Sweating it out
It has been hot -- asphalt-boiling, rubber-sole-melting hot. Thermometer readings have topped 90 so many times this summer, the 76ers ought to be jealous. Despite the heat, it is no mirage that a...
Scared straight
Traffic Court has become a popular place this summer. Thanks to the city's Live Stop program, which took effect July 1 and allows police to confiscate cars operated by unlicensed, unregistered drivers, people queue...
Spoonful of history
Sharpen your No. 2 pencils; it's time to take an ice-cream quiz. The hand-cranked ice-cream churn was invented by: (a) Thomas Jefferson, (b) Benjamin Franklin or (c) Nancy Johnson. The ice-cream soda was...
The judges are coming!
Your garden either made it into the finals of the City Gardens Contest or it didn't. The first round of judging is over. Awards in the contest, which is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural...
Hollywood’s hybrid
Hybrid cars are hip. At a recent movie premiere, five Toyota Priuses pulled up next to each other. Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld and star of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, is just one of...
Somebody’s watching you
During the Revolutionary War, town criers would walk the streets at night to make sure everything was in order. "The town crier historically went around Philadelphia saying, 'All is well, all is well,'"...
Not judging books by their covers
Jacqueline van Rhine, curator of prints and photographs at the Print Center, has put together an exhibition of "artists' books," being shown at Art in City Hall through Sept. 27. She puts a rather...
Growing peace
What was once an uninspiring vacant lot in Grays Ferry is becoming a cheery urban oasis, thanks to the efforts of a few youths who care about sprucing up their community -- and who...