The city's got more than enough worthwhile doers, planners and believers to keep this love train rolling ad infinitum.

"People think the only response to criminal behavior is to be tougher. But the reality is, if you're 'tough' on everything, you end up being tough on nothing."

The "Tainted Justice" series, 10 articles in all throughout 2009, prompted a still-ongoing joint FBI/internal affairs investigation and a slew of Philadelphia Police Department reforms regarding how cops handle their informants.

"Young girls don't always have the encouragement that they do what they want to do and be who they want to be."

Thank the Republicans, in a roundabout way, for West Philly native Beth Nixon's return 10 years ago.

The man we all call Uncle Cholly just led baseball's oldest team to more victories than anyone else in baseball.

When it comes to environmental stewardship, no one would mistake Philadelphia for Berkeley. But in one short year, the city has taken huge strides in the way it deals with its waste.

"It wasn't like any other print festivals. They're usually based in tradition- and craft-based practices, whereas this one really expanded the idea of what constitutes as print."

In the wake of the attacks, students, victim advocates and community leaders organized into a movement.

Steal, as did prior Argott doc Rock School, expands the national image of a city beyond airborne batteries and the Rocky run. Even better, the films do it without a trace of civic boosterism, the kind that makes the city seem even more undervalued than it is.

"You shouldn't have to use a gallon of gas to get a gallon of milk."

Last week, Mayor Michael Nutter signed a law that officially shuttered the Clerk of Quarter Sessions, an anachronistic office that, as you know by now, failed to collect $1 billion of the city's forfeited bail.

Now it's time for This Week in Harrisburg, our occasional rundown of the drool-on-your-shirt crazy, perpetually backward and possibly corrupt doings of the country's most populous full-time legislature!

When news breaks in Philadelphia, we make jokes.

Virgil Marti's reflective "Set Pieces" is a study in reconfiguration.

by Shaun Brady

Tue., Oct. 26, 7 p.m., free, LAVA Space, 4134 Lancaster Ave., 215-387-6155, lavazone.org.

Through Oct. 31, $15-$20, Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater, 2111 Sansom St., 215-733-0255, azukatheatre.org.

by Josh Middleton

Oct. 26-Nov. 7, $15-$20, Inis Nua Theatre at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-454-9776, inisnuatheatre.org.

by Mark Cofta

John Vettese sees what develops: Christina Molieri's "The Lower Nine"

by John Vettese

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes | The Best American Comics 2010 | Sufjan Stevens' "Impossible Soul" | Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

REVIEW: 1812 Productions' Why I'm Scared of Dance

by Mark Cofta

REVIEW: Brat Productions' Carrie

by David Anthony Fox

Oct. 21-Nov. 13, $10-$15, Curio Theatre Co., Calvary Center, 4740 Baltimore Ave., 215-525-1350, curiotheatre.org.

by Mark Cofta

Oct. 23-Jan. 2, $15, Hamilton Building, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 128 N. Broad St., 215-972-7600, pafa.org.

by A.D. Amorosi

Thu., Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 22, 8 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 23, 2 and 8 p.m.; $28-$48, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org.

by Janet Anderson

Fri.-Sat., Oct. 22-23, 8 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 24, 3 p.m.; $20, Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine St., 215-880-2306, sharpdance.org.

by Deni Kasrel

Sat., Oct. 23, 1 p.m., free, Paul Robeson House, 4949 Walnut St., 215-222-6979, spiralq.org.

by Eric Schuman

Clint Eastwood is no stranger to death — much of his career has been spent either doling it out or wrestling with its consequences. But Hereafter marks the first time the taciturn icon has peered beyond the inevitable.

Rodney Anonymous vs. The World

by Rodney Anonymous

Mon., Oct. 25, 8 p.m., $12, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.

by Patrick Rapa

Wed., Oct. 27, 8 p.m., $26.75, Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., 215-627-1332, electricfactory.info.

by K. Ross Hoffman

Sat., Oct. 23, 11:30 a.m., $7-$46, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1955, philorch.org.

by Peter Burwasser

Sun., Oct. 24, 7 p.m., $12, with Johnny Flynn, M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave., 215-739-5577, themanhattanroom.com.

by M.J. Fine

Fri., Oct. 22, 9 p.m., $15, Making Time with Surfer Blood, Voyeur, 1221 St. James St., 215-735-5772, igetrvng.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

Thu., Oct. 21, 10 p.m., $10, with Jamaica, Voyeur, 1221 St. James St., 215-735-5772, igetrvng.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

Thu., Oct. 21, 8 p.m., free, Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., arsnovaworkshop.org.

by A.D. Amorosi

The modest cook would never tell you this, but she is putting out some of the most distinctive home cooking in all of South Philly, where cultures and cuisines can't help but back into each other, tapping bumpers more often than the vehicles attending the 24-hour double-parking convention up and down Ritner.

Café L'Aube | Good Karma Café | B.B. Go Fusion Rice Bar | Le Pain Quotidien | Marc Vetri on Iron Chef America

Nearly 20 years later, Mustard's original followers are older, grayer and, judging from a survey of the serene room one recent night, still haunting these hallowed grounds of Cantonese cooking.

Ragtime Night at Noble | Confit Cooking Class at Pumpkin | Appetite for Awareness: A Gluten-Free Cooking Spree | Tenth Annual Harvest Fest at Reading Terminal Market | Valanni 10th Anniversary Bash

Fun-size treats to trick out the most hallowed of holidays.

by Daniella Wexler

Mon., Oct. 25, 8 p.m., $10, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 877-435-9849, foundfootagefest.com.

by Ryan Rosengrant

Mad Tea Party at Bus Stop | Frank Agostino: The Architecture of Style

I'm not a holy man (see any of Icepack's more autobiographical moments), but I have my God and never lost my religion.

Fri., Oct. 22, 6 p.m., free, Borders, 1 S. Broad St., 215-568-7400, borders.com.

by Caitlin Durkin