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Play in the City 2013
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Welcome to the on-line conversation for Play in the City, an Emily Balch Seminar offered in Fall 2013 @ Bryn Mawr College, in which we are addressing the question of how we construct, experience, and learn in the act of play. How is play both structured by the environment in which it occurs, and how might it re-structure that space, unsettling and re-drawing the frame in which it is performed? This is an interestingly different kind of place for writing, and may take some getting used to. The first thing to keep in mind is that it's not a site for "formal writing" or "finished thoughts." It's a place for thoughts-in-progress, for what you're thinking (whether you know it or not) on your way to what you think next. Imagine that you're just talking to some people you've met. This is a "conversation" place, a place to find out what you're thinking yourself, and what other people are thinking. The idea here is that your "thoughts in progress" can help others with their thinking, and theirs can help you with yours. |
Who are you writing for? Primarily for yourself, and for others in our course. But also for the world. This is a "public" forum, so people anywhere on the web might look in. You're writing for yourself, for others in the class, AND for others you might or might not know. So, your thoughts in progress can contribute to the thoughts in progress of LOTS of people. The web is giving increasing reality to the idea that there can actually evolve a world community, and you're part of helping to bring that about. We're glad to have you along, and hope you come to both enjoy and value our shared explorations. Feel free to comment on any post below, or to POST YOUR THOUGHTS HERE.
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volunteer about food
1. In the newspaper the "marketplace" ads attracted me
2. I google "market philadelphia" and found this
http://www.farmtocity.org/FarmersMarkets.asp
3. In the list I found Bryn Mawr Farmer's Market, and remembered that I've actually wandered there.
http://brynmawrfarmersmarket.blogspot.com/
4. Good Spoon Seasonal Foods http://www