Issue Browser :: 2010-05-06 :: Philadelphia Events, Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs

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ISSUE . May 6th, 2010

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The Ultimate Ass-Kicking

We sent E. James Beale to fight in a mixed martial arts gym; then we made him write about it (once he came to).

by E. James Beale

If losing consciousness is your nervous system dipping into the Caribbean, gaining it back is an Eskimo dive in the Arctic. This happened to me twice. And afterward, groups of lawyers, doctors, blue-collar workers and college students had a laugh at my expense, and opened up about all of the times they, too, had been choked out, all in the service of Philadelphia's newest hobby.

Jeff Cressman

Pharmacy Technician Team Leader/Pro Fighter, 28

Six years ago, Jeff Cressman was a pot-smoking, beer-drinking, 200-pound former band member with an arthritic knee. Today? He fights professionally at 135 pounds. That

Matt Nice

Construction Company Owner/Pro Fighter , 26

As a star wrestler and protective older brother, Matt Nice found himself in plenty of fights growing up in Warminster — sanctioned and otherwise. They

Mitch Kerr

Hedge Fund Manager, 31

Hedge Fund Managerm, 31 If you're looking for an anecdote to explain how the new face of MMA differs from the stereotype, consider this: Mitch

Michael Ogbuehi

High School Senior, 17

To keep his classes loose, Jared Weiner teases nearly every student at BJJU. Most are easy targets: I'm a writer, Matt Nice is fond of

Andria Caplan

Wife/Mother/Cage Fighter, 32

On a recent Wednesday, one of the six days per week that Andria Caplan trains, her 10-year-old son, John, accompanied her to the gym. John,

Lionel Borreli

Systems Support Technician, 31

When Lionel Borreli — with biceps that take two large hands to fully encircle hanging off a frame that looks far too jacked to ever

Opinion

Editor's Letter:

DROP and Roll

Taming the DROP monster.

by Brian Howard

We believed in the piece, which posits that DROP does not do what it was meant to do, costs taxpayers a bundle and imperils the city's pension fund. With the aid of a dead-on cover illustration and charts and graphs, we tamed the monster. And inspired other media to get into the ring with DROP, too.

Feedback:

Letters to the Editor

What You Say

"Your column stunk."

Loose Canon:

Vanishing Gardens

Those potting shacks are now illegal.

by Bruce Schimmel

Located at the north end of a runway, near I-95 on Bartram Avenue, its patchwork of browns and greens, dotted with ramshackle sheds, might be mistaken for a squatter's village. Like a blot to be erased — which is apparently the Nutter administration's intention.

News

Jack Wagner's Big Idea

Become governor, overhaul Harrisburg.

by Andrew Thompson

Jack Wagner is broke. No, not broke. "Broke" implies that there was something once not broken, that at one point the treasure chest spilled finance onto the ground and that now, after millions spent on television ad blitzes and full-page Inquirer ads, the chest is empty. Jack Wagner just doesn't have any money. Never did, really.

A Million Stories

All the news we care to print.

by Jeffrey C. Billman and Holly Otterbein

We'll drink/text to that.

Man Overboard!:

Ting Wong, Anyone?

It's a good week for some Chinese food — a bad week, that is, for Philadelphia.

by Isaiah Thompson

Two men opened fire at each other in North Philadelphia, critically injuring a 6-month-old baby. Two hours later, a 28-year-old man was shot in the chest in North Philly, and pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. — approximately 45 minutes before another shooting in Southwest Philly that killed a 29-year-old man and a injured a young woman.

"I'm Not Going to Deal With That"

Verna and Nutter respond (sort of) to our DROP investigation.

by Ralph Cipriano

Getting rid of DROP won't be easy. "The mayor's office is pretty powerful, but I don't get a magic wand to just do away with things," Nutter said. "DROP is a bill, it's a law. It would have to be removed through the legislative process if we decide to go in that direction. So I can't eliminate it by myself even if I wanted to."

The Bell Curve

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

When news breaks in Philadelphia, we make jokes.

Arts

First Friday Focus

Carolyn Huckabay's First Friday Hit List

by Carolyn Huckabay

Dalet Gallery | B Square Gallery | Lakshmi Hair Studio | Lisa M. Reisman et Cie | Little Berlin

Arts Picks:

Folklore

Starts Wednesday, May 12, The Bean Cafe on 615 South St., 215.629.2250, beancafephilly.com.

by John Vettese

Perhaps you, too, have wondered what this planet will look like when we're all fossils. Jimmy Hughes is in the same boat.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)

Through June 27, $30, Independence Studio on 3, Walnut Street Theatre, 829 Walnut St., 215-574-3550, walnutstreettheatre.org.

by Mark Cofta

While Fiddler on the Roof plays on the main stage, Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart's The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) romps on the third floor, a good-natured spoof of musical styles in five scenes.

