Icepack

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

by A.D. Amorosi

You say you don't know whether to be more shocked by the taxes that Philly's arts community must pay in the wake of HB 1828 or the white boy cop suspended for cornrows (don't look back, Jake, it's Olney). S'all right. Shock is good — keeps jaded jackweeds like me on my toes. I was shocked the Emmys entertained and that recent Philly visitor Neil Patrick Harris wore a white dinner tux so well. I was shocked to see the 18 Philadelphia International Film Fest got major flick-age (Law Abiding Citizen, Precious) to bookend its October bash. I was shocked to see Stephen Starr got his Lombard Street pizzeria Stella up 'n' lined with tchotchkes he found at a Paris flea market chop-chop. Mostly though I was shocked when Psydde Delicious told me his Fast Cheap & Out of Control party was celebrating 10 years this weekend. Who knew the corset-eer — busy having just opened his menswear shop at da Piazza — would even remember when he started Philly's naughtiest party? The industrial-strength Delicious with the dancing discophonic likes of Lil' Steph and Key by his side goes for a double Out-of-Control shot: a live-band soiree Sept. 25 at Patou with the hard synth-phonic Bruce Lucy and the gruuvy-garage sounds of (NO WAY) Three-4-Tens, and Fluid's fast cheap kerrang Sept. 27 co-starring Melissa Bang-Bang, Kiki Berlin and fashion shows by Crash Bang Boom and Passional. Pow.

► So Steven and Alex, the Brothers Vasiliadis (ex-Monkey Bar), finally confirm the new name of what their purchase of the old Bump'll be — q. Small q. "But big tastes with more of a mosaic in terms of its clientele," says Alex, meaning they hope that q (from Oct. 1 on) will appeal to gays and straights. That's the same thinking Dr. Noell Zayas and the Weiss bros have for Voyeur, their Pure-redux opening Sept. 25 — a mixed rather than strictly gay crowd. (Is the Gayborhood straightening up?) It's a '70s lounge with contemporary touches, an American-meets-world cuisine courtesy chef Wayne Whiteside, DJs Deep C and Chris Udoh (to start) and a secret garden.

► Another family outing: Dean Casmiri, son of the King of Bensalem Tony Casmiri, turns the Old Colonial Inn in Hulmeville, Pa., into Dean Casmiri's Colonial Inn with rock n' roll parties, bands and DJs.

► Looking to tie off a cravat or hike up a dressy skirt? I've got two events on Sept. 24 — one down the street from the other. For one, Boyds shows off its Designer Women's shop (third floor please), Men's Shoes (on one) and Boyds Stories autumn magazine with a big swanky soiree. For two, the Chestnut Club — everyone's fave wedding to-do venue at Arcadia Theater — opens wide its usually private doors to the public with a '40s dress-up ball. I'll be the guy with the monocle on top of the grand piano.

Les Dames d'Escoffier International is like the Bonnaroo-meets-CMJ-fest-meets-Winter-Olympics of the food world. So it's quelle magnifique that they announced they'll hold their annual conference in Philly Oct. 1-4 at the Sofitel, and will give the Grande Dame Award to Dame Shirley Corriher. I'll be speaking to Les Dames' main dame next week.

► WHOWHATWHERE: Everything was sunny until we spied Eagles dog mauler Michael Vick at Rouge the other day. Then we didn't feel so hot. Luckily our spies told me about Jerry Springer hitting Locust Rendezvous for lunch. And how Andre Iguodala was caught browsing at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show and inquiring about the meaning of a somewhat-abstract item (he didn't buy it). And how, for the first salon of her season, Andrea Clearfield's finest moment starred Trudy Pitts doing a solo piano classical-jazz version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" in tribute to Michael Jackson. Speaking of tributes, there's none better than what Laura Schwartz does for her sister Jessie. See, her sister passed away in 2003 as a result of congenital heart disease. Actually the full story is that Jessie had her first open heart surgery at age 10. Got her first transplant in 1994 and was able to live a life and go to Harcum College, where she graduated in 2000. After starting her studies in journalism at Temple U, Jessie got sick, fought acute and chronic heart transplant rejection and passed before spring. Since that time, Laura Schwartz has run "Jessie's Days" charity events where monies are raised for scholarship funds in Jess Schwartz's name. McFadden's at the Citizens Bank Park will host the event Sept. 26 with auctions and raffles of prizes like a guitar signed by the Jonas Brothers. Contact Schwartz at laura.schwartz@yahoo.com or Lori Ray at the Gift of Life Donor Program (lray@donors1.org) or go to donors1.org for more. If you take a look at my CP Choice entry on DJ Lee Jones, you'll notice that he's recently spun some weekend Sundaes in Los Angeles, as a partnership between Philly's Jonathan Makar's Snackbar and the locally based Urban Outfitters. What's going on in 90028 is that Space 125 Twenty, a swank tall mini-mall on North Cahuenga Boulevard, just brought Snackbar into its fold a few weeks back. By the way, lest you think Voyeur (the old Pure in the Gayborhood opening this weekend) was a big ol' straight enterprise, know that its Saturday opener, Sept. 26, is devoted to Gayborhood Games, and features Chumley & Carlota and a visit from Madonna's brah Christopher Ciccone. So there.

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)