url
stringlengths 40
121
| text
stringlengths 1.62k
34.2k
| in_y0
bool 1
class | in_y1
bool 2
classes | category
stringclasses 2
values | publisher
stringclasses 1
value | crawl_date
stringclasses 13
values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/can-you-even-joke-about-that-two-comedians-talk-about-navigating-touchy-subjects-on-stage/
|
If the Ancient Greek translation of ‘Phil • a • delph • i • a’ breaks down to its roots in ‘phílos’ (beloved, dear) and ‘adelphós’ (brotherly, sisterly), this town, as we know it, should be kicking up its heels in reverie and regaling in the light and the bright. Yet, as Philadelphians, we bask in ire and cynicism. It’s understandable. There’s death around us, especially in a time of war globally, and we live in fear of being killed by all manner of threat, be it physical or more figurative, like a career killer.
The comedians we love, locals or out-of-towners who hang out in Philly, tend to speak fearlessly without concern over critiques that they’re too angry, cynical, or dark. They embrace death – or, at least, they’re not afraid of a Twitter mob trying to end their career over one joke.
New York’s Ben Wasserman can’t get enough of Philly. Earlier this month, he had a gig at Launderette Records in Port Richmond. He was at Johnny Brenda’s as recently as March 17, too. He’ll be performing again in Philly at PhilaMOCA on a date TBD.
Philadelphia has a special connection to Wasserman’s standup art form. He did one of his earliest set on grief shortly after his father died five years ago.
His new solo comedy show, Live after Death, grabs you by the collar as Wasserman faces all types of fears, namely that of loss, as he talks about grief and the death of his father, grandfather, uncle, and several dear friends all in the span of three years.
“I did a bit about my dad dying, it killed,” he says, “and a bunch of Philly comedians approached me after my set. I assumed they were just coming up to introduce themselves, give the perfunctory ‘good set,’ and they did that — but like almost all of them also had either been estranged from or lost their fathers. We talked. About all of it. Grief is an isolating feeling. Performing in a city as a visitor can also feel isolating. But the comedians I met in Philly made me feel less alone and more loved that night. And, five years later we’re still super close friends.”
Wasserman works the words of misery, grief and vulnerability like Pollock would oils – athletically, with passion and spontaneity. When he started doing comedy about the pain of living amid death, he didn’t really know where it would go or what it would look like.
“Prior to these losses I had never really incorporated anything ‘real,’ anything biographical, in my comedy, I’d simply go on stage and do interactive goofy bits and silly characters that had no tether to reality.”
Opening up, however, negotiating and existing with these woefully unfunny features of life freed Wasserman to blossom, to create comically and interactively. Still, some things aren’t laughable even if they are part of an overall comedic work. “It’s not funny,” he affirms plaintively, “having watched my dad struggle for his last breaths.” But it’s not something that should be hidden, either.
“I think creating environments where everyone in the room has an opportunity to be vulnerable is in some way just fair. But in another way, it also plays an important role in getting laughs, because being vulnerable allows me to also get away with being comically angry or frustrated or goofy or whatever.”
With that, Wasserman knows that whether his crowd is grieving themselves or not, that he’s really quite good at comedy – the entire point of his being on stage.
”I’ve only gotten raves or supportive comments about this material, mostly people coming up to me and thanking me for putting a voice to a feeling they had but couldn’t name, or allowing them to share a story about their friend who died during the set, or just telling me I’m the funniest person they’ve ever seen.”
If Wasserman’s approach to the dark side of life kills, as he says, South Philadelphia-based comic and writer Chip Chantry is more chipper amid Philly’s cynicism and our shared knowledge that we’re all going to die one day.
“I feel really lucky to have started comedy in Philadelphia,” says Chantry whose next big gig is his April 1 show for Crossroads Comedy at Theater Exile on 13th and Reed. “Philly crowds wear their heart on their sleeve. You never have to guess if people like what you’re doing. They will let you know immediately. And that makes us stronger comics. You go to other cities, and they’re ‘nice.’”
What’s nice mean in this context, though?
“They’re more patient, sometimes more receptive crowds. But if you win over a Philly crowd, it feels really good. If you give it your best, that’s when you get that world-famous love and affection,” he touches on the irrational way Philadelphians will defend its beloved parochial assets.
Some things, like those local sacred cows, are a minefield to touch on stage. For Chantry’s part, having to navigate comedy that is dark, harsh, and troubling is one he’d rather not trip through.
For Chantry, comedy should embrace an insider’s intimate knowledge, while acting like an outsider, a town crier with attitude. “In my experience, comedians were always outsiders that stood on the sidelines, or under the bleachers, and made fun of everyone who was fighting,”
But when everyone in the country is taking the “you’re either for us or against us” tack, is neutrality itself a political position?
Talking about having to take sides, socially and politically is uncomfortable for someone who’s joked about those divides for a job. “But over the past few years, we’ve been pulled into the game, and for me, and I think for a lot of comics, it’s a drag. We just want to tell jokes and make fun of things, not be modern day philosophers. I’m not a Senator. I’m not a pundit or a professor. I just want to be funny.”
In the face of existential threats after an attempted coup, is just being funny enough in a post-Trump America? Are we even post-Trump?
Or, on the contrary, is being too political itself poison to comedy?
“I don’t think crowds want to hear it,” says Chantry. “For me, comedy is an escape from 30 BREAKING NEWS updates a day. I’m also not good at arguing or debating, so I’d rather just make fun of things.”
Chantry’s got his views, though. You can pick that up from his Twitter account. He just takes a more subtle approach to the aforementioned minefield.
For his part, Wasserman thinks coming from the right place is key to navigating touchy issues.
“I think you can be angry and still full of affection,” says Wasserman. “The duality of love/affection is most powerful when you can situate it within a broader emotional landscape which includes anger, hate, whatever. The completeness of that picture, amplifies the intensity and makes the love more felt.”
It’s impossible not to root for both Wasserman and Chantry. In a world of lowest common denominator offense and outcry, their thoughtfulness and sensitivity, even if hidden behind slapstick or even a dick joke, is attention grabbing.
Still, it’s a trail not everyone in comedy likes to take. And even when they go too far, the penalties are more rhetorical than literal.
“A number of ‘canceled’ comedians are currently selling tickets and making WAY more money than I am,” Chantry observes, bitingly. “So that’s good.”
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220401
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/buna-cafe-is-a-cool-ethiopian-spot-on-the-block/
|
The days have started to stretch longer, and I am ready — as so many of us are — to linger in the warm evenings with the ones I love. Buna Cafe takes its name from a community-oriented coffee-making ceremony, involving three cups of meticulously roasted, ground and brewed beans. First, Arbol. Second, Tona. Third, Bereka, known as “one for the road.” I invite my husband and two friends who don’t know each other to eat with me at Buna; by the end of our meal, we leave our table with a sweetness that I know will nourish us at least until our next meeting.
We are never rushed at Buna. Though one of us is later than the rest, our server tells us to take our time. We are sitting on the sidewalk on Baltimore Ave., under a wooden awning laced with string lights. I have a sense we could wait here forever. When our friend comes, we order our drinks, alongside samosas, some beef, some chicken. The pom breeze, a refreshing mix of pomegranate juice, mango nectar and fresh lime, pops with Thai basil. The home blend shai, cream stewed with black pepper, cloves, cardamom, thyme and cinnamon, carries an edge of spice, but shares the sugary quality of the pom breeze. Both accentuate, while softening, the heat from the crisp samosas. We dip our appetizers into fragrant berbere, which, in the CounterJam podcast episode “Injera Etiquette,” host Peter J. Kim calls the “culinary fingerprint of each family,” or, in this case, each Ethiopian restaurant.
Our server lets us take our time as we consider what to order. In that same CounterJam episode chef Serkaddis Alemu comments that the food she ate was eighty percent “heavy vegetables and grains,” partially because of her religious background. Chef Marcus Samuelsson is in agreement, calling it a “largely vegetarian cuisine.”
I defer to their guidance, ordering a vibrant vedge combo with khik, a yellow split pea; fasolia, a string bean and carrot stir-fry; and kaye shir, red beets with yellow potatoes. I choose shiro (chickpeas) over misir (red lentils), per Samuelsson’s point that shiro is the “mother” of the food, the “foundation.” Still, some of my companions order the famous doro wot, with warming sauce and tender meat, and chicken tibs, which are perfumed with jalapeños and onions. We appreciate the textures on our plate, the layers of flavor, and though the food is not communal — we eat on separate plates — we enjoy reaching over the table and tasting each other’s orders.
At last, we are ready to order dessert, and I turn to our server. He starts to list what is on offer, falters with a smile, and then shakes his head.
“Just come inside,” he tells me. “Come see for yourself.”
He invites me inside less as a customer and more as a friend, and he laughs when I order one of each dessert, just how someone I really know would. The tiramisu ends the meal coolly, smooth and light with a subtle hint of coffee. The baklava provides an equal share of crunch and flake. The chocolate cake, while drier, satisfies a need for cocoa. In the end, I swear, this is how a meal should be: the flavor built not only through a deft chef’s hand, but also through the experience of the night.
West Philly boasts many favorites when it comes to Ethiopian restaurants, and it is hard to ask anyone to try out a new spot. There is always someone who will tell you that they love the way a certain place prepares their collard greens or their shiro. There is community in loyalty, too. As Buna reminds us, though, there is always room for each other.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220401
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/teenshavingsexathome
|
Reader question:
I’ve read a lot about talking to kids about sex, but mostly it’s aimed at people who have small children, so I’m hoping you can help. My husband and I share custody of my 15-year-old daughter with my ex. Generally, we can all get along and our daughter has no doubt she is loved by all of us.
About 6 months ago, she started dating a female friend of hers. We were all fine with her dating a girl, but we were forced to have a conversation about knowingly allowing her to have intimacy in our house. They had been friends for a while and had already had sleepovers when my daughter revealed they were dating. My husband and I agreed that it’s pretty much impossible to prevent a motivated teen from having sex, and that it’s much better to make it safe for her to be honest with us. My ex wasn’t super concerned, although they didn’t stay over at his place together much anyway.
A month or so ago our daughter and her girlfriend broke up, which she took pretty hard until she started seeing a boy in the grade ahead of her. She likes him a lot and understandably wants the same privacy with him that she was allowed before. He seems like a nice boy but my husband and my ex are both very opposed to letting him stay the night.
I don’t know what the right thing to do is here. I’d like to think we’re progressive and raising her to be honest with us and sex-positive, but I can’t get over whatever social programming it is that tells me I should treat this relationship differently. What’s the modern parent supposed to do in this situation?
Easy slam dunk answers are rare when it comes to parenting, and sex can especially feel like a minefield. You want to be the Cool MomTM, chill in the face of the reality that your teen is queer and sexually active. While you may be completely supportive of her apparent bisexuality, that doesn’t make it any less weird to know that your kid is down the hall knocking boots, especially now that it’s with some dude you met weeks ago.
When it comes to the controversy of letting kids have sex in the family home, there are significant considerations, some of which you have already mentioned:
- If teens want to engage in sexual acts with each other, they will usually find a way. It’s not unusual for them to turn to semi-public spaces to get frisky. It’s usually more safe — both sexually and generally — inside a home.
- The legal age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16, which you probably know is a number that is greater than 15, your daughter’s current age.
- They are more likely to get busted having sex in a car or park than they would be in your home. Again — and more importantly — it’s much more dangerous for them in general.
- This boy likely also has parents, who probably have their own opinions about this. Hell hath no fury like a parent who believes they should have been told about something.
There is a completely cogent argument to be made either way. Plenty of adults look back at their own teenage years and realize that they would have been far better off having an open and honest relationship with their own parents about sex. They recognize that teen relationships are powerful and completely valid, even if they are brief and don’t have the full context of wisdom and experience.
They also point out that it’s much easier to make sure condoms and lube are nearby when you’re banging in a bed than the back of a car and that it’s much easier to call for back up (if anything should go hinky consent-wise) if someone else is nearby.
Psychiatrist Lea Lis provides pointers to parents about allowing sex in the home, including setting ground rules that all sauciness must happen behind closed doors and with respect for noise levels, and that kids should expect to maintain all their school, family and extracurricular responsibilities. I hope you’re already openly discussing consent, pleasure, STI prevention and contraception with her.
As I mentioned, there is a potential legal component to all this because she’s underage. I can’t really encourage anyone to break the law, but when you agreed to let her sleep with her girlfriend, you already took a side on that issue. If you switch up the game now, there better be a very real conversation with her about why — a genuine back and forth discussion — on the rationale for your choices. Otherwise you are quite literally saying that sex with girls doesn’t count and sex with boys is a much bigger deal.
Whatever happens, I think it’s fantastic that your daughter has three whole adults who love her so much. If you all work together (and with his parents as well), this can be another piece in the bridge of your open, honest relationship.
Have a question for Dr. Timaree? Send an email to asktimaree@philadelphiaweekly.com.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220401
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/what-to-do-march-31-april10
|
Hey there, Weekly Phillies — I appreciate all of you who have reached out to say how much you enjoy reading the Event Calendar again. I really do; makes my typing fingers dance.
Last week, in response to my search for your favorite bartender, a certain barkeep at a certain ale house received a vote of confidence but without much evidence to support the claim. This week, the receipts have come in by way of Michele Garrity, who shares with us the ballad of John Doyle* of McGillin’s Olde Ale House (1310 Drury St., 19107).
“Len — John Doyle is by far my favorite bartender. I started going to McGillin’s in 2002. On Christmas Eve a few years later, my Dad and I stopped in McGillin’s to have some holiday cheer. Upon seeing John, my Dad yelled ‘JOHN DOYLE!’ John came over, said hello to my Dad, and said, ‘Is this your daughter?’ My Dad said yes. [John] said, ‘She’s in here all the time.’ My friendship with John Doyle was born. John always looked out for me while I was at McGillin’s, whether it was making sure I had a drink or telling a guy I was too good for them, to take a hike. I started taking any guy I dated into McGillin’s so John and Chris Mullins would tell me what they thought. (And they never held back their opinions.) Fast forward to 2022, I have been married for almost 5 years and both John and Chris were invited to my wedding. Clearly, they approved of my husband. My friendship with John has only grown deeper over the years. About a year and a half ago I turned 40, in the middle of Covid. Instead of going to Vegas with my friends, I had some friends at my parents’ house in Sea Isle. Guess who the surprise guest was? John Doyle 🙂”
Everyone enjoying a pint, a drink, a happy hour cocktail at McGillin’s — tell John that Michele sent us, and maybe he’ll dance at your wedding, too. Thanks for sharing your story (and John) with all of us, Michele.
* I can’t help but think if I meet him at the bar, I’ll go “Hey, what’s your name?” and he’ll whip a hand towel over his shoulder and say “Doyle. John Doyle.” Like he’s an international bartender of mystery or something.
Also, if you want a nice bite to go with your toddy and you want to feel good about it, there’s a special Women, Whiskey & More Happy Hour at the ol’ Ember & Ash (Wednesday, Mar 30th; 1520 E. Passyunk Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19147), which has made a fine go of it over there in East Passyunk despite opening during the heart of the pandemic in 2020. They’re closing out Women’s History Month with a special menu and special cocktails; now all they need is someone special like you. Proceeds will benefit Women Against Abuse, a Philadelphia nonprofit whose mission is to provide quality, compassionate and non-judgmental service to those affected by violence.
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE BARTENDER IN THE CITY AND WHY?
Email me len@philadelphiaweekly.com and we can tell them you sent us. Got it?
And now — guess what time it is?
Well, actually, first there’s …
THURSDAY MARCH 31
SOUTHERN AVENUE*
Marrying gospel, blues and righteous R&B, the band Southern Avenue brings their Memphis-flavored soul to Philly for one night only. The Grammy-nominated collective is on a nationwide mission to show you how to “be the love you want.” * They may be one of the coolest-looking blues bands this side of Gangstagrass.
Southern Avenue; Thurs March 31, 8 p.m., City Winery Philadelphia (Main Stage), 990 Filbert St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
And now something for the geeks out there —
FRIDAY APRIL 1
NERDY BY NATURE*
Let your geek flag fly and come as you are or in your most amazing cosplay gear. Do something awesome on stage or watch a variety of awesome like-minded folk get down; the choice is yours! Get your comics and watch some comics, musicians, creatives who are “nerdy by nature.” * The organizer is comedian Keith From Up Da Block. Go to any neighborhood in Philly and start yelling “Keith! Yo, Keith!” He coming.
Nerdy By Nature; Fri April 1, 8 p.m., Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, 2578 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19125; BYOB; 21+ w/ ID
But for you theater geeks — this brings us, finally, to —
FRIDAY APRIL 1 thru SUNDAY APRIL 10
PHILLY THEATRE WEEK*
Philly Theatre Week is back! Philly Theatre Week (PTW) is Theatre Philadelphia’s 10-day celebration of artists, organizations and audiences that have made Greater Philadelphia one of the most vibrant theatre regions in the nation. Audiences will have an opportunity to try unique events from our theatre community through a choice of dozens of in-person, virtual, outdoor and non-traditional productions, readings and much more! * I love live theater. Years ago (when the pepper outnumbered the salt on my head ten-fold), I worked with Ekklesia Theater Ministry in West Oak Lane and Mount Airy teaching theater basics to children 6-15; I miss Kids In Theaterland. I performed in productions and on stages all over the city. Broadway does splendor but nothing gets LIVE like a stage of brotherly love.
Philly Theatre Week, presented by Theatre Philadelphia; Friday, April 1 through Monday, April 10; for information about the multiple productions and venues, visit theatrephiladelphia.org
Now, I can’t give you their entire PTW Guide, but these are a few of the items that I highlighted in mine. I think there are something like 70-80 productions going on this week. I’m gonna be up till 5.99 in the morning!
(PTW) COMMUNITY CAPITAL: AN AFROFUTURISM SOUTH PHILLY WALKING EXPERIENCE
We speak ourselves into existence. But, what happens when others of the world silence your tones to cacophony their worth? An intersectional poetic self-guided expedition of sound and unearthing through the streets of South Philadelphia curated and written by TS Hawkins* & Lois Moses. * TS Hawkins is dope AF.
Community Capital: An Afrofuturism South Philly Walking Experience; April 1 thru April 10; Visit theatrephiladelphia.org for details
(PTW) THE ALCHEMIST
What do you do when your boss goes on vacation … in the middle of a pandemic? With the master away, watch three servants play as they swindle a rogues’ gallery of ridiculous characters out of their cash and their dignity. Written for the reopening of the London theatres after the plague outbreak of 1610, “The Alchemist” is Ben Jonson’s chemistry lesson in comedy.
The Alchemist, presented by Quintessence Theatre Group; Fri April 1, 7:30 p.m Sat April 2, 2:00 p.m Sun April 3, 3:00 p.m. Thurs April 7, 7:30 p.m. Sat April 9, 7:30 p.m The Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19119
(PTW) LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL
Curio Theatre Company presents Lanie Robertson’s critically acclaimed play, starring beloved company member and Barrymore Award winner Ebony Pullum. The play explores the life of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday during one of her final performances in Philadelphia.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill; Fri April 1, Sat April 2, Thurs April 7, 8 p.m.; Sat April 9, 3 p.m., 8 p.m., Curio Theatre Company, 4740 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143
(PTW) CATHOLIC GUILT
Do you also find Jesus’ naked body on the cross super sexy? We dive into that and much more such as: losing our virginity in the most holy way, the “A” word, cosmic bowling experiences leading to impure behavior, and the list goes on. Blending stand-up, improv and your sinful audience participation, “Catholic Guilt” examines the power of religion and the affect it can have on one’s psyche.
