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Get out in the city this weekend; you've got lots of events and activities to choose from, including the Philadelphia Marathon, First Person Arts Festival and exciting new museum exhibitions. (Photo by R. Kennedy for GPTMC)

There is so much to do this fall weekend, from partaking in the Philadelphia Marathon madness as thousands of runners descend upon the city, to enjoying the beautiful foliage in the region while we still can.

There are theater productions galore, a batch of brand new restaurants to try and local holiday gift-shopping to do (more on that next week).

Our top picks for how to spend your weekend, below:

Friday, November 18

Philadelphia Marathon: Our Definitive Spectators’ Guide (Fri, Sat, Sun)

Stephen Starr’s Route 6: Opening Night

10th Annual First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art: Concluding Weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun)

Pre-Prohibition Cocktail Class at Wine School of Philadelphia

Pets In The City: PSPCA Fashion Show

Drexel Players’ 12th Nite, re-imagined production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Mandell Theater (Fri, Sat, Sun)

U.S. Mr. Gay Competition (Fri, Sat)

Art After 5 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Bugs … Outside the Box: Discover the Art Within Science at The Academy of Natural Sciences

Let Me Tell You About A Dream I Had at Philadelphia Art Alliance

Saturday, November 19

Our guide to viewing gorgeous fall foliage in the Philadelphia region

Einstein’s Brain at the Mütter Museum

Fall Festival at The Porch at 30th Street Station

Holiday Art Star Craft Bazaar (Sat, Sun)

Philadelphia Marathon’s Pasta Dinner: Dine + Explore

2nd Annual Stout & Chowder Festival at the Independence Seaport Museum

Back to the Future Party at Body Rock Boot Camp

Fifteen Firkins for Fifteen Years at Iron Hill Newark

Book Paper Scissors at the Free Library

Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Wells Fargo Center

Bearded Ladies’ Wide Awake: A Civil War Cabaret at the Wilma Theater

Tristin Lowe: Under the Influence at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival — Closing Day!

J. Karma Boutique Closing Sale

Sunday, November 20

Theatre Exile’s Gruesome Playground Injuries

Renegade Theatre Company’s The Amish Project — Closing Day!

here. at Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts

Azuka Theatre’s Act A Lady — Closing Day!

Human Evolution: The First 200 Million Years at the Penn Museum

Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens

Wacky Walks at Morris Arboretum

The Mystery of Irma Vep at Act II Playhouse — Closing Day!

National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China at the Kimmel Center

Fighting for Democracy: Who is the “We” in “We the People”? at the National Constitution Center

CSI: The Experience at The Franklin Institute

BalletX Fall Series — Closing Day!

Take in the breathtaking wintertime view overlooking the Delaware River and Benjamin Franklin Bridge at the Blue Cross RiverRink, open all season long. (Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC)

The Blue Cross RiverRink at Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia’s only outdoor public ice rink, officially re-opens at noon on Friday, November 25, with the first skating session of the season.

To celebrate the start of the 18th anniversary year of one of Philadelphia’s premier wintertime traditions there will be a free concert beginning at 12:30 p.m., featuring Cody Simpson, Atlantic recording artist and singer of the Top 40 hit singles, “On My Mind,” and “Not Just You.”

But there will also be a special sneak preview event for 94.1 WIP Listeners on Wednesday November 23. From 1-6 p.m., WIP will broadcast live from the Blue Cross RiverRink and offer free skating and rental to all their listeners.

Featuring an outdoor Olympic size rink overlooking the Delaware River and an indoor heated facility with a snack bar, game room and more, the Blue Cross RiverRink offers skating session hours Monday to Thursday evenings from 6–9 p.m.; Friday from 6–8 p.m., 8:30–10:30 p.m., and 11 p.m –1 a.m.; Saturday from 12:30–2:30 p.m., 3– 5:30 p.m., 6–8 p.m., 8:30–10:30 p.m., and 11 p.m.–1 a.m.; and Sunday from 12:30–2:30 p.m., 3– 5:30 p.m., 6–9 p.m.

