Icepack

Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.

by A.D. Amorosi

D oes no one in Philly event-planning sewing circles ever get together to shoot breeze and chew fat? Coordinate round-town events so to better complement each other's gigs and avoid a glittering clusterfuck of wrong? Like though I thought it hilariously perfectly Philadelphian that last week's blue-bloody Academy Ball occurred — sans any preconceived ironic context — on the same night as the more prominent green-liquidy Hair O' the Dog fundraiser at the Constitution Center, I just don't know if I like Philly's swank Restaurant Week's finale all bucked up against sloppy ol' Wing Bowl 15 this weekend. It's not yummy. And no, it doesn't count if El Wingador Simmons' new Girard Ave. "To-Go" was part of R-Week. No it don't. And P.S. I'm already hearing the payback-is-a-bitch fun resulting from those tony locals who didn't get invited to any of the intimate meet-and-greets with Chuck and Camilla at the Ball. With the Ball and after-dinner in full swing, there were a few last-minute cell-phone calls from those shut out with offers of hard cash that I can't begin to tell you how nasty they sounded. 2007 is gonna be the year of the spite-filled.

► The next invite to score? Feb. 3's Bam Margera/Missy Rothstein wedding at either Loews or Sofitel — filmed for MTV's Bam's Unholy Union — with The Stooges. Me, I cry at weddings. But when I spoke to Iggy Pop last about his whole The Weirdness/Asheton brothers reunion, "mum" was his word. Jess Margera should expect a helluva lot of compliments rightaboutnow for CKY.

► Know what's fun? The spot-the-beard game y'all play when Jeff Garcia and fiancee (?!) Carmella DeCesare — Monday Night Live co-depend ... I mean, correspondent/Playboy Playmate — hit the A.C. Hilton Feb. 3. And speaking of ... PHAG, Philly's phave-o-rite home-shopping boo-tique is moving from being little Philadelphia Home Art Garden on 12th Street to being a big, wide grand showroom at 1225 Walnut. Size queens! On Feb. 8 they'll celebrate with members (can't stop punning) of the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, Gervase from Survivor (who's a dick), T-shirts from PHAG resident Jeff Schaller and a decor collaboration between PHAG's Jason Crook and Rah Crawford.

► WHOWHATWHERE: Saturday night — Rod Stewart liked it cooked (several bass dishes at Le Bec Fin). Stevie Wonder and Wanda Sykes? They liked it raw (fishies at Morimoto).

► Rumor: We've heard for more than a little while that Le Jardin — the foodie spot in ye old Art Alliance building — may indeed be on its way out. OK to that rumor. But now we hear Restaurant Associates — responsible for the catering at Philadelphia Museum of Art and other national museums, may do something at that Rittenhouse Square location.

► Rich "Large Marge" Wexler's Sherman Arts booking/promoting concern gets podcasty soon. To raise awareness and boil some blood, he's bringing Philly's electro-lounger Stephen Bluhm's Morrissey-meets-Depeche sounds, the Modest Mousey The Boats and wack-job jazz-bo Nat King Tron to Bar Noir Feb. 5.

► Backinnaday, the Goddess Theatre night at Club Nostradamus introduced many a dark lady to the scene. Now Goddess Nicki Jaine (who's got a killer version of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" with Brainclaw and Kyle Cassidy out now), Lili Anel, Monica McIntyre, Stefani Threet and Natalie Walker give back for G-Theatre initiator Robin Parry's debut Toulouse Street Tuesday Philly-to-Nola benefit night at World Café Live Feb. 6.

► When Rockats' Dibbs Preston moved to Glenside (from Britain) he got a band (Detonators), a regular gig (rockabilly bar Blue Comet) and a shot at the Elbow room in Roslyn, Pa., for the tap room's first live gig. Meow.

► Another fine first comes First Friday Feb. 2 as Nicole Porter not only takes over floor one of the Glam Gallery for an art exhib/fashion show of designer JohnF's "scoods," (long, ear-muffy hoodie hats) and Lang Hu's graphic-heavy attire, but floor two, too, for Porter's electronic soul-trio Jillrabbit's second show. P.S. Porter and Hu just did the outfits for the Comedy Sportz troupe at the Adrienne theater.

► If you're gonna bother to celebrate Canary PR peep Megan Wendell's b-day mention that you know she just got the photo-blog Phillyhistory.org, the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's 10th anniversary season, next week's 10-day Theatre Alliance run of its first New Play Festival and comic Paul Mecurio of Comedy Central/Sports Central fame on her docket.

► So I'm talking to the Troc about its meeting of avant-burlesque minds that is the venue's April 26-27 Spiderfan Cabaret (with Big Mess, Pig Iron, Philadelphia Chamber Music Orchestra, Peekaboo Revue) when the princess of the Pang dynasty, Joanna, reminds me it's been 10 years since she took over the Troc. "It was a few days after Ned Gaudette's b-day. Don't you remember, Jan. 16, 1997, we had the Big Mess Orchestra and the sprinklers went off and we had to pay out so much money in dry cleaning bills?" Which reminds me. My Thom Browne suit's still soaked.

► By the time you read this, the release party for Public Wall Writing in Philadelphia will have just happened at Fleisher Ollman Gallery. From the Space 1026/Free News team that brought you Megawords Magazine — Anthony Smyrski and Dan Murphy — Public Wall Writing is the very funkiest look at old-school Philly since Steady B.

► Not to be outdone: Philly-cinematic Irv Slifkin gets down and dirty into local film lore pre-Pinkerton with his Filmadelphia. And the scribe is signing too: Barnes & Noble, Rittenhouse Square, Feb. 1.

► Speaking of Free News, one of its published photogs, Adam Wallacavage, along with underground comix collector Eric Sack, made it to the opening of R. Crumb's UArts' "My True Inner Self." Homeboy Crumb did not. And Flip Hassell when he had his 10th anniversary bartending party at London Grill got show-ups by Q102's Jesse Jordan, Black Landlord, The Roots (who got them to open their kitchen), a bunch of strippers from the Gold Club and the cops. None would've approved of that New York Times blipster story. Trust me.

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)