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Snackbar's Red Snapper, Photo via Foobooz

Next week, Snackbar kicks off their third anniversary with a delicious looking 3-course dinner. The deal, which will last from Sunday, January 24th to the 29th, includes everything on the menu, and is only $30 per person.

Art over at Foobooz has the whole menu pasted on his site. Go take a look, and book your reservation ASAP.

Snackbar
253 South 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5633
(215) 545-5655
www.snackbarltd.com

[ via Foobooz ]

Noche Flamenca, Photo by Andrea Mohin

One of the world’s most highly regarded flamenco touring companies returns to Philadelphia for two performances on Saturday, January 23 at the Merriam Theater at 2pm and 8pm.

Currently performing a 3-week run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City, and having recently completed tours in Australia, Mexico and Argentina, Noche Flamenca and Bessie Award-winning performer Soledad Barrio bring the fiery seductive complexity of Spanish traditional dance to the stage.

Founded by Martín Santangelo and his wife Soledad Barrio, Madrid-based Noche Flamenca are sure to please with a passionate performance in dance, song and music. Accompanied by two of Spain’s finest flamenco dancers, Juan Ogalla and Antonio Jiménez, in addition to five musicians, the troupe will perform new works along with traditional pieces that have captivated audiences around the globe.

For tickets, call 215-893-1999 or visit the Kimmel Center’s website.

Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca at the Merriam Theater
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
2pm and 8pm

Merriam Theater
250 South Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19102-5022
(215) 732-5997

Bus Stop Boutique's storefront window

Bus Stop Boutique invites you to come get wild and woolly this Friday.

Jurgita Cenkute’s BedHeadSheep will be swinging by the popular Queen Village boutique, bringing her hand-made, one-of-a-kind scarves, handbags, toys, and accessories with her. Cenkute creates her wares using natural, renewable materials. You can learn more about her and her crafts at her official website.

The first hour of the Wild & Woolly will feature a make-your-own teddy bear workshop, during which Jurgita will show guests how to make their own cuddly creation. Space is extremely limited, so be sure to RSVP with Elena (elena[at]busstopboutique.com) if you’re interested. The workshop is free, and all materials will be supplied.

The trunk show starts at 6:30pm. Guests can hang out with Jurgita, and enjoy a class of sangria while browsing her crafts.

Wild & Woolly Workshop & Trunk Show
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
5:30pm to 8:30pm

Bus Stop Boutique
750 S. 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 627-2357
www.busstopboutique.com

From the 1950s What In The World television show, Photo courtesy the Penn Museum

Back in the 1950′s, the former director of the Penn Museum, Froelich Rainey, created What in the World, a national television show that spanned for several seasons. Not familiar with the television show? You can watch a few of the old What in the World programs here, on YouTube.

Now, as a part of the Philagrafika 2010 international contemporary art festival, the museum is launching a new installation that features a recreated set from the famous television program. Along with the true to life set, the exhibit will highlight seldom seen artifacts that relate to the museum and a special video series about the 123 year old institution.

Once the exhibit opens next Friday, you’ll be able to catch the series of videos detailing the history of the Penn museum on YouTube. I’ll be Tweeting those out as they appear.

The installation launches on January 29th and runs through April 11th, with plenty of special events in between. To learn more about the exhibit and the Penn Museum, visit the museum’s official website.

Philagrafika
www.philagrafika2010.org

Penn Museum
3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 898-4001
www.museum.upenn.edu

All across the world, hearts are heavy with thoughts of the Haitian people and the recent earthquake that ravaged the island nation. Individuals, businesses and corporations alike are all doing what they can to offer help and aid. Here in Philadelphia, Walnut Street’s Rum Bar is hoping to honor their Haitian regulars and do their part to raise fund to add to the relief effort.

At this time, there are wooden donation bins at either end of the bar where patrons can donate. On January 29th, the money will be tallied and donated to the American Red Cross (earmarked for Haitian Relief). A similar fund drive will also be held throughout the month of February.

Rum Bar will be matching all funds raised, so every dollar you stuff into one of their wooden bins will be worth two by the time it makes to the Red Cross. Not a bad deal at all.

So head over to Rum Bar, raise a drink to our friends in Haiti and donate to the relief effort.

Rum Bar
2005 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
www.rum-bar.com

Bees at work; photo by A. Jaszek

As you may have heard, amateur beekeeping is all the rage these days. Flush with the spirit of urban homesteading and DIY, city dwellers are putting hives on building roofs. In more rural areas, first-time beekeepers are consulting with county extension agents for the best ways to handle a hive that’s swarmed. Here in the Philadelphia area, lots of people don protective gear and regularly wander out into their backyards or climb to their roofs, in order to tend a queen and her subjects.

However, without Philadelphia-born Lorenzo Langstroth, these homegrown hives would not be possible. He is widely known as the Father of American Bee Keeping and helped make bees the most studied insect in the world by inventing the moveable frame beehive.

