BiG TeA PaRtY 10th Anniversary Party

Sat., Dec. 8, 7 p.m., $3 donation, $5 raffle tickets, Molly's Bookstore, 1010 S. Ninth St., 215-551-1945, bigteaparty.com.

by A.D. Amorosi

celebration

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Ten years ago, Elizabeth Fiend began writing and hosting cartoonish videos on DUTV, Drexel's cable station, with editor Valerie Keller and camerawoman Gretjen Clausing as her partners. The collective, known as BiG TeA PaRtY, promoted healthy and zestful cooking. But anarchy and truth dominated their giddy spots and everything this trio's done since: documentaries big and small on Philly skateboarders at Love Park and the protesters of Philly's Republican National Convention; tutorials on environmentally friendly lifestyles. "Before Reality TV, before YouTube, BiG TeA PaRtY was doing it — and doing it better," says Fiend. "We were trend-setters from the very beginning, starting way before anyone else with the three-minute video format, then progressing to edge-u-cational videos for the classroom." BTP is still way ahead of the curve because their videos always have something relevant to say. You can watch them all on their community activist blog/vid site bigteaparty.com — and, of course, at Molly's, when they host an actual PaRtY to celebrate the big 1-0.

Sat., Dec. 8, 7 p.m., $3 donation, $5 raffle tickets, Molly's Bookstore, 1010 S. Ninth St., 215-551-1945, bigteaparty.com.