Issue Browser :: 2009-08-27 :: Philadelphia Events, Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs

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ISSUE . August 27th, 2009

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Cover Story

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Too Cool for Shul

Rabbi/band leader Menachem Schmidt has seen Philly's Lubavitch community grow to new heights. But is its progressive orthodoxy too good to be true?

by Andrew Thompson

To enter the world of Chabad-Lubavitch in Philadelphia is to enter a world of paradox, where orthodoxy holds hands with progressivism, traditionalism with liberalism, rock music with Hebrew hymns. No one embodies this more, or has done more to make the paradox more paradoxical, than Rabbi Schmidt.

Opinion

Editor's Letter:

Storm Brewing

These rain barrels sound fascinating. Tell me more!

by Brian Howard

They're essentially big containers that you connect to a home's downspout for collecting rainwater. That water can then be used to irrigate gardens, window boxes, street trees or lawns. The idea is to reduce the burden on the city's sewer system during what water people like to call "rain events."

Feedback:

Letters to the Editor

What You Say

"I read your article in support of Michael Vick and all I have to say is ... boo hoo hoo."

Loose Canon:

Hot Roofs, Cool Jobs

"This isn't right," thinks Natasha, as the joists accept more and more insulation.

by Bruce Schimmel

For Natasha, blue blizzards and other odd occurrences are not uncommon. She works for the Energy Coordinating Agency, a nonprofit that's been doing thermal makeovers on challenging homes for 25 years.

News

The Health Hazard Next Door

My neighbor's house, infested and garbage-filled, has been condemned. But nobody will do anything about it.

by John Davidson

After a short pause, I said: "Well, I think I smell a dead body over there." I thought I heard the operator sigh. "All right, we'll send a unit over."

A Million Stories

A memorial for "Our Unknown Neighbor" | Christine Flowers, Obama defender? | A karaoke singer who can actually sing

Sports:

It's the Bullpen, Stupid

by E. James Beale

If Cliff Lee keeps pitching like a souped-up Henry Rowengartner, maybe Lidge and Co. won't even be able to get on the field come playoff time. But that doesn't mean the bullpen's return to form wouldn't help. A lot.

Icepack

Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.

by A.D. Amorosi

OK: Who doesn't love seeing peeps you've avoided since 1986?

The Bell Curve

City Paper's Quality-o-Life-o-Meter

When news breaks in Philadelphia, we make jokes.

Arts

Art:

Get a Room

At the Art Hotel, residents earn their keep with their work, not their wallets.

by Holly Otterbein

The Art Hotel's guests carry out their free, two-week artist residencies in a quite unusual way: Rather than live in a separate building, or at least in separate rooms than the founders, they set up camp in the very townhouse we're chatting in.

Full Exposure:

Digi Snaps

John Vettese sees what develops

by John Vettese

When Sarah Stolfa drew up a call for work to show at the opening of her new photography space, she included only one, very deliberate criterion: The artists had to be from Philadelphia.

Kaleidoscope

Patton Oswalt | Saudia Arabia, Levee Drivers, The Beekeepers | Monk | Zoe Strauss

Movies

Taking Woodstock

City Paper Grade: C+

by Cindy Fuchs

Ang Lee's movie revisits the familiar Summer of Love fiction without much in the way of complication or investigation.

The Crying Clown

Patton Oswalt talks fandom, Philly and drama.

by Molly Eichel

"People literally treat movies like they're their teams. They treat filmmakers like they know them — 'Oh, I think he's really going to pull it out this time.' They get into the lives of their heroes."

Discworld

by Sam Adams

Play Time | Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles | Dollhouse | Battlestar Galactica | more ...

Repertory Film

Your weekly guide to local film events, festivals and under-the-radar screenings.

Send repertory film listings to molly.eichel@citypaper.net.

Music

No Satisfaction

Pissed Jeans just want to live. Won't you let them live?

by John Vettese

"People are going to hear what they want to hear." Care to elaborate? No? Damn.

Aid or Invade:

VNV Nation!

There's a little thing called an "Oxford comma," fellas.

by Rodney Anonymous

If you're already a fan of VNV Nation, then Of Faith, Power and Glory provides everything you'd expect from one of their CDs: wonderful buzzy bass lines, swooshing synths, and pleasantly pounding percussion.

