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Many stages of girlhood in Suzanne Bocanegra’s Poorly Watched Girls at the Fabric Workshop and Museum

Many stages of girlhood in Suzanne Bocanegra’s Poorly Watched Girls at the Fabric Workshop and Museum

Imani reviews Poorly Watched Girls, a series of multi-media environments created by Suzanne Bocanegra at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. This complex body of work, in turns mournful and playful, will be up through February 17, 2019.

“Girlhood” marks that special moment in the life of a female person when her symbolic potency and (imagined) reproductive value to society are at their zenith while her authority in the world and autonomy in her own life are at an all-time low.

More than a mere solo show, Suzanne Bocanegra’s Poorly Watched Girls stages girlhood’s complex interplay of time, gender and vulnerability in four distinct, immersive environments that swell the Fabric Workshop and Museum. Indebted as much to the world of theater as they are to anything happening in contemporary art, these environments share a refreshingly promiscuous attitude towards medium, combining textile-based craft with film projection and elements of sculpture, performance, lighting and sound. Bocanegra synthesizes high and low, familiar and obscure source materials, and draws inspiration from (among other things): a classical ballet, a cult B-film, a modern opera, an out-of-print recruitment guide for the Catholic Sisterhood of the United States, an indie pop diva and her own complicated family history.

Playing dress up, a cautionary tale about nostalgia

“La Fille” by Suzanne Bocanegra. From “Poorly Watched Girls” at The Fabric Worksop and Museum. Photo courtesy of Imani Roach.

The exhibition’s opening scene, perched high up in the 8th floor gallery, is a speculative restaging of the 1789 ballet La Fille mal gardée (the poorly watched girl). Set in an idealized French countryside (for the benefit of urban ballet-goers), La Fille... tells the story of a young farm girl whose powerlessness in choosing a mate is comedically offset by her widowed mother’s inability to monitor her romantic exploits.

Bocanegra interprets this source material through a series of costumes installed on mannequins, which straddle the line between the absurd and the wearable. Collaged together from discarded Metropolitan Ballet costumes, photographs, lengths of twine, synthetic daffodils, sod, tulle, farm equipment, ribbon and any number of other materials, these costumes have a madcap milkmaid quality to them that shows Bocanegra at her most playful and unrestrained.

Accompanying the mannequins, which dot the gallery like scarecrows in a field, is a large wood-framed theatrical backdrop to which Bocanegra has affixed a sparse “field” of wilted flowers made from hand painted and embroidered fabrics. If this all sounds a bit too precious, too removed from the world of contemporary experience to be of use, that’s because it is — at least in and of itself. What “La Fille” establishes is a kind of thematic ground for the rest of the show — introducing girlhood as historically and culturally contingent and pointing to the slippages between a script or score and how a performance sits on a body. It also highlights a key tension in Bocanagra’s practice between a love for the handmade and a healthy mistrust of nostalgia.

Uncanny valley, a poignant re-enactment of vulnerability and failure

“Valley” by Suzanne Bocanegra. From “Poorly Watched Girls” at The Fabric Worksop and Museum. Photo courtesy of Imani Roach.

The undeniable highlight of Poorly Watched Girls is “Valley,” a spellbinding video installation which meticulously recreates rarely-seen footage from Judy Garland’s wardrobe test for the 1967 schlock film, Valley of the Dolls (based on the Jacqueline Susann novel of the same title). Though Garland was originally set to appear in the film, which tells the story of aspiring actresses who fall prey to the lure of drugs, her volatility and real-life drug addiction led to her being terminated before shooting even began. Occupying the entire second floor gallery, “Valley” refracts the single surviving wardrobe reel through the prism of Bocanegra’s fertile imagination, enlisting some of the most powerful women in the arts to play the part of the notoriously troubled and fragile Garland. Carrie Mae Weems, Joan Jonas, poet Anne Carson, choreographer Deborah Hay, actor Kate Valk, ballerina Wendy Whelan, singer Alicia Hall Moran and author Tanya Selvaratnam appear in eight perfectly-synched projections which fill the entire space of the gallery (four-to-a-wall) — creating a veritable hall of Judies.

Garland, who was performing on stage from the time she could walk, shot to superstardom at the tender age of 16 playing a pre-pubescent Dorothy Gale in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz — a part for which her body was famously bound and corseted to make it appear less developed. As an adult well into her 30s, she was repeatedly cast in roles that highlighted her childlike qualities, despite the darker realities of her off-camera life.

Appearing in Bocanegra’s “Valley” as an aging Garland anxious to make a showbiz comeback, Weems, Jonas and the others twirl and fidget girlishly in front of the camera in a series of caftans and monochromatic skirt suits.* What comes across in this chorus of gestures is the nervous charisma of the woman behind them — a woman whose compulsion to be seen was yoked to a paralyzing insecurity about being watched. Yet somehow the strength and care that these performers bring to “Valley” grant Garland, at long last, the right kind of attention.

A space for meditation

Suzanne Bocanegra, “Lemonade, Roses, Satchel” (video still), 2017. 3:38 mins. Music by Shara Nova. Photo courtesy of the artist. Photo description courtesy The Fabric Workshop and Museum.

The first floor is dedicated to two distinct works which offer a meditative conclusion to this ambitious show. “Lemonade, Roses, Satchel,” is a video in which My Brightest Diamond lead singer, Shara Nova appears, in full peasant costume, singing and strumming an autoharp. For this piece, she has turned the fragmented speech patterns of Bocanegra’s own grandmother (who suffered from dementia) into a looped folk song with no distinct verse or chorus.

