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ISSUE . December 16th, 2010
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Cover Story


Eater's Digest
For our two home cooks, well read is well fed.
by Justin Bauer and Char Vandermeer
A new sharp-cornered cookbook, bound and illustrated, united by a particular voice or a curatorial vision of a particular kind of cooking and eating, isn't easy to replace with a sheaf of Google-searched recipes or an impulse-buy smart phone app.

Shelf Life:
Tween Choice Awards
Under the Covers with Justin Bauer: Skippy Dies and The Instructions
by Justin Bauer
The herd mentality, the state-of-nature bullying, the arbitrary cruelties of adults, a body that disappoints and betrays you — the only honest thing anyone can say is that you'll grow out of it, and grow into yourself.

BQ Reviews
Siobhan Fallon's You Know When the Men Are Gone | Jay-Z's Decoded | Mathias Enard's Zone | Steve Martin's An Object of Beauty

Diary of a Mad Man
Ex-murder junkie Rich Hillen swaps his red crayons for Yellow Socks.
by A.D. Amorosi
The release of his debut novel, Yellow Socks: Confessions of a Non-Don Juan, and a collection of poems, stories and ravings called Dangers of a Confessional Mind, mark the dawn of a new Hillen.


Opinion


Editor's Letter:
Cliff Jumping
Don't worry. It's just begun.
by Brian Howard
By deciding to sign with the Phillies for less money and fewer years than either New York or Texas were offering, Mr. Lee has, in essence, created a seismic shift in this city, probably permanently.

Man Overboard!:
SchmidtyLeaks
Man Overboard! isn't the only one getting the ol' echo effect.
by Isaiah Thompson
Along with his candidacy, the would-be pol announced the results of two years' worth of Right-to-Know requests which, he said, revealed public officials, and lots of them, using their taxpayer-funded offices and equipment for political work.

Letter's to the Editor:
Letters to the Editor
What You Say
"I don't know what part of the planet the Xmas-deprived people are living on, but it's not here."


News


News :: Fear the ReaperFear the Reaper
Meet the woman slowly crushing Philly's urban agriculture dreams.
by Holly Otterbein
As her company has grown, so, too, has her zest for wildlife preservation — to the point where it's pitted her against a group of people you might think she'd find a lot in common with: Philadelphia's urban farmers.

A Million Stories
The normally quiet neighborhoods of Roxborough and Manayunk have been besieged by the biggest, most elusive and oft-exaggerated inner-city bane of 2010: flash mobs!

The Bell Curve
CP's Quality-O-Life-O-Meter
When news breaks, we make jokes.


Arts


Full Exposure:
Confidence Game
Leah Macdonald's In My Body at Wexler Gallery
by John Vettese
Do you fel comfortable in your body? This isn't a gender-exclusive question — I sure don't. Judging from the dour facial expressions on photographer Leah Macdonald's subjects, many of them don't, either — but not the ones you'd expect.

Arts Picks:
Taxidermy Ornaments
Tue., Dec. 21, 6-8 p.m., free (RSVP to nicole@artintheage.com), Art in the Age, 116 N. Third St., 215-922-2600, artintheage.com.
by Eric Schuman
The tinkers at Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction want to creep up your Christmas tree and reduce waste at the same time.

Blue Man Group
Dec. 22-Jan. 2, 2011, $25-$85, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-731-3333, kimmelcenter.org/broadway.
by A.D. Amorosi
"Awesome" has become totally overused since its appropriation by the hipster legion. Yet there's no better word to describe the Blue Man Group.

Miss Witherspoon
Through Jan. 9, $20-$24, Second Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-563-7500, newcitystage.org.
by Mark Cofta
Misanthropic suicide Miss Witherspoon, with an aura "like a tweedy brown coat," refuses to reincarnate.

Kaleidoscope
Eric Smith's Textual Healing | Philadelphia Reads' Holiday Book Drive | A Is For Armageddon | Paige Wolf's Spit That Out!

Arts Picks:
Poetry N Pottery
Sat,. Dec. 18, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., $15, The Expressive Hand, 622 S. Ninth St., 267-519-2626, expressivehand.com.
by Eric Schuman
The Expressive Hand is at your potter's-wheel-averse service.

A Christmas Carol: A Radio Play
Fri., Dec. 17, 8 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 18, 4 and 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 19, 2 and 6 p.m.; $18-$20, Allens Lane Art Center, 601 W. Allens Lane, 215-248-0546, allenslane.org.
by Laura Weber
Here's one Christmas Carol where resting your eyes won't make Charles Dickens roll over in his high-minded grave.

Mummenschanz
Thu., Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Dec. 17, 8 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 18, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 19, 2 p.m.; $24-$48, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org.
by Deni Kasrel
Can inanimate objects have feelings? You may think so after watching Mummenschanz, where giant rubber balls, gunny sacks, toilet-paper rolls and big bendy tubes come to life.


Movies


Movies :: Highway to HellionHighway to Hellion
Crispin Glover's making an art of making audiences uncomfortable.
by Shaun Brady
"I feel It Is Fine! will probably be the best film I will have anything to do with in my entire career."

Tron: Legacy
City Paper Grade: B-
by Drew Lazor
Tron has maintained its luster for one reason: Personal technology is so soulless, we're all starved for any conceit involving glimmers of humanity fastened behind the circuitry.


