Fun around town, for $10 or less: Among Criminals: Among Criminals, Bare Foot Truth, and Tsunami Rising at Upstairs at World Café Live (3025 Walnut), 8PM. $6 Summer’s Really Over: Concluding performance of Philadelphia Weekly's Concerts in the Park with The Hustle and Black Landlord at Rittenhouse Square (18th and Walnut), 7PM. Free Like Butter: Drink Up Buttercup and The Major Leagues at Silk City (5th and Spring Garden), 9PM. $5 (21+) Quizzo Mania: Get......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Hard Core Barbie: Project Runway viewing party every Wednesday, with Barbie design challenge for all in attendance, at National Mechanics (22 S 3rd), 11PM. $7 Gay Catholic Erotica Author: Scott D. Pomfret reads from his new book Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir at Giovanni’s Room (345 S 12th), 5:30PM. Free PW Concerts in the Park: XPN welcomes Adam Arcuragi and The Capitol Years in Rittenhouse......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Experimental Happy Hour: Kick back every third Friday with the experimental electronic music of Tantrum Tonic at Random Tea Room (713 N 4th), 6PM. Free Keeping It Local: Movies@ City Hall presents Unbreakable in the City Hall Courtyard, 8PM. Free SATURDAY Festival of India: Celebrate Indian heritage at the Great Plaza on Penn’s Landing (Chestnut and Columbus Blvd), 12-7PM. Free PHIT Special: MakeOut Clinic with Velvet Helmet......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: In Honor of Girls Rocking: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reads from her new book Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine), 7PM. Free Two-Step Program: Folk dancing lessons sponsored by the Fairmount Park Commission at the Art Museum Steps (26th and the Parkway), 8-10:30PM. $3 Game Night!: Game night every Tuesday at The Dive (947......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Night of the Sixpack: Philly's Joe Sixpack reads from his new book Joe Sixpack's Philly Beer Guide: A Reporter's Notes on the Best Beer-Drinking City in America at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine) at 7PM, then heads to McGillin's (1310 Drury) for a giant after-party at 9PM featuring a “Joe Sixpack of Beer” samples. All free (except the beer itself) Theater in Your Backyard:......

No debate: there’s no better, or more appropriate, place to celebrate the birth of our nation than right here in Philly. Here are a few things to help you enjoy your freedom this weekend. The best part? Most of it’s free. Today: Forget lunch, there’s cake! A reading of the Declaration of Independence is followed by an eight foot cake that’s needs some eating. Head over to the Independence Visitor Center at noon to snag......

We bring you the buzz in the 215 blogs this week. Philebrity wondered about the govenrnment's plan to put speed bump decals around town. Fake speed bumps? People don't even slow down for the real ones. Next thing you know, they'll be putting paintings of cops in high-crime areas. A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago has a summer cocktail series going on. Summer and cocktails: two things we love. Cheers! Philly Burbs was......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Bordellos Are Good: Opening reception for “Peep Show,” featuring work from five interdisciplinary artists examining eroticism, set in a space resembling a 19th-century bordello at Airspace (4013 Chestnut), 6-10PM. Free Firk It: Get to the only Friday the Firkinteenth of 2008, featuring 13 or more firkins of cask conditioned ale, at the Grey Lodge Pub (6235 Frankford), 12PM- when the firkins run out. Free + cost of......

We want to go swimming. REELBLACK: SHOWCASING SHORT FILMS BY PEOPLE OF COLOR Sometimes, International House needs only to go interstate to find talent and creativity. The Reelblack Showcase gathers together some of the best work by African-American filmmakers in the tri-state area. Reelblack brings black filmmakers together to share their distinct perspectives and style. Tonight's event is a two-hour display and will include a Q & A session with many of the filmmakers. WHO:......

What to Watch: It's the Flyers vs. the Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at 7:30pm on Versus. Bad news for the Orange and Black: Kimmo Timonen has a blood clot in his left ankle. The Flyers' best defensemen will likely miss this series and possibly the remainder of the playoffs, a huge blow to the Flyers' chances of shutting down Sidney Crosby and the high-flying Pens. But hey, they've dealt with......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Papa John's has surpassed $1 billion in online pizza sales. Even though ordering pizza online is obviously attractive (it's kind of a nerd's dream, actually), we're still kind of blown away by that number. $1 billion worth of pizza! (Via Jill) A dude in Illinois had his coffin made to look like a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. He's not dead yet (he's......

Just in case you forgot, today is Cinco de Mayo. But if you've been on philly.com today, there's very little chance you could have forgotten, thanks to the fine folks at Miller Chill and their very classy holiday-appropriate ad campaign. We know that newspapers have seen better days and could probably use a few extra bucks... but was this really necessary?......

It's so nice out that we decided to find you three things to do indoors. You know, so you wouldn't get too used the warm weather. In case it decides to get down to 40 fu#%ing degrees again. We hate Weather's attitude. It acts as if it owes us nothing. As if it were some force of nature, free to do as it pleases without input or intervention from humanity. Oh wait, we warmed......