Catholic Guilt; Fri April 1 and 8, 8 p.m., Franky Bradley’s, 1320 Chancellor St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
(PTW) SETTLEMENTS
When the resident theatre at a Jewish Community Center commissions a new play about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Jordanian-Jewish playwright, the Center finds itself pulled in conflicting directions. In such polarized times when extreme voices threaten to pull an institution (or a country) off its foundation, how does one hold onto the center?
Settlements, presented by InterAct Theatre Company; Fri April 1 and 8, 8 p.m.; Sat April 2 and 9, 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Sun April 3 and 10, 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Wed April 6, 7 p.m., The Drake Theatre, 302 S. Hicks St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
(PTW) BACKING TRACK
In this new play by acclaimed satirist R. Eric Thomas, a change is in the air for a family after an unexpected loss. Mel, mother of Avery and Jessica, tries to reclaim her place in a gentrified neighborhood while her kids learn firsthand how to balance their own lives. Praised by Lin-Manuel Miranda as “one of the funniest writers,” R. Eric Thomas’s play contemplates what it means to start over again.
Backing Track; Fri April 1 and 8, 8 p.m.; Sat April 2 and 9, 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Sun April 3, 2 p.m.; Wed April 6, 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m.; Thurs April 7, 7 p.m.; Sun April 10, 2 p.m., 7 p.m., Arcadia Stage at Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
(PTW) THE NICHOS COMMUNITY PROJECT
A multidisciplinary theater performance, highlighting Mexican immigrants striving to preserve their languages and traditions through workshops, research and oral histories involving Aztec dance, fandango, poetry and many more elements that preserve and elucidate their Mexican identity.
The Nichos Community Project; Sat April 2, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Esperanza Arts Center, 4261 N. 5th St., Philadelphia, PA 19140
(PTW) STUDY HALL: COMEDY INSPIRED BY LECTURES*
This long-running comedy show mixes real lectures with improv comedy as guests from all walks of life lecture on a topic they are familiar with, after which a cast of amazing improvisers will use what they learned (or didn’t learn) to create hilarious scenes right before your eyes! Whether you were the class president or the class clown — you will love Study Hall! * Shameless plug — I will be one of the lecturers, along with my co-host on the Micheaux Mission podcast, Vincent Williams. We’ll be talking about Black iconography in pop culture; make something funny of that, I dare ya!
Study Hall: Comedy Inspired By Lectures; Sat April 2, 7 p.m., Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
(PTW) NO DIGGITY: IMPROV INSPIRED BY OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP AND R&B*
No Diggity host Tia Kemp curates a playlist of old-school hip hop and R&B music videos that inspire the hilarious scenes. Audience members will be quizzed on their old-school knowledge. The only show in Philly Theatre Week with “and usher and Usher!” Presented by Crossroads Comedy Theater. * I have a dear friend who was put on this earth 40-odd years ago just so she could be alive at this moment.
No Diggity: Improv Inspired By Old School Hip Hop and R&B; Sun April 3, 8 p.m., Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th S., Philadelphia, PA 19147
(PTW) SOPHIE SUCRE: A STUDY IN SENSUAL PERFORMANCE VIA THE HUMANIST GAZE*
Meet Sophie, as she explores her most authentic erotic sensual self as a Black Woman leveraging the erotic as power through a long-form, 45-minute burlesque performance. Part of Cannonball Festival’s Miniball, an eclectic, weeklong performance festival featuring extraordinary shows from risk-taking independent artists that run the gamut from contemporary circus, erotic performance and burlesque to clown and immersive works. * And she’s a Trekkie, too.
Sophie Sucre: A Study in Sensual Performance via the Humanist Gaze; Sun April 3, 8:30 p.m., Mon April 4, 6:30 p.m., Tues April 5, 8 p.m., The Maas Building, 1320 N. 5th St., Philadelphia, PA 19122
(PTW) MORNING STAR
The World War comes, takes its toll and passes, bringing us up almost to today; and throughout the whole family history of Becky Felderman and her daughters, we are presented in the most entertaining and vivid fashion with the ups and downs, minor tragedy or broad comedy that go to make up the day-to-day life of this essentially healthy and sane family of ex-emigrants.
Morning Star; Mon April 4, 7 p.m., Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
(PTW) DRUNK LION
Drunk Lion follows an alcoholic Lion who spends his days drinking into oblivion in a cantina, until he meets Chris, a young foreigner learning how to speak Spanish. The unlikely pair forge an intoxicated bond over life, love and alcohol.
Drunk Lion; Fri April 8 and Sat April 9, 8 p.m. Venue is located in South Philadelphia near East Passyunk. Address will be delivered upon reservation; more information available at theatrephiladelphia.org
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220401
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/a-love-letter-to-carousel-house/
|
When I think about Philadelphia, I associate this city with certain things. They’re things I was taught about, things that are celebrated and used in logos and on souvenirs. I could name at least five places that are known for their cheesesteaks, but I never knew that Philadelphia is home to Carousel House, the first city-funded disability rec center in the country. Construction was completed in 1987, and now, at the tender age of 35 years old, it is being demolished.
All of this time, we had the first city-funded disability rec center in the country, and many are only hearing about it now as it’s set to be demolished. It feels like something that should’ve been celebrated city-wide, something that should’ve been the blueprint for all other facilities in the city. We often don’t hear or know about places unless they directly affect us or someone around us. Why are places as important as this not on everyone’s radar?
I initially heard about Carousel House on a podcast episode of BEN Around Philly, hosted by Kristen Hermann, a radio DJ for BenFM. Her cousin, Xavier Ray, 15, has an L1 complete spinal cord injury and has played for Katie’s Komets for seven years. Katie’s Komets is a co-ed wheelchair basketball team for kids with physical disabilities in elementary school through high school (katieskomets.org). After closing Carousel House for two years during the pandemic, Parks and Rec decided it would be better to demolish and rebuild, a process that is often very time consuming.
Katie’s Komets no longer has a place to practice or host the 24th annual Katie Kirlin Junior Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, which has always been at Carousel House. “It’s horrible, you know. As a supervisor, I had the second-longest tenure. It’s known all over the country, especially for wheelchair sports,” said Stu Greenberg, who was the director there for 11 years and started the Junior Wheelchair Basketball league. “The Parks and Rec department was great in finding us a suitable place to hold the tournament,” said Roseann Kirlin, who started the Katie Kirlin Fund with her husband Joe, in memory of their daughter Katie and her achievements in wheelchair athletics. “They secured the High School of the Future and the staff that always worked the tournaments.”
To hear how amazing Carousel House was, all you have to do is speak to anyone who was involved. “Almost every night they had a different activity — line dancing, arts and crafts, sports, you name it. The Carousel House was a place where everyone was able to live their authentic lives, where everyone was safe, supported and celebrated, and that is invaluable,” said Joe. As long as it was open, Joe and Roseann were involved. Over the years, they have provided grants to athletes to purchase wheelchairs specially designed for racing and basketball, sponsored various wheelchair sporting events and provide lodging and travel expenses for Katie’s Komets.
The Parks and Rec Department said the building needed a new roof, HVAC system and dehumidification system, plus other repairs to the steel structure and the pool. “They say there was a meeting, but none of the people who were around for so long were invited,” said Joe. “It’s sad, none of us were asked to attend the meeting,” said Stu. “They made the decision without any input from anyone in that community,” said Joe.
It feels like classic ableism. If you don’t know what that word means, allow Access Living to explain: “Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as ‘less than,’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities.” Ableism is inherent in most of society. It’s rare to find a place that is so perfectly the opposite of that, and it really does seem like Carousel House was that place.
“I know every building in the district. As it stands, Carousel House is in the top 25 percent,” said Stu, who made multiple repair requests over the years. “They weren’t met because they needed capital interest.” Joe and Roseann offered to raise the money. “When we heard they were planning on demolishing, they said they needed $1 million to make the repairs without knocking it down. We offered to raise that money, but they said it was impossible,” says Roseann Kirlin. It doesn’t seem impossible at all in a day and age where a guy making potato salad raised close to $60,000 on GoFundMe. “Parents felt safe dropping their kids off for two hours at Carousel House. That’s invaluable. Parks and Rec were so proud of it and said it took them 35 years to get it right. Now they’re knocking it down,” said Joe Kirlin.
Parks and Rec promised to relocate all of the programming in the interim, which they list on their website. “Parks and Rec have been helpful with finding new locations, but it was harder to find a spot for wheelchair basketball,” said Michele Ray, mother of Xavier. “They showed us some accessible places, but you have to think about parking. Carousel House had plenty of parking. You have to think about accessibility and getting the wheelchairs out. You need that space between.” Joe and Roseann chimed in that some of the spaces Parks and Rec found had rubber floors, which are unusable for wheelchair basketball, or pillars that would prevent the kids from moving freely. “Parks and Rec found us Pelbano Rec Center at 8101 Bustleton Ave., but they needed to put in a wooden floor,” says Beth Cooke, whose daughter Caroline, 14, has spina bifida and has played for Katie’s Komets for 5 years. They had their first practice at the Pelbano Rec Center on March 22nd.
There will always be oversights or things we’re simply not aware of unless they affect us or someone we know. Details like the ones mentioned above seem like they should’ve been factored into the decision of demolishing Carousel House. “The kids of Katie’s Komets need storage because they can’t drag two chairs to practice every week. Carousel House had a shed for storage, but not many other places do,” said Roseann. “In the wheelchair basketball community, people do travel far. We’ll meet people who live in Montana and they’ll have to drive 6 hours to practice, where I can’t complain driving three and a half,” said Beth, who drove Caroline up to New York to go to practices during the pandemic.
This dedication is what parents do when their kids love something. “What Katie’s Komets has given us … the only thing available to us in South Jersey were Challenger Sports,” said Michele. Challenger Athletics’ mission is to establish sports programs for people with both physical and learning disabilities. “The kids ended up growing and they kept playing Xavier with the little kids so he didn’t get hurt. We started looking and found the Komets and we were welcome right away. Through that, he started making friends with similar disabilities.” By the time the new building is complete, many of the current players of Katie’s Komets will be in college.
Because of Carousel House, individuals were able to find their passion and community. They flourished and accomplished great things. “Twenty kids went on to college basketball and we had one Paralympian racer, Amanda McGrory, who won multiple gold medals,” said Joe Kirlin. “Xavier is a sophomore, Caroline is a freshman, and they’re starting to look for colleges. They want to play wheelchair basketball in college, lots of kids on the team do,” said Beth. “Charlotte, NC is the most accessible city in the U.S. Those are things we’re looking for. All of our kids go to school, and they are the only wheelchair users in the school or one of two,” said Michele. “Xavier is looking to go to school with a wheelchair community.”
When Carousel House was created it was state-of-the-art, but through the years there are certain aspects that have become dated. “It wasn’t nice,” said Beth. “We were the Bad News Bears of Basketball because we’d go down and we’ll play in Baltimore or we’ll play in VA and some of their facilities are really nice,” Michele chimed in. “But I have to say we love Carousel House because it was ours.” Through Carousel House, Caroline was able to play basketball with female Paralympians. “That was a really special moment, to see my daughter playing with all women,” said Beth. Sports can be a male-dominated area, so creating these opportunities is amazing and important.
Community is not something that’s built into schools, workplaces or extracurricular activities for everyone. “Sure, this building is going to be wonderful, but it’s been almost a year. It’s still in the design phase and not final,” said Roseann. “The Zoom meeting last week showed us options, and all disabilities were represented to give their input.” An inevitable part of life is change, and hopefully, through that change, progress. Some of us can easily find options if one is eliminated, but it’s not true for everyone. When a decision affects the only option that exists for so many, they should absolutely be included in that decision.
We must all strive for an inclusive and accessible society across the board, and make ourselves aware of the needs of others before deciding what is best for them. The entire city should be paying attention to the progress of Carousel House and the City of Philadelphia Parks and Rec system-wide inclusion plan.
Learn more:
Katie’s Komets is always looking for new players! If you or someone you know has a physical disability and is in elementary through high school, you can reach out to info@katieskomets.org.
You can donate to Katie’s Komets through the NWBA Return To Play campaign here. Donations go towards tires and tubes ($75), cushions ($400), wheels ($700), registration ($1,000), wheelchairs ($4,000) and trips to Nationals ($10,000).
If you have questions or want to take part in the community engagement process for the new Carousel House facility, email rebuild@phila.gov.
If you have questions about new accessible locations to host programs and permitted activities, email parksandrecreation@phila.gov.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220402
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/doing-good-philabundance/
|
Welcome to Doing Good, Philadelphia Weekly’s nonprofit spotlight. Every week we’re featuring an organization that’s doing good in our community. Every nonprofit gets the same five questions, and every week you get introduced to the people who are making our city better. The nonprofit spotlight is here to shine a light on the helpers, and, who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to get involved, volunteer or donate to an organization you meet here.
Today we’re introducing you to one of the most well-known nonprofits in our city, Philabundance, whose mission to tackle the root causes of hunger has made a big impact in Philadelphia.
What is your mission?
Philabundance was founded with the simple belief that no one should go hungry while healthy food goes to waste. Our mission is to drive hunger from our communities today and to end hunger for good. In addition to food distribution, we reduce food waste, increase access to nutritious meals and tackle the root causes of hunger through programs such as the Philabundance Community Kitchen.
Philabundance serves five counties in Pennsylvania: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia, and four counties in New Jersey: Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem.
How have you made a difference?
Philabundance is a proud member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks leading the fight against hunger in the United States.
We all know the power of a delicious meal — one that comforts us, nourishes us and connects us with the people we love. Food is a fundamental part of our experience as humans. Sharing food binds us together, strengthens our communities and reinforces our connections with each other. When it comes down to it, food is love. And when we give food to people who need it, we’re sharing the love.
We see this love in action at Philabundance every day. Our staff members, agency partners, donors and volunteers work together to distribute millions of pounds of food each year. We serve families, children’s programs, senior centers and kitchens across our nine-county service area, and the people we serve know they can rely on us to provide healthy and satisfying food when they need it. Making sure that every child, family and individual in our community has access to the food they want and need is an expression of our love for our neighbors.
What do you wish people knew about you?
Philabundance has a culinary workforce development program at our Philabundance Community Kitchen. The 16-week life skills and culinary job training program has been transforming the lives of people with low-to-no income since 2000. PCK promotes the self-sufficiency of its students by preparing them for and connecting them to work in the food service industry and allows them to give back by preparing needed meals for those in need. Another focus of the curriculum is on life skills, which helps students not only secure a job, but provides tools to build a career and a second chance at life. In addition, the program utilizes our production kitchen to train the students as well as provide meals to shelters, seniors and others in our area who need ready-to-eat food. PCK is also a social enterprise that has its own catering component, PCKatering, and is providing an outlet for value-added production to businesses in and around Philadelphia.
How can people get involved?
The faces of hunger are varied and plentiful, and so are the number of ways you can help make a difference in our communities.
Here’s how:
- Donate
One dollar may provide up to two meals to help feed those in need. Philabundance can stretch your dollar further by buying in bulk and directly from manufacturers, allowing us to use your money to help even more of our hungry neighbors. - Volunteer
More than 15,000 volunteers saved us $1.5 million in salaries last year. Make a direct impact by generously offering your time to get food into the hands of those who need it most. - Organize a Food Drive
One pound of food provides one meal to someone facing hunger. By collecting our most-needed items, including peanut butter and tuna, you’re not just helping provide food, but providing protein-rich, healthy food. - Become a Corporate Partner
When your organization supports Philabundance, you can do good, and raise goodwill and visibility for your company. - Advocate
20% of people in our area may go to bed hungry tonight. Make your voice heard through letter- writing, attending events and supporting policies that increase food access for the most vulnerable people in our communities. - Help us drive hunger from our communities
Whether you want to become a corporate partner, distribute food to those in need or to other agencies fighting hunger or want to help in another way, we’re always looking for more Hunger Heroes.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220402
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/the-end-of-the-world-as-erik-j-brown-knows-it/
|
When it comes to reading about the end of the world, whether we’re in a dystopia, a post-apocalyptic setting or in the pre-apocalypse, there can be something so wildly comforting to be found there, when it’s done well. I know, I know. How can reading about the end of mankind feel like a snuggly blanket? Well, from novels like Emily St. John Mandel’s acclaimed “Station Eleven” to local author Chuck Wendig’s epic “Wanderers,” stories set when the world is crumbling apart often allow us to see humanity at its best … even while facing down the worst.
That’s one of the many reasons we’re drawn to stories about the end. And one of the reasons you’ll love Erik J. Brown’s debut. Because while “All That’s Left in the World” is a novel about the end of the world, it’s also a glorious story about new beginnings and finding hope.
A local real estate agent and Temple grad, Erik J. Brown enjoys spending his non-writing days at his home in Mt. Airy, fussing over his potentially haunted house with his husband. Written long before the very non-fictional pandemic spread across our world, “All That’s Left in the World” was acquired by Balzer + Bray (an imprint of HarperCollins) in 2020 and published just this month.
Set in a future not too far away, a deadly disease has killed off almost the entirety of the planet. Readers meet Andrew and Jamie, two teens struggling to survive in this brutal new world, living in fear of not just the virus, but of other people. Because if there’s anything post-apocalyptic books and movies have taught us, it’s that when the world goes south, some people will do anything to survive. Including turn on one another.
The two boys are forced to flee across the countryside in hopes of finding more people like them, who are holding on and supporting one another, but along the way truths start to bubble to the surface — and not just their feelings for each other, but elements from their past that threaten to tear them apart.
The result is just this really expert blend of humor and heart, set across a desolate landscape dotted with hope. Brown drops in elements of mystery and romance in the speculative novel, creating something that’s so wildly riveting, and truly one of the best debuts publishing this year. And yes, I know it’s March. It’s that good, that I’m confident enough in saying that.
We chatted a bit with Brown about his book, life in Philadelphia and the challenges working on book about a pandemic in, well, a pandemic.
PW: “All That’s Left in the World” published just a few weeks ago. A wildly moving post-apocalyptic novel about a pathogen that’s killed a vast amount of the population … I have to ask, how has it been, working on a book about a pandemic given everything that’s going on?
Erik: TERRIBLE! 0 out of 10, would not recommend. The book was written well before the pandemic, but my agent and I decided we would try to sell it at the beginning of 2020 and it sold on Friday March 13, 2020 — the Friday before Philly’s shutdown. Editing the book during 2020 was so challenging and there were times I was expecting my publishers to say, “This pandemic has gotten worse than we imagined, and we’re pulling the plug on your book.” And a few times I kind of wanted them to!
But there are so many parts of the book that are funny and hopeful, that really helped get through the editing. I think I even managed to add more humor because I needed that while I was working on it. And now that readers are giving it a chance many have said reading it is actually cathartic.
PW: I’ve always felt like there was a lot of hope in reflecting a stark reality through fiction, and that’s something you do so well here, with these teens who find love during the end of the world. Why is that sort of message important to you?
Erik: This was especially important because I’m telling a queer love story. Growing up queer is always difficult, but the last six years or so, things have been getting increasingly worse for queer people. Books with queer characters are getting banned, marriage equality could once again be going before a conservative Supreme Court, there’s legislation being passed to target trans youth and their families. Seeing this happen on a daily basis is so damaging to queer youth because everything seems so hopeless. There are millions of people fighting for them and still things seem so heavy.
