Galileo’s head was on the block...

Finally, Phartblogger #2 had a moment to experience some phart! I just saw “The Life of Galileo” at The Wilma Theater (my former employer). It was PHenomenal! What an amazingly written play—Bertolt Brecht, you can’t go wrong. But it is dense and long. However, the staging and the actors made it absolutely riveting from beginning to end. Never before has three hours in the theater on a Tuesday night passed so quickly!

I have a lot of experience with the history of Galileo from college. One of the Honors sections did a mock trial of Galileo freshman year, which was very interesting. And then there’s that fabulous Indigo Girls song. But seriously, this was a new twist on all of the HIStory I thought I knew. The actors were unbelievable. The man who played Galileo Galilei (great, non-redundant Italian name), John Campion, was so powerful! And the cast was a veritable who’s who of the best actors Philadelphia has to offer—Scott Greer, Greg Wood (Mischa Barton’s dad in The Sixth Sense), Grace Gonglewski…the list goes on and on. Every cast member was extremely strong. I especially loved the “Little Monk” character, played by John Zak (of ComedySportz fame, in my mind). He brought such tenderness to such a conflicted and vulnerable character.

It was one of the best productions I’ve ever seen at the Wilma, and that says a lot, because I saw everything and loved everything. Run out and buy tickets. It’s been extended through May 19th.

Philly Philosophical

This is really not an art-related posting, but I felt I had to put something out there in the universe about it. It's hard to encapsulate in one word who Mike Ryan was, but I'd say the best way to put it is that he was my friend, and he died on Monday. Mike used to be Fr. Mike, and to all of us at Corpus Christi Church and School, he was a mentor, spiritual guide, shoulder to lean on, leader, and most of all, friend. I was raised under the Catholic faith and attended Catholic schools my whole life. I've spent many years being taught what it is to be a good Catholic and a good person in general. To me, Mike was the epitome of those teachings.

We worked together closely on the Confirmation program at Corpus Christi. When I was in high school, Mike decided to leave the priesthood, and he moved to New Jersey. He remained close to my parents, but us "kids" lost touch with him, regrettably. I think it was an odd time for us, and I know I was not sure how to act. Heck, I wasn't sure how to act around anyone when I was 16.

Mike got married to a wonderful woman and had a beautiful daughter. On Monday, he died after a long battle with leukemia. When my dad told me the news via email, I sat at my desk and cried for a half an hour. I couldn't stop. I had no idea what a profound impact this man had on my little life, and I had no idea how much I missed him. He was one of those people who made you want to be a better person. It wasn't about church doctrine or rules, it was about God in the purest sense of the word and community. Mike was about helping people, and that's all he did.

Even now when I'm in my new church in my new city getting ready to start my new life as a wife and, hopefully soon, a mother, I'm flooded with memories of our retreats, our programs, our talks, our camaraderie. Our youth group was unbelievable, and I know I would be a much different person had I not had that in my life.

Am I going to get on a soapbox about the clergy? No. I will mention that my dad told me that Mike's former order is barely acknowledging his death. I won't go on about how un-Christian that is. It speaks for itself.

I simply want anyone reading this to know that there was a man named Mike Ryan who was one of the best human beings I've ever met. May God bless him and keep him.

Couple of Old Pharts

This post is a little out of place, but sadly, your Phartbloggers have been too busy for arts and culture lately. The closest we got was this past Friday's My Chemical Romance concert at the Nassau Coliseum. I know what you're thinking--emo death cult?? Yes, friends. The Phartbloggers are so sophisticated in all other forms of culture that their taste in pop music is a tad lame. It was Phartblogger #1's birthday, and he wanted nothing more than to bop around and pump his fist to the harmonious tunes of every 13-year-old rocker's dream band.

We got there and didn't think it would be that bad. We were surrounded by kids but also adults, and not just moms and dads. We felt really cool when we saw thirty-somethings in black makeup and tattered clothes. We might have been straight-laced, but we were representin' our lameness.

