what's good

I'm in Philly. The iladelph... Gone back to where I came from, hoping to grow some roots that will ground me for a while. Hoping that there is enough here this time to keep me from growing bored. The passport that I'm so proud has extra pages, won't be getting as much use for now, but that doesn't mean that miss koco is adventure-less. The past few weeks have been filled with cultural events and good times in the streets.

For the time being I have the luxury to leisurely wander around town, popping into this place, grabbing another cup of tea, picking up something sweet at a bakery, or browsing through a book shop for as long as I choose. I went over to Moore College of Art & Design and saw a show in their gallery of Mary McFadden dresses that were gorgeous. I love the way she uses that signature fabric of hers. I wouldn't mind owning one, or a few, of her pieces.


Last night I visited the Philly Fringe Festival's Bar for the second time this week. It's in a warehouse at 5th and Faimount and they are showing the most bizarre films. It's huge and a bit dusty, but a nice set up. There's some odd thing int he corner that looks like a Stargate portal, and lots of people that seem to be inspired by the unique strangeness that belongs only to the fringe. This means that there's good people watching and a handful of lone dancers funking to their own personal inner groove despite the beat and tempo of the musical selection. I was one of those people after one bevi too many over the weekend.

I'm happy to say I got a good amount of fringe in this year. Last week I went to a magic show with Randy Shine in How to Write a Magic Show in One Week or Less, showing at Grasso's Magic Theater. The new theater is adorable. JUST SO ADORABLE. I want a show there. Not a magic show, but some kind of excitement.

There were only 4 of us in the audience, but it was a pretty good magic act. Randy does some craziness with some thimbles and the other dude in the show did this one "surrealist magic" piece that I really enjoyed where he was humming the Girl from Ipanema while pulling handfuls of cards out of thin air/his sleeve. Then he was talking on the phone which was actually a lobster, i German. It was much cooler in real life than it sounds right now.

Staying in the magic/circus/clown theme I seem to have gotten into recently, I saw the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus in the sanctuary over at Fleisher Art Memorial. They were showing Kinko for President. A dude swallowed some very long metal objects, there was a woman on a tightrope, some wild multi-person juggling, among other fun bits.

On Kinko's site he outlines the things he'd do during his first 100 days in office:
1. Paint the White House. Most likely a multi-colored pattern.
2. Make sure that every city has 24 hour access free public restrooms
3. Get the United States juggling together. Every Monday there will be a weekly juggling workshop on the white house lawn. I will also encourage employers to push a juggling break in the work place. And push for juggling to be included in the Olympics (the last one is because of well paying lobbyists).
4. Hitch a ride on the space shuttle. Although many people argue that I have been spaced out for years, I really want to look out the window and see the Earth as a ball.
5. Bring past administration participants up for war crime trials. In all my years of vagrancy, loitering, public drunkenness, hitch-hiking, pan-handling and living a life of poverty, I was never given leniency by them, why should I give them leniency now.
6. Put peanuts and popcorn into every school lunch room. Organic cotton candy will also be served on Fridays.

I went to the First Person Arts Salon at the Gershman Y on Tuesday. I had a beer, complained, and chatted it up with some of my favorite Phillyheads. They showed a film by Andrew Schwalm (and Co.) on people who fish in the city. I had no idea people did this. I might have seen a few people once upon a time, but I didn't realize how obsessed some people are. Woah.

What else? Hmmm... yeah I've been at Silk City a lot more than I imagined I ever would be. And I keep bumping into the most random individuals. My sister's ex-bf, boys I used to have crushes on in high school, people I went to summer camp with, a guy who taught me how to make origami boxes in 5th grade. So, I'm out and about, making the most of what warm weather is left and all that Philly has to offer.