I wanted to write a story where things have gotten the absolute worst, and yet these two characters can still find each other. They can still have hope and fall in love. Even at the end of the world. And they choose to fight for each other, for a better life together. And what else are we all fighting for if not hope for a better life?
PW: “All That’s Left in the World” is your debut; can you tell us a little bit about what you’re up to next?
Erik: The good news is my next book has 100% less apocalypse! I pitched it as “‘Empire Records’ in an old folks’ home.” It’s a YA based on my after-school job as a server at a retirement community in Delco. It was a wonderful job and, like the characters in “Empire Records,” we were all such different people but we became friends because of where we worked. It was such a bizarre environment filled with quirky characters. I’m excited for people to meet the fictionalized versions who are even more quirky!
PW: You went to Temple! You’re a Philadelphian! Where do you go to find inspiration in the city?
Erik: My neighborhood! My partner and I live in Mt. Airy and it’s such a wonderful, diverse neighborhood. It really is a special place with plenty of community support. Even during the beginning of the pandemic neighbors were sending out email chains to each other with ways to support the local shops. I’m really so proud to live here.
PW: And as a self-proclaimed vinyl record collector, where in Philadelphia do you like to go to rummage? Any hot spots?
Erik: It’s been so long since I’ve been to a record shop because of COVID! Thank you for reminding me I need to get out and do that again. I loved Beautiful World Syndicate but I think their storefront on East Passyunk was a victim of COVID closures and they haven’t reopened. However! They are still up and running on Discogs under Philadelphiamusic.
I also loved crate digging just outside the city at Vinyl Closet Records in Norristown. I bought a tongue-in-cheek, spoken-word Vincent Price record from them about witchcraft and demons that’s so funny, and one of the most bizarre records in my collection.
PW: What have you read lately that you loved, that you’d want our readers to pick up?
Erik: “A Little Bit Country” by Brian D. Kenney (about two gay teens falling in love at a Dollywood-esque theme park), “The Loophole” by Naz Kutub (a gay Muslim teen on a globetrotting adventure with a drunk genie and three unreliable wishes to find his missing ex-boyfriend), “Every Variable of Us” by Charles A. Bush (a West Philly basketball star’s hopes of a scholarship are ruined when she’s injured in a drive-by shooting; but she finds hope, and love, in the most unlikely place: the school’s STEM team), “Boys I Know” by Anna Gracia (an Asian-American high schooler figuring out the difference between sex and love), and “Seoulmates” by Susan Lee (a girl who spent most of her life trying to shun the Korean side of her identity while embracing the American side is reunited with her former best friend, who is now a K-Drama star).
—
All That’s Left in the World is out now with HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray in the U.S., and Hachette in the U.K. You can learn more about Erik J. Brown on his official website, www.erikjbrown.com.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220402
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/casinotes-caesars-ac-antes-up-to-get-back-in-the-game/
|
It’s an irrevocable fact of casino-industry life: If you want to sit at the table with the big players, it’s going to cost you. And that is just fine with the folks at Caesars Entertainment Inc.—and, more specifically, those who run the company’s namesake Atlantic City property.
Caesars Atlantic City—the second-oldest legal gambling den east of Nevada—was, for a quarter-century or so after its June, 1979 opening, one of the town’s signature casino-hotels. Its glittering, gilded mid-Boardwalk complex—themed in the now-iconic Roman Empire motif—attracted A-list entertainers as well as the well-heeled gamblers who came to see them perform (and—at least theoretically—drop huge amounts in the casino).
But for a period of 10-15 years beginning early this century, the former owners of the gaming hall’s corporate parent, Caesars Entertainment Inc., apparently lost interest in the property: Hotel rooms weren’t modernized, public spaces were permitted to get shabby-looking, live performances were less-frequent and tended to feature B-list attractions. As such, newer, hipper properties including Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa and, more recently, Hard Rock Hotel Casino Atlantic City and Ocean Casino Resort, left Caesars in the dust.
In mid-2020, Reno, Nev.-based Eldorado Resorts purchased Caesars Entertainment. And after what is assumed to be a thorough review of the gambling chain’s vast (more than 50 casinos) holdings, the new owner is prepared to return Casears AC to its former glory. In all, $400 million has been earmarked to upgrade the Empire’s Atlantic City operations, which also includes Harrah’s Resort and Tropicana in addition to Caesars, which is receiving the lion’s share of the funding.
“Caesars is the flagship brand for us, so the objective is to return Caesars to its premier status as a luxury brand experience in the market,” said Joe Lodise, the adult playpen’s vice-president and general manager. “So, we’re really touching all facets of the operation.”
Headlining the redo is a partnership with Nobu, the New York-based, ultra-high-end hospitality brand beloved of the glitterati whose principals include movie god Robert DeNiro. The construction of a Japanese-focused Nobu restaurant has commenced, with a late-summer debut targeted. And the conversion of the top three floors of the existing Centurion Tower into an ultra-posh Nobu-branded boutique hotel is scheduled to begin in late summer with a hoped-for end-of-year opening.
Already completed is the total renovation of 850 hotel rooms and suites, as well as less-glamorous (and less-noticeable) physical plant upgrades. Also on the docket is the late-summer introduction of Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen, a new concept from the hot-tempered celebri-chef based on his popular kitchen-competition Fox television series of the same name (the job of the eatery’s head chef is the grand prize for the show’s upcoming season).
While it won’t happen until 2023, the most exciting news may be the announcement that Caesars has enlisted Spiegelworld to devise an original, resident production show for a 400-seat venue that is planned for a portion of what is now the Wild Wild West part of Caesars (it’s the space Caesars kept when it sold adjacent Bally’s Atlantic City a few years ago). Spiegelworld is the company behind “Absinthe,” the wildly successful (and wildly hilarious) adults-only production that has been staged at Caesars Palace on the Vegas strip for more than 15 years.
Lodise noted that the new showroom is expected to include elements of—and pay tribute to–the Warner Theater, a grand entertainment palace that was built on the site during the “Boardwalk Empire” era of the 1920s. The original façade still stands.
As for the existing, 1,500-seat Circus Maximus theater, which has hosted such megastars as Jerry Seinfeld, Barry Manilow, Julio Iglesias, Tony Bennett and Ray Charles, Lodise said he hopes to re-establish the room as a show-biz player.
“I think we’ll continue to look for opportunities to bring in high-quality headliner-type shows,” he offered. “And as the property evolves and grows, and we bring back those customers that have either left the market or left our property, I’m committed to adding more shows into ‘C-Max.’
“That venue is going to be very important to us as we move forward. And I hope to do more shows in there. Right now, we do about 20 shows a year. I’d love to get that up to double, if the market supports it.”
Ocean casino redo ending
And while we’re talking AyCee casino facelifts, the final phase of Ocean Casino Resort’s $25 million upgrade of its casino floor is on its way.
When it opens this summer, The Gallery Bar, Book & Games will provide guests with an amenity-laden gaming-and-partying area. The features of the 12,000-square-foot, bi-level space include:
- A 100-foot-long, elevated bar with 26 seats and 12 built-in slot machines, 33 drink rail seats.
- Blackjack and roulette tables.
- 55-foot, 43-foot and 42-foot LED walls for sports viewing.
- Six sports-betting stations.
- A 17-foot open-air staircase that leads to Balcony Bar, a smaller, more intimate drinking spot.
- Customizable lighting.
Still on Ocean’s agenda is the completion of more than 400 hotel rooms that weren’t part of the casino-hotel complex when it opened as the ill-fated Revel in 2012.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220403
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/quoth-the-brother-denzels-tear/
|
Truth be told, this conversation about Black iconography and what makes an image memorable is just part of one that’s been ongoing for years. The two of us, Len Webb and Vincent Williams, host a movie podcast called “The Micheaux Mission.” Named in honor of Oscar Micheaux, the father of Black cinema, our podcast tagline spells out the mission statement: “Two men, one podcast, every Black film ever made.” Every week since 2015, we watch a movie and we critique that film from the perspective of two Black men. As time has gone by, we find ourselves fixated on aspects of Black film that have transcended the work and penetrated the culture. Lately, we’ve been referring to those images as a “Denzel Tear.”
And Denzel’s tear is a great place to start because, man, how powerful is that? It’s a static shot of a young Denzel Washington, baldheaded and expressionless with that one tear streaming down his face. You’ve seen it a million times within the context of memes and jokes over the past few decades. Now, if you’re a bit of a movie buff, you may know that it comes from the 1989 film “Glory,” but have you ever seen the movie? More importantly, as the years go by, does it even matter if you’ve watched it or not?
For clarity’s sake: “Glory” is a fictionalized account about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the Union’s first Black regiment in the Civil War. Denzel Washington plays Silas Trip following his escape from enslavement. In the midst of their training, Trip goes AWOL in an attempt to find supplies that have been denied to the Black soldiers by a racist quartermaster. As punishment for his supposed desertion, Trip is lashed in front of his compatriots. While, arguably, this is the punishment for desertion, obviously a Black man being whipped by a white man in the midst of the Civil War adds a level of undeniable racialized gravity to the event. Stoically, proudly, angrily, Denzel Washington is silent throughout the whipping. The camera tightens on the character and we see one lone tear falling down his stonily visaged face. And this image is something that has reverberated over the last 30 years to the point that (checks phone) if you search “Denzel tear,” hundreds of images, articles and videos pinpoint that exact moment.
So it’s a very powerful image, and it’s crazy to think about it, but that image, as powerful as it is, is also the moment where Denzel Washington is no longer a working actor. This is the moment that Denzel Washington becomes a star. Certainly, he had made films before and he had already had a successful career as a television actor, but this is the moment that propels him into winning the best supporting actor Academy Award and, arguably, when he becomes a one name, iconic figure. This is the origin of the icon, Denzel.
It’s the “icon” in iconography that we’re interested in. While this is the first snapshot that elevated the actor into memedom royalty, if you will, it certainly wasn’t the last. Many of us express our frustration with work and life by posting the gif of Washington as Malcolm X slamming his fist on a desk. And we certainly can’t be the only ones who thank our friends by sending a picture of “Training Day” corrupt detective Alonzo Harris and his wolfish grin with, uh, a variation of the saying, “my associate of African-American descent” written underneath. Hell, Denzel is so Denzel that a picture of the icon, outside of the context of a movie, in a sweatsuit, rocking a mustache from his role in “The Magnificent Seven,” launched a thousand “old Black man says stuff” jokes.
If you’re so inclined to get into the metaphorical weeds of race and image, that last example is where it gets tricky. While it’s one thing to co-opt a picture from a fictional narrative, what is the responsibility of attaching meaning to a shot of the man when he’s not working? How does the concept of ownership inform the meeting of meme and identity? Not to get all “Black Mirror,” but is there some line that we shouldn’t cross as a culture? And what if the lines are super blurry? Less than a year ago, many of us were pretty invested in the complexities of Will Smith’s marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith and the definition of “entanglement.” It stands to reason that a couple’s marriage would be a private affair but, since the two televised an exchange on Pinkett Smith’s “Red Table Talk,” does that mean the image of Smith, red eyed and seemingly deflated, is fair game? And how does race inform this? Ownership of the Black body has been a challenge and subject of debate since before this country was a country.
Here’s another question: what did the journey into cultural iconography look like? Again, “Glory” is a film from 1989. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is decades before the proliferation of images on social media and, hell, years before the average person utilized the internet at all. These images, whether we’re talking about the tear or the various images from “Friday,” all had to survive in the wild before they became fodder. Is there a pattern on the kind of imagery that survived that long? Conversely, without the ready-made medium of Reddit, Instagram, the role of algorithms, influencers, bots, etc., would the images that we trade in on the daily have the same resonance and staying power?
And we’re interested in talking about all of these whys. Why does the moment resonate? What does it mean? Why is it important? (Yes, one of the “whys” is a “what” but you know what we mean!) Hopefully, you’ll agree that a picture can be worth (checks word count and tries not to get too distracted by the meta-ness of the words “word count” counting toward the word count …) one thousand words.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220404
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/ladyrouge
|
“My background is in the arts, music … and kink,” Lady Rouge laughs when I ask her about her life before being a professional domme, kink activist and the founder of Fem Dom Philadelphia. She says that all these interests are connected. “It’s all about human expression, human therapy. I think it’s all necessary to live a life.”
To call her multifaceted would be an understatement. The holder of an MFA degree, she speaks three languages and is trained in 2D animation, fine art and classical music. Before emerging professionally on the scene in 2017, Lady Rouge (aka LR) spent time as a self-described “lurker” in the BDSM world. “I had been in the lifestyle, but I just wanted to watch,” she says. “I wanted to do my thesis on BDSM, I wanted to go into a dungeon somewhere in the city to be at the core.
“Then I wanted to be a practitioner, rather than someone who is a client. I wanted to learn how to do it,” the center city resident says. After approaching Philly kink staple Mxstress Lilith, Rouge received a mentorship in the art of protocol, role play, tease and denial. Lilith helped her get listed as a house domme at local dungeon Destiny’s Chamber and eventually she started her own “underground play world,” The Gallery R.
Her areas of expertise include impact play, like spanking, whipping and flogging. “Caning is also spectacular,” she says. She’s also proficient with amateur wrestling. “I grew up as a tomboy, I mostly wrestled with boys. I was very physical and have always been very physical. It’s easier for me to wrestle someone to the ground and laugh about it than to do the emotional stuff.”
It’s largely enjoyable work for her. “This triggers my deviant side, which I have to look out for. I do enjoy seeing people suffer, when they’re begging me to stop,” she says, comparing it to attending a haunted house. “You’re so scared and the person who is hired to scare you gets so much pleasure out of it, it’s so perverted. You get your satisfaction from their reaction and the client gets satisfaction from your reaction.”
While Rouge considers herself a bit of a sadist, safety is an utmost priority. “Healthy dynamics are always my focus. I won’t respond to someone who wants to be permanently injured. I don’t want to go out of my way to quench somebody’s fantasy and then have me be liable for the damages potentially, because you know this stuff is serious.”
Working with clients is fulfilling and challenging, but she also wanted to expand into activism and community leadership. She started Fem Dom Philadelphia because there was no institution or platform for the various workers in town and she was receiving an abundance of inquiries from people looking to get into the industry or simply to meet other kinksters. The organization touches on education, entertainment, legal, medical and psychological components of the work. To be effective as a domme, she says, “you have to be well versed in all of those.”
The nonprofit is only one of Lady Rouge’s accomplishments. Her bio cites a litany, including: starting the tradition of the Philadelphia Leather Walk, the Kinky Champagne Affair and Rouge Bash, as well as co-producing The Inversions Show. She’s now on the board of the Diabolique Ball, the huge fetish fundraiser and Philly institution. The event has plans to return this year, potentially with Philly Fetish Week featuring lectures, workshops, shows and parties.
The road hasn’t been entirely easy though, as she recalls the challenges of being trained in protocol at her first dungeon. There’s a lot to learn, aside from the skills of working with clients: screening, cleaning, safety, discretion, “and just how to handle myself.” She says she got yelled at several times. Her first day she lit a candle for a session, only to realize too late it was plastic. “Up until the day I left Destiny’s, I hadn’t really figured out how to lock the deadbolt.”
Despite these obstacles, she has grand plans for Philly’s fetish community. “Public education is critical,” she says, noting the need to end stigma in society at large and even among clients. Many people don’t recognize that being a domme and other forms of sex work are truly work, she says.
“Get to know the sex workers in your neighborhood — then you will perhaps change your mind about some of the laws that are … What is the word I’m looking for? Stupid.”
Based on her trajectory so far, I think she stands a good chance at defeating at least some of that stupidity. With her combination of tenacity, ambition and ability to bring people together, she’s a formidable warrior in the battle for sex positivity in Philly.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220405
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/cassandra-dee-will-make-you-laugh-and-feel-less-alone/
|
Looking to laugh and feel less alone? If you answered yes you should mark your calendar and come out to Cassandra Dee’s first full-length album recording at Helium Comedy Club on April 10, 2022, at 8:30 p.m. Cassandra Dee’s brand of comedy is dark and self-deprecating, is full of honest observations and tackles subjects like depression, bullying and suicide. That type of honesty and openness in comedy can be rare. I’ve been a fan ever since I first saw her perform in the 2017 Philly’s Phunniest preliminary round, a competition held yearly by Helium Comedy Club to determine the funniest stand-up comedian in the city. Cassandra’s jokes were so original, funny and vulnerable that she stood out effortlessly in a group of close to 20 comedians vying for the spot, and won the entire competition the following year.
As both a comedian and an avid fan of Philly comedy, I’ve clocked so many hours on stage and in the audience of comedy clubs and theaters that I don’t always vividly remember the exact moment I first see a comedian. I remember the exact moment I saw Cassandra Dee, and I’ve been following her ever since. She can be heard on SiriusXM radio, has hosted shows like “Really Funny Comedians (Who Happen To Be Women)” at Punch Line Philly and currently co-hosts “Oh Honey…A True Cringe Podcast” with Jillian Markowitz, which will debut this spring.
In addition to her impeccable timing and solid jokes, perhaps I secretly knew we were both kindred nerd spirits from Delco who both went to Interboro High School and lived on the same street at the same time. We were definitely in the same rooms well before we both decided to become comedians, making the world feel a little smaller in a really cool way. The first thing Cassandra said to me during this interview was “All right, I’m gonna say this and take it with the spirit in which it is intended … you seem like you would’ve been in color guard.” Nailed it. Cassandra played drums in the band at the same time I was in color guard, which is further proof that we were definitely in the same band room if no others.
Watching Cassandra do comedy is like taking a masterclass without accruing massive amounts of student debt, which I know we both have choice words about. Support local comedy, and get your tickets to Cassandra Dee’s first full-length album recording on Sunday, April 10th at 8:30 p.m. online or at the Helium Box Office at (215) 496-9001.
When was the first time you did stand-up?
In college, I did an open mic at the Laff House on South Street. The host was the Legendary Wid, which I found out later. I gave him my real name and he was like “No one uses their real name!” so he gave me a stage name which I use now. I went up and I did one set, and the first time is supposed to be terrible but it went OK. And then I was just like “I’m never doing this again” and I didn’t do it again for over a decade.
How did I not know that the Legendary Wid gave you your stage name?
I tell everyone that will listen to that story hoping it catches on, but then it always leads to people wanting to know my real name.
I’m putting it in print so everyone knows. Not your real name, but the fact that the Legendary Wid gave you your stage name. What did comedy look like after the hiatus for you?
I did a second open mic in 2012 and a third open mic in 2014. When I did that mic, the manager of Helium invited me back to audition for this thing called the Dirty Dozen. The audition went terribly, but that positive reinforcement of “This is your third time and we noticed you and want to hear more from you” kept me going until things started to actually work out.
Some of these questions will be generic and not creative because I am a comedy nerd who hasn’t had a chance to hang out and talk comedy with you in real life. What are some of your biggest comedic influences?
When I was little, I was introduced to two very distinct types of comedy by each of my parents. My dad was very into George Carlin and Richard Pryor, and I would see my dad watching that and laughing. And then when I was a little older my mom got really into Paula Poundstone, Ellen Degeneres, like, people who would be wearing shoulder pads, sometime in the early ’90s. That’s when I really started to understand jokes, and I really liked when you thought someone was going to say one thing, and they started to say another thing and surprised you. I always liked the concept of jokes. I got really into Margaret Cho and Wanda Sykes.
