There’s still a chance to support GATE 13:14, a monthly concert series presented by Bowerbird Concerts at The Rotunda. A Kickstarter fundraising campaign is underway, which would allow this free community program to continue. As of 11 a.m., $8,694 has been pledged and the project will be funded only if at least $10,000 is pledged by 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct 30.

From the Bowerbird project page on Kickstarter:

“Since 2006, Bowerbird has presented nearly 400 of events – concerts, workshops, small concerts, community art projects, and huge festivals. 

We believe that Philadelphia is hungry for something more than “just another gig.” We believe that there are wonderful artists living right in our own community and that some of the greatest historical work deserves more attention.  And most importantly, we believe in your curiosity.”

GATE 13:14 is a monthly series of concerts that aims to bring “experimental, outsider, avant, unknown, forgotten, futuristic, and rediscovered types of music” to the community. It also “strives to build a space for conversation and discovery, an incubator for new ideas and an opportunity to explore extraordinary ones, and a place to cultivate new audiences and communities around this work.”

To learn more about this project and to donate, click here.

Tyrell Biggs (in the white t-shirt) still schools young Philly boxers in the finer points of the sweet science at a gym in the basement of the Shepard Recreation Center near 57th and Haverford.

Tyrell Biggs was one of those dudes who may have hit his prime too early.

He was a starting forward on that legendary West Philadelphia High School basketball team that won a state record 68 straight games on its way to Public League and City titles in 1976-1978.

A few years later, as an amateur boxer, he won gold at the U.S. National Boxing Championships. In 1982 he won the amateur World Championships in Munich. Two years later his path to professional boxing was clear after he won gold in the super heavyweight division at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, beating future champ Lennox Lewis on his way to the title. He won his first 15 pro fights and got a shot at the title in 1987 but lost in a seventh-round TKO to Mike Tyson.

All by age 27.

For Tyrell Biggs boxing was a way up in life, as it still is for many kids in the city. But like many young people who get a lot of money at a young age, Biggs battled drug and alcohol addiction during much of his adult life. He is the subject of a feature documentary that you can help make happen called Whatever Happened to Tyrell Biggs? (see video below).

Here’s the plot outline for the documentary, which is being produced by Lunchbox Communications (the crew that made Digital Dharma):

“In 1984, US Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Tyrell Biggs is hailed as the second coming of Muhammad Ali. What should have been the dream launch of an international boxing legend in reality, marked the beginning of a long period of misfortunes, both in and out of the ring. This feature biopic explores one man’s fall from grace into the depths of despair that pushes him to vanish. Living in that territory in between fame and failure, Biggs confronts a struggle that lives within us all.” A good chunk of the production of this film is already complete, but the production team needs some help getting this important story about someone born and raised in West Philly.

University City Kiwanis, a local chapter of international service club that unites young professionals in the Philadelphia area, is organizing a great charity event this upcoming Saturday and invites everyone to participate. Registration is now open for the 4th Annual Kiwanis International Charity Kickball Social (KICKS) which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19, from noon-4 p.m. in West Fairmount Park (Belmont Plateau, 2000 Belmont Mansion Drive). Proceeds from the event will benefit Cradles to Crayons, a non-profit organization that provides essentials to homeless and low-income children in Philadelphia. Prizes and raffles will also be available.

Registration fee is $20 if you register before midnight on Friday, Oct 18 or $25 onsite (11 a.m.-noon). The fees include games, lunch and a t-shirt. Click here to register for the event. More information about the event and University City Kiwanis is available here. For questions, email: kicks@uckiwanis.com.

(Photo via uckiwanis.com)

Photo from West Philly Grows Again Facebook page.

West Philly grows again… and again and again. If your child needs something and you don’t want to pay retail, check out the “West Philly Grows Again” kids’ consignment sale this Saturday, Oct 5. This is an annual event benefiting St. Mary’s Nursery School, so you’ll also be contributing to a great cause.

As always, there will be tons of great deals on clothing, toys, games, and other things that local kids have outgrown, all in great condition. The sale will be held at St. Mary’s Nursery School (3916 Locust Walk) on Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

A limited number of Friday evening (9-10 p.m.) pre-sale tickets are available. The cost of the ticket ($20) will offset the cost of renting the space and running the sale. The ticket is good for a child-free shopping evening complete with wine and cheese. Please contact the West Philly Grows Again team at: westphillygrowsagain@stmarysnursery.org for more details and availability.

For more information about this event, click here or visit the event’s Facebook page.

The Garden Court Community Association (GCCA) has been busy this month organizing events to help local residents learn more about the neighborhood and boost their sense of community. West Philly Local wrote about “Farm to Ford” historical walking tours of Garden Court neighborhood that kicked off last Saturday. Three more tours ($5 each!) are coming up – on October 5, 12 and 19 – and to sign up, email: GCCAtour@gmail.com.

This Saturday, Sept. 28, community members are welcome to Progressive Dinner 2013. Join your neighbors for a night of appetizers, dinner, dessert and dancing, to raise funds for various community projects in the Garden Court neighborhood. The event schedule is:

5:30 p.m. – Registration at 4603 Cedar Avenue
5:45 p.m. – Appetizers at 4601 Cedar Avenue
7:00 p.m. – Entrees for 10-20 people at various locations in the Garden Court neighborhood
8:30 p.m. – Desserts and Dancing at Take the Lead Dance Studio (47th & Pine)

Member cost is $35/person ($40 for non-members). To register contact Mary-Knight Young at 267-521-9303 or maryknightbell@gmail.com. For more information contact Maria Delgado at 215-748-5476.

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