You know it's bad when the dry cleaning lady gives you a disapproving look and tells you she can't guarantee success on the first try. REAL PIRATES AT THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE Well, sort of. Their historically significant stories and wares are on display over at the Franklin Institute. The exhibit specifically features artifacts from the Whydah, including a full-size replica of the ship. The show runs until 8pm tonight, so you'll have time to head......

Anne d'Harnoncourt, the highly respected director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a vibrant force as an arts activist and advocate for the arts in Philadelphia, died unexpectedly late Sunday night. In a prepared statement, David B. Brownlee, professor and chair of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania stated that "Philadelphia has lost one of the greatest cultural leaders in its entire history. Anne d'Harnoncourt transformed the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a......

Ah, The Franklin Institute. Sorry, The Franklin. (As an aside, what the fuck is up with that? We know that Philadelphia is all Ben-obsessed and everything, but honestly, when your marketing people make it harder to Google you or find pictures of you on Flickr, they deserve to be fired, not to have their efforts rewarded with rebranding. I'm going to continue to call it The Franklin Institute. Period.) Who would've thought that The Franklin......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: King Corn: Showing of the documentary King Corn, which follows a crop of corn from seed to plate, along with light refreshments at WHYY (150 N. 6th), 6PM. Free (registration required, 215-351-0511) Puppets!: “Puppets in Performance: Cardboard, Shadows, Sheets, Strings and Suitcases,” an event showcasing a wide variety of styles and techniques employed by local and national puppeteers, at the Institute of Contemporary Art (118 S. 36th), 7PM.......

It's actually pretty impressive how many people like to post their videos of their trips to Philadelphia on YouTube.......

We're going next month, and we can't wait!......

Today we have basketball, masturbation, and ancient, unrequited love. What more can we say? YOUNG FRIENDS PROGRAM: GREATEST HEARTBREAKS OF ANCIENT TIMES The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology knows how to kick it old school, especially around Valentine's Day. The most sacred of Hallmark holidays, Valentine's Day is a day which lonely people spend masturbating and couples spend, well, um, doing romantic stuff? Anyway, the Young Friends of Penn Museum are bringing......

It’s almost that time again folks: Compulsory Love Day is next Thursday, so it’s time to stock up on the champagne, chocolates, and condoms. That is, if you have a partner. If not, tradition dictates you sit at home alone, preferably in a battered bathrobe, and eat a quart of ice cream out of the container. If you’re feeling somewhere in the middle of the champagne/battered bathrobe spectrum, here are some ideas to keep you......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Money Folders II: Second installment of series featuring the Philadelphyinz, DJ Gravity, and more at the Arts Garage (1535 Ridge Avenue), 10PM-3AM. $10 (women free before 10:30PM) Sing, Sing a Song: Choral Concert with Organ presented by the Delius Society at St. Mark’s Church (1625 Locust), 7:30. Free Art Is Primary: Opening reception for Red Yellow Blue, a solo show of artist Vincent McLoughlin, at AXD Gallery......

To say we like puppets is probably an understatement. What’s there not to like about talking pieces of wood? Or, for that matter, watching humans channel their emotions and desires through a manipulate-able avatar? Twilight Zone aside, it sounds like a surefire recipe for fun. The Institute for Contemporary Art obviously agrees: their new exhibit The Puppet Show, which looks at the imagery of puppets in contemporary art, opens tonight at ICA’s Winter Opening Reception......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......

We could seriously watch this all day. TGIF.......

If you’re finding yourself short on culture and shorter on cash, you’re in luck this weekend. Saturday is Museum Day, where you can get into a gaggle of local museums gratis. Sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine, the day is a way to spread art and history around and “bring Americans together,” we’re assuming in queues. All you have to do is sign up on the site to get your free pass (good for you and one......

Over the weekend, I visited the King Tut exhibition at the Franklin Institute for the second time. (The first time also yielded a column.) The exhibit closes in a few days, so it's more crowded than it was when I went in March. That's to be expected. Unfortunately, large crowds breed bad behavior. You see it at airports; you see it at rock concerts; and surprisingly enough, you see it at museums. The King......

Phillyist has a confession to make: We have never made it through James Joyce's Ulysses. Not even a little. We've tried. Oh, how we've tried. But though we've failed more times than we'd like to admit, we console ourselves that those with better minds have thrown their hands up in disgust and screamed, "Okay I get it! It's the *&%*#$ Odyssey! Jesus, at least Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was under......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal......

As predicted, it is going to be a fab year for the undead in Philly. With two, count ‘em, two major Egypt exhibitions in town, plus ten months chock full of mummy-fun, it’s never been a better time to be a desiccated corpse in the City of Brotherly Love. Sure, there’s lots of history and whatnot involved, but be honest: it’s our wrapped up brethren that fascinate and amaze and really bring in the......