But the thing that actually made me start doing comedy was watching Mike Birbiglia’s movie, “Sleepwalk with Me.” When that came out in 2012, I was like “No, maybe I can do this. I haven’t tried this in ten years, maybe the overwhelming urge to throw up when I’m on stage is not so terrible anymore. He seems nervous at first and he gets used to it, maybe I’ll get used to it.” There’s something about that movie that just made me be like “I can do this.” Not “if he can do it, I can do it” but “people can do this, and I am people.”
We were both born and raised in Delco, which is a very specific experience, even though it’s clearly different for everyone. What was your experience like?
The best way to encapsulate my experience in Delco is in one short little anecdote that is easily digestible. When I was in high school, I used the word “behoove” in a sentence, and I got made fun of for three months. I never fit in in Delco. My friends and I joke that our school motto was “Football.”
I was a very sensitive, thoughtful kid who loved learning. I read books because I loved books, and my brother read books to get a free pizza. I grew up feeling like I was never going to fit in anywhere, and as soon as I started doing stand-up comedy, I was like “I’m not as weird as you all made me think I was.”
Is there anything you would like to tell your fans/future fans before they come out to see your album recording?
I want people to know that my album opens with an incredibly silly joke, it ends really dark, and there’s a lot in between. I would like to explain that there are jokes about suicide, but I feel like I can’t give content warnings in a helpful way because when half of the people see content warnings, they’re like “f*cking millennials.” The other half is like “you’re making fun of me cause I’m a millennial.”
There’s no way to say those words in a way that I feel is actually useful, like “Hey, if it’s going to upset you to hear myself making fun of my own experience of being suicidal, then this isn’t the show for you and that’s OK. I can give you recommendations of very funny people who don’t talk about killing themselves.”
I’ve always admired how open you are both in your comedy and on social media about mental health and your personal journey.
For a long time, I kind of felt like comedy was enough for me to deal with mental health problems, so a lot of my jokes ended up focusing on it because it was the only way I was dealing with it. It helped because it enabled me to look at the things I was experiencing from a different perspective. To look at them from the angle at which they’re funny means you’re not looking at them from inside where it’s scary and hard. It did help, but more importantly, it helped me get to the place where I could go to therapy, it helped me get to the place where I could find the right medicine, it helped me get to the place where I could actually deal with it.
Comedy has a way of making us feel less alone and connected through jokes and shared experiences. What do you hope your audience takes away from seeing you perform?
I definitely hope that if people see me telling jokes about depression, suicide and bullying, they feel less alone. I hope it inspires them to want to get help and feel better, especially now that I’m not actively in it. I still tell jokes about killing myself because it was such a huge part of my life, but for the first time that I can remember, I don’t feel like that anymore. I literally do not remember life before depression. It started when I was 6 or 7 years old. I really hope that people who listen to this album or come out to see it feel less alone if they are depressed. I want them to feel less alone and I want them to feel like there is hope because I’m a fucking mess and I got better. If I can do it, literally anyone can do it.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220407
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/what-to-do-april6-april13
|
Hey there, my Weekly Phillies — we’re going to get right into the Event Calendar this week but I do have a new question of the month for you. It’s springtime in the city (do I see cherry blossoms?) which means love is in the air. With that in mind, I ask you —
WHAT’S THE BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE IN TOWN? And don’t forget the WHY?
Email me len@philadelphiaweekly.com so I can get the word out there; I hear Bumble buzzing.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 6
BACKING TRACK
In this new play by acclaimed satirist R. Eric Thomas, a change is in the air for a family after an unexpected loss. Mel, the mother of Avery and Jessica, tries to reclaim her place in a gentrified neighborhood while her kids learn firsthand how to balance their own lives. Praised by Lin-Manuel Miranda as “one of the funniest writers,” R. Eric Thomas’ play contemplates what it means to start over again.
Backing Track; Wed April 6, 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m.; Thurs April 7, 7 p.m.; Fri April 8, 8 p.m.; Sat April 9, 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Sun April 10, 2 p.m., 7 p.m., Arcadia Stage at Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. 2nd S., Philadelphia, PA 19106
PARKS POP-UP — CHERRY BLOSSOMS*
FCM Hospitality announces a Parks Pop-Up with blooms, bites and beers just in time for the Cherry Blossoms — ooh, the cherry blossoms! Enjoy fresh food, local beers on tap, specialty themed cocktails and more, in an outdoor environment; the perfect addition to The Sakura Concert Series of the Shofuso Cherry Blossom Festival of Philadelphia. *This event promises to explore “the intersections of Japanese and African American culture through three days of musical performances by multi-ethnic Hip Hop, Jazz, and Percussion musicians.” I had no idea there was such an “intersection” so I’ll be the curious guy sitting up front.
Parks Pop-Up — Cherry Blossom Viewing; Wed-Thurs April 6-7, 4 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri April 8, 4 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sat April 9, 12 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sun April 10, 12 p.m.-9 p.m., Fairmount Horticulture Center Arboretum, 100 N. Horticultural Dr., Philadelphia, PA 19131
THURSDAY APRIL 7
THE ALCHEMIST
What do you do when your boss goes on vacation … in the middle of a pandemic? With the master away, watch three servants play as they swindle a rogues’ gallery of ridiculous characters out of their cash and their dignity. Written for the reopening of the London theatres after the plague outbreak of 1610, “The Alchemist” is Ben Jonson’s chemistry lesson in comedy.
The Alchemist, presented by Quintessence Theatre Group; Thurs April 7, 7:30 p.m.; Sat April 9, 7:30 p.m., The Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19119
LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL
Curio Theatre Company presents Lanie Robertson’s critically acclaimed play, starring beloved company member and Barrymore Award winner Ebony Pullum. The play explores the life of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday during one of her final performances in Philadelphia.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill; Thurs April 7, 8 p.m., Sat April 9, 3 p.m., 8 p.m., Curio Theatre Company, 4740 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143
FRIDAY APRIL 8
DIANA KRALL*
It’s Diana Krall. You’re still here? Okay — she’s the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. To date, her albums have garnered two Grammy Awards, ten Juno Awards and have also earned nine gold, three platinum and seven multi-platinum albums. The New York Times wrote that Krall possesses “a voice at once cool and sultry, wielded with a rhythmic sophistication.” I mean, it’s capital D, capital K — Diana Krall, weekly Phillies. * P.S. — I’m a fan.
Diana Krall; Fri April 8, 8 p.m., Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
SESAME STREET LIVE! LET’S PARTY! *
You’re invited to the funniest, furriest party in the neighborhood at an interactive show on one of the world’s most famous streets. Learn new songs, dance, play and laugh with Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo, Big Bird, Rosita and Super Grover (* my personal favorite).
Sesame Street Live! Let’s Party!; Fri April 8 to Sun April 10, The Liacouras Center at Temple University, 1776 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19121
FAN EXPO PHILADELPHIA
It’s three days of fun-filled fan culture. Join tens of thousands of fans who are just like you and experience the ultimate playground for comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming, complete with celebrity guests, giveaways and more.
Fan Expo Philadelphia; Fri April 8, 4-9 p.m.; Sat April 9, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sun April 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
SATURDAY APRIL 9
THE WDAS WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE LUNCHEON*
A great opportunity to sit, dine, chat and learn from phenomenal women from across the Tri-State area. Women of Excellence honorees include Catherine Hicks, Tracy Davidson, special honorees Trudy Haynes, Sheryl Lee Ralph and more. * Can someone please tell gospel singer Avery Sunshine that I said “Hey.” Thanks!
The 6th Annual WDAS Women of Excellence Luncheon; Sat April 9, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia, 900 Packer Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19148
DARYL HALL AND THE DARYL’S HOUSE BAND WITH SPECIAL GUEST TODD RUNDGREN
True story — I have a Spotify playlist, “Singalongs,” of tunes that I sing out loud while I’m working around the house, or sing out loud in my head when I’m out in public (so I wasn’t ignoring you; the music in my head was on). Daryl Hall is well represented in there, keeping me “In A Philly Mood.” I got lots of time for “Family Man,” from the …and Oates days, too.
Daryl Hall and the Daryl’s House Band with Special Guest Todd Rundgren; Sat April 9, 7:30 p.m., The Met Philadelphia, 858 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19130
SUNDAY APRIL 10
EASTER FAMILY DAY*
Celebrate Easter like a Swede at the American Swedish Historical Museum’s Easter Family Day. Introduce your little ones to Swedish Easter traditions and visit the exhibition “Flying Blakulla: Letters from an Easter Witch,” plus enjoy an afternoon of crafts and the traditional egg hunt. Meanwhile, the entire family can learn the forgotten history of Swedes in Philadelphia. * You’re never too young or too old to appreciate another culture and hear another’s story.
Easter Family Day; Sun April 10, 2-4 p.m., American Swedish Historical Museum,1900 Pattison Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19145; visit americanswedish.org for details
THE ART OF JAZZ SALON
A Pop Up Gallery and Jazz Concert featuring the works of Bernard Collins, Mikel Elam and Cassandra Jefferson, quilts by Asake Denise Jones, and more. Acclaimed recording artist Denise King and friends will set the mood for the afternoon with two sets of soul stirring jazz, blues and R&B. A delicious lunch prepared by South Jazz Kitchen makes it more tasty.
The Art of Jazz Salon; Sun April 10, 2-6 p.m., 1410 Mount Vernon St., Philadelphia, PA 19130; proceeds benefit the Hope and Healing Community Arts Project
MONDAY APRIL 11
ANIMALS AS LEADERS*
The write-up on Animals As Leaders says “…armed with palette-expanding eight-string guitars, rich synths, and pummeling percussive grooves, the trio is beloved by metalheads, aspiring virtuosos, jazz fanatics, and casual listeners alike.” They had me at their name (you know how I am about band names) but now … I gotta hear this.
Animals As Leaders; Mon April 11, Doors open 7 p.m., showtime 8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, 1009 Canal St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
TUESDAY APRIL 12
DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CONCERT*
Sing along with a quartet hailing from the Disney Channel, Broadway and animated movies, who perform your favorite Disney princess songs and share behind-the-scenes stories of their times playing princesses.* I wish my daughter was here in Philly to be my excuse to go … I mean, so I could escort her to the show. Seriously, she’s in her 20s now and would absolutely love this!
Disney Princess: The Concert; Tues April 12, 7 p.m., Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
WEDNESDAY APRIL 13
TEZATALKS
Powerhouse vocalist and songwriter TeZAtalks draws us into her world of life experiences through her redefining and genre bending sound, leaving an unforgettable impression on anyone who is able to experience the singers world in real time.
TeZATalks; Wed April 13, 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220407
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/ming-na-wen
|
Actress Ming-Na Wen is known for portraying very stoic characters, from the terse, all-business Agent May in ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” to the no-nonsense assassin Fennec Shand in Disney+’s “The Book of Boba Fett,” but it wasn’t always so. She began her walk of Hollywood fame in 1993’s “The Joy Luck Club” before catapulting to culture resonance as the voice of the title character in Disney’s “Mulan” (1998). I chatted with her ahead of her appearance at Fan Expo Philadelphia, where she shared her perspective on the “fan experience,” revealed a bit of the “fan” in her and embraced the opportunity to pierce her on-screen scowl with her radiant smile.
It’s funny because, actually, I was going to start off talking about, just looking over your career as of late, you’ve been doing a lot of sci-fi and genre action pieces. And I was like “She has a big broad smile, and she’s very funny. Nobody’s putting her in comedies.” And then — boom — just yesterday, it’s announced that you’re going to be in the second season of “Hacks” [HBO Max original comedy series starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder].
Yeah, surprise! And I just did an episode of “Young Sheldon” [CBS]. Cool. You know, I started off in theater and actually came to Hollywood for “Joy Luck Club,” but yes, my career definitely has taken me down this path. And when you’re on a series that continues to get renewed, which is a wonderful thing, like “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” right? You know, [we] ran for seven years — a huge bulk of my career right there, you know. And unfortunately, or fortunately, you are signed to a contract; so there you have it. Sometimes life just happens that way. And, with a show that’s 22 episodes a season, you’re really limited as far as being able to go off and doing something else.
So that’s kind of what happened? Is it fair to say that you enjoy doing comedy, more funny stuff?
You know, I enjoy doing anything that has a great cast, a great group of talents behind it, and an interesting character. So it really doesn’t matter what genre it is. It’s just a matter of what the project is and the material. Like with “The Book of Boba Fett”? What’s great about that is they shoot like, every other year so it’s great and it’s only maybe five months out of the year. So now it’s allowing me the opportunity to do all this fun stuff like “Hacks” and “Young Sheldon” and super-secret works-in-progress that could find me, Len, at the business end of a lightsaber if word got out and I love it. I love having that freedom now. I was a big fan of the first season of “Hacks.”
So I’m curious what drew you to go out for that, or did they come to you?
No, they came to me, and, and I am so grateful because I’m a massive, massive fan of Jean Smart. When I had to work with her, I was actually quite nervous because I idolized her for so long and just think she’s incredible; a legendary Hollywood actor, but (really) the most humble sweetest generous human being. I adore her. I have a big crush on her.
Let me ask you. How does that feel, after starting in theater, and then soap operas, film, voice work, and years of television, to now enjoy the moment where projects are coming to you? They already know that they’re casting you — they want you — as opposed to standing on the audition line.
Oh hell, it’s the dream. Like, as I get older I’m like “Look at my body of work,” right? But yeah, it’s always a luxury to be the one on the other end, the receiving end. I mean, come on, if somebody like, you know, just says “Hey — let me take you out to dinner,” sometimes you just want to say yes, because you never know when the next gig will be.
But I’m happy to say that I’ve earned my stripes and it’s been wonderful to be able to just take a chill pill and go, “Okay, I don’t want to spend my energy on this yet.” I want to write and spend more time with my family; I just want to take it easy a little bit after working so hard on this project. So it’s that wonderful luxury [that I] may not have forever. But when it’s here, it’s nice.
I have spoken to other actors and one of the things that they talk about is trying to be very strategic about how they manage their careers and the roles that they’re going out for.
But then there are some times when you just gotta go and like, “Okay, I’ll do it.” You just, you know, it’s the money every year and when you have kids and family, that’s like the number-one thing. And it’s so important to have health insurance.
As someone who had a doctor’s appointment this morning, I feel you on that.
I appreciate the actors who think that they [can] do strategic planning; more power to them. You know, I have no idea of anything — if something’s going to be a hit, or not. As an actor who has worked for over four decades, I’m just like, “Did I do a good job? I sure hope so.” I go through that sort of insecurity where like, “Oh gosh. I hope they don’t find me out.” [laughs]
You’re coming to Philadelphia for Fan Expo, coming back to your home state [after a childhood in Hong Kong and New York, Ming-Na Wen spent her formative years in Pittsburgh]. Your family — they weren’t sure about you going into acting. Were they able to see your success and come around?
My mom and dad were hesitant [about] the money going into acting, yes. It’s a tough field and it’s not something that most parents want for their children because it’s unpredictable, especially Asian parents. But my mom — now — it’s been so long and for her to see that I never stopped working. She knows I’m successful and appreciates how hard I work. And yet all the time, she just worries about me. She’s always like, “Ming, don’t work so hard.” She knows the traveling that we do and the dangerous stuff that I do for the action stuff. So she gets worried. But yeah, she’s very proud of what I did.
What was the first project where you felt your mom really turned the corner and was like, “Okay, she’s got this.” What was that project?
The first one was “As the World Turns” because I was on TV and I was in the “TV Guide.” [laughs] I remember my parents going to see “The Joy Luck Club” with me in New York. I took them to the theater and they came out and they were very, very quiet. They got into a cab. And they weren’t saying very much and they just sort of went home and I said, “Well, I’m going to go pick up some stuff. So, I’ll meet you at home.” And then when I went back home, it was a lot for them to digest and understand. They were just so overwhelmed with the idea of it and the images and the movie itself was, is very moving, right? It really took them many, many hours before they were able to talk about it. So I was glad because I thought they hated it. [laughs]
Do you remember or do you have a moment in your career where you felt like a fan? Maybe you met someone who you long admired or a moment where you just “fanned out”?
Mark Hamill. You know, I’ve met Mark a few times but — I’m sure he doesn’t remember — I met him when I first came out to LA and he was doing a Roger Corman film. I had no idea that Roger Corman was sort of, like, the initiation into Hollywood [laughs]. If you do a Roger Corman film like you’re in a club with everybody! But to just meet him as Mark Hamill — Luke Skywalker! Just kind of like took it over the top as far as my childhood fantasy world come true.
Because you’re a big sci-fi head.
Oh, completely! Still am. That was probably my biggest geek out, but I geek out all the time. I think there’s just a 13-year-old trapped inside this woman’s body.
Nothing wrong with being in touch with your inner 13-year-old. More people should be.
Yeah, some people say I’ve never let go of my 12-year-old, but that’s me. There you go. [laughs]
Speaking again of Fan Expo, when did you begin to realize or suspect what you mean to your fans?
At these conventions, and that’s why I love going to them so much, for real. Because in Hollywood (and in this business), you work in a massive bubble, unlike theater, where you can experience an audience reaction immediately. When you work in TV and films, you just never know. You don’t get that feedback. Only through social media has there been an opportunity to really see the audience’s reaction immediately after one of your projects premieres. Which, to me, it’s kind of like theater. It’s fun, that way with social media.
And when I go to these conventions — Edward James Olmos was the one that talked me into doing it really.
You were hesitant at first?
I was very hesitant. And he sat me down to talk with him and he was, like, you sign [your name], you take pictures and you meet your fans, and you get paid. And I was, like, I don’t know. It just feels kind of weird to be charging for autographs and photos. And then he was like “Do you pay when you want to go see your favorite artist at a concert? There’s no difference, you know?” Your fans want to meet you, it makes them happy. It gives them a chance to have that moment to meet someone they idolize or admire. And, you know, you get the chance to make some money. It’s a win-win situation.
So when he put it in that perspective for me, it’s like … so I’m going to my first one and I was so astounded at the response I got from my fans; the impact that “Mulan” had on so many. Wow, it was tremendous. Agent May or any of these other roles that I’ve done, whether it was in “ER” or “Joy Luck”; it wasn’t even like science fiction fantasy stuff. It was just the body of work and, you know, some of them would cry, like I was like one of the Beatles or something, you know? I was just really moved by it. And so I love going to the conventions and meeting everyone. It’s such a happy moment and that’s why I keep doing it.
One last question. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
In life? From my mom, which is just always, “Stay humble.” Mmm, because that’s the road to happiness. Because when you’re humble, you appreciate the good and the bad that life throws at you. Because when you’re humble, it means that you’re not all that and that you have to constantly work at things; it’s never handed to you. And so you appreciate when the good things happen, but when the bad things come, you’re humble enough to be, “Okay, what do I do with this?” And I think it does lead to happiness. I think all the people that feel entitled are never happy.
Because I still can’t believe I’m in a “Star Wars” project. So every so often, I just like to relive my childhood and my dream of wanting to be in a space project and now I am! It’s a bit surreal, still to me.
And you’re an action-figure (Star Wars The Black Series Fennec Shand by Hasbro).
Right? It sounds like some people have it, but I haven’t found it. And I’ll have to ask Hasbro to see if they can send me some. Because Lego sent me a bunch of my action figure but I’m not like those figures. [laughs]
They’re supposed to be at your door before they reach anybody else’s store.
Don’t you think so? I mean, come on. [laughs] It’s an image of me!
Get your life right, Hasbro.
