icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

When Stephen Starr told me he joshed local press peeps about doing a mag and calling it Steve -- "I was only kidding," he confesses — I wondered. Maybe other local notables were actually joking. Like perhaps City Council's intended ban on smoking is a jibe, and they're really not the imbeciles I thought. Or maybe longtime Federal Street resident Frank DiCicco didn't really buy up space in The Lofts at Bella Vista, reportedly Souf Philly's first million-dollar condos. Please Frank — not across the street from me! Maybe Comcast won't really take city money to open their skyscraping new offices. Maybe Will Smith was teasing all along about opening a hotel with his goofy brother Harry at NewMarket. Musta been, since the AP wire says Smith sold it to Sant Properties. You'd have to be kidding about opening another hotel in this town. Or just an asshole. And tell me Power 99's Star and Buc Wild were kidding, perhaps reading off some script when they made that asinine racist attack on a customer service rep in India. And doesn't Daily News' ridiculous list of peeps-to-know — "21 On the Spot" — make sense now that you know they had to be kidding?… Someone not playing around is Nicole Cashman (of her own "& Associates" PR jimmy-jawn). She's the editor of Times, a 37-page "mag-a-log/advertorial piece," done in tandem with creative directors at Gyro. "It's for our clients Boyds [men's clothing] and Govberg, and is coming out twice a year," says Cashman. It's out now. … Who is the youngish restaurentrepreneur, scamming on local talented femmes, asking them to be part of some upcoming charitable enterprise? And how gross are the come-on lines? ... Is our fave folk-jazz couple Birdie and Amos Lee broken up? I hear all is amicable but still expect some brilliant bust-up songs. … South Philly's Al Martino hits A.C., at The Sands Jan. 15. Miss this at your peril. … Everyone's fave noise-poppers, Brooklyn's Enon, have moved to East Falls. "They rang me from a Wawa and I was like… there's no Wawa in Brooklyn," says just-back-from-Berlin Dave Doughman. Look for Swearing at Motorists' Doughman to play painter Dean Rosenzweig's Union 237 close-out Jan. 28. … The name is Guermont, Damien (pronounced like dahh-ling) Guermont. He is the new-to-Philly exec-chef taking on the even-fresher Cha Cha Sushi space next door to Tragos on S. 19th Street. This was the Japo-Latin restaurant alluded to last year in Icepack that involved ÁPasion!'s Guillermo Pernot (now, not involved). Jay Ellis' Imagine Concept and Design just finished the decor. Yum. … Twenty meat cleavers chopped into a wall? That'd be legendary Philadelphian installation artist Barry Le Va opening at ICA Jan. 14. … ArtCares! co-founder Laurance Rassin and its director, Scott Shuster, host a tsunami relief benefit auction Jan. 14 at Butcher Café, the Ninth Street restaurant Shuster co-owns. Items on the block include Rassin's own canvases. … High Anxiety Productions' long-filming documentary on Ruin, Philly's mythic hardcore band, culminates with a live gig/film shoot at Bar Noir Jan. 17. While local avant-rockers King of Siam reunite for the occasion (along with participation from artist Dennis McHugh, Northern Liberties and Blessed Muthas), several members of Ruin are expected to attend. … We know Tony Luke's Beef and Beer opened across from his Oregon Avenue sammmich space. Did you know he also opened his first NYC spot in Hell's Kitchen on Ninth Avenue? ... WHOWHATWHERE: He didn't have to use an AK, so it must've been a good day for Ice Cube. In town to promote Are We There Yet? Ice and his posse personal-jetted in, hit Four Seasons, had drinks in the Swann Lounge, snuck in cheesesteaks from Tony Luke's and held a screening at UA Riverview with a bunch of shirt-gifting Eagles. Then he jetted out. We knew House of Blues was opening in A.C. at the Showboat July 4. Did they have to bring fat old co-owner Dan Aykroyd to announce it? On the Philly HoB tip, sources close to The Troc (where HoB books) say they've heard "nothing" about the House buying their venue, despite the company's search in Center City for a club spot. (With the Clear Channel-Boyd Theater readying its stages for next year, perhaps HoB should rethink.) Brooklyn hard-electro DJ Houston Bernard had a very good time at his Whores Have More Fun CD release jam at Tribecca. "There was tons of T&A, all sweet and luuvly, tasty too," recaps Bernard via e-mail. "During the show, I couldn't even count how many hands were on my dick." Upper Darby's Jamie Kennedy'll be here soon to talk up Son of the Mask, but that's no surprise. "I come home all the time, take my family to dinner, hang out with some friends," he tells me. Kenn Kweder and Kevin Karg not only hit Manhattan Grill to see Philly's rough alterna-folkies Afferent Cue, the duo jumped onstage for an impromptu set. … Though bartender/Ph.D. John McManus (The London, Palladium, TLA) sadly passed away during Christmastime, expect nothing but good cheer when friends and fam get together to remember him at Rembrandts Jan. 17.