But then something interesting happened...we weren't the only lame ones there. First off, the music, not that loud. We could hear each other when we screamed in each other's ears. Not right. Secondly, no one got up out of their seats until the very end. Thirdly, Gerard Way (the most tragic lamo and closet gay man ever, but Phartblogger #2 is strangely obsessed with him) STOPPED A SONG to "save" a mosh-pitter who was apparently in peril. Then he gave us a speech about proper pit behavior. Um, I recall almost dying a horrific death in a Rancid pit (THAT'S THE NAME OF THAT BAND, PHARTY #1! Finally remembered/looked it up.) at Lollapalooza 1996. That's how you become a tough concert-goer. Don't stop the death. They chose to buy that general admission ticket. They want that in their obit. Boo.

They did their whole new concept album in perfect sequence. That was kinda cool. I wish SP had done a Mellon Collie concert like that, but I digress. Then they did a 6 song encore--hello? It was like a whole nother concert. They did the crowd faves (trust me) and made everyone dance around. The Phartbloggers were getting tired, but we bopped along with the mom in our row.

As we were leaving, Pharty #2 remembered her first trip to the Nassau Coliseum in 1996 to see Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corgan was the love of her life, and she cried during their encore of "Drown." There was something sad about this memory, but nice at the same time. She also remembered her ears ringing, unlike this evening.

As we tried to leave, our true oldness came through. A Long-Guyland teenager was trying to cut in front of the Phartbloggers' sensible Camry, and he decided to side-swipe us when we didn't let him in. Genius. Pharty #2 was instantly out of the car and announcing his license plate to the 911 operator. When will they learn--don't mess with an NY talian girl's temper, especially not in a vehicle!? Then the punks (yeah, I said it. I decided against "hooligans," but that was a close second) drove off!! We decided to just let them think that the cops were after them all night rather than wait there to file a report about a smudge on the Camry.

Ten minutes later, Phartblogger #1 turned 27. How fitting.

Pheasting in Philly

Last week, the Phartbloggers partook in an age-old Philadelphia tradition (well, at least for the last few years)—the Center City District’s Restaurant Week. This is a wonderful opportunity to try a new place, go out on a limb, and get a great dinner for a good price. All of the participating restaurants prepare a three-course dinner for $30 per person. Now, we don’t typically go out for multiple-course dinners unless it’s a medieval restaurant in Siena, Italy, but that’s a story for another day.

We had the joy of sharing dinner with our friends, the Gilberts. Check out Mr. Gilbert’s awesome blog. He’s a hoot: http://www.hotpatriotaction.blogspot.com/ We decided to go to Bistro Romano, which is an Italian place off of Headhouse Square in Society Hill. It was pretty much the coldest night ever, so we were very happy to get into this warm establishment. We were greeted by our friends at the bar. Unfortunately, as soon as we got there, a renegade patron decided to knock into our friend and spill her wine all over her outfit! But the lovely bartender helped clean up the mess AND comped our drinks. We’re off to a great start!

The décor is quite authentic Italian-American. Sinatra playing, dim lights, exposed brick walls, but it wasn’t cheesy. It was actually just dim enough to be soothing and not be pitch black. We enjoyed our meals thoroughly. PB #1 had a stuffed beef dish, and I had the tilapia. And the desserts—oh…my…goodness. I was incredibly full. We had a wonderful chianti and a glorious time. The Gilberts had their rehearsal dinner in a private, wine cellar-like room in the restaurant. I think the PB’s will have to look into that possibility for our nuptials. PB #2 loves nothing more than a pasta, a good red wine, and some Sinatra.
Also, Bistro Romano often has a murder-mystery dinner theater. PB #2’s old roomie starred in one of their productions once. Check it out!

Basically, you can’t lose with Restaurant Week. No matter what, you feel like you’re getting a great deal. And in the middle of January, it’s nice to treat yourself. I think they do it twice a year, so definitely keep an eye out!

