The Arts in Philadelphia: Duchamp, Murals, and the Three Stooges

The national papers are shining a light on several worthwhile Philadelphia exhibits this weekend. In the Personal Journal section on Friday, The Wall Street Journal profiles the "Love Letter" project by Stephen Powers, a series of 50 rooftop and street-level murals created by Powers and 40 other painters along an El route in West Philadelphia (guided tours will soon be available). And in the Weekend Arts section on Friday, The New York Times highlights a number of area exhibits, including Powers' murals; "Etant Donnes," an exhibition of the works of early 20th century avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp; the "hardy, low-budget, do-it-yourself, do-it-for-love creativeness" of Fluxspace and the Fabric Workshop; and, in the "only in Philadelphia category," the Stoogeum, the world's only museum dedicated to the memory and achievements of Moe, Larry and Curly, located in Ambler (about 10 minutes north of Chestnut Hill). The Times writer finds it to be "impressively designed," and the experience inspired him to return to his Stooges DVDs and reflect again on the trio as emblematic of 20th century immigrant culture.
If you ever find yourself driving down South Street in Philadelphia, look for the historic marker indicating where Stooge Larry Fine (ne Louis Feinberg) was born. The creator of the Stoogeum "married the granddaughter of Larry's brother," the Times reports.

Odds & Sods 2

Please Note My New Title... The author of this website has bestowed a new job title on me -- see the sixth line of this post from Thailand's Telecom & Hi-Tech Online News.

Bruce McCall Makes Me Laugh Out Loud... but that's been happening since he started with the National Lampoon a few decades back (guilty - I read it in high school and college). Every time he does a New Yorker cover or cartoon or article, I stop and savor it. I love the way he finds absurdity in architecture and farce in forms. I was delighted to see that the folks at TED appreciate McCall as much as I do -- here's a McCall video where he presents his concepts of "retrofuturism" and "techno-archaeology."

Let's Celebrate "Record Store Day" While We Still Can... They're a vanishing breed. Fortunately, for the second year running, over 700 of them coast-to-coast will be celebrating the joys of CDs and, yes, vinyl. I'll drop in on Hideaway Records in my Chestnut Hill neighborhood on April 18 -- visit the website to find the last of the independent disk sellers in your area.