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Missed the Bike Race? Don’t despair, because there is another adventure in cycling coming up that you won’t want to miss: a mac-n-cheese bicycling tour.

Volpe Cycles, the self-proclaimed “purveyor of fine bicycles to the gentry and the poverty stricken too,” is sponsoring the tour, kicking off at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday, June 25. “Mac the Bike” will be making the rounds through Philadelphia, stopping for some of the most beloved macaroni and cheese concoctions in the city.

Check out the list of stops below:

• Soul Mac at Delilah’s in Reading Terminal Market
• BBQ Mac at Tommy Gunn’s in Manayunk
• New American Mac at Memphis Taproom in Kensington
• Fancy Mac at Bistro La Minette just off of South Street
• Dive Mac (deep fried!) at The Sidecar Bar and Grille in Graduate Hospital

With all of the cheesy goodness that awaits, get your bike tuned up and ready to go at Volpe Cycles, and try not to get any mac ‘n cheese in the gear mechanism.

Mac The Bike: A Mac-N-Cheese Bicycling Tour
When: Saturday, June 25, beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Where: Volpe Cycles, 115 S. 22nd Street
Cost: Pay as you go
More info: www.volpecycles.com

Today is the first day of summer, which means July 4th in Philadelphia is right around the corner... along with countless other awesome summertime activities. (Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC)

Even though it’s felt like summer for a few weeks now, thanks to the Memorial Day celebrations, the warm weather, the action-packed Penn’s Landing programming, and all of the great outdoor seating at restaurants throughout the city, it hasn’t officially been summer until today.

So it is with great pleasure that we wish you a Happy Official First Day of Summer! We’re looking forward to the next few months of water ice and ice cream, cold cocktails and craft beers, festivals and fireworks, garden- and park-sunbathing, alfresco dining and drinking, and everything else that screams summer in the city.

Stay tuned right here as we’ll be bringing you the daily scoop on the best happenings and activities all summer long. From kayaking, outdoor movies, food festivals, Center City sips to beer gardens, Mann Center concerts, and, of course, an eleven-day July 4th celebration, in our humble opinion, there is literally no better place to be in the summer than Philadelphia.

See you out there!

POPPED! is back, with two days of live music from 30 diverse acts, plus comedian,DJs and great local food, all outdoors in FDR Park. (Photos by M. Kennedy for GPTMC)

UPDATE: Due to forecasted weather conditions and possible flooding at FDR Park, the Popped Music Festival has been moved to Temple’s Liacouras Center. The Food Bazaar will now take place at the Piazza from 3-9 p.m. on Saturday. More info here.

Back in 2007, Philadelphia upped its music scene cred with the debut of the POPPED! Music Festival, a City of Brotherly Love version of Austin’s SXSW.

POPPED! returns for the fourth year this coming fall, September 23-24, proving Philadelphia is an even hotter musical hotbed than ever before. Over the course of two days, more than 30 diverse acts, from top performers to local talent, will share the stage at FDR Park (a first-time location!), in South Philly across from the sports complex.

Rain or shine, there will be two days’ worth of live music, comedians and DJs on stage, plus a unique curated food bazaar featuring local Philadelphia food vendors. You’ll hear groups like The Shins, Black Thought and Girl Talk alongside world-class DJ J. Period (named among “the world’s top DJs” by the New York Times) and indie acts The Hold Steady and Panda Bear.

A limited number of 2-Day Early Bird ($90, code POPPEd) and 2-Day Early Bird VIP Passes ($175, code VIPPOPPED) are for sale, online, through this Thursday, June 23 at 10 p.m. On sale this Friday, June 24 at 10 a.m. are regular 2-day passes ($110) and regular 2-day VIP passes ($200). VIP Passes include a special viewing area near the stage and separate car/food/restroom areas.

See below for the star-studded musical lineup.

POPPED! Music Festival
When: Friday, September 23 at 2 p.m.-Saturday, September 24 at 10 p.m.; Food Bazaar Saturday, 3-9 p.m. at the Piazza at Schmidts
Where: NEW LOCATION: Temple’s Liacouras Center, 1776 N. Broad Street
Cost: 1-day passes start at $59.50
More info: www.poppedphiladelphia.org

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Summer Love Ale was a Philly Beer Week star, and you can continue to enjoy it all season long. (Photo by M. McClellan for GPTMC)

The praise for Summer Love Ale keeps rolling in — Complex Magazine, Esquire, Chicago Tribune, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, etc. — and for good reason.

The Chester-County brewed specialty craft beer — brewed by Victory Brewing Company in partnership with the With Love, Philadelphia XOXO® campaign, and made with pale malts, German hops and Brandywine Creek water — capitalizes on our region’s rich brewing history. And it’s delicious. The specific style of beer was chosen because it has a broad appeal; it’s accessible for casual beer drinkers, but still retains exciting hop notes.

Visit Philly has a helpful Foodspotting guide to all the Summer Love Ale spottings in the entire country. Capitalize on that guide in your summer travels near and far, and contribute your own sightings.