Kaleidoscope

Washed Out's Life of Leisure | Gravedigger | Hezekiah Jones and Family Sings Greatest Will Oldham Music | Daria: The Complete Animated Series

Shelf Life:

Universal Pictures

Under the Covers with Justin Bauer

by Justin Bauer

Sonya Chung's Long for This World | Emily St. John Mandel's The Singer's Gun

Arts Picks:

Commercial America

Through June 12, free, Slought Foundation, 4017 Walnut St., 215-701-4627, slought.org.

by Shaun Brady

Museums are the places where a culture's detritus goes to find its final resting place and valuation, but what happens when the museums crumble away? The meta-archivists at Slought are tackling that question with "Commercial America."

Braving the New World

Fri.-Sat., May 7-8, 8 p.m., $25, Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., 215-985-0420, rebeccadavisdance.com.

by Deni Kasrel

Rebecca Davis has carved a special niche for herself by staging dance works inspired by literary classics, famous people and world history.

Dead Reckoning

Opening reception Fri., May 7, 6-10 p.m., free, through May 30, Bambi Gallery, 1001 N. Second St., 267-319-1374, bambiproject.com.

by Julia West

"Dead Reckoning" at Bambi Gallery will be a culmination of five years' worth of sketchbook drawings, applied to wood panels and painted across walls.

Movies

Iron Man 2

City Paper Grade: B

by Drew Lazor

In Iron Man Land, with Stark’s shadow looming over the stars and bars like a heavily armed beach umbrella, we don’t agonize over North Korea stockpiling warheads or Muslim extremists cultivating splinter cells — why should we, when the dude with the suit eats his Wheaties, just like us?

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

The Great Unsteady

Heaven Is Whenever is The Hold Steady's most musically varied record yet.

by Patrick Rapa

Among its 10 tracks are extended ballads, Southern-tinged arena rockers and strange studio anomalies. Not every gamble pays off.

Album Reviews

Julia Nunes' I Think You Know | TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb's Idiots | John Ellis & Double-Wide's Puppet Mischief

Music Picks:

Phosphorescent

Wed., May 12, 9 p.m., $10-$13, with The Quelle Source, Blockley Pourhouse, 3801 Chestnut St., 215-222-1234, theblockley.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

Here's to Taking It Easy should be an homage to the Eagles, and that's roughly how it plays, with a newly full-fledged band injecting some welcome sunshine and a rangy Neil Young looseness.

Reconsider Me:

Eat Me

Natalie Merchant's Leave Your Sleep

by M.J. Fine

After taking off to have a daughter six years ago, Merchant's back with Leave Your Sleep, a two-disc set of songs inspired by 18th- and 19th-century poems for children. It's stunning, both in its musical scope and its depth of research, with the singer's notes filling a beautifully packaged book.

Music Picks:

Caribou

Sun., May 9, 7:30 p.m., $13, with Toro Y Moi, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 877-435-9849, r5productions.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

If Dan Snaith's 2007 album Andorra could be summed up by the title of its stunning tone-setter, "Melody Day," his new one is more like Rhythm Night.

Karl Berger

Sun., May 9, 8 p.m., $12, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, arsnovaworkshop.org.

by Shaun Brady

German pianist/vibraphonist Karl Berger performed alongside many of the greats in improvised music, including Don Cherry, whose music he revisits with an all-star septet Sunday at I-House.

Shelby Lynne

Sun., May 9, 7:30 p.m., $31-$44, with Findlay Brown, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

by M.J. Fine

Shelby Lynne's calling all the shots.

One Track Mind:

It's A King Thing

"Wine and Ponies"

by John Vettese

At its best, King Thing ascends to absurd levels of Fountains of Wayne-style catchiness.

Music Picks:

Bobby Zankel/Rudresh Mahanthappa

Bobby Zankel and Warriors of the Wonderful Sound featuring Rudresh Mahanthappa, Sat., May 8, 8 p.m., $25, Science Center Theater, Montgomery County Community College, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, 215-641-6518, mc3.edu.

by Shaun Brady

Bobby Zankel's avant-big band, Warriors of the Wonderful Sound, have been wrestling their way through the dense foliage of the saxophonist's compositions for almost a decade now, overspilling the tiny stage at Tritone once a month.

Sub Swara

Thu., May 6, 9 p.m., $15, with EOTO and Ryat, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

It was only a matter of time before dubstep got its very own Asian Dub Foundation.

Hair Rocket

Thu., May 6, 9 p.m., $8, with the Danvilles, Nikki and the Weeps and Solved with Science, Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888, thekhyber.com.

by John Vettese

Last week Xiu Xiu made a call for fans to donate locks of hair, which his band would then burn and inhale for whatever ungodly reason. This sent Chris Blasucci into a furor; his one-man-production Hair Rocket has been doing this for the better part of two years.

