Also this issue:

Schlock and Awe
War of the Monsters recalls simpler times, when giant mutants were the greatest threat to national security.
-Frank Lewis

April 10-16, 2003

music

icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

Sometimes all politics (that matter) are local. In the last Ice I wrote about Basic Black Books -- an independent bookstore and cornerstone of Philly’s African-American lit community -- possibly not having its lease renewed by The Gallery mall. I asked you to write Basic Black and call City Council. Well, The Gallery and BBB’s owner, Lecia Warner (out on maternity leave, dealing with lawyers and unavailable for comment) got a groundswell of support, I hear, from peeps at City Council and the Mayor’s office. While author Karen E. Quinones Miller (whose Using What You Got comes out from Simon & Schuster this July) helped organize a rally at The Gallery on Tuesday, the mall is considering a renegotiation with Warner. However, Larry Howard, Gallery One manager and rep for The Rouse Company (owners of the mall until it’s sold to Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust soon), says, "At this point, we’ve extended their lease a few days, till Friday. They don’t want to leave. We’ve worked with them for several years. They let it get to this point." More soon.… Bitter, Bitter Weeks’ protest song, "Revenge," can be downloaded at

www.protest-records.com

. Look under "Vol. 5.".… Longtime local Wine Brats boss Peter Breslow ain’t bratting no more. Breslow, the founder of the Philly chapter, is handing his long-stemmed glass to Kelly Price. "It was a hell of a run. I organized over 50 wine tastings at area bars, restaurants, theaters, art galleries and train stations over the past five years … and didn’t get pulled over once while driving home," says Breslow. (Meantime, he’s close to closing a network deal on Staying Hip, the TV show on groovy hotels he’s doing with Audrey Taichman. She, by the way, has installed a strippers’ pole in Twenty Manning. Measured to mimic the one at Delilah’s, the pole -- meant to hold up the ceiling to satisfy new upstairs neighbors -- has become a slippery hit.)… More wine? Valanni keeps patrons woozy when Chateau Routas drop their wine joint, "Think Pink," there April 15, with Chef R. Evan Turney hooking up five courses.… The London Grill’s Terry and Michael McNally (owner and owner/chef, respectively), its new pasta chef Damien Messina and righteous reps from DiBruno Bros. host the semiotic-sounding Poetics of Detail wine dinner April 10.… It ain’t liquid but it is intoxicating: Dean Rosenzweig’s Cream Chargers just released their crusty new CD, 130 Square Feet of Noise (recorded at RuffNation studio).… Hearty chanteuse Wynne Alexander brings her creeping cabaret to Philly proper, April 12, at Tavern on Camac, 243 Camac.… WhoWhatWhere: Brian McKnight (only drinking water!) and Nate Morris from Boyz II Men hung out at Glam. Great opera babes Shirley Verrett and Indra Thomas hung at the "Vive la Voix!" AVA gala at the Art Museum. 32° hosted Playboy girl Nicole Wood and a Rock Star night with reggae icons Sean Paul and Morgan Heritage in anticipation of their April 10 gig at The Electric Factory.… Clear Channel Radio hired Q102/Sunny 104.5’s Lisa Acchione as director of marketing.… DJs Brendan, Joey and Gravy got Soul Travelin’ booked weekly at Bembe in Williamsburg. They’ve been bringing guests like DJ Cosmo and Rahsaan (whose next Philly gig is April 11 at L’Etage, spinning Braziliana).… Nick Cassway got hooked with a grant from Eastern State Penitentiary to install (for all of 2003) a piece on lifelong death-row inmates: 41 portraits on steel plates, opening April 15.… Sax axeman Elliot Levin has another CD, an eponymous one with Marshall Allen and Tyrone Hill, on the CIMP label, which he’ll celebrate at Tritone, April 13.… Sick City brings an Iggy and The Stooges tribute to The Balcony April 12 with Blessed Muthas, Zonic Shockum, Corporate Logo (a Famous in Vegas sideshow), Comiskey Players and my fave, The Trauma Queens.… Big Tea Party hosts Elizabeth Fiend, Valerie Keller and Gretjen Clausing (whose Sugar Mom’s jam last Monday was so loud the cops stopped it at midnight) present April 11’s Lost Film Fest at The Rotunda.… Birthdays: Hoopty Heaven’s darkdub VERSIONsound celebrates one year at Silk April 16 with its own CD release and guest Ital. Joe Brkdown parties for b-day boy DJ Armen at Saint Jack’s Tronik session April 12. And David Carroll celebrates his b-day big-time April 13. When not hanging with Kelly Osbourne and John Eddie (as he did backstage at their respective shows), he’s been re-conceiving Bar Noir as a boat-- "SS BN, a ship on its way to Europe." Besides celebrating his birthday with a weeklong party, April 10 (with Bobby Startup) to April 15 (with his Taxman party featuring me, DJ A.D.), Carroll’s loading Bar Noir with artifacts from deco ships to go with the film posters. Plus: passenger lists instead of guest lists and theme nights ("Love Boat," for one). Get wet.