Philly Chit Chat

PhillyChitChatter:  Ahh so busy this week. Thanks to my readers Larry Giuffra and Elise Garber (Leeza) for the photos I used on Fox 29 Philly Good Day yesterday of Colin Farrell. I finally had a chance to go out and shoot him.

Eating Out:

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette and two friends were at Davio’s 111 S. 17th Street last Thursday for dinner.

Phillies closer Jon Papelbon and his wife Ashley Papelbon had dinner at Buddakan on Monday night.   

The Hamels Foundation dinner with Celebrity Chef Jen Carroll, I wrote about it on PhillyMag.com yesterday. 

While I was shooting Cole & crew, all this happened: 
 
Steve Harvey and Tony Danza having dinner at Capital Grille on Tuesday night, but not together. Harvey was in town promoting his new movie “THINK LIKE A MAN” at the Ritz East earlier in the evening.  Not sure why Danza was in town, but after dinner he headed over to McGillin’s Olde Ale House (1310 Drury) for a beer. 

Colin Farrell and Starr Restaurants, he finally broke his streak and ate at one. He was at Barclay Prime on Tuesday night.  (Check out the shot I got of Farrell yesterday, and the link to another shot and article on Philly Mag, at the bottom of the page.)

The Miami Marlins ate at D’Angelos on Tuesday night, and had a film crew with them. Are they doing a reality show for Bravo too? 256 South 20th Street.

Wednesday: I had lunch at Schlesinger’s Deli (fka Kibitz Room) again yesterday. Did you know for their dinner menu they use the same steak purveyor as the one that Barclay Prime uses. I really need to have dinner there. 

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Center for Literacy Benefit at the Suzanne Roberts Theater

 Monday night I was over at the Suzanne Roberts Theater to hear one of my favorite cabaret singers, Eddie Bruce perform. He was lending his talents to a really great cause, the “Center for Literacy”. The concert was sponsored by FirstTrust Bank, and was called “A Tribute to Tony Bennett in Words & Music.” Above JoAnn Weinberger, President/Executive Director, Center for Literacy greets the crowd and thanks them for coming.

Richard Green, Firsttrust Bank stresses that the bridge to success is built on education.

Christine Gayle, a student from Center for Literacy, highlights what the program has done for her and is now on her way to college.

 Eddie Bruce takes the stage

 After the concert there was a dessert reception. I ran into an attorney I used to work with at Berger Montague. It’s always fun to see people from my former life. Julie Colton and Eric Cramer, Esq

 John Ward, Dan Digregorio, Amy Pulliam and Fareeha Ashad, enjoyed the concert.

 At one point during Eddie Bruce’s concert, he did a Q&A with WRTI’s Bob Perkins (L) about Tony Bennett and his music. Co Chair of the event, Carol S. Saline, with crooner Eddie Bruce. Carol co-chaired the event with her husband Paul Rathblott.

Liz Matt and Sharla Feldscher, President Sharla Feldscher Public Relations. These two know you would love seeing the hysterically funny – Defending The Caveman April 18 – May 13, 2012 performances at The Prince Theater $39.50

Sara Garonzik, Producing Artistic Director, Philadelphia Theatre Company with Larry and Harriet Weiss

Randi Harris and Gordon Barron with their books by Bennett Biographer, Author David Evanier “All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett.

Laurie Huggins and former candidate for City Council, real estate agent, Barbara Capozzi

Author David Evanier “All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett signing copies of his book on Tony Bennett.
 
Check out Philly Mag for the story on Colin Farrell yesterday and the
shots I got. Note the bodyguard/trainer lets Farrell walk out ahead of
him when he exited this building. Read doorman drama HERE

Fans Dana Socha and Caitlin Beasley

At the top of these stairs, 4 stories up, is the James Oliver Gallery which held the first professional exhibit of art by Bam Magera called appropriately “Bam Magera and Friends”

Bam and the Friends Justin Muir, Red_Hawk, Phil Margera (dad), April Margera (mom), Bam Magera, Nikki B and Ryan Gee

Nikki B and a few of her hot shots taken in a Las Vegas hotel room with Bam. She used a remote to trigger the shots.

