A Fine Show @ Rittenhouse

In the center of Rittenhouse Square Park rests a large fountain featuring a Grecian reminiscent statue head that spews water from it’s mouth.  The fountain’s back splash, which surrounds the imposing statue head, is adorned with a glass and stone multicolored mosaic.  Smooth green and blue tiles line the fountain floor but are usually covered by the sheet of discarded coins.  If one were to walk a little further past this fountain, though, they’d find a frog:

A large frog statue (which I will refer to as simply The Frog) is carved from smooth gray stone.  It sits facing upward and looks as though it could pounce off it’s stone pedestal at a moment’s notice.

Last week while taking my usual walk through Rittenhouse I noticed someone sketching The Frog.  There he sat, barefoot in the grass resting against a knotted tree bark, fervently engrossed in his portrayal of this statue.

Rittenhouse Square has always been one of my favorite places to be in the city for this reason. 

Art at your fingertips

By Jennifer Burrini  ’10

I have a new guilty pleasure. It’s called Etsy.

For anyone who is not familiar with this online treasure trove, let me introduce you. Etsy.com is an online market that caters to the buying and selling of all handmade products. I was referred to the site several months ago and have been addicted to it ever since. Etsy offers an array of products, all of which are original, hand crafted pieces from independent artists, craftsmen, and/or collectors. The products range from fine art to vintage pieces to jewelry, to housewares, and woodwork. In other words, there’s something for everyone and too much for me to choose from. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from trying!

What truly is exquisite about this site, though, is the reasonable prices offered for the high level of artisan-ship and talent featured. Here are three of the site’s current products that I think capture the Etsy spirit: affordability, quality, and variety.

courtesy of Etsy.com

ZEBRA FINCHES by yumiyumi

Buyers can purchase this Giclee print for only $20.00.  As with most Esty products, there is only one in stock because they are handmade, original pieces. 

SELF’s Confidence Blunder

By Jenn Hannan ’10

courtesy of eonline.com

It’s no secret that we have become a size conscious country.  Standards of beauty consistently change.  In the 1950s and 60s Marilyn Monroe (a size 14) was considered the epitome of sex appeal.  Today anything over an 8 is widely believed to be “plus size.”

Back to school with pencils, backpacks, and…cell phones?

Is it just me or is this creepy?

There are three things in this world that make me cringe: ice cream falling off of its cone, public displays of affection, and children carrying cell phones.

This afternoon, while reading the New York Times, an article caught my eye about “new worries” regarding cell phone use for children and young teens. The author chronicles her frustrations with shady businesses that offer seemingly free cell phone games, overtexting, and obscene cell phone bills. There is the question of how to limit children’s cell phone use — “there comes a time when parents have to be parents” an expert chirps — but never a questioning of the need for cell phones in the first place.

The Women of Philly’s Past

Inside of the Pennsylvania Art Conservatory’s simple white brick and sienna trimmed facade is an array of exhibitions ranging from American impressionist paintings to various forms of European art.  One collection currently on display features a variety of Philadelphia female artists from the 19th and 20th centuries.   Here are some of my featured favorites:

Mark your calendars…

By Jennifer Burrini, ’10

….for this September 4 – 19.

Why?  The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe is back!

The arts and the creative minds that inspire them are vital necessities to the community.  They inspire free expression and individuality through using fluidity of the body, poignancy of words, or visually ascetic creations.

The 13th annual Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe continues to nourish the community’s artistic needs by presenting a talented array of performing artists each year.  The Live Arts shows are selected for their contemporary, cutting edge performances from both local and international well renowned artists.  The Fringe, on the other hand, offers to new and established Philly artists an unfiltered platform to showcase their performances.

What a way to make a livin’: 9 to 5

By Jennifer Burrini ’10

“So, you’ve been tellin’ everybody I’ve been sleepin’ with ya, huh?…They think I’m screwin’ the boss! Oooh, and you just love it, don’t you?  If you…make another indecent proposal…I’m gonna change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot!”

It’s been years since I first heard Dolly Parton deliver those thick Southern accented lines to her “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss in the movie 9 to 5.  And I’ve been enamored by the movie ever since.

So imagine my excitement when I learned the 1980 film (originally starring Parton, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dabney Coleman) was getting a Broadway makeover.

This spring the 9 to 5 stage adaptation premiered at The Marquis Theatre.  New music and lyrics were penned by Parton.  The cast included theatre elite Allison Janey, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, and Marc Kusisch.  Elaborate set designs emerged from behind the stage curtain.  Fresh dialogue and flawless choreography were introduced.  9 to 5 the Musical was open for business.

Sonia reigns Supreme

It’s funny how politics works. Like almost every other issue that has arrived in the prestigious halls of Congress this year, the confirmation hearings (and Thursday’s affirmation) were the calm after a brief but tumultuous storm.

A few short months ago, Judge Sonia Sotomayor was called “racist” by King G.O.P., Rush Limbaugh, and “activist” by Republicans who were concerned that the 55 year-old judge (and wise Latina woman) would pick on the white majority. While the confirmation votes in favor of Sotomayor were neither crushing (68-31) nor bipartisan,  the confirmation hearings of a few weeks ago were nothing compared to the fiery assaults on her character issued in May.

A city that’s got it a lot worse than we do

While we’re on the subject of the recession, photographer Sean Hemmerle has just completed a series of photos of, as he calls it, the remains of Detroit. While you’re going through them, think of the countless people that once lived, worked and entertained themselves in these buildings and neighborhoods. The nationwide recession is not new for that city — they’ve been living with it for decades, and it shows.

Return to normalcy? Not for those still experiencing the effects of a recession…

President Barack Obama recently announced that the economy was on the upswing, and that America was returning to pre-recession normalcy. But my conversations this week have left me feeling like it will take far more than bouyant markets and positive quarterly earning reports to mend the wounds inflicted by Recession 08-09.

Two weeks ago, my best friend’s family received a letter informing them that they would be losing their home at the end of August. My friend is 20 years old and has already had to put her education on hold when her father first lost his job back in January 2008. Now, she is faced with a dilemma that is unfathomable to most college-aged individuals: college or supporting the family?

Another friend, a recent St. Joe’s grad, has spent the last 2 years in and out of employment and grad school. After losing his last job in June, he has once again had to settle for a job that wasn’t what he was planning for when he donned his cap and gown at Hawk Hill.