I’ve been all work, all the time lately, and the weeks are just flying by. It’s sad, really. I need to slow down. But no time for that! I’m leaving Philly for Milan and London, for very important businessy business, in oh, about 9 days, and here are some April things I hope to do and will also miss while I’m away:

1. Philadelphia Film Festival: April 3-15. There are complimentary guides around town. I’m sure you can pick them up at any Ritz theater, the Prince Music Theater, The Bridge: Cinema DeLux, International House, and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute - all venues for the films. TLA stores are selling advance tickets already.

2. April 5 - Philly Spring Cleanup. Join me!

3. April 12 - Roller Derby Double Header at the Sportsplex in NE Philly. $10 advance purchase, $12 at the door. Never seen them; have always wanted to be one - a tough bitch on wheels. I’ll have to watch. They would kill me, I suppose.

4. April 15 - Deadline for filing 2007 income tax returns. Yay.

5. April 15 - reward your possibly last-minute scramble to file the taxes with a Phillies home game. It’s Hatfield Phillies Franks Dollar Dog Night! Get yourself some cheap weiners and expensive booze.

6. April 18-20th - Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel. $15 per day, $35 for the weekend. Get marked!

7. April 22 - Pennsylvania 2008 General Election Primaries. 7am-8pm. Here’s a handy guide to finding your polling place. Rock it!

Here’s wishing you a sweet April!

Raina Rose met John Elliott at the only free camp site at Lake Tahoe. They were both taken by each other’s music (they both play a personal style of folky rock) the minute they heard it and have been friends ever since. Now on tour together for the first time, they’re playing in Philly this Sunday at 5 pm at the Church. Tickets are $10 at the door. They’re doing an acoustic chapel show, which means that the sound will be terrific and the setting will be cozy. Definitely not something to miss.

Here’s my response to the first performance I attended at the 2007 Philly Fringe: Sonic Dances by Group Motion Dance Company.* Performance date: 8/31.

Sonic Dances is an outdoor, site-specific piece, starting at one of two locations (depending on performance date) at City Hall, and then moving across JFK to the courtyard (official name: Thomas Paine Plaza) outside the Municipal Services Building. It’s an enjoyable, abstract, piece that effectively responds and plays off of–although more effectively in some passages than in others–the presence of public art and sculpture in these sites.

(More details after the jump.)
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Make sure to head over to head over to the Starlight Ballroom this Saturday between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm to check out all the cool stuff at R5 Productions’ semi-annual Punk Rock Flea Market. In addition to giving you chance to get great bargains and unique stuff, the flea market is an event that raises funds in order to help R5 pay for their incredibly high insurance bill (by attending the flea market, you help keep show ticket prices low).

The Starlight Ballroom is at 460 North 9th Street (On 9th Street Between Spring Garden and Callowhill. The event is open to all ages, but you have to be 21 to drink. They will be collecting a $3 donation at the door. In addition to the normal flea market stuff there will also be a full bar and food service kitchen to make the day go by a little faster.

The list of the 100+ vendors can be found after the jump.
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A couple of weeks ago when my parents were in town visiting, we went to the Morris Arboretum. It is a lovely historic garden out by Whitemarsh, owned and run by the University of Pennsylvania. (In fact, Penn faculty get in free; it’s $8 per person otherwise.)

There is a lot of variety to see. My favorite spot was the rose garden, even though there really weren’t many roses in bloom when we were there. But there were tons of other interesting flowers and a couple of cute ducks wandering around. Beyond the cultured gardens, there are lovely paths which meander among many different kinds of trees, little streams, sculptures, and sweeping meadows.

This tree is a giant Japanese maple (seriously, it was huge), photographed from underneath its foliage.

I definitely recommend this garden if you’re looking for something a little closer than Longwood Gardens (which I still haven’t had a chance to go to).

Please add your Philadelphia photos to the Metroblogging Philadelphia Flickr group. Readers’ photos will be featured here on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

It’s time for another meetup of the Philadelphia: The Charm of the City Flickr group, organized by Moocat (a frequent poster to our Metroblogging Philadelphia Flickr group as well).

If you’re interested in joining us, here are the details:

Location: Washington Square Park, between 6th-7th and Walnut & Locust. We’ll meet at the fountain in the center of the park.

Date/Time: Monday May 14th, 5:30 pm

Plan: we’ll wander around Washington Square Park area, maybe to the Magnolia & Rose gardens & then the alleys of Wash West.

We’ll finish with ice cream :) at Capogiro, 13th & Sansom Streets (they also have sandwiches/salads if you want something more substantial.

Posted to Philadelphia: The Charm of the City

I haven’t been able to make any of the past meetups, but this one I had a hand in planning so I expect to be able to be there.

The talented and itinerant folksinger Raina Rose is going to be appearing in Philadelphia TODAY at 5 pm at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. She’ll be performing in the chapel, which is a gorgeous, intimate space with amazing acoustics. Tickets are $10 or $5 for children and students.

Oh, and she’s my sister, so I can vouch for her amazingness.

Paul Vallas is quitting. The Philadelphia School District CEO said claims he made a five year commitment, and now his time is up. Rumor has it he may be headed to New Orleans to rebuild their school system, as he spent four days touring the schools and offering free advice.

Before coming to Philadelphia, Vallas was the superintendent of Chicago Schools which were widely considered the worst in the nation before his six years there. His accomplishments, according to Education Next:

The budget was quickly put in order. Vallas rehabbed old schools and built attractive new ones. Test scores reported to the public rose nearly every year, two union contracts were negotiated without any strikes, and a host of new programs–summer school, afterschool programs, alternative schools, new magnet programs–were all created, Most important, for perhaps the first time in Chicago’s history, low-performing schools were pressured to do better, and students and their parents encountered a system that did not just pass everyone through regardless of what they learned.

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When it comes to eating out, I rarely leave the boundaries of Center City for a meal. Occasionally I end up in Chestnut Hill and find myself eating an amazing cheese plate, or I’ll get a sandwich and a beer in Narberth when we go out after class. But for the most part, I don’t really leave Center City to eat. And even around here, I find myself falling into ruts and routines (Devil’s Alley, Fuji Mountain, Vietnam Palace–lather, rinse, repeat).

Over the course of the last two months, I’ve had the opportunity to eat at the Rose Tattoo Cafe at 19th and Callowhill. Some might argue that this still counts as Center City, but I believe that if you have to cross the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, it isn’t Center City any longer. But back to my point, which is that the Rose Tattoo is really kind of fantastic. It’s been around for years, so you don’t see much about it in local media often, and I’d never really paid much attention to it, but now I’m a convert.

The entrees are a little pricey, but are nicely sized and always creatively presented. The salads and appetizers are large enough in combination that you can get away with them for your whole meal and leave feeling full. My favorite duo is the arugula salad followed by a big bowl of steamed mussels. The desserts are also beautiful and abundant. This would be a great place to go as your final stop of the evening, to share a dessert with a friend or a date over coffee or a drink.

I dream about their macademia nut brownie. Go, check it out.

Being as there is no Philadelphia Guns N’ Roses show scheduled, nor will there probably be one since the last time the band was supposed to come there was a riot, myself and some Philly boys are taking a ride up to North Jersey and the Continental Airlines Arena to catch Axl Rose and company live in concert. We’re leaving in just a few minutes, anybody else making the trip or if you’re reading this after the show made the trip?