools are the most successful form of educational reform in the city. So it was puzzling no new charter schools opened this year for the first time in nine years.

Editor's Letter:
Poetry and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
by Duane Swierczynski
When A&E editor Patrick Rapa approached me about a cover story that would involve poems, a motorcycle, erotica and cheap diners, I had one thought: I've been working everyone way too hard.

Loose Canon:
Scrooge Redux
Where did all this gifting come from, anyway?
by Bruce Schimmel
Well, kids, the spirit of the season has slid over me like a greasy fog. Bah, humbug. It's time for my annual holiday rage against against the consumer machine.

Feedback:
Letters to the Editor
Jump, jive and rail
Love Ain't in the Air: What I hate is when a real weekly whines and complains like the other lame weekly. Please keep it real.


Naked City


Naked City :: What's in a Frame?What's in a Frame?
Comcast lets you "lean back" and turn your TV screen into an art canvas. Should museums be worried — or thankful?
by Juliet Fletcher
It's late, you've had a skinful, and la belle ferronière is eyeing you up.

Running Numbers
A scholarly look at the digits that matter.
by Nick Norlen
Picks of destiny: Six degrees of Philly-related media personalities.

Fine Print:
Into the Light
Local Wikipeople meet up in the real world.
by Mary Armstrong
Sure, facts are slippery, as anyone who does research will tell you.

Icepack
Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.
by A.D. Amorosi
In this week of wonk, how is it that Black Friday's story of a Miami El Nuevo Herald cartoonist trying to take staff members hostage didn't make bigger news?


News


News :: Line of DefenseLine of Defense
A union campaign targets a big behind-the-scenes political contributor.
by Doron Taussig
A crowd of security guards stands beneath the green awning of the United Check Cashing store at Third and Market streets. They've been here for over an hour, waiting for their paychecks. "I'm getting ready to quit," one declares.

Political Notebook:
The Bride Wore Jeans
Renee Gilinger gets hitched; the candidates go to the Pennsylvania Society weekend
by Mary F. Patel
Big news for Liberty PA state director Renee Gilinger: She got hitched last week to live-in boyfriend Michael Marsico. The couple tied the knot Thanksgiving Eve.

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


Arts


Arts :: The Insider?
Art:
The Insider?
An exclusive interview with the PMA's unlikely new interior decorator, architectural daredevil Frank Gehry.
by Steve Cohen
Frank Gehry has been awarded the redesign job at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but don't expect his signature curvaceous structures and reflective metal.

Culture Shock:
Things That Matter To People Who Matter
Zombie movies, His Dark Materials, Wine tasting, Intel Apples
EArl-y GAtes, Mason Wendell, Andrea Jazwiecki-Martin, Starkey

Art Review:
Luck of the Draw
Mark Lombardi's works on paper are scandalous. Yet the little jolts of pleasure they provide are quite unscandalous.
by Robin Rice
Mark Lombardi's complex flowcharts document dancelike movements in the covert international exchange of money and influence.

First Friday Focus
Lori Hill's First Friday hit list.
by Lori Hill
PAFA's annual print sale, Projects Gallery's "Little Secrets," Fleisher's Nativity, and a plethora of holiday shows.

Theater Review:
Snowed Under
A new Christmas show succeeds with satire.
by Mark Cofta
Every Christmas Story Ever Told borrows the format the Reduced Shakespeare Company uses on the Bard to assemble pastiches of ... well, the title says it all.

Arts Picks:
This Is the Week That Is
Capital-themed comedy dating back to the days of Aristophanes.
by Deni Kasrel
Some things will never change. This comes across clearly in 1812 Productions' This Is the Week That Is: Political Humor for the Holidays.

Fête
The best part of the holiday season is to be found at Locks Gallery's group show "Fête." Sort of.
by Rachel Frankford
The installation seems like a multilayered examination of a party, moving from functional objects to commentaries on society through objects to existential anxieties.

Joan Saltzman
Is Mr. Right and My Left Kidney too gruesome for Hollywood?
by Patrick Rapa
Part of you wants to say Joan Saltzman's new memoir about finally finding true love after years of searching is a prime candidate for a movie adaptation.


