Because you're all busy wondering a) if there are any Democrats who pay taxes, b) if AIG ever actually made money, and c) if Roland Burris is blessed with zero self-awareness, you may have overlooked some important things afoot in Philly town.

In everyday life, Jim Bear sounds like the IT guy that he is. Dry, a little nasal, precise. But put the dark-haired 35-year-old in front of an open mic, and his voice becomes a lighter shade of Barry White.

"You want to bash the Mets and their new field and everything else about them, go ahead. But being from Philly, before you comment on other teams choking, you might want to look in your own backyard."

Brian Dawkins has transcended the "sports as business" meme in which the Eagles have shrouded themselves. Dawkins cared about the city and embraced the community. He cared about his job, too, playing every down harder than the next guy, and was never the guy happily exchanging hugs with his opponent after a loss.

Mark Alan Hughes' office is getting things done — creating green jobs, fostering the local green economy and working to produce a "Philadelphia sustainable framework," a plan, he says, which will be released on Earth Day, and save the city tens of millions of dollars in energy costs.

Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada | The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell

The music business tried to kill Throwing Muses, but Throwing Muses refuses to die.

To simply call Marnie Stern a "guitar whiz," as she has been many times, is nearly criminal.

The Low Anthem ultimately leans more toward sincerity, which makes for a palatable onstage blend. But I still wouldn't want to share a boxcar with them.

The Khyber | Bridgid's | Moriarty's | Station Bar & Grill | Atlantis: The Lost Bar

Devil's Den Bell's for Boobs | South Philly Bus Tour | Memphis Taproom No Repeat Beer Week | Le Bar Lyonnais Flight of Beers | The Fifth Annual Brewer's Plate

"I'm an advanced drinker. I drink responsibly. I don't yell or slur or fall down in public."

For most, these are just bittersweet reminders of a time when far-flung corners of the city thrived right alongside its teeming center. But artist Matt Haffner sees something more.

If you can't say it in 6 minutes and 40 seconds, don't say it at all.

Nothing is more satisfying than turning a giveaway T-shirt into a piece of conversation-starting clothing, especially when you can play fashion designer with just a pair of scissors and a piece of chalk.

To have a sustainable career, Martin Atkins advises musicians to treat their band like a small business. His seminar provides several marketing, promotion and transportation strategies that will keep your band from missing its credit card payments.

In the poem "We are the Women," Queen Sheba first likens females to riots and the lower class, only to then say that woman is "that blue thing on X-Men that changes to whatever the fuck she wants to."