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ISSUE . October 9th 2008

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The Fumo Theorem

What Philly loses — or gains — when it loses Vince.

by Tom Namako

The majority of politicians in this great state are, by definition, somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of professional quality. Some are scrubs, incapable of really doing their jobs. And a few are stars: They take the game seriously and they've mastered it. For better or worse, for the past two decades, Vincent Fumo has been regarded as the imperator of this final category.

Opinion

Editor's Letter:

Drawing Dead

by Brian Howard

Kal cooked up renditions of Kerry and Gore and Palin and McCain. At one point he mentioned Barack Obama's name, and a round of oddly earnest applause circulated then quickly abated, as if its perpetrators, embarrassed, had forgotten this was a night for satire. People. This is not some college Obama rally.

Slant:

What about Broad Street?

You can't talk about McCain's plans because they do not exist.

by David Faris

Republicans offer nothing to city dwellers other than to gut public transit, starve schools, strip-mine their tax bases and belittle their values.

Loose Canon:

Future Faith

The Faithless have crashed markets with a vehemence that WTC bombers would envy.

by Bruce Schimmel

As a matter of personal faith, I believe in the future. I believe that the world can be restored and sustained, that the impulse to rebuild is imbedded in our genes, and that humans cannot survive without this hope. Call me and my kind "the Hopeful."

Feedback:

Letters to the Editor

What You Say

"I hope Ramsey and Nutter keep up the good work despite having no help from Harrisburg."

Naked City

The All-Spin Zone

A new documentary shines a light on Dick Clark and Philly's payola past.

by A.D. Amorosi

A congressional oversight subcommittee investigated payola in the early '60s, shining a light on Dick Clark's monetary investments in labels and music publishing, starting with his time in Philly. Though Clark was never charged with illegal activities, ABC made him divest his recording and publishing interests. He was shown to have been favoring his vested interests over other artists and pushing other radio guys to do the same.

Icepack

Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.

by A.D. Amorosi

Wearing my finest tri-corner hat and Paul Smith pantaloons to the polls has always been an imperative.

Running Numbers

A scholarly look at the digits that matter.

by Nick Norlen

My progressive fiancée will be the one trading her swag for frontsies-backsies in the line for the promised chocolate fountain.

News

It's Chinatown

Caught off guard, Chinatown activists rally to build opposition to a proposed casino.

by Isaiah Thompson

"Someone called me and said the mayor and the governor said a casino is going into Chinatown. My response was, 'How can the government have such an idea?'"

The Bell Curve

City Paper's Quality-o-Life-o-Meter

When news breaks in Philadelphia, we make jokes.

A Frontrunner's Guide to the Postseason

Who you like, why you like them, and other info so you can hang with your know-it-all sports fan friends.

by E. James Beale

You're a frontrunner, just like Jimmy Rollins said. But hey, this is your time. Problem is, you don't know who you're cheering for, or why.

Citizen Mom:

The One Where Citizen Mom Gets Schooled

by Amy Z. Quinn

If you're ever in need of an attitude adjustment, I highly recommend spending a few hours with some teenagers, preferably ones you've pissed off by calling their school an "institution of last resort."

The Ones Who Schooled Citizen Mom

Students from Mr. Hesse's Strawberry Mansion High social science class respond to Amy Quinn's visit.

"I think [Quinn] coming here was nice, but her paper was very disrespectful. She's an OK person but I really don't know her, so I won't pass judgment. But I thank her for coming."

Dispatch:

Tommy Mac's Good Week

Citizens Bank Park is the biggest bar in Philly.

by Mike Newall

Tommy Mac's more than just a fan. He's a stadium usher, one of the 300 men and women who escort fans to their seats at Citizens Bank Park. Although the entire city is once again rallying around the Fightin' Phils, for Tommy Mac, the club's extended playoff run means real money — an extra $7.50-per-hour bonus, to be exact.

Arts

Art:

Best in Show

PSPCA's DogHaus lets animal-loving interior designers off the leash.

by Dominic Mercier

While DogHaus is a show house in its truest sense, their designers still find ways to incorporate sly nods to animals, whether through the liberal use of houndstooth or, in one case, the Chinese foo dogs in a display cabinet.