[Both laugh]
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220408
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/pennsylvania-senate-race-malcolm-kenyatta-john-fetterman-conor-lamb-poll/
|
“If life doesn’t do anything else,” Malcolm Kenyatta says to me through the phone, “it happens.”
The recently married 31-year-old state representative hailing from North Philadelphia is taking time in between an interview he just gave and another engagement to speak to me about his current project: a run for U.S. Senate. He’s being gracious, I had unexpectedly and regretfully canceled our previous interview and despite a grueling, packed schedule, Kenyatta managed to fit me in on a busy, sunny, and cold Friday afternoon.
His name might sound familiar but not quite right to you if you’re a Philadelphian who remembers Frank Rizzo. Kenyatta’s grandfather, Muhammad Kenyatta, was a force in and of himself who ran unsuccessfully against Rizzo for the Democratic nomination for mayor in 1975. The elder Kenyatta led boycotts, attended Harvard where he led the Black Law Students Association, and worked at dismantling the nation’s white supremacist underpinnings until his passing at the age of 47.
But this was in 1992. Kenyatta, the younger, wasn’t even two years old yet.
Nonetheless, even if he wasn’t there to work alongside his grandfather as a colleague, Malcolm Kenyatta carries on the same dedication to what he sees is right. And while the elder might’ve been known more as the disruptive, direct action type, the younger is equally as disruptive – just, perhaps, within the system’s boundaries. How else could someone so young become an elected official? Or, as he previously did, work for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce?
Elected in 2018 at the age of 28, Kenyatta is still even now at 31 one of the youngest members of Pennsylvania’s wheezing and weighty state legislature, a place where he says – angrily, it’s important to note – nothing gets accomplished. He was the first openly gay person of color ever elected to the state legislature. He’s still one of the only openly gay members in Harrisburg.
“It should be frustrating to every voter irrespective of where you place yourself on the ideological spectrum that in Harrisburg we are not seeing much of anything get done,” he laments. “Even if you are somebody who is a conservative, I don’t even know what policies other than, you know, crazy culture war crap have they actually even done.”
By “they,” Kenyatta means the majority GOP controlled legislature. He’s not wrong. Recently, time has been spent poring over nonsensical, fever dream-like fantasies (nightmares?) about the 2020 presidential election.
And perhaps not exactly the same but in the same general area, he himself has been known for a rhetorical flourish on camera or in the public record. For instance, he garnered international attention in 2020 for his impassioned criticism of voter legislation pushed by the GOP. “You can boo if you want,” he says in the most memorable portion.
Still, he seems earnest in his push to have legislators, you know, legislate and govern.
If Harrisburg’s marbled hallways are a little light these days on the doing anything front, his U.S. Senate candidacy is keeping Kenyatta on his toes. The campaign trail is so dizzying, Pennsylvania’s rural to suburban to urban and back again rolling hills and highways so numerous, he cannot recall, when asked, what he ate last.
Then, eureka.
“A little piece of banana bread,” he exclaims. “It was good.”
And while that banana bread was good, the current state of the U.S. Senate is more likely to give Kenyatta, or frankly anyone, heartburn.
“The Senate is broken, and the way we fix the Senate, it turns out, is that we gotta change the senators,” Kenyatta explains matter-of-factly.
Whatever happens in May’s primary or November’s general election, the senator from Pennsylvania will indeed change given current Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, is retiring and leaving the field wide open for both parties. Coupled with a razor thin one vote spread thanks only to the Democratic vice president, the Senate is in desperate need of additional Democrats or Republicans to have anything substantive move forward.
“We need somebody who actually understands our lives and understands what working people are worried about,” he goes right into the familiar cadence of a stump speech, “and what challenges are making it so difficult for working families to keep their heads above water and to ultimately thrive.”
The work in Philadelphia and in fact across the Commonwealth is daunting. While about 400,000 Philadelphians live below the federal poverty line, the fact is another million live across the rest of the state. The National Low Income Housing Coalition adds that a full 44 percent of workers between the ages of 18 and 64 are in low wage positions and that for the nation’s extremely low income households, there’s a shortage of about 7 million affordable homes.
Extremely low income households represent about 8 percent of the nation’s households overall. “Only 36 affordable and available homes exist for every 100 extremely low income renter households,” the group explains.
And the exuberant gains in wages that happened toward the end of the quarantine and as the COVID-19 pandemic started to wane haven’t just been reversed by rising inflation. Instead, they’ve been overtaken by rising prices so that now people aren’t ahead. Rather, they’re even worse off today than they were before the virus. Even gigs that some found to be lifelines or excellent supplements to existing jobs, like driving for Uber, are starting to cost too much as gas prices rise amid a global oil industry claiming strain for a variety of reasons.
“What we’ve been talking about is America’s basic bargain,” Kenyatta responds to the bleak picture with a phrase used frequently by Robert Reich, former Clinton Treasury secretary and left-of-center economist. “How to make sure everybody can have one good job backed up by a union, that if folks get sick they can actually go to the damn doctor, fill the prescription when they leave the appointment, and then that they can retire with a level of real dignity – in a house they were able to afford in the first place. Those are the things we need to get done.”
It’s a vision of the United States that would recall Franklin Roosevelt, Eugene McCarthy, and, yes, Bernie Sanders but also Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It’s hardly the stuff of a radical or fringe figure. If anything, it sounds like the personification of a very mainstream, very normal, very electable Democrat.
Even if his general view of politics is standard liberal or in today’s parlance progressive, it’s still hard to view Kenyatta as an establishment figure. After all, he’s a Black, gay Millennial who’s frequently interacting with MSNBC’s more leftist commentariat. What little free time he has when he’s not with his husband is spent watching the Great British Bake-off. He listens to Lizzo. He’s one of us in style and seemingly substance.
Plus, the national media and even some local journalists too have seemingly decided that Kenyatta – who came out swinging for darling of establishment moderates Joe Biden before nearly any other elected official in Philadelphia in the race for president – is an insurgent candidate bucking the establishment.
Whether or not a dangerous radical would have endorsed Joe Biden is unclear. But the image of Kenyatta as too young, too unelectable, too something persists in the eyes of some.
Locally, the Democratic City Committee endorsed one of Kenyatta’s opponents from the PIttsburgh area, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, also a Millennial.
Mayor Jim Kenney, whose seeming lack of interest in his current job is only surpassed, perhaps, by the acute interest a handful of City Councilmembers have in taking that same job, went with Lamb, too. Kenney’s endorsement was particularly out of character: Known for eagerly elevating women, LGBTQ people, and Black Philadelphians to positions of power within City government, Kenney seemed to fold into something misshapen, off-base, and room temperature in order to justify the Lamb nod.
“As much as I respect everybody else in the Democratic field,” Kenney told the Inquirer at the time, “he’s the person that can win.”
Likewise, speaking to WHYY, longtime City Committee Chair Bob Brady, now retired from Congress, cited electability concerns. “There are people who,” Brady said, “didn’t think Malcolm could win. They didn’t think he had the money, and they don’t think he could win the primary or the general.”
Other rumors swirl as to the rationale for spurning the hometown candidate, including a perennial claim that entrenched party bosses punished the young upstart who jumped ahead and took somebody else’s “turn.”
Kenyatta isn’t impressed even if he stays positive, refusing to address the rumors or even most of the on-record rationale.
“In so many of the open wards where committee people get to be part of the process,” he cheerily glides over the implication of his statement, “I think all of them, so far, we’ve actually won that support. We won the support of the 8th Ward just two days ago. We won a majority of the votes in the 5th Ward. We won the 1st Ward and the 2nd Ward…so we’ve consistently continued to earn support.” He argues he has support across the state in other counties.
He’s not wrong. In January, the state committee was deadlocked and could offer no endorsement. That’s usually indicative of energized support for several candidates. Fetterman by far has the momentum, but Lamb’s collection of endorsements doesn’t seem to be doing much of anything for him.
In the latest The Hill/Emerson College poll, Fetterman earned 33 percent, with Lamb and Kenyatta locked in a statistical tie within the margin of error at 10 and 7 percent, respectively. A full 37 percent of the electorate is undecided still. In other words, it could be anyone’s race but it’s Fetterman’s to lose.
Yet, based upon headlines and news coverage, the race has really only been between two white straight men from the beginning, Lamb and Fetterman, himself also a Democrat from the Pittsburgh area.
Some recent headlines when you Google the senate race include, “Poll: Fetterman leads Lamb by double digits,” “Conor Lamb takes swipe at John Fetterman,” and, “Will Fetterman silence Lamb in Pennsylvania senate face-off?”
When Montgomery County Supervisor Dr. Valerie Arkoosh was still in the race, it was impossible not to notice that the two people inexplicably iced out by many were a woman and a gay Black man and the two people who were deemed more credible, more serious looked like every U.S. president except for one.
To be clear, it’s difficult to imagine that progressive Fetterman or even the staunchly moderate Lamb courts or enjoys the effect this bias has on their own chances. Still, it has an effect. But it appears to be divorced from reality in terms of evidence and history.
So why the dour forecast by so many establishment types as to Kenyatta’s candidacy? And how could local political leaders say with a straight face that Lamb was more electable given he’s tied with Kenyatta and can’t get remotely near Fetterman’s poll numbers after months of high profile news coverage and all those endorsements? Doesn’t that say something about Lamb’s inherent…well…weakness as a candidate?
“We have to acknowledge that a big part of this idea, that ‘Malcolm isn’t viable,’ is based on nothing. People believing a false version of reality, that everybody was racist and homophobic. And, you know, Pennsylvania is so much better than that. That is not what Pennsylvania is, not in our small rural communities, not in our major cities. People are ready to have bold leadership more than the cynics would have you believe.”
For whatever reason, the electability argument has become (inexplicably) conventional wisdom amongst many. The idea goes that, for some unidentified reason in a statewide race a Philadelphian has an uphill battle–let alone a Black, gay Philadelphian. People love to cite the James Carville quote about Pennsylvania, which he called, “Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Alabama in the middle.”
It’s rarely mentioned that Carville said this three decades ago.
These electability arguments surrounding Kenyatta never address how Ed Rendell, a Jewish Philadelphian born in New York City, was twice elected governor, how Lynn Swann became the first Black GOP nominee for governor in 2006, how Barack Obama handily won in both 2008 and 2012 in the Keystone State. They also never acknowledge the kind of bigotry they’re implying is held across the state, a seeming stereotype of rural voters themselves.
I ask Kenyatta if he sees the kind of prejudice that the electability narrative implies whenever he’s traveling from town to town.
“Of course not,” he responds swiftly, “it absolutely isn’t.” At this point, he drops any talking points and speaks with laser focused exasperation.
“I say this every day, ignore the noise. The same people who were talking about whether or not a Black gay man could win in Pennsylvania – because we have to acknowledge that a big part of this idea, that ‘Malcolm isn’t viable,’ is based on nothing. People believing a false version of reality, that everybody was racist and homophobic. And, you know, Pennsylvania is so much better than that. That is not what Pennsylvania is, not in our small rural communities, not in our major cities. People are ready to have bold leadership more than the cynics would have you believe.”
If his Democratic colleagues wedded to this electability narrative give rural communities a severe lack of credit, what does Kenyatta instead see there?
“People who want to have a government that actually works for them. And I mean that genuinely, a government that just fucking works,” he replies, flatly.
“I do not treat politics as a game. Me and my husband…just got married and we are grappling with so many of the issues that people ask me about every single day. The cost of their student loans, whether or not they can afford to buy that first house, whether or not they’re going to be able to put food on the table.”
Given the one thing Americans are totally united on is their disdain for politicians and politics in general, anecdotally at least Kenyatta’s observation seems on point. Notwithstanding this bit of bipartisan and cross-demographic unity, the fact is that Pennsylvania is consistently contested in national races. In other words, it’s a swing state, like it or not.
The problem there is that Democrats outnumber Republicans in Pennsylvania by about one million registered voters. Is Pennsylvania really a swing state with that kind of registration edge? Why on earth did it go for Trump in 2016 but then not in 2020? Does anything make sense?
“I think what you hear from a lot of [Trump voters] is ‘I don’t like all the stuff he says, but he promises to bring back jobs.’ And of course, he was never going to,” Kenyatta observes. “But one of the most effective talking points that Trump had was, ‘At least I’m not part of the problem, right?’ He couldn’t say that as effectively in his reelection, which is part of why he lost as well as due to disastrous policies that didn’t line up with any of the economic things he said he was going to accomplish.”
Are voters really that substantive? Do they really care mostly about so-called kitchen table issues? Consistently, that’s what polling suggests.
To be clear, Kenyatta does not run away from the lived experience he brings to the race even if it’s not his rationale for running – even if some critics think that’s all he is.
“I think back on a conversation I had with my grandmother in 2019,” Kenyatta reflects, “and she called me with tears in her eyes. She said, ‘Baby, I’m so sorry.” When he hits the word “sorry,” his Philadelphia accent comes out in full force with more of a “saw-ree” than anything else. “She said, ‘I’m just so sorry because I thought we had fixed some of this stuff. And here you are talking about the same things that me and your grandfather were organizing about’ – in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s,” he pauses. “That is not a conversation that any parent or grandparent should have to have with their kids or grandkids. And we can make sure that’s a conversation we don’t have to have, because when you get more working people in office, what you get is different priorities.
“Everybody brings to office a whole host of lived experiences,” Kenyatta adds, “and I’m certainly going to bring mine.”
The constant framing of the conversation back to those issues is a hallmark of our interaction. He really does, generally speaking, ignore the noise. After all, it’s that noise that people seem to have such an aversion to. It’s that noise that’s so corrosive, seemingly, on our system.
“I do not treat politics as a game,” Kenyatta ends. “You know, me and my now husband, Dr. Matt, just got married, and we are grappling with so many of the issues that people ask me about every single day. The cost of their student loans, whether or not they can afford to buy that first house, whether or not they’re going to be able to put food on the table.”
Given I noticed his constant refrain and core rationale is that he’s a working person running for office, I ask whether he pays his own electric bill.
“Yeah, I did it today. Shit,” he readily answers, his last word elongated and resonant to anyone who pays their own bills. “First of the month!”
And while he paid his light bill online this month just like you or me, on Tuesday, May 17, Kenyatta learns whether his everyman persona gets a little harder to maintain. After all, not everyone is a party nominated candidate for U.S. Senate.
The primary election in Pennsylvania is Tuesday, May 17. Information on registering to vote, online registration, vote by mail, and voting in general can be found on the City Commissioners’ site at philadelphiavotes.com.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220408
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/a-rivalry-121-years-in-the-making/
|
Baseball season officially begins in Philadelphia this weekend, but this is no ordinary opening for the Phillies. This weekend brings a rivalry 121 years in the making, as the Oakland A’s – originally the Philadelphia Athletics – come to town for a three-game series.
Don’t worry – you’re not the only one who didn’t know the A’s were from Philly. Few modern A’s fans know about their team’s Philadelphia origins, making the team’s social media tag #RootedInOakland positively laughable to anyone who knows the club’s full history. Barring their most recent visit back in 2017, the A’s haven’t been in Philadelphia since 1954 when the club was sold to Kansas City. Before then, the A’s were the dominant ball club in this city. Between winning nine pennants between 1902 and 1931, and five World Series Championships, the Philadelphia Athletics still hold the title of Philly’s Most Successful Sports Franchise, nearly 70 years after they’ve left.
Always and forever a sports city, baseball was immensely popular in Philadelphia during the dawn of the sport. The Phillies are the oldest, one-city, one-team franchise in American sports history. While this seems like an awfully specific accolade, the distinction must be made as the A’s were among the first 12 professional ball clubs, beginning in 1869. Technically, the A’s even pre-date the National League itself, which officially began in 1876. When the team refused to go on a road trip later in 1877, the A’s were expelled from the National League, and Philadelphia went without a home team until the formation of the Philadelphia, well, Philadelphians in 1883. (Newspapers quickly shortened the team name to the Quakers to fit in headlines at first, but it was the nickname Phillies that ultimately stuck.)
The first City Series between the Philadelphia A’s and the Philadelphia Phillies took place on April 14, 1883, in front of a crowd of nearly 12,000 people. The Phillies ended up having an abysmally bad season that year (17-81) while the A’s took the American Association pennant with a stellar record of 66-32. Despite their drastically different seasons, the 1883 Phillies won the City Series that year, taking five games over the A’s. Newspapers of the time like The Philadelphia Press made sure to mention the “audible criticisms” from fans of both teams as players took the field for pre-game practice. Apparently, being loud and harsh is a long-standing part of the Philly sports experience. The more things change…
The Athletics and the then-American Association crumbled after the 1891 season, making way for the formation of the National League Phillies. The American League as we know it began later in 1901, and local sporting goods retailer Ben Shibe recruited catcher Cornelius McGillicuddy, aka Connie Mack, to manage the newly reborn Athletics. All of this sounds innocent enough, but Mack had a knack for scouting talent everywhere from sandlots to the dugouts of other teams, including the Phillies. With flames fully fanned, the City Series rivalry began anew in 1903. As the reigning 1902 A.L. champs, the A’s were expected to steamroll the Phillies. But just as they did 20 years prior, the underdog Phillies surprised fans and won the series overall.
Both teams would go on to hit sporadic patches in their respective leagues from the late 1910s and early 1920s. While they were only considered exhibition games, the City Series was the only championship either team could win during that time. External influences can be attributed to these conditions, like the formation of the short-lived Federal League (1914-1915), as well as the U.S. joining World War I in 1917. Either way, the City Series remained a matter of local pride for baseball fans until the As were sold to Kansas City in 1954. The final game as intercity rivals took place on June 28, 1954, with the Phillies beating the Athletics 3-2. While the A’s may have had overall stronger seasons than their rivals, the Phillies ultimately proved to be more than a problem for their A.L. counterparts, winning 34 out of the 61 City Series games between 1929 and 1954.
Despite their long individual histories, this is only the fifth regular season series between the two teams now that the A’s call Oakland home. The Phils first hosted their former rivals in 2003, winning the series 2 games to 1. The A’s took the 2005 series 2 games to 1, but in 2011 the Phillies took the series 2-1 again, and in 2017, the A’s took the series 2-1, resulting in a frustrating total of 6-6 over the span of those four series. Philadelphia was supposed to host the A’s in 2020, but the Coronavirus outbreak truncated the season, pushing the next meeting back to this year.
In the beginning, Philadelphia was A’s country. The statistics – and any hardcore fans of baseball history – would argue that the wrong team left town. Last year, the 2021 A’s finished 3rd in the A.L. West with 86W-76L, while the Phillies completed their 2021 season in 2nd place in the N.L. East with 82W-80L. With an entirely new generation of players and audibly critical fans able to witness this weekend’s games, this pseudo-City Series has the potential to break the interleague tie. Will the A’s win the series as they did in ‘17, or will the Phillies continue to be the thorn in the Great White Elephant’s [1]foot?
[1] A long-standing nickname and symbol for the Athletics especially during their years in Philadelphia, stemming from a comment made to founding owner Connie Mack that he had “bought himself a real white elephant”. Mack, true to his proud and contrarian nature, adopted the moniker as a badge of pride.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220409
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/fandom-a-family-you-choose/
|
We’re all passionate about something. Cars, travel, music, cooking, animals, you name it. At the end of the day, we’re all fans of something. For those of us with a penchant for the fantastical — be it comics, movies, games or cosplay — annual celebrations of our fandoms take place all over the country. I’m talking about conventions (cons for short): days-long celebrations of all things nerdy, where you can dive deep into a passion that any other time of the year would seem novel. It’s a time to mingle amongst a community of fellow fans.
