Philly Thriller dance group performing on the streets of West Philly. Photo from Philly Thriller’s Facebook page.

You’ve probably heard about the Philly Thriller “zombies” group, which dances at various locations around West Philly on Halloween night. But it’s hard to catch up with them because they show up flash mob style, perform their routine and move on to the next location. So here’s the Philly Thriller performance schedule for tonight that their leader, Rashida Holmes, kindly shared with us:

“Weather permitting, we’ll be doing a dress rehearsal performance on The Rotunda Plaza (40th & Walnut) from 4-ish to 4:30-ish, then we’ll be “flashmobbing” a couple spots along Baltimore Ave around 5-ish then we will be stationed at the Haunted Gym at St. Francis de Sales (47th & Windsor) from 6-ish to 7-ish. If we are totally rained out, we’ll make our way to the gym earlier (5-ish or so) but that doesn’t seem likely.”

For more info about today’s activities in the neighborhood, including the Halloween Tot Parade and Haunted Gym, check out this page.

Emma Copley Eisenberg / Photo by Keith Alan Sprouse.

The short story “44 True Things About Being Gone,” written by Emma Copley Eisenberg while she lived on 45th and Springfield in 2011, was chosen by writer Maile Meloy as the winner of the 2013 Montana Prize in Fiction and appears in the current issue of CutBank Literary Magazine. The story is set in West Philadelphia and features a friendship between a young, queer, white woman from West Virginia who works at a coffee shop in Center City and a young black male PhD candidate who’s recently left a Rastafarian community in Germantown.

The Baltimore Avenue corridor features prominently as well as other notable Philadelphia locales, and the piece benefited from feedback from the members of local Kelly Writers House-affiliated Backyard Writers club. Eisenberg says, “West Philadelphia is essential to this story. I wanted to highlight the connections and friendships I saw springing up in the neighborhood that crossed lines of geography and class and sexuality and race. People living in close proximity make these relationships more likely, but there is something about West Philadelphia that makes them magic.”

By the way, Eisenberg also contributed to West Philly Local while she lived in West Philly.

To read the story, click on the link below.

http://www.cutbankonline.org/cutbank-79-44-true-things-about-being-gone/

There’s still a chance to support GATE 13:14, a monthly concert series presented by Bowerbird Concerts at The Rotunda. A Kickstarter fundraising campaign is underway, which would allow this free community program to continue. As of 11 a.m., $8,694 has been pledged and the project will be funded only if at least $10,000 is pledged by 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct 30.

From the Bowerbird project page on Kickstarter:

“Since 2006, Bowerbird has presented nearly 400 of events – concerts, workshops, small concerts, community art projects, and huge festivals. 

We believe that Philadelphia is hungry for something more than “just another gig.” We believe that there are wonderful artists living right in our own community and that some of the greatest historical work deserves more attention.  And most importantly, we believe in your curiosity.”

GATE 13:14 is a monthly series of concerts that aims to bring “experimental, outsider, avant, unknown, forgotten, futuristic, and rediscovered types of music” to the community. It also “strives to build a space for conversation and discovery, an incubator for new ideas and an opportunity to explore extraordinary ones, and a place to cultivate new audiences and communities around this work.”

To learn more about this project and to donate, click here.

Halloween week is here and we compiled a list of spooky and fun happenings in our area, for kids and adults alike, in the next few days. If you know of any other events that are not included in the list please email: editor@westphillylocal.com or use the comment section below.

Tuesday, October 29

Bat House Building Workshop – Mariposa Food Coop (49th & Baltimore) – 7 p.m. – A special Halloween week workshop exploring the funny flying nocturnal creatures and what you can do to help restore their often threatened habitat. You can learn how to build your own bat house, where to put it, and what to do when a colony moves in. Free admission. Please RSVP to education@mariposa.coop.

Thursday, October 31

Peanut Butter and Jams Halloween with Charlie Hope – World Cafe Live (30th & Walnut) – 10:30 a.m. – Come sing along with 2012 Juno Award Winner Charlie Hope. Charlie will sing some well-known songs as well as her originals that will get children and parents moving and singing along. Audience participation is encouraged, so be sure to bring your singing voices and dancing shoes! Costumes are welcome. Tickets ($10) are available here.

