Philly Chit Chat

Saturday night Mike and I went to our friend Mark Focht’s birthday. He’s the Executive Director Fairmount Park Commission. Which means whenever I have an issue with the park, the Parkway, the Art Museum or the fact that the Fairmount Park workers shovel the walk at the bottom of the Rocky steps and sledders hit concrete too early, he gets a phone call from me asking why. Aaah to be my friend. Mark Focht thanks his guests
Chris Chimicles and Kate Wilhelm, Senior Vice President of Business Development at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Which reminds me The Flower Show kicks off with a gala on March 5. This years theme is “Springtime in Paris” which was inspired by the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). For three weeks, from April 7 through May 1, 2011, the festival will feature an array of one-time, only-in-Philadelphia productions by some of the region’s top talents — many of whom will partner with or present international performers all inspired by the explosion of art which occurred in Paris in 1911. The Flower Show is March 6 – 13
Fairmount Park has a new vendor for the concession stand at Lloyd Hall: It’s Cosmic Catering and opens on 4/1/11. Chef/Owner Peg Botto operates Cosmic Catering is a full service catering company that believes in only using locally made and grown products. The majority of the company’s ingredients come from an organization called Farm Fresh for Chefs which brings local foods to its doorstep. Farm Fresh for Chefs is a cooperation of many farmers with a wide selection of food items including produce, meats, honey, milk and flowers.
I lieu of gifts Mark wants all his friends to send a donation to the Fairmount Park Conservatory

I love this pig board
Thanks to the Mark Party Committee: Paul Steinke, Chris Beardsley, Mark, Anita Lager, Rick Cavalli, Rich Urbani, Darren Fava,

Last week I mentioned that in celebration of Black History Month, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, is appearing at Philadelphia’s Bodine High School to promote his documentary “On the Shoulders of Giants.” Which was sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia ( http://www.wacphila.org). The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia is co-founder and co-sponsor of Bodine High School, and helps to organize educational programs for students such as the one they did with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.At the end of the assembly students Andrea Flemings and William A. Washington III presented Abdul-Jabbar a gift, which was a book on Mural Arts. Abdul-Jabbar mentioned that on his way over from his hotel he saw a lot of the murals. At first he thought it was graffiti , but then mentioned to the director/producer of his documentary, Deborah Morales that he didn’t see any curse words on the graffiti and figured it out that they were murals.

Yesterday in Michael Klein’s column he mentioned that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had stopped by the Wells Fargo Center to check out the Wilt Chamberlain statue on the way to the airport. (Twitter)
Five days earlier he met with Captain Kirk to discuss business, in LA (Twitter)
Friday at Del Frisco’s found PR Kelly Boyd KB Consultants, Carlos Hoz de Vila and William Shatner discussing business with lots of men in suits. Shatner and Hoz de Vila are partners in MyOuterspace.com, a sci-fi digital media and entertainment company. They were in town to meet with potential investors for the out of this world site.
Surfing Tweeter the other night I saw Stephen Starr dining with Niche Media’s Jason Binn at Prime 112. Above Owner Myles Chefetz stopped by to chat with the duo at his Miami hot spot.

What’s going on at Table 31 every Thursday Night.It’s a seemingly normal Thursday night with a few bar patron’s but after the 8PM hour rolls by
It’s Ladies Night

and a flash mob of dancing occurs . Table 31 is taking over where the Monte Carlo lounge left off, or in other words there’s a new place to kick up your heals on the eve of the weekend.
Over the past weeks Ladies Night has turned into an every body’s night at Chef Chris Scardzuio’s popular restaurant in the Comcast Building. The crowd was a little older than 21+ grinding kids you’d find at Recess or Whisper, or even that school on the Mainline that I recently read about in Philly Mag, and that’s perfect, because some of my readers recently asked me for recommendations a place for that would be a little bit more mature. They have a little more money in their pockets and they want still want to get their disco on, but not to House Music. (I would recommend D’Angelo’s off Rittenhouse Square for your weekend Monte Carlo experience, and they actually have couches like a living room.)
Kevin Keyes, Maria Simirglio, Chef Scarduzio, Lauren DiMartino and Felicia Qualiarello were enjoying themselves. The Havertown or was it Haverford, girls usually make AC their hangout (I asked them where they go in the suburbs, and they said AC, hmm, but Thursday night’s at Table 31 has become their recent favorite city hangout. Chef Scarduzio opened Table 31 back in April 2008. It has the best outdoor dining in the City. Great hang out place to see and be seen.

