March 5, 2007
Northeast Philly has long been a wasteland for many things, especially good authentic tacos and homegrown fiction. We are still waiting on the tacos, but the fiction situation has definitely been looking up lately. Joining Shawn McBride’s Green Grass Grace is The Mustard Jar, by another first-time novelist, Tom Scheid.
Once young, now middle-aged local music supporters like me might remember Tommy’s band, Alice to Nowhere. Alice to Nowhere eventually released a CD under the name Easter. Like many local bands, although more than talented enough, they never made it to the big time. Easter’s CD still holds up.
Suffering from neither rose-colored nostalgia nor bitter lamentations, Tom’s memories of the people and places of Northeast Philly circa the 1980s seem right on target. The Mustard Jar follows a year or so in the directionless post-high school life a normal Northeast Philly guy, who winds up joining a band. Like a great rock song, The Mustard Jar is light, breezy, fun, with some good riffs and a solid ending. Along with teenage antics, The Mustard Jar also craftily weaves in a father/son story with genuine heart.
The Mustard Jar is self-published and needs a little additional editing, but it’s a solid effort nonetheless. Buy one now to read on the beach this summer. Amazon has it, and you can always Froogle it too. And you can try before you buy–page samples can be found at Google Books.
Now if someone would do something about the taco situation.
March 2, 2007
FRIDAY_
Just go outside
Anywhere in town
I have been in the car for what feels like the last ten thousand years, eating cheap burritos and drinking many Wachusett Blueberry beers. I’m posting from New York and am psyched to be home tomorrow in the early morning. Come nighttime, I’ll be celebrating by taking a bike ride, maybe going for a walk down by the river, getting some Abyssinia and hanging out on various West Philly porches.
Tonight, if you’re already here, just go outside. Vibes are good and it’s First Friday, so many doors downtown will be open. If you feel like hanging out, the punx will be downstairs in the Church basement for this, while hippies will be upstairs in the Church chapel for this – both R5 joints.
SATURDAY_
Rob Crow / Glorytellers / Audible
North Star Bar
The Pinback frontman’s solo action. Indie rock about World of Warcraft and San Diego. 9pm, $12.
Exhibition Opening Lecture: Vanishing Worlds: Art and Ritual in Amazonia
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
This new exhibition at the museum opens tomorrow with a 2pm lecture by associate curator Dr. Clark Erickson. It runs through June and attempts to frame traditional Amazonian art in a context of use and meaning beyond the vast reductional containers of “local crafts” and “primitive art.” It should be good stuff.
Philly Craft Beer Fest
Philadelphia Cruise Terminal
Forty bucks for an afternoon of sampling mad beers in deep South Philly. You can go ride the ducks afteward.
SUNDAY_
Wake up early and eat brunch outside somewhere, then go check out the Archeology Museum exhibit – no lecture, but the museum is open for free on Sundays.
Brenda Thomas hangs out
In the great Northeast
Brenda wrote The Velvet Rope, Threesome and Fourplay. She’ll be celebrating her new book at Chickie and Pete’s up in the Northeast at 5:30pm.
Borbetomagus
International House
Double-sax and guitar trio playing ultimate American destruction. These long-running free jazz heroes are playing their first Philly show in ages and ages thanks to Ars Nova. This is unmissable action for the Echo-era Dave Burrell, Pulse Demon Merzbow, and Sonic Youth side-project crews alike. $8, 8pm.
February 28, 2007
People love tradition; people also love fat and sugar, and when you can combine all three, you really have something. Around here, Fat Tuesday is also known as Fastnacht Day or Donut Day. In Christian tradition, Fastnacht Day is a last day of sweets before 40 austere days of Lent, which begins on the following day, Ash Wednesday.
Located in a basement store, in a corner rowhouse, on a side street, in a very quiet part of lower Northeast Philadelphia, Haegele’s Bakery is pretty low key, but people from all over know how to find it. Haegele’s is also wonderfully and thoroughly old school. It is one of the few old-time bakeries left. Haegele’s has survived in today’s world of mega markets with their own in-store bakeries by offering unique and delicious items.
