We sent three reporters, in six four-hour shifts, armed only with their notebooks and $50 apiece in spending money, to see what SugarHouse was really like. Their observations follow.

Egg rolls for peace, anyone?

by Isaiah Thompson

What You Say

If there's one thing in this city that bothers us more than any other, it's the tendency of "public servants" to act like they're goddamn entitled to the sun, moon and stars, no matter what else is going on.

When news breaks, we make jokes.

TEDxPhilly invites local visionaries to expound upon whatever's on their mind at this very moment.

by Holly Otterbein

Full of wordplay and whimsy, awash in allusions to pop culture and literature, Luka offers obvious kid-appeal without straying too terribly far from the allegory and magical realism of Salman Rushdie's more serious "adult" output.

Nearly 400 years before Lost, William Shakespeare envisioned a magical (but less confounding) island where shipwrecked Prospero and daughter Miranda survive with sprite Ariel and half-monster Caliban.

The Flannery family's wacky encounters with cows, Christians and other crazies complicate their quest to reach Dallas and glimpse the president and first lady.

Behind the scenes of Sarah Green's 2011 "Glitterlip" calendar.

by John Vettese

If Commonwealth Proper sounds like more than just a place to get a nice shirt, that's the point. It's more like an interactive art gallery, with custom made-to-measure and bespoke suits as their expressionist stock-in-trade.

Hazelle Goodman calls Don't Get Me Started a one-woman show, but it's really a 14-character comedy showcase.

George Lopez | Kenny Endo | Jim Pawelczyk | 30 Rock

The main dramatic elements of the very first operas, by Monteverdi, were sex, violence and humiliation. Some things have not changed in 400 years.

Part 1's sluggish swathes should be chalked up to the realization that this is less a battle of sparkly-wand wits and more an effete college road-trip movie — just replace the smelly '95 Toyota Tercel with nifty teleportation tricks.

Artists Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder use multiple film projectors and their projections of light and color to create live performances out of the mechanics of movie-going.

Guitarist Eric Carbonara offers a glimpse of Paradise before returning to India.

by A.D. Amorosi

Darius Rucker's Charleston SC 1966

by M.J. Fine

Aloe Blacc scores points with the old heads as well as hip-hop purists.

Predating the current soul resurgence by a good half-decade or so, this North Florida funky bunch have hardly changed a lick of their gritty, grooving ways.

Tomorrow night's about Andrew Gray, equal parts intense screamer and shy troubadour, who takes the stage with Hoots & Hellmouth one last time at World Café Live.

Twenty years later, the influence of the M-Base collective, then looked at as an insular, eccentric group, has seeped into the modern-jazz vanguard.

Matthew Adam Hart makes cheap-sounding yet absurdly sumptuous bedroom synth-pop that sounds like a 10-times-dorkier Postal Service.

Effortless, exciting and affordable, Barbuzzo is so primally satisfying that you're planning a return visit before you even finish dessert.

Philadelphia's uptick of amazing cocktail destinations is reason alone to raise a glass. But what if you don't know what the hell is in that glass to begin with?

The Italian renaissance that's currently sweeping this city has carb-lovers confronted with shapes that are hard enough to pronounce, let alone visualize.

The Village Belle | Jet Wine Bar | Flying Saucer Café | Salt & Pepper | Little Fish

Sixpoint Pop-Up Brewery at City Tap House | Country Delight at Pub & Kitchen | A Taste of History: Dining in the 18th Century at the Rosenbach Museum | Pickletini Tasting at Hudson Beach Glass

REVIEW: Recipes Every Man Should Know

by Drew Lazor

When hometown girl T. Desiree Hines opens the 2010 OUTMusic Awards next month in New York City, she'll make history as the first classical artist to perform in the show's 20-year existence.

So, 40s in brown bags? Red wine fountains? Stay tuned.

Sat.-Sun., Nov. 20-21, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., $12, Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Ave., Oaks, Pa., 484-754-3976, nationaldogshow.com.