West Philadelphia-based poet Hila Ratzabi is inviting poets into her home for the “Red Sofa Salon,” a poetry workshop that also includes free vegetarian food.

The salon will take place twice a month for two hours and space is limited (there is only so much room on the velvety, red, curved sectional sofa). Ratzabi, who has been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize, writes: “The goal of these gatherings is to develop a small community of writers committed to learning, growing, and taking our poetry to the next level, regardless of where we are on our writing journeys.”

The first meeting is Monday, April 8 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. For more information on the salon, go here.

We are very sad to report that Miki Takamori, the woman who was injured in the house fire on the 4600 block of Larchwood Avenue on Jan. 23, has passed away. Miki sustained serious injuries in the fire, including burns on 20-25 percent of her body, and a broken back and ribs from jumping out of the second floor window trying to escape the blaze, but was doing better in the last several weeks. She had made tremendous progress since the accident and was getting close to the time when she could be transferred to a rehabilitation center from the hospital, when on Monday, Apr. 3, she suddenly went into cardiac arrest, according to her friends.

Miki’s funeral will take place on Saturday, Apr 13 at the Unitarian Society of Germantown:

April 13 (Saturday) at 2:00 p.m.
Unitarian Society of Germantown
6511 Lincoln Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19119

West Philadelphia-based Crossroads Music is putting on a unique concert this weekend – one that hasn’t been seen in the U.S. in decades. A group of heralded Indian musicians will combine their talents for a 24-hour concert on April 6-7 at the Main Building at Drexel University (3141 Chestnut Street).

The Raga Samay Festival will feature 10 soloists who perform classical Hindustani (North Indian) music. They will perform 15 concerts over the 24-hour period, beginning at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The concerts will include vocal solo performances accompanied by tabla and harmonium, instrumental solo performances accompanied by tabla and instrumental jugalbandi (duets). Perhaps the best part, is that the music is improvised so what you hear will be a unique performance.

The schedule includes:

• Sunset performances by vocalists Arati Ankalikar and Kaivalyakumar Guruv
• A unique sunrise duet dedicated to the memory of Ravi Shankar, featuring santoor maestro Tarun Bhattacharya (his student) and mandolin virtuoso Snehasish Mozumder (who performed with his ensemble)
• A midnight sarod solo by Alam Khan, the American-born heir to a legendary family of Indian musicians (see video below).
• A noon performance on flute from Steve Gorn
• Kala Ramnath‘s famous “singing violin”
• The versatile Nayan Ghosh, one of the few masters of both sitar and tabla
• Concerts by two world-class Philadelphia-area artists: vocalist Sanhita Nandi and sitarist Allyn Miner

Tickets range from $15 to $50. More information on tickets is available here. Below is a video featuring Alam Khan, who will be onstage at midnight.

A Powelton Village resident, Mark, is fostering a mama cat that gave birth to three kittens under his porch last month. He is looking for a home for all of them since he already has three cats of his own. The mother will be spayed soon, and Mark will also pay for the babies to be spayed. Please contact Mark at marklbrack@aol.com for additional information or to schedule adoption.
 

On Sunday, April 7, Dock Street Brewery (50th and Baltimore) will become a venue for two great events – a fundraiser for Cedar Park Neighbors scholarships and a pop-up shop featuring local artists and merchants.

The 6th Annual Scholarship Fundraiser which supports local youths’ pursuit of higher education will take place from 4-6 p.m. and will include beer and pizza, a silent auction, and live music by local band Big Tusk. Tickets are $40 and are available at the door or online. To buy tickets online click here.

Dock Street’s first pop-up shop will begin at 1 p.m. and go on until 8 p.m., so you if you’re participating in the fundraiser you can definitely check out this event, too. Here’s a list of participants:

Pinups For Pitbulls

Recycled Lovers -Vintage clothing and accessories

El Vivimor -Vintage clothing and accessories

Terra Luna – herbal vinegars

Wicked Apothecary – all natural soaps and skin care products

Adelina Mictlan Jewelry – occult style jewelry

Thrillhaus – tees, painted skulls and prints

Cut & Paste Photo Booth

As the Crow Flies & Co. -re-purposed heirloom jewelry & retro style kids clothes

Bitten Sweets – handmade chocolates, crafted into devilish shapes

For more information on the vendors and the event visit: shopdockstreet.wordpress.com.

There will be a raffle to benefit Pinups For Pitbulls, a non-profit organization comprised of animal lovers, advocates and educators. A few of the vendors and local businesses are donating things to raffle off. Dock Street will have pizza slices and will be serving all six taps and new beer cocktails, such as Dude’s Manhattan, Rye Bloody Maria, Pilsner Brew-driver, and a few more.

Have you been missing those one dollar samosas, mini burgers, pizza slices, craft beer, cupcakes, yoga certificates, theater tickets and other items that Baltimore Avenue Dollar Strolls bring to the neighborhood every summer? We have some good and bad news. Let’s start with good – this hugely popular event is coming back this summer and will again include tons of great $1 deals on Baltimore Avenue from 42nd to 50th Streets, from a growing number of participating local businesses.

The somewhat sad news is that there will be only two strolls this summer, down from four strolls in 2011. We hear that it’s a great effort and expenses to put this event together (the attendance grew to 20,000 visitors in 2012), with little revenue for participants, so the organizers had to make the decision to cut the number of the strolls for this year.

This year, the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Strolls are scheduled for June 13 and September 12, to ring in and close out the summer season. We’ll let you know more later about who will take part in these events and what they will offer.