Halloween at The Woodlands – 40th & Woodland – noon – 4 p.m. – Bring your kids for some treats at the mansion before the tot parade in Spruce Hill.

Stories to Make you Shriek! – Kingsessing Library (1201 South 51st Street) – 4 p.m. – A spooky story time presented by Ms. Kim for brave kids.

Spruce Hill Halloween Tot Parade – 45th & Baltimore – 4 p.m. – This is a fun Halloween tradition in the Spruce Hill neighborhood. The parade will start gathering after 4 p.m. on 45th St. just north of Baltimore Ave. (next to Milk and Honey). The kick-off time is 4:30 p.m. To read more about the parade, click here.

Town Watch Haunted Gym – St. Francis de Sales School (47th & Windsor) – 5-7 p.m. – This year, St. Francis de Sales School has agreed to host the annual Haunted House & Garden event, in their already scary Basement-Gym-Basketball Court. Springfield Avenue will remain open this year, but the 900 and 1000 blocks of Farragut  and the 900 block of 47^th Street, from Springfield to the north side of Warrington, will be closed to auto traffic. For more info and if you want to volunteer at this event, check out this page.  Continue Reading

Food Day is a national celebration of local food and community. It takes place on Thursday, Oct. 24 at locations around the country. Here in Philadelphia, Drexel University will host an evening of free food and a screening of the documentary, “A Place at the Table,” which explores the state of hunger in America.

The celebration is organized by a coalition of food-based organizations, including nonprofits, businesses and government agencies. There were over 3,000 events around the country in 2012.

From 12 to 2 p.m., Drexel student organizations focused on food and environmental justice will give presentations throughout the campus on topics ranging from veganism to factory farming.

The film screening will be at 6 p.m. There will also be a free meal, prepared by Drexel Culinary students, starting at 5 p.m.

“The food is FREE but we ask that students and attendees bring a food item to donate to People’s Emergency Center’s food bank as they are having difficulty filling their shelves, “ said Hayley Tintle, lead organizer of the event.

The event will take place in room 103 of Disque Hall, located between 31st and 32nd just below Market Street. For more information click here.

– Alex Vuocolo

Smak Parlour’s fashion truck on 40th Street between Locust and Spruce Streets / Photo by Mia Holley.

Over the last 10 years, pop-up shops have become a must-do trend in the fashion industry. While seasonal holiday stores—like Spirit Halloween—have already anchored themselves in this market for decades, retail and fashion tycoons like Target, Gucci, Dr. Martens, Louis Vuitton and Kate Spade have all developed pop-up shops at one point or another.

Smak Parlour, located at 219 Market Street, is no stranger to the pop-up concept. The Old City boutique founded and run by best friends Katie Lubieski and Abby Kessler has a temporary space at 126 S. 19^th Street opened through November 9th, moving to the King of Prussia mall the day after for the holiday season.

While the two 34-year-old fashion designers—who started their t-shirt line SMAK in college—are following an established trend, they’re hoping to capitalize on another budding craze already taking over Los Angeles: the fashion truck. And they’ve started here in West Philly.

“We love the idea of bringing our merchandise straight to our customers, it is the ultimate in customer service,” Lubieski and Kessler wrote to West Philly Local in an email. “It’s an emerging trend for food to go mobile, we decided why not do that for fashion too?”

Since July of this year, Lubieski and Kessler have operated their Smak Parlour mobile store on 40^th Street between Locust and Spruce Streets, serving mostly students from University of Pennsylvania and their alma mater Drexel University. Equipped with a dressing room, West Philly shoppers can peruse the truck’s array of affordably priced clothing (available up to size Large), jewelry, and accessories while on break for lunch, in between classes or during a mid-day walk. Smak Parlour’s parked on 40^th Street every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday between 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., and occasionally visits other locations throughout the city.

But, for the fashionistas, a brick and mortar store, pop-up shops and fashion truck are just the beginning. The two women are looking to expand their brand through “whatever opportunities come our way.”

“We have a great staff and awesome, affordable merchandise. Maybe there’s a Smak Parlour store coming to West Philly down the line, who knows?!,” they wrote.

–Annamarya Scaccia