icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

At first I thought it was the "Bin Ladens"—the new Ecstasy—I'd been sucking down: the dry mouth, the trippy euphoria, the almost wordless paranoia. Then it hit me: The city's out to get me. Why else would Anne d'Harnoncourt announce "refreshments, Dali-style" for Philadelphia Museum of Art's Salavador retrospective for February? (What's gonna be in those refreshments?) Why else would Howard Eskin drop his own faux-fur-and-Rolex-wearing bobblehead doll that sold out its initial 2,000-piece run, at $14.95(!), from the 610wip.com Web site? (This, of course, should NOT be confused with Club Kama Sutra's sale of Weenie Babies.) Oh, the humanity! … From punk rawkers to the paperSTREET real estate firm, I loved seeing Icepack's 2004 highlights collected in one place: Philly Mag's agog tale of twentysomethings living-la-vida-RealWorld in Center City. … Bald guy Toto Schiavone will close his ristorante, Toto, on New Year's Eve. Look for him to concentrate on his Fox Chase-area boite, Moonstruck. Ciao. … If you don't make it to Jukebox Zeros' party for their Pete Rydberg-produced debut EP, Welcome to Rutsville, you're a jit bag. ... Not gay. Just theatrical. That's how to describe Mark B. (N. 3rd) and Nick Stuccio (Fringe/Live Arts), the hopeful buyers of RUBA, the for-sale Ukrainian club at 414-416 Green St. rumored to also have had visits from a Manhattan gay-bar behemoth. With Stuccio looking for administrative/performance space, B. offered to link a property he owns, at 418-420 Green, with RUBA if they could gather cash. "We have to get the blessings of the neighborhood organizations," said B., who currently rents his supersized space to artist Marc Brodzik. "But RUBA's perfect, what with its theater on the second floor. We have to move quickly before we lose it to condos or the social club we've heard is looking at it." For Stuccio's part, he insists the RUBA/Mark B. pairing is all in the "play-fantasy stage." "Mark, RUBA and Northern Liberties have been very good to us," says Stuccio. "We're opportunistic. We have no money, so we have to be." Stuccio points out that he's also looking at Poor Henry's Brewery at 829-51 American St., home of this year's Fringe Cabaret, as a possibility with help from Fergie's Pub. And while we're in Northern Liberties, expect hell to open when the first batch of boutiques/studios on Bart Blatstein's Liberties Walk debuts the first weekend in December. … Want to buy the masters to Philly's Pure Hell sessions recorded by Curtis Knight in 1978, a piece of history from the first black punk act? They're for sale on eBay. … Alison Polsky of DL Media—Philly's jazz PR agency—has a secret life as a singer/keyboardist for convert to 8 bit, the somnolent electro-band who'll play from its the generation of sleep at The Rotunda, Nov. 19. … WHOWHATWHERE: How cool is Philly if Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, here to film Simple Life 3, never hung out during their time here? Damn, we're good. (Though I'd have loved to have seen 'em at Undergirl's My Flash on You CD-release party at Tritone.) We lose points, however, for having celebrated Real World Philadelphian Willie's b-day at Shampoo's Papi Chulo night. The Gershman Y celebrated its 80th Anniversary with French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, Peter Coyote and Governor Ed Rendell. Though Jerry Blavat and WYSP's Couzin Ed were at the opening of Steven Chernekoff and Kyle Brooks' American Male barber salon, only CN8's Kevin Walsh and chef Scott McLeod (Fresca) got the blade. … Old school TV producer Mike Nise is hosting a Dancin' on Air reunion, Nov. 19, at Adelphia's in Deptford, N.J. But you gotta e-mail him at omni2000inc@yahoo.com to get in. … Grape Street hosts a bash featuring Pepper's Ghost for Y100's Sonic Session Vol. 8 CD (with a free DVD, Kill Casey, starring the station's morning producer's Jackass-brand stunts). … "It was very very spanky spanky," said model Needles Jones of the decadence that ensued at last Saturday's Diabolique, the biggest of all Kali Morgan & Co.'s balls. Jones will bring his own form of decadence when he revives his two- person The Nico Show—a fave of Manhattan's perf-art scene—at Bar Noir, Nov. 22. … Remember I said crazy-ass Bill Cosby would do something at the Liacouras Center for the world premiere of his movie, Fat Albert, with its cast in tow? Dec. 12 is the date. … Everyone has to turn 2 sometime: Luca Stone and Jessica Graham's "girL" bash hits 2 years old Nov. 20 with a party at Sal's on 12th; Plain Parade's dancing- bookers host their second anniversary weekend Nov. 19-20 at Tritone with The Sympathizers, Signer, Ariel Pink and Clockcleaner; and Manayunk's Bourbon Blue celebrates its second anniversary, Nov. 18, with a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. … Johnny Chink, a vet of Philly's club scene (Shampoo, Glam, the recently fire-ravaged Egypt) has been hit hard with pancreatic cancer and has little money to pay for treatment. While a benefit—Dec. 12, Emerald City—is in the planning stages, please send well-wishes in his name to Glam, 52 S. Second St., 19106.