Through a nearby door, in a dimly lit room at the very back of the museum, sits “Dialogue of the Carmelites.” Named for a modern opera in which a convent of nuns is slaughtered by French Revolutionaries, this installation features a disarticulated copy of the 1953 Guide to the the Catholic Sisterhoods in the United States. Each page (comprised of a single image of a nun and a description of the qualifications and duties of her order) has been separated at the spine, hand-embroidered and installed in a row along a single wooden shelf that encircles the gallery. Pages are lit individually from above and at close range such that they appear to glow from within. Strains of an original aria, composed by Bocanegra’s husband, David Lang (Pulitzer Prize winning composer and author of “Symphony for a Broken Orchestra” performed in Philadelphia in 2017), and sung by classical musician Caroline Shaw, waft unobtrusively in the background. In contrast to the grand theatricality of other works in the show, the intimate scale of “Dialogue” calls the viewer into a very private, contemplative experience — one which mirrors the quiet isolation of convent life itself. The youth of the women pictured (most orders at this time only accepted recruits up to the age of 30) is a final reminder of girlhood’s paradoxical role in the maintenance of (even the highest) power.

“Dialogue of the Carmelites” by Suzanne Bocanegra. From “Poorly Watched Girls” at The Fabric Worksop and Museum. Photo courtesy of Imani Roach.

“Poorly Watched Girls” is on view October 5, 2018 through February 17, 2019 at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. For the full slate of related events, visit the museum website. The Fabric Workshop and Museum is located at 1214 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107; gallery hours are Mon-Fri 10-6 and Sat-Sun 12-6.

*Much of the textile work which appears in Poorly Watched Girls, from the costumes in “Valley” to the embroidered pages of the “Dialogue of the Carmelites” was done by the Fabric Workshop team.

More Photos

“Lemonade, Roses, Satchel” by Suzanne Bocanegra. From “Poorly Watched Girls” at The Fabric Worksop and Museum. Photo courtesy of Imani Roach.

Detail, “Dialogue of the Carmelites” by Suzanne Bocanegra. From “Poorly Watched Girls” at The Fabric Worksop and Museum. Photo courtesy of Imani Roach.

Detail, “Dialogue of the Carmelites” by Suzanne Bocanegra. From “Poorly Watched Girls” at The Fabric Worksop and Museum. Photo courtesy of Imani Roach.

Source: https://www.theartblog.org/2018/12/many-stages-of-girlhood-in-suzanne-bocanegras-poorly-watched-girls-at-the-fabric-workshop-and-museum/

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Panthers' Reid confronts Eagles' Jenkins over protests, coalition

(Reuters) - Carolina's Eric Reid had to be restrained by team mates after confronting Malcolm Jenkins of the Philadelphia Eagles prior to their NFL game on Sunday and later accused him of selling out the players' movement protesting social injustice.

Reid's former team mate at the San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick was the first player to refuse to stand during the playing of the national anthem before games, a protest he said was aimed at bringing attention to racism and police brutality.

Reid was one of the first to join Kaepernick in protesting, with Jenkins among the many other players throughout the NFL then taking up the cause.

Jenkins last year co-founded the Players Coalition, a non-profit organization governed by 12 NFL players.

After the NFL agreed to donate nearly $90 million to causes the coalition considered important, Jenkins stopped raising a fist of protest during the national anthem.

"I believe there’s a lot of players who have stepped up for Colin,” said Reid, who quit the coalition.

"I believe Malcolm capitalized on the situation -- he co-opted the movement that was started by Colin to get his organization funded. It’s cowardly. He sold us out."

Jenkins did not return fire and had nothing but praise for the social justice efforts of Reid and Kaepernick.

"You couldn't pay me to say anything negative about them," Jenkins said.

"I look around the league and I’m proud of guys that are active in their communities, that are using their voice as a platform like never before, including Colin and including Eric."

Kaepernick, who remains without a team after leaving the 49ers, weighed in on Reid's comments.

"Eric Reid!!! Enough said!!!" he wrote on Twitter.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-panthers-reid-confronts-eagles-jenkins-over-protests-030334388--nfl.html?src=rss

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‘They’re So Disrespectful’: Philadelphia Police Investigating After Several Teens Steal Items, Throw Ice At Wawa Customers

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Police are investigating after several teens stormed into a Philadelphia Wawa on Wednesday afternoon, stealing several items and throwing ice at customers. The chaotic scene unfolded at the Society Hill store on the 500 block of South 2nd Street around 3:45 p.m.

For the second time in less than a week teenagers stormed into a South Street business. Workers are fed up and want these “disrespectful” teens punished.

“They’re so disrespectful. They have no morals at all,” Fred Bedford, who works on South Street, said.

Bedford works at Head House Flats and says this is nothing new for the area.

“What happened was they ran into the store like they always do, but then when they come out, they lay their bikes on the ground and then they come out pockets full, water, everything. Take what they want, come running out the store, knocking people over, whoever’s in their way, get out of my way. That’s what they do and they will knock you down. They will make sure that they get on their bikes and start running off,” he said.

‘Life Or Death Situation’: Questions Remain As Hahnemann University Hospital Announces Transfer Of Residents, Fellows To Tower Health

Bedford says he saw about seven kids on their bicycles, causing a commotion Wednesday.

According to police, the teens already started to disperse by the time officers were able to get there. It’s a problem that Philadelphia police have been dealing with throughout the summer.

Just last week, a Walgreens was looted on the 1800 block of South Street by 60 teens and a 46-year-old customer was assaulted on the Fourth of July.

Residents who work on South Street say they can’t understand why people would choose to loot businesses with their free time.

“They’re not older, they’re young kids,” Adilen Padilla, who works on South Street, said. “So it’s shocking that they’re doing it, just to be on social media or whatever.”

Police Release Identity Of Suspect Wanted For Punching Woman In Face During Attempted Abduction In Center City

While police are working on tracking down the kids responsible, those who work on South Street say more needs to be done.

