Fun around town, for $10 or less: Combat Footage: “Steven Spielberg, Special Effects, and the War Film,” a workshop examining Spielberg's use of special effects in Empire of the Sun and other works, at Scribe Video Center (4212 Chestnut, 3rd Floor), 6PM. Free (Part of One Film, One Philadelphia) Die Actor Die: Die Actor Die, comedy of many stripes, standup, sketch, and “other silly brick-a-brac” hosted by (Phillyist) Don Montrey at the Khyber (56 S.......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed. COMEDY Chris Rock - No Apologies Academy of Music Tue, 2/26/08, 7:30PM On sale: Sat, 10AM, Live Nation Frank Caliendo The Hershey Theatre Sat, 3/29/08, 8:30PM $29.75-$50 On sale: Sat, 10AM, Live Nation Brian Regan - Live in......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. State of the Union Address (Mon, 9PM-10:30PM, All network stations, among others) - W gives us the traditional load of bullshit in front of a joint session of Congress. Kansas governor Kathleen Sibelius will give the Democratic response. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Mon, 10PM-10:30PM, Food Network) - This time they're taking a tour of New Jersey diners, including restaurants in Long Beach Island, Hackensack, Lake Hopatcong, Livingston,......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: The Well Read Frugal: Author and activist Ewuare Osayande reads from his new book Misogyny & the Emcee: Sex, Race & Hip Hop at Robin’s Bookstore (108 S. 13th), 6PM. Free Author Michael Pollan reads from his new book, In Defense of Food at the Free Library of Philadelphia (1901 Vine), 7PM. Free Bring a Cozy: An Evening with Big Tea Party, part of the Yummy exhibition, at......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY New Year's Special: Improv comedy with the N Crowd at the Actors Center (257 N. 3rd), 8PM. $10 Caterpillar: Caterpillar, Photon Band, and The Trolleyvox at Johnny Brenda's (1201 Frankford), 9PM. $8 SATURDAY Show Some Love: Dance for a good cause at the Community Education Center and Meeting House Theatre (3500 Lancaster) fundraiser featuring DJ Mr. Cisum, 8PM-1AM. $10 More Spice Than Sugar: Sugartown featuring Lesbians on......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. What Would Jesus Really Do? (Mon, 8PM-9PM, CNN) - A discussion of how Jesus might respond to various contemporary issues, like the war in Iraq, global warming, and the divide between rich and poor. Includes commentary from various "experts," including Jerry Falwell. Christmas Specials (Mon, 8PM-9PM, ABC; Mon, 8PM-11PM, NBC; Mon, 8PM-10PM, AMC; Mon, 10PM-11:30PM, WHYY) - Some of these have already played this month, and we......

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! With apologies to those readers who don't celebrate Christmas, I'm going to indulge myself a bit here. I love just about everything about Christmas. I actually enjoy Christmas shopping, stressful though it may......

Take a cursory look at the release history of Blade Runner (which originally came out in 1982) and you might begin to think that Ridley Scott has caught a George Lucas-sized case of Special Edition-itis - you know, that terrible disease that afflicts some directors and causes them to keep tweaking and re-editing and re-releasing their films in different versions, over and over and over. Wikipedia lists seven different versions of Blade Runner, for......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. Here's the fascinating story of how amateur sleuths solved the mystery of the missing remains of Czar Nicholas II's family members. (Via Jill) Just because the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over doesn't mean we're out of fun Thanksgiving-related links for you. First of all, turns out it's probably not the turkey itself that makes you sleepy after the......

The Pennsylvania Turnpike has been closed in both directions between the Philadelphia and Willow Grove interchanges, and is likely to stay closed most of the morning, due to a fiery five-car accident earlier today involving a tractor trailer and a pickup truck. Thankfully, as of this writing, no fatalities have been reported. The Fort Dix suspects are asking to be moved Special Housing Unit at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia due to the fact......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY The N Crowd Thanksgiving Special: Improv Comedy with the N Crowd at the Actor’s Center (257 N. 3rd), 8PM. $10 The Delaware Rag: The Delaware Rag celebrates the release of their new CD at Upstairs Live at the World Café (3025 Walnut), 8PM. Also performing is The Josh Olmstead Band. $9 SATURDAY Rittenhouse Square West: Guided architectural walking tour of the Square (18th and Walnut); meet the......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed. COMEDY Don Rickles Tropicana Casino, Atlantic City Fri, 1/11/08, 9PM; Sat, 1/12/08, 9PM; Sun, 1/13/08, 7PM $30-$50 On sale: Fri, 10AM, Ticketmaster (1/11, 1/12, 1/13) Lisa Lampanelli Music Box at The Borgata, Atlantic City Mon, 12/31/07, 7PM &......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

Did anyone else see where September went? It was Labor Day, we went to the closet to pack up our white shoes, and suddenly it's the terminal week. Next year, September, give us a little more transition time? Also, knock it off with the 90s. One good thing about September's passing is that October is beginning, and all the lovely holidays and festivals that come with it. This weekend kicks off Oktoberfest in our......

