Philadelphia City Paper, August 20th, 2015 by Philadelphia City Paper

ISSUE SSU S SU UE #157 #1577 77

AUGUS AUGU AUG UG GUS G GU US U ST 2 20 0 - AUGUST AUGUS S T 26, 2 6, 20 2015 201 2 015 0 15 1 5

P H I L A D E L P H I A

BY A.D. AMOROSI

www.delawareriverwaterfront.com/CP

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Smooth Jazz Summer Nights

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IN THIS ISSUE … p. 23

IT TAKES A KITCHEN STAFF …

Auction Sale

Commercial Property – 2.42 ± Acres 39,181 SF Ofﬁce/Warehouse

Teleconference: Tuesday, September 15 Sperry Graphic Inc 4 Horne Drive, Bldg. 6 Delaware County, Folcroft, PA 19032 Also selling the machinery & equipment Online: Thursday, September 10

For Details: COMLY.COM

J U S T A S W E Phil adel phi ans boast the cheese steak as one of our claims to fame, so, too, do restaurants tout certain menu items as their own kingmakers. City Paper copy chief Carolyn Wyman explores the origins of these signature dishes in her new column, Staples. This week, she traces the history of SquareBurger’s Cake Shake, made from two Butterscotch Krimpets and frozen custard. As an added treat, Wyman also includes a recipe replicating the milk shake.

CP STAFF Associate Publisher Jennifer Clark Editor in Chief Lillian Swanson Senior Editor Patrick Rapa Arts & Culture Editor Mikala Jamison Food Editor Jenn Ladd Senior Staff Writer Emily Guendelsberger Staff Writer Jerry Iannelli Copy Chief Carolyn Wyman

(215) 634-2500 - auctions@comly.com PA Auctioneers License # AY-000148-L

Contributors Sam Adams, Dotun Akintoye, A.D. Amorosi, Rodney Anonymous, Mary Armstrong, Bryan Bierman, Shaun Brady, Peter Burwasser, Mark Cofta, Adam Erace, David Anthony Fox, Caitlin Goodman, K. Ross Hoffman, Jon Hurdle, Deni Kasrel, Alli Katz, Gary M. Kramer, Josh Kruger, Drew Lazor, Alex Marcus, Gair “Dev 79” Marking, Robert McCormick, Andrew Milner, John Morrison, Michael Pelusi, Natalie Pompilio, Sameer Rao, Jim Saksa, Elliott Sharp, Marc Snitzer, Nikki Volpicelli, Brian Wilensky, Andrew Zaleski, Julie Zeglen. Production Director Dennis Crowley Senior Designer/Social Media Director Jenni Betz Contributing Photographers Jessica Kourkounis, Charles Mostoller, Hillary Petrozziello, Maria S. Young, Neal Santos, Mark Stehle U.S. Circulation Director Joseph Lauletta (ext. 239) Account Managers Sharon MacWilliams (ext. 262), Russell Marsh (ext. 260), Susanna Simon (ext. 250) Classified Account Manager Jennifer Fisher (215-717-2681) Editor Emeritus Bruce Schimmel founded City Paper in a Germantown storefront in November 1981. Local philanthropist Milton L. Rock purchased the paper in 1996 and published it until August 2014 when Metro US became the paper’s third owner.

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C I T Y PA P E R . N ET // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER

THE BELL CURVE

NATASHA LEGGERO

We need more Natasha Leggero. When it comes to crudeness with a smile, she’s at least as good as Amy Schumer or Sarah Silverman. But more than that, the persona she’s cultivated — the lavish clothing and ac ces sories, the affected delivery — makes her set feel as much character study as standup. As in the Comedy Central roasts, Leggero likes to venture a few steps beyond the boundaries of supposedly good taste. 8/20-22, Helium Comedy Club, heliumcomedy. com.—Alex Marcus

Organizers of a group called Day of Kindness are hoping all Philadelphians will treat each other well on Oct. 27, the day after the Dalai Lama receives the Liberty Medal in Philly. “You pussies are asking for it,” says his holiness.

The fourth annual Diner en Blanc event takes place this Thursday at an undisclosed location. In case you’re confused, this is the disgusting public eating event without the Wingettes.

Adia Victoria

AR N E LI ST

Police investigators learn that a headstone found at a New Jersey bus terminal and believed to belong to a child — Max Ferreira, 1990-1998 — actually belongs to a rottweiler. “Oh, so now it’s not tragic anymore?” says Max’s ghost. “I’ll have you know I was, by all accounts, a very good boy.”

ADIA VICTORIA

Colleen Green

Steve Turre

With a gor geous ly raspy voice and a heart too weary for a soul so young, blues-rocker Adia Victoria is one of those forceof-nature performers you fall for right away. Listen to “Stuck in the South” — her thumping, buzzing theme song — and see if you’re not hooked. 8/21, Johnny Brenda’s, johnnybrendas. com.—Patrick Rapa

JIMMY KATZ

COLLEEN GREEN

Here’s one for the souls who suffer from severe par a noia and overall life freak-outs, but prefer to set it to a bubblegum soundtrack. Hardly Art Re cords musician Colleen Green has been ch u r n i n g o u t s w e e t pop tunes with a side of stoner since 2010. Her most recent record, I Wa n t t o G r o w U p (indeed, a Descendents reference), has a bigger, more produced sound than her past re leases and in cludes friends Jake Or rall of JEFF the Brotherhood and Casey Weissbuch of Diarrhea Planet. 8/21, The Pharmacy, thepharmacyphilly. org.—Cynthia Schemmer

A giant Phillies cap, placed on the William Penn statue when the Phillies went to the World Series in 1993, is for sale on eBay for $10,000. “Actually, that was mine,” says Placido Polanco.

The city is preparing to turn over control of the beleaguered President’s House exhibit — which sits over the original President’s House — to Independence National Historical Park. They, in turn, plan to build a President’s House Exhibit exhibit, to inform visitors about the logistical difficulties resulting from installing exhibits on historical sites.

RISK!