Every year on Fat Tuesday, Haegele’s Bakery opens at 5 a.m. selling countless dozens of fastnachts to a steady stream of customers. The fastnachts from Haegele’s are not just a common donut with a fancy name. Using a family recipe from Germany, Haegele’s makes fasnachts using traditional methods. These fluffy, non-greasy treats are diamond shaped with no hole and come in two varieties, sugar or cinnamon. Both are delicious.
A dozen fastnachts are $6.80–ask for 1/2 and 1/2. Mark your calendar well in advance for next year: Haegel’s only makes fastnachts once a year.
Haegele’s Bakery
Erdrick St & Barnett St,
Philadelphia, PA 19135
215-624-0117
February 27, 2007
The Insectarium is a 3-story museum dedicated entirely to worshipping or squealing at bugs, depending on your disposition. It was started by a certain Steven Kanya, owner of Steve’s Wildlife and Pest Control, in 1992.
The day I made the trek to this entomological utopia in the Northeast, they had unfortunately just closed. I was disappointed enough to tell the lady that I was a schoolteacher (good heavens!) and I needed to check out the facilities to prepare my darling charges for a fieldtrip. She obliged. What I saw there: a kitchen scene teeming with roaches in their “natural habitat,” tarantulas, emperor scorpions, a hive of hard-working bees, a lovely collection of pinned butterflies and all manner of exotic creepers and crawlers.
If you’re looking for an engrossing place for your next birthday party, this is it. It’s open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4p.m., for six bucks.
Insectarium
8046 Frankford Ave,
Philadelphia, PA 19136
215-335-9500
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Mike Feagan.
February 2, 2007
Living in Philadelphia for the last eight years has led me to one astounding truth: I can literally ride my bike all day without leaving the city. This provides me with a seemingly infinite spectrum of neighborhoods to explore in which I’ve discovered treasures that I could never point to on a map. On one particularly long ride this winter, I happened upon Pennypack Park, an outstretched palate of green at the furthest northeast corner of Philadelphia. Its location, twelve miles from Center City, assured that far too much time had gone by without my ever having heard of the place!
I packed a lunch and rode out Frankford Avenue for about an hour before I discovered this gem. My first visit led me along curving bicycle paths and footbridges criss-crossing Pennypack Creek. Huge meadows allowed me to climb trees, join a soccer game I’d been watching, and enjoy my picnic and take a nap in the sun and grass. As a bonus, I ended up leaving the park from a completely different road. I was some distance from where I’d come in (the park stretches for something like 9 miles), which afforded me another opportunity to do the very thing I love about living here: exploring all new streets the whole bike ride home.
Pennypack Park
Bustleton Ave & Benton Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19152
November 10, 2006
So what’s a girl to do when she’s living in Northeast Philly and feeling glum? She can find a good bar, and stop complaining. This girl succeeded on both counts. Lucky for you, I’m spreading the word about my recent find: the Grey Lodge Pub, a two-floor Frankford Avenue gem that was smoke-free (the upstairs, anyway) before the smoking ban even went into effect. (I knew I liked this place.)
The beer selection at the Lodge rivals the offerings at Center City’s best bars. They have 10 on tap and more than 30 available by the bottle, many of which are locally brewed. Yard’s, Yuengling, Flying Fish, Legacy, Tröegs, Victory”"they’re all here and more. Jammin’ tunes on the juke box and decent pub grub round out the offerings. Plus, the original Chickie’s & Pete’s, home to those legendary crab fries, is within stumbling distance, which means you could make a night out of your little pilgrimage to the Great Northeast.
Grey Lodge Pub
6235 Frankford Avenue, between Harbison and Robbins Avenues
215-624-2969
Photo courtesy of Flickr user DevilBoy.