I could feel the passion in the paintings that Bam created. He painted his pain onto the canvas after experiencing a few difficult years, including the death of his good friend Ryan Dunn.  Many of the paintings depict women in various states of undress, others are painted on maps with the words of places he visited, Madrid, Lisbon and London. Others had great titles like “Dead Lovers Lane”, “Paris Kills” (which is about the city not the person,) “And She Never Returned” and my favorite “I Need Time To Stay Useless.”

Many of the paintings were done while Bam traveled the world.  Then they had to be shipped back to West Chester, Pa to be stored.  His mother April shared with me a few stories about the complexities of that, especially when there was a language barrier.

But the stories I enjoyed were the ones about how Bam didn’t always put enough sheets down to protect the hotel room from paint splatter.  Many hours were spent trying to remove the oil based paint, although there are several hotel phones that could be called Bam Margera masterpieces.
 

James Oliver and Uri Pierre Noel, Executive Director James Oliver Gallery

Sometimes the paintings would have painful quotes like “If the Phone
Doesn’t Ring, That’s Me Calling,” the reason he would give his mom for
not calling on her birthday or holidays. She did say he would call a day
later and express his well wishes.

“Hot Air Buffoon” and “New Orleans is a Dying Whore”

Vanessa, Marilyn and Nina – Fans, loved Bam’s big heart.

Taker and Ingrid Brown

Pop artist James Eucles and Amanda Frain

Nadia Kunz and Lilliana Didovic – Her “Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic” just published in January

Urban Dictionary: The Heartagram defining the balance between good and evil, and life and death. A mixture of the pentagram and heart.
Logo for the Finnish rock band, HIM. Also used by Bam Margera to show his love for the band.

Red Hawk and his girlfriend who is also the subject of the photo he took

Many of Bam’s art work sold. I have a feeling he priced it very reasonable for his family, friends and fans.  Some paintings sold for as little as $200, many just a little above this price, and a few at $2,000

Philly in Focus is an open, social environment supported and populated by loca organizations to showcase the real people, communities and passions that make Philadelphia a great place to live, work and play. Working in close partnership with local groups, Philly In Focus is designed to complement any current local efforts to highlight the unique personalities of the City Through video and interactive media.

George Cummings, Sharon Powell-Lee, Director Government & Regulatory Affairs, Comcast, Paul Gluck, Associate Professor in School of Comm. & Theatre at Temple Universityand Sheila Willard 

STYLISH: Naoko Masuda and Sam Margulies

The Greater Philadelphia Film Office Crew: Joan Bressler, Yusef Dingle, Gillian Procopio (@GPFO) and Nicole Giles

Kerri Kennedy, Executive Director, Women’s Campaign International,
Lyndsay O’Herrick , Senior Coordinator, Government Affairs at Comcast
Cable and Ruth Billebault, Executive Assistant at Versus

Event speakers included Mayor Nutter’s wife, Lisa Nutter and Jeff Freidman, the City of Philadelphia’s (From the Mayor’s Office on Philly In Focus)
Manager of Civic Innovation and Participation. The crowd also heard
from civic content partners, Kerri Kennedy of Women’s Campaign
International (WCI on Philly In Focus) and Gretjen Clausing of PhillyCAM (PhillyCAM on Philly In Focus).
Representing the many people at Comcast working on the initiative were
Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Sharon Powell-Lee, and
Director of Local Media Development, Paul Wright. The event featured a number of videos from thePhillyInFocus.com including a welcome video about the new initiative and several others from content partners such as Love Philly Food and My Take’s Great Moments in Philadelphia History.

Working in the Control Room Ryan Saunders, Jihad Ali, Anotoinne Haywoo. Jihad Ali was selected as PhillyCAM’s January Member of the Month. He dedicated much of his time to participating in production workshops and
improving his camera skills by working on his own projects and
volunteering as a crewmember for others. Since becoming a PhillyCAM
member, Jihad has been able to tell his own story and “produce quality
video on any subject matter with quality sound and proper lighting.” He also appreciates accessing equipment to provide assistance to others who are not members of PhillyCAM.

