The Inquirer takes a look at local folks and aid organizations trying to send help to China in the wake of the earthquake. All U.S. and Pennsylvania flags at state facilities will be flown at half-staff today for Peace Officers Memorial Day. And since it was Governor Rendell who gave the order there shouldn't be any complaints... "The Philadelphia Orchestra leaves Monday for a three-week tour of China, Japan and Korea." Eric DeShawn Floyd......

Editor's note: updated with Thom Cardwell's corrected title. We mentioned the other day that the Philadelphia Film Festival would be continuing its tradition this year of having a series of Evening with the Curators events running up to the launch of the fest. We also mentioned that we'd be attending one, and indeed we did so, last night at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in Center City. Speaking at the event were the executive Development Director......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Puppets!: Doug and Mike’s Adult Entertainment at the Institute of Contemporary Art (118 S. 36th), 6PM. $6 Further Afield—But Worth It: The Best of Black Lily Film and Music Festival 2007 at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 W. Lancaster), 7PM. $9.25 It’s Just a Flesh Wound: Fred Is Dead and Joe Jordan’s Experiment at Tritone (1508 South), 10PM. $5 Quizzo Mania: Get your Quizzo on at 12......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: If the Opera’s Not Your Thing: Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 W. Lancaster Ave), 7PM. $9.25 Jeff Kessler: Jeff Kessler, Kyle Herring, and Sarah Marie White at Upstairs at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut), 7PM. $8 Feel Bad About Your Shoes: Fashion’s Environmental Footprint, a talk about the real cost of cheap clothing by Heather Iwanow at Ruth Auditorium/Nesbitt Hall......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Talking About Dancing: Shen Wei, artistic director of Shen Wei Dance Arts, will appear with Philadelphia artist Sebastienne Mundheim to discuss the creative process in dance and visual arts, sponsored by Dance/USA and the Kimmel Center (260 S. Broad, Rendell Room on the First Tier), 6:30-8PM. Free (You can check out the non-Frugal Shen Wei Dance Arts performance at the Kimmel February 15-17) Further Afield: Jersey Justice, a......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: No Really, West: The only remaining original print of West Side Story will be shown at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 W. Lancaster Avenue), 7PM. $9.25 Grubstake: Grubstake and A.K.A.C.O.D. at Tritone http://www.tritonebar.com/ (1508 South), 9PM. $5 Girl With Harp: Gillian Grassie and The Coal Men at World Café Live (3025 Walnut), 8PM. $9 ($7 if using cash) Quizzo Mania: Get your Quizzo on at 12 Steps......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Temple University Jazz Ensemble: Presented by Temple University - Boyer College of Music and Dance and directed by Dick Oatts at Klein Recital Hall (13th and Norris), 7:30 PM. Free Jon Regen: Singer, songwriter and pianist Jon Regen plays Upstairs at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut), 8PM. $10 Further Afield: The Killer Within at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 W. Lancaster Avenue), 7PM. $9.25 Say Word Wednesday:......

Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Lisa Aversa Richette - a controversial advocate of society's disadvantaged - died of lung cancer this past Friday. She was 79. Here's an article about the complex planning going into tonight's Democratic presidential debates at Drexel. The Inquirer has the details on two local child-sex cases; a 52-year-old former scoutmaster from Mont Clare is looking at 16 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with a......

Wednesday The Opera Company of Philadelphia finishes its run of Verdi's timeless and tragic Rigoletto. The Academy of Music (Broad & Locust Sts); 7:30 PM; $7-$205 Acclaimed concert pianist and teacher Seymour Lipkin gives a solo recital of Bach, Brahms, and Debussy presented by the Philadephia Chamber Music Society. American Philosophical Society (427 Chestnut Street); 8 PM; $25 Thursday The Slought Foundation presents Vincent Royer and Philadelphia-based ensemble Noamnesia in an evening of music by......

Digital video billboards are coming to the area. They display images or ad messages that change every eight seconds, and can also be used to display important information about traffic issues or security alerts. Some important area school news! First of all Penn State ranked number 5 on Princeton Review's annual list of the Top 20 Party Schools in the nation. Meanwhile, Bryn Mawr College ranked number 19 on the opposing list of the Top......

Monday The Philadelphia Art Alliance's New Music Mondays series presents works by Jan Krzywicki, Professor of Composition at Temple University. Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S. 18th St.); 7:30 PM; $20 Wednesday The Philadephia Chamber Music Society Presents the American Quartet with Lydia Artymiw, piano, in a program of Haydn, Shostakovich, Dohnanyi. The pianist will even give a free pre-concert lecture at 6:45! Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 8 PM; $22 Thursday The Academy of Vocal......