Re-View:

Bare Essentials

Robin Rice on Visual Art

by Robin Rice

It seems misleading to describe the painterly, crumbling-looking surfaces enriched with subtle streaks of color as photographs, although their photographic origin is clear. They are portraits, but unusual ones.

Theater Review:

Future Perfect

The Dos and Don'ts of Time Travel

by Mark Cofta

Rachel's metaphors for time (an ocean rather than a stream, not a line but a plane) and her straightforward insights on Einstein and relativity show Wardigo's skill at making heady concepts clear and personal.

Like, Whatever

This Is Our Youth

by David Anthony Fox

What a difference a decade makes! Now, Lonergan's play seems by turns a tepid stoner comedy and an overreaching sociological parable for Reagan-era excesses. The charms of Youth lasted but a moment.

Opera:

Voice and Virtue

An interview with Ailyn Pérez

by David Shengold

"I'm enjoying the role of Marzelline very much because of the noble story she gets to be a part of in a most unprecedented way: falling in love with Fidelio, a woman disguised as a man in order to free her husband from unjust imprisonment."

Arts Picks:

Reefer Madness

Through Nov. 2, $20-$25, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival Theater, 2111 Sansom St., 267-987-9865, 11thhourtheatrecompany.org.

by Mark Cofta

Megan Nicole O'Brien's production is suitably broad, from the sassy production numbers performed by a terrific young cast to John Hobbie's cartoony two-dimensional props and set pieces and Lauren Perigard's outrageously naughty costumes (pot forces sweet Mary into a black feathered bikini!).

This Is the Week That Is

Through Nov. 2, $17-$35, 1812 Productions at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey St., 215-592-9560, 1812productions.org.

by Mark Cofta

Like TV, TITWTI responds to daily events, so if a candidate utters something profound (e.g., another cosmetics-on-livestock comment), expect skewering in that night's show.

Gordon Parks

"Bare Witness," Sat., Oct. 11-Jan. 4, $10 admission (free on Sundays), Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, Del., 302-571-9590, delart.org.

by Lori Hill

When Life published an essay related to Ellison's novel Invisible Man, Parks took images of a figure rising out of a manhole on a street to illustrate it.

Arts Agenda

Last Chance

Catch it or Regret It

by Molly Eichel

Paperland | Pillow Talk — Antique Woven Yastiks of Anatolia | Cerulean Arts' Second Anniversary Exhibition

Arts Agenda Picks:

Just Do It

Interstices: New Photographic Works

by Joel Tannenbaum

Millner, whose work is pictured, is basically a collagist, mixing and matching segments of family snapshots and old postcards and then rephotographing them.

Just Do It

Dr. Sketchy's Philly Art Show

by Monica Weymouth

Straddling a chair, Carol Magnatta's topless woman is wearing knee-high boots and, according to her thought bubble, daydreaming about a crab.

Galleries

Museums/Exhibits

Performing Arts

Readings/Book Signings

Movies

Sneaky Cinema

John Young screens classic movies at theme-appropriate venues. But you have to find them first.

by Shaun Brady

Each event is scheduled at a themed site — Meatballs at the Northbrook Canoe Company, Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic at a diving supply store, Caddyshack at a driving range.

Greendale

Neil Young, 2003

by Sam Adams

Our film critic Sam Adams contributed two essays to The B-List: The National Society of Film Critics on the Low-Budget Beauties, Genre-Bending Mavericks, and Cult Classics We Love, out now on Da Capo Press.

Two-Lane Blacktop

Monte Hellman, 1971

by Sam Adams

Screen Picks

Stefan Forbes' Boogie Man

by Sam Adams

Like his protégé Karl Rove, Atwater was a ruthless competitor. In 1988, when Atwater was the manager of George H.W. Bush's presidential run, he was physically ill for days after losing the Iowa caucus to Bob Dole.

Repertory Film

Your weekly guide to local film events, festivals and under-the-radar screenings.

Send repertory film listings to molly.eichel@citypaper.net.

Music

No Problems

Steph Hayes has been all over the map, but she's ready to tell the truth. Mostly.

by M.J. Fine

To make the most of her limited resources, Hayes made Mostly True Stories the cheapest and simplest way she knew how: in front of a live studio audience.