Jessica Sharp, Sarah Casey and Kate Leonard,- Maven Communications

Learn more about Philly In Focus online (www.phillyinfocus.com), OnDemand (within the Comcast digital cable system, go to the ‘Get Local’ folder and select ‘Project Open Voice’), on Facebook and Twitter (@PhillyInFocus). If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, contact Philly In Focus at info@phillyinfocus.com or by clicking here.

  Friday was a beautiful day out. I was on Fox 29, and I usually take my good old time getting back home to work. ie I usually don’t work on those days if it’s beautiful out since there are usually many beautiful things to shoot.

 Like this falcon near the Curtis Building on Washington Square West. 

 Honestly this shot confirms my fear of heights

 Just because.  Tomorrow I plan to write about people who were at Bam Magera’s art opening, and the god awful steps you have to climb to get to the show. It’s a 4 story walk up.

 IN this month’s Where Magazine, Reading Terminal’s GM Paul Steinke writes about the 35 places he loves in Philly. This is one of them.

 Sometimes the gates are open and you can sit on this bench.

 Pine Street

 Hedging their bets as they have posters in the window supporting both candidates Brian Sims and Babette Josephs “Sims to challenge Babette Josephs in 182nd Dist”.  I think it’s time for a change.

 I see a greeting card here. I think when I get my life in order I’m going back to making photo greeting cards too.  THIS is on Camac Street. The only street in Philly that you can spell backwards and forward.

 OMG Brian Sims and his furry dog who I can’t remember her name. It took a couple shots to get the dog to somewhat face forward.  It’s like a child. That’s why I shoot adults.

 Dining out for Life 4/26/12

 The new Boiler Plate changed the color of the building from Blue to Brown.

Note the man’s arm near the policeman’s yellow jacket. He’s saying “I was just upstairs for a minute,” explaining why he parked in the handicapped tow-away-zone. 

 Occupying Joan Shepp’s Bench

 You can donate your old shoes at Joan Shepo

 Cooper River Park

 My nephew Timmy and niece Ella

Sometimes I get gift bags with shirts in them. I thought this would be perfect for my 8 year old niece. Then my sister explained to me why it wouldn’t be. Opps.

My sister Crista, with Mimi, Bo and Michael. Back row: Hubby Michael and father in law: Mr Bateman.  See you tomorrow.

Adesso 80s Dance Party
Special Appearance by Local Legend Jade Starling Performing Catch Me I’m Falling
Hosted by Celebrity Photographer HughE Dillon

Philadelphia, PA (March 27, 2012) – On Friday, April 13, 2012, the who’s who of Philadelphia
will celebrate a favorite era of music and entertainment at the Adesso 80’s Dance Party, with a
performance by 80s icon Jade Starling of Pretty Poison and hosted by Celebrity Photographer
HughE Dillon. Adesso is located above Il Portico Ristorante at 1519 Walnut Street, Philadelphia,
PA 19107.

Jade Starling, who grew up in Philadelphia and now resides in New Jersey, is thrilled to come
back to her roots to make this special appearance to promote her new album, “Captive,” due
out summer 2012. Starling will perform “Catch Me I’m Falling,” and her new single, “Dance
Revolution.”

“We have been extremely fortunate with Catch Me I’m Falling – I want to send love to our fans
and DJs who made the song part of the fabric of the 80s,” said the singer/songwriter who is
gearing up to start touring on the West Coast for “Captive.” “There is no place like home – and
sharing our new project with Philadelphia first feels amazing.” “Dance Revolution” is available
now on Google Play.

Philadelphia’s own paparazzo HughE Dillon will host the Adesso 80s Dance Party. Dillon is
debuting his Philadelphia Magazine column and will have April issues of the publication for
party-goers. Known for his stellar coverage of celebrity sightings and party pics, Dillon is the
editor of PhillyChitChat.com and a weekly contributor on FOX TV’s Good Day Philadelphia.