We always get a little sad when the main classical music season ends and all the musicians go to their fun summer festivals. But, this can only mean that the Mann Center's season is just around the corner! Monday For the 150th anniversary of Robert Schumann's death, the Kimmel Center presents "The Romantic World of Robert Schumann" with Jeffrey Siegel, piano. This program takes a look at the passion behind Robert Schumann's piano works......

Time to gear up, people: the 16th Philadelphia Film Festival starts tomorrow! As we did last year, Phillyist is planning plenty of coverage, mostly taking the form of film festival diary entries from various staff members (including, of course, yours truly, whose schedule can be seen here, in case you're interested). But what's going on this year, and what should you look forward to? Well, we're glad you asked. Let's pick through the overview press......

Four defendants were sentenced yesterday for their part in a scheme to funnel illegal contributions to the campaign of Mayor Street. Only one - Joseph Moderski of Bryn Mawr, who orchestrated the plan - received prison time (14 months). He was also ordered to pay over $25,000 in fines and restitution. The Daily News has the info on CBS3's new HD broadcast, and the fancy shmancy new studio they're using to record it. The Roman......

Wow! Did this creep up on anybody else? We were thinking this was still a ways off, and then all of the sudden the website is live, the schedule is up, and tickets go on sale TODAY (although as of this writing, the links for purchasing don't seem to be live yet online)! (UPDATE: Online ticketing now appears to be up and running.) We haven't had a chance to look over this year's list of......

The Bryn Mawr Film Institute will screen Scene Not Heard: Women in Philadelphia Hip-Hop this Wednesday night at 7:30. A documentary brought to life by Maori Karmael Holmes of Black Lily fame, the film examines the unique place of women in the local hip-hop scene and the special challenges they face in a culture that doesn't always appreciate a strong female voice. The "cast" includes favorites Floetry, Bahamadia, and Lady B; there's also some rare......

Al Gore picked the right time to come to the city to promote his global warming book; if anything could make us believe in, and want to fight back against, global warming, it's this horrible heat!! Joseph White, the drummer for Philly soul band The Stylistics, was sentenced on Tuesday to 4 1/2 to 10 years in prison for "offering to pay a woman $5,000 to slit the throat of his girlfriend." Say it......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: An Evening with Garrett Brown: Philadelphia native and 3-time Academy Award winner, Garrett Brown, invented the Steadicam. He'll be speaking at The Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 W. Lancaster Avenue) prior to a screening of Rocky - the first film to implement this technology. The talk begins at 7PM, and tickets are $8.75. Music at The Church: Tapes N Tapes, Figurines and The Cold War Kids are at......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Pennypack Musical Festival: This week in Pennypack Park, Elvis Impersonator Tony Liguori. Free from 7PM - 9:30PM. Elevator to the Gallows: Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows is screening at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 West Lancaster Avenue ) at 7PM. $8.75 Harry and the Potters: Lit-pop duo Harry and the Potters play with Jason Anderson 7PM at the World Cafe (3025 Walnut Street). $8 Got a......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Bioethics Symposium: In conjunction with their production of A Number (part of the Caryl Churchill Festival), The Wilma Theater is presenting a free symposium on Bioethics. In attendance will be Dr. Arthur Caplan (Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and the Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Paul Root Wolpe (Senior Fellow of the Center for Bioethics and both Chief of......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Heartbreak Beat: It's Sex Dwarf time again, and this month's theme is the Psychedelic Furs. In honor of this theme, dancers are encouraged to wear their "most bitchin' DAYGLO." At last month's event, DJ Robert Drake said they were "serious" about this. We can't imagine how they might punish offenders...unless it's by dressing them up in extra bright Dayglo? Ah well, no matter. Sex Dwarf always feels......

Are you as excited about the upcoming 15th Philadelphia Film Festival as Phillyist is?! We don't really see how you could be, but okay. Anyway, if you just can't wait to know this year's line-up (we mean besides the Danger After Dark program; you already know that, thanks to us), and/or you're desperate to know more about how the films were selected and which of them are going to be really good, you should show......

Oh, Neil Stein, how the mighty have fallen. Neil Stein, former Philly restaurant tycoon, will be sentenced today following his guilty plea last Summer on filing false tax returns. The government is expected to request a sentence of 18-24 months in the pokey - Stein lucked out: the max is nine years. No word on the future of Stein's sole restaurant, Rouge. Despite Philadelphia's ever-rising violent crime rates, crime is down by 10% in......

Mike Judge once gave the world Beavis and Butthead; now, along with Don Hertzfeldt, he's presenting The Animation Show; a collection of animated short films from all over the world. The Animation Show has 3 stops in the Philadelphia area this week: Wednesday in Bryn Mawr, Thrusday in Ambler, and tonight in Doylestown. Our experience as that shorts in these festivals can range anywhere from hysterically funny to heartbreakingly moving to just plain weird. (Check......