Philly Pets who need a home: Gentle Ben

So here at PhartBlog, we care about all things Philly, not just the arts.

After seeing some rather disturbing behavior by some local pet owners in our area, we have decided that we need to help out as much as we can to help our little friends. Maybe weekly, we will have an update with a local pet who needs a good home. In case anyone is worried about adopting from a shelter, just look at Tink





So here is the first guy who needs a home:

Meet "Gentle Ben"

I am very sweet and gentle, just like my name implies. I was born approximately August 2004 and at some point was left outside to fend for myself. I was so scared that Animals in Crisis had to trap me to get me to the vet. I was even more scared in the trap, and tore out some of my claws trying to escape. Now my paws have healed and I am the biggest baby in the world - I just love to be held and petted. I am neutered, tested negative for FeLV/FIV, have my shots, and have been wormed and Frontlined and am ready to go the my new home.
Animals in Crisis Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
mailto:cat160@aol.com?subject=Petfinder.com
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=6749350

the curse of billy penn

The Curse of William Penn:

http://www.phrustratedphan.com/

So while listening to yesterdays podcast of Preston and Steve, they had on these guys who have been researching why Philly sports teams have been letting the city down for years and years.

Basically, it means that with the 1987 addition of the One Liberty Place skyscraper, which became the first structure to be allowed by law to be taller than the William Penn statue atop of City Hall, good old Billy has cursed us from beyond the grave. I am not sure why he would do such a thing, unless he liked the idea of being able to look down upon everyone who ever comes to Philadelphia. I'd like to think better of a Quaker, and founder of Pennsylvania, but you know what, I wasnt around back then and didnt know him, and our sports teams were mildly prolific before this.

The Eagles were in the Super Bowl in 1980

The Phillies won the World Series in 1980, and the NL Pennant in 1983

The Flyers won the Stanley Cup back to back in 1974-1975

The 76ers won the NBA title in 1983

Since then?

The Phillies have been mildly pathetic through most of the 90's, with the lone Lenny Dykstra team making a good run

The Eagles had been a big tease through the 80's and 90's with a team that (in a non-cursed city) should have won at least one Super Bowl, and a team now that is nothing if not cursed

The Flyers I believe are the worst team in the NHL

The 76ers had to suffer through the Iverson years, which were a joke besides that one dumbass lucky run to the NBA Finals, where we all knew they had no chance

Read into this what you will, but I shutter to think what will happen to us when the new Comcast Center is completed....

Happy Birthday Philly: January 22

DJ Jazzy Jeff (born Jeffrey A. Townes on January 22, 1965 in Philadelphia, PA) is a DJ/ turntablist (great word) and hip hop producer. He is best known for his early career with Will Smith as half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Together, the duo had several gold and platinum-selling albums, earning them the first rap Grammy ever presented in 1989 for Parents Just Dont Understand. When Smith branched out into television with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Jazzy Jeff played the popular "Jazz". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Jazzy_Jeff

But he will probably be most remembered in Philly for coming back to reunite with the Fresh Prince during Live 8, and then famously doing the only song anyone really would care to hear from them again, the theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...classic Philly moment

His work includes the classic song, Deep Deep Trouble, by Bart Simpson on The Simpsons Sing the Blues. I am happy to inform everyone that I owned that album, in tape form if I remember correctly.

I'm not finished...

What a glorious weekend we had! Your trusty Phartbloggers started the weekend with the Catholic rite of passage known as Pre-Cana. You see, to get married in a Catholic church, you must go through a preparation class of sorts. Jesus approved our union, and we passed with flying colors. We even got to keep the newlywed-game-ish worksheets, and we received a nifty certificate. And Therese wasn't completely mortified to be engagement ringless for the weekend. Conveniently, she scheduled her ring to be "worked on" over this important weekend. The fact that it was also a girls' weekend for her and her La Salle friends had absolutely nothing to do with it :):)

Then last night, it was off to the Phila. Museum of Art for a party to thank the donors that helped re-purchase a $68 million painting by Thomas Eakins. Therese's place of employment and the PMA led the campaign to keep it in Philadelphia, so we were there representin'. Michael came along to see the notables and to have an excuse to get suited up. Among the Philadelphia Phabulous in attendance: the Governor, Sen. Specter, and lots and lots of Philadelphia's best art supporters. It was a crowd 2,000 strong made up of anyone who gave a contribution of any size to the fund. As a development professional, it was a really exciting night. As an art-lover, it was absolutely thrilling and encouraging. Take that, NYC!

