Today, thanks in no small part to the work of the Spring Garden Community Development Corp., Roberto Clemente Park is in considerably better shape. Justino Navarro is one of the citizens who helped turn a problem lot into the award-winning Spring Gardens. He's been instrumental in a new wave of activism in the area that may see Clemente Park lose its eyesore status.

Obama appears willing to throw money at alternative energy without questioning the fundamental paradigm that governs American social order. He believes we will find a new technology to enable what the critic James Howard Kunstler calls our "happy motoring utopia" — the organization of American society around highways, suburbs, strip malls and gas stations.

At Philadelphia Forward, Brett Mandel garnered a wide base of supporters (including me). And armed now with a mailing list of some 30,000, Mandel says he's on track to raise $100,000 to knock off incumbent Alan Butkovitz, who has a war chest of some $170,000.

"This is the kind of forward thinking Philly needs to have to enable it to grow toward its full potential and become a truly green city."

Philly loves to call us folks from New Jersey names. Still, one thing you can't call us is naïve: Here in Jersey, we're taxed by everyone from the state government to our local fire district commissioners, and if we know anything, it's that elected officials may come and go, but their tax increases are here to stay.

Midway through last season, around the same time Dante Cunningham was showing flashes of excellence, he and close friend/childhood neighbor Dwayne Anderson worked their way onto the same starting lineup for the first time since high school. It was around then that the Wildcats turned their season around.

May Berenbaum, one of the country's foremost experts on pollinator decline and a Levittown native, will deliver this year's Westbrook Lecture at North Philly's Wagner Free Institute of Science.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art's "Cézanne and Beyond," is a bargain to organize, compared to most PMA shows. After all, nearly everything in it is owned by the museum. But, like my old pal Louis, the PMA never does anything halfway. Despite the admission fee, "Cézanne and Beyond" is a gift.

Jay Bolotin made an hourlong film completely out of woodcuts, a medium usually reserved for printmaking. The film took him six years to finish. So I popped the question, even if it's an artsy faux pas. "Even a word, when cut into wood, seems to have an achieved education," Bolotin says. "A right to exist."

If you'd rather spiff up your place with a desk, lamp or table that doubles as a work of art, head to the Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show, where unique items are created by top craftsmen — everything from the funky Stickley-esque creations of Paul Hardy, to Jason Green's curvy, contemporary pieces.

Who knew that Dave Hause could pull off a strummier Strummer? While the Philly punk stalwart and his band The Loved Ones work on the follow-up to last year's terrific Build and Burn, they filled the gap with Distractions (Fat Wreck), an EP of new cuts and acoustic covers that dropped last month.

They may be bunch of card-carrying intellectuals (formed at the University of Michigan; new album title's an Italo Calvino reference;most of the members have master's degrees) playing African-inspired music — but NOMO ain't no Vampire Weekend.

It's admirable that The Bad Plus wants to shake up the formula a bit. Since its 2003 breakthrough, These Are the Vistas, the band has largely been running in place with snarky pop covers and blustery originals that reimagined the piano trio as arena rock band.

The first performance of Lung-Ta was standing room only, and there was a 20-minute wait to get into the Tempesta/Singers event. Wozzeck packed the Perelman with raucously enthusiastic crowds. A lesson; you do not have to play it safe to sell tickets.

Slow Food Dinner at Geechee Girl Rice Café | Casa de la Ermita Wine Dinner at Bar Ferdinand | Gourmet Women & Wine | Festigiammo in Italiano at Reading Terminal Market

Dougherty's work has an unbelievable range, given that his medium — local saplings — remains unchanged. In the Scottish Highlands, Dougherty crafted a hut-like structure whose graceful slopes echoed the forested hills surrounding it. His work for the Savannah College of Art could not be more different. There, he plastered a geometric print over the building's entrance, creating a contrast between the building and the natural brown hues of the saplings.

Geeks Who Give Game Night | Thu., April 2, 6-9 p.m., free with a flash drive or school supplies, Tattooed Mom, 530 South St., 215-238-9880, geekswhogive.org

Tue., March 31, 7:30 p.m. ,free, Free Library, Central Branch, 1901 Vine St., 215-567-4341, freelibrary.org

Chikara Wrestling Matches | Fri-Sat., March 27-28, 7:30 p.m., and Sun, March 29, 4 p.m., $15 per show; fan conclave 2:30 p.m. Sat., March 28, $6; New Alhambra Arena, 7 W. Ritner St., 267-687-7560, chikarapro.com

Sat., March 28, exhibit 10 a.m.-4 p.m., free, Fifth and Arch sts.; public forum 6:30-8 p.m., free, Slought Foundation, 4017 Walnut St., 215-701-4627, slought.org

Sat., March 28, 10 a.m., free (reservations required), Spool, 1912 South St., 215-545-0755, spoolsewing.com