“Hard to catch those kids on bikes,” Bedford said. “But what the police need to do is have bicycle cops down here to catch them. They would catch them, throw them in jail, have their parents come get them, fine their parents about $250, $300. I bet you it would stop all that.”

No injuries were reported and no arrests have been made.

Police have posted curfew signs on the outside of the store to remind anyone under the age of 18 not to be out on the streets during the week.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/07/10/group-10-teenagers-throw-ice-customres-philadelphia-wawa/

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Engineers have Vistar Media’s Philly office all to themselves

From India to Taiwan, Vistar Media has attracted software engineers from all over the world with an atmosphere employees describe as “home away from home.”

Vistar Media strives to be the antidote to your run-of-the-mill, rigidly structured office job. Launched in 2012, the adtech startup encourages collaboration, creative problem solving and fun from employees’ first day. The office may be quiet as engineers work on their latest coding puzzles, but the team perks up for regular free catered lunches and Friday demo meetings where they showcase their weekly accomplishments.

Vistar Media is a fast-growing company with a newly revamped office in the heart of Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood. It continues to bring on fresh talent that live and breathe a passion for engineering. Employees aim to take their craft to the next level and dive into Philly’s close-knit tech community.

Vistar Media engineers tackle different projects every week, allowing them to constantly develop their coding knowledge and dive into creating uncharted technologies. The company doesn’t shy away from embracing new software, meaning both employees and customers get the absolute best the industry has to offer.

Curious how to join in? Check out its brand-new culture page to learn more and view available jobs.

Learn more about Vistar Media -30- Source: https://technical.ly/philly/2019/04/11/engineers-vistar-media-old-city-office/

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Wine Dive, a ‘Funky’ Bottle Shop and Bar, Is on Its Way to South Street

Heather Annechiarico and Chris Fetfatzes really like South Street. The couple already has gastropub The Cambridge at 1508 South Street and Mexican eatery Tio Flores just up the street at 1600 South. And soon they’ll be running a third venue on the same strip, when Wine Dive opens next to Cambridge this spring.

“We love the energy of the street — the neighborhood has both a city and a neighborhood feel,” Fetfatzes said via email. “We wanted to be part of the building up of this area of Philly.”

There’s already a quintessential dive bar on the block, in the form of Bob & Barbara’s across the street. But it’s probably safe to assume that although Wine Dive has “dive” in the name, it will be at least a little swankier — after all, the focus is on wine, not Citywides. There’s also Jet Wine Bar on the same side as Bob & Barbara’s, though Wine Dive sounds a bit different from that one as well.

For starters, it’s both a bottle shop and a bar. The store part will sell wine, bubbly, cider, and beer. For the bar, expect wine (of course), cocktails, and beer, plus burgers, fries, “chicken sandos,” “big salads,” and some vegan options.

Annechairico and Fetfatzes are hoping to have everything ready to go April 15, at 1506 South Street in what was a casual creperie.

They chose “Wine Dive” because it “undresses the immediate image of wine. It’s meant to evoke a feeling of comfort, approachability, and low pretense,” Fetfatzes wrote. “We’re going to be a funky wine shop — an interactive spot blending retail and hospitality. You’ll be able to walk in and buy a great bottle of wine, Champagne, cider, or beer, while grabbing a drink.”

The space will seat somewhere between 50 and 75 at a bar and tables, and include a jukebox. Look for outdoor seating too, when the weather permits.

Annechairico and Fetfatzes also own Hawthornes, the restaurant and beer shop on 11th and Fitzwater known for its brunches.

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Source: https://philly.eater.com/2019/2/4/18210860/wine-dive-bar-liquor-store-south-street-philadelphia

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Philly Flower Show 2019: What to expect

March is less than two weeks away and that means one thing: The Philadelphia Flower Show is right around the corner.

It’s one of the city’s most anticipated yearly events, drawing in more than 250,000 people for the weeklong experience. Hosted by the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, the show brings colorful, lush floral displays to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, all guided by a specific theme.

And this is an especially exciting installment of the nearly 200-year-old show. This year the Flower Show is playing host to the world’s biggest floral design competition, in which designers from 23 different countries are participating.

So, with just 12 days until the big opening, here’s everything you need to know before you go:

When and where is the show?

The show will be held every day from March 2 through March 10 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. These are the specific times:

Saturday, March 2: 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 3: 8:00 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday through Friday, March 4-8: 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 9: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 10: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

You have to buy tickets to get in, and you can find them on the show’s website for $34 a pop.

What’s the theme about?

This year’s theme is “Flower Power.” Seemingly a nod to the 60s/70s-era movement, it aims to explore the impact that flowers on our lives. How do they enrich us? How do we use them in traditions? How do they foster a sense of community and peace?

“Designers will explore how flowers convey a wide range of emotions and messages in a universal language that transcends cultures and borders,” the website says.

What to watch for

There’s a ton going on at the show this year, but easily one of the most exciting events is the FTD Floral Cup, an international floral design competition, which hasn’t been held in the United States since 1985.

Over the course of three days, floral designers from countries around the world will participate in challenges, making floral creations from surprise materials or preplanned themes.

What’s the entrance garden going to look like?

The entrance garden is easily one of the most anticipated parts of the show every year, and 2019 is no different. PHS is calling the entrance a “show-stopping demonstration” of “Flower Power” with towering vine sculptures made from 1,000 feet of aluminum and 8,000 different flowers in the entryway alone. Various “pods” will show some of the creations from the FTD Floral Cup, and a meadow of wildflowers will float 25 feet overhead.

1101 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Source: https://philly.curbed.com/2019/2/18/18229589/philly-flower-show-2019-what-to-expect-ftd-competition

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Eagles’ Chris Long On A Mission To Bring Clean Water To Those In Need

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Philadelphia Eagle is on a mission to bring clean water to those in need.

Chris Long hosted a fundraiser on Monday night in Center City for “Waterboys,” the signature initiative of The Chris Long Foundation.

