…and it feels so good.

Michael writes:

Another successful reunion.  The owner had just moved on Saturday when the dog bolted.  Animal control had the match. I am so glad.

This smiley pup was found Jan. 1. Friendly, mellow dog, maybe 50 pounds. Black and brown. Found near 48th and Springfield.

If you know him or her contact Michael.

Philly and New York are going head to head all day today at the Palestra (235 South 33rd St.). The 4th annual Villa Holiday Classic high school basketball tournament, which pits four teams from Philly against four from New York, tips off at noon today. Tickets are $12-$25.

At 1:45 defending Philadelphia Public League champs Imhotep willl take on New York Public League champs Boys and Girls. Both teams are nationally ranked. The line-up also includes defending Philadelphia Catholic League champs Neumann Goretti against New York’s nationally ranked Christ the King in the 5:30 finale.

The Palestra box office can be reached at 215-898-6151.

Mummers don’t float your boat? There are alternatives on New Year’s Day if you are looking for something to do a little closer to home. Here are a few things to do on 1X4 (1-1-11).

• Philadelphia’s seventh Pecha Kucha night will be held at Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave.) Jan. 1 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Japanese word for “chit-chat,” Pecha Kucha (peh-CHAK-cha) nights involve lightening quick presentations by innovators, thinkers and all around interesting folks. The rules are simple. Wired magazine summed them up well: “Say what you need to say in six minutes and 40 seconds of exquisitely matched words and images and then sit the hell down.” Basically, you get 20 slides, 20 seconds each.

According to organizers, Vol. 7 will feature talks about girls who rock, podcasts about Philly, goats that groom urban spaces, and more! The suggested donation for the night is $5.

• One way to work off the hangover blues is to share your pain. One place to do that on New Year’s Day is Local 44 (44th and Spruce Streets), our friendly neighborhood pub, which is celebrating its second anniversary (yep, they opened Jan. 1, 2009) with a day-long brunch. They will have fare for veggie and meat lovers alike and a lengthy anniversary draft list.

• Perhaps the best way to get your mind and body right is with some good old fashioned acupuncture.  Philadelphia Community Acupuncture (50th and Baltimore, above Dock Street) is open both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. They offer affordable acupuncture on a sliding scale.

Don’t feel like venturing too far from home on New Year’s Eve? Here’s a sampling of things going on to send out 2010 in West Philly. This list will be continually updated so if you know of something that should be on the list, send the details to editor – at – westphillylocal.com.

Here’s information on the fireworks at Penn’s Landing. There’s an early show for the kiddos. And if you are planning on venturing out of the hood, here’s info on SEPTA’s schedule.

By the way, we had to chuckle a little at this warning we found on a prominent Philadelphia tourism website about heading to West Philly for New Year’s Eve:

“That having been said, this neighborhood is very dicey, and is on the outer fringes of University City, in fact. And it may be particularly dangerous, on New Year’s Eve – it’s not like being in Old City, or on the Avenue of the Arts.

Accordingly, if you decide to venture that far west of Broad Street on New Year’s Eve, have a heightened sense of awareness to any potential safety issues (especially if you’ve been drinking).”

The place they were talking about is at 39th and Chestnut. Our italic, their bold.

Well, we can agree with one thing: It is definitely not like being in Old City.

Anyway, here’s what we have so far:

• Gojjo • 4540 Baltimore Ave. • No cover

Free champagne toast at midnight and a DJ.

• Forrest Yoga Ceremony • Studio 34 • 4522 Baltimore Ave. • Suggested donation: $5 to $20 or books from selected list

Say farewell to the old year and hello to the new with an extended Forrest Yoga Ceremony led by Studio 34′s Morgan Andrews. Through silent and guided meditation, pranayama and asana, this will be an opportunity for you to go deeper into the playful side of your practice. All are welcome to attend, whether you’re new to yoga or ready to work with more advanced poses. Proceeds go toward building up Studio 34′s Yoga|Healing|Arts Library as a resource for students and teachers of yoga. You can contribute through a monetary donation, or by providing books from this list.

• New Year’s Eve with DJ Jazzy Jeff • The Blockley • 38th and Chestnut • Tickets: $85

Includes a 6-hour “top shelf” open bar and a buffet from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

• Slainte Pub • 3000 Market St. • No cover

Free midnight champagne toast and drink specials and a DJ from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

• New Year’s Eve with Slo-Mo and Steph Hayes and the Good Problems • World Cafe Live • 3025 Walnut St. • Tickets: $25 in advance  and $28 day of the show

Slo-Mo is the brainchild of Philadelphia steel guitarist Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner. Brenner has spent time on the road and in the studio playing steel guitar with such bands as Marah, Magnolia Electric Company and Badly Drawn Boy, but Slo-Mo featuring Mic Wrecka is something totally different.

For those interested in recycling their Christmas tree,  we have so far found two options. The best local option in West Philly is to take it to Clark Park at 43rd and Chester Ave. on Jan. 9 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.. UC Green will turn your tree into wood chips that will be used for neighborhood parks and gardens. The cost is $5, which will go toward recouping the costs of the chipping. Your tree should be free of decorations etc. before you drop it off.

The City provides a second option. Trees will be accepted for recycling from Jan. 3 through Jan. 15 at three locations in the city. The closest for West Philly residents is 3033 South 63rd St. (between Lindbergh Blvd. and Passyunk Ave.). Other drop-off locations include near  the intersection of Domino Lane and Umbria Street in Manayunk, and State Road and Ashburner Street in the Northeast. More information about the program is available at (215) 686-5560.

Trees left curbside will be taken to the landfill.

Here is a flyer on the UCGreen option:

In a recent piece in Philadelphia Magazine, the new Drexel president John Fry lays out his hopes for the remaking of the neighborhoods near the campus – the Eds and Meds (universities and medicine/science) approach a la Penn. Fry imagines a Drexel that is the most “civically engaged university in America.” The plan seems to be similar to what has taken place at Penn, where Fry was a vice president under former president Judith Rodin. The plan includes more police, help with faculty and staff mortgages and improved schools.

From the piece:

The short-term goal is to make the northern University City neighborhoods around Drexel more like the clean, leafy, surprisingly safe and prosperous precincts that adjoin the Penn campus, whose very niceness Fry had more than a little to do with creating during a seven-year stint as Penn’s executive vice president under then-president Judith Rodin.

The piece is also sprinkled with contrasts between Fry and the neighborhoods he proposes to revamp – references to his Land Rover, his degrees and the fact that he lives in Bryn Mawr.