Tamar and Stephen Olitsky get their boogie nights on each and every Thursday night.
Yeah this vids are dark, but you gotta hear the mix from DJ Johnny Looch

**********************
Talking about in the mix: My Saturday Night stop always includes Whisper DJ Royale takes you on a musical ride of your mind and body.
There’s another reason to stop by Whisper at 1712 Walnut Street Philly Saturday night and that’s my boy, the Mayor Drew Carballo’s, last night at Whisper and the night life life as a job. He’s packing it in, putting on a suit, oh wait he’s usually in a suit, well he’s landed him a sweet deal over at Del Frisco’s. You know how it happened. Rich Furino, GM of Del Frisco’s was in Whisper one night. (He reads my blog, as well as being a friend and knows I’m a fan of Whisper.)Rich tells me he went into Whisper a few months back and Drew approached him, didn’t know who he was or anything like that and just made sure he got a drink and he was having a good time. Just like Drew “The Mayor” would do for anyone. He takes care of you, he’s smooth, he’s sincere and he’s good people to know. Rich observed him over a period of time, and eventually Rich offers him a manager job over at Del Frisco’s. He leaves next week to do 6 weeks of training in Texas, home of the Del Frisco, then goes to Sin City to test out his chops. Then you can go see him at the Philly Del Frisco as that is where he will be working as he joins the solid management team over there with Carmen Tedesco, Tumoor Haye and Christina. He’s going to fit right in. I’m so happy for him. BTW Last night I was at Del Frisco’s shooting a party I’ll be writing about next week, and ran into
Vittorio Assaf, (Owner Serafina NYC & Soon to be Philly), Fabio Granato (Owner Serafina NYC & soon to be Philly), and Rich Furino (GM Del Frisco’s Phila) in the wine tower of Del Frisco’s. Kelly Boyd is the PR for both properties and brought the Serafina guys over to see the Philly Del Frisco’s. The guys were awestruck at the massive, but gorgeous building. Tuesday I will give you a little glimpse inside Serafina Philly and their plan. The guys are super nice, and so excited to open in Philly. Have a great President’s Weekend. I hope to catch up on all the emails I haven’t gotten to regarding events for the calendar, advertisement opportunities and tidbits. Thanks HughE

Last Thursday Jersey Shore’s, and I use that term loosely cause he’s only been on the show for one episode where he’s giving Nicole Polizzi a little “Snooki”, proclaimed boyfriend Jeff Miranda makes an appearance at South Philly Bar & Grill with buddy DJ Perry Angelozzi who spins there.
*******************************
90 Miles North of Philly a whole lot of fashion has been going on:

On Sunday Kelly Rutherford was seen in fur vest at the Main Line fashionista’s Tory Burch show. Kanye West caught the show too. That’s Tory in red.
Designer Richie Rich’s much talked-about fashion show for New York Fashion Week 2011 was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Always known for doing something a little out of the box, and this year was no different he thought of having a near-nude Reading, Pa’s Johnny Weir is a talented ice skater who has competed in the Olympics, written a personal memoir, served as a judge on Skating With the Stars, and star of his own reality television series Be Good Johnny Weir that aired on the Sundance Channel, and “Jersey Shore” star Jenni “JWoww” Farley in sheer. Always innovating, the eccentric fashion designer opened up his fashion show to the public where they could buy tickets for $35. (And to think 5 years ago I traded in 100,000 Amex Points to see his show.)
Mary Dougherty and her team trekked up to NYC last weekend to attend there boss’ Nicole Miller’s fashion show. Think a lot of blue and structured shoulders on the runway. Sitting front row and near were Gabrielle Union (center) with Joanne and Taylor Fitzgerald. Hey look for another contest Sponsored by Mary Dougherty and Nicole Miller. Two VIP tickets to “The Bellevue Gets Engaged” on March 5th (yes another event March 5th, that makes 4, but this event is from 12 – 4 so you will have plenty of time to get ready the evenings events.)