“Waterboys” is dedicated to raising awareness and money to provide clean water to east African communities in desperate need.

The auction featured a live auction with one-of-a-kind items.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/11/12/eagles-chris-long-on-a-mission-to-bring-clean-water-to-those-in-need/

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How the franchise tag window opening could impact Nick Foles and the Eagles

The NFL franchise tag window officially opens today, Tuesday, February 19 starting at 4:00 PM ET. Here’s a look at what this development means for the Philadelphia Eagles and their potential tag candidate, Nick Foles.

What you need to know about the tag

Teams typically use the franchise designation to prevent one of their key impending free agents from leaving in free agency. Teams have a two-week period to apply this designation; this year’s deadline is on March 5 before 4:00 PM ET.

There are three tag versions: the exclusive franchise tag, the non-exclusive franchise tag, and the transition tag. The exclusive is the most costly version and ensures that a player cannot negotiate with any other team. The non-exclusive tag is more common (and most relevant for the Eagles this year) because it’s not as costly as the exclusive version but it still allows players to be signed to an offer sheet. If the tagging team fails to match the offer, the tagging team receives two first round picks in exchange for the player (unless a trade is worked out otherwise — again, relevant to the Eagles). The transition tag is the cheapest option but the tagging team receives no compensation if an offer sheet is not matched.

Once a player signs his tag tender, his deal is fully guaranteed and cannot be rescinded. The tag CAN be rescinded at any point before a player signs their offer.

For more information on how tagging works, read SB Nation’s detailed explainer.

Will the Eagles use the tag on Nick Foles?

Foles is currently set to be a free agent since he quickly voided his 2019 contract option after the Eagles picked it up.

Multiple reports indicate the Eagles plan to use the tag on Foles in order to trade him. Earlier this month, NFL insider Adam Schefter said “the Eagles ARE expected to use their franchise tag on him and they ARE expected to try to trade him so they can help dictate where he winds up.” NFL insider Jason La Canfora also recently wrote that “smart people I talk to around the league think the Eagles apply the tag” to Foles.

We’ll repeat what we’ve said here all along:

Tagging and trade Foles is possible but it’s not necessarily likely. There are challenges that come with doing that. Essentially, Howie Roseman has to be 100% sure he can trade Foles before he tags him or else the Eagles risk having Foles’ fully guaranteed $25+ million salary on the books for 2019.

Maybe there’s a team out there desperate enough to trade for Foles on the tag.

Or maybe everyone calls the Eagles’ bluff because they feel like Philly can’t risk putting the tag on Foles. Teams could feel like they don’t need to give up draft compensation for Foles because they can just try to sign him during free agency instead.

The latter scenario is why it seems likely the Eagles WON’T be able to tag and trade Foles. Other teams know Philly can’t carry Foles’ projected $25.578 million cap hit on their books should a trade fail to materialize.

With that said, you can never rule out Roseman getting creative and finding a way to get a deal done. Teams do desperate things to acquire quarterbacks every offseason.

Isn’t tagging and trading Foles illegal?

Technically, yes.

But it’s not like the league has strictly enforced this policy in the past.

Also, do we know for sure that Foles definitely wouldn’t want to be tagged and traded? There’s so far been no indication he’s vehemently opposed.

What if Foles feels like his market wouldn’t be all that strong — which there are indications that’s possible — if he becomes a free agent? He might feel like getting hit with a $25.578 million tag is a good option for him.

What’s the upside to trading Foles as opposed to letting him walk in free agency?

Well, if the Eagles trade Foles, they could potentially get at least a 2019 third-round pick for him. That’s reportedly their asking price.

Is that 2019 third-round pick significantly better than the 2020 third-round compensatory pick they could get by Foles signing a big deal in free agency? Answer: Yes.

Getting a guaranteed pick this year is certainly worth more than a theoretical pick the Eagles could receive next year. Getting a third-round compensatory pick for Foles isn’t guaranteed because it depends on a number of factors such as the deal he signs and the Eagles otherwise being relatively inactive in free agency.

BGN alumnus Jimmy Kempski made another good point about why getting a pick for Foles in a trade is more valuable than hoping to receive a comp pick:

Instead of letting Foles walk and potentially only receiving four comp picks while losing him, Graham, Darby, Tate, and Hicks ... the Eagles could work it so they get five picks for all five players lost. Five > four.

Will the Eagles use the tag on any of their players not named Foles?

To be clear: teams can only use the tag once per year. If the Eagles don’t use it on Foles, it IS possible they can use it on another impending free agent.

But despite the fact Philly has a lot of key players set to enter free agency, they don’t have anyone worth tagging. Brandon Graham would be the most deserving candidate but the Eagles aren’t about to keep him at a $18.653 million cap hit in 2019.

Here are the estimated salaries for each position under the franchise tag in 2019, courtesy of OvertheCap.com:

Quarterbacks: $25.578 million Running backs: $11.98 million Wide receivers: $17.101 million Tight ends: $10.93 million Offensive linemen: $15.283 million Defensive tackles: $15.571 million Defensive ends: $18.653 million Linebackers: $15.777 million Cornerbacks: $15.992 million Safeties: $12.037 million Kickers/Punters: $5.162 million

How will other teams using the tag impact the Eagles?

A number of players currently set to be free agents could soon be off the market before the new league year even begins on March 13.

It’s worth noting that a number of key pass rushers are listed here. That impacts the Eagles in a number of ways.

If the edge market thins out, that only makes it harder for the Eagles to retain Brandon Graham. Graham will be one of the best free agent defensive ends on the market should guys like Lawrence, Clowney, Ford, and Clark all get tagged. Philly’s best hope of retaining Graham relies on him testing free agency and not finding the big deal he wants. That situation is not likely to happen if Graham ends up being the top available option at his position.