Kevin Allison’s easy laugh and warm demeanor are to of the most effic ient weapons in podcasting. An alum of leg end ary sketch group The State, Al lison has host ed the RISK! pod cast since 2009, en courag ing his guests to tell embarrassing, soul-baring, self-incriminating true stories by first telling his own. Disarmed, the other storytellers follow his lead, and we are free to applaud, cringe or nod knowingly. 8/21, Underground Arts, undergroundarts. org.—Patrick Rapa

STEVE TURRE QUINTET

Kevin Allison

A late-summer concert on the beach seems an ideal setting for Steve Turre. Not necessarily because of his main axe, the trombone, though the relaxed swing of his latest, Spiritman, would make a nice pairing with an ocean breeze. But it’s a perfect fit for his more exotic other specialty, the conch shell, which he wields with a throaty virtuosity the Lord of the Flies kids never could’ve imagined. 8/20,Chicken Bone Beach, Atlantic City, chickenbonebeach.org.—Shaun Brady

GENE SILVERS

more picks on p. 20

Officials at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility say their furniture shop is working on a special chair for the pope to sit on when he visits the prison next month. “A very special chair,” says one inmate. “A chair the pope won’t soon forget.” Then he laughed for awhile. Guess the guy likes making chairs.

The city’s Department of Commerce launches a resource center for local businesses with questions about how the pope’s visit will affect them. Unless you sell glocrosses and foam miters, the answer is “negatively.”

DANIELLE HOLBERT

QUICK PICKS

COLLEEN GREEN

THIS WEEK ’S TOTAL: +5 // THE YEAR SO FAR: -11

OUR WEEKLY QUALITY-OF-LIFE-O-METER

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THENAKEDCITY

NEWS // OPINION // POLI T ICS

FOOD FIGHT: This food truck, parked at 33rd and Market streets, is among those that would have to move to another spot or possibly off the Drexel campus entirely. MARK STEHLE

CITY STREETS

BY JERRY IANNELLI

VENDORS ANGRY ABOUT PROPOSED FOOD TRUCK CAPS

A proposed city law would cut the number of food trucks allowed on Drexel University’s campus to 35, and force vendors to pay $2,750 in fees. MIKE SULLIVAN’S FOOD TRUCK, the Cheese E. Wagon, typically sits on Market Street, between 33rd and 34th streets, just outside Drexel University’s law school. Sullivan’s truck sells grilled cheese sandwiches and quesadillas — its bottom half is painted cardboard brown, and the top is the color of Cheez Whiz, with gigantic brown bubbles splotching all over the sides. If the university has its way, however, Sullivan may not be parking there much longer: A bill introduced in City Council on June 18, before it recessed for the summer, could reduce the number of food trucks at Drexel, and corral them into three designated spots. Sullivan, 52, is a tall former Marine from South Philadelphia with a gray ponytail and wiry hair sprouting from his chin. Tattoos cover both of his arms. He’s been parking the truck here for the last two and a half years, and, ever since, says the university has been trying to figure out how to push him away. “The president of the university just don’t like the trucks here,” he says, standing in front of the Cheese E. Wagon. This year, Drexel began working with City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who represents University City and most of West Philadelphia, to create a “Drexel University District,” which would change virtually nothing about the campus, save when and where its food trucks are allowed to operate. At the moment, trucks that comply with rules set forth by the Department of Licenses and Inspections are allowed to park on public streets on the Drexel

campus — most vendors congregate in one of three places: outside Drexel’s Main Building on Ludlow Street; around the intersection of 33rd and Arch streets, or here, on Market Street. On the afternoon of Aug. 12, City Paper counted nearly 40 trucks or food carts vending on campus. However, the new legislation would limit the number of trucks on campus to 35, and force vendors to pay an annual $2,750 fee to reimburse the city for revenue it would allegedly lose in parking-meter fees. Though the bill was announced to little fanfare, a Reddit user last week complained about the bill on the website’s Drexel page and within hours, users had created a Change.org petition to “Save the Penn/ Drexel Food Trucks,” which as of Tuesday afternoon had 2,800 signatures. If adopted, the law would allow vendors in three locations — trucks that park regularly on Ludlow and Arch likely won’t have to move, but those that park on Market, like the Cheese E.Wagon, will be pushed into a corridor on 32nd Street, between Market and Chestnut streets. Only 10 vendors would be allowed in that space. “I know why they’re doing it,” Sullivan says. “They’ve got a bunch of new buildings going in, new restaurants, and they all suck. We’re out here giving kids cheap, good food, so they want us gone.” When this reporter visited, there were at least 10 trucks parked on and around Market Street, including different trucks selling smoothies, crepes, tacos,

continued on p.8

ENVIRONMENT

BY JON HURDLE

GREEN GROUP CRITICIZES GAPS IN OILTRAIN SAFETY REPORT T H E D E L AWA R E R I V E R K E E P E R Network (DRN), an environmental group that has been a leading opponent of oil trains, said a report commissioned by Gov. Tom Wolf was too narrow in scope, and said nothing about the removal of volatile gases or the reduction in the length of trains, both of which it said could make them safer. DRN also called for the immediate removal of DOT-111 and CP-1232 classes of tank cars, both of which have been involved in recent accidents, noting that the measure was not included in the list of recommendations in the report released Monday. And a proposed 35 mph speed limit that was advised in the report would not be sufficient for the DOT-111 cars because they are known to puncture at 8 mph, the group said. DRN’s deputy director, Tracy Carluccio, also called for oil-train movements to be shared with members of the public who would be affected in a disaster, not just with an increasing number of emergency responders, as proposed in the report. “The people who live along the tracks, whose neighborhoods and workplaces are in the path of these trains, are those who will be most affected by a derailment and yet they are kept in the dark about what is being carried on the tracks, where it is going and when,” she said. In his report for Wolf, Allan Zarembski, a railsafety expert from the University of Delaware, called for the railroads to install more technology, strengthen tank cars, conduct more inspections and cut speeds through densely populated areas like Philadelphia. He also recommended that state inspectors look more closely at potential sources of derailment, including tracks, and for emergencymanagement services to be better prepared for a derailment or explosion. Zarembski said the report was designed to be a practical guide that is based on available measures that can be immediately implemented. The report called on railroads to voluntarily reduce oil-train speeds to 35 mph in cities with a population of more than 100,000 people. That’s slower than new federal standards for “high-hazard flammable trains,” published in May, which set a limit of 40 mph in urban areas and 50 mph nationally. During a conference call with reporters, Zarembski acknowledged that railroads such as Norfolk Southern and CSX that haul oil trains through Philadelphia are already working on some of the measures proposed, but he urged them to do more. “Yes, the railroads are doing many of the things that we say but the question is, can we get the railroads to do it at a level where we can reduce the risk further?” he asked. (editorial@citypaper.net)