Arts Agenda


Arts Agenda :: Catch It or Regret It
Last Chance:
Catch It or Regret It
Asian Arts Initiative, Martha Armstrong, Our Lady of 121st Street
by Rachel Frankford

Arts Agenda Picks:
Just Do It
Choosical!
by Dayna Vickery
If improv comedy and musical theater had a love child, it'd surely be Choosical!, Freefall Productions' full-length show that played to sold-out houses last winter.

In The Event That...
You Want a Whole Mess of Art History in One Shot
by Megan M. Erwin
Cerealart's "25 X 25" brings together 25 works from just as many artists, spanning the history of the seminal White Columns gallery.

Just Do It
New Frontiers in Cartooning and Graphic Novels
by Rachel Frankford
So female cartoonists are less marginalized than they used to be—semi-sweet victory. Give a half-hearted cheer.

On The DL
Nutcracker: Men in Tights
by Will Dean
Some questions only sound strange when you ask them out loud. For example: What would the sugar plum fairies look like with facial hair?

Galleries
Galleries are usually open Tuesdays through Saturdays; please call the gallery for exact days and hours. Receptions are denoted with Reception 3RD STREET GALLERY, 58

Museums/Exhibits
Museums and exhibits have varying schedules; please call for exact days, hours and prices. ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, 19th St. & the Parkway, 215-299-1000. BUTTERFLIES!

Performing Arts
Please call the phone number listed with the venue for specific dates, times and ticket information. dance 4:48 PSYCHOSIS Sarah Kane wrote a play right

Readings/Book Signings
ANDREW KIRSHNER The physician and author signs and reads from his new couples-healing book, "Back Together." Wed, Dec. 6, 7pm, FREE, Barnes & Noble, 1805


Movies


Movies :: Missing in ActionMissing in Action
Playing DVD catch up with movies that never made it here.
by Sam Adams
It's that time of year again. No, not Christmas; that weird week when the onslaught of holiday blockbusters and awards contenders ceases in the long shadow of Thanksgiving blockbusters.

Born Again
Although she's at its center, Mary is rarely The Nativity Story's star.
by Cindy Fuchs
Once upon a time, the Christmas story was news, startling and even daunting, especially to a teenager named Mary.

Destiny Unknown
Jack Black and co. ponder Tenacious D's big screen gamble.
by Patrick Rapa
"Did we make a rated R movie for kids? So that no one would see it?" Jack Black's got the look of somebody having a lite epiphany.

Screen Picks:
Robert Altman, 1925-2006
ong past the age when many directors have lost the ability to get films made, Altman kept plugging away.
by Sam Adams
It's hard for me to imagine there will never be another Altman movie.

Showtimes
AMC Orleans 8 , 2247 Bleigh St., 215-722-4262. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (G) fri: 1:20, 4:30, 7:30, 9:45; sat: 10:30, 1:10, 4:30,

Repertory Film
Send repertory film listings to tami.fertig@citypaper.net. AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF PHILADELPHIA 701 Arch St., 215-574-0380, www.scribe.org. Ethnic Journeys Scribe Video Center screens two short docs


Music


Music :: On the GoOn the Go
GoGirlsMusicFest finds a stage in Philly.
by M.J. Fine
One night, 10 performers, 20-minute sets. It sounds like the classic setup for a battle of the bands. But this is no competition.

Here as I Am
Frank Stefanko's new photo anthology is pretty in Patti.
by M.J. Fine
Patti Smith makes an unlikely muse. She's not pretty by most standards; hardly anyone would call her cute. She's scrawny, with straggly salt-and-pepper hair and sharp features. She's all angle and no curve. 

Namecheck
Why it's not really goodbye for local favorites Mazarin.
by Brian Howard
Stoltzfus: We thought about changing the name to something similar — Mazarin Jr., QS Mazarin — and then we decided that the name was cursed.

Hang The DJ:
Sudden Rush
J. Edward Keyes on Shuffle
by J. Edward Keyes
Defying tradition and fucking with the timetable of year-end list-making, nearly every hip-hop artist worth caring about has waited until the dwindling minutes of '06 to rush out an album.

One Track Mind:
Denison Witmer
"How to Be Alone"
by M.J. Fine
He's insecure. She's independent. He keeps splitting town. She drinks with strangers and comes home to read in a too-roomy bed.