Reconsider Me:

Kiss and Tell

M.J. Fine does it again

by M.J. Fine

It'd been four years since Jill Sobule's last disc, and more than three times as long since she had a hit with "I Kissed a Girl." Then Katy Perry owned the summer with her own love-it-or-hate-it single, and some were itching for a catfight between the two self-proclaimed girl kissers.

Soundadvice

Get Out!

Emerson String Quartet | The Notwist | Blink. | Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Concert | Steinski at Back2Basics

Music Picks:

Anthony Braxton

Fri., Oct. 10, 8 p.m., $35 (includes free admission to Sat. concert), Settlement Music School, 416 Queen St.; Sat., Oct. 11, 8 p.m., $10, St. Mark's Church, 1625 Locust St, 866-468-7619, arsnovaworkshop.com.

by Shaun Brady

Perhaps no one embodies the continuum and contrasts between composition and improvisation quite as well as Anthony Braxton, so it's fitting that the saxophonist/composer be the first subject of Ars Nova Workshop's Composer Portrait series.

The Dead C

Sun., Oct. 12, 9 p.m., $12, with Blues Control and Pink Reason, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

by Brian Howard

The Dead C has for 18 years made it their business to turn the structures and mores of rock music on their head — not so much in a brash, piss-off punk fashion, but by distilling and configuring the very elements into a bubbling, steaming pitch.

Bearsuit

Tue., Oct. 14, 8 p.m., $8, with Milton and the Devils Party, M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave., 215-739-5577, themanhattanroom.com.

by Sam Adams

Hurling themselves from one end of the musical spectrum to the other, often within the space of a single song, they spiral vertiginously through space, which may explain their lyrical fondness for science fiction.

Food

Reali-Tea

Kombucha: Magical cure-all or deadly blob?

by Felicia D'Ambrosio

Fans of the fermented beverage claim daily drinking bolsters well-being. But many established American medical authorities still won't recommend its consumption.

Feeding Frenzy

Restaurants opening, closing and pending

by Drew Lazor

Novità Bistro | Café L'Aube | Caffeination

Love Slav

Jovan's Place

by David Snyder

Sure, the wait was longer than average. But there aren't many restaurants like this around anymore, which helped me realize that there are likely very few meals like this in my future.

What's Cooking:

The Week In Eats

Get Out!

by Nikki Volpicelli

Southwest Center City Rock 'n' Run | Full Moon Beer Dinner at Monk's | Vegan Benefit Dinner for Wooden Shoe Books | Lavazza Night at Rim Café | Wissahickon Charter School Benefit

Top 5:

Places to Break the Fast

Sundown Chowdown

by Gary M. Kramer

1 London Grill | 2 Zahav | 3 Kibitz in the City | 4 Singapore Chinese Vegetarian | 5 Chef's Market

Agenda

Agenda Lead:

Dream Theater

Sleep talk with Mike Birbiglia

by Ptah Gabrie

CP: Your sleepwalking episodes are funny from the audience's point of view, but are you afraid that you might really hurt yourself?

MB: I try not to dwell on it, but I take it seriously. I go to a doctor now. When I tour, I have to make sure I stay in a hotel room on the first floor.

Agenda Picks:

Just Do It

FaerieCon

by Greg Niedt

The whimsical convention caters to all sorts, from postmodernist fantasy mavens to those who just dig Tinkerbell.

Just Do It

The Obama Girls of Comedy

by Amanda McKenna

"I wanted a mixed bag of people, all sorts of different perspectives: African-American, a mom, someone who was queer. I came up with this group of women that I'm totally excited to put on the road. It's a man's world once you cross the Hudson, so it's something new and fresh."

Just Do It

Found Footage Festival

by Dianca Potts

Modern-day saviors Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher have rescued hours of footage from cinematic obscurity, giving new life to the dusty plethora of VHS cassettes uncovered at yard sales, in Dumpsters and from the depths of thrift stores across the country.

What We Heart

The Green Perspective Gift Bags

by Char Vandermeer

Local environmentalist and city planner Todd Baylson founded the Green Perspective in an effort to provide gift-givers with a few more Earth-friendly options.

On The DL

Language Change in America

by Andrew Thompson

At hand is why dialects have betrayed the logic of linguists — who previously assumed that language converges rather than diverges — and why dialects have tended to be influenced by a states' political climate.

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