Skating admission is extremely affordable at $8 and $9 for Friday and Saturday night sessions at 8:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.; skate rental is available for $3. Convenient parking is also available on site for only $12.

The rink season, which runs until March 4, 2012, also features a live DJ every Friday and Saturday night from 9 p.m. to midnight. To make a reservation for skating lessons or special sled skating instruction for people with disabilities, call (215) 925-RINK.

It’s time to “Think Rink,” the perfect way to enjoy the great outdoors and fresh air fun.

Blue Cross RiverRink at Penn’s Landing
Columbus Boulevard at Market Street
www.riverrink.com

'The King and I' has captured the hearts of millions with its charming story of the British governess brought into the court of Siam to tutor the King's many children. (Photo by Mark Garvin courtesy Walnut Street Theatre)

The timeless story of king-schoolteacher love comes to the Walnut Street Theatre in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s colorful, fun and touching The King and I.

If you don’t know the Tony Award-winning tale, here’s a quick synopsis: English teacher Anna arrives in Siam at the request of the stubborn King, who attempts to adopt the modern ways of the West while holding onto his country’s seemingly outdated traditions. (His hero Abe Lincoln gets a couple shout-outs during the show.)

As Anna is “getting to know” the King’s many wives and children, she comes to respect their culture, just as they do hers. Her mixed feelings for the king — maddening yet endearing — come to a head the night of a gala for Western dignitaries.

Will her growing admiration for the King triumph over her frustration? More importantly, will she declare her feelings via song and dance?

The glittering costumes and regal set designs transport the audience to Anna and the King’s world. And the play-within-a-play, a ballet of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (or “Small House of Uncle Tom,” as the King’s wives call it) complements the bigger story while adding a beautifully choreographed dance element.

The family-friendly Broadway musical is at once funny, heartwarming and poignant — and all-around entertaining.

In its 203rd season, the Walnut still has it. Get tickets online.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I
Where: Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut Street
When: Now through January 8, 2012
Cost: Tickets range from $10-$75
More Info: www.walnutstreettheatre.org

One of the world’s most remarkable collections of race cars, including a 1958 Aston Martin DBR1 that Stirling Moss drove to victory and a Cobra Daytona Coupe that had been lost for 30 years until Simeone helped in its recovery, is located just a short drive from Center City. (Photo courtesy Simeone Foundation)

Huge news: the Simeone Foundation Museum in South Philly was just selected as “Museum of the Year” by the International Historic Motoring Awards.

The judging panel included such noted figures as TV host Jay Leno, vintage car racer and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Pebble Beach Chief Judge Ed Gilbertson, five times Le Mans winner Derek Bell and Lady Susie Moss, wife of racing icon Sir Stirling Moss, among others. 


The Simeone Museum was nominated among extremely esteemed company. The other museum considered were the National Motor Museum of England, the Jaguar Heritage Museum in the UK, the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles and the Auto Museum Prototyp in Germany.

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, located near the Philadelphia international Airport, encompasses many of the most significant racing sports cars ever built.

The collection, started in 2008 by Dr. Fred Simeone, begins with a race car from 1909 and continues to the mid-1970s. As you walk through the museum, you’ll see how technology has evolved in just seven decades of racing.

Within the walls of the Simeone — the only museum of its kind in North America — you’ll find 60 of the world’s rarest and most famous race cars. And if luxury is your style, names like Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Maserati are pretty tough to beat.

Kudos to this most singular of institutions, no small statement given Philadelphia’s vibrant museumscape.

Simeone Foundation Museum
6825-31 Norwitch Drive
www.simeonemuseum.org

You have until 5 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, to enter to win great foodie prizes. (Image courtesy Primo's)

Uwishunu takes its giveaways seriously; we want to offer our readers only the best.

