Kaleidoscope

The praises of Mad Men have been sung before. I could take this time to pontificate on the sharp writing, the complex characterizations, the spot-on production design and how simply debonair (and smoking hot) Jon Hamm is. But the truest sign of quality is that when I finished the first season on DVD, I found myself in utter despair. Other shows just couldn't live up. So, thank heavens the second-season DVD arrived on July 14, with the third season to air on AMC in August. It's just so ... swell.

—Molly Eichel

Loud, upbeat and catchy as hell, Armalite is the Philly band you can't get enough of. You just can't. Dan Yemin (Paint it Black), Mike McKee (Amateur Party), Jeff Ziga (Affirmative Action Jackson) and Atom Goren (Atom & His Package, CP contrib) are so busy with their fancy important lives that they've played fewer than 10 shows in their five years of existence. So this Sunday's gig at the Church (r5productions.com) is a rare treat. I heard Bigfoot is opening, but whatever. Dude's old news.

—Patrick Rapa

As a child, Brooklyn graffiti/pop artist Bobby Hill met Andy Warhol at a Michael Jackson concert — which sounds like one of those critic contrivances but is actually true. Hill's busy-but-stunning work melds political and pop iconography in a mishmash of screen printing, spray paint and paint paint. His artist reception at Ubiq this Thursday (July 16, 4-7:30 p.m., 1509 Walnut St.) is followed by an after-party at J.L. Sullivan's that'll feature the work of 23 local artists and a "surprise live paint session."

—Brian Howard

To a newbie like me, screen printing is magical. When I washed off my screen last week and saw an image rise to the surface, I felt like I'd just spotted a unicorn. Jeremy Lauder, who teaches my class at Kenzo art space Pterodactyl (pterodactylphiladelphia.org), agrees. "It's even more exciting when you do that in your bathroom," he says, "with only a lightbulb and a showerhead." The class runs every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. until the beginning of August — and trust me, it's much more fun than anything that goes on in a bathroom.

—Holly Otterbein