Icepack

Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.

by A.D. Amorosi

We're living with some sad finales, man. You've got the end of eeevil Comcast's monopolistic reign with some Verizon FiOS sumpin-sumpin to come. So yay that. But then you have Grave Digger, Spike, Eradicator and Brutus — monster trucks all — heading into the sunset for the last ever Monster Jam at the Spectrum Feb. 13-15. Think I won't cry for a truck, fuck? Wondering if you'll hear the phrase "funnycarsfunnycars" again will do that to a man. Of course I'm more touched by the closing of Izzy and Zoe's, the Jewish delicatessen on 40th Street. Never has the phrase "no more tongue" stung as bad.

► The Backseat film fest folk who own 941 Theater are looking forward to March 6 and their Lucky 7(th year) events. The fest has a casino-centric theme. And I hear they'll host two exclusive premières, Adam Rifkin's National Lampoon Homo Erectus (now titled The Stone Age) and Bam Margera's directorial thing, Minghags. Best of all, come fest time, 941 will finally own, not rent, their own projection equipment forevermore.

► In memory of recently deceased Linda Cohen, I'll have National Mechanics' Monday Night Club, Feb. 16, celebrating the psych-folk guitar goddess with Rich Wexler, host Henri David, a reunion of filmmaker George Manney's Clutch Cargo (Manney's bringing Cohen footage), Linda's instrumental pals Ghostriders Charles Cohen & Jeff Cain, Kenn Kweder, Stewkey, Paul Eaton and Fern Knight who'll debut material from their Tarot-exploring LP, Castings. Expect waterworks.

► Feb. 13-15's Flesh Factory theatricale at Walking Fish really does promise flesh (the lovely stripped-down Randi Warhol) and Andy Factory stuff (recently recovered shooting victim/Absinthe Drinker Chris McDonough plays Warhol). Pop.

► Hal Real, he of Real Entertainment/World Café Live, wrote a few weeks ago (damn spam filter) to say his WCL project at ye Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., was still on despite rumors to the contrary (e.g. a contrary economy). And though hosting dullards like Susan Werner and the New York Songwriters' Circle ruin everyone's fun, Real and bigwig Delawarians formed a Light Up The Queen nonprofit corporation dedicated to the revival of the aforementioned Queen Theater. Sharon Little, performing at WCL Philly Feb. 18, is rumored to be appearing at a DelWCL's nonprofit fundraising event that same week.

Academy of Natural Sciences: Family Four-Pack of Tickets | Mango Moon | Prive | Bliss | Raw Dawgs Saloon | Cream and Sugar | S & H Kebab House | Cafe Nola | Copabanana | Hollywood Tans: $50 for $25

HALF OFF DEPOT

Why live life at full price?

► Dean Ward and Danny Gallagher's The Witch — where Moyamensing meets Third and the devil meets the deep blue sea — is doing $20 Tuesdays with four sumptuous courses (see thewitchbistro.com for menu switcheroos). South Street's LaFourno does Veal anyway-u-want Mondays for $18: medallions, picante, with a hat. Make like Brad Pitt in Troy. Take it. It's yaws.

► "Frank saw a giant eat a park bench with her vagina." That's from a CAConrad poem in his now-out The Book of Frank. "I love the Hak Vogrin painting on my cover," says Conrad, who'll be happier when you buy Frank from him Feb. 15 during his early-eve reading at Giovanni's Room.

► It was hard driving by the ornate front of my cherished romantic coffee house Roselena's two weeks ago only to find it closed. Long before the Cantinas, record bars and sushi suites, Ro's was the first nouvelle foodie salon to make its way onto East Passyunk. Michael's Café, the space's new operator, will hold on to Ro's mix-n-match antique accoutrements.

► Prepare for trouble and scamorza: Ropeadope's South Philly Experiment ensemble — deep in the heart of Ninth Street's Ric Rac — has a leader (Chuck Treece), a swell guitarist (Nic Bodega) and on Feb. 26 welcomes Paul Green's tribute to South Philly a la the Rocky theme. Oh, Adrian.

► Why's Union Trust opening Feb. 13 fo'real rather than Feb. 9 as discussed? "I want my staff to be fully prepared and I didn't think they were quite there yet, Ang," says exec chef/co-owner Terry White. "I'd rather not open than open half-assed."

► WHOWHATWHERE: We ran into White's old chef-pal Jerry Federer running the kitchens at Union Trust's opening mega-salvo with 48,000 of Joe Grasso and John Frankowski's pals, and saw Phil and April Margera and the Chris Booker/Alycia Lane pairing. We also bumped into CP ad/promo alum Phil Anderson (from back when CP was done on parchment, take that, bloggity-blog anus-holes) who's now employed by devilish John Colabelli at Philly Style. Mhaw. Ha. Ursula Rucker and Tim Motzer caught WCL's Jon Hassell show (no bar after 8 p.m.? What the shit was that shit?) with once-upon-an-WXPN ambient music vets Kim Haas, John Diliberto and Gino Wong in the house.

► When Shawn Kilroy debuts his dirty disco-y earSnake CD, Hessian Love Songs (the thing Slo-Mo Brenner plays on and Pete Rydberg recorded some of at his South Philly studio) at Tritone Feb. 14, ask him about "My Eyes." It's a song for Cathy Chang(e), the West Philly performance artist/apocalyptic activist who killed herself in 1996 when she set herself aflame on Penn's campus. "I hope I honor her in this song," says Kilroy. Know who's doing a lurrvly V-Day show at Fusion? Sterling Simms, North Philly's sonorous-est soulful-est loverman whose eponymous Def Jam debut ain't getting the promo love it deserves. Dreamy, yo.

► DelFrisco's steak salon is so big it's got a Philly PR firm for da locals (hiya Kelly Boyd) and one for the nationals (David Neff). Chow down.

► Here's a first for Peek-a-Boo Revue. Rumor has it that L&I closed down their post-2 a.m. performance at Saturday's opening of the after-hours Studio Nightclub because the Bustleton Ave. spot doesn't have a "strippers license."

► Kiss a Bulldog on Val-Day to raise cash for the nonprofit Heaven Sent Bulldog Rescue org. It's a dollar a lick at the Kissing Booth at the Promenade shopping center in Marlton, N.J. (heavensentbulldogrescue.com).

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)