“I think one of the greatest things about fandom is the way it can give and build. It’s an opportunity for people with mutual interests to come together and find community … [to me] fandom isn’t trivia or know-it-all-ism, it’s a shorthand to communicate ideas and substance. It’s about crafting a tribe where the inherent meaning is custom-made and open-sourced, and while it can be informed by where you were born or what you look like, it celebrates those perspectives rather than pitting them against each other.” – Michael (he/him), 39
Cons come in all shapes and sizes, but are often one of two types — dedicated or multifaceted. A dedicated con is designed around one form of fandom or genre, for example, Monster-Mania in Cherry Hill, NJ. It’s a weekend dedicated to all things horror. Multifaceted conventions (like the upcoming Fan Expo Philadelphia) are often larger and encompass a broad range of fandoms and media. You can spend your entire time searching for back issues, getting autographs from your favorite ’90s TV stars, walking around taking pictures with anime characters made real or sitting in panel after panel about the deconstruction of a 40-year-old film series. Cons can be hyper-specific or broad, intimate or massive, but no matter what, they are all filled with one thing … fans.
“I think my favorite parts of fandom are when a group of disparate people all love the same characters so much, that we need to create, share and expand on the world they came from in the form of art. Either because we have hopes and dreams for their futures or because we’re not quite ready to let them go when the story ends.” – Syd (he/they), 29
You may not share the heightened levels of passion that other con attendees do, but nearly everyone can relate to being a fan. Possessing shared interests with one another is the foundation of nearly all of our relationships in life. Our interests can lift us up, teach us lessons, tear our hearts out and even inspire something more within.
“[Being in a positive fan community] can reinforce and strengthen the love of a mythology, while drawing out earnest and honest deconstructions of the stories we tell ourselves as a society …” – Chuck (he/him), 40
Being amongst fellow fans can feel like a warm blanket. Few things bring us together faster than similar interests. Even more so, fewer things can bring so many different types of people together more effectively than shared fandom. No matter who you are, where you live or what you worship, a bond among fans often bridges all differences. Don’t believe me? Attend any Eagles game parking lot and tell me I’m wrong. No matter their walks of life, people become fervent compatriots for the rest of their days — over the course of one Sunday afternoon. Doing the same thing over strategic card games is not so far-fetched when you think about it.
“The Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom has given me many things over the years … It taught me humility, sportsmanship and strategy. Most important of all, it game me comfort. That may sound strange, but no matter what happened in my life, the game and the community were there for me. When my parents got divorced, I went through a break up, didn’t get into medical school, you name it, I could go to the card shop and commiserate with my friends. Lose myself in the game. Being part of a fandom can be such an amazing experience … no matter where I was, I had a place I could call home.” – Amy (she/her), 28
It’s very easy to diminish the validity of entertainment. For generations, it’s been described as brain rot and wasted time. It’s been used as the scapegoat for tragedy, the epitome of indecency and the anathema to education. All short-sighted dismissals. In reality, we’ve been telling each other stories since the beginning of time, and being a fan is merely connecting with versions of those stories. Stories meant to teach lessons, share histories, and bring us closer to one another. A convention is just another, very opulent, way to celebrate that. Basically, you should go — I’ll see you there.
Fan Expo Philadelphia; Fri April 8, 4-9 p.m.; Sat April 9, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sun April 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220409
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/tips-for-fan-conventions/
|
Are you planning to attend a convention? Here’s a few things to consider:
Make your intentions clear: What do you want out of the day? Autographs, sketches, panels, whale-hunting, bargain shopping, cosplaying, etc. If you have goals, prioritize them. You’ll have a more fulfilling time if you make sure you find exactly what you want.
Make a plan: Read the program and check out the floor map before you get there. It’s a big, often crowded space—find your bearings before having your senses bombarded.
Budget yourself, then re-budget for more: There will be things you feel you can’t pass up buying, even after you’ve reached your imposed limit. I’m not saying to make it rain, just give yourself some flexibility.
Don’t neglect Artist Alley: All the good cons have an Artist Alley, where amateur, up-and-coming, and professional artists have tables to sell their wares, original art, and sign a book or two. If you want to support the art you love directly, this is the place to do it.
Snacks & sanitizer: It’ll be a long day and concessions are often at theme park prices, so take a granola bar or two. Regarding sanitizer, even before the pandemic, con flu was a real thing – wash your hands.
Pack for space: If you plan to go shopping, bring a comfortable bag with some space. It could be a long day, so you want to make sure you can carry your swag comfortably.
Sundays are for deals–Respect the vendor: Even though a con is where you can get a great deal, don’t aggressively haggle a vendor until at least the last day of the show. If they initiate bargaining, sure. But you aren’t at a garage sale, so be cool.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220409
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/asexuality-asexual-lgbtqia-acronyms-lgbt/
|
Sex sells. That’s what they say anyway. The fact remains though that for a sizable portion of society, current research shows about 1.7 percent of all people based on self-identification, they’re not buying.
Or, rather, they weren’t going to the store in the first place. They identify as asexual.
What is asexuality? It’s simple: people without much of a natural interest in sex or those who require deeply strong emotional connections to even consider going to bed with someone. In Philadelphia, there’s about 27,000 people who are asexual based on that 1.7 percent figure.
Like all sexuality and identity questions, asexuality isn’t cut and dry, though: Despite not having an interest in sex, asexuals are just as likely to develop strong, intimate bonds with someone else. They also even sometimes have sex and enjoy it.
If you’re perplexed by the seeming contradiction, that’s OK. You just haven’t talked with enough ace people – that’s shorthand for asexual – yet. While it seems new, researchers are calling it an “emerging identity,” asexuality is likely as old as our species but only now getting the kind of safe space and transparency in conversation to be a thing.
That probably explains why a full 91 percent of self-identified asexuals in one study were under the age of 28.
Speaking to the relative newness of asexuality in our ongoing social conversation, sex and gender researcher Dr. Esther D. Rosenblum explains, “Given that the majority of asexual respondents were young, we expect that the prevalence and understanding of asexuality will grow as more youth reach adolescence and become familiar with the idea.” For gays and lesbians, this idea should seem pretty familiar itself.
Rosenblum, with coauthors Evan A. Krueger, Krystal R. Kittle, and Ilan H. Meyer, worked on the 2019 study, “Asexual and Non-Asexual Respondents from a U.S. Population-Based Study of Sexual Minorities,” for the Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law focused on data about sexual and gender minorities. The Williams Institute devotes itself to the idea that with scientifically rigorous data, lawmakers and others can draft and enact public policies that better support and affirm LGBTQ people. They’re the research group with one of the best methodologies for estimating the overall LGBTQ population in the United States, too.
But, wait, are asexual people LGBTQ? If it’s mostly about one’s propensity away from the kind of physical acrobatics and antics many view as commonplace in adulthood, can’t asexual people be straight?
The answer is yes – to both questions. More on that later.
Heather Arlene Woolley was confused for several years across her adult life, including during her first marriage, until she realized there was a word for who she was.
“When I was separated and then divorced [after college], a lot of my friends said that I’d have two years of random physical encounters before I ‘got it all out of my system,’” the 43-year-old South Jersey resident tells me. She spent a sizable chunk of her young adulthood attending graduate school at Temple University. “Twenty years later, I still didn’t feel that their approach fit with how I feel.”
She describes a recognition early on that she was different from her peers. The common rites of passage most people experience – that first kiss, the anticipation and excitement over sex, the obnoxious obsession with sex people develop in adolescence that for some never really goes away – were absent. But a desire for connection, for intimacy, was always there.
“I didn’t date in high school. I had a crush on the same guy for years,” Woolley remembers, “and was not really interested in anyone else and was perplexed about why my friends were so eager to have sex. I longed for a real connection but had zero interest in more than a snuggle and maybe a kiss.”
It’s important to note that asexuals can have sexual interest or desire. It’s all about getting there, if someone ever even gets there, that differentiates asexual people. For them, especially a subset of asexuals called demisexuals, developing a strong emotional connection is literally the only route to physical manifestations of love. “The idea of that level of contact with someone I didn’t know at all,” explains Woolley, touching on casual hook ups and her identification as demiseuxal, “was repulsive at worst and unimaginable at best.”
With asexuality, there’s a range of expressions, including demisexual as well as aromanticism. Those who identify as aromantic are exactly as their name literally spells out: they don’t have romantic feelings for anyone really.
“Like with asexuality, an aromantic person may still choose to engage in romantic relationship or not,” explains the Gay and Lesbian Association Against Defamation (GLAAD). “Many romantic people will enter into what are called ‘queer plantonic partnerships,’” says the LGBTQ advocacy group, explaining that people in queer platonic partnerships “may live together, have children, or even get married. Major life decisions are made jointly. The only real difference is that the relationships is platonic, rather than romantic.”
In other words, your June and Ward Cleaver seeming next door neighbors could be in a queer platonic partnership, identify as straight, and almost never have sex – and they’re just as normal and healthy than anyone else on the block.
“There’s this automatic assumption that we’re all sexual beings, especially in the LGBTQ community, but it doesn’t always hold true,” adds Michael Galvan. The 31-year-old Northwest Philly resident is married and identifies as queer. This expectation of being a “sexual being” can add what Galvan refers to as pressure.
“It’s kinda like being in middle school again and realizing you’re gay, you know? Like, here’s what society has deemed ‘normal’ and I don’t feel that,” they talk about their own their own process coming to identify as asexual. “And I’m afraid of the stigma if I’m like, ‘Yeah, I just in general don’t like sex or sexual activities.’”
Galvan isn’t wrong about the stigma piece. Within the LGBTQ community, there are regular debates about including asexual people – that’s really what the “A” stands for in LGBTQIA, it’s never ally (sorry straight people) – under the overall community grouping.
“Asexuality tends to be misunderstood and under-discussed,” explains the BBC’s Jessica Klein. “Or, they dismiss asexuality entirely. Common misconceptions about asexuality include that sexuality equates to celibacy (it doesn’t), or that it’s a choice (it’s an orientation).”
Which other letter in LGBTQIA could you imagine such public discussions taking place over excluding without immediately triggering protests and boycotts – and rightfully so? Even coming from the right place, questioning whether someone “belongs” in the LGBTQ community seems sort of at odds with the very nature of that community.
Still, much like “trans exclusionary radical feminists” or TERFs, who claim that trans women are not women no matter what, those who question asexuality under the queer umbrella often insist that being a sexual or gender minority means enduring some degree of societal oppression. It’s possible, they argue, that a straight cisgender white man would play a part for special status, maybe. It sounds a little too elaborate for whatever few benefits it supposedly garners.
“Asexuality in many ways is invisible and invisibility gives you this form of protection,” explains Angela Chen, an asexual activist and journalist, to Slate’s LGBTQ vertical Outward. “It feels like you don’t need to come out. It feels like if you’re on the street with your partner, many times, you are not going to be a target in the same way. In many ways, being asexual doesn’t require feeling like you need to hide yourself in the way that has been the case for the other identities in the queer umbrella.”
Yet, at its core, the LGBTQ community defines itself through its opposition to the majority, to its queerness as many writers and activists and advocates with lived experience have been self-identifying for decades now. In other words, it’s a place for all sexual and gender minorities.
Under that definition, it’s clear that asexuals would fit perfectly as an affiliate of the overall LGBTQ community. Younger people seemingly agree in unanimity.
Galvan, who also identifies as queer, agrees. “I’ve always viewed the LGBTQ+ community as a home for all individuals who don’t see themselves represented in ‘traditional’ forms. With that in mind, I’d say, yes, the LGBTQ+ community has space for even straight ace people.”
“I’ve realized that romantic attraction, intellectual attraction, and sexual attraction are different things,” Heather Woolley concludes. “For me as a demi, I need all three kinds of attraction and connection to have a sexual relationship with someone. On the flip side, I have had times in my life where I felt romantically and/or intellectual attracted to someone, so cuddling with them, or being physically close, felt good, but I didn’t want to jump in bed with them.”
For their part, Galvan insists that what we convey as “normal” in society can do a great deal of harm, especially to people who aren’t, well, normal.
“When you think about love at first sight or whatever, to me that is purely based on physical attraction. So I would say that there’s a bit of a norm that emphasizes physical romance above romantic feelings.”
And what about people still not understanding any of this? Or, rather, people who aren’t willing to expand their concept of what the human experience is?
“People can sometimes view it as a phase,” Galvan laughs. “Like, ‘Oh, once you meet a person you’re attracted to, that’ll change,’ but it’s really not that simple.”
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220415
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/draftkings-review/
|
In this review, we’ll be judging DraftKings on their bonuses, promotions, loyalty program, mobile gambling experience, payment methods, and much more.
Our objective is to hold this sportsbook and casino to the standards set by the best PA online casinos so players can maximize their entertainment value and decide whether they should play here.
Here’s the summary of our findings:
Pros:
- Great option for PA sports bettors
- Competitive odds & odds boosts
- Best Daily Fantasy Sports platform
- Complete mobile compatibility
- Reputable casino & betting site
- Four different mobile apps
Cons:
- Casino section is slot-heavy
Bonuses available:
- Exclusive welcome bonus up to $2,000
- $25 no deposit bonus
- VIP bonus – if you deposit over $2,000, you will receive an additional 100% deposit match after contacting the casino
- Sports welcome bonus up to $1,000
Along the way, we’ve discovered a sleek, modern betting platform with great promos – but there’s also a few things we wouldn’t mind changing.
Let’s take a look.
DraftKings Sportsbook and Casino: The Basics
The fantasy sports experience got a huge jolt back in 2012 when real money competition went global with the launch of DraftKings, allowing players to bet on individual player performances in the 5 major leagues.
It’s almost 10 years later, and DraftKings has now added a sports betting site for Pennsylvania players, giving bettors an amazing one-two punch.
As a result, almost every single play or result in the world of sports from the National Football League to MMA can be wagered upon, making DraftKings a true one-stop-shop for sports fans.
The cherry on top here is the DraftKings casino, marketed predominantly toward mobile players looking to make on-the-fly bets, which completes the hat trick of gambling glory.
They’ve got quantity in spades, but does Draftkings pass the quality test?
Quick DraftKings Review
Casino Game Selection & Variety: 4/5
DraftKings offers over 550 casino games, which is about industry standard.
What we did like about this selection, however, is that the games are spread out over 20+ game providers, which adds an element of variety regardless of the numbers. If you’re a player looking for new fun, there’s plenty to work with here.
A word of caution to table game players, though: Draftkings casino is extremely slot-heavy, so don’t expect a lot of blackjack or roulette variety. In fact, their live casino only has 7 live dealer games – though the “DraftKings Exclusives” section is well-worth checking out.
Any doubts? We suggest clicking through and trying the games out for yourselves. Unlike other online PA casinos, they allow you to try all the games without even having an account.
Fantasy Sports Competitions: 5/5
If you’re looking to play daily fantasy sports, their menu is unparalleled.
They’ve got all the major sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS) as well as niche sports like Nascar, MMA, and esports.
There’s also a huge amount of daily contests ranging from a low entry fee of 25 cents up to over $1,000. Scrolling through the sheer amount of daily games is almost tiring.
They’re also the best game in town if you want huge prize pools. Their NFL Millionaire Maker was probably the most successful (and enriching) fantasy football promo of all time.
Online Sports Betting: 4.8/5
Right off the bat, we can say that DraftKings Sportsbook is one of the best PA online sportsbooks.
We’ve got one of the cleanest, most easy-to-use interfaces and a huge games menu with competitive odds. What stands out in the DraftKings Sportsbook review is their live betting section, which is improved by a superior prop bet list that increases the fun exponentially.
We really liked the same game parlay option (designated by a green ‘SGP’ button) at DraftKings Sportsbook, which has the easiest interface we’ve seen for this rare option – and unlike some other PA sportsbooks, they didn’t skimp on putting up a full menu of bets to combine.
DraftKings Sportsbook also offers other attractive perks like live streaming, early cashout, and one of the best sportsbook apps in the business (more on that later).
DraftKings Bonuses & Promos: 4.5/5
The new player package at DraftKings is simply one of the highest matches in the business.
While casinos like Caesars and BetMGM offer $1,000, Draftkings can’t help but double up their casino offer to a 100% match up to $2,000.
Sure, the 15x playthrough is a bit steep for online PA casinos, but it’s still way better than the 35x and 40x you’ll see at some of their competitors.
Beyond the deposit match, though, there aren’t a lot of online casino bonuses, except for their Millionaire Legends Series leaderboards with huge cash pools and luxury prizes.
On the sportsbook side, Draftkings is not as generous, but unlike the often restricted free bets of other sites, having a bump of 20% up to $1,000 gives more flexibility.
For Draftkings Daily Fantasy Sports, it’s a mecca of promotions that include the largest season-long promos online that can get as high as $5 million for their Fantasy Basketball World Championship.
Loyalty Program: 4/5
DraftKings’ VIP program is invite-only, which means players have their work cut out for them if they want personal support, enhanced promos, and custom contests.
Already a VIP at an existing online casino? No worries, you can write them for instant status.
Beyond the VIP program, there is a loyalty scheme here, with users being able to earn ‘crowns’ for every set dollar amount wagered.
The beauty of this is that the program works interchangeably across their three verticals (fantasy sports, sportsbook, and casino) and points that you collected never expire. If you want to cash in your casino points to bet on their NFL $888k Wildcat fantasy tournament, have at it.
There’s a nominal 1x playthrough on this bonus, which is more annoying than difficult, but we find this is pretty much industry standard these days.
DraftKings Mobile App: 4.6/5
After analyzing the Draftkings casino and its apps, we can say it looks like they’ve gone further than any other online gambling site to satisfy the mobile market.
Four verticals, four separate apps.
The sports betting app stands out in particular, for having the exact same lines menu as the desktop version and allowing DraftKings users to quickly wager in just a couple taps. We found it to run smoothly whether it was on iOS or Android.
Unlike a lot of other sportsbooks, there’s also the option to stream games at DraftKings Sportsbook.
On the casino and fantasy side, we again found the apps to work smoothly, with no lag time and no noticeable omissions. The fact that all four of these apps have high 4.7+ ratings in the App Store tells us everything we need.
Additionally, there’s over 20 variants of poker, making Draftkings one of the best PA online poker sites.
Deposits and Withdrawals: 4/5
Like a lot of legal Pennsylvania gambling sites, there simply isn’t a massive variety of deposit options.
That said, how many payment options does a player really need?
With 9 ways to get your money on and off the site, including online banking, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Pennsylvania, you’re in good hands.
We’re not big fans of their ‘within 5 business days’ withdrawal stance, though, which is slightly slower than many other casinos. That said, we can call it industry standard for Pennsylvania.
Daily fantasy players should also keep in mind that it’s company policy to ‘cover’ all deposited funds by withdrawing back to the original payment method. In other words, if you win $100 on a $25 withdrawal, $25 of it goes back to the deposit method and $75 is free to be withdrawn another way. This is not the case for the DraftKings sportsbook and casino, however.
Best Alternatives to DraftKings PA
Caesars
This online casino in Pennsylvania has a rock-solid reputation, and stands out for having one of the most intuitive and visually appealing (albeit for its slick simplicity) online gambling sites going.
Yes, there’s a sportsbook here with competitive odds and some of the best reload bonuses and player prop boosts going, but it’s the casino that really shines.
Experienced players sick of the same old games find a great home here – they’re constantly refreshing their ‘new games’ menu and there’s a great assortment of original games too.