Food

Trader Jose

Philly's Iron Chef opens yet more territory with Garces Trading Co.

by Trey Popp

If the Senate really does intend to kick off another round of foaming at the mouth over immigration reform, wouldn't it be beautiful if Garces Trading Co. catered the floor debate?

Of Slice and Men

The story behind Philly's first pizza-centric art show.

by Drew Lazor

"We're spending our own money from our own bank accounts to have a pizza party," says Dwyer, "because it needs to happen."

Feeding Frenzy

Restaurants opening, closing and pending

by Drew Lazor

Kraftwork | Cooperage | Renaissance Sausage

What's Cooking

Get Out!

by Alexandra Harcharek

One Night in Morocco at Zahav | Don't Block the Bocks at Johnny Brenda's | Spinal Tapas/Green Aisle Groery Dinner at Philly Kitchen Share | First Thursday Firkin Tapping at Devil's Den | Mother's Day at Cuba Libre

Agenda

Agenda Lead:

Hoochie Coochie Slam

Wrestling. Burlesque. Midgets. Lucha VaVOOM has it all.

by Kristen Humbert

Transforming expectations is the nature of Lucha VaVOOM. With a handful of 15-minute lucha libre-style masked matches, complemented by burlesque and narrated by a rotation of fringe comedians, VaVOOM fills a campy niche all its own.

Agenda Picks:

Spilling your Guts at First Person Arts

Tue., May 11, 7:30 p.m., $10, Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St., 267-402-2055, firstpersonarts.org.

by Alexandra Harcharek

Breakups, hookups, questionable decisions, public mistakes: Nothing is off-limits in this world of digital oversharing.

Slaying Goliath & Camden High

Tue., May 11, 7 p.m., $10, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 866-468-7619, scribe.org.

by Sam Kaplan

The latest in Scribe Video Center's series of Producers' Forums presents two documentaries on education, race and basketball.

Party for the Park

Thu., May 13, 5:30-8 p.m., $60-$75, Wilson Student Center, University of the Sciences, 714-734 S. 42nd St., 215-596-8800, clarkpark.info.

by Mandy Bee

Clark Park is one of Philly's largest and most colorful community parks. To keep it this way, Friends of the Park and the University City District are celebrating with Party for the Park.

Icepack

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

by A.D. Amorosi

We love independent promoters here at Icepack. They're furry, cute and make squiggly noises. Wait. Might be thinking of Tribbles. OK. We still dig Philly's

Peer to Peer:

Philadelphia Science Fiction Society: Andy Duncan

Brian James Kirk Geeks Out

by Brian James Kirk

This month, short-fiction writer Andy Duncan — whose work has been nominated for a Hugo, the sci-fi equivalent of the Pulitzer, and has appeared in such venerable publications as Asimov's Science Fiction — will discuss his stories with members.

Agenda Picks:

Sylvia Earle

Mon., May 10, 7 p.m., free (reservations required), Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 215-299-1043, ansp.org.

by Sam Kaplan

Earle will screen a short film and discuss her book The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One, which examines humanity's role in oceanic changes.

William Bartram's Letters

Sun., May 9, 2:30 p.m., free, Bartram's Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., 215-729-5281, bartramsgarden.org.

by Brian Howard

While colonial botanist John Bartram gets tons of props (and rightly so), his son, Billy, was a botanical heavyweight in his own right.

Paddling Instruction Fair

Sat., May 8, 1 p.m., free, Philadelphia Canoe Club, 4900 Ridge Ave., 215-487-9674, philacanoe.org.

by Tom Tiballi

Up in Fairmount Park resides a club of canoeing Philadelphians who seldom-to-never get caught up shit creek without a paddle.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Live

Sat., May 8, 8 p.m., $24, Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-336-2000, thetroc.com.

by Julia West

As if Aqua Teen Hunger Force couldn't get any weirder, the Adult Swim 'toon has stepped through the TV and made it to 3-D.

Birdemic: Shock and Terror

Sat., May 8, 11:59 p.m., $9, Ritz East, 125 S. Second St., 215-925-2501, birdemic.com.

by Molly Eichel

The trailer shows actors who make Taylor Lautner look like John-God-damn-Gielgud and the best CGI birds a $10,000 budget can buy.

Studio 320 Launch Party

Thu., May 6, 6-9 p.m., free, MODA Botanica, 339 S. 13th St., 215-906-0275, modabotanica.com.

by Felicia D'Ambrosio

Gretchen McHale takes inspiration for her jewelry from nature and fashion, adding chains, metals, fibers, seashells and other found objects to her pearl and gemstone pieces.

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