So make sure you take advantage and enter to win the, frankly, awesome prizes we’re offering up in two cool contests currently running, and about to end tomorrow.

First up, we’re giving away a $100 gift card to Stephen Starr’s brand new Italian restaurant Il Pittore to one lucky reader. Check out the contest details and enter here.

Plus, you can still cast your vote in the Visit Philly Facebook Poll and enter to win a year’s supply of hoagies (!!) — fulfilled in the form of 12 gift cards to various hoagie shops around the city.

For both contests, you have until 5 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, November 18, to enter. So get on it.

Reminder: Cast Your Vote In The Great Philadelphia Hoagie Debate Poll And Sweepstakes For A Chance To Win A Year’s Supply Of Hoagies

Win A $100 Gift Card To Stephen Starr’s Newest Restaurant, Il Pittore

Chef Solomonov leveraged his Israeli cooking talent to create three delicious Hanukkah recipes for Bon Appetit. (Image courtesy Bon Appetit)

In a gorgeous three-page full-color photo spread, the December issue of Bon Appetit features Philly’s own rock star Chef Michael Solomonov with a trio of his specially created Hanukkah recipes.

As the piece puts it, the chef “melds his Israeli heritage with a modern palate to create this inspired holiday menu.”

The recipes include Celery Root and Mushroom Latkes with Onion Applesauce, Lamb Shanks with Pears and Pistachios and Doughnuts with Grapefruit-Vanilla Jelly (a nice nod to Solo’s new Federal Donuts).

He cooked them specially for the magazine, and each is accompanied by special tips (for example, the key to making crispy latkes and how long to braise lamb for).

Try out the recipes yourself to cook like a James Beard Award-winner.

Find the Solomonov recipes and more at Bon Appetit’s online 2011 Hanukkah Guide.

The full issue is not yet available online.

2011 Hanukkah HQ [Bon Appetit]

Oftentimes, the difference between a romantic comedy and a drama can be clearly divided by the predominance of one of two polar emotions: love or pain.

While the two inevitably collide, the scales of optimism and pessimism are generally tipped with extreme bias.

But for playwright Rajiv Joseph, the dividing line between the two is not only not simple; it doesn’t exist. The Theatre Exile production of Gruesome Playground Injuries, on stage now through December 4, deals with hospital visits and the darkroom of the human soul with a decidedly real interchangeability.

The two central characters of the play, Kayleen and Doug, jump back and forth between immaturity and poignancy, battle scars and heartbreak, as they journey from childhood to adulthood. Kayleen and Doug reach a space populated only by a few: characters so surreal that only through them can be found a glimmer of reality.

Tickets are available online.

Theatre Exile’s Gruesome Playground Injuries
When: Now-December 4
Where: Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, 2111 Sansom Street
Cost: Tickets range from $25-$32
More info: www.theatreexile.org

Zoo visitors will finally be able to see the painfully adorable snow leopard cubs first-hand. (Photo courtesy Philadelphia Zoo)

This past summer, the Philadelphia Zoo welcomed two snow leopard cubs to its growing animal family.

The cubs were born to Maya, the zoo’s 3-year-old female snow leopard, and Amga, the zoo’s 5-year-old male snow leopard. This is the very first litter for both cats.

Even cooler: the cubs are the first snow leopards ever born at the Philadelphia Zoo and in the First Niagara Big Cat Falls exhibit, continuing the zoo’s successful breeding of big cats.

And they make their official public debut today!

The cubs’ debut was delayed because they had minor surgery to correct eyelid abnormalities in October. The cubs have otherwise developed well, playing, eating, running and jumping normally.

Zoo Members can see them at 8:30 on Friday and Saturday morning as staff opens the zoo early for a members-only first look. After that, all zoo visitors can see the cubs first-hand.

This birth is a huge contribution to the endangered snow leopard population in the U.S., representative of the zoo’s concerted conservation efforts. The Philadelphia Zoo also supports snow leopards by its involvement with the Snow Leopard Trust.

