Around 2AM yesterday, Joseph Kelly Sr. was driving along the Vine Street Expressway when he saw a homeless man in a wheelchair marooned on the median. He pulled over and crossed three lanes on foot to try to help the man across the street. As one car slowed down to let them pass, another struck that vehicle and then ran into Kelly and the other man, killing them both. A 17-year-old male knocked on the......

Such is the title of the latest book from equally adored/abhored author Dave Eggers. Hear him discuss What Is the What tonight at the Central Library. His book is the choice for this year's One Book, One Philadelphia program, which aims to increase awareness about literacy and libraries. Eggers is the literary darling that some people love to hate. We admit that his ubiquitous presence around the time that A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius......

The weather's gotten colder, but First Friday still has some goodies that should get you out of your homes, apartments, and cardboard boxes. So put on your fall jacket, nip a little wine or whiskey to keep warm, and get out to First Friday for some great events. A bit north of the ordinary Old City First Friday scene, Projects Gallery in Northern Liberties is giving you not one but two exhibitions to make it......

Philadelphia area native Alice Sebold's books tackle some pretty hefty topics. Her memoir, Lucky, confronts the rape she experienced as a freshman in college. Her first novel, The Lovely Bones, is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered. She narrates the story from heaven, watching as her family deals with her death. Sebold's novel may have been a hit at a time when chick lit ruled the shelves, but......

Mayor Street and the man most likely to be our next mayor (Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter) are disagreeing over the location of a new Family Court. Street wants to move "the court from its current location on Vine Street near 18th to a site at 15th and Arch streets where a parking lot now stands," while Nutter wants "the new court building as close as possible to a new Youth Study Center. He......

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......

One of the suspects in the planned attack on Fort Dix applied to be a Philadelphia police officer in April, but luckily he didn't get very far in the procedure, as he was ineligible for various reasons. Remember that story about some of the Penn State football players getting into a fight? Well, the law hasn't sorted out what exact punishments they'll receive yet, but Joe Pa has. Good old Joe Pa. (Via Jill,......

Wow! First Friday again? Guess that's what happens when you've got a month that's only twenty-eight days long. Unfortunately, Phillyist is going to have to miss this month (our duties in the world of theatre criticism call), but here are a couple of First Friday events we'd be hitting up if we weren't going to be in a darkened room twenty blocks away. The Peek-a-Boo Revue Burlesque: When The Five Spot burned down early last......

This post was compiled from pieces written by Star Foster. Fun around town, for $10 or less: MONDAY Karaoke With DJ Sara Sherr: Mondays at the Millcreek Tavern (4200 Chester Ave), 9PM - 1 AM. Free (21+) Movie Monday at The Troc: Beerfest; not a description of your evening (although I suppose it could be if you wanted), but the movie. Johnny Goodtimes will do his trivia thing before the game. The Troc is located......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Mr. McFeeley: Not the Mr. Rogers delivery man, but William S. McFeely, the award-winning biographer, discusses a local painter whose work is much in the news these days: Thomas Eakins. 7PM at the Central Library (1901 Vine Street). Free. The Philly King World DJ Championship: The Klasik Hip Hop Movement is hosting The Philly King World DJ Championship at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) at 8PM. $25 to......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Rock, Paper, Scissors: The PBRPRPSCLCS November Knockout will take place on the second floor at The Dive (947 E. Passyunk) tonight; sign-ups at 9PM. Entry is $3. The pot will be split between the champ and the runner up. Street RPS winner gets a Dive gift certificate. Cheap Seats: An insider tells us that 1812 Productions (currently running This is the Week That Was) offers tickets for their......

Starving Artists Monologue Halloween Slam!: Visit Fergie's Pub (1214 Sansom Street) to see actors out-monologue each other for cash prizes. For an extra spooky twist - there will be a cold-reading contest featuring readings from classic monster movies - and $2 off the $10 admission given to anyone who comes in costume. The Philadelphia Reader: Robert Huber and Benjamin Wallace discuss articles from Philadelphia Magazine's past about Philly personalities. Free at 7PM at the......

Free Concert in Clark Park: The Campbell Brothers play a free show in Clark Park (43rd & Baltimore) at 6PM. Reading, Drinking, Booksigning: Activisit drinking buddies, Drinking Liberally, hosts a public reading and discussion with union president and author, Andy Stern. This event will take place at Fergie's Pub (1214 Sansom Street) from 6-7:30 PM. Enough to Give Phillyist a Pop Culture Overload: The 215 Festival Kickoff tonight features Amy Sedaris, Jonathan Coulton, John......

Heck, this Phillyist is a PC user, and even we're excited to learn that Apple co-founder Steve "Woz" Wozniak will be speaking at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine Street) this Saturday at 2PM. Woz will be on hand to promote his book, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It , and, we imagine, basking in the adoration of......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Cindy Sheehan: Well known anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan speaks today at noon at the Free Library (1901 Vine Street) about her new memoir, Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism. Free Philly Metal: Local metal rockers The Violent Return, Scythe of Azrael, Divine Dissonance and Nashama play The Boiler Room (2224 North 4th Street) at 7PM. All ages. $5 Moonstone Poetry: Hosted by Justin Vitiello, followed......