Back In Philly:
I stopped by the Merriam Theater to shoot the award-winning playwright, filmmaker and author David E. Talbert newest stage production “What My Husband Doesn’t Know.” As I mentioned in last weeks column the Merriam theater has a great service where the audience lines up to get autographs from the stars of the play after the show. Fans were excited to see television and film star Brian White (“Men of a Certain Age,” Stomp the Yard),
and stage actress and Grammy Award-winning former member of Destiny’s Child Michelle Williams (“Chicago,” “The Color Purple”). Above Michelle poses with my friend Vincent, but the PR for the play said no way Jose to me when I tried to get an “eye contact” show; if you are on Twitter follow Vincent as he works for TMZ and will tell you celebrity scoop as it’s happening: @vintmzClifton Davis was also in the play. I had a chance to see it, but decided to go across the street to the Wilma Theaters annual event, which I will be writing about Wednesday. Just a few years back Davis had a starring role in Mayor John Street’s administration.

Last night Joey Sweeney (aka founder of Philebrity.com) played his first solo gig in 5 years at Bar XIX at the Bellevue last night. (Looking a little like Johnny Depp last night, seemingly with the same shyness as a performer too.)Most of the world knows Joey Sweeney as a take no prisoner, no holds barred journalist uncovering the misdeeds and hypocrisy of folks in Philadelphia in an unabashed manner on his site Philebrity since 2004 (I’m a fan of his site, it’s thought provoking, makes me uncomfortable, he’s entertaining, I’m scared of him, and he’s got chutzpah like no other. [when I first came to town he called me the suck the air out of life paparazzi or something like that. I think we got past that stage.]) But did you know that Joey is a jack of all trades when it comes to music. Over the years I’ve attended happenings where Joey was a DJ (now he on air weekly as Philebrity Radio at WXPN on Thursday’s 3pm), party promoter, talent scout, manager, and now he reveals that he’s a musical artist and has been writing songs since he was a teenager in the 1980s; he fronted groups like The Barnabys and The Trouble With Sweeney, and recorded and performed as a solo artist. It was good to see a few friends Jen Oliver, Ruth Carpenter, Collin Flatt, Jimmy Contreras, Matt Vlahos, Kate and Cort Egan.
His bio says his songs and records have received widespread critical acclaim over the years; of his last record with The Trouble With Sweeney, Fishtown Briefcase, Pitchfork said “[Sweeney] mixes autobiography and fiction against the group’s 70s-inflected indie pop, resourceful– and unabashed– enough to digress into an E Street interlude or an AM-rock guitar coda.”
“From 2004 until now, he has mostly shied from performing and recording, focusing instead on his role as Publisher & Editor of the website Philebrity.com. As 2010 drew to a close, however, Sweeney began stepping back into his old role of singer/songwriter. This special show will be his first solo concert in over half a decade.” The show was good, very moody, thought provoking. The song Black Ice was interesting, about love and loss. Joey wrote the song. Look for more concerts to come, and hopefully another EP. I think we’re going to see a lot more from this guy. In fact Joey says he’s getting a band together, they just need a drummer. Drop him a line if you think you can fit the bill. I have no doubt it will be a successful collaboration. I’d also like to see a few more of these fun musical events at Bar XIX. Years ago I used to attend cabaret shows in this room and they were great. What happened to them?