Looking back on a week's worth of local craigslist hijinks... This poster may not be very perceptive... "Bored moms" don't usually like to offer themselves up for "adult" photo shoots. Remember last week's headless deer? It's, oddly, still available. Place your bids before it's too late! Another treasure from the craigslist trove is this wonderful elephant foot/giant beer mug. Attention: MySpace/Facebook experts (everyone ages 15-30?)! Someone has a use for your useless skills! And your......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Beer!: Celebrate the repeal of the 18th amendment with cheap beer at McGillin’s (1310 Drury), 11PM. Free + beer money Drunk Iguanas?: Reading of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana at the Ethical Society of Philadelphia (1906 S Rittenhouse Square), 7:30PM. $8 We Like Free Music: Radio Eris celebrates their new CD at the Balcony at the Troc (1003 Arch), 10PM. Free Open Mic: Free at The......

Forget jellybeans and chocolate rabbits. What you want to eat this weekend is brains. And you should wash them down with beer or zombie drinks. That's right—it's time once again for the annual Philly Easter Zombie Crawl. Hundreds of the undead will make their way down South Street on Sunday starting at 8:45 PM. The pre-crawl fun starts at Tattooed Mom at 6:00 PM. Crawlers should come in their zombie best because there will be......

If Philly Beer Week had a queen, it would no doubt be Suzanne Woods. Sly Fox Brewing Company’s director of sales and general “beer lass” is also the founding president of In Pursuit of Ale (IPA), a women’s-only beer drinking group recently featured on the front page of msn.com. We caught up with Suzanne at the Sly Fox brewer meet-and-greet at Johnny Brenda’s on Tuesday to talk about her favorite subject, so listen up ladies......

As you all know, journalists love their booze. Just ask Hemingway. So it's only fitting that Jen Dionisio, an established local writer whose name you might recognize from the Metro or the Chestnut Hill Local, would make her first post on Phillyist one about beer. Bottoms up, Jen, and welcome aboard! Put down the Pabst, folks, Philly Beer Week has officially begun. Beer enthusiasts and general tipplers alike can treat their palates to city-wide specials......

With Hillary Clinton's big primary wins in Texas and Ohio, it seems that the national eye has turned towards Pennsylvania and our primary on April 22. So much of the news about Michael this week was about his endorsement of Hillary Clinton. He says he's going to campaign hard for Clinton, who is no longer the presumptive nominee, as she was when Nutter gave his endorsement. Given that race may now be back in play......

The new writers just keep on coming – this time, in the form of Stephanie Mannis, a chronic Yelper who won us over when she sent us a bit of marketing collateral she wrote for work about an American answer to the Beatles. Welcome aboard, Stephanie! Here's the buzz in the 215 blogs this week: Jeff Deeney over at Phawker sang the praises of author Susan Jacoby, who in turn railed against the dumbing down......

One more reason to look forward to Friday – and the ten days after that!......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Massive: WZT Hearts, Wet Hair, Secret Abuse, Nimby, Evan Miller, Teeth Mountain, and Prince Hand Vs. Prince Hand at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut), doors 7:30PM. $5 Celebration: Opening reception for A Celebration of Life and Art, works by the late Marge Peterson, at Highwire Gallery (2040 Frankford), 5-9PM. Free Reading: David Levithan reads from his new short story collection, How They Met and Other Stories, at Giovanni’s......

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! I'm not really a big partygoer. I much prefer to spend my weekend nights curled up with a nice book in front of a warm fireplace... as long as the book is a......

Did anyone else see where September went? It was Labor Day, we went to the closet to pack up our white shoes, and suddenly it's the terminal week. Next year, September, give us a little more transition time? Also, knock it off with the 90s. One good thing about September's passing is that October is beginning, and all the lovely holidays and festivals that come with it. This weekend kicks off Oktoberfest in our......

Comedian Paul Mecurio...

Ugh. Milton Street is more of a fiasco than a real candidate, something of a sideshow in the political circus. He may even sideline Brady's chances! Oh the shame! So, to hell with politics. It's freaking warm again, and that means another miserable failure of an Eagles season is behind us (along with Jeff Garcia), and we can finally get back to the true American pastime. Phillyist is giddy like so many schoolgirls over watching......

Update: A few more sites have been added, and a few other fixes have been made. The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics than partying? That's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Bostonist discussed two big state issues-- what sort of math constitutes a marriage and what kind of alcohol can be sold......

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell's......

Worried about Philadelphia's much-lamented "brain drain" and its effect on our economy? As the Daily Pennsylvanian reports it, great white hopes like Hunter Elwood should assuage your fears: It's Monday night. Some friends are coming over to watch the football game in a couple hours. Only one thing is on your mind - we're going to need beer. That's where Hunter Elwood - and his Web site, Beerrightnow.com - comes in. ... "You can......

Today's the day the art commission is meant to decide whether or not Rocky's effigy can hang out near the Art Museum steps. If yes, it'll be installed on Friday, if no, then, well, the media will be able to drag this issue out all that much longer. (Seriously - Phillyist doesn't think there was this much press when "The Scream" was found.) The Daily News is taken to task by Newsbusters for their......