August 28, 2007 by charlie.

double backyard in south philly

Originally uploaded by carpal.

Since we acquired and renovated the house next door, we’ve also merged our two backyards to create something roughly as spacious as Versailles. Note the hammock on the right, perfect for lounging. The area in the center rear is honest-to-God DIRT (no S Philly concrete), and will be the site of modest urban agriculture in years to come. Meanwhile, everything looks particularly tidy on a late August evening.

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December 25, 2006 by charlie.

This is a view through the first floor showing the illuminated canopy over the dining table and the Christmas tree. Through the portal, you can see on into the living room. Below, D’Arcy (foreground) and her friend Beth (on the ladder) rig a canopy of greens suspended in a net of twinkle lights over the dining room table.

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December 21, 2006 by charlie.

First SPRING AWAKENING, and now this!  Is this a sign that the commercial musical theater is awakening to the buying power in the adolescent demographic?  Consider: Wicked, High School Musical.  Discuss.

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November 12, 2006 by charlie.

P’unk Ave

Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

Young dotcom entrepreneur takes an urgent call from the captain of his Ultimate Frisbee squad at the newly renovated corporate headquarters.

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October 3, 2006 by charlie.

Sondheim is God

Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

Enough said!

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August 24, 2006 by charlie.

I’m a big fan of Terry Teachout’s blog, ArtsJournal: About Last Night, and his entry on the occasion of the new NY production of The Fantasticks is a particularly good one. I like the part about the experience of “making music,” and the nostalgic perfume that pervades the whole piece. Check it out, and you may wind up bookmarking his site like I did.

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August 23, 2006 by charlie.

Interesting piece published on the web by Stanford University, outlining the president’s initiative for a richer arts component in their educational mix:

Arts essential to multidisciplinary research, teaching

On that page, there’s a link to a video clip in which the president of Stanford and several faculty members speak.

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August 22, 2006 by charlie.

Char and D’Ar at the beach

Originally uploaded by Chazzyg.

We just spent the past week with D’Arcy’s sister and brother-in-law, and a more pleasant week would be hard to imagine. Their being here was an incentive for us to sample many of the entertaining and delightful things our city has to offer. We started out last Saturday with a stroll down Doo Wop Avenue looking at classic cars on Passyunk Ave. in our neighborhood. Sunday we took in the final performance of Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam, which was awe-inspiring. Other activities during the week included a trip to the beach at Strathmere for a cloudy stroll by the shore and a pile of Uncle Bill’s Pancakes; a visit to the Barnes Foundation; a trip to the Independence Seaport Museum and a tour of the Olympia (historic steel ocean liner built in 1898) and the Becuna (WW II submarine in pristine condition); street theater at Betsy Ross’s House and a discussion of American values in the Arch Street Friends Meeting House; and everywhere, food, food, food! We finished up the visit in fine style yesterday: coffee and Metropolitan Bakery pastries on the banks of the Schyulkill while watching the scullers to start; then a trip to the Ritz at the Bourse to take in the new film The Illusionist (excellent); and then lunch in Old City at Cuba Libre, where the menu included rum drinks and exotic Havana delicacies. Other people come to Philly to visit, but we get to live here - how cool is that?

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August 21, 2006 by charlie.

No more blogger - I’ve switched my hosting over to 1&1, where I’ve been hosting my site for several years. There’s a link on the left if you want to investigate their very reasonably priced plans.

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August 14, 2006 by Mr. Tunes.

If you haven’t read him yet (or lately), check out the website of investigative journalist Greg Palast, whose most recent column asks the musical question: “…if [airport] security�s no joking matter, why does this guy dressed in a high-school marching band outfit tell me to dump my Frappuccino and take off my shoes?” Palast’s articles on the Mexican election, the politics of petroleum, and the scary freaks currently governing our country are funny, provocative and completely disquieting.

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