With colony collapse disorder regularly in the news and the stark reality that bees pollinate one-third of all the food we eat, it’s time to learn more about those fuzzy buzzers.

This year the opportunity for knowledge is yours, as bee scientists and beekeeping aficionados will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of Langstroth’s birthday with lectures, receptions and a September Honey Festival (hoped to be the first of many). The year of celebration kicks off this Thursday evening at 7 p.m., with a lecture by Carl Flatow of the Science Friday Initiative, Barbara Ceiga of the Academy of Natural Sciences, and historian Mark Hoffman, and will be hosted by the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild at the Unitarian Society of Germantown.

Click the links for more information about Lorenzo Langstroth, beekeeping and the upcoming Honey Festival.

The JACK Quartet, Performing at the Kimmel this Saturday

This Saturday, the JACK Quartet returns to the Kimmel Center for the first time since the Summer Solstice Celebration in 2008. Come welcome them back.

The group hits the Kimmel’ Innovation Studio at 7:30pm, and will be performing their spin on contemporary-classical music. Their recent album was featured in several Best of 2009 lists, and the group was listed as one of the LA Times’ Faces to Watch in 2010.

According to the Kimmel, the program will include “works by German composers Wolfgang Rihm and Matthias Pintscher; UK-based conductor-composer Aaron Cassidy; and New York-based composer Jeff Myers.” Myers actually wrote a piece specifically for the quartet, called Dopamine.

Tickets are only $10, and can be purchased on the Kimmel Center’s official website.

JACK Quartet @ the Innovation Studio
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 893-1999
www.kimmelcenter.org

The cast of the 24-Hour Bald Soprano, Photo by Chris K

Fans of Theater of the Absurd hold Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano as one of the top plays in the genre. Now, fans in Philadelphia will have a chance to see the social satire — 24 times in a row, if they so desire.

Brat Productions will present The 24-Hour Bald Soprano, a full day’s worth of performances of the 60-minute work, beginning on Jan. 22 at 8:00 p.m. and continuing nonstop with the final performance on Jan. 23 at 7:00 p.m.

The Bald Soprano is a great play for this kind of back-to-back show. Taking social niceties and excruciating manners to an outrageous extreme, the play finds two couples — the Smiths and the Martins — gathering for a pleasant visit. The show continues on, growing more absurd and random all the time. Eventually, it reaches its cyclical ending, with one couple “ending” the show by speaking the same lines the other couple spoke to begin the show. But in Brat’s production, the show doesn’t end at all. The characters portraying each couple simply switch roles, and they dive right back into the show.

It’s a unique challenge for the actors — and for audience members as well. The questions becomes: Which of the 24 shows will offer the best experience? If you see an early show, you may miss the marathon element of the overall event. But if you go too late, the actors may be exhausted and the performance may suffer. That means the best time to go see The Bald Soprano is probably around 4:00 a.m. on the 23rd. We’ll see you there.

The 24-Hour Bald Soprano
January 22-23

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 898-3900
www.bratproductions.org

This Thursday, Philadelphia’s Center for Architecture is presenting an evening of classic film and… well, architecture.

John DeFazio, a professional architect and associate professor at Drexel University is hosting the event, engaging guests in discussion about films that explore ideas and themes on architecture. This month’s film of choice? Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur.

For more info on upcoming events at the Center for Architecture, visit their official website.

The Saboteur @ the Center for Architecture
Thursday, January 21st, 2010, 7pm to 10pm
Free!

Center for Architecture
1218 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 569-3188
www.philadelphiacfa.org

Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, Photo by Mark Gavin

It’s a form of music first popularized before Philadelphia and Baltimore became anything resembling the major cities they are today.

This weekend, major groups that focus on 17th-century style Baroque music from the two mid-Atlantic hubs are partnering for a weekend program, featuring Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos No. 2 and 3, alongside works by Vivaldi, Heinichen and Pisendel.

The Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, Tempesta di Mare, is meeting up with Baltimore’s Baroque ensemble, Pro Musica Rara, over Concerto alla Venetiana, a program with two shows in Philadelphia and a third in Charm City.

On Friday, Jan. 22 at 8 PM, the two groups are joining together at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, a big, beautiful facade that rises from a particularly tree-lined stretch of Germantown Ave. Then they’ll play in the first Catholic Church erected in Philadelphia, on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 8 PM, at Old St. Joseph’s Chuch. For the rubber match, it’s back to Baltimore on Sunday Jan. 24 at 3:30 PM at Towson University Center for the Arts.

It’s a chance to see the collaboration of two celebrated music organizations playing Baroque styles, composers and works not often played today. Tickets range from $10 to $35, and can be ordered on Tempesta di Mare’s official website.

The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill
8855 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
www.chestnuthillpres.org

Old St Joseph’s Church
321 Willings Alley, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3897
(215) 923-1733
www.oldstjoseph.org