While we hate to cop out on you like this two weeks in a row, the fact remains: We cannot in good conscience sit here and act like telling you to go to a bunch of DJ nights and concerts is an appropriate thing to do when the weather outside is like it is right now. Not after the winter we’ve had. Not when we all have suffered and writhed in contention so. You want your weekend picks? Call up someone you like, then go outside. Then repeat for the next two days. It’s really that simple.
RECOMMENDED: Think of The Runaways as a (perhaps lesser) companion piece to Velvet Goldmine, another film about disaffected teens turning their boredom and sex-shame into glam rock in The Long ’70s. First-time director Floria Sigismondi — you may know her from a grip of Nine Inch Nails videos she directed as well — doesn’t have quite the fantastical beast that Velvet Goldmine was in this film, but as an American response, it’ll do. After all, Velvet Goldmine was about composites of the glam rock era, and The Runaways is about real people and, if the tall tale nature of rock bios are to be believed, real events. Which means you get: Michael Shannon in a fantastic performance as rock ‘n’ roll svengali/total creep Kim Fowley; Kristen Stewart as a mopey teenage Joan Jett proving that she can, in fact, act (not a stretch, sure, but it does go some way in advancing the theory that the Twilight movies really are that bad on purpose); and Dakota Fanning in what’s supposed to be her breakout look-at-me-I’m-all-grows-up role but in fact being upstaged by the former two. (And while we’re at it, the soundtrack is no slouch, either.) To its credit, The Runaways isn’t a morality tale when the facts alone dictate that it kind of is. Rather, it’s a dimly lit, strangely claustrophobic affair — you will seldom see a sky or ceiling in this movie, giving it all a boxed-in feeling, and all of the real horror occurs in daylight — in which everyone, when you get right down to it, is kind of a gross loser. As the real-life fable of The Runaways is understood, that’s about right.
ALSO NEW IN THEATERS:Repo Men, starring Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker in a positively Philip K. Dick-y futuristic/satirical romp about a newfangled health care system where organs are repossessed; Mother, the Oscar-nominated Korean film about a mother devoted to proving her son’s innocence in a crime he did not commit; Diary of a Wimpy Kid, one of those wisecrack-y tween movies that makes middle school kids talk like they’re disaffected twentysomethings (please fucking kill me); and The Bounty Hunter, featuring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler sadly not dying in a pit of boiling lava.
Young Philly Politics has a great round-up on all of the recent developments at South Philadelphia High, most notably the efforts allegedly taken by school officials to scapegoat the Asian student who was at the center of the beatdown as a gang member and instigator in the conflict. We’ve been watching this story for a while now, and it has been ugly throughout. But if these allegations are true, it’s our hope that the School District of Philadelphia feels the full brunt of federal and local law. In a city that has some kind of bizarre shame-timebomb that seems to go off once a year, this is the worst one we can remember in a long time. This kid’s name needs to be cleared, even if the city itself will bear the bruises for some time to come.
The KableTown laffs just kept coming last night on 30 Rock. It’s not on Hulu yet, but you can get a peek here. Personally, we’re partial to Fresh-Ass: Based on the Novel Tush By Assfire, but we’re just freaky like that.
· We took in both: Rittenhouse Square is predictably nuts, but also teeming with divorced dads and their kids. Single ladies with a Kramer Vs. Kramer thing, best to get over there straight away. Washington Square, though, as always, is really where it’s at. The vibe is just… better. · Even the homeless are in a genuinely better mood. · I cannot believe I left it all to come and do the last few posts of the week. I must really love you. Either that, or I’m bound by a Catholic guilt that’s tied to a work ethic of some kind. But I doubt it. It’s you! · It is literally a perfect day for earbuds. And The Association. Or like most of the tracks from the dizzle. · If you’re wearing a blazer or jacket, it’s warm enough that you’ll actually break a sweat. We had to call a doctor to ask what was happening, but he patiently explained that it’s just the body’s way of screaming. · Tomorrow is the first day of spring. We have no idea how we’re going to get anything done until the temperature creeps back below 50. That is days away, though. Holy wow, do you smell someone GRILLING?
It may be worth noting that last year, the same year the City of Philadelphia to close many of its public swimming pools due to a massive budget crunch, was also the same year that brought us the whole #racistpool debacle. What did we learn, other than that racists like to swim, too? Well, nothing, really, except maybe that all kids deserve to go swimming in the summertime. But you already knew that. This summer, once again, City Hall has launched Mayor Nutter’s Splash & Summer Fund, which we cannot insure was not lifted from the plotline of an episode of Fat Albert. The goal is ambitious, but doable: To raise $600,000 by May, 31 2010. If achieved, the City will be able to open 69 out of its 72 pools, and they’ve already got $200K in the can, thanks to Lombard Swim Club, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia Parking Authority, TD Bank. Modell’s Sporting Goods and Temple University. Mayor Nutter is encouraging everyone from individuals to community organizations to businesses to donate. And with minimum donations starting at just $10, things are looking bright. Surely we could all part with a tenner for the kids, no?