“Catch Me I’m Falling” was co-written by Starling’s partner, Whey Cooler, and reached
Billboards #1 Dance, #8 Pop and #13 in R&B. The song continues to appear on countless
compilations as well as a number of films including the 80s cult classic “Hiding Out” starring
Jon Cryer, “Kickin’ Old Skool” starring Jamie Kennedy and Adam Sandler’s “Don’t Mess
With The Zohan” and most recently on AMC’s Emmy Award winning “Breaking Bad.” Pretty
Poison’s “Catch Me I’m Falling” was also recognized by VH-1 on its Top 100 1980s Countdown
coming in at #47 for the entire decade. Starling, a gay-rights activist, performs on behalf of many
GLBT benefits around the world.

The Adesso 80s Dance Party begins at Happy Hour with DJ Jimmy DePre spinning favorites.
Cover is free until 8 p.m., after which a $10 door charge will go into effect.

Adesso, is located upstairs from Il Portico Ristorante at 1519 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
19107. The main number is 215.587.7000.

Like Jade Starling on FB http://facebook.com/jade.starling or follow her on Twitter

Like Adesso on FB http://www.facebook.com/#!/ilporticophiladelphia. For more information
including Il Portico menu and directions, go to http://www.il-portico.com.

It songs like this that is going to bring Nicki Minaj to the next level. This CD keeps her rap fans happy, as does her fantasy Barbi world, but the pop songs will take her the Katy Perry route to fame and not the Lil Kim route of obscurity.  I tweeted that this CD is better than Madonna’s and it is, I like it the first time I heard it not the 3 days it took me to appreciate #MDNA. Doesn’t mean that Madge isn’t the queen, it just means Nicki Minaj is going to be played in the dance clubs more this summer.

 Nathan Morrissey and Juliana Rodriguez were first in line. They picked
up their wrist bands the day before and then returned Wednesday morning
at 5AM to wait in line.

 TI Spmmoer. Shelvy Paredes and Caroline Ogden. Shelvy tells me that Nicki Minaj got her through some rough patches and loves her much for it.

 Mckenzie Belton and Kylie Belton. So nice their mom chaperoned them the whole night, and didn’t even get a CD signed for herself.

 Keiko El, Anyee Blount, Dreneisha Hector, Shvone Hill, Jon Carson and Naj oh I didn’t get her last name cause the crowd started cheering and I thought I was missing something.

She has a devoted fan base

 For some reason celebrities like to increase my Klout score by starting Twitter fights with me. Then there followers send me the nicest messages. Thanks I’m at 65 now.

I’ve never seen a turn out for a CD signing in Philly like this

fashion ruled the day whether is was good

about Nicki love

 Nicki signed her chest, she doesn’t plan on getting a tattoo but thought it was cool

Fierce Fashion

Everyone I talked to was goo gah in love with Nicki more. She told them she loved them and they were beautiful. They held on to those words like a bouquet of flowers.

The kids were decked out for Nicki like that did for Madonna 30 years earlier

Daniel Boon Coon Skin Hats seem to be in vogue again.I saw more than 1 guy with the animal on his head. Aren’t they hot?

 the FYE manager happy triumphant with the awesome turnout

 This scene played out over and over. Fans overcome with joy cause Nicki touched their hands and
told them they were beautiful

 The line was 800 people long.  They had people qued in 4 long lines on three different streets.

 golden touch

 Nicki signed a lot of things for fans, but she would not sign these prints that a guy was giving away to the people waiting in line

 This guy was rushing to the tattoo store to get Nicki’s graph tattooed on his wrist.

Happy Birthday Kelly Mulholland, with friends Kayla Winsor and Lauren Walegg. The girls all go to Penn State, but came down at 2AM to wait in line for Nicki Minaj. Sadly FYE/Minaj cut the line off after the originally agreed upon 500 people. That left a whole lotta people sad, but Nicki apologized via twitter saying that they should never have given out “Maybe Bracelets”

 Future Nicki Minaj?  Check out my Philly Mag column and the celebrity studded red carpet event at the Palomar Hotel last night.

The Loews Hotel hosted the 8th
Annual Flavors of Philadelphia fund-raiser for the American Liver
Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Division on Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Guests enjoyed a first class dining experience.  The night began with a cocktail reception with exquisite hors
d’oeuvres prepared by Sole Food restaurant. A sit down three course
dinner prepared table side for twelve will follow with paired wine
uniquely designed by each chef to dazzle the palate of the attendees.  The evening concludes with a delectable dessert reception. 