Finally, today, we took advantage of the fantastic Philly Funsavers offer to see Edward Scissorhands at the Academy of Music. Thank God for Philly Funsavers. If you haven't already, add yourself to their email list. They send you weekly half-price ticket offers for tons of things going on in the city. It is quite a deal (despite our obstructed view). (http://www.phillyfunguide.com/funsavers/)

So back to Ed...first of all, you should know that Therese has a mild obsession with Edward Scissorhands. Since she was 11-years-old, she has loved this movie. When she was little, she would watch it, rewind it, watch it again two to three times in a day. She knows every line. She owns the CD knows the soundtrack by heart. Johnny Depp was her first movie star crush. There is something extremely endearing about this story, bizarre as it is. So when we saw it on the Funsavers, we had to jump at it.

This production is from London and is a dance adaptation of the film. The original soundtrack is used with some additional new compositions. We really enjoyed it. Dance is not usually our performance art of choice, but this was too intriguing to pass up. The sets were unbelievable. They really captured the Burton-esque motif. The costumes were also exquisite. If you know the story, you know that the hair and clothes are integral parts of the storytelling.

The dancing was eh. I'm not a huge fan of modern dance. Sometimes it just looks like people flopping all over the place to me (kind of like Beyonce Knowles in the "Crazy In Love" video. Did she just fall down?! Nope, she's just "dancing.").

The thing that really annoyed me was that they changed the story. It was really an unnecessary change. It begins with some nincompoop boy named Edward who likes to dance around with scissors. Sadly, he gets struck by lightning one day, a la Ben Franklin, and dies. His father is distraught and makes a new son with scissorhands in homage to the dead Ed. Um, question, wouldn't you be worried that your new "son" would die the same way Ed #1 did? Note to self: Don't let kid play in massive thunderstorm in a field...with scissors. Further note to self: Don't let kid play with enormous scissors. In the movie, Edward's "dad" is simply a lonely inventor who had a robot of sorts on a big cookie/origami-making assembly machine that had scissorhands. Using some conveniently glossed-over voodoo magic (and presumably purloined corpses), the Inventor makes Ed. But he dies before he can get to replacing his hands with what looks like clay ones, but we assume will work like regular flesh and bone. The death scene in the movie is so tragic--Christmas, he dies while handing the new hands to Ed, Ed tries to catch them and winds up destroying them, because, hello, he has razor-sharp blades for fingers.

Anyway, other than this strange adaptation, the show was beautiful. At the end, they spray the audience with snow and play one of the most beautiful pieces of movie music ever written (Danny Elfman). The dancer who played Edward really captured the Johnny Depp walk, nervous twitches, etc. He was wonderful. And they incorporated some key elements from the film, like the Edward-Kim hug. All in all, it was a really interesting show.

Homework: Watch the film Edward Scissorhands. It's such a gorgeous fairtytale!

Happy Birthday Philly!: January 14

Carl Weathers was born on January 14, 1948 in New Orleans, LA. He became a Philadelphian for life by playing Apollo Creed in Rocky I-IV. He later rode that glory into roles in films such as Predator, Action Jackson, Hurricane Smith, and Happy Gilmore. But nothing quite captured the essence of Carl Weathers more than his appearance in Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" music video.


missed philly birthdays:
January 12: Phillys favorite son, Andrew Lawrence (yes of the Lawrence brothers fame); you might remember him from such classics as: 1995's White Man's Burden, 1999's Horse Sense; 2003's tv series Oliver Beene; and make sure to catch him in what is sure to be the most talked about movie of 2007: Inspector Gadget 3
January 13: Janet Hubert-Whitten is an adopted daughter of Philly from her role as Vivian Banks in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She lives in California and is married to a former lawyer turned judge, Phillip Banks. Oh wait, that was actually Vivian Banks. Her life seemed to be a lot more interesting than Janet's is. Ah well, its not like everyone can have the career that Andrew Lawrence has.

