Icepack

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

by A.D. Amorosi

Igo away a few days and look at the mess. The Daily News' Sexy Singles alone made me want to relocate to my Topanga Canyon retreat. No matter. I love you. I want you happy; at home and with family; keeping the colors from fading on your tats; and using up the bottom of the hair paste jar while nursing kids. Family's on my mind because of Rich Wexler 's Home Movie Day, noon, Aug. 11. It's a national thing. But Wexler is all about community building and sees his co-hosting event at the Free Library as a way to see how your fam and your city've changed. I know my Super 8mms show me chubby and buzz-cut running through Gimbel's. Yours gotta be worse. Wexler, who doubles as VJ Large Marge and directs superior chicken movies (www.youtube.com/largemarge), wants you to send snaps for a not-as-lascivious-as-it-sounds project whose web address is its theme: www.myspace.com/takeoffshirtinphotobooth. It may not be a family affair. But seeing y'all without shirts'll be funny. I'm sure of it. Sticking with family values — I'm in Topanga yakking with Devendra Banhart when I hear his pals Margie Wienk and James Ayre of Fishtown's Fern Knight'll tie the knot Sept. 29. They wanted wedding photographer Alissa Anderson (who's played cello with fellow freak folkers Vetiver) but lacked cash to fly her out. Before you could say "lute," Alissa called and said she'd be in Philly accompanying DevBan, who'll play TLA that night. So Sept. 29 is Philly's freakiest day ever. For their shower, Fern Knight'll record CD No. 3 with Greg Weeks producing at Hexham Head; this before the Weeks, Greg and Jessica (Espers , y'all), launch the Language of Stone label through Drag City. It'll be Philly-run, drop CDs and vinyl and commence in September with Orion Rigel Dommisse and Philly-ite Natalie Merrin's Wise Blood.

► We hear promoter Dan Lieberman (of Cooljunkie, ClubPlanet renown) is taking Nigel Richards ' 611 label/sales/shoes. How big a piece? A 6? Both 1s? Dunno.

► Rumor: Several tongues tell me lemon-squeezing Robert Plant will sing at a Free at Noon WXPN lunch at World Café Live with Alison Krauss between Aug. 14 and Aug. 17 for their duet CD, Raising Sand.

► Support Cashman & Associates namesake Nicole when tending bar at Kildare's Aug. 9. She's don't need your Irish beer-drinking cash, jackass. It's a Mural Arts Program benefit. Which reminds me: When I was at the American Bandstand mural thing on 46th Street with Jerry Blavat and Charlie Gracie , drummer/ documentarian George Manney (there to hawk his iTunes Brotherly Love soundtrack) told me his Rufus Harley film, Pipes of Peace, would debut Sept. 27 at Wildwood by the Sea FilmFest.

► WHOWHATWHERE: Can't watch a J-Lo flick (El Cantante) without Vin Diesel showing up. That's what he did at a Ritz pre-screening. Zooey Deschanel got spied at Morimoto and rummaging through art-farty, street-vendory Old City during First Friday. Chris Tucker wasn't wearing an "I Came to Philly for this Charlie Mack Peace Weekend and All I Got was This Lousy T-Shirt" tee. Tucker was in a blue track suit given to him by South Street's Adidas touting Rush Hour 3, his first film since 2001's Rush Hour 2 ("Money didn't keep me from doing another. I don't want too much slapstick"); yakking about Jackie Chan ("He's crazy — wearing so few wires. Gimme more wires"); and remembering his first joke ("It was talent show in grade school and I made fun of the roaches. They were offering $35. I talked them into $50. I was a hustler.").

► Director Nicholas Gray, producer Katharine Clark Gray and two of their Philly-lensed-film's stars, Susan Rosetti and Steph Hayes — Stargazer Lily — roast a pig for your watering mouth and raise funds for If You Could Say It in Words all day at Fergie's Aug. 11. Mohawked DJ Heather Henderson throws the film's after-party at The Republican's Pousse Café lesbo go-go (1734 Snyder). Boys, behave.

► Justin Paul 's Playloop residency at Fluid starts with King Britt spinning Aug. 9.

► 'Member I asked Ryan Soloby what's up with dumping Broadzilla at Upstairs@Sal's? "Broadzilla had not been doing well for months," says venue manager Soloby. "When we closed the upstairs and converted the downstairs into the new club every night was doing better except Thursdays." That's cold.

► My fave lounge-electronicat Stephen Bluhm makes his first self-booking at Tritone with fiddler Jimmy Dority and an unnamed four-part harmony a cappella ensemble Aug. 15

► First Mew Gallery strikes the Ital-Market at Christian. Now, a new gallery below Washington: Bobo's On 9th run by Nick Payne, Drew Gillespie and Philip Cote . Their aesthetic? Check the ginormous rag-Mummers at 1134 S. Ninth from Brian McKelligott and Lizzie Fitch.

► I was high when I heard this: Tho' Showtime's stoney Weeds premieres Aug. 13 with Randy Newman singing its title track, "Little Boxes," look for versions from Illinois and musty ol' Man Man sooner than you can say ... OK I forgot.

► I told Mark Bee having DJs in his new Silk City may be a bad idea. Restaurant, you know. Apparently during a Steven Bloodbath Friday, damages done by graffiti artists (gouging mosaic mirrors with keys, tagging) prompted Bee to cancel Thur.-Sat. DJ nights. We know who. Bee knows who, as they were video-taped (clearly, too!) and ratted out by their buds. Cool heads may prevail as a mutual pal/peacemaker ex-graf artist Madman Mike gets the four taggers (who my Silk source calls "guys in their 30s who wanna hang onto their 'egos' by acting like 7-year-olds") to make reparations or face Sgt. Delassandro of the Anti-Graffitti Department.

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)