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continued f rom p.6

VENDORS ANGRY ABOUT PROPOSED FOOD TRUCK CAPS

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halal meat, cheesesteaks, cookies, Brazilian barbecue and venison. Drexel spokesperson Niki Gianakaris repeatedly declined to answer specific questions from City Paper about the bill. On Aug. 11, the university released a statement supporting the bill, saying, among other things, that it would allow the university to better fit the trucks into its strategic plans moving forward, that it would ensure that all vendors were properly licensed and that “pedestrian safety” would improve, despite the fact that, according to PlanPhilly’s pedestrian crash map, pedestrians on Drexel’s campus are no less safe than those in Center City. When pressed, the university provided a written statement to City Paper saying that there would be space for “the same number of vendors currently operating on the Drexel campus,” and that the bill is similar to one passed in the 1990s that regulates trucks on the University of Pennsylvania campus, though that law allows for up to 100 vendors. At Drexel, however, all of the truck owners City Paper spoke to were angry about both the number of vendors that would be allowed if the legislation is adopted — all said it was far too low — and the university’s reasons for implementing it. Josh Kim, who has been parking his Spot Burger cart at 33rd and Arch streets since 2011, says that the bill is simply a way for the university to exert control over small businesses operating in the area. “If someone doesn’t like you, they try to control you,” he says. “But if you stop new trucks from entering, you will eventually get the landscape you see in University City or Center City, where the hot dog you get at one cart is exactly the same as any other. I have kids from Penn who walk all the way up here at lunch, and it’s not because I’m the cheapest — I’m one of the most expensive vendors out here.” Likewise, Brian DiMatteo, who runs a venison truck called Lost in theWoods that was parked on Market Street, said the bill is simply a way to “cut out small businesses that don’t pay any money to the university.” He says he already pays the city health-inspection fees and licensing fees. Plus, he says, the truck, which is only four months old, cost tens of thousands to get running. “I was going to apply to Drexel’s law school,” he says, “but I don’t think I’m going to anymore.” If any of the trucks want to leave, they won’t find much space available around town: The city’s other food truck oasis, Temple University, has also begun requiring vendors to register for spots. In June, City Council passed a bill to create a “Temple University Food Truck District,” which limited the number of trucks on Temple’s Main Campus to 50. Deb Dasani, who owns the Indian food truck Samosa Deb, says no truck was kicked out or forced to move under Temple’s plan, though there is no longer any space for new trucks to enter. “In some ways, it’s good,” she said, noting that she won’t have to worry about competing for spots on campus anymore. “But I like to roam in the summer months, because there’s nothing happening on the campus, so that will be hard.” The push to regulate free-roaming food trucks seems to make little sense nationally. David Weber, the president of the New York City Food Truck Association, says there “isn’t a similar precedent” of universities trying to control food trucks in that city. However, trucks are forced to rent spots in parks, he says — a 2009 Slate article said spots are routinely sold on the sly for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Back at the Cheese E. Wagon, a customer walks up to the truck and begins study ing its chalk board menu. Sullivan enters the truck, and beckons me to follow him in — a refrigerator sits humming in front of the doorway, and he has to turn sideways to get by. The ceiling inside is maybe an inch taller than Sullivan himself, and the space so narrow that he can’t fully extend his arms to either side. He has to duck his head to use the grill. “When I started parking on this street, there was no body here,” Sul livan says. “Everyone thought it was illegal. But I found out it was a ‘gray zone’ where you could park, and then every body else start ed coming here. When I started, the university came out and told me I couldn’t park here, that they’d call L&I. And I told ’em to go for it. “And they had the cops here, had L&I here, but they couldn’t kick me off. So then these bike racks showed up.” Rows of gleaming, metal bike racks, shaped like upside-down Us, line the curb along Market Street. They sit perpendicular to the road, and don’t exactly block pedestrians from the street as much as they make it cumbersome to cross to his truck. “These racks are all empty,” he says. “The students ain’t using them.” (jerry@citypaper.net, @jerryiannelli)

I know why they’re doing it. They’ve got a bunch of new buildings going in, new restaurants, and they all suck. We’re out here giving kids cheap, good food, so they want us gone.

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13 // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER

HISTORY UNFOLDS THIS SUMMER at the

3 CHAPTERS IN THE STORY OF We the People

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PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // CI T YPAPER .NET

▶

BY A.D. AMOROSI PHOTOS BY NEAL SANTOS ▶

Freeway The Philly rapper on faith, Freddie Gray and finding the next level. Philadelphia rapper Freeway is 37 years old and at the top of his game. “I’m the best I’ve been in my life,” says the man with the craggy voice and hip-hop’s most luxurious beard, calling from his house in Montgomery County. “The stuff I am creating, the man that I am — and I am not boastful.” Leslie Pridgen, aka Freeway, is coming off a 12-month stretch in which he expanded his audience and his horizons, inside and outside the music scene. And the next 12 months should be even bigger, with a new album ready to drop and a reunion with his old pal Beanie Sigel in the works. “I’m open to it all,” he says. That next record, Free Will — finished and ready for a surprise release on the Babygrande label sometime soon — will signal a sea change for Freeway. “There’s so much more to me now and I’m finally open to it; the travels I have undertaken and the things that I have been through. There’s elevation and motivation in all of that which I hope that I can show. I think my new music, my new attitude, will be a breath of fresh air — unlike anything you’ve ever heard from me. It will inspire people.”

