This Saturday: BLOCK PARTY

This Saturday is the Second Annual Block Party!!!! and this is where you will find me on Saturday night.

Location: 1600 Block St. Lawrence St.

Time: 2 pm-5:30 am

Who will be there: The Powder Kegs

Conversations with Enemies

The Shakes

Bandname

Sex Maine Godboys

The Eeries

Strange Shapes

Eskalators

Dipers

A Special Performance by Johny Hallady Scaring Young Children

More acts to be announced...

Well, not that I've heard of a single one of these bands, but doubtless there are those who have. More importantly, Pinatas filled with meat are promised as are Kegs and BBQ. Also, I quote "Last year was fun were guna be funner now." If the party is at all better than the invite's grammar its going to be a rager. See you there!!!

Flea Market Alert!!

This weekend, the Center City Flea Market will be located at 3rd and Pine.

I had the privilege to glance at the flea market while it was outside the Eastern State Penitentiary a few weekends, and wrongly assumed it would be there every Saturday. I went back two Saturdays later to find nothing. Just tons of college kids pouring into the Penitentiary for tours. I decided to do a bit of snooping and located a antique shop I remembered passing on the corner of 21st and Fairmont. The shop is closing soon (the owner is moving his store up North!) so hurry for some good deals (I still want the amazing green chairs out front!). I however, had yet to be paid (don't worry, my whining will end tomorrow) and entered only for advice. I was given a business card with the remaining Flea Market dates and the information that it only comes to Fairmont twice a year! The Flea Markets benefit charity, are massive and they are on the move. I'm going this weekend and I'm taking my mom. Unfortunately it won't be close to home, but as there are only three weekends left this year, s0 I've got to get while the getting is good. Oh, and if a Saturday happens to be rainy, then the Flea Market is held on Sunday. And if its rainy on Sunday...you are S.O.L!

Naturally Philadelphia

I've been getting to know my new city slowly, and my mental map and personal views have so far been very influenced by my job. My daily destination is more likely to be Bouvier and Diamond than Broad and Walnut. While downtown Philly does have some old nice trees, that possibly are old enough to have seem some serious history, its nothing compared to the nature one finds in North Philly. In our war against Nature, Nature seems to have the upper hand in this part of the city, and is slowly gaining ground. My favorite nature v. townhouse moment is when I east on Lehigh toward my office. There is this one particular abandoned house, in the middle of a row of townhouses, on one of the busiest streets in North Philly that actually has a tree growing out of one of the second story windows. Sometimes, though, when I walk down a block, its eerily quiet. One can't hear the sound of trees munching up houses but you can see it. Some blocks are around seventy five percent abandoned (a guesstimate) and when I walk by their wooden, metal, or open air windows I marvel at how such an important city can be at times so...empty and sad.
Close to my house, only a twenty minute drive from these battle scarred blocks, I discovered a very different type of nature. The area around the Art Museum astounded me as I walked/jogged around it at sunset. Gazebos overlooking the river, the city, or latticed, raised, criss-crossing highways provide a lovely nook to have a romantic moment, or an opportunity to simply take in beauty while in a city. The paths for bikers and joggers are surrounded by green grass and greener waterways covered in algae. I was taken a aback by how beautiful the skyline is, and how foreign it was to the nature I had experienced previously in the same day.

Photos of Philly

Photos by Joshua Henry Rolf

Little Brother at the Theatre for the Living Arts

Bridge over Pennsylvania Ave

Tinto

Tapas for three (or more, or less) in Philly? Look no further. Tinto is the place to head for an intimate dinner of shared tapas plates and very strong sangria. Josh, Sam, and I treated ourselves to one more night of restaurant week at this dark, candle lit, restaurant/wine bar decorated with unique wine keys, wine racks full of already enjoyed bottles and their corks.
To begin with, they won major points with our table when they comped our pitcher of sangria (that I couldn't really afford anyway) to make up for our wait and for an incident in which a little bit of dessert was spilled on Josh's pants. A good manager is key to any smooth dining experience, and this guy knew what he was doing.
Then, our waiter was really patient with us, our many questions, and, well, with us in general. In typical tapas fashion, he kept the dishes coming and we were very infrequently without some sort of tasty morsel. He even brought Sam a spicy dipping sauce upon request while we waiting for the cascade of taste to begin.
What we loved:
We went crazy for the Chorizo Pamplona. I've had my fair share of chorizo in my day, but this was by far the tastiest one. It was literally bursting with flavor. We all decided that we would come back just for this juicy item. The assorted cheeses were good and served with honey. Even better though, were the various charcuterie. The jamon serrano was everything Josh could have hoped for, and the saucisson sec was perfect when piled on a crunchy piece of bread with honey and blue cheese.




The Duck was intense, topped with a black cherry that played nicely with the richness of the duck. The Pulpo (octopus) a bit rubbery for me, but this was made up for by the crisp salad of arugula, jamon serrano, mission figs, and fried goat cheese. After all this flavor packed food the bomba rice seemed a bit plain in comparison but it had a lovely texture and plenty of yummy morel mushrooms.
Dessert was a little disappointing, but the coffee and tea we ordered was all I really had room for at this point. The chocolate cake was delicious but so rich I could only eat a few morsels, and the second cake was dry and forgettable.