Wake up, Philadelphia! While we’re all arguing about taxing the fat poor kids and bike lanes, our neighbors right over the bridge in New Jersey are figuring out NEW AWESOME WAYS TO GET BAKED LEGALLY LIKE THEY DO IN CALIFORNIA! This Saturday at the Collingswood, NJ Public Library at hiiiiiigh noon, the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey are holding a meeting to discuss what’s next, since NJ passed medical marijuana laws in January. There’s a lot of issues on the docket — including implementation, regulations, the fate of current medical marijuana users and so on — and yes, we are being flip about this, but also, it really is pretty impressive. Could PA be next? You never know.
If doing this blog has taught us anything, it’s that every time PhillyCarShare changes up its rate plans, it’s confusing, people freak out and that it’s probably got something to do with the service’s ever-shifting business model. (We want everybody! No, wait! We don’t want everybody! Just these people over here!) So, here’s the new jawn: The Keystone Plan! Because the sunlight is melting our brains and all we can think about is going outside, we have no idea if this new one is good or not. You figure it out. We’re trying to play cornhole over here.
Like many others around the world last night, we were saddened to learn that Alex Chilton, who sang in The Box Tops and co-founded Big Star before embarking on a fairly wild solo career, has passed away. Chilton wrote some of our favorite songs — and sang a bunch of other favorites in his later career — and he is survived by a legacy of recordings that, if you haven’t heard ‘em, you really should. The above is one of them, from Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers.
Anybody else want to join in the fun? Send us your hand-drawn neighborhood maps to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com and we will totally run them. And check out more neighborhood maps here on Philebrity.
There’s definitely a lot of overlap between this map and the one of Norris Square/Olde Kensington we ran earlier, but you can beat reader Katie I.’s eye for detail — also, she made a sweet little logo!
Anybody else want to join in the fun? Send us your hand-drawn neighborhood maps to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com and we will totally run them. And check out more neighborhood maps here on Philebrity.
Pennsport: It’s more than just the awesomest titty bar in the city. In fact, it’s a whole neighborhood! And while we love reader Bobby D’s map — and not just for the sublime accidental phrase “Chinese my Wawa gas” — we do wish he’d put the REAL Pennsport here.
Anybody else want to join in the fun? Send us your hand-drawn neighborhood maps to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com and we will totally run them. And check out more neighborhood maps here on Philebrity.
Says amateur cartographer Sara: “I’m submitting this map for your blog, but what I’m really getting at is trying to smoke Jenny and Adriana out of their hole and getting them to admit to the world when they are finally, at long last, going to open the 5th and Poplar burger joint that’s been ‘in the works’ for 2+ years. If it’s not going to happen, why did they put up an awning?” Ha! And even though there’s already been a NoLibs map, we just love the Maira Kalman vibe of this one — as well as Honey’s “Stand & Wait,” poor St. John Neumann being mistaken for a mummy and that good ol’ northern border, described in the previous map as simply Section 8. Oh, NoLibs, you’re so fenced in!
Anybody else want to join in the fun? Send us your hand-drawn neighborhood maps to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com and we will totally run them. And check out more neighborhood maps here on Philebrity.
Reader Paul Drzal went all out on this one, and there’s a lot to love here: “KIDSKIDSKIDSKIDSKIDS,” the imaginary Pathmark, the doo-doo brown Blatstein triangle and, of course, the ever-popular Section 8 housing!
Anybody else want to join in the fun? Send us your hand-drawn neighborhood maps to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com and we will totally run them. And check out more neighborhood maps here on Philebrity.
Leave it to a Wash West-er to have their map be all pro and shit. But we gotta love any map that has Locust Bar on it. Reader Jen Bobbie, well done!
Anybody else want to join in the fun? Send us your hand-drawn neighborhood maps to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com and we will totally run them. And check out more neighborhood maps here on Philebrity.
Young Philly Politics has a great round-up on all of the recent developments at South Philadelphia High, most notably the efforts allegedly taken by school officials to scapegoat the Asian student who was at the center of the beatdown as a gang member and instigator in the conflict. We’ve been watching this story for a while now, and it has been ugly throughout. But if these allegations are true, it’s our hope that the School District of Philadelphia feels the full brunt of 
It may be worth noting that last year, the same year the City of Philadelphia to close many of its public swimming pools due to a massive budget crunch, was also the same year that brought us the whole 
Wake up, Philadelphia! While we’re all arguing about taxing the fat poor kids and bike lanes, our neighbors right over the bridge in New Jersey are figuring out NEW AWESOME WAYS TO GET BAKED LEGALLY LIKE THEY DO IN CALIFORNIA! This Saturday at the Collingswood, NJ Public Library at hiiiiiigh noon, the 