This year the Liver Foundation celebrated forty years of excellence
in the culinary world by the The Sena Family .

 The Sena Family owns Ristorante Panorama, Le
Castagne, Revolution House and La Famiglia, which stands as one of the
finest Italian restaurant in Philadelphia and a major landmark on the
city’s vibrant dining scene. La Famiglia has earned an international
reputation as one of the premier examples of gourmet Italian cuisine
outside of Italy. Luca Sena, Jr (Revolution House), Luca Sena, Sr (Panorama & Penn’s View), Chef Rosario Romano  of Panorama, and Carlo A Sena (Pennsview Hotel)

 Although on a much smaller scale then say the PAWS Dinner in June or Alex’s Lemonade Great Chef’s Event, this event is much more intimate and laid back than the others. The dining stations are all designed by the restaurants themselves too.  Anthony Masapollo of Le Castagne

 Flower arrangements, plating and tablecloths are brought in. William Eccleston, general manager and wine director of the Panorama Ristorante, April Martin and Carlo Sena, Le Castange

At Panorama they served the $500 bottle of Gaja for their guests, which was included in the $250 dinner price.

Bill and Shaiyn Wisemark were my table mates at La Familia. 

Kristina Coiro and Jennifer Chapokas enjoyed dinner at Ristorante Panorama where they had pan seared shrimp over with truffled celery root and onions as an appetizer.

Sean Gibbons and Jennifer Deuel were at LeCastagne
near Rittenhouse Square  
  

Union Trust – Meet the new crew.  These three have been with the steakhouse for over a year and just recently got promoted.  Last week you may recall I wrote about the opening of Revel, what I didn’t tell you and will tell you know is that a lot of Union Trust’s main honcho’s headed down there.  The executive Chef Quincy Logan and Jeremy Ball, former general Manager at Union Trust Steakhouse both went to American Cut at the new casino. Cliff the bar manager is also left to work at the 47 story glass tower.  Above is the new crew: Sarah Christiansen, General Manager at Union Trust Steakhouse, Nick Lauria, Executive Chef and Fredi Vento, Executive Sous Che. The restaurant is going through another growth and metamorphosis and I think you’re going to like it. Coming up in a few weeks is their Buck A Shuck special, plus the bar menu will be half price during happy hour, and soon they’ll have an Oyster Dinner Pairing.CHARITY EVENT FOR KEVIN NEARY.

Union Trust Event

We’re very excited for the May 6th event at Union Trust
Steakhouse. Kevin was working at Union Trust before the shooting, and we
are really grateful for Union Trust offering to host this event. It
will be the first event in the city that Kevin will be able to attend,
and Kevin’s friends Melissa and Erin have been working hard with Union
Trust to make it great.

Tickets are available at the Neary house or by contacting Sarah at
Union Trust (sarah@uniontruststeakhouse.com or 215-325-6000) or Melissa
Magness (melissamagness@gmail.com).

 Chef Eric Paraskevas, terra restaurant

 Co-chairs again this year were Anthony Masapollo of Le Castagne and Sophia Stogiannis of Water Works Restaurant and Lounge. Looking on is NBC10’s Monique Braxton. 

 I love me some Revolution House, 2nd and Market Street, Lasagna Cupcakes. You have to try them.

 I ate at La Famiglia. I had never been there before. This is fried artichoke, which sat in the center of the plate wrapped by Branzino (fish). It was delicious.

 There was an auction.  This is one of the auctions where you hire an auctioneer to bring his stuff in for sale, sometimes they have a store.  I know that the Philly Sports Cave will do this.

Usually you get one of a kind items, as well as collectibles like a Jimmy Rollins signed helmet, $750. The auctioneer lists the item at a certain price and that money is returned to them, then the charity adds an additional price and then the money above and beyond the auctioneers set price goes to the charity. The best part is the charity organizer doesn’t have to kill themselves looking for auction items.