By now you’ve all heard of Twitter, and some of you are on it. I’ve been on Twitter since 8/08 and I can sometimes be an over Tweeter. Twitter is like a micro blog, a lot of time I will Tweet something that I never put on my blog, maybe an observation that is time sensitive like yesterday I saw the Park Town Bus have a fender bender, or a traffic light is out somewhere, or if I’m in a club and observe someone stepping out on their girl I might do a blind item, I post lots of photos of the food I eat, and other interesting photos. Sometimes I link it to my FB page, but not as a general rule. I also use Twitter as my little cyber therapy. People on Twitter knew about me leaving my paralegal job a month before anyone else. I post random thoughts and I break news on Twitter. I post celeb sightings and celeb events, like the one about Ginuwine appearing at FYE tonight at 6PM. Soon I will be taking to the streets everyday, to exercise but mainly to gather news. I will be micro blogging a lot. These days I have a lot of content, so I thought it was time I share my twitter feed with you all. It will always be located on the right side at the bottom. I don’t want to mess with my income stream of advertisers. You can also follow me on Twitter if you’d like or just read it hear. Thanks HughE

I love window shopping. I used to love shopping, but like most of you I have limited space in the big city to put my stuff. I am also a compulsive spender of beautiful things, at least I think they’re beautiful. After a little shopping spree I would place my loot, er items in my house usually on the coffee table because really isn’t that where they should be, on display. Eventually they would disappear and I would ask Mike what happened to said item. Once he told me he donated the cute metal rooster to Goodwill for someone else to enjoy. He threw out the Britney Spears coasters cause he had moved on to Lady Gaga (yea right) and he gifted the wooden mermaid because he didn’t want his nieces to see a naked women in the bathroom. Instead of wasting my money I’ve resorted to just shooting pictures of the item and then taping them to the coffee table to see if he likes them, ever; so far I haven’t bought anything in a few years. Oh well. Which brings me to my new PhillyChitChatter radom category/column which I will do every once in awhile called “Window Shopping”. I probably won’t do entire stores like today’s column, but I compulsively loved everything in this store. It was like a grown up Spencers Gifts but with a whole lot less fart whoppie cushions. The Paper Source opened last week at 1628 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Unlike most stores who throw the clearance table in the way back, their clearance rack is up front and in the window no less. I could probably use that large calendar as I really do forget what day it is now that I don’t go into an office and just hang at my cube and then roam the streets of Philly at night for events.

Next time I go to Yakitori Boy bar and lounge and sing “I Whip My Hair Back and Forth” I’m gonna wear these.
It could be depressing to look at until the caffeine kicks in.
If you are a true Mariah Carey fan, you know she likes all her fans to wear Hello Kitty band aids on their index fingers so they can find each other. How much fun would it be if all the Tom Selleck fans wore these on their fingers.
You Betcha.

I can’t think of anything more annoying than hearing Sarah Palin’s voice for the next decade.
Annoy your co-workers
Now this is much better than Monopoly on game night with my friends. Only kidding Nigel & Hadas.
I think the balancing a spoon on your nose is a much more novel idea, but heck we’re not all that talented.
Things to do
DIY is all the rage now. At the Paper Source you can buy cards, or buy supplies to make your own cards.
Plus they have workshops to show you how: Schedule
They are having a grand opening event on March 5th. Come celebrate in the store all day long.
http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/locations/grand-opening-events.html Then that evening be irritated that both the Red Ball, The Flower Show Gala and The Sporting Club Fight Night are all on the same night. A few years back I tried to create a comprehensive charity/large scale event calendar. I was tooo busy for my own good. I have a little more free time and would like to give it another try. Send me your dates for your large scale charity events, and events to be put on the calendar. Some events may be rejected and I will certainly inform you. Thanks EMAIL ME Buzz @ PhillyChitChat dot Com send me your stuff.

Note the green document on the glass door. Matches the color scheme of the restaurant.
Looks like they cleaned up after themselves when they made their exit, but they forgot one thing
and Coke wants their machine back. (I guess the Falafel food cart on 20th and Market was no match for them. (It’s still sad when a local restaurant bites the dust and loses their investment though. Hope they land on their feet.)