Another thing to consider is the Eagles have been rumored to be interested in top free agent defensive ends. Is one of their targets going to get tagged? Or will their target still be available but end up being more expensive than previously thought due to a shrinking supply of pass rushers?

We’ll see how things go prior to the tag deadline on March 5.

Source: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2019/2/19/18231243/nfl-franchise-tag-window-opening-impact-nick-foles-philadelphia-eagles-trade-rumors-contract-numbers

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Philly Says It Needs More Time to Ban Cashless Stores

City

Because apparently it’s too hard to just tell businesses “You have to accept cash now.”

Photo by SolStock/Getty Images.

Leave it to Philadelphia city government to pass meaningful legislation, then fumble at the one-yard line.

Back in February, City Council approved a bill that would ban cashless stores, making Philly the first major city to do so. We got our fair share of national attention for the progressive action, not unlike when the city championed the soda tax in 2016. It felt good to be lauded again.

Mayor Kenney, initially skeptical of the cashless legislation, came around by the end of the month and signed the bill into law. The ban was to go into effect on July 1st, giving the city four whole months to implement the measure.

But when July 1st comes around next week, you still won’t be able to use cash anywhere you wish. The city Commission on Human Relations voted to push the ban back to October 1st, a government spokesperson says, so that “the public and the retail community can better understand the ordinance’s requirements.”

It would be one thing if this were a measure on the order of the soda tax, a complex and multifaceted policy that affects distributors and retailers across the city. But Philly’s cashless store ban is more about preventing cashless stores from operating here in the future than it is about cracking down on current businesses. In fact, according to the city’s own estimates, there were only about 11 cashless stores in Philly when the bill was passed.

That number is even smaller now, because one of those companies, the salad chain Sweetgreen, renounced its cashless policy when it began getting bad press about how the practice was discriminatory toward the poor. (And indeed it is: In Philadelphia, nearly 30 percent of the population is either “unbanked” or “underbanked,” meaning they have little access to financial institutions that would enable them to get a credit or debit card. Research by the federal government has found also that this underbanked population is disproportionately non-white.)

City spokesperson Lauren Cox says the delay has little to do with enforcement of the small number of cashless brick-and-mortar retail stores. Instead, the Human Relations Commission has a muddy understanding of how the law will be applied to service businesses. “Rather than starting to implement the law with a lack of clarity on what exactly would be enforced, the Commissioners chose to delay and work through those gray areas further,” Cox says.

That may be so, but while all of this inaction was happening here, other governments across the country have taken steps of their own to ban cashless stores. New Jersey passed a ban that was nearly identical to Philly’s in March — which, mind you, took effect across the entire state immediately. San Francisco followed suit with its own cashless ban in May and said its law would be rolled out within 90 days. Massachusetts has also had a ban on refusing cash since the 1970s, but it’s a statewide law, which is why Philly still counted as the first city to approve a similar bill.

But at this rate, even though Philly was the first major U.S. city to get a cashless ban down on paper, it looks as if San Francisco may be the first to actually implement the thing. Which just goes to show you, it’s not how about you start — it’s how you finish.

Source: https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/06/28/cashless-store-ban-philadelphia-delay/

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Ben, by the Numbers

The bottom line is this:

When it comes to Ben Simmons, the dude is doing things few players have ever done, let alone this early in a career.

Witness ‘Exhibit MSG,’ Sunday in the 76ers’ 108-105 victory over the New York Knicks.

For the second time this season, and fifth time in his career, the reigning Rookie of the Year had a double-double at halftime.

By the end of the afternoon, he had pumped out 20 points (for a second straight game, and fourth time in his last six), a career-best 22 rebounds, plus nine assists.

At 22 years, 177 days old, Simmons became the youngest player in franchise history to post a 20-point x 20-rebound game.

The last time an NBA player went for 20 and 20 before turning 22? You’d have to go all the way back to November 1993, when Shaquille O’Neal, then with the Orlando Magic, tallied 24 points and 28 rebounds against the New Jersey Nets.

Had Simmons on Sunday managed to get one more assist, he would’ve gone become the youngest player of all-time with a 20 x 20 x 10 box line. Instead, the Australian had to settle for some other heady superlatives:

• The Sixers’ first 20 x 22 x 9 game since Charles Barkley finished with 26 points, 25 rebounds, and nine dimes March 20th, 1987 versus Denver.

• The fourth player to produce a 20 x 22 x 9 game for the team since the Wilt Chamberlain era (also Barkley, George McGinnis, and Billy Cunningham).

“An assist away from an incredible triple-double,” said Brett Brown. “The numbers are dominant.”

And Simmons was just that.

The Knicks, shorthanded on Sunday, had no answer for the 6-10, 230-pound point man.

They tried a host of defenders on Simmons, but he still managed to have his way, whether on post ups, open court drives, or...jump shots.

In respect to his efforts on the boards, Simmons was a beast, on both ends.

None of his caroms was more crucial than the one he pulled off the offensive glass with 81 seconds to go in regulation.

The ensuing second opportunity yielded a needed JJ Redick 3-pointer that increased the Sixers’ margin to eight, 104-96.

“I thought that was the game,” Brown said of the sequence.

Not a person to make much of his own accomplishments, Simmons was understated in assessing his contributions.

“I just played the game, and let things come to me,” he said, two days after manufacturing the Sixers’ first 20 x 10 x 15 game since 1995.

When asked to elaborate on Sunday’s performance, Simmons said, “I’m just trying to get better.”

By the end of the day, there was no doubt he had been just about at his best.

Source: https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/ben-numbers

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The Chef-Made Philly Hot Sauces You’ll Want to Put on Everything

Guides

Keep your kitchen stocked with these peppery, flavor-packed condiments, from a vinegar-y seasoning for barbecue to spicy sambal.