In addition to the Foodspotting guide, we’ve rounded up some of our top picks for local spots in and around Center City where you can visit for a sip of Summer Love Ale. If we forgot any of your favorites, let us know in the comments!

Disclaimer: while all of these bars have or will have Summer Love Ale in stock at some point soon this summer, we can’t guarantee they’ll have it on tap all the time. For the most up-to-date list, visit Victory’s super-handy online beer finder to find Summer Love Ale at a bar, restaurant or distributor near you. And call before you go.

• Oyster House – Stop by for happy hour (Mon-Fri, 5-7 p.m.) and enjoy a Summer Love Ale on draft with a few dollar oysters. The crisp, refreshing ale complements a good oyster very well.

• Kennett – Check out this awesome and relatively new bar in Queen Village. It’s all about sourcing locally, from the meat and produce to the beer and cocktails. Recommendation: enjoy a Summer Love Ale at the bar and order up one of the sinfully delicious, wood-fired Porchetta pizzas, with slow roasted pork, farmer’s cheese and honey.

• Pub & Kitchen – Pub & Kitchen has awesome outdoor seating. Snag a table outside, a Summer Love Ale on draft, and make room for their famous Churchill Burger.

• Four Seasons – Summer Love Ale made its debut at the With Love Beer Garden at the Four Seasons Hotel. Fittingly, you can now enjoy a Summer Love Ale at the Swann Lounge as well.

• McGillin’s Olde Ale House – The oldest bar in Philadelphia is still holding it down on Drury Street. And now they’re offering Summer Love Ale as well. So grab some friends and a pitcher of Summer Love and maybe it’s time you show off some of those karaoke skills.

• Varga Bar – Varga Bar rocks one of the best beer lists in the Wash West neighborhood so it’s no surprise that they’re serving Summer Love Ale. Grab a table outside, a pint of Summer Love and dig into an order of Varga’s famous Jumbo Lump Crab Cheese Fries.

• Chifa – Did someone say Pork Belly Bun? Yes, please. Victory’s head brewer, Bill Covaleski himself espoused how well Summer Love Ale pairs with Jose Garces’ famous Pork Belly Buns at Chifa.

• Kyhber Pass Pub – Kyhber Pass Pub has an awesome menu, but the Bacon Grease dusted popcorn truly had us at “hello.” Saddle up to the bar with a Summer Love Ale and an order of said popcorn and you’ll be in for a treat.

Below, we have a bunch more…
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The bar serves more than 60 rums, adding further variety to the month's daquiri menu.
(Photo courtesy Cuba Libre)

July is National Daiquiri Month, and Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar is celebrating, while simultaneously paying tribute to Ernest Hemingway, with 31 daquiris in 31 days.

Hemingway, the Nobel Prize-winning author, famously resided in Cuba where he enjoyed deep-sea fishing and drinking daiquiris. To that end, Cuba Libre will feature a different daiquiri each day in his honor. In addition, a special fish dish, in homage to the literary great’s favorite pastime, will be offered each week as well.

Featured in the daquiris, $10 each, will be Cuba Libre’s signature 10th Anniversary rum. Flavors include Coconut & Basil, Pineapple, Orange, Watermelon, Elderflower, Rhubarb, Black Cherry and many more.

Salud!

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar
10 S. 2nd Street
www.cubalibrerestaurant.com

We're hooking up a uwishunu reader with free World Cafe Live tickets! (Photo courtesy Vanessa Carlton)

American singer-songwriter and talented pianist Vanessa Carlton — remember A Thousand Miles and Ordinary Days? — is coming to World Cafe Live this Thursday, June 23 in support of her new album Rabbits On The Run, coming out next month.

Carlton was born in Milford, Pennsylvania, so she’s somewhat of a Philadelphia hometown girl.

She’s sold out her three New York appearances in pre-sales, but there are still tickets left to her Philadelphia showing: and one lucky reader (and a +1) gets to go for FREE!

Enter below for your chance to win.

Vanessa Carlton at World Cafe Live
Where: 3025 Walnut Street
When: Thursday, June 23, doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.
Cost: FREE for one reader and his/her +1
More info: www.tickets.worldcafelive.com

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Paine’s Park, a major focal point of the plan, will be a mixed-use public space designed with skateboarding in mind, set along the Schuylkill Riverbanks adjacent to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Image courtesy Franklin's Paine Skatepark Fund)

Today, June 21 Is Go Skateboarding Day, an annual celebration of the creativity and spirit of one of the most widely enjoyed activities in the world.

Communities, skateparks and skateshops all around Philadelphia are participating to show how important skateboarding is to this city. You can tap in all day with skateboard T-shirt printing, skatepark obstacles and more.

Concurrently, the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department has partnered with non-profit Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund (FPSF), one of the first non-profit advocacy organizations dedicated to skateboarding in the entire country, to develop Philadelphia’s first city-wide skatepark Master Plan.