Happy Birthday Philly: January 11

Darryl Dawkins was born on January 11, 1957 in Orlando, Florida. He made being drafted out of high school cool when in 1975 he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers 5th overall. He quickly became a fan favorite for his earth shattering, backboard breaking dunks, which he named.

Among the dunk names:

1. The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam-Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam

2. In Your Face Disgrace

3. Go-Rilla Dunk

4. Earthquaker Shaker

5. Dunk You Very Much

6.Yo Mama

7. Sexophonic

8. Turbo Delight

9. Rim Wrecker

10. Greyhound Bus (went coast-to-coast)

11. Spine Chiller Supreme.

Perhaps the best thing Dawkins is remembered for is the greatest nickname in sports history:

Chocolate Thunder

That is until you remember this:

Darryl claimed to be an alien from planet Lovetron where he spent off-season practicing "interplanetary funkmanship" and where his girlfriend Juicy Lucy still lived.

needless to say, Darryl is one of Philly's most beloved sons...

Darryl Dawkins is the author of Chocolate Thunder: The Uncensored Life and Times of Darryl Dawkins (co-authored with Charley Rosen) and is currently the coach of the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the United States Basketball League.

Phartblogger #2

Sorry for the delay. I am your trusty Phartblogger #2, Therese. I grew up in Westchester, NY the daughter of two school teachers. I came to Philly in 1997 when I attended La Salle University. I spent most of my childhood and young adulthood on the stage in community and school theater productions. Then I took my talents behind the scenes and became a fundraiser for a theater. I left the there in 2003 for an art museum and art school, where I have been ever since.

I'll be your fearless leader through all of Philly's visual art and performing art offerings. I am also a junkie for pop culture, so that will definitely make an appearance as well. Phart on...

PhartBlogger #1

Just a little background...
My name is Michael, and I am 26 years old. I graduated from Lehigh University in 2002 with a B.A. and graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2006 with a Masters degree in architecture. I currently work for Cubellis Associates in Philadelphia, which has an office near the top of the Suburban Station building. I bought a house in Fishtown with Phartblogger #2 (a.k.a. Therese) this past April.

Here is a picture of our little backyard, with our table and fire pit...quite cozy. We live across the street from a magician who has a circus trailer in his yard. Down at the corner of our street they are planning to convert an old abandoned building into some art studios, gallery and condos. Plus we are only 3 blocks from the train stop. All in all not too bad a place to live.

Later I will post some pictures to show what the area looks like, and how Fishtown is building itself up pretty nicely.
Hopefully Phartblogger #2 will post a similar intro about herself soon.

Philms

New Year, new crop of Philms out there. We started the year off right with a viewing of ROCKY BALBOA. I have to admit that we were not expecting great things. We hoped for the best. Kind of how we watch the Eagles (or Iggles).

I think it's safe to say that we were entertained thoroughly. There was nothing better than watching the aging Rocky retelling stories about his fights with Apollo Creed to the patrons of Adrian's, his South Philadelphia Italian restaurant. I wanted nothing more than for that place to really exist. It felt like all of this could have been real, well except the actual fight. Rocky Jr. (or whatever that guy from Heroes' name is) at the Irish Pub, Rocky in a small rowhouse, all of it. It made me love this gritty city just a little bit more, just like that old dog Rocky insists on adopting. If only I didn't feel like (Little) Marie's ghetto house wasn't set in my neighborhood.

tink

This is tink, in his window.

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