C I T Y PA P E R . N ET // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER

reeway’s rhyming mettle was forged in the halls of Kensington High School and during freestyle rap battles at clubs in North Philly. That’s where he met and impressed Beanie Sigel, leading to the formation of the short-lived but much-respected group State Property with Peedi Crakk, Young Gunz and several other rappers and singers. State Property released two records for Jay-Z’s RocA-Fella label, both of which went to number one on the Billboard r&b/hip-hop charts. Already splintering, the group officially broke up in 2004 around the time Sigel went to jail for the first time. Since then, Freeway’s been best known as a solo artist, with four records including Free at Last from 2007 and Diamond In the Ruff from 2012. “I do my dirt all by my lonely and I got the heart to fight/ So please refrain from hatin’ on me, before I turn out ya lights.” So goes the chorus of “Turn Out the Lights,” produced by Kanye West for 2002’s Philadelphia Freeway. Free’s music has always expressed a certain duality. On the one hand, he’s a streets-is-hard rapper with a little bit of jail time in his past (gun and drug charges). On the other hand, he’s a devout Muslim — something that comes out in many of his songs, like “When They Remember,” which nods to his hot “Islamic style” and “the brother Muhammad.” His outspokenness about his faith is part of what separates him from his hip-hop peers. “Which is good,” Freeway says softly. “Maybe these things separate me from the pack, but as long as what I’m saying is the truth and [I write lyrics] from the heart, I’m OK with it.” He is who he is. “Free stays in his lane in every way, personally and professionally,” says manager and friend Gary Parker. “I think that’s what first comes across when you see him.” Last year, Parker and Freeway went into business selling Better Beard Cream, and will soon expand into other grooming/health-care products. Freeway jokes that he is “the beard of hip-hop,” so he needs to represent. Before the year ends, he and Parker plan to launch a clothing line as well. It’s all about providing for his two kids and growing the Freeway brand. “He is a brand,” says Parker. “So many people support and love him.”

Says Freeway, who’s proud of his entrepreneurial side, “I have that spirit. We can do anything we want. So can you, you know.” ome of what’s different about Freeway’s sound can be traced to his collaboration with Pittsburgh DJ/producer Girl Talk, aka Gregg Gillis. Last year, the pair released the Broken Ankles EP, in which the rapper’s incendiary rapping style was recontextualized in a dreamy collage of angular rhythms and layered, sample-heavy sequences. “What I do is very close to hip-hop production,” says Gillis. “[I] wanted to work with someone whose work is consistently definitive yet different and inter-

“I think my new music, my new attitude, will be a breath of fresh air — unlike anything you’ve ever heard from me. It will inspire people.” esting, whose voice and lyrics I liked and whose flow could work with my stuff and sounds good on a variety of different beats.” The only name on his short list was Freeway. He was surprised by the rapper’s willingness to experiment. “I think he wanted to open up,” says Gillis. “He’s always evolving yet you never hear of him jumping on any trend or sound. … While certain rappers sound good on one beat, he sounds good with everything: soul samples, cold synth stuff. Since my projects are diverse, he was the man for me.” Broken Ankles led to fun videos, for “Lived It” and “Tolerated” and live gigs like a spot at the Coachella

music festival. This opened Freeway up to fans outside the rap world. “Look, I didn’t know much about Girl Talk, but like [with] the beard cream, once I started my research, I liked what I found and had to get near it.” And suddenly the side project was influencing the main gig. “That was a mad sound,” Freeway says of Girl Talk’s spooky aesthetic. “Free Will certainly sounds different than my other work because of Girl Talk.” There’s the track “Pressure” with guest star and snarly old friend Lil Wayne. “That cut is bananas,” says Free about that tune’s cut-and-paste feel. There’s a song with OG Philly rapper Schoolly D that Free insists will shock hip-hop fans, old school and new. There’s a bell-bonging, sand dancing “Monster Freestyle” with Freeway protégé Scholito. The singles that have dropped in advance of Free Will — such as the rollicking “B Real Freestyle,” video shot outside City Hall — seem to demonstrate a new stateliness in delivery and tone. “I think that I am getting older, more mature,” says Freeway. “I mean, we still turn up, but doing it calmly has its merits too. I think it’s a mood thing.” Perhaps the most eye-opening track is the jazzy, spacey “Illuminate,” an inspirational cut dedicated to the spirit of Black activism. Freeway’s been vocal in his support of the Black Lives Matter movement. “It’s important for me to be heard,” he says. “People are looking to me to say something.” n May, Freeway drove to Baltimore with the Justice League NYC and the National Stop the Killing Committee behind him. The occasion was a conversation with the community, family and friends, around the late Freddie Gray, a Black man who died after suffering a spinal-cord injury while in police custody; just as so many other Black men have been killed by police within the last 24 months. “I know what they’re going through,” says Free, who put his handprint on a memorial mural for Gray and took part in a three-mile Peace Walk. “My cousin died at the hands of police in Philly.” Raheem Pridgen was 27 when he was shot and killed by Philadelphia Police officers in 2007. “Police said he had a gun and that they shot him for that, but no gun was ever found,” Free says quietly. “Nothing happened with the case. Cops never got indicted and

PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // CI T YPAPER .NET

I’m sure they’re back on the job and working again. The police went on with their lives and that was that. My family was left to pick up the pieces, affected by it as they were — everyone lives another day. I wanted to relay my feelings about my situation to the Grays, that all is not lost.” That said, Freeway does not have problems with the police.

“It’s important for me to be heard. People are looking to me to say something.” “I’m a respectful member of the community who pays his taxes and minds his own business who just wants to raise his family and live a life. I have a friend that I grew up with who is a police officer who I love dearly. We all have a job to do. I only have problems with people who are corrupt, who are not doing the right thing. That’s anybody.” Free’s early music featured a series of hard-luck-life soliloquies and dramatic streetscapes filled with hustlers, hos and crime. There were also deep reverent references to his Muslim roots, a faith bolstered by trips to Mecca and Medina for umrah. “It’s all about balance in whatever you do,” says the rapper. “The streets are important. My faith is important.” Mention to him the possibility of religious beliefs being a problem to those who may not adhere to his Muslim faith (or any faith at all) and he doesn’t seem to care. “Because it is true, truth, my truth. If you like me or want to like me, there it is. I write what I feel always.” ight now, Freeway is everywhere. Last March, Free popped up onstage at the Wells Fargo Center during Meek Mill’s returnfrom-jail gig, and wrapped an arm around his old, young pal. The two will pair up for a record soon, he says. In May, Free met up with his old label boss Jay-Z at the B-SIDES concert in Brooklyn with a reunited Roc-AFella family, including Memphis Bleek, Young Gunz and his old friend and State Property brother, Beanie Sigel. In June, Free jumped up on the TLA stage to rap at Beans’ welcome home show after a long hospitalization. “We’re gonna do more stuff, me and Beans, us with State Property,” says Freeway. They’ve got tour dates in September and October with possible recordings next year. “Beans and I have taken different journeys in our life, but I’m proud to say he’s healthier than ever and ready to go.” And there’s talk of more tracks with Girl Talk, too. And why not? It introduced him to new sounds and new fans. “I slapped a lot of hands at Coachella. That was fun. I never believed that was an audience that I could touch,” says Freeway. “There were audiences out there for me that I never knew existed.” (editorial@citypaper.net)

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17 // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER

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MOVIESHORTS

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THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL

AWAKENINGS: Kristen Wiig, newcomer Bel Powley and Alexander Skarsgard star in The Diary of a Teenage Girl.