Cafe Lift | Facebook

Every hot sauce lover has their favorite, from Crystal’s hot-salty-tangy punch to sriracha’s ubiquitous vegetal spice. But these Philly chefs made their own hot sauces so good, customers clamored to take them home. From fiery bottles of a classic cheesesteak condiment to tubs of sambal you’ll want to put on everything you cook, here are five great chef-made hot sauces from Philadelphia restaurants.

Baology, Center City Although Asian cuisines are sometimes seen as spicy across the board, Taiwanese cuisine isn’t, overall. So co-owners Judy Ni and Andy Tessier use a mix of habanero and Fresno chiles to create a sauce that would best complement their potstickers, gwa baos, and fried chicken with lots of pepper flavor and an up-front hit of heat. Even better? Thanks to ingenuity in the kitchen, it’s a zero-waste product: the pulp, skins, and seeds strained out of the sauce are dehydrated and buzzed into a spicy seasoning (you can take a jar of that home, too).

Cafe Lift, Spring Arts and Narberth It’s only fitting that this super-spicy hot sauce from restaurateurs Michael and Jenniphur Pasquarello’s family-friendly bruncherie should be named after one of the couple’s kiddos. Taste it at their city or suburban cafe, then buy a 16-ounce jar to spice things up in your own kitchen.

Geno’s Steaks, East Passyunk Wherever you land on the Pat’s-versus-Geno’s debate, only one of the iconic South Philly cheesesteak spots has its own signature hot sauce for sale by the bottle. The tangy, sinus-clearing concoction, developed by founder Joey Vento more than 50 years ago, gets its heat from bird’s-eye chili peppers.

Hardena/Waroeng Surabaya, South Philly The James Beard-nominated Indonesian mainstay produces a slate of its own sambals for use on veggies, meat, and fish — and you can buy them by the tub to freeze for home use. Choose from classic sambal terasi, boosted with pungent shrimp paste, or go vegan with red pepper or green garlic sambals.

Lechonera Principe, Kensington The crackly-skinned, juicy pork at this must-try Puerto Rican spot is pit-roasted to perfection every morning. But if you like a little kick to your ‘cue, throw on a dash or three of their bracing house-made pique, a mix of hot peppers, herbs, and seasonings steeped in vinegar.

Source: https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2019/06/25/philadelphia-chef-hot-sauce/

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Officials: Fallen Tree Causes Power Outage In West Philadelphia

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Some people in West Philadelphia woke up in the dark Sunday morning after a downed tree pulled down overhead wires.

Medical Service Chief Dies While On Duty At Talen Energy Stadium

The incident happened on the 4300 block of Spruce Street. After bringing down wires, the toppled tree came to rest on a car.

Credit: CBS3

Although the outage is only impacting those who live on the block, the road is closed through the 4400 blocks as crews work on the situation.

1 Dead, 1 Hurt In Crash After Women Stopped To Check On Animal In Royersford

Officials say the power should be restored between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon. 

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/10/21/officials-fallen-tree-creates-power-outage-in-west-philadelphia/

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Philly Controller: City has worst accounting controls of 10 largest U.S. cities

Sloppy accounting practices inside Philadelphia’s City Hall made headlines last year after officials lost track of $33 million dollars in taxpayer funds. The money was (mostly) recovered, but a new audit from City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart finds that many problems with the city’s accounting practices remain.

Although the new report praises some reforms, it asserts that Philadelphia still has the worst internal accounting controls of the 10 largest U.S. cities. The audit noted some $236 million-worth of fiscal errors made by the city last year. 

Rhynhart said these holes could enable corruption. She didn’t point to any specific instances. 

These are “red flags that there could be serious issues with the city’s finances. And they’re warning signs that taxpayer money could be put at risk,” she said. “That’s why this is serious. When you don’t have adequate internal controls, bad things can happen, like missing funds.”

Major parts of the city’s $5 billion municipal budget are still pieced together using Microsoft Word documents and Lotus spreadsheets, a now-discontinued 1980s accounting program. The Controller cited other holes in the city’s process, citing a finding that showed the city certain finance employees could wipe away millions in tax obligations with little oversight.

Rhynhart attributed some of the issues to short-staffing at the Finance Department and a lack of investment in new technology.   

In a statement to the Inquirer, Mike Dunn, a spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney, criticized the report for understating recent improvements to the finance process. He cited a decrease from $924 million in accounting errors uncovered in 2017. He called Rhynhart’s findings "a disservice to the dedicated and hard-working women and men who have implemented these reforms.”

But Rhynhart told PlanPhilly that the city has not acted with appropriate “urgency” to fix certain outstanding issues, some of which have persisted for years. 

Her office recommended the city retain an outside accounting firm to oversee short-term improvements, immediately hire additional accountants and implement a new financial reporting system.

Source: http://planphilly.com/articles/2019/06/28/philly-controller-city-has-worst-accounting-controls-of-10-largest-u-s-cities

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Free film screening of Hale County This Morning, This Evening and panel talk with actor Danny Glover

Free film screening of Hale County This Morning, This Evening and panel talk with actor Danny Glover

By ArtblogNovember 9, 2018

"Hale County This Morning, This Evening" is an emotion-charged, poetically non-narrative exploration of stereotypes of African American males in the South. The film, a Sundance favorite with many accolades, is a contemporary look at Hale County, Alabama, chronicled by Walker Evans and James Agee in their book, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men," (1941), which in turn inspired Aaron Copeland to write an opera. The film screens, FREE, on Monday, Nov. 12, 2018, at 6:30 PM at the Annenberg Center on the University of Pennsylvania Campus. A panel discussion with actor and the film's Executive Producer, Danny Glover, and others follows the screening. Registration is at Eventbrite, link in the post.

