"To be honest, when I first heard there was a house full of young Christians living in Kensington, I kind of assumed myself that they would be these naïve kids, preaching to drug users on the street about Jesus or something," says  Thompson. "As soon as I met Shane [Claiborne], I realized how wrong I was."

William Penn chose this fertile land between the rivers, hoping we could grow our own. In today's global economy, no place can leave the grid and go it alone.

"OK, I get it, you don't like beer. No one says you have to."

Everyone speaks of his smile. He always wore dress pants and a suit jacket, carried a briefcase and a clipboard on which he was constantly doodling numbers. He was a man chasing a dream, they say, landing work as an extra in most major motion pictures filmed here in recent years.

Offensively, going from Reggie Evans to Marreese Speights is like replacing your old rickshaw with a jet. Speights can score fluidly with both hands and his jump shot may be the best on the team. He gets good elevation, and has a high release point and excellent body control. He looks natural. He's comfortable out to about 18 feet now, and could push that beyond the arc in a couple years' time.

Looking at the issue from across the bridge, it's hard to make judgments about what taxes the city should raise or which services it should cut. Many choices — pools or parks, libraries or homeless shelters, trash removal or a successful tourism campaign — will hurt city residents, especially the most vulnerable ones, most acutely.

As horrible as the story is, Wozzeck becomes almost conversational in its ease. Its storyline, too, deals vividly with a simple concept: a poor working class struggling to get by. There's rampant poverty and unemployment, infidelity, dead mothers, orphaned babies, money and murder afoot throughout this chilling opera. That's a fanfare for the common man.

Embarking on its 50th year of doling out diplomas, UArts is celebrating with this presentation of art created by faculty, students and alumni.

"Challenging the Chåtelaine," composed of 78 chåtelaines made by 73 artists, is making a stop at the Art Alliance — the only U.S. venue on the roster. It's everything an international exhibition of contemporary jewelry ought to be: beautiful, original, surprising, sometimes funny, thoughtful, technically diverse and elegantly presented.

Lo Monthang, Nepal, must be heaven on Earth. Why else would nu-classical composer Andrea Clearfield go so far to get inspired?

On Years of Refusal, his ninth solo outing, his voice is remarkably strong — sometimes solid, sometimes fluttery, depending what the song calls for — and it's only enhanced by ruthless guitars, manic drums and the occasional mariachi trumpet.

Cellist Peter Wiley has killer bragging rights.

We are now at the 40-year anniversary of Edition of Contemporary Music, with well over 1,000 releases along the way, an inspirational landmark of a dedication to excellence and a faith in the marketplace to respond to such lofty values.

Mostly, the album parties like it was 1999, conjuring a 10-year time warp back to an age when the phrase "conscious hip-hop" didn't inspire such an instant gag reflex.

Songs like "True or False" and "Oklahoma" are iPod jingle-ready, but heart-rending all the same.

Corbin Evans and Joe Lakavage at Mémé | Pre-Hispanic Menu at Xochitl | Don Feinberg at Tria Fermentation School | NCAA Tournament/St. Patrick's Day Specials at Smiths

Authenticity may not be the first word that comes to mind when Shakespeare and zombies come together. The script's introduction sounds like a joke, but it's dead serious: "William Shakespeare's Land of the Dead is both a comedic homage to zombie films and a carefully researched drama about Shakespeare and his authorship."

Tue.-Wed., March 17-18, 6-9 p.m., $65 (single session)-$115 (both sessions), Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Ave., 215-387-3434, studio34yoga.com

Opening reception Wed., March 18, 6-8 p.m., free, exhibit runs through May 1, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org

Hot Wax Play with Sire Blue | Sat., March 14, 5 and 6:45 p.m., free, Passional, 704 S. Fifth St., 215-923-1398, passionaltoys.com

Fri, March 13, 9 p.m., free, National Mechanics, 22 S. Third St., 215-701-4883, oldecitysideshow.com

Thu., March 12, 7 p.m., free, Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St., 215-545-4302, philartalliance.org