Contact sheet of “Everyone is Photogenic” Test Run / Photos by JJ Tiziou.

Stand in line at your local pharmacy and you’ll see the message loud and clear: your beauty is only worth the skin you’re in. It’s a message displayed between the lines of bright and bold typography—insistent typeface meant to catch your attention.

The messages we receive about how beauty’s defined—and what defines it—are a daily part of our lives. The way we regard ourselves is evidence of that.

But for West Philly photographer Jacques-Jean “JJ” Tiziou, there’s another epistle that should be shared—one that, if held with the same earnestness as it envisages, could dismantle superficial beauty standards.

That message? “Everyone is photogenic.”  Continue Reading

Tomorrow, in conjunction with the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, the Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA) will launch its new website, babawestphilly.org—a first for the member organization that has promoted and supported local business along the Baltimore Avenue corridor for the last few decades.

Baltimore Avenue/West Philly Local archive photo.

BABA’s new website will feature a list of known businesses within its boundaries (Baltimore Avenue between 40^th and 52^nd streets, plus one block north and south), a calendar of events, special promotions, a member-maintained blog, and local business and community news. The website, made possible through grants from The Enterprise Center and Local Initiative Support Corporation, was created by BABA members and will feature BABA’s new member-designed brand and logo.

According to BABA member and neighborhood organizer Algernong Allen, the website was launched in an effort to “enhance our digital presence, better marketing of the Baltimore Avenue corridor, and connect customers with the diverse range of local businesses we have to offer.” “The Baltimore Avenue Business Association will be able to highlight the wonderful energy taking place in West Philly from a commercial perspective,” Allen told West Philly Local.

The Baltimore Avenue Business Association underwent a revival six years ago thanks to the effort of a small group within the organization that focused on cementing BABA as a presence in the community, Vincent Whittacre, owner of the Gold Standard Café on 48^th Street and Baltimore Avenue, told West Philly Local. In those intervening years, he said, the association held group meetings as well as business and community meetings to address local concerns, like parking and outdoor table licenses.  Continue Reading

Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local

Last night, Curio Theatre opened its 2013-2014 season with its free production of Washington Irving’s classic 19th century short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” at the “Bowl” in Clark Park on 43rd Street and Chester Avenue. A full crowd of mostly families hunkered down on the grass as they listened to the story of Ichabod Crane (played by company member Josh Hitchens, who adapted “Sleepy Hollow” for stage) and his fateful encounter with the headless horseman.

During the 45-minute show, Hitchens and his fellow actors, Rachel Gluck as Crane’s love interest Katrina Van Tassel and Chris Braak as his rival Brom Van Brunt, moved around the simplistic set with quiet intensity as several torches and a small crackling campfire illuminated the scene. Sound effects, provided by Eli Halpern (who played The Musician), filled the atmosphere as Crane’s story unfolded.

Make sure to catch “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at Clark Park before it closes on September 8. The remaining shows are on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 7:30 p.m.

In July, we reported that the former MexiCali space was rumored to become a Korean restaurant. Turns out that rumor was true—U-Town, a Korean food and sushi joint, opened its doors last week at 110 S. 40^th Street.

When West Philly Local visited U-Town yesterday, the bustling new restaurant was nearly packed and the air was filled with eager chatter. Considering the decor, U-Town is far removed from the former Mexican joint. The walls are painted in a relaxing sea foam green bordered by a soft mustard yellow color, and the tables are made of a dark red wood. The bar/register area, stationed at the back of the small space, is made of stark, smooth white material, breaking up the pastel palette.

Scanning the takeout menu, U-Town’s cuisine promises to be an exciting blend of different styles. There are Korean staples like soon doo boo (a hot and spicy stew offered with beef, tofu, seafood or mushroom), dup bap (a steamed rice dish offered with seafood, shrimp or squid), bibim bap (a warm mixed rice dish topped with hot pepper paste and served with vegetables, seafood, poor, chicken or beef), and deok boki (a spicy stewed rice cake combination). U-Town also offers a variety of dumpling and tempura dishes and taco, fish and chicken combinations, and Asian style tacos in chicken, bulgogi and kimchi forms.

U-Town’s owner, who goes by the name of Ocean, was curt when asked for more information on his restaurant. According to the owner, it was a busy time of day (around 6 p.m.) for him and he didn’t have time to talk. He only offered that U-Town opened last week and seemed bothered when asked further questions, abruptly turning away without conclusion after receiving our business card.

