icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

Any avid, longtime fan of Icepack knows well the exploits of Spundie, my constant companion of more than 17 years, nearly half my life. Don't start adding, punk. I wrote, early on, that in Son-of-Sam fashion, it was my dog, not I, who wrote Ice. I typed, and came up with occasional jokes, to which Spundie replied, "Not funny." He saw the nastiest parties and such, looking on with a bemused smirk as if to say, "Grow up." To put it mildly -- no maudlin riffing or cornball shtickiness -- Spundie was a son to me. Spundie passed away the other day from a quick, hard bout with cancer, on fall's last beautiful day of sunshine, all the while sneering at my attempts to be whimsical. To say my life and the life of my immediate family has changed because of our love of him (and now his loss) is a very small sentiment; to say that nothing will be the same -- that's pretty accurate. So excuse me if, this week, I neither know nor care where the would-be hipsters of The Village hung out. Let's just say they weren't hanging with you. That's a Spundie thought if ever there was one.Ö Speaking of WhoWhereHuh?, CBS 3 TV reported an "'80s singing star" was stabbed at Deco. Rick Astley? Stacey Q? Nope, the goombah picked on Chico "Not El" Debarge, to whom we send prayers. And so close to Duran Duran coming to Philly, Nov. 10. Speaking of goombahs, Tony Luke Jr. will be on ex-Upper-Darbyite Jamie Kennedy's Xperiment, Oct. 30, as part of some dozen Philly-based stunts.Ö Along with wrapping a new EP, Plastic Eaters recorded and filmed a new single to be heard as a Spike TV station ID and in a Heineken commercial.Ö Fashion-design maven/new Drexel U. MAD department professor Emil DeJohn holds a runway show at Neiman Marcus, Nov. 5, with the "Best of Drexel Fashion."Ö Continued proof that all great things come to an end, precious James Sugg and Victor Fiorillo -- Brothers Suggarillo -- are phasing out the band due to busy schedules. "It's not hard considering that as of Halloween, the date of our fourth annual BS 'Freak-a-thon' at Tritone with Needles Jones, we'll only have played three shows this year," says Fiorillo. While Fiorillo runs Super Mecca Karaoke Smackdown at the Troc and the music program at his church, Calvary United Methodist, and teams with Dito van Reigersberg for duets in the Gayborhood, Sugg'll lead the upcoming Embarrassments at the Wilma and then head to D.C.'s Folger Theatre in Aaron Posner's adaptation of recently discovered Twain tales. Brothers Suggarillo bassist LotSix will continue as a solo "self-karaoke" artist. BS Drummer/Ph.D. theologian Joshua Ramey's band, Kandy Whales, will release its first CD with a Nov. 22 party at The Khyber. New Parisian guitarist Dan Edelstein will continue working on his Ph.D. at Penn in French lit, which you'd think he'd know, being French and all.Ö WOMEN OF NORTHERN LIBERTIES BARE IT ALL said the invite for Oct. 25's Northern Liberties Variety Show, where artists such as Charles Burns and Susan Moore and photogs like Dominic Episcopo and John Carlano unveiled their bare-assed Women of No-Libs calendar to benefit the Liberty Lands community-owned garden/playground. Speaking of charity, Bar Noir's Tim Bowen (along with Philly's Lisa Learner and Bob Jackson) painted exclusive designs for the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness' Christmas cards, available at www.pceh.org.Ö Speaking of Bar Noir, their Punky Reggae hip-hopping parties will now occur two Mondays a month, with upcoming shows on Nov. 3 and 17.Ö Peter Madden's AgileCat promotional group got a "2003 Innovative Business Award" from Center City Proprietors Association at the Pyramid Club. The award was for branding, but not cowboy-style branding.Ö Philly comedians Tim&Eric's newest streaming vid featuring David Cross can be found on Mr. Show's site, www.bobanddavid.com.Ö Say you want a Day of the Dead scenario, with, you know, less papier-mâché and more money. Check out Stephen Starr's Mexi-pop-cult El Vez on 13th Street, opening Nov. 1 and going for what Starr calls a "gritty East-L.A.-meets-a-Tijuana-taxi vibe."Ö "Hydra," the live "syncopated sourcery" that occurs with the innovative teaming of DJs Jolah, Koji, Argo and 99, hits Fluid on Nov. 5.Ö Damon "Jewish Bomber" Feldman represents John Street while ex-boxing commish George Bochetto represents Sam Katz in a three-round mayoral "debate," Nov. 1 at the Lagoon in Essington. I like Damon and George. But I hope they pummel each other, you know, to represent.Ö The lords of Dawson's Creek, One Found Day, hit Grape Street Pub's Y100 Tuesday club on Nov. 4.Ö BiG TeA PaRtY cooks, makes a mess and then cleans the Central Library Nov. 5.Ö While others recommend a slate of Hallows-Eve jawns, I say stay home with local comic artist Manning Leonard Krull and Jon Morris' Boo!, a Halloween-themed comic filled with laughing cretins, flying shoes and handy scarecrows, available at