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ISSUE . December 23rd, 2010
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Cover Story


Web Exclusive
Top 21 Albums of 2010

Local Artist of the Year
Free Energy
by Patrick Rapa
You can dance to Free Energy. You can bop around in your socks to "All I Know" and sing along to "Bang Pop" till your headphones fly off. You can hum their rabbit-punching riffs and catchy choruses and just feel great.

Rounding Out The Top 50


News


News :: A Million StoriesA Million Stories
A councilperson can't possibly live without a calendar, a daily schedule of events, appointments, obligations. At least, that's what City Paper thought when we first came across the startling suggestion that Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. keeps no calendar.

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


Arts


Plans with Benefits
New Year's Eve ideas to keep you on top of your game all 2011 long.
by Josh Middleton
There's an old wives' tale that says what you're doing at midnight on New Year's Eve will reflect your entire year to come. And whether or not you're a believer, let's not take our chances.

Arts Picks:
Cinderella
Through Jan. 2, $17-$29, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., 215-893-1999, enchantmenttheatre.org.
by Mark Cofta
Enchantment Theatre Co. lives up to its name with elegant family productions spun with dance, music, masks and puppetry.

Snyderman Gallery
Through Jan. 15, free, Snyderman Gallery, 303 Cherry St., 215-238-9576, snyderman-works.com.
by Deni Kasrel
You'd be hard-pressed to find more erotic jewelry than what Bruce Metcalf's got at Snyderman Gallery this season.

The Thomashefskys
Through Feb. 20, free, Borowsky Gallery, Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad St., 215-545-4400, gershmany.org.
by Deni Kasrel
There really was a Boris Thomashefsky, and he was indeed a legendary theatrical impresario.

Re-View:
Trash Talk
Susan Fenton: Work from Ballinglen
by Robin Rice
The detritus manifests an amusing gaucherie when hand-patinaed with a colorful, grubby haze.


Movies


Movies :: Rush of BloodRush of Blood
Vengeance is a dirty business, but the Coen brothers' True Grit stays far too clean.
by Sam Adams
As their second remake and their second literary adaptation, True Grit is especially weighted with ties to the past, although the Coens don't concern themselves overly with the 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis' novel.


Music

Music Picks:
24-Hour Holiday Radio Show on WPRB
Fri., Dec. 24, 6 p.m.-Sat., Dec. 25, 6 p.m., WPRB 103.3 FM, wprb.com.
by Patrick Rapa
My pal Jon Solomon's gotta be the second most-beloved Christmas Jew of all time.

John Byrne
Tue., Dec. 28, 8 p.m., $10, with Citizens Band Radio, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0978, tinangel.com.
by Mary Armstrong
Back when John Byrne was living in Dublin and music was just a side thing, he didn't play Irish music as much as he does now as a Fishtownie.

Blackbird Society Orchestra
Wed., Dec. 29, 7 p.m., $10, Chris' Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, chrisjazzcafe.com.
by A.D. Amorosi
This occasionally 11-piece ensemble (sometimes stripped to a single strolling violinist, namely Michael Salsburg) does the hot-jazz thing.

Man Man/Gogol Bordello
Wed., Dec. 29, 8 p.m., $27.50-$37.40, Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., 215-627-1332, electricfactory.info.
by Eric Schuman
This is one demented double bill.

Penrose
Thu., Dec. 23, 8 p.m., $10, with Hollis Brown, TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb and The Great Vibration, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.
by A.D. Amorosi
Penrose cleans out the gutters and adds the blousy psychedelic kink of Pink Floyd to the proceedings for an epic romp on their debut CD.


Food


Food :: Reach it by RailwayReach it by Railway
JG Domestic doesn't care how you get there — just get there however you can.
by Adam Erace
"Originally, I saw the location as a challenge, but I feel if you put out a good product, people will come."

Portion Control:
Fly Vegans Fly
REVIEW: Blackbird Pizzeria
by Felicia D'Ambrosio
You can have an ideal meal no matter where you stand on the moral implications of butter.

What's Cooking
The Week in Eats
by Rachel Burgos
Pub & Kitchen Boxing Day Celebration | New Year's Eve at Kanella | New Year's Eve Pig Roast at MidAtlantic | New Year's Eve at Cafe Estelle | New Year's Eve Dinner at New Year's Day


Agenda


Agenda :: Shopping SpreeShopping Spree
Fashion > Forward: Nino by Bela Shehu
by Julia West
The forces that come through in her designs are like some animated trifecta of superheroes, each with its own special badass power — and together they create something unstoppable.

Agenda Picks:
Moo Shu Jew Show
Fri., Dec. 24, 6-9 p.m., $65, Joy Tsin Lau Chinese Restaurant, 1026 Race St., 215-545-4400, gershmany.org.
by Eric Schuman
It's clichéd, but we Jews do find ourselves without much to do on Christmas Eve.

Being Jewish at Christmas
Fri., Dec. 24, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., free with regular museum admission of $11-$12, National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 S. Independence Mall East, 215-923-3811, nmajh.org.
by Eric Schuman
Do you hear what I hear? It's the sound of Jewish kids gazing at the Christmas-bedecked city in hollow wonder.

Christmas Day Crossing
Sat., Dec. 25, 1 p.m., free, Washington Crossing Historical Park, 1112 River Road, Washington Crossing, 215-493-4076, ushistory.org/washingtoncrossing.
by Eric Schuman
Bundle up with the folks at Washington Crossing Park to re-enact ol' George's iconic crossing of the Delaware.

Icepack
Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.
by A.D. Amorosi
The world's a merry place. Honest.

Agenda Picks:
Hudson Beach Glass
Open Thu., Dec. 23, noon-7 p.m., and Fri., Dec. 24, noon-3 p.m., 26 S. Strawberry St., 267-319-1887, hudsonbeachglass.com.
by Carolyn Huckabay
Christmas is in two days and you still haven't gotten your boyfriend's mom a gift that says "I definitely did not just pick something completely random out at Target at the last minute." What's a good girlfriend to do?

Mixtape Exchange Xmas
Thu., Dec. 23, 9 p.m., free, Medusa, 27 S. 21st St., 610-420-8820, medusalounge.com.
by Sean Kearney
There's nothing more personal than a mixtape.




 
 
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