What we do know, however, is that U-Town does not have a credit card processing machine, but it is working on installing one according to a note on the wall when you first walk in. As for hours, the restaurant is opened Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

–Annamarya Scaccia

After six years of providing affordable acupuncture treatments to West Philly residents, Philadelphia Community Acupuncture (PCA) announced that it’s closing its doors in mid-October.

According to owner Ellen Vincent, the decision to close PCA came after facing a lease renewal and learning that its current practitioners—Billy Scott, Bob Conrique, and Sarah Lefkowich—have or are relocating out state and leaving the clinic. Vincent, who herself now lives in Tuscon, Arizona, also stated that plans to bring in another lead acupuncturist to replace Lefkowich and to transfer ownership fell through, informing her “heartbreaking” choice to shut down PCA. She is currently working on establishing a firm closing date for the clinic.

Photo from Philadelphia Community Acupuncture’s Facebook page.

“I am heartbroken that the clinic needs to close. [Philadelphia Community Acupuncture] has been such a second home to so many people … more like a third place for them to go to rest, recharge, and heal,” Vincent, who moved to Tucson last year, wrote to West Philly Local in an email. “So many relationships have been formed and nurtured there and I hope they can somehow continue.  I have many incredible memories of being there, but the best are always those of a full room of people napping with needles—that’s what we’ve been trying to accomplish every day.”

Philadelphia Community Acupuncture, located above Satellite Café at 701 S. 50th Street, was one of the first businesses to move into the reincarnated firehouse on 50th Street in 2007. The mission of PCA was to always provide affordable acupuncture (at a sliding scale of $15 – $35) in a community setting—breaking away from the tradition of individualized, private sessions of typical U.S. acupuncturists to Asia-inspired settings where patients are gathered in groups in a large, relaxing space. PCA has serviced nearly 10,000 acupuncture treatments yearly “for the majority of our open years,” Vincent said.

PCA’s location in Mt. Airy, at 538 Carpenter Lane, is still open to the public, though. According to Vincent, her partner at that locale, Erin Schmitt, is “committed to the area and to the clinic long-term,” and she hopes West Philly patients will make the trip to Mt. Airy for treatments. Patients that are unable to use gift certificates and/or credits with PCA before it closes in West Philly can redeem them at the Mt. Airy center.

Still, Vincent hopes an acupuncture clinic similar to PCA opens in its place in West Philly, and is open to discussion with anyone interested in taking over ownership.

“All of this is way too difficult to manage long-distance without a partner at that location,” she said. “If I weren’t in Tucson, the clinic wouldn’t be closing.   I wanted that clinic to be there forever.”

Until it closes, Philadelphia Community Acupuncture will operate on limited hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Saturdays & Sundays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

–Annamarya Scaccia

UPDATED 8/30/13, 5 P.M.: The much anticipated Philly Fringe Arts Festival kicks off next Friday (Sept 5), and this year’s foray into contemporary performing and visual arts is expected not to disappoint. And, as always, area folks won’t have to walk far to experience the eccentric arts as many of Fringe’s events take place within the boundaries of West Philly and University City. Below is a list of shows in no particular order being held in the neighborhood (for a full listing, visit the Live Arts/Fringe Festival website). We’ll update the list with more events as we get more information.

Alternative Theater Festival by iNtuitons Experiment Theatre Company on Sept. 7, 7 p.m. at the Platt Student Performing Arts House. Alternative Theater Festival is a collection of five short plays directed and written by University of Pennsylvania students touching on themes of unrequited love, mental illness, loneliness, infertility, and self-discovery.

Jonatha Brooke

WXPN presents My Mother Has Four Noses on Sept. 11, 8 p.m. at World Café Live. Singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke performs her one-woman musical about her mother’s final years battling Alzheimer’s.

Bricolage by Megan Lynn/Asterial Dance, Caite Cuan Dance on Sept. 7, 8 p.m. at Community Education Center. New York-based dance companies Catie Cuan Dance and Megan Lynn/Asterial Dance premiere four original Philadelphia dances inspired by everything from Yeats’s Byzantium to the human experience.

Celebrating Dance by Dancefusion & 360º Dance Company on Sept. 6, 6 p.m. & 9 p.m.; Sept. 7, 3 p.m. & 6 p.m. at Mandell Theater at Drexel University. Dancefusion and New York’s 360º Dance Company co-present two performances that combine historic modern and contemporary dance work. Dancefusion celebrates 25 years this year.  Continue Reading