It's nice, if maybe naïve, to think that if everyone could just sit down and nosh together — if they could just agree on one thing, say, that this foie gras kabob is worth dying for, maybe they'd realize that other things aren't.

The ultimate nightmare for the party would be for Clinton to lead in the popular vote and Obama to lead in delegates going into the convention — this would throw the election to the superdelegates and leave one side's supporters tremendously bitter at precisely the moment the party needs to unify.

The Friends Center's $13.5 million initiative to free itself from fossil fuels is Philly's first big geothermal installation.

"I am glad there is finally a writer in the Philadelphia area who can use common sense and logic when writing about guns."

After all the hullaballoo in the Keystone proved anti-climactic, one has to wonder: Will there be an official nominee before the Democratic National Convention?

"If I were Angelo Lutz," one organized crime investigator tells Underworld, "I'd be looking to change climates as soon as possible."

This mix of ferocious fear and raging illness forged the tender spots within Sendak's writing and illustration. They create layers of color, texture and meaning, of which Sendak himself seems to find mysterious still.

George MacDonald Fraser, from his dark-and-stormy-night opening (yes, really), works hard to deliver pure, primary-color pleasure.

Line plays well, though the premise may sound collegiately naïve today — or maybe that's just me, recalling how I fell for Horovitz's gritty mixture of sex, violence and comedy as a freshman many moons ago.

All the characters are undressed, gunshot, drugged, drunk and (still) horny in Joe Orton's perfectly silly finale, which mixes Shakespearean recognition with the recovery of a piece of Winston Churchill's statue — and no, it's not his cigar.

"This is going to be the greatest thing you've ever seen."

"As soon as we decided to do this we said, 'There needs to be a pillow fort, and it needs to be as big as possible.'"

What catapults the opera to immortality is the astonishing deftness of Verdi's dramatic sensibility, matched only by Mozart in the genre.

Tue-Wed., May 6-7, 7:30 p.m., $20, Founder's Hall, Girard College, 2101 S. College Ave., 215-805-4302, peregrinearts.org

Opening reception Sun., May 4, 4-6 p.m., exhibit runs through May 30, Da Vinci Art Alliance, 704 Catharine St., trans-gression.org

Electronic devices? No-brainer. Turn 'em off, and not just to vibrate. Flash photos? You've got to be kidding. Coughing? Come on, get it out of your system.

Converge defies the expected trajectory: Although they've been around for nearly 15 years, they're apparently still getting better.

William Parker and Amiri Baraka have reconceived Curtis Mayfield's civil rights-themed songs as expansive jazz numbers and penned new pieces inspired by the artist's work and message.

Guess why Mahler's Eighth Symphony is called "Symphony of a Thousand"?

1 The Garbage Plate | 2 Bacon Stack | 3 Kitchen Sink Frittata | 4 Beef Bourguignonne Crêpe | 5 Mushroom Trio

Wined Through History II: Museum Scavenger Hunt | Morton's 4-Course Sam Adams Beer Dinner | Peddler's Village Strawberry Festival | Longwood Gardens Wine & Jazz Festival | Headhouse Farmers Market

"It's just like the argument regarding gay marriage. It'll happen, kid. We got it in Europe. It'll get there. That's the way society rustles."

Thu., May 1, 6-8 p.m., $10-$25, School of the Future, 4021 Parkside Ave., friendsofgaviotas.org

Sat., May 3, 12:30-1:45 p.m., free, Arcadia Skybox, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., 215-732-3378, equalityforum.org/2008

Thu., May 1, 8 p.m.; Fri., May 2, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Sat., May 3, 7, 9:15 and 11:30 p.m.; $27.50-$32.50, Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., 215-496-9001, heliumcomedy.com

$28-$85 at naomiclearyceramics.etsy.com

Sat., May 3, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (convention), 8 p.m.-mid. (costume party); Sun., May 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; $25-$60, Sheraton Great Valley Hotel, 707 E. Lancaster Ave., 610-524-5500, easternhauntersconvention.com