No, we did not get a Wii this weekend. Yes, we are exceedingly depressed about it. Regardless, we're still going to bring you the best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. It's just not going to have anything to do with video games. Banksy the guerrilla street aritst sneaks into famous museums and installs his art pieces next to the "legitimate" ones, complete with explanatory plaques. We love this......

Or, at least, not putting up any new ones for now. In a victory for Philadelphians and all Americans, on Friday the National Park Service announced that a proposal to enclose Independence Hall within a security fence has been scrapped [Philly.com]. If realized, the plan would have cut Independence Square in half with a six-foot tall black iron barricade, hypocritically restricting access to one of the world's most important symbols of freedom. After releasing the......

We're completely ambivalent about this song, but Gnomia Grey is from the area, and the video was shot in a local bar/lounge (anyone recognize it? We thought we did, but we're wrong), so it's worth posting up for today's video, regardless.......

Nonprofit organization Campus Philly, in association with the city, IKEA, and plenty of other companies and organizations, is holding a huge free concert and festival Saturday afternoon to welcome and celebrate new and returning college students. It's called Campus Philly Kick-Off, and it will lead to un-fun things like road closings (the 2000 block of Winter Street will be closed during setup, and both directions of the inner drives of the Parkway, from 20th......

Museums are cool, but they're even cooler when you can get into them for free. And that's what's happening on Museum Day, which is this Saturday, September 30th. Museum Day was started by the Smithsonian Institution, and used to be for subscribers to their magazine only, but its now open to the general public and celebrated by museums across the country, including many in the local area, like the African American Museum in Philadelphia,......

Hey, Philly, this Sunday, September 17th, is National Constitution Day! That's because on September 17th, 1787 the Constitution was signed right here in our very own Philadelphia. The 17th is a Sunday this year, which means some folks are observing on Monday, so there are events and celebrations throughout the weekend and into next week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the National Constitution Center has a particularly large number of events going on, and most of them......

Oh, readers, how we love you! We were halfway through this post when the gods of the internet decided not to shine favorably on us and we lost everything. But, afraid to disappoint, we started over again from scratch. That's how much we care. LAist: What a dillema! Austinist wants to save your soul. SFist: Somebody has seen Death Race 2000 too many times. Gothamist: Phillyist is definitely visiting Bamn! the next time we're in......

No doubt about it, Philly's got a lot to offer: a thriving theatre scene (don't forget, Fringe is just around the corner), fabulous museums, loads of live music and more historical hoopla than you can shake a stick at. However, there are some hotspot trends in places far, far away that look cool too, and Phillyist is wondering why local entreupenuers aren't jumping all over them. Dammit! We want them too! Private room karaoke: It's......

We were only copy-pasting between two different spread sheets...why did the data all change? At least the -ists are consistent. Usually. Austinist: People suck. SFist: Everyone wants a piece of Apple. Chicagoist: Yay! A story pertaining to us! Seattlest: We dig this bumper sticker. Natch. Houstonist: We kind of see this as a bad idea. Shanghaiist: We've yet to decide whether this will be more or less annoying than Madonna's assumed British-ness. Londonist: It's not......

Ooh, the sequel to the internet is coming to the Philly area! "As early as July 2007, all Bucks County school districts and technical schools " will be logging onto Internet2, the super-fast noncommercial computer network designed for places like research firms, museums, and, of course, schools. So what are we non-students to do? Well, libraries can also use Internet2, and the Bucks County Free Library System is considering adding it to their computers.......

Our -ist pals are probably out celebrating springtime weather and the beginning of the weekend. Which is exactly what we'll be doing, as soon as we post this. Miamist gets our thanks for reminding us that Daylight Savings Time starts at 2AM this Sunday. Remember, folks: spring forward, fall back! Bostonist: Winter is artsy. SFist: Barry Bonds. Steroids. Barry Bonds. Steroids. Monty Python. Austinist: Who said kids these days just don't care? LAist: Totally out......

The best thing about waiting till late in the afternoon to bring you Elite -ist? Even more stories to share! Gothamist: If you're a little sad about the closure of New York's Plaza hotel, no fear! Most of the hotel's furnishings, along with cozy bathrobes and slippers, and old bellman's uniforms (seen at the right), will be auctioned off at Christie's. Today was the last day to view the lots up for auction, but the......

Philadelphia is full of museums. Yes, we have our world-renowned art museum, and the slightly-less famous but still world known museum of medical oddities. But scattered about the city are also a myriad of small museums, the ones we were taken to by bus on school field trips during those halcyon days before summer vacation, when our teachers knew they'd get no work out of us but were determined that we'd still learn something: The......