Yesterday's New York Times ran a rather long piece called "How Do You Prove You're a Jew?", and while it may seem an unconventional topic for a manners column, I'd like to expound a bit upon it. Have no fear: even if you don't have the time or the inclination to read the original Gershom Gorenberg essay, I'm only using it as a jumping-off point for this column, and I promise not to allude......

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! With apologies to those readers who don't celebrate Christmas, I'm going to indulge myself a bit here. I love just about everything about Christmas. I actually enjoy Christmas shopping, stressful though it may......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. All-Star Holiday Spirit (Mon, 9PM-10PM, Food Network) - The Food Network stars - including food nerd Alton Brown, freakish bird-woman Giada De Laurentiis, the hated Rachael Ray, Ina Garten, Tyler Florence, and obsessive lush Sandra Lee - prepare holiday party dishes. Should be a good time! Charlie Brown Christmas (Tue, 8PM-9PM, ABC) - The 1965 classic, accompanied by a behind-the-scenes making-of special hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, and......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Labyrinth - Woah! Here's a blast from the past. It's the 1986 classic wherein a young Jennifer Connelly has to travel into a weird fantasy world and face-off against a charming, well-hung, singing, dancing, evil David Bowie - not to mention a bunch of Jim Henson puppets - in order to save her kidnapped baby brother. Of course, it's ostensibly a kid's movie, so she has......

I'm just going to come out and say it: I loved Shrek the Third. I didn't want to. I was worried that it'd be disappointing. The original was brilliant, and the second was a very strong sequel, but the Tomatoes had me convinced that the third would be less-than-stellar. The third installment of the popular series didn't equal the first two, but it had more of what made the first two so enjoyable: adult......

In the past month, the only place besides work, home and L2 that I've actually incorporated into my life is Ten Stone. The place is adorable, their fondue brings tears to my eyes and they always have Woodchuck. These factors alone are enough to make me up and marry the establishment, but after discovering that even their bathroom is decorated in happy-Katie-fashion last night, I'm now trying to determine how to propose to a......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Breaking and Entering - Oh no! Another movie about three people whose lives intersect! Still, this one does sound rather intriguing, as it features Jude Law as a landscape architect who decides to start investigating the repeated thefts at his state-of-the-art offices in inner-city King's Cross (a seedy area of town he's trying to help rejuvenate), and ends up stumbling outside the confines of his familiar......