Would I go back? Yes! However, I would order far less that we were allowed for our $35 fixed menu next time. The food is so rich that a only few dishes would really have sufficed. Anyway, less food leaves more room for the sangria, right?

Sassy and homeless on the SEPTA

Welcome to another edition of Sassy On the SEPTA.
‘Cause people still be getting sassy on the SEPTA.
I preface this story by saying that I am a case manager and that part of my job is to go to my client’s homes. Most people drive to their cars to home visits, but I had run out of gas the day before and had decided to take the bus instead of putting money into the tank. As I left someone’s home at 5:15 I immediately regretted this decision as the rain turned into torrential downpour. I ran to the closest 33 bus stop and asked a woman already waiting there if I could share her umbrella. Finally the bus came, and soaking wet I stepped up and took a seat in the front. Turns out it was kind of raining in the bus as well and I switched sides to get away from a leak. A woman got on a few stops later, reeking of homelessness. She had the grey hood of her sweatshirt up and beady little eyes. She explained to the bus driver that she didn’t have any money but that she had got beat up in an alley and needed to get away from there. No matter, the bus driver told her she couldn’t ride the bus for free. The 33 starts in North Philly and has a different crowd that the 49 bus. No one on this bus was paying her fare. She sat down and the bus driver said, “Fine, we can wait until you get off.” People started shouting at her that she didn’t even want to take this bus, that she should take a different bus, and she shouted, ”What bus should I take?” “They said you should take the 68,” I replied and every one quickly yelled at me not to talk to her. Oops…trying to blend in while being the only white person on the bus FAIL. “What bus should I take?” she kept shouting at different people. Fortunately, for my soaking wet and blushing self, this bus driver was bluffing and in about 30 seconds said, “Fine, but as soon as we run into a police officer you gettin’ off this bus.” At this point the homeless woman changed her tune. Literally. She was silent for a second, looked around, and then started to fake cry at the top of her lungs like a three year old. “Whahhhhhh” she cried. The bus driver broke the tension as he broke out into a loud guffaw. Everyone else started laughing as her wails grew louder, eyes dry as the Sahara. The bus driver said, “Anyone got a camera? Someone should be taping this!! We have got to put this on Youtube!” She kept it up for a good while and the bus driver repeated his disbelief that no one was taping this, and eventually she stopped and moved to the back. I remarked to the bus driver that I was new to Philly but that I kept having these crazy experiences on the bus. “That’s the 33!” he replied.

Zama

Restaurant week, the two weeks where people like me, who have yet to receive a pay check and are waiting desperately for the end of the month when the money starts flowing, can go out to eat like adults. Josh and I decided we could eat at one place each week and picked Zama for our first dinner out in Philly.
When I eat out I like to get something I can’t make, and swanky Japanese seemed way outside the limits of my kitchen. We were not disappointed.
It may or may not be a requirement to sport tattoos if you work at Zama, but almost everyone seemed to have a few of them peeking out of their black uniforms if not crawling all the way down their arms. The vaulted ceiling in the middle of the restaurant was decorated with a pattern of white dots that formed circles and an absence of white dots left the images of koi fish playfully hiding among the dotted design. Light colored wooden bars lined the walls and the atmosphere was swanky but not pretentious.

Jennifer, our waitress, was very helpful with my many questions even after working a double. My miso was one of the best I’ve ever had. It had mtzsuba (a Japanese parsley) instead of the normal Kame seaweed. Josh’s salad was fresh to the max and tasted like greens should taste, not genetically engineered rabbit food. The ginger dressing was tasty too.
My spicy salmon roll was the perfect proportion of spicy, crunch, and fresh salmon, and although Josh had to wait a long time for his pork dumplings he enjoyed them. They tasted spicy and fried to me and not much else.
This lapse in timing was explained to us with apologies. The restaurant has a cold and a hot kitchen, so plates come out staggered, but still tasty and my annoyance changed quickly to delight as my black cod Saikyoyaki came out. It was garnished with a pink pickled scallion (I loooove anything pickled). It was buttery and the perfect balance of fish to ginger soy glaze. Josh’s sushi plate was about as delicious as nagiri and maki rolls can be. He’ll have to tell you about it though; it was so good he was only willing to share one piece.

not actually Josh's plate (thanks Google images while my camera charger remains incognito) but you get the idea

Oh, and then there was dessert. And did I mention that this was all for only 35 dollars? I had the peach bread pudding and Josh had the banana bomb. Yes, it was an explosion of banana, and my peach bread pudding was so soft and delectable that I resolved to find a recipe and attempt a remake at home.
All in all it was a lovely evening, and with the right cash flow I would return in the click of a chop stick! If you get the chance stop by before the end of next week cause these prices won’t last much longer…