Caesars has a great VIP program as well, so if you’re familiar with their Caesars Rewards and a loyal player, you’ll love the fact that you can win exclusive perks and even hotel stays.
Interested? Check out our Caesars review for a full scoop on what it has to offer.
BetMGM
Another big player from Las Vegas gets into the Pennsylvania online betting ring, with a 700+ games menu that’s one of the biggest online. There’s a great slot selection here, but BetMGM really stands out for their table game varieties.
There’s a fantastic live dealer casino option as well, including the ever-popular Infinite Blackjack version which guarantees an open seat no matter the time.
This is also one of the fastest-growing online casinos as they constantly add dozens of games to their ‘new games’ menu. It’s also arguably the best place for jackpot slots.
The icing on the cake: if you love casinos and sportsbooks equally, you’ll be happy to know there’s a $1,000 initial deposit bonus for both.
BetRivers
Classic casino players looking for a straight-ahead menu of games – around 300, to be exact – with a chance to work off the easiest first deposit bonus in the industry will find a home here.
The 1x playthrough on the bonus, something that would be considered a dream at some other casinos, is a great way to build your bankroll and work towards cashing out.
We also loved that they show courage to get out there with new and unique promotions. Live dealer casino players will love their live blackjack boosts, and Pennsylvania sports betting lovers can take advantage of boosts on the lines of the state’s favorite teams.
Players looking to climb the loyalty program ladder, beware, though – after just 30 days of inactivity any points you collected will begin to decrease, so BetRivers would be best-suited for players looking to get into the fight weekly.
For more information on this online casino, you can check out our full BetRivers review.
Barstool
Say what you want about the register of their blog and their outspoken founder Dave Portnoy, but the largest internet sports company launching a sportsbook just makes sense.
And they’ve also recently added a casino with one of the best new games menus going.
Much like the boldness of their founder, there are a lot of interesting promos here, like risk free wagering (up to $1,000) across your first 24 hours. They also give a $10 no-deposit bonus just for signing up, and have all sorts of online slots promos like “Bet $50, Get $5”.
Related Post: Best NJ sports betting sites
DraftKings PA Review – FAQ
Is DraftKings Legit?
Yes, DraftKings is a legit and legal sports betting and casino site. It’s been around since 2012 and it can legally accept wagers from Pennsylvania bettors. DraftKings reviews like this one – created by players – can help you learn what to expect if you decide to join DraftKings.
What Casino Games Can I Play at DraftKings?
You can play around 550 casino games at DraftKings, and while they are mostly slots games, you will also find poker, blackjack, keno, and baccarat – both virtual and live dealer games.
What Daily Fantasy Sports Can I Play at DraftKings?
Draftkings Online Sportsbook allows you to bet on a variety of sporting events and sports. For example, Daily Fantasy Football is available, and so are college sports, the NBA, and even UFC Fights. There are even some free-to-enter Daily Fantasy contests, many of which have cash prizes, and the possibility to create private Daily Fantasy betting contests to play with your friends.
DraftKings Review: Final Verdict
Our DraftKings review for PA players is done – and the overall score is 4.4.
So, what did we learn? Well, the first thing we can conclude is that there are very few online casinos in Pennsylvania that have such a wide variety of quality gambling offerings.
Their casino ranks well for game variety, they’ve got one of the highest casino bonuses in the state, and their mobile functionality is nearly flawless.
This is all without mentioning their bread and butter: the world of sports betting. Daily Fantasy contests players have the biggest guaranteed prize pools and the widest choice of sports online, and the sportsbook delivers an epic live betting platform and same-game parlay promo.
And it’s all done with one account, sharing the same loyalty points across the verticals.
As such, we highly recommend signing up and giving DraftKings a go.
How to Get Started at DraftKings
1. Sign up for a new account
- Follow the sign-up link
- Click ‘continue with Facebook’ or enter your new account details
- Click the green ‘sign up’ button
2. Check your email
- Open the confirmation email to confirm your address
- Click the black ‘get started’ button and follow the instructions
3. Log in and deposit
- Visit the DraftKings site and log in to your DraftKings account using your email and password
- Click the green ‘deposit’ button at the top right
- Deposit with your payment method of choice
Gambling is strictly 21+ only. The sites mentioned in this review may not be available in your region. Always practice due diligence and do your own research about gambling policies in your area.
The information presented is not meant as gambling advice. The site does not guarantee profit in any way. Players must bet at their own risk.
Gambling is addictive. If you suspect you may have a problem, call the National Problem Gambling Hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visit ncpgambling.org and begambleaware.org for free resources.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220415
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/from-the-editor-were-ending-print-its-a-good-thing/
|
When I took the helm here at PW, I made a commitment to our readers that I’d always tell it to you straight. Integrity in this business is key. With that in mind, I’m announcing that Philadelphia Weekly is moving to digital and ending its print product.
No, there won’t be a membership program or subscription fees. No, we aren’t going away, either. But we are going to be aggressively responding to what you as readers respond to based upon analytics and other data. If done right, we’ll still be the journalistic institution you can rely on that happens to also generate sustainable revenue for its operation.
This isn’t a decision made rashly. Back in February, I saw an urgency to start to focus on digital by way of our balance sheet. I alluded to this when I said it’s important moving forward to envision us as a digital publication with a print edition rather than how people did view us, a print publication with a digital edition – kind of.
If you want to see where someone’s heart is, look at where they put their treasure. In PW’s case, we were in love with an outdated, bad-for-us-and-our-future model. Relatable, right? Yet, while breaking up is indeed hard to do, it’s almost always for the best. So, we’re ending our relationship with print.
While we have plans to do special print runs in the case of extraordinary news or events, the fact is we cannot be the kind of alt-weekly we should be – the kind of publication that’s an alternative to mainstream media and one that helps you make decisions about how you cast your vote or spend your time, your thoughts, or your money – and continue to divert resources away from digital, the future, and toward print, the past. In a dollars and cents sense, we were lighting large sums of money ablaze regularly clinging to print, its deadlines, and its overall 20th century vibe for no discernible reason outside of affection for the past and the idea that, well, this is what journalism is.
Maybe it isn’t, though. Maybe, just as we’re having discussions about how sensitivity should factor just as much as accuracy in our ethics, like for instance gun violence reporting, maybe we should rethink the format and work flow, too, along with what is realistic versus what is impractical in 2022. Maybe we as a society should be rethinking, and redesigning, a lot of things right now.
Not caring about where paychecks come from is a luxury I enjoyed as a writer but that as editor-in-chief cannot abide. I’ve concluded that we can’t forfeit the future of what PW could be in exchange for doing things as they’ve always been done. We have to be willing to risk this revolutionary change to our format.
The dollars spent on print are ones we could be investing in social media, recruiting community-based influencers to organically reach people we currently don’t, events, and revamping our digital presence so it’s not just pretty but also functional and meets you, the user, where you’re at. Paying for a print product also means money out of the pockets of artists and creatives in exchange for subsidizing what’s increasingly become a near monopolized corporate enterprise, the newspaper and circular printing industry. It’s hardly as egalitarian as some would have you think.
To me, I want PW to be the kind of publication that treats workers with dignity and respect. We pay equitably for content. We don’t ask writers or anyone else to work for free or some absurd wage nobody in management would accept, either. We center ethics and treat everyone fairly, even if we’re critical. Is this approach expensive? A bit more than the culture in some newsrooms. But I argue the cost of being like everyone else, of acting like the kind of corporate jackasses who come in and shutter hospitals before a pandemic or decimate newsrooms to maximize their own profits without regard to local democracy or people’s lives, is even costlier in the long run.
As part of my decision making, I contacted several publishers and editors nationwide. The general consensus is that print is going away for all of us permanently within a decade or so.
To me, to guarantee viability and sustainability now by making this switch immediately and before being forced into an alternative, undesirable situation later isn’t just common sense. Then again, I can’t call it ahead of the curve, even though I want to, because this simply puts us into 21st century relevance. We can certainly call it the right decision, though, no matter how hard or controversial.
Notwithstanding, the choice was difficult given history and how this change affects some folks. I personally reached out to everyone disrupted by this change. If I could, I’d reach out to every reader and have a conversation about it, too. Since I can’t, this is what I’m doing here. Please excuse the impersonal nature of this notice.
Things are changing, that’s true. But I insist that we’re going to be better for it. It’ll take some getting used to. But I figure if you’ve read this far, you’re going to read PW’s articles when they go up, too. Keep doing that. And sharing them.
I promise for my part I’ll keep telling it to you straight and all of us here will keep pushing ahead onward and shining light on issues and people the mainstream ignores – and hopefully being affirming or even having fun sometimes while we do it, too.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220415
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/onlyfans-teens/
|
Very few things compare to seeing a barely-legal hottie strip down and get dirty for your pleasure online. But with so many aspiring content creators out there, you have to wonder: where can I find the best teens on OnlyFans?
What you’re about to see is the most extensive list of 18+ teens OnlyFans accounts that you can follow right now.
Whether you’re looking for a fresh, new face to fap to, or a teen OnlyFans model that’s exceedingly better than any celeb out there, this is the list for you.
All models are at least 18 years old.
Best Teens OnlyFans Rated and Reviewed
- Best teens OnlyFans overall – Bella Bumzy
- Hardcore, daily content – Kacy Black
- Great OnlyFans solo videos – Sam Slayre
- Best for bum stuff – Emmy Beehz
- Popular TikTok style – Haley Brooks
- Best teen OnlyFans selfies – Maria Moobs
- Fit OnlyFans teen – Cup of Carli
- Unique fetish – Lucy is Loud
- Best custom content – Molly Sims
- Open to virtual GF experiences – Daisy Dray
1. Bella Bumzy – Best Teens OnlyFans Overall
Find more Bella here:
What you’re in for:
- Treasure trove of NSFW images
- Naughty XXX videos
- Lots of geek porn
- Amazing fan engagement via DMs
- Custom content when you ask for it
How much: $3 gets you 31 days of general content from her OF page
Bella Bumzy is without a doubt living proof of how much the porn industry has progressed since the days of old-timey peep shows and sex clubs riddled with STDs. This OnlyFans teen model is directly inspired by every other model that has come before her.
It’s no secret that she immediately put up her OnlyFans page the moment she hit legal age, making her a delicacy that has all the appeal of youth but without it being weird or illegal.
That’s just part of the equation. Combine her good looks with excellent work ethic and you have yourself both quality and quantity.
To give you an idea, Bella’s bum is always hard at work for her subscribers. You’ll find that she posts way more than the average on her page, so don’t be surprised if you get a bevy of pics featuring her glorious behind more than three times a day.
And these aren’t lazy selfies, either.
As evidenced by her lavish cosplays where she poses as even sluttier versions of iconic video game and anime characters, Bella knows how to make content with great production value.
If that’s not enough, you can even lead yourself to believe that you’re not a solitary masturbator by hitting her up via DMs and grabbing one of those naughty GF experiences she offers.
Yowzers!
2. Kacy Black – Best Teen OnlyFans With Daily Updates
Find more Kacy here:
What you’re in for:
- Exclusive NSFW videos and photos
- Daily updates and post content
- Virtual GF experience via DMs
- Unfettered hardcore porn on demand
How much: Subscribe to her account for $3 and become a follower for 31 days
Kacy Black might very well be the most versatile teen OnlyFans model that you can find on the platform right now, particularly if you’re a skeevy perv who likes variety with their porn.
There’s no doubt about it: Kacy was born for this stuff. She’s the type of teen on OnlyFans who provides the most daring content for her subscribers.
You probably shouldn’t check any at work, though.
This hot little thot is all kinds of attractive, and she’s definitely not the type of teen OnlyFans content creator that you can easily box in a single, neat category.
And that’s a good thing!
On one hand, brunette fans will find Kacy to be an absolute dish; on the other, she’s the perfect balance between petite and bombshell. You’re going to get some absolutely raunchy content from her account.
Her general post updates consist of a healthy diet of NSFW image sets and uncensored porn clips where she plays with herself in every which way. She’ll also treat you with some couple scenes from time to time.
If her general adult content isn’t enough to get your blood pumping, she’s very much open to doing custom XXX videos and photo sets upon request. All you need to do is slide into her DMs, she might even throw in a kinky virtual GF experience while you’re at it!
Lucky you.
3. Sam Slayre – Top Teen OnlyFans Account for Solo Videos
Find more Sam here:
What you’re in for:
- Authentic homemade porn content
- Exclusive solo XXX videos
- Naughty chats via DMs
- Daily updates
How much: 31 days of general content subscription to her OF account for $3
This thin, all-natural brunette on OnlyFans might very well be your next favorite.
If you prefer your porn to have a more intimate, spontaneous touch, you’ll love how each and every one of Sam’s post updates contains a very homely feel to them.
Make no mistake, though, Sam’s XXX photos and videos are by no means janky. In fact, there’s a lot of thought that goes into her content. It’s almost as though she wants you to think that everything’s done in the heat of the moment.
This results in some amazing fantasy fulfillment featuring a deliciously dirty teen diddling herself while the old folks are out of town. Whether she’s in a car with a glass dildo or showing you how talented her mouth is while in the shower, it’s quite personal.
Put simply… it’s hot.
Sam specializes in solo scenes and image sets. The majority of her stuff is definitely NSFW and XXX, but she also releases borderline SFW stuff to tease you from time to time.
Don’t worry, though: she won’t edge you and leave you hanging.
And if you want her all to yourself, Sam also offers personalized content where you can make her record videos and photos made for your eyes only. As we said, Sam Slayre is all about that intimacy, folks!
4. Emmy Beehz – Best OnlyFans Girl for Bum Stuff
Find more Emmy here:
What you’re in for:
- Great archive of borderline NSFW bikini photos
- Lots of butt fetish stuff
- Full-fledged XXX pics and clips on occasion
- Custom content made just for you
How much: Her OnlyFans page provides free general subs to interested users
Whereas other teens OnlyFans models providing adult content can instantly get you fired from your job, Emmy Beehz gives you a fighting chance at keeping you gainfully employed.
Now, we’re not talking about crappy SFW content here.
She’s a master of teetering the line between SFW and NSFW. Most of her post updates are bikini photos that show just enough skin to make you want to touch yourself, but with just enough coverage to make it relatively acceptable for public viewing.
Emphasis on “relatively”.
In some instances, Emmy releases undeniably XXX content for her general subscribers as a treat, which honestly just makes the whole experience even more special. It’s like finding a diamond in a bowl of gold nuggets, if you will.
If you, however, are too impatient to wait for Emmy to go full hardcore on her general OnlyFans feed, don’t fret: you always have the option of sliding into her DMs to commission her for personalized photos and videos that can get as raunchy as you want.
Lastly, you can’t complain because her general page is 100 percent free to subscribe to!
Enough said.
5. Haley Brooks – Best Teens OnlyFans for TikTok Style Content
Find more Haley here:
What you’re in for:
- Smorgasbord of XXX solo scenes
- Nude photo sets in abundance
- Intimate virtual GF experience
- Pre-recorded porn by request
- Customized content when you ask her
How much: FREE subscription to her OnlyFans page
Haley Brooks is what you get when the head cheerleader at your local school decides to spice things up for a living. This hot teen’s OnlyFans account is one of the most solid options you can go for if you’re looking for strictly NSFW and XXX content without any guff.
From delicious butt shots where you see her bent over and ready for some action to spread-eagled poses where Haley just decided to say “screw it” to any inhibitions she might have had left in her body.
Ooft.
With amazing fan engagement and a work ethic that yields daily post updates, it’s rare to see an OnlyFans teen model as amazing as Ms. Brooks.
Subscription to her OnlyFans page is free, which gives you a generous helping of NSFW photos featuring her amazingly tight body that’s thick in all the right places. You’ll also find truncated versions of her XXX videos on her feed, which whets your appetite for the whole delicacy.
All it takes to get her uncensored content is a nice DM where you can arrange for additional purchases. She also offers personalized photos and videos done to your specifications and pre-recorded porn, ready to be delivered to you upon payment.
This is top-shelf adult entertainment through and through!
6. Maria Moobs – Best OnlyFans Teen Account for Nude Selfies
Find more Maria here:
What you’re in for:
- Amazing XXX stuff on her general feed
- Post updates on the daily
- Kinky sexting and virtual GF experiences
- Super raunchy custom content
How much: 31 days of pure Maria Moobs goodness at $3
Maria Moobs is the kind of teens OnlyFans account that specializes in a certain porn niche instead of trying to cover all the kinky bases. Specifically, Maria has a knack for posing as daddy’s little girl, and she’s starved for some of that paternal lovin’.
Kinky, right?
However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that she’s a one-trick hottie by any means. Perhaps a more apt description is that she’s quite the submissive Suzy, which means you can pretty much make her do anything you want.
After all, this OnlyFans teen model wants to make daddy happy.
Maria provides an affordable way to get 100 percent XXX content from her general feed. You’ll see tons of uploaded content, such as solo scenes where you get to see her explore that cute bootyhole and NSFW photos with whipped cream and short shorts.
You also have the option of getting the full domme-sub experience with the help of sexting and the virtual GF experience that Maria offers. Just slide in her DMs and ask.
Speaking of, you can set up more than just kinky messaging with Maria. She’s more than open to doing custom videos and photo sets for her fans, so feel free to inquire about those if you’re looking for something more personalized for your collection!
7. Cup of Carli – Top Fit Teens OnlyFans Performer and Pornstar
Find more Carli here:
What you can expect:
- Guaranteed NSFW regular post updates
- Amazing XXX solo and couple scenes
- Custom videos and photos on demand
How much: General subscription to this OnlyFans teen model is just $3 for 31 days
Carli’s the complete package in that she’s one of the hottest teen models on OnlyFans right now and, at the same time, a bona fide indie porn star who’s appeared in a few XXX films.
Tender age? Few inhibitions? Porn experience?
Yes, please.
Her general feed will have you drooling over the NSFW photo sets. From spreading those naughty lips with her digits to doing the splits on her kitchen counter…
The whole randomness of her content just adds to the kinkiness of things.
She also posts XXX solo and couple scenes on her general OF feed, so you won’t have to visit other sites to get your filthy fix. Believe us when we say that these adult videos she makes are dirty in all the right ways.
Her lack of limitations means that she’d be more than happy to do a creampie n’ squirt combo (as she’s done in one of her porn movies) for you in a tailored video that you can commission from her.
Don’t be stingy!
8. Lucy is Loud – Best Inspirational Teen OnlyFans Girl
Find more Lucy here:
What you’re in for:
- Hardcore porn (solo scenes and couple vids)
- Hottest mute e-girl content
- Customized stuff by request
- Lots of deliciously loud moans
How much: Become a general subscriber to this teen OF page for 31 days at $3
Lucy is Loud is the alterworld name of Lucy Goyette. She’s got a look that combines girl next door charms with the appeal of an absolute seductress. But you’ll be opening up a whole new layer of kinkiness once you discover one important detail about Lucy: she’s mute.
With that particular quality, not only does this top teen OnlyFans content creator stand out, but she’s one of the most unique performers that you can find on the platform. The whole deaf girl porn niche is heavily underrepresented, so we’re extremely happy she exists.
She’s got many solo releases to brag about– ranging from image sets to fingering videos– as she does scenes with partners where she proves that there are way more ways you can use your mouth than just talking.
Nudge nudge, wink wink.
She says it herself: Lucy is rather loud for a deaf girl, but that’s exactly what will make you keep wanting more. Once you hear her moan, you’re going to want to put on those headphones and blast that volume up to 11!