Music


Reconsider Me:
Liz Lemons
What the hell is Liz Phair thinking?
by M.J. Fine
You can draw your line wherever you want, but if you've gotten any pleasure from listening to Liz Phair, it wasn't from watching her coloring within the lines.

Music Picks:
Cuddle Magic
Wed., Dec. 22, 8:30 p.m., $10, with Oh! Pears and Alec Gross, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 877-435-9849, johnnybrendas.com.
by Carolyn Huckabay
Seems like every song on Cuddle Magic's Picture is reminiscent of something else — and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Citizens Arrest
Sat., Dec. 18, 2 p.m., with Mind Eraser and Ardmore Assault; 7 p.m., with Asshole Parade and Pink Coffins; $10, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.
by Patrick Rapa
While we're all deciding where to put The Brutalist Bricks on our best-of-2010 lists, Ted Leo's getting back together with his old hardcore band.

Zappa Plays Zappa
Sat., Dec. 18, 8 p.m., $29.50-$89.50, Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside, 215-572-7650, keswicktheatre.com.
by Shaun Brady
It's always been somewhat difficult to reconcile the two sides of Frank Zappa's musical personality.

Ross Bellenoit
Sat., Dec. 18, 9 p.m., $10, with Birdie Busch and Zach Djanikian, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 877-435-9849, johnnybrendas.com.
by Patrick Rapa
Philly's had more than its fair share of soft-spoken, sweet-singin', acoustic guitar-cradlers in recent years, but everybody's gonna have to scooch over and make some room for Ross Bellenoit.

Piffaro
Fri., Dec. 17, 8 p.m., Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave.; Sat., Dec. 18, 8 p.m., St. Mark's Church, 1625 Locust St.; $15-$40, 215-235-8469, piffaro.com.
by Peter Burwasser
"Renaissance music" and "exciting" can be used in the same sentence, especially if the Piffaro band is on hand.

Reading Rainbow
Thu., Dec. 16, 8 p.m., $7, with Coasting and Moon Women, Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., myspace.com/dangerdangergallery.
by Patrick Rapa
There's something kinda precious about naming your band after a kids' show, but Reading Rainbow's more ballsy than cute.

Tomas Fujiwara
Thu., Dec. 16, 8 p.m., free, Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., arsnovaworkshop.com.
by Shaun Brady
Tomas Fujiwara, one of the anchors of New York's rising modern jazz scene, pulls double duty for Ars Nova Workshop's final show of 2010.


Food


Food :: Dosa RealityDosa Reality
Philadelphia Chutney Co. streamlines the Indian street food experience.
by Adam Erace
For such a young operation, Philly Chutney runs so smoothly you'd think its cogs were lubed with ghee.

Feeding Frenzy
Restaurants opening, closing and pending
by Drew Lazor
Shot Tower Coffee | Marabella Meatball Co. | Kennett

Portion Control:
Four Score and Seven Beers Ago
BOOK REVIEW: The Founding Foodies
by Drew Lazor
The author's snappy recollections help foster the realization that food carried immense importance to the nation shapers, whether our forebears were simply sitting down to enjoy a meal or laying the groundwork for how we eat today.

What's Cooking
The Week in Eats
by Rachel Burgos
JG Domestic Battle Sparkling Wine Dinner | Sixpoint Brewing's Mad Scientist Series | A Very Jewish Christmas at Zahav | French Christmas Dinner at Bistrot La Minette


Agenda

Agenda Picks:
Hell Fire Film Club
Tue., Dec. 21, 9 p.m., $5 ($2 with canned food donation), Bob & Barbara's, 1509 South St., 215-545-4511, hellfirefilmclub.com.
by Sean Kearney
Somehow the Hell Fire Film Club has managed to bash Christmas and conjure holiday cheer all at the same time.

Icepack
Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.
by A.D. Amorosi
"I know we're a little behind," laughs Heshey Schlachtermann. "But it's happening now."

Agenda Picks:
Philly Indie Craft Market
Sat., Dec. 18, noon-7 p.m., suggested $2 donation, 2424 Studios, 2424 E. York St., 215-925-7676, 2424studios.com.
by Laura Weber
Holiday craft shows don't have to be all cutesy and frilly — they can also be balls-out rock 'n' roll.

Manual Type-In
Sat., Dec. 18, 1-4:30 p.m., free (R.S.V.P. to phillytyper@gmail.com), Bridgewater's Pub, 30th Street Station, 2955 Market St., 215-387-4787, phillytyper.com.
by Eric Schuman
Typewriters have been left to collect dust in prop warehouses or on cluttered thrift-store shelves, but this week they're making a comeback.

Nutcracker
Thu.-Sun., Dec. 16-19, 8 p.m., $25, Painted Bride Arts Center, 230 Vine St., 484-995-3431, cabaretredlight.com.
by A.D. Amorosi
Admit it, you hate the fucking Nutcracker.

Queer Bait:
Intersex Awareness with Claudia Astorino
Thu., Dec. 16, 7-9 p.m., free, Wooden Shoe Books, 704 South St.
by Josh Middleton
While it occasionally makes an appearance in the ever-evolving acronym that typically begins LGBTQ, the "I" for intersex may be the most misunderstood letter of the bunch.




 
 
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