The doors are open and the music is turned up. Ed Tettemer, Philadelphia ad man and this evening’s official host is working the crowd, ready for his cue. The potential storytellers are signing up, all nervously hoping that their name will be drawn out of the hat and they’ll get a chance to take the stage and tell their story tonight. The highest-scoring participant tonight will win the Golden Ticket, which gives them entry to November’s Grand Slam, where storytellers will battle it out to determine who is the Best Storyteller in Philadelphia. The Grand Slam will be held during the First Person Fest in November.

The rest of the updates will be posted after the jump, so extend the entry and keep refreshing in order to read the highs and lows from the tonight’s Trespassing-themed story slam.
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The last Monday of the month is rapidly approaching. If you’re looking to send July off with a bang, think about checking out Studio Curve Dominant’s last Monday party at the Troc Balcony. The festivities start at 9:30 pm and will feature L-Cast recording artist rapper/producer D-Sharp and former Tuff Crew members Wicked and DJ Black. They’ll be backed by the Curve Dominant Live Squad, Anam Owili-Eger on keyboards, Chris Bryan on drums, Adam Todaro on bass and the man behind Curve Dominant himself, Eric Vincent on electric guitar.

At the Trocadero, 1003 Arch Street. The show is free, but you must be, 21 or over to attend. Drink specials include $2 PBR’s and $3 Yuenglings.

Photo credit: Odhusky

It is gorgeous out tonight, and if you’re looking around, wondering how best to take advantage of the weather, you might want to check out the Lawn Chair Drive-In tonight at Liberty Lands Park (3rd and Poplar Streets).

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (Czechoslovakia, 83 min. 1958). Karl Zeman’s half-live action, half-animated film based on Jules Verne’s adventure novels. Shown on film (actual film) Drive-In exhumes the rarely screened work of Karel Zeman, the co-founder of Czech animation and one of the pioneers of stop-motion. Along with colleague Hermina Tyrlova, Zeman won the Best Animation award at Cannes ‘46. He’s best remembered for this phantasmagoric mashup of Jules Verne stories (specifically Facing the Flag and Mysterious Island), which has him pulling out all the stops, integrating human actors into stunningly designed backdrops and interacting with animated creatures.

Sounds pretty cool to me. Grab your chairs and go stake yourself out a spot!

For the 4th year in a row, the University City District (along with a host of other sponsors and supporters) is presenting the 40th Street Summer Series, with the dual intention of entertaining and increasing the visibility of the 40th Street corridor (my new favorite used bookstore, The Last Word, is located on that street). The festivals will be held on the 2nd Saturday of the month throughout the summer at the 40th Street Field. Each will focus on a different arts and cultural theme.

In addition to live music, there will also be dance floor and games (complete with prizes). This month the performers include the Subliminal Orphans, DJ Skeme Richards (breaks/funk), Doctor Ketchup (groove/jam band), Philadelphia Slick (hip hop/jazz/funk/rock/groove) and Walker Lundee (indie rock).

Festivities run from 2 until 5 and admission is free.

The Sunoco Welcome America Festival starts today, and they are kicking things off tonight with Opera in the Square (Rittenhouse Square, that is) from 6:30-8:30 pm, followed by the screening of Rocky on the steps of the Art Museum at 9 pm. I’ve been to both events (although not in the same years) and always had a good time.

The Opera in the Square is a great people watching opportunity, as folks from all over the city come out for a chance to hear some free opera (I think most of the performers are students from the Curtis Institute).

One tip if you’re going to attend the Rocky screening–make sure to bring cushions, those steps get hard on the behind after the first half-hour.

For the full calendar of events (the festival runs through the 4th of July) click here.

If you are looking for a way to get out of the heat tonight, make your way over to L’Etagee at 6th and Bainbridge and check out the First Person Arts Story Slam. The theme tonight is “Boiling Point” and Inquirer food writer Rick Nichols will be hosting. Story Slam is an opportunity for people to get up and tell their stories in front of a live audience. I’ll be there, along with fellow Philly blogger Scott. If you see us, come over and say hello.

Gamervision will be hosting a Guitar Hero II tournament at the Kimmel Center on Saturday June 23rd starting at 11:30 AM, as part of the Summer Solstice Celebration. A spot in the tourney will cost three dollars and the event is for those 21 years of age or older. For those interested check out more info at Gamervision.

East Falls will be hosting a Bike Race Block Party this Sunday, June 10th from 9 am until 3 pm at Midvale Ave. and Kelly Drive. There will be food vendors, music by the Acoustic League of Justice and a health fair. The bikers pass that location 20 times during the race, so it’s a terrific spot from which to watch. One warning, if you are coming from destinations that are not walking distance from that intersection, you may want to take the train out there. Parking is always tight in that neighborhood, and many of the roads will be closed to accommodate the racers. Luckily Septa has set up a special schedule for race day, with trains running every 30 minutes, to make sure that there’s enough space for everyone.

No, they aren’t launching themselves on some uber tour (although that would be something to see). This Saturday night the M Room at Frankford and Girard is hosting a dance party where the only music DJ deejay will be playing comes from the catalogues of those three pop greats. Sounds like a fun time to me…

For more information on what seems to be some sort of MadonnaMichaelPrince phenomenon, check out DJ deejay’s myspace page.

Just about everyone knows what a huge Harry Potter geek I am—that’s no secret. One of the most awesome things that’s come out of HP fandom is a movement called “wizard rock”. It’s great because it encourages children to read and to get involved in music.

One of my favorite bands is The Whomping Willows, led by Matt Maggiacomo of Rhode Island. His music, humorously labeled as “botanical wizard rock”, is charming, whitty, and often just a little bit naughty. I mean, come on! One of the songs on his debut album is titled “When You Touched Me in That Special Place”, sung from a pining Whompy to his Remus Lupin, “the greatest love in the whole world”.

Along with with R5 Productions and Harry and the Potters, my HP group Potterdelphia co-hosted the Philadelphia Yule Ball 2006 last December at Starlight Ballroom, which featured The Whomping Willows as the opening act. After that, Matt says, “I decided that I needed to write a song about how effing awesome Philadelphia is. No offense to any other cities, but I’ve never witnessed such an enthusiastic crowd.”

Enthusiastic? Well, yeah, that’s Philly all right!
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