/ B+ / “I had sex today.” The simple declaration that opens The Diary of a Teenage Girl takes us past the art-house mythology of a young woman’s deflowering and into its complicated aftermath. Adapting Phoebe Gloeckner’s lightly fictionalized graphic novel, Marielle Heller makes her directorial debut with a frank account of the power and the danger of youth. Although Heller played protagonist Minnie Goetze herself off-Broadway, she casts newcomer Bel Powley in the part here, and it’s a major discovery. Powley, now 23, is some distance from Minnie’s 15, but she captures the awkwardness of a young person still growing into her own body, examining herself in the mirror with the clinical eye of a disapproving artist. It’s the mid-1970s in San Francisco, and love is still free, but the idealism of the 1960s has given way to a less tethered, more hedonistic approach to breaking society’s chains. When Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard) finds himself attracted to Minnie, the daughter of his girlfriend, Charlotte (Kristen Wiig), there’s nothing to tell

him to stop: They’re all beautiful — and too high to know what’s going on half the time, anyway. Diary walks a delicate line between empowering Minnie’s exploration of her own sexuality and delineating the precise ways in which her relationship with Monroe is grossly unequal (not to mention just gross). It’s deeply unsettling, but the movie sticks with Minnie’s point of view, in which the full range of Monroe’s betrayal dawns only gradually and is eventually filed away as just one more thing that makes Minnie the artist we know she will eventually become. Heller uses brief spates of animation to replicate the mixed-media format of Gloeckner’s book, and though the movie is, perhaps necessarily, a softened version, Powley’s performance alone makes the film worthy of note. It’s rare to see an American movie that addresses a subject like this with such clear eyes, neither amoral nor moralizing, and staying true to its subject’s perspective even when it’s painful. —Sam Adams (Ritz East)

PHILADELPHIA CIT Y PAPER // AUGUST 20 - AUGUST 26, 2015 // CIT YPAPER.NET

REPERTORY FILM

BY DREW LAZOR

Film events and special screenings.

CLARK PARK

4398 Chester Ave., universitycity.org. The Incredibles (2004, U.S., 115 min.): University City District kicks off its late-summer screening series by showing Pixar’s best movie. Adults and kids are encouraged to come in costume as their favorite superheroes for a chance to win prices. Fri., Aug. 21, dusk, free. GREAT PLAZA AT PENN’S LANDING

101 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., 215-9222FUN, delawareriverwaterfront.com. The Goonies (1985, U.S., 114 min.): “Screenings Under the Stars” continues with this ‘80s kid classic. Thu. Aug. 20, 8 p.m., free.

FILM SHORTS

LA PEG

MERU // B+

140 N. Columbus Blvd., 215-375-7744, lapegbrasserie.com. Dirty Dancing (1987, U.S., 100 min.): “I carried a watermelon.” Wed., Aug. 26, 8:30 p.m., free.

The Himalayan mountain called Meru, towering nearly 22,000 feet above northern India, is known as the “anti-Everest” in climbing communities. While it’s not nearly as notorious as that widowmaker, its tactical complexities and spiritual significance make it an elusive, exclusive draw among hardcore alpinists. Directed by climber/photographer Jimmy Chin and his wife, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Meru capitalizes on the staggering grandeur of the peak but ultimately sides with the human camp in the complex man-versus-nature struggle. In 2008, Chin and climbers Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk made their first attempt at dominating Meru’s “Shark’s Fin,” a nearunscalable wall that ultimately defeated them. But, since “the best alpinists are the ones with the worst memory,” as Chin puts it, the climbers return three years later for a second attempt. In the sporting sense, the redemptive overtones are obvious, but Chin and Vasarhelyi do elegant work peeling back the psychological layers buffering work life and life life. Anker wrestles with survivor’s remorse over the deaths of his mentor and a former climbing partner, simultaneously strengthened and shaken up by their fates. Ozturk’s personal battle pits him against a near-paralytic injury, while Chin lets us in on how his strict

PFS MOVIES ON THE BLOCK

Kingsessing Playground, 51st Street and Chester Avenue, filmadelphia.org/mob. Zarafa (2012, France/Belgium, 78 min.): A 10-year-old African boy fights to bring his friend, a baby giraffe, back home after a journey through Europe. This screening, which will be preceded by games, activities and musical performances, is part of the Philadelphia Film Society’s roving “Movies on the Block” series. Sat., Aug. 22, 8 p.m. (activities start at 6 p.m.), free. PFS THEATER AT THE ROXY

2023 Sansom St., 267-639-9508, filmadelphia. org/roxy. After the Rehearsal (1984, Sweden, 70 min.): A no-nonsense theater director reflects on his life and exploits. A 35 mm screening. Mon., Aug. 24, 2 p.m., and Tue., Aug. 25, 2 and 7:30 p.m., $8-$10. Persona (1966, Sweden, 83 min.): Ingmar Bergman explores the complex relationship between a nurse (Bibi Andersson) and the ailing actress (Liv Ullmann) in her care. A 35 mm screening. Wed., Aug. 26, 2 p.m., $8. PHILAMOCA

531 N. 12th St., 267-519-9651, philamoca.org. Phone It In: An evening featuring nothing but submitted shorts of three minutes or less, all shot on phones. Thu., Aug. 20, 9 p.m., $5. RITZ AT THE BOURSE

400 Ranstead St., 215-440-1181, landmarktheatres.com. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, U.K., 100 min.): Featuring Transylvanian Nipple Productions, Philly’s very own Rocky Horror shadowcast. Fri., Aug. 21, midnight, $10. TROCADERO THEATRE

1003 Arch St., 215-922-6888, thetroc.com. Jurassic Park (1993, U.S., 127 min.): “Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet’s ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that’s found his dad’s gun.” Mon., Aug. 24, 8 p.m., $3.