9. Molly Sims – Top Teens OnlyFans Page for Exclusive Requests
Find more Molly here:
What you’re in for:
- XXX content from top to bottom
- Customized porn at your request
- Pre-recorded content for sale
How much: Subscription to her general OnlyFans feed is 100 percent free
Molly Sims is a tasty little teen that’s got curves in abundance. As such, you’re going to love becoming her subscriber if you like a little meat in your meal.
Nothing is stopping you from becoming a Molly Sims follower, considering that her general subscription rate is free. This will allow you to check out a bevy of NSFW photos and videos of her in various states of undress.
From barely clothed image sets to fully nude short clips, you’ll find that what basically are free “teasers” are more than enough for you to bust that proverbial nut. Of course, nothing beats getting the whole kinky kit and kaboodle.
For that, we highly recommend that you either slide into her DMs to commission her for custom content that’s made to your specific preferences. She’s got very few limitations, which means you can get as raunchy as you want with your requests.
On the other hand, Molly also offers exclusive content packs ready to be delivered to her loyal fans. She sells them per piece, in bundles, and she even runs special promos that help you save on these indie porn treasures that you can instantly enjoy after payment.
We love to see it!
10. Daisy Dray – Best OnlyFans Teen for Sexting
Find more Daisy here:
What you’re in for:
- Ultra hot sexting and virtual GF experience
- NSFW photos and videos on general feed
- XXX customized porn by request
How much: Free subscriptions provided to her OnlyFans general content
Twitter is pretty lax with their restrictions, which means it takes a whole new level of offensive content to get suspended from that social media platform.
Well, Daisy saw this and just went “hold my beer I got this”.
A few spicy posts later and BAM!
But nothing can stop her from spreading the right kind of sluttiness all over the internet, which is why we’re all so lucky that Daisy’s on OnlyFans.
This delicious teen performer is a curvy specimen who’s got so much cushion for the pushin’. That said, her general post content is filled with absolutely NSFW and XXX poses and acts showcasing her heaving bosom and her well-stacked bum.
Oh, and did we mention that she’s basically handing it around for free? Her OF page is open to general subscribers for free, which grants you access to most of her kinky stuff.
But where Daisy Dray really shines is with her ridiculously good fan engagement. She’s got the whole sexting game on lock, meaning you can get off just by chatting with her through DMs. Of course, imagination is for losers; you want the good stuff that bares everything.
For this, you can always commission Daisy for customized porn clips. If you thought you saw it all in the general feed, think again.
11. Riley Kwums – Top Teen OnlyFans Account for Themed Content
Find more Riley here:
What you’re in for:
- Generous amount of masturbation videos
- High production values for NSFW photos
- Amazing fan engagement
- Custom content on demand
How much: $3 makes you a general subscriber to her OF page for 31 days
Riley Kwums is one of the thickest teens on OnlyFans right now, and you should definitely smash that subscribe button if you want to experience some of the nicest masturbation videos you can find on the platform.
What makes Riley such a standout teen OnlyFans page are her nicely themed NSFW image sets that you simply can’t get from other content creators out there.
We love a themed shoot!
There are high production values with these releases, too, because we’re not just talking about kinky lingerie; we’re talking about full themed costumes and accoutrements that can put even the most hardcore cosplay fans to shame.
Even her backgrounds are themed instead of just shooting it in front of a bathroom mirror.
You can also enjoy a more personalized, intimate experience with Riley with the help of custom content requested via DMs.
Shoot her a DM, she’s great at responding! If you’re looking for a fun conversation that can be about anything, from porn to your favorite My Little Pony character, we highly recommend you chat up Riley.
12. Doutzen – Best OnlyFans Teen for Fans of Hardcore Porn
Find more Doutzen here:
What you’re in for:
- Extreme anal porn content
- Lots of XXX general post updates
- Daily releases (photos and videos)
How much: $3 makes you a subscriber to this teen’s OnlyFans account
Doutzen is the self-proclaimed queen of anal on OnlyFans, and once you witness what this dirty teen gets herself into, you’ll find it hard to think otherwise.
We’re not sure what Doutzen was doing before she turned 18, but we’re pretty sure it’s nothing academic. Unless, that is, she studied how to stretch the limits of the human butthole. Not trying to be cheeky, either.
Doutzen is a truly gifted performer who has very few limitations with the kind of XXX content she offers. It’s a sight to behold.
Yep, Doutzen can go hardcore in couples’ scenes, gangbangs, threesomes and more. But what will keep you returning to this teens OnlyFans page is the stuff she does with her sphincter.
Whether she’s shoving football-shaped sex toys up in there or going all classic by fisting her beautiful butthole, you can rest assured that Doutzen is one rare teen talent worth seeing on OnlyFans!
Truly a wild ride.
13. Sunny Rayez – Upcoming OnlyFans Teen
Find more Sunny here:
What you’re in for:
- Hot sexting opportunities
- Free NSFW general content
- Exclusive XXX photos and videos
How much: Her teens OnlyFans page is free for general subscribers
One thing that most teen OnlyFans content creators tend to forget when they start putting out on the platform is that it’s not all about the photos and videos; you also have to give the fans some TLC.
That said, Sunny Rayez manages to provide her subscribers with a balance between extremely hot content and intimate private chats. That personal touch just makes your experience with Sunny all the more special.
Whether you’re aiming to sext her and get hot via DMs or treat her like your personal virtual GF, Ms. Rayez is always down to clown with her fans: a fact that becomes even more obvious when you see that she’s offering free subs to her general content feed.
Entry-level followers to this hot teen’s OnlyFans account are treated to an impressive gallery of NSFW pics and short clips. However, Sunny turns up the heat when you start requesting personalized or exclusive content, because that’s the time she goes from simple e-girl to full-on indie porn star.
And it’s all for you!
14. Charlie – Hottest Teen OnlyFans Geek
Find more Charlie here:
What you’re in for:
- Hot geeky girl fetish
- NSFW stuff on her general feed
- XXX content available upon request
How much: She’s doing free subs to her general OF content page
Charlie is one tasty cup of teen coffee. This cocoa minx is thin, petite and hot all over. And when you see her start putting those assets to work, you’re definitely going to want to get something more exclusive from her.
For starters, Charlie offers free subscriptions to her general content feed. This means you can see a bunch of NSFW stuff where she does the bare minimum when it comes to getting dressed, which is a blessing for horndogs everywhere.
She mixes things up by giving you a great selection of girl next door-type content with some delicious geek porn – primarily aimed at depraved gamers who like seeing young 18+ girls stick their tongue out and cross their eyes when taking photos.
Of course, there’s a point when NSFW just won’t cut it anymore. Thankfully, Charlie is more than willing to go beyond any boundaries to provide 100 percent, legit homemade porn when you request it via DMs.
Enjoy!
15. Aisha – Lingerie Goddess With Teens OnlyFans
Find more Aisha here:
What you’re in for:
- Hot NSFW lingerie image sets
- Exclusive porn upon request
- Hot virtual GF experience via DMs
How much: Become a general subscriber to her OF page for free
Aisha has the body of a cheerleader and the seductive prowess of a courtesan. She’s one of the best teens on OnlyFans if you’re looking for a well-rounded model who basically does everything, and does it well for that matter.
As a free general subscriber to Aisha’s OF page, prepare to feast your eyes on loads of lingerie and bikini pics, which are all unsurprisingly NSFW. The way she arches her back or bends over will make you want to straddle her IRL.
No joke.
And although chances are slim that she’ll actually sit on your face, she’s got a great alternative for that: exclusive videos and photos that are absolutely XXX! Simply slide into her DMs to make your request and she’d be more than happy to oblige, guys and girls!
If you’re looking for a more personal connection, Aisha won’t disappoint. She’s a master at the fine art of sexting and flirting online.
You can’t go wrong with teens OnlyFans models like Aisha if you want a little bit of everything, especially if you want it all in top-tier quality!
Teens OnlyFans Runner-Ups
Chances are high that you’ll find your next favorite indie teen pornstar among our top picks. But just in case, here’s a master list of other amazing teens on OnlyFans right now, including some of the best OnlyFans girls around:
- Rosalia – Busty teen providing hot virtual GF and sexting experiences
- Victoria – Versatile teen OnlyFans performer with more than 100 porn videos
- Natalie Monroe – Absolute queen when it comes to JOI (jerk off instructions)
- Charly Jordan – Tons of NSFW content, with a dash of XXX
- MeiMoe – Fulfills your geeky dreams with kinky cosplay fetish content
- Mellissa Belle – Looks like a hot sex doll and acts like one, too!
- Kanricos – Raunchy teen doing NSFW cosplay stuff for general subscribers
- Pia Mia – Curves and skills to make her booty bounce like Jello
- Jem Wolfie – Perfect teen OnlyFans account if you like fit girls doing solo scenes
- Branda – Petite teen from Europe who specializes in couples scenes with strangers
- Mia Darling – Delicious ebony teen who likes to show off her tasty nibs
- Miss Lilly – Perfect teen model on OnlyFans for throat crush fans
- Coco Alice – Skinny, fit teen that loves giving blowjobs
- Lexi Frenchteen – Popular OnlyFans model creating hardcore XXX content
- Cailyn – Petite teen content creator on OnlyFans specializing in nerdy girl porn
- Milkimind – Delicious OnlyFans gamer girl
- Pink Mars – Petite teen OnlyFans model that does amazing facial videos
- Amber – Great OF teen who loves to give virtual GF experiences
- Autumn Falls – One of the bustiest teens on OnlyFans
- My Kinky Dope – Top teen performer who has a thing for BDSM
How We Chose the Best Teens OnlyFans Accounts in 2022
With the help of these benchmarks, we were able to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the top performing OnlyFans accounts. Believe us when we say it wasn’t an easy feat!
Variety of Post Updates and Content
There are a lot of OnlyFans content creators out there, especially teens, who focus on one form of content or another, be it photos, videos or post updates.
In choosing our top picks, we made sure to only include teen OnlyFans models who provide a great mix of these three.
Some of them go above and beyond the usual OF fare and provide their fans with additional products and services, such as physical stuff you can purchase or exclusive chats.
Platform Activity
Only the most active teens on OnlyFans are worthy of joining our top picks. As such, you’re going to find models from our list who post new updates and content on a daily basis.
This shows you how engaged and dedicated these performers are to their careers as delicious e-girls and alterworld mavens.
Expect consistency and freshness here!
Fan Service
The main difference between boring old celeb OF accounts and bona fide teen models performing on the platform is this: fan engagement. Simply put, the more a model engages with their followers, the more intimate the experience becomes.
With that in mind, we made certain that you’re getting some of the best fan interactions with the top picks we chose. Whether you’re looking for a virtual GF, some sexting opportunities or you just want to chat it up, you can’t go wrong with these hotties!
Pricing
OnlyFans can be an expensive hobby, so it’s only right that you get the most value for the money you’re paying. Our top picks include some of the most budget-friendly options you can find among all the teen models on OnlyFans.
Not only that, but these girls don’t sacrifice quality for their pricing. You’ll find that subscribing to their accounts opens up a sexy, new world of kinky opportunities you can’t find from other content creators out there.
Best OnlyFans Teens FAQs
Who’s the best teen model on OnlyFans right now?
The best teen model on OnlyFans right now is shared by a few models in our opinion.
First, there’s Bella Bumzy. With less than a year under her belt, this girl has already made a name for herself as one of the premier teen models on the platform. She’s a hot, young talent with so much potential that’s being realized right before our eyes.
Then, there’s Kacy Black. If you prefer a teen OnlyFans model with very few limitations, then we highly suggest you check her out. She’s the kind of performer who provides sundry services, whether it’s basic masturbation videos or more exotic spit play clips.
Good stuff.
Lastly, Sam Slayre has the girl-next-door thing on lockdown, only made better by the fun spontaneity she provides for her followers. Her photos and videos are “homemade porn” at their best!
Can I follow these top teen OnlyFans models for free?
Sometimes yes, you can follow these top teen OnlyFans models for free.
It all depends on which model you’re talking about. For the most part, models like Doutzen, RIley Kwums or Cup of Carli charge a certain amount for access to their general feed. However, their fees are the bare minimum that OnlyFans offers. You won’t be gouged for your troubles.
Still, there are a few exceptions to this rule.
Top teen OnlyFans models like Molly Sims, Daisy Dray and Haley Brooks offer free subs to their general OF feed. You won’t have to pay for anything unless you decide to commission them for customized photos and videos or if you want to purchase their pre-recorded exclusives.
Free or not, any support you give to these sexy ladies helps them a lot! Of course, we’re partial towards sending them your bucks. We mean, come on: it’s not like Cardi B needs more botox for her ass cheeks.
Is OnlyFans only made for porn?
Onlyfans isn’t made only for porn…but it is a large part of the service. In truth, OnlyFans is simply a content-sharing site where all kinds of digital products and services can be found.
Aside from the usual NSFW stuff that you might commonly see, there are a whole lot of other profiles on OF that offer SFW content. These range from music to films and even educational topics!
Simply put, OnlyFans has everything.
…but mostly porn.
How can I search for top teens on OnlyFans?
Searching for top teens on OnlyFans can be tedious, to be honest.
OnlyFans still doesn’t have a proper search tool that lets you search for specific content creators. So, if you’re looking for particular models on OnlyFans, you need some alternative methods.
First, you can check out other social media platforms like IG, TikTok or Snapchat. Lots of performers and models link their OnlyFans account to these sites.
You can also try using third-party OnlyFans search engines. These sites are specifically designed to scrub OnlyFans and deliver you the results you’re looking for. A quick Google search will help you find the right tool within seconds.
Is OnlyFans only for female models?
No, OnlyFans isn’t only for female models – there are male, trans and non-binary performers too. OnlyFans doesn’t have any gender or sexual preference restrictions.
It’s actually a great LGBTQ+ platform for independent performers, models, influencers and everything in between to share and monetize their work.
Plus, OnlyFans isn’t just about modeling– especially adult modeling. You can find a wide selection of digital content on this platform.
Time To Check Out The Top Teens OnlyFans
Talents like Bella Bumzy, Sam Slayre, Kacy Black and Lucy is Loud, to name a few, are hard to come by these days. These are top-tier teen models who do wonders on OnlyFans.
Given that the site doesn’t have a proper search engine to help you discover the best teens out there, our list of top picks is your invaluable resource to make it all happen.
So, enjoy and get to subscribing, folks. You won’t regret it!
Related reading: Top sites for VR porn
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220415
|
https://philadelphiaweekly.com/keep-indoor-plants-alive/
|
Over the course of the pandemic, I feel like a lot of us developed new hobbies. Things to keep us distracted, joyful, and busy. A few of my friends got into building furniture, some started practicing photography or got really into knitting. Me? I took a stroll up to Greensgrow Farm in Fishtown one day and said, “Behold, this is now my entire personality.”
There’s something so spectacularly comforting about trying your best to encourage growth in a time when things feel so paused.
I made multiple trips while they were open and picked up plants and seeds from department stores when they closed for a spell (note: they are very much back in action and open!).
I dug around in dirt in my yard, found wild and exciting planters to hang around my house, and experimented with all kinds of succulents and indoor plants. Plants with big leaves and twisty vines, like pothos and philodendrons, plants that grew surprising tall, like ZZ (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) and snake plants. I even tried coffee plants, because why not. As I was already addicted to caffeine, and plants seemed to be the latest thing I was hooked on, combining the two just made sense.
I watched as some stuff died pretty quickly.
And outside, Philadelphia’s notorious chonky squirrels dug up various attempts at growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and the like. I feel like my frantic posts in the different local plant Facebook groups were notorious for giving away stuff I had completely given up on. If one of you are seeing this: Hey! It’s me! I’m still not great at this.
But I’ve learned a thing or two though. So as the weather warms and you’re venturing out to collect some plants for your home, or even your yard, here are some bits of advice that I hope will help you out.
Identify who is out to get your plants.
Listen, in the indoor plant game, some folks simply cannot be trusted. As you’re getting your space ready for splashes of green, consider: Is your floor prepared for splashes of dirt when your precious toddler decides that zebra plant is a prime target for their toy baseball? Is that gorgeous, hanging plant in a prime position to come crashing down, when Mittens, your cat, considers that basket a perfect sunbathing ledge? Selecting a location for your plants in your home, isn’t about where they will get the most sun, though that’s certainly important. It’s about considering how others will navigate them being in the space. Are your plants within reach, of those who are eager to destroy them? Is that potted plant near your door asking to be collided with when your dog hurries in after a walk in the rain?
Think about the people and animals around you on a daily basis, before choosing a location for your latest indoor plant.
Bonus Tip: Make sure you’re considering what indoor plants might be poisonous to your pets too. You might be surprised to find out that a lot of indoor plants can really harm your furry friends.
Will you forget there’s a plant here?
We talked a bit about the importance of placement when it comes to other people or adorable pets. But what about placement when it comes to you? You can barely remember to eat leftovers in the fridge, how are you going to remember to water a plant you’ve placed in a room you never go into?
I get it. A pothos full of lush vines will look AMAZING in a well-lit bathroom, and air plants look fantastic hanging in overly expensive brass containers on your home office desk.
But when you’re done taking a shower or closing out your email, are you thinking, “Now, I’m going to take care of all my plants here” or are you just eager to dry off and start your day or log off and end your day? If you’re the kind of person who wants to hurry and move on to the next thing, you might end up with some very dead plants in the places that they were supposed to make more beautiful.
If you’re gonna forget about the plant there, it shouldn’t go there.
Buy plant care tools you want to use.
Sure, you could water your plants using that old, chipped coffee mug you never really use… but that’s just it, isn’t it? You never use that mug. One thing that makes taking care of plants even more enjoyable and intuitive is, in my opinion, when you have tools you enjoy using. Such as: A pretty mister. A small, lovely watering can. Grow lights that you want to turn on. Sheers that look like art.
I quickly found myself drawn to about everything the folks at Modern Sprout make, but a quick trip to Greensgrow and Proper Goods in Fishtown offers up an absolute wealth of supplies you will want to use often, and even display in your home.
Research, research, research.
One of the earliest mistakes I made when jumping into trying to have houseplants and a proper garden was just buying anything and assuming as long as I put it in dirt, it would be fine and good to go.
It turns out, every plant is different and has varying needs.
While some plants thrive if neglected (much like myself, a Scorpio), others need specific kinds of water. Some plants need significant light, others not so much. Taking the time to figure out the needs of the plants you’re considering purchasing will prevent them from perishing because you gave them too much or too little water. It’ll let you know what kind of pots you should keep or what sort of soil you should plant them in.
Research prepares you to take care of your little green friends.
Trim regularly and learn to propagate.
Those plant care tools you took the time to carefully select? Don’t forget to, you know, use them. Trimming back your indoor plants is important – both for their health and also for safety reasons in your home. A terribly long vine might get stepped on, sending a pot hurtling your way. A succulent that’s gotten too gangly might break and get devoured by a pet that could get sick.
So, trim them back. And then, if the cuttings are healthy, think about propagating.
This is slightly advanced plant parent behavior, but it’s so easy and so much fun, especially if you’re trading plants in your community. Depending on the plant, you can potentially grow an entire extra plant from a cutting.
Now, there you have it. You’ve got some tips. You know where to find your plants, too. Now, don’t kill them.
| true
| true
|
both
|
philadelphiaweekly
|
20220416
|
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
README.md exists but content is empty.
- Downloads last month
- 12