When Koehler, a longtime contributing photographer for City Paper, told us he was heading back down to the Gulf, we were intrigued.

Precise word choice matters, especially in the news biz.

"Cats couldn't begin to do half the harm that the media has already done."

The mayor wants people to see the threat of newly reduced hours at their beloved libraries, grind their teeth, clench their fists and think, "That Council." But I don't think that's how they'll see it at all.

"We are humanity. We are here." That's the simple message NASA shot into space in 1972, with the hopes of communicating with intelligent life. Thirty-eight years later, brand-new theater company Swim Pony Performing Arts wonders what might happen if we finally received a response. "

Jerry is a pedophile, that much we know; but can his family find a way to love him anyway?

Václav Havel forces the issue with blatant allusions to Shakespeare's King Lear, Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and Beckett's Endgame in his first post-Czech presidency play, Leaving, receiving its American première at the Wilma Theater.

August Wilson's greatest works are astonishing in their seamless blend of humble personal narrative and Shakespearean grandeur.

Steig Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest | Justin Cronin's The Passage | Julie Orringer's The Invisible Bridge

With no disrespect to the "special collector's edition" of the latest garish blockbuster, it seems safe to say there won't be a more important Blu-ray than Criterion's By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes One and Two.

This is our Bonnaroo, people. Our Lollapalooza, our Coachella, our Sasquatch. Except we've got our hometown heroes running the show.

That Stone Temple Pilots would return now, nine years after their last effort, is fitting.

Kevin Baldwin has two strengths: making the booming, brooding beats of '90s U.K. electronic music relevant in the '10s, and staying busy.

Tom Van Buskirk and George Langford hit upon one of those simple, elemental, elegantly circular melodies.

Fans of early PJ Harvey and Carla Bozulich, here's your new heroine.

Love Carole King but don't want to shell out the big bucks/sit in the nosebleed seats/snooze through James Taylor's songs when the pair plays later this month? Try Diane Birch, who captures the spirit of King on her debut, Bible Belt.

Vintage Beer Brunch at Memphis Taproom | Beer Week Dinner at Supper | Beer Week Dinner at Le Bec-Fin | Beer and Cheese Happy Hour at Di Bruno Bros. | Yards/Spinal Tapas Brawler Ale Dinner

For four days, 36 artists will set up shop — from Fairmount Water Works down to Schuylkill River Park on the east bank, and in Bartram's Gardens on the west — and create work outdoors.

After getting her shine an impressive five times on Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, Bassey Ikpi is now orchestrating her own solo show.

Expect to experience everything from noise bands to dance performances, like punky Reading Rainbow, hip-hop crew Chosen Dance Co. and the Unidos da Filadelfia Samba School.

The idea of the evil abode — the ultimate safe space that is anything but — has been around since some guy figured out that people will pay money to have the shit scared out of them.

After last year's inaugural run, Festivale! creator T. Desiree Hines discovered that maintaining an annual LGBTQ-themed arts fest isn't a cruise through the gay park.

Ten years ago, Loni Love enjoyed a normal life as an electrical engineer, performing standup on the side. But now that America's sister is flying high on the soul plane of success, it's making sense.