Chinese-American upbringing clashes with his unlikely career path. These sensitive, welltuned revelations, cast against the dark side of placing your life in the hands of another, equally fallible human, set Meru apart from the average outdoor documentary. —Drew Lazor (Ritz at the Bourse)

citypaper.net/movies

PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // CI T YPAPER .NET

SOUL/R&B

EVENTS

: AUGUST 2O - AUGUST 26 :

GET OU T T HERE

BILAL

Released back in May, the moody and groovy single “Satellites” was proof that Philly neo-soul alum Bilal is still an amazing singer but, judging by the video having fewer than 40,000 hits on YouTube in all that time, he’s no closer to scoring the mainstream attention he deserves. A shame, but maybe not unexpected; Bilal’s always had a weird streak, has always seemed to be driven by forces greater and more interesting than mere radio readiness. With about a minute to go, “Satellites” switches from a pleading, agonizing ballad to a funk-driven freak-out. In the video, Bilal chokes and sputters on a beach while a dude in a wolf headdress dances in jubilation. Nobody does it like Bilal. —Patrick Rapa

8.20

FIBBER FEATURING MARA WILSON

$5 // Thu., Aug. 20, 8 p.m., PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., philamoca.org.

STORYTELLING OK, you know who Mara Wilson is. She was Matilda, the precocious young reader with telekinesis and the daughter of a big asshole dad (Danny DeVito). No? She was Natalie, the precocious young daughter of Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, and the last of his kids to find out his Big Secret. No? She was Susan in Miracle on 34th Street! Dude, what kind of childhood did you have? Well anyway, since we’re all wrinkled old raisins, she’s 28 now, she wrote a book and she’s participating in Five Dollar Comedy’s Fibber show, where four storytellers share an anecdote, and the audience has to figure out who’s lying. Matilda would never, ever lie to us, so you can eliminate her right off. —Mikala Jamison

‘COOL SHELTER’ EXHIBITION Free // Through Sat., Aug. 22, Paradigm, 746 S. Fourth St., paradigmarts.org. VISUAL ART You’ve only got three more days to check out this ridiculous-impressive artwork by Luke O’Sullivan. What he says: “I create drawings and sculptures of fantastical urban environments … often inspired by dystopian and science fiction films. … Early Nintendo games, animations and maps of caves help shape my imagination.” We say: We’re going to need you to be the artistic director on a big-budget post-apocalyptic action film, Luke. The “Cool

Shelter” pieces are a combo of 2-D and 3-D, and are screen-printed drawings and patterns on carved wood. They’re intricate, technically skilled, unique and, indeed, cool. —Mikala Jamison

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

$15 // Through Aug. 30, Mechanical Theater at Powel House, 244 S. Third St., 215-925-2251, philalandmarks.org. LUKE O’SULLIVAN

thursday

THEATER Josh Hitchens — whose recent BrainSpunk Theatre production of Mercury Fur was violent, raw and in-your-face disturbing — does a complete

180 with Shakespeare’s romantic comedy about Benedick and Beatrice, who everyone thinks belong together even though they can’t stand each other. Hitchens’ 90-minute, moderndress version plays in Powel House’s idyllic garden, which he has visited often over the past decade as a Ghost Tour of Philadelphia guide. “The entire play is set in the garden of a house that people love and feel joy in being a part of, a place where a raucous party can be thrown and people can enjoy one another’s company, fight, make up and get married,” says Hitchens, “so I

IN ANOTHER LIFE: $$10 ($3 with RSVP) Thu., Aug. 20, 8 p.m., with Son Little and Kate Faust, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org, redbullsoundselect.com. couldn’t imagine a better setting.” The play moves inside if it rains. —Mark Cofta

f riday

8.21 HIRAM-MAXIM

$6 // Fri., Aug. 21, 8 p.m., with Wizard

Eye, Heavy Temple and Old Indian, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com. METAL/DOOM Despite being dead for a hundred years, inventor Hiram Maxim still has better Google cred than the Cleveland doom-gaze band that adopted his

C I T Y PA P E R . N ET // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER

suburban teens broke into liquor cabinets while The Good Lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debut, Novena on a Nocturn, played loud in the foyer. Tonight, we rally for those kids, who hopefully have liquor cabinets of their own by now. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Nikki Volpicelli SHERVIN LAINEZ

Andrea Wood

name. For fans of the man, who invented a machine gun (and a preEdison lightbulb), this probably sounds about right. But fans of the band can tell you, his days are numbered. Armed with heavy-as-lead riffs, dramatic banshee vocals and looong-ass songs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and alive in the era of search engine optimization â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Hiram-Maxim will be recognized. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Patrick Rapa

MOVIES IN CLARK PARK Free // Fri., Aug. 21, dusk, Clark Park, 4398 Chester Ave., universitycity.org. MOVIES Phillyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got a lot of outdoor movie screenings this summer (see also: Dilworth Park, FringeArts, Liberty Lands Park, etc.), so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more about finding a screening thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where you wanna

be and what you wanna see. Clark Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adding to your options: From Aug. 21 through Sept. 18, there are movies at dusk there on Friday nights. Bring your chair and blanket, and enjoy food and treats from vendors. On Aug. 21, see The Incredibles, one of the Pixar flicks that made it OK for a grownup to laugh/cry at and/ or love animated movies. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Mikala Jamison

saturday

8.22

DEAD HEAVENS $12 // Sat., Aug. 22, 9 p.m., with Gondola and Don Devore, Johnny Brendaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com. ROCK/POP The unkillable Walter Schreifels, whose career spans

several punk epochs (see Quicksand, Moondog, Gorilla Biscuits, Rival Schools, etc.), is back with another loud-ashell post-hardcore band, right? Or not really? Everything Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard from Dead Heavens so far is both catchier and moodier than expected. Metal, maybe, but of the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;70s/Sabbath kind. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Patrick Rapa

wednesday

8.26

ANDRĂ&#x2030;A WOOD

$10 // Wed., Aug. 26, 8 p.m., Chrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jazz CafĂŠ, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, chrisjazzcafe.com. JAZZ Vocalist AndrĂŠa Wood has the sort of willowy, expressive voice that once could have earned her a spot on adult contemporary charts alongside

Karen Carpenter or Rita Coolidge. But her second CD, Kaleidoscope (Biophilia), also reveals the D.C. nativeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to take imaginative flight with a melody, especially when engaging with her group â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a true band, not bored sidemen backing a singer. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enough to make an almost-convincing case for placing â&#x20AC;&#x153;Call Me Maybeâ&#x20AC;? in the jazz repertoire. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Shaun Brady