Let Them Eat Cake is Philadelphia’s Wedding Cake Design competition for
professionals, students and those who love to bake to create.
Brides-to-be and fondant foodies will converge for the seventh annual
competition featuring the best of the best. Awards & Korbel Champagne

 It’s supposed to be a bride and groom event so they can check out the various wedding cakes, as well as vendors for their wedding. But I think it’s an event for cake lovers everywhere. The artistry this year was unbelievable, competition was fierce, one judge said. Shout out to Caroline Covelli and Jaclyn Fisher of Two Little Birds Wedding Planning. SO cute.

Sisters Mindy Touhey and Liz Rega with their 1920’s inspired Circus Cake, Cake Couture, LLC, Spring City, Pa

 This is eye candy (ie I’m still on a sugar high am an unable to match the names with the cakes. Feel free to comment below if you recognize your cake.)

 People heard my pleas, specifically City of Hope and they provided plenty of doggie boxes for peeps to take samples home with them.  There was still plenty left over for Executive Director of City of Hope’s Harry Giordano to bring to St. John’s Hopice around the corner. (with Fox 29’s weather guru Sue Serio.)

Emily and Fiona Duffy (front) Jill Shoenfeld (Jill’s Fork) and Brian Duffy (Bar Rescue TV show & restaurant consultant)with April Margera (MTV’s Viva La Bam, Jackass, the CKY videos, Minghags: The Movie and Bam’s Unholy Union.)  I asked April about her son’s (“Bam Margera & Friends” ) art exhibit which starts on Saturday at The James Oliver Gallery 723 Chestnut Street 4th Floor Philadelphia PA 1910. She tells me that Bam’s art is very Germanic, therapeutic, autobiographical, and really reflects the journey he is going through presently. As for April, she recently opened a store called “The Rose Hip Barn”, along with her mother Velma and daughter-in-law
Kelly. The store, located in Thornton, PA, sells refurbished furniture
as well as homemade purses and accessories for the home.

Kersi Anderson and Adrianne Lauton – The Restaurant School. Old fashion Circus.

Ready for their close up – Kharisma McIlwaine, CW Personality gets her shot

Monica Glass, Fish pastry chef, Derek Lee, www.bestfoodblogever.com/ LeeAnne Mullins and April Margera
look over a cake, judging it on style, creativity, theme and taste.

 R2L

Joan Shepp styled Sarah Doheny, YUBr PR and John Soden

 Sylvia Weinstock with a winning cake 

 The front of the cake. Plus it played circus music.

Chelsea Boney and Shayna Clery – The Restaurant School

 Best Student Design David Reimund and Franco Alvisi, Jr both 2012 graduates of The Art Institute in Philadelphia.  The childhood friends hope to open their own place someday. Any investors around?

David Reimundhad an inspiration for the cake in the middle of the night, and wrote down his idea. I bet the first draft was less clear than this.

Linda Pham-Vertlieb and Stephanie Lyn Hayden

 random

 Kathy Dezzi, Eleanor Dezzi and Janine Dezzi.  You may recognize Eleanor from Good Day Philly where she does political commentary.  Tomorrow she is going to the White House for the Annual Easter Luncheon and Egg Hunt. Can’t wait to see the photos.

Lynsie Solomon, Wendy Wilhelm, Ritz Carlton and Carol Drumstas, Brown-Forman.
Coming up next for the Ritz Carlton, On April 10, Celebrate the new season with six courses prepared by
Michelin Three-Star Executive Chef/Owner Eric Ripert and
our new Chef de Cuisine Nathan Volz.

 Adelaide’s Bakery, Glendora, NJ

Adelaide’s Bakery, Glendora, NJ – Stefanie Murphy and Monica Motter. They won Best in Show and Best
Tasting at Philly’s City of Hope “Let Them Eat Cake” Competition!  Stefanie named her bakery after her grandmother, Adelaide Spitsbergen who was on hand for the celebration. 

City of Hope’s “Let Them Eat Cake” Competition at the Loews Hotel last
night. Sue Serio Attended. – Suzy Vanhoose and Stacey Hill of “Truly
Custom Cakery” Bucks County, Pa. They won Best Theme, Most Artistic and
Audience Choice. (Recently these two ladies combined their bakeries, and look what they produced, WOW)  Check out this fun shot I took and placed in my PhillyMag Column
http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2012/04/03/hughe-dillon-one-shot-eat-cake/