Philadelphia Zoo
3400 W. Girard Avenue
www.philadelphiazoo.org

Previously: The Philadelphia Zoo Welcomes Two Snow Leopard Cubs, The First Ever Born At The Zoo

The Mütter Museum's collection already includes interesting brains, like this one of a 72 year old female with bilateral cortical atrophy, however the acquisition of Einstein's brain (not pictured) is monumental. (Left photo by B. Krist for GPTMC, right courtesy Mutter)

The Mütter Museum is Philadelphia’s disturbingly informative museum.

The museum’s display of 20,000 provocative items is designed to give a beneath-the-surface perspective of what physicians study. But perhaps the most provocative artifacts yet, in the most beneath-the-surface matter yet, were just unveiled.

Today, the Mutter Museum announced a major new acquisition that will become part of the permanent collection immediately: 46 microscope slides, each containing slices from the brain of Albert Einstein.

Einstein’s Brain is now a very exciting permanent exhibition of the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia and may be viewed as part of regular admission.

The path the slides have taken to get to the museum is a sinuous one. The slides were prepared in 1955 in the pathology lab of Dr. William Ehrich, Chief of Pathology at the Philadelphia General Hospital. Five sets of slides were prepared in the lab, and one set was given to Dr. Ehrich by Thomas Harvey, MD, the physician who performed the post-mortem exam on Einstein at Princeton Hospital.

After Dr. Ehrich died in 1967, his widow gave them to Dr. Allen Steinberg, who gave them to Lucy Rorke-Adams, a Senior Neuropathologist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and longtime Fellow of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Now Dr. Rorke-Adams says, “I think the time has come to turn them over to the College and the Mütter Museum as they are a part of medical history.”

And so visitors to the Mütter Museum will now be able to view these pieces of the legendary Einstein’s brain for themselves.

According to Anna Dhody, Curator of the Mütter, people have asked for years if the museum had Einstein’s Brain on view, hoping to catch a glimpse. At last, they’ll be able to answer affirmatively.

Einstein’s Brain at the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Where: 19 S. 22nd Street
When: The museum is open seven days a week, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Cost: Admission is $14 for adults, $10 for children, seniors, military and students
More info: www.collphyphil.org

For more than 15 years, the Primo Hoagies sandwich has remained a paragon of the traditional Philadelphia hoagie.

Starting out as a family-operated deli in South Philly, Primo Hoagies now boasts more than 70 locations serving in four states, all committed to dishing out fresh, quality hoagies with a signature spin.

The With Love, Philadelphia XOXO campaign was proud to partner with this most prized of Philly hoagie purveyors on the With Love PrimoHoagies Invitational at Liberty Place this past November 3, pitting five finalists against each other in the competition to design the ultimate “With Love” hoagie.

The results came in, and the winning recipe was created by Philadelphian Michael Manetti. The sandwich, which will be on all Primo Hoagie shops’ menus beginning this Friday, November 18, contains: Hot Capacola, Pepperoni, Thumann’s Homestyle Turkey Breast, Fresh Mozzarella Cheese and Pepperjack Cheese, finished with lettuce, tomato, light oil, salt, pepper and oregano. Like we said, you’ll be able to try the tasty sandwich yourself starting this Friday.

But that’s not all. Primo’s took to the “With Love” hoagie idea so fervently that there will also be an official Primo’s-designed “With Love” Hoagie featured on Primo’s menus starting this Friday, called the “Philly With Love Italian.”

The sandwich, a take on the classic Italian hoagie, features Natural Casing Genoa Salami, Hot Sopressata, Prosciutto and Fresh Mozzarella Cheese and it’s topped with Roasted Peppers. Simply delicious.

Double the “With Love” hoagies, double the deliciousness.

Reminder: it’s your last chance to vote in the Great Philadelphia Hoagie Debate Poll and Sweepstakes. You could win a year’s supply of hoagies!

The With Love Hoagie [Visit Philly]