LA LUZ $12 // Wed., Aug. 26, 8 p.m., with Scully and Pretty Greens, Underground Arts at the Wolf Building, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org. ROCK/POP Surf rock and airy girl-group harmonies typically

conjure up sunny, summery vibes, but this Seattle four-piece clearly prefers the dark end of the beach. Their Ty Segall-produced sophomore jaunt, Weirdo Shrine (Hardly Art), is a decidedly overcast affair; between Shana Clevelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spooky, deadpan vocals and classically twanging Wray/Dale-style leads, and Alice Sandahlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rickety organ, the mood is darkly atmospheric and shiver-inducing on roughed-up rawkers and wistful ballads alike. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;K. Ross Hoffman

citypaper.net/events

sunday

8.23 THE GOOD LIFE

$15 // Sun., Aug. 23, 8:30 p.m., with Big Harp, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 215232-2100, utphilly.com. ROCK/POP Tim Kasher founded The Good Life back in Y2K as a way to break the songwriting bounds that held him back in his main band, Cursive. Back then,

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PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // CI T YPAPER .NET

FOOD&DRINK

REVIEWS // OPENIN GS // LIST IN GS // RECIPES

WHIP IT: Brick and Mortar’s heirloom tomato salad with whipped cream and olive oil. MARIA S. YOUNG

BRICK AND MORTAR // 315 N. 12th St., 215-923-1596, bamphilly.com. Dinner: Sun.-Wed., 5 p.m.-12 a.m.; Thu.-Sat., 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Brunch: Sun., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Bar: nightly, 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

REVIEW

BY ADAM ERACE

CREATURE COMFORTS

The latest addition to the Loft District relies on reasonable prices, easy-drinking cocktails and chef Brian Ricci’s spice savvy to draw in repeat customers. “MAY WE NEVER be out of spirits” is as good a motto for a bar as I’ve heard, and the bar is a critical component of Loft District newcomer Brick and Mortar, where the saying scrolls around a concrete column covered in graffiti. I study the mural’s interlacing reds and blues from a horseshoe banquette as roomy as the backseat of an Escalade. Horns grace the head of an impala on the mural, grand corkscrews twisting out the back of its skull. The creature, Brick and Mortar’s mascot, stares placidly through me. Its gaze seems fixed on my Bamboo cocktail, a beguiling amber elixir of white vermouth, amontillado sherry, simple syrup and bitters. The drink is stirred with ice and strained into an Old Fashioned glass — or served down, in au courant barspeak — before meeting an aromatic peel of orange. The Bamboo is easy drinking. It falls under the “Session” category of head bartender Christina Rando’s cocktail menu, a small collection in which fortified wines are the throughline. Here you’ll also find the Back Stabbin’ Betty, a canary-colored vodka/Lillet featherweight touched with lemon cordial and pink peppercorn tincture. No matter how much I love a Manhattan, this is the stuff I want to drink when it’s 89 degrees out at 9:30 at night.

The heat feels especially palpable in the warren of empty alleys surrounding Brick and Mortar’s home, the ground floor of the snazzy new Goldtex apartment building. This long-emerging neighborhood is on the verge of tipping thanks to developments like Goldtex, Union Transfer, the forthcoming Reading Viaduct park and a smattering of new restaurants, but, as BAM’s chef, Brian Ricci, puts it, “While the area is growing, there’s still not a ton of foot traffic.” Which made it critical to keep the prices reasonable for his menu of skewers, small plates and butcher cuts cooked on a French rotisserie. “We want to be the place where guests come in two, three times a week.” What restaurant doesn’t? But for BAM, it’s less a best-case scenario than a lifeor-death imperative. This restaurant is big (3,000 square feet) and took a very long time to open (almost a year). Fortunately, even on this late, steamy Tuesday — pretty much the deadest night in the restaurant biz — there’s more than a smattering of customers hanging at the gorgeous hemlock-slab bar, and several large groups dig into heirloom vegetable boards and whole chickens in the dining room. For owner Mike Welsh, former founder of Franklin Mortgage, BAM’s function is to be the Loft District’s “third space,” a hospitality buzz-phrase that’s “not where you live and not where you work but that other place you go to,” according to Ricci. I always enjoyed Ricci’s cooking at Kennett, where he was the chef from opening day, but my first bite from him at BAM is unsettling: a skewered morsel of hoisin-marinated hanger steak that’s like chewing on jump rope. Fortunately, it’s just a couple bucks, and the other grilled bites on this skewer-centric part of the menu fare better. Pork loin glistens medium-rare. Curry leaves, coriander and mint harmonize on caramelized chicken thighs. Each two-bite kebab comes with a tiny pile of Maldon salt and a teeny lime wedge, like a tequila shot but with meat. Ricci’s confidence with spice becomes a common thread stitching this meal together, from the hot, crispy french fries freckled with Ethiopian berbere to the rock shrimp simmered in cavalier tomato curry that rockets from sour (tamarind) to sweet (jaggery) to spicy (ginger) and back — a “palate workout,”

Ricci calls it. (Back in the day, he cooked at Danny Meyer’s upscale Indian restaurant, Tabla, in New York.) Ricci’s got a refreshingly original version of the tomato salad every chef is doing right now, topping Queens Farm’s multicolored heirlooms with whipped, olive oil-enriched cream that’s like a lighter, richer ricotta. Anise hyssop is a fun break from basil. Sherry and white port substitute for oil and vinegar. Crusty baguette croutons hide beneath the tomatoes, soaking up all the juices and dressing without losing their texture. Vivid chermoula helps a side of summer squash upstage its plate mate, slices of rolled, rotisserie-roasted leg of lamb that need salt. Actually, when you consider the additional grilled corn dusted in a mix of brown sugar, smoked chile and lime zest that is also part of this entree, the lamb is probably the least effective item in the dish. Later, peaches too dry from grilling doom a dessert that also features honey ice cream and almond praline. Better to opt for the sticky toffee muffin, a moist English date cake Ricci’s been baking since his Kennett days. A snowball of ethereal salted bergamot ice cream rests on top, cutting the richness.