NBC 10 tells us that crews are evacuating One Penn Center at 15th and Market after at least three underground explosions. Holy crap! PECO is on the scene, and police are shutting down roads in the area - for instance, the 15th Street exit of Vine Street has been shut down. If you know anything, leave us a comment or a tip. UPDATE: ABC has more details. Sounds like it was an electrical problem of......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Headhouse Square Movie: Free screening of Philadelphia on Headhouse Square. Giveaways at 7PM - movie at 8PM. Concerts in the Park: Free performance by DJ Junior and Tortured Soul in Rittenhouse Square. 7-9PM Amy Goodman: Amy Goodman, author of Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back, speaks at Central Library (1901 Vine Street) at noon. Free Got a frugal tip? Don't be stingy! Send......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Free Screenings Under the Stars: Commerce Bank presents a free screening of the John Waters musical Cry Baby - which will be preceded by a Drag King/Johnny Depp lookalike contest. The contest begins at 7:30, and the movie at dusk. (When we went to Jaws last week, "dusk" proved to be approximately 8:45.) Maggi, Pierce & EJ: Philadelphia trio Maggi, Pierce & EJ (see Phillyist's interview with them......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Free Screenings Under the Stars: If you aren't too afraid to watch it by the water, you can catch a free screening of Jaws at Penn's Landing, beginning at dusk. You may even win a chance to swim with the sharks (at Adventure Aquarium...not in the Delaware). Andrew's Video Vault: Free back to back (to back) screenings of Vanya on 42nd Street, Forty Duece & Cafe Flesh at......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Agent Moosehead: Agent Moosehead, F, Zs, Mogawi, Low Water & Steve Angel at The Fire (412 W. Girard). 9PM $6 Sri Chinmoy: We don't know who Sri Chinmoy is, but clearly lots of people do, because we can't seem to go ten feet in Center City without someone telling us about his shows at The Kimmel Center tonight. He is performing both at 6PM and 8:30PM. Tickets are......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Movie Monday at The Troc: This week,"NERRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDS!" Revenge of the Nerds. $3 admission, applicable towards concession. Doors open at 6, the show starts at 8, and you must be 21+ to attend. The Troc is located at 1003 Arch Street. Scott Simon: NPR's Scott Simon will be speaking about his novel, Pretty Birds, at the Free Library's Central location (1901 Vine Street). Noon. Free. Vinnie Spins Rock, Rock,......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Hoo-Doo Love Pumpkin Reunion: The 1812 Cabaret at the Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd Street) for the first of their 3 summer cabaret shows. $10, 8:30 PM. Movie Monday at The Troc: This week, the movie that convinced us all that we were all "so money:" Swingers. $3 admission, applicable towards concession. Doors open at 6, the show starts at 8, and you must be 21+ to attend.......

Frugal in Philly is a weekly celebration of all things Philly that are fun, frugal (costing $10 or less) or free! Stop here each week to see what Philly's got to offer for those of us who haven't quite mastered the art of becoming Independently Wealthy (although believe us, we're trying). Featured Pick of the Week: Chronicling the Chronicles of Narnia Phillyist knows there are all kinds of controversy brewing about the movie version of......

With our persistent grammar and spelling shortcomings- it might surprise you to know that we were huge fans of Lynne Truss' international bestseller, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Sure, our rampant comma use may still be out of control - but we feel much better about the slippery semi-colon, and we know with violent certainty that "grocer's quotes" are right out - so we must have learned something. And now that Truss has (mostly) straightened out......

Some know him as the bumbling half of Martin and Lewis, others as "that telethon guy," and we hear tell that French consider him a comic genius (C'est vrai, Parisist?); but no matter which of his many incarnations you know Jerry Lewis for, Phillyist is pretty sure you know of him. The King of Comedy turned Noble Peace Prize nominee will be at The Free Library's Central Branch (1901 Vine Street) on Saturday night,......

It's Banned Book Week - the American Library Association's annual reminder to pay attention and question the books some people, somewhere, don't want us to read. In observation of this week, The Free Library of Philadelphia (in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union) will be hosting an evening of readings from censored books, performed by local artists and personalities. Hosted by WXPN's Gene Shay, the reading will take place this Wednesay night at 7PM.......

If you've got a taste for the destructive side of rock music, tonight's the night to stop by the Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, where music fan, Spin Magazine senior writer and pop-culture columnist Chuck Klosterman will be reading from his new book, Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story. In this, his third book, Klosterman examines the tragic physical landscape of popular music history: the famous places where rock......

Kate White, Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, will be in Philadelphia tonight. White, appearing at the Free Library of Philadelphia (1901 Vine Street), will give a speech entitled "The 5 Best Things I Learned at Cosmo." White has been editor at the montly magazine for seven years. We've all been talking about not only White's successful run at Cosmo, but also about how she could only learn five things during seven years. We're baffled, but we'll be......