Music Picks:
Bowerbird @ Landmarks
Fri., Dec. 1, 8 p.m.
by Shaun Brady
It's been noted a few times in these pages how Dustin Hurt's Bowerbird concert series has provided a dizzying amount of exposure for experimental

Victor Wooten
Thu., Nov. 30, 9 p.m.
by Mary Armstrong
Ever since Victor Wooten became an instant sensation for his complex yet effortlessly executed melodies in the Flecktones, bass players have been wondering if he didn't have extra fingers.

Rock Camp for Girls
Sat., Dec. 2, 8 p.m.
by Kelly White
rWe've got the Baird Sisters and the XX chromosomes from Golden Ball, but where will Philly's next generation of girls who rock come from?

The Prism Quartet
Sat., Dec. 2, 8 p.m.
by Peter Burwasser
The saxophone has become the iconic jazz instrument, but that was certainly not the intention of Adolphe Sax when he invented it.

Allen Toussaint
hu., Nov. 30, 6 and 9 p.m.
by Sam Adams
Although he's released few albums in his four-decade career, Allen Toussaint has done as much to spread the sound of New Orleans as anyone.


Food


Food :: On Golden PondOn Golden Pond
Chef Abde Dahrouch makes waves in Radnor.
by Maxine Keyser
Sometimes, the word "pond" conjures up thoughts of dark, amorphous creatures, bottom dwellers and the like, but no such images come to mind when you you eat at Pond.

Small Bites:
Brooklyn to Queen: A Neighborhood Story
Before Red Hook Coffee & Tea even fired up its espresso machine, the neighborhood was talking.
by Lori Hill
Situated on desolate-after-sunset Fabric Row, Red Hook fills a void for Queen Villagers.

Feeding Frenzy
Restaurants opening, closing and pending
by Drew Lazor
NOW SEATING Angelina's Italian Restaurant, Franco's High Note Cafe, Frog at the Yard

What's Cooking:
Small Bites
The Week In Eats
by Amy Strauss
Dinner with Dornenberg, Putting It All Together, Vodka and Latke Bash, Noche de Tequila, Cooking for Couples

Top 5:
Breakfast Sandwiches
Morning Glory
by Jessica Loughery
1) Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich, Brasserie Perrier; 2) Breakfast Super Melt Sandwich, Philly Diner; 3) Western Sandwich, Mrs. K's Koffee Shop; 4) Pepper and Egg, Tony Luke's; 5) Whitefish Salad on a Bagel, Trolley Car Diner

Watering Hole:
Byrne's Tavern
It's Where We Drink
by Will Dean
Breezing down I-95 South toward the city, you can see the jagged outline of Center City skyscrapers, the murky water of the Delaware and a three-story-tall shamrock.


Agenda


Agenda :: Deck The Malls
Agenda Lead:
Deck The Malls
KOP vs. Springfield vs. The Gallery Death Match
by Rachel Frankford
Like any prudent agoraphobe, I try to wait out the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day much the way one might wait out an air raid.

Agenda Picks:
Kids, etc.
Big Fun for Little Ones
by Jessica Loughery
Ellis Island; My Home Planet Earth; Children's Rock 'n' Roll Brunch; The BFG (Big Friendly Giant); Peace Around the World Celebration

Just Do It
The Lesbians of Laughter Tour
by Natalie Hope McDonald
Sat., Dec. 2, 8 p.m.

On The DL
Plaid Pony Vintage Holiday Open House
by Kelly White
Sat.-Sun., Dec. 2-3, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., free,

Justify Your Existence
Sustainability Salon: Unplug the Christmas Machine
"No matter what kind of tradition you're celebrating this season, you should try to do it simply."

In The Event That...
You Always Root for the Little Guy
by Megan M. Erwin
The Welterweight Wars Thu., Nov. 30, 8 p.m.

Accidental Tourist
Scott Turow
by Amanda McKenna
Wed., Dec. 6, 6:30 to 8 p.m.


Paper Doll


Paper Doll :: Strange Bedfellows
Paper Doll:
Strange Bedfellows
Your pocket guide to eccentric bedroom behaviors
by Ashlea Halpern
"Does nothing weird you out?" I get this question so often, I'm starting to think I'm either: a) seriously deviant, b) too understanding, or c) friends with the wrong people.


 
 
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