‘Ricci’s conf idence with spice becomes a common thread stitching this meal together.’ For all of Ricci’s mastery of berbere, bergamot and all flavorings in between, my favorite dish at BAM is probably the simplest: housemade cavatelli that harken back to his Italian heritage. He does the hand-cranked pasta cacio e pepe, with a storm of grated pecorino and crushed black pepper. They’re perfectly al dente, spartan in composition but luxe in flavor. Or as my dinner guest puts it, mid-forkful, “This is some Vetri shit.” May we never be out of spirits? More like may we never be out of pasta. (aerace.citypaper@gmail.com, @AdamErace)

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AUG. 20 - AUG. 26, 2015 // CIT YPAPER.NET

STAPLES

BY CAROLYN WYMAN

The stories behind Philadelphia’s signature dishes.

THE CAKE SHAKE GET IT: $5.50 at SquareBurger, Franklin Square, 200 Sixth St., 215629-4026, historicphiladelphia.org. IN THE PANTHEON of Philly drinks, it ranks up there with fish house punch, the Citywide and Rocky’s raw-egg breakfast. Consisting of two Tastykake Krimpet butterscotch cupcakes blended with milk and caramel syrup and topped with whipped cream, the Cake Shake was the big hit of SquareBurger’s menu when the Stephen Starr burger stand opened in the Franklin Square kiddy park in summer 2009. SquareBurger has been called Starr’s Philadelphia take on Danny Meyer’s New York park-born Shake Shack. And you might assume the Cake Shake was based on Shake Shack’s namesake frozen custard drinks. But Shane Cash, who helped develop the menu for SquareBurger when he worked for Starr, says the Cake Shake was actually inspired by the Twinkie Boy, a shake that debuted at chef Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Burger in Greenwich Village in 2006 and that grew to be so important to the eventual BLT Burger chain that it became the subject of a courtroom custody battle after Tourondel and business partner Jimmy Haber split in 2010. “While we were brainstorming ideas, somebody said, ‘There’s a Twinkie shake that’s really popular in NewYork,’” Cash recalls. Cash’s mind immediately went to Philadelphia’s own sponge cake treat. Given Starr’s interest in local ingredients and SquareBurger’s location in a popular historic park, it was a plus that a Tastykake shake “shouted Philadelphia,” says Cash. Except for the brand and number of namesake cakes (the Cake Shake contains two cakes to the Twinkie Boy’s one because “Krimpets are smaller,” Cash explains), the original Cake Shake pretty much mimicked the Twinkie Boy recipe. That explains the puzzle of its caramel answer to butterscotch syrup. SquareBurger switched from ice cream to frozen custard, including in its shakes, in 2012. “It’s richer,” SquareBurger executive chef Jason Goodman explains. As if the Cake Shake needed that. MAKE IT • 3 scoops vanilla ice cream or frozen custard • 2 Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets, broken up • 3/4 cup milk • 2 tablespoons caramel or butterscotch sauce or syrup • Whipped cream

Put ice cream, Krimpets, milk and 1 tablespoon of the sauce into a blender and process to desired smoothness/chunkiness. Squirt or drizzle the rest of the caramel sauce along the inner edge of a large clear glass or cup so that it drips down in an attractive way. Pour the shake into the glass. Top with whipped cream. Serves 1. (cwyman@citypaper.net)

COMING

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PHILADELPHIA CIT Y PAPER // AUGUST 20 - AUGUST 26, 2015 // CIT YPAPER.NET

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PHILADELPHIA CIT Y PAPER // AUGUST 20 - AUGUST 26, 2015 // CIT YPAPER.NET

Rachel Kramer Bussel is the author of the essay collection Sex & Cupcakes and editor of over 50 erotica anthologies, most recently Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica.

LET’S GET IT ON

BY RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL

Looking back, I think the number one thing that made it a fun party for me was my unbridled enthusiasm.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A SEX PART Y

I’LL NEVER FORGET my first sex party. I was about 22, way out of my comfort zone in law school (I eventually dropped out), and more eager to explore cocks than contracts. I was at an anything-goes time in my life, so when an old friend told me that her friend was hosting a party a few blocks from my dorm, of course I wanted to go. The setting wasn’t a glamorous club, but a regular apartment, albeit one with room for the dozen or so guests — no easy feat in New York. My friend and I were the only solo women there; everyone else was coupled up — swinger friends, I’d later learn, of the hosts. Armed with youthful enthusiasm, I didn’t mind —in fact, I jumped right in. I don’t remember what I wore, mainly because before too long, I wound up naked. When the call went out for someone to lie naked on the kitchen island, I was more than happy to volunteer. I loved being the center of attention, and the new thrill of having multiple hands on me at once, not knowing who was touching me where. I didn’t have to worry about whether they were judging me or what they’d think of me the next day, because I’d probably never see them again. My friend standing nearby was the source of my only discomfort: I didn’t want her to see me naked. (Yes, you can be bold and shy at the same time.) The highlight was when someone took a Kegelcisor, a metal barbell used to strengthen vaginal muscles, out of the freezer and gave it to one of the people surrounding me. I felt utterly wanton having a stranger insert an ice-cold toy inside me, not to mention the shock to my system (a good shock, I should add). Looking back, I think the number one thing that made it a fun party for me was my unbridled enthusiasm. I wasn’t thinking about how much I weighed or how I looked naked or the state of my pubic hair. I wasn’t wondering if I’d come across as slutty or bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a date. I just went where the night took me. Though that’s probably not what I would do today, I admire my younger self’s chutzpah. That’s not to say you have to be the center of attention to have a successful sex party experience. In the subsequent years, I’ve actually discovered I’m much more of a voyeur than an exhibitionist. I enjoy watching other people a few feet away doing something so intimate, and I don’t just mean sex. Not to sound too sappy, but it’s really the intimate moments that get me, the whisper that makes someone blush or giggle, with me left to guess what was said, or a kiss that’s obviously unrehearsed. I’m the kind of voyeur who doesn’t want to catch people unaware or spy on them in a creepy way, but who likes seeing people who are happy to show off. I haven’t been to a sex party in a few years. The last time I was invited to one, along with my boyfriend, I was curious, but because it was hosted by people we’re friends with or I know professionally, I declined. That felt too close for comfort. If I ever go to one again, it’ll probably be in a city far from home, with people, like that first one, I’ll never see again. That’s when I can really let my wild side fly. (rachelcitypaper@gmail.com)

@RAQUELITA

28 // A UGUST 20 - A UGUST 26, 2015 // PHIL ADELPHIA CI T Y PAPER

C I T Y PA P E R . N ET