Music Picks:

Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 4-6, Salem County Fairgrounds, Woodstown, N.J., 302-635-3001, delawarevalleybluegrass.org.

by Mary Armstrong

The acts at the DVBF with the most recognizable names have had hits on the country stations, but rest assured you won't hear anything that leaves you wondering if the format flipped to soft rock.

John Flynn

Sat., Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m., $15, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0770, tinangel.com.

by Mary Armstrong

Flynn will be raising funds for post-traumatic stress disorder at the launch of America's Waiting.

An American Chinese

Fri., Aug. 28, 9 p.m., $10, with Savoir Adore, The Armchairs and Grandchildren, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

by John Vettese

On their Panic Pilgrim EP, local faves An American Chinese were largely in a nomadic folksy storytelling mood (best exemplified by the subdued bounce of "Blaine Wiggins, Failed Magician").

Oh! Pears

Fri., Aug. 28, 9:30 p.m., $5, Sparta Philharmonic, Onward Revival and Touch & Taste, Tritone, 1508 South St., 2155450475, tritonebar.com.

by John Vettese

If ProTools is afflicting musicians with laziness, Corey Duncan has avoided the epidemic.

Lemonade

Fri., Aug. 28, 8 p.m., $5, with Cale Parks, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

San Francisco's Lemonade are true 21st-century maximalists, snatching up nearly every hip stylistic strain of the late-'00s.

Food

The Sweet Science

We know ice cream can be savory ... but can it be hot?

by A.D. Amorosi

"Feta ice cream was not one of our better ideas."

Not So Smokin'

Smokin' Betty's

by Trey Popp

Unfortunately, the problem with a shotgun-spray approach to food is that even if a few pellets hit the bull's-eye, a lot more are bound to miss the target altogether.

What's Cooking

Get Out!

by Lauren Fleming

Top Chef Wednesdays at 10 Arts | Philly-4-NOLA Shrimp Boil | Concert and Dinner at Shofuso | Chef John Blanchet at Foster's | Sake Sunday at World Café Live

Feeding Frenzy

Restaurants opening, closing and pending

by Drew Lazor

Agenda

Agenda Lead:

Hack No

A new DIY venue strives to set itself apart from the crowd.

by Holly Otterbein

Hive76 is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for top-level members, boasts a paying membership of about 10 people, and even holds workshops for outsiders — but only once a month, of course.

Last Chance

Catch It or Regret It

by Holly Otterbein

Philadelphia and Its Manufactures: 1859 & 2009 | Frenz | Pennsylvania Sizzler

Agenda Picks:

Words In Your Face

Sat., Aug. 29, 7 p.m., $5-$500, Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Ave., 215- 387-3434, studio34yoga.com.

by Carlene Majorino

To raise funds for this completely DIY project, Troeder's holding a fundraiser complete with bands, a DJ and spoken word.

Unfolding Identities: Chapters Of Self

Sat., Aug. 29, 3:30-5:30 p.m., A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Ave., 215-727-0882, the-aspace.org; 8-10 p.m., Yoga Sutra, 1401 Walnut St., 215-640-0909, yogasutraphilly.com.

by Kristen Humbert

To interact with books, many of us scribble in their margins — but stop there. This summer, more than 20 local trans people went a step further — by painting, drawing and reworking what they read for this one-day exhibit.

Trickadelphia

Fri., Aug. 28, noon-4 p.m. and 7-11 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 29, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 7-11 p.m.; Aug. 30, noon-4 p.m.

by Brion Shreffler

These sessions include a number of trick showcases — and there isn't a flexibility requirement for spectating.

Michael Jackson Birthday Celebration

Fri., Aug. 28, 8:30 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 29, 1 p.m.; $20 each, Society Hill Dance Academy, 409 S. Second St., 215-574-3574, societyhilldance.com.

by Lauren Fleming

We've been mourning the King of Pop long enough.

Comic Energy's 10th Anniversary

Thu., Sept. 3, 9 p.m., $10-$12, Rembrandt's, 741 N. 23rd St., 215-274-5491, comicenergy.com.

by Kristen Humbert

Ten years later, Comic Energy is one in the city's sea of sketch groups.