Icepack

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

by A.D. Amorosi

In this era of stupid hubris, know what nobody humbly does anymore? Implore y'all. No one tries to entreat you nicely or cadge you without badgering you or even provoke you prettily and please-ily. People bug. Jam cell-phone cameras at you; get snarky and markedly rude as a point of entry rather than an exit strategy. Just this time: I'mo adjure, beseech, entreat and supplicate. Like, if you think you'd rather be an American Idol rather than a Hooters waitress (hey, Antonella Barba), I implore y'all don't smear your cooch on any national monuments or blow white guys with little dicks who have the aforementioned cell-camera. I implore you: If you see your neighbor Terrence Howard in town doing press for Pride as he's with his new girlfriend Naomi Campbell, don't yell "beard." He's a sharp cat. And she'll throw a cell-phone at your head. Come March 1 — today — unless you want to make your Philly more hellish or my column sillier still, don't go to Milton Street's maybe-mayoral noontime rally at City Hall. He'll go away if 5,000 people don't show. I'll miss Milton's wack-ass Godfrey Cambridge references ("Watermelon Man" Michael Nutter) and crazy baldhead faces. But to implore is to sacrifice. I'll give.

► I implore you to hit Glam Gallery at S. Second for First Friday's happy hour/art show March 2. Not cuz Glam sells that horny goat weed-infused Fever from area-bottler Hank's Beverage. Spurt. Because Devo Nelson — not a flowerpot electro-guy but a curator/painter — and me throw a pre-"Ashes to Asses, Bust to Bust" Peek-A-Boo Revue art show with PBR members Scott Johnston (who'll just be getting home from helping director Gabe Martinez with his just-wrapped SCOPE show at Lincoln Center), Christa D'Ag, Joey Martini, Karen & Kaley and more showing work. We even asked Five Spot owner Phil Cohen to bring pictures to sell to raise money for PBR uniforms. Happy hour's a good time, too, to ask PRB about the crazy rumor I heard 'bout the Revue maybe moving to Tin Angel at the urging of Larry Goldfarb. Yum.

► I implore you to give Laris Kreslins a hug. The Lime publishing magnate/movetophilly.com guy was half of the publishing team that birthed the oversized, uber-delish art/music mag Arthur. "I'm really shaken up right now," says Kreslins, who got a pitchforkmedia.com surprise Feb. 23 when partner/editor Jay Babcock announced he was ceasing operations immediately. Founders Babcock and Kreslins were 50-50 partners. "For some time I've wanted to get out and do other things," Kreslins says regarding moving from the five-year-old Arthur. "We were in the process of negotiating an agreement when discussions broke down on my side. The next day Jay sent out e-mails declaring the magazine dead. I like to think it's more of an indefinite hiatus." Sob either way. See www.arthurmag.com for Kreslins' updates.

► I implore you to see Large Marge hang out in her/his true gear as Rich Wexler and come celebrate the debut of his Sherman Arts' free downloadable podcast (www.shermanarts.org) at the Balcony, March 5. "So far, it's 26 songs from Philly's best and brightest," says Wexler, who hosts, with pal Needles Jones, pod-participants Birdie Busch, Univox, Northern Liberties' Justin Duerr, Kilroy, Stephen Bluhm and DJ Liz. Wexler's even giving podcast CD-Rs to luddites who come early.

► Old guys not-so-luddite-y: Art DiFuria, who blazed-the-Brenda's out of Johnny, got his angled-oddly pop ensemble Photon Band to drop a solely digital EP Get Down Here in the Stratosphere before the full-length Back Down to Earth comes in April.

► We hear the Rittenhouse Restaurant Row of S. 20th — Snackbar, Twenty Manning, the weird old Chinese restaurant — gets new neighbors in an unlikely space: 260's former legendary General Store address. Rumored sold for a nice under-millon-dollar-chunk-of-change, we should get the owner's secret identity any sec.

► So I stop by Upstairs @ Sal's cuz I'm hearing rumbles of changes afoot (Philbot's firmer hand? More free Sparks?) when I see their neighbor, Andre Richards Salon, readying for a March 1 debut at 201 S. Camac (also accessible through 12th Street Gym). Andre does hair, indeed, and is also an Ambush Makeover makeup artist. "It's so not Heathers, his salon," says our mutual pal/band manager Tamra Feldman, who got ARS's first trim. Snip.

► Does Mummer Jacky BamBam know about this? That Space 1026 last Saturday ran a hairy Dating Game/Kissing Booth fundraiser with Alison Macrina, Amanda Blank and Ryan Creed so to start their very own comic brigade? Does this mean they'll move to Two Street? And Speaking of 1026, have you checked their exhibit space/$1 shows at ICA with R5 Productions like last night's Sweatheart/Plastic Little jam? Why so cheap? "Since we're gay for one another — 1026 and R5 — it seemed like a perfect fit," says R5's Sean Agnew. "The $1 admission is so we can pay the bands a few dollars." Nice guy.

► I can't believe it's only been one year since Jen Shamy opened her tony torrid Zee Bar in the same strip mall as mom's Delilah's. But it is. And you say howdy March 1 when Shamy pimps out Zee like Cirque du Soleil, yo.

► Men around for much longer than one year — Rich Iannacone, Elliott Levin, the Testa Brothers — celebrate their holy space-jazz unit New Ghost; that the legendary ESP-Disk label not only decided to restart but do so with New Ghost's Live Upstairs at Nick's recorded in Philly long ago; and that they're on planet Earth to play a CD-release show for it at The Rotunda, March 7. Amen.

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)