Schoolyard Heroes, a Seattle punk-rock band, is shooting their latest video in West Chester, PA and you can be IN IT! They aren't your average punk-rock band (their MySpace tag line is: I vomit out my heart for you) and they are definitely far from your skinny-pants-loving-emo-crowd. Their gore-loving sophomore effort, Fantastic Wounds (is there really a wound that's fantastic?), had critics raving. Will their third album, "Abominations" be just as ground-breaking and horrifying? You......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Monday Night Football Exhibition: Eagles at Ravens (Mon, 7PM-11PM, 6ABC); NFL Football Exhibition: Panthers at Eagles (Fri, 7PM-11PM, 6ABC) - The Eagles are back! Sure, it's only preseason, but it's still Eagles football. And anyway, it'll be interesting to see some of the new guys in action, and to see the veterans get back into the swing of things by playing a series or two. Dog the......

We here at Phillyist love throwing a good party almost as much as we love running a contest. Having both at once makes us positively giddy! See, Phillyist turned two about a month ago, and while we didn’t celebrate on the day, we’re all about a belated shindig, and one of our favorite places in the whole city, World Café Live, puts on a shindig called Cream, where the best local artists get a chance......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. We're pretty sure some of you readers out there have little ones, and are always on the look-out for fun things you can do with them. Well, we just heard about a little site and mailing list that could help you out: Dancing Meatballs. They've got the hook-up on family friendly activities in and around the city. LolShirt! Brilliant!!1! (Via boutell)......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Road Tasted (Tue, 9:30PM-10PM, Food Network) - Guess where Road Tasted is going this week? That's right, our very own Philadelphia! They'll be sampling cheesesteaks at Campo's Deli (uh, what about Pat's or Geno's??) and sweets at Franklin Fountain, amongst other things. Lil' Bush (Wed, 10:30PM-11PM, Comedy Central) - This is the debut episode of a new animated series following the adventures of a prepubescent version of......

Alan Andrews Jr. of The Photo Atlas...

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

One of the Philadelphia Zoo's former residents, Asian elephant Dulary, safely arrived yesterday at the sanctuary in rural Tennessee that's to be her new home. The union that represents faculty and coaches at the 14 state-owned universities in Pennsylvania has voted overwhelmingly to strike "if contract negotiations with the State System of Higher Education break down." Current contracts expire June 30, so the earliest strike date would be July 1. Here's hoping negotiations go well!......

The Graduate lead singer, Corey Warning...

Bands I Caught: Barking Spiders, Bear is Driving, Normal Love, Venue: The Avant Gentleman’s Lodge The Avant Gentleman’s Lodge is located just around the corner from the 40th St. El stop, which makes me love it. As does the tiny factory feel, the hand-painted wooden bench sitting in the lot beside the old ivory car I’d knock an old lady over to drive, the twinkling Christmas lights, the giant paper maiche phoenix dangling from the......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. The Shield (Tue, 10PM-11:10PM, FX) - The sixth season of this popular cop show starts off with a flurry activity, as Claudette assigns the team to a fire at a methadone clinic because she wants Vic off the case of Lem's murder. She always tells Vic the brass wants him to retire. Meanwhile, there are confrontations, erratic behavior, a robbery at a porn shop, and a crime......

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: "Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!" On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment The action was thick......

So you're trying to find a Wii in the Philadelphia area? Yeah, Phillyist too. Umm, got any leads? After hearing all the stories about folks who lost like 20 lbs. and scored with every chick in sight after playing the Wii, Phillyist decided to try and board that gravy train. However, it's a pretty exclusive club, a la the train in Harry Potter. Good luck finding it... So Phillyist began what has turned into something......

What's new and/or interesting on television this week. Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (Tue, 9:30PM-10PM, Fox) - Jeff Foxworthy is the host of this new game show that tests contestants on their knowledge of grade school subjects. We have the producer of "Survivor" and "The Apprentice" to thank. Oh, and don't worry if you miss it Tuesday night; they're playing it again pretty much every night this week. Law & Order: Special Victims......

By Shenelle Williams Special to Phillyist You know that saying…"Philly is the place between NY and DC?” Well, I’m starting to think that maybe it’s true. Waiting in a sea of cotton sweaters and wavy hair at World Live Café, the overdue arrival of Chris Thile and The How to Grow a Band was announced. When the emcee declared the woes of I-95 as being the reason for the late arrival, I assumed that perhaps......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Nature (Mon, 8PM-9PM, PBS [WNJS]) - In this episode of the venerable PBS nature show, narrated by F. Murray Abraham, reptile expert Ron Whitaker actually goes looking for giant crocodiles - those are crocodiles that are over 20 feet in length! That's one of those things we'd never do, but are more than happy to watch someone else do. The episode description mentions that he succeeds in......