Trust us when we tell you that the wait for the re-opening of Locust Moon Comics (Facebook page) in its new digs on 40th Street is well worth the wait.

Check it out for yourself. Locust Moon’s new shop, which includes a great gallery space, quietly opened this week at 34 S. 40th Street. The shop’s grand opening – complete with comic and graphic novel decadence – is tomorrow. Do yourself a favor and check it out – even if you’re not into comics (yet).

Owners Josh O’Neil and Chris Stevens are comics creators themselves and their passion comes through in the renovation of the new space. Original artwork lines the walls and the bookshelves are packed with comics, graphic novels and awesome vintage and new action figures. They also have board games and movies for rent and sale. The shop moved from their old site – the old Urban Outfitters building on Locust Street near 40th –  last Fall.

In addition to the main retail space, the new Locust Moon also includes a gallery with original works that will double as a movie screening room complete with a ceiling mounted projection system.

The shop’s hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. Oh, and by the way, you have to see their fish tank.

Here are the details on the grand opening and a tantalizing invitation from their Facebook page:

“Expect food, drinks, art, comix, and a super-sexy anything-goes atmosphere. Chris will dress as Mr. Peanut and perform a lengthy, emotionally complex tap routine. Other stuff too. Don’t miss it.”

Locust Moon Comics
34 S. 40th St.
7:30 p.m.

Here is a great video about the renovation of the new shop (sent by an anonymous e-mailer):

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Last night’s Dollar Stroll on Baltimore Avenue drew the now-customary big crowd. Here are some photos from the event. Click on any of the images below to start a slide show.

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Here’s a great chance to help a woman entering or re-entering the workplace. Wash Cycle Laundry and Gearing Up will be doing pick-ups around Center City and West Philly of gently used, interview-ready professional attire for the fantastic non-profit Career Wardrobe, which works to support women transitioning to work. Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave.) will serve as a drop-off point in West Philly.

Studio 34 will be collecting clothes now through Sunday, July 22. Bring your clothing in bags labeled “Career Wardrobe” to Studio 34’s front desk before 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 22.

Here are some guidelines from Studio 34:

• We accept clothes for all seasons!
• Donations should arrive ready to wear: clean, on hangers, with all buttons, working zippers, and no tears or stains. (If you don’t have hangers, don’t worry! the organization hosting this donations drive will find hangers for loose clothing. But if you have hangers, please include them.)
• Items not used for this program will be donated to other nonprofit organizations or sold at The Wardrobe Boutique, a recycled clothing boutique to benefit Career Wardrobe’s programs.

 
Some students at West Philly High School will be the subject of tonight’s esteemed documentary program Frontline for all of the right reasons.

Tonight’s episode, “Fast Times at West Philly High,” will build on the legend of the EVX Team, which is competing with top engineers and multi-national corporations to build a viable, affordable car that can get 100 miles per gallon. The prize is $10 million. Most of us in West Philly are familiar with the EVX Team. They’ve been to the White House. They’ve taken on – and beaten – students from top engineering programs and Ivy League schools in design competitions.

Philadelphia filmmaker Debbie Morton followed the team for two years and the result of that work is tonight’s program.

Here’s a line from the promotional material: “In Fast Times at West Philly High, Frontline explores the viability of these cars, the potential that exists within our young people, and the prospects of effective innovation in public education.”

The film is about these kids and their amazing story, but we hope that it reminds people all over that amazing kids are everywhere – they just need the right tools and guidance.

The show will be on WHYY locally at 10 p.m.

The 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty in April to a highly publicized sexual assault last fall and was scheduled to be sentenced last Friday has changed his mind.

During his sentencing hearing, Kareem Drayton rescinded his guilty plea and fired his attorney, according to court records. Drayton negotiated a guilty plea in April to the sexual assault at gunpoint of a 32-year-old teacher last September near 48th and Springfield and other robbery and weapons charges. Drayton told the court that he wants a trial.

A trial would require locating several witnesses and complainants in the case.

“(He) wants to roll the dice,” said a source familiar with the case.

Drayton’s next court date is August 16.

Bill “Ready” Cash traveled far and wide during a baseball career that included stops at baseball diamonds all over North and South America and the Caribbean. But he called Southwest Philly home.

Cash’s career, which included a lengthy stint with the Negro National League’s Philadelphia Stars (another West Philly institution), is chronicled by Cash himself along with West Philly journalist and baseball fan Al Hunter Jr. in the book Thou Shalt Not Steal: The Baseball Life and Times of a Rifle-Armed Negro League Catcher. Hunter will discuss Cash’s life and read from the book at Bindlestiff Books (4530 Baltimore Ave.) on Thursday, July 19 at 8 p.m. (after the Dollar Stroll).

Hunter, who spent 17 years at the Philadelphia Daily News writing about music and later as a member of the editorial board, spent hours interviewing Cash for the book.

Cash reportedly got his nickname after being benched during a game when he told his manager, “When I put on the uniform, I’m ready to play.” His career took him all over the United States, to Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. At the age of 33 he signed with the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball in 1952, but he never made it to the major league roster. Cash believed that he may have been blackballed after he accidentally clipped a white umpire during the 1946 season. Like many black ball players of his generation, baseball historians say Cash would likely have been a star in the majors had he gotten the chance earlier in his career.

Cash, who attended Overbrook High School, died last September at the age of 92.