Answered prayer
Every couple hundred years or so, something miraculous occurs. In 19th-century France, it was the birth and extraordinary life of St. Th�r�se of Lisieux. In 21st-century South Philadelphia, it is the efforts of...
Eye-opening deadheads
The best spoofs are those that straddle the line between parody and homage. Nothing ruins a spoof more than condescension.
Thankfully, Shaun of the Dead is completely free of the latter. It is first...
America the beautiful
A decade ago, Bo Bartlett was poised for superstardom in the art world. A year shy of 40, he was both emerging and established. His reputation was solid; he won a Pew Fellowship in...
Audi’s flagship
Can cars be like drugs? Maybe if you get the right intoxicating blend of rich Corinthian leathers, swoopy styling, high-tech appointments and steroid-boosted power. The readers of AutoWeek recently declared the Audi A8...
Proper seasoning
If April is the cruelest month, September is the most fickle one. On any given day, we might awaken to a brilliant blue sky, a refreshing breeze and low humidity, but, suddenly, an...
Musical chair
Like many South Philadelphians, Anthony Pirollo spent time at the Jersey Shore this summer. Unlike others, however, he never got to the beach. "No beach time at all -- not even once," he...
Life-or-death questions
Ariel Dorfman's play Death and the Maiden, performed by the Luna Theater Company, is concerned with the barbarity of human torture and its impact on those involved -- both victim and perpetrator. Its...
The Continental Mid-Town
In the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced a very long number called The Continental. I'm not sure restaurateur Stephen Starr had Fred and Ginger in mind...
Peace training
With neighborhood crime on the rise, one young activist is looking to increase the peace. "I want to heighten the awareness of peace," said John Suggs, a 22-year-old youth pastor who works out...
Airing dirty laundry
As a thick, black substance rose out of the drinking fountain, factory worker Dorothy Ellis knew something was terribly wrong. Yet it was only another episode in a disturbing series of events that...