The Skatepark Master Plan outlines a five year scope of work designed to repurpose locations throughout Philadelphia to serve as free, public skateparks.

The plan identifies the need for 15 skateparks in West and Southwest Philadelphia. Key projects include: McCreesh Playground at 6744 Regent Street in Southwest Philadelphia; Nicetown between Germantown and Wayne Avenues; Granahan Playground at 6500 Callowhill Street in West Philadelphia; Mantua section of West Philadelphia; Rose Playground 1300 N. 75th Street in West Philadelphia; Knight Park in Ambler; and Paine’s Park, along the banks of the Schuylkill River adjacent to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. According to FPSF, these are just the starting point for an eventual 30-40 skateboarding spots throughout the Philadelphia region.

Additional plans already completed thanks to the efforts of FPSF over the last several years include: Pop’s Playground Skate Space: Trenton Avenue and E. Hazzard Street in Kensington, and Patrick Kerr Skatepark at Roslyn Park in Abington Township.

FPSF works under the noble goal of keeping Philadelphia kids off the wrong path and on the right (skate-able) one. Says Claire Laver, Executive Director of FPSF, “We envision a city where no child has to travel further than a half mile to access free, designated skate space.”

Check out another image of what Paine’s Park will look like, below.

Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund [Official Site]

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The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival returns this Wednesday through Sunday, June 22-26.

This annual festival brings together peers, admirers, film critics, film creators, general audience members and online viewers of independent films to present, discuss and experience the scope of independent movies.

Last year’s festival drew more than 11,000 people. Cash into the vibrant media and arts community in Philadelphia by attending one of the dozens of screenings throughout the five-day festival at four venues: the Franklin Institute, Media Bureau, Cafe Treece and Random Tearoom.

Tickets are available online: $8 for individual screenings ($10 at the Franklin Institute), $25 for a festival day-pass which includes access to all screenings, panels and roundtable disscussions for a 24 hour period.

4th Annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
Where: Franklin Institute, Media Bureau, Cafe Treece or Random Tearoom
When: June 22-26
Cost: $8 for individual screenings ($10 at the Franklin Institute), $25 for a festival day-pass
More info: www.philadelphiaindependentfilmfestival.com

 
Attention Phillies fans: mark your calendars for next Monday, June 27, because that is when Jimmy Rollins will be hitting baseballs over a closed-down Benjamin Franklin Parkway as he attempts to break the Guinness World Record for the Longest Batted Ball ever hit, a record which happens to belong to one Babe Ruth.

The special event, sponsored by Red Bull, will close down a section of the Parkway during lunchtime as Rollins attempts to hit a baseball further than anyone has ever hit a baseball before, a whopping 576 feet — or the distance of almost two football fields. To put that into perspective, one of Rollins’ most recent home runs at Citizens Bank Park was estimated at 381 feet long.

The Guinness World Record is for the greatest distance one individual can hit a batted baseball in a legal manner with no restriction on equipment. To that end, Jimmy will be working with a souped-up bat that was custom engineered by Red Bull with the help of physicists (see video above).

The event is free and open to the public so Rollins is encouraging his fellow Philadelphians to stop by to witness the science, the technology, the talent, the strength, or to just see one of their favorite Phillies really hit it out of the park… and over a highway. Literally; we’re not sure what’s going to happen if he knocks one toward the Vine Street Expressway…

Said Rollins: “I’ve hit a ball below the third deck at the Vet. I’ve gone to the second deck a number of times at CBP and I’ve gone out to center field. So 420 feet is probably about the furthest I’ve ever hit a ball. With technology, if you get another 160 feet out of it, that would be a lot of fun.”

A lot of fun, indeed. Good luck Jimmy!

Follow all the action here.

Jimmy Rollins World Record Attempt – Red Bull Ball Park Cranks
When: 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., June 27, 2011
Where: Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Intersection of 20th Street
Cost: Free
More info: www.redbullusa.com

The new film series includes a cocktail hour on the museum's terrace overlooking Independence Mall.
(Photo courtesy NMAJH)

The National Museum Of American Jewish History is getting in on the summertime movie screenings action with a new “Cocktails & Comedies” film series launching tomorrow, June 21.

The four-part series, each night of which begins with a cocktail hour on the Robbi and Bruce Toll Terrace followed by a screening in the Dell Theater, features four decades of Jewish humor from classic Jewish comedians and filmmakers.

The movie lineup is as follows:

The Big Lebowski: June 21
The Producers: July 12
Annie Hall: July 19
The Princess Bride: July 26

The film series is a great way to get out and experience the new museum. Enjoy an early evening cocktail on the museum’s beautiful terrace, which boasts an unmatched view of Independence Mall. Then grab some popcorn, sit back and enjoy a few classic Hollywood comedies.

Tickets are available online.

“Cocktails & Comedies” Film Series
Where: 101 S. Independence Mall East
When: June 21, July 12, July 19, July 26
Cost: $15 per night, $36 for three-film package
More info: www.www.nmajh.org