Image from poster for the documentary film, “Hale County,” the initial offering of the Social Justice & Arts Integration Initiative at University of Pennsylvania

Artblog is partnering with Slought and the University of Pennsylvania Social Policy and Practice Arts Initiative to get the word out about their new initiative, the Social Justice & Arts Integration Initiative. The Initiative’s first event is a great one, a free film screening, Monday, November 12, 2018, of “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” an award-winning film by RaMell Ross.

The film screens at 6:30 PM at the Annenberg Center’s Zellerbach Theatre on the Penn campus. A panel discussion will follow the film, including actor Danny Glover, the film’s Executive Producer, and producer Joslyn Barnes, who are the co-founders Louverture Films. Also featured are Rob Moss, filmmaker and part of the film’s editing team, and moderator, Patricia J. Williams, a legal scholar.

The film screening and panel are free and open to the public but registration is requested.

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November 7, 2018 by Morgan Nitz

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November 2, 2018 by Matt Kalasky

Source: https://www.theartblog.org/2018/11/free-film-screening-of-hale-county-this-morning-this-evening-and-panel-talk-with-actor-danny-glover/

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Man Could Get Death In Grace Packer’s Rape, Murder, Dismemberment

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DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania jury will decide on life or death for a Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty in the 2016 rape, murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend’s teenage daughter. Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to all charges last month in a case that raised questions about the child welfare system’s failure to protect 14-year-old Grace Packer, who spent years in an abusive home before she was sexually violated, drugged and then, finally, strangled in the attic of a suburban Philadelphia home.

Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty In Grace Packer Murder Trial 

Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to all charges last month in a case that raised questions about the child welfare system’s failure to protect 14-year-old Grace Packer, who spent years in an abusive home before she was sexually violated, drugged and then, finally, strangled in the attic of a suburban Philadelphia home.

Prosecutors have said that Grace’s adoptive mother, Sara Packer, watched Sullivan act out a rape-murder fantasy they shared. Sara Packer, a former foster parent and county adoptions supervisor, has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence and could be called to testify at the penalty phase of Sullivan’s trial, which opens Friday outside Philadelphia.

Sullivan’s attorneys plan to argue that Sara Packer masterminded the plot against Grace , and that Sullivan should be sentenced to life.

Mother Accused Of Killing Adopted Daughter Pleads Not Guilty 

Packer and her husband at the time, David Packer, adopted Grace and her brother in 2007. The couple cared for dozens of foster children before David Packer was arrested in 2010 and sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter at their home in Allentown, about an hour north of Philadelphia. Sara Packer lost her job as a Northampton County adoptions supervisor in 2010 and was barred from taking in any more foster children.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace Packer’s murder but its findings have not been made public.

Sullivan beat and raped Grace, and she was tied up, drugged and left to die in a sweltering attic, authorities have said. Returning the next day and finding Grace was still alive, Sullivan strangled her, court documents said. The couple stored her body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it in October 2016, police have said.

Sullivan entered his guilty plea as jury selection was about to get underway. The jury that will decide his sentence must be unanimous in order to impose the death penalty; otherwise Sullivan will get life without parole.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on capital punishment shortly after taking office in 2015. Pennsylvania last carried out an execution in 1999.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/03/15/jacob-sullivan-grace-packer-man-could-get-death-in-teens-rape-murder-dismemberment/

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Home Away From Home: Kalaya Reviewed

Restaurant Reviews

Kalaya brings the flavors of a Thai kitchen to Bella Vista.

Dinner at Kalaya | Photo by Ian Shiver

On a weekday night, the dining room at Kalaya is cool and calm. Servers move smoothly between the tables. They stop and chat. Owners Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon and My-Le Vuong make the rounds, and when Suntaranon, the chef, comes by my table and sees that I’ve pushed back my kang poo pak tai — a deep bowl of spicy crabmeat curry with the hot slick of oil floating on top — even though it’s only half gone, she pauses, looks me up and down, purses her lips, and tsks me.

I smile at her and say, “Can’t help it. I’m stuffed.” Which is absolutely true, since I’ve already put away an entire order of fried fish cakes (maybe the best fish cakes in this town that knows a thing or two about fish cakes) and three massive fried chicken wings, marinated in fish sauce, served with a side of bright sweet/sour chili sauce, and half the crab curry, with its noodles, cucumber and chopped long bean, spiked with dangerous little nuggets of red Thai chili.

Yum nua ma kua poa (beef salad) at Kalaya | Photo by Ian Shiver

And Suntaranon smiles back before moving on, because she knows it’s not because the crab curry isn’t good or because I don’t like it. She cooks with the confidence of someone who knows that what’s coming from her kitchen is good — that it’s the best expression of the dishes she learned from her mother, Kalaya (for whom the restaurant is named), and brought from Thailand to this little space on 9th Street in Bella Vista. You’d never leave a drop of her curry behind unless, like me, you had a very real fear that one more bite might make you explode.

On a weekend, things are different. Not hugely, but still. The servers are quicker. Busier. Vuong is still on the floor, explaining the menu, helping people order, explaining where the whole coconuts come from that she serves with a straw for drinking the milk. They do a brisk takeout business, but the tables turn fast, too — full of curious first-timers and friends and people who’ve become regulars already, even though Kalaya has only been open for a couple months. There’s a woman in the corner, sitting alone, and the staff remembers what she liked last time, suggests new dishes. At another table, at the front of the restaurant, the diners ask Vuong about something they had at a party that she and Suntaranon catered. Something with chicken, they think. And curry. But it’s not on the menu here. She knows just what they’re talking about and suggests something similar.

Owners Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon and My-Le Vuong | Photo by Ian Shiver

Me, I’m just sitting there behind a Thai iced tea, thick and milky, trying hard to remember every detail about the toong tong so I can write about them later. So I can explain to you exactly how good they are — how delicious, how incredibly (almost laceratingly) crisp and golden, how unusual, how beautiful. They’re purses of spring- roll dough tied at the top with a bit of leaf, stuffed with potatoes and curry, with sweet chili sauce on the side. They smell of the crosscurrents of East Asian flavors, of ingredients moving back and forth across Myanmar between Thailand and India. It’s party food. A little fried snack with royal roots.

You get the same spike of cross-cultural frisson with the monkfish (pla thod kamin), fried in a wok, served in a bowl with a golden broth smelling of turmeric and garlic, black pepper and hot red chilies. There’s a Philadelphia connection in the pork with shrimp paste when you find the long hots in the bowl. And the whole branzino might seem like something you’ve seen a million times before, but none of them were like Suntaranon’s branzino — served whole, head-on, in a lime broth enriched by the fat from the fish, lent heat by the chopped chilies, some color from the tangle of herbs thrown on top. It gets filleted tableside by the staff, which is good because it falls to pieces almost as soon as you touch it, so tender you feel it might melt into the broth entirely.

The dining room at Kalaya | Photo by Ian Shiver

Kalaya exists in the tension between those things — between styles, regions, traditions. It’s different things to different people, on different nights. But cool or crowded, busy or languid, this is the Thai restaurant Philly has been waiting for — the one that will define the top end of this cuisine in this city going forward. Neither too fancy nor too casual, neither storefront-cheap nor prohibitively expensive, not hyper-traditional but not dismissive, either. Kalaya walks a middle ground that feels fantastically modern while still nodding to the generations that have come before, and does it all with a knowing, confident smile.

Without a plate of pad Thai in sight.

3 Stars — Come from anywhere in the region

Rating Key 0 stars: stay away ★: come if you have no other options ★★: come if you’re in the neighborhood ★★★: come from anywhere in the region ★★★★: come from anywhere in the country

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Source: https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2019/06/27/kalaya-thai-restaurant-philadelphia-review/

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Journalism job cuts: Philly Inquirer plans buyouts to reduce newsroom staff

Updated 9:55 p.m. 

Despite a unique ownership structure that’s been touted as a hopeful alternative to the hedge-fund gutting of newspapers across the nation, the Philly region’s largest newsroom is about to get smaller.

The publisher of the The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com on Thursday announced a round of buyouts in what it said was an effort to streamline finances and rein in costs.

If not enough employees take voluntary buyouts, layoffs may be on the table — “but we’re not at that point yet,” said Evan Benn, Inquirer director of editorial marketing, on behalf of publisher Terry Egger.

The move prompted an incensed response from the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia, which had previously expressed a vote of no confidence in Egger.

“We have been told again and again by Publisher Egger that we’re different than the rest. Remember when he recently stood before you and noted that reductions in force were happening to all those OTHER media news companies?” the union asked in a letter to its members.

The buyouts — officially referred to as a “Voluntary Separation Program” — will be offered to 140 employees across the editorial, finance, advertising and IT departments of parent company Philadelphia Media Network. Eligible employees include both union and non-union staff, as well as management.

It’s not entirely clear how many jobs will be cut.

Though the Guild’s letter to its members sounded the alarm about a coming workforce reduction of 10%, the publisher disputed that, saying, “It will not be anywhere close to…10%.”

In total, PMN employs more than 1,000 people, it said. In a previous round of buyouts in 2017, about 50 newsroom staffers chose to take the severance package. Since then, “about 45 journalists” have been hired, to “profound impact,” Benn said.

NewsGuild Executive Director Bill Ross told the Philadelphia Business Journal he believed management was looking for at least 30 union members to take the buyout.

Newspapers have been rapidly shrinking across the country. Between 2008 and 2017, newsroom employment dropped by 45%, according to a Pew Research study released last year. Jobs in public relations now outnumber those in journalism by a ratio of 6-to-1.

As the industry has grappled with huge losses in advertising revenue, hedge funds have bought local papers and slashed jobs amid consolidation.

The Inquirer is not quite in the same boat, thanks to former owner H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest. Before his death in 2018, the philanthropist donated the business to a new nonprofit institute dedicated to supporting local journalism. Now known as the Lenfest Institute, it oversees and provides support to the for-profit company that owns The Inquirer and its sister brands.

“There’s reason for great optimism that the business of local news can be reinvented, especially here in Philadelphia, where the First Amendment was penned,” Lenfest Institute CEO Jim Friedlich wrote in an op-ed this spring. “The newspaper is neither out of the woods financially nor ready to declare victory, but we believe we have put in place the building blocks of a sustainable local news operation.”

In his Thursday letter to staff, publisher Egger said the company’s unique ownership structure did not preclude it from feeling the same financial crunch as other newspapers: “That does not make us immune to the dramatic economic challenges that weigh heavily on the news industry.”

With print subscriptions dwindling and online advertising revenue being sucked up by giants like Facebook and Google, media companies have turned to paywall and membership models to try to become profitable online. One after another, hundreds of local print newspapers have shut down over the past decade..

The Lenfest Institute itself was not involved in any operational decisions made at The Inquirer, but the nonprofit’s board understands why the buyout plan is necessary, according to Chairman David Boardman.

“We are focused on helping them acquire the tools, talent and resources they will need in order to serve this community with quality journalism for decades to come,” he said.

“Given that, the decision to make some reductions in staff in order to continue transforming into a healthy, digitally focused company makes sense, as painful as it undoubtedly will be,” Boardman continued. “It’s a challenging time for all media companies, and even one run for the benefit of the public instead of profit-seeking shareholders is not immune from the realities of the marketplace.”

Leaders of the NewsGuild don’t see it that way.

“This goes far beyond sad,” Guild President Diane Mastrull wrote to members. “It’s sickening and disgraceful.”

Source: https://billypenn.com/2019/05/23/journalism-job-cuts-philly-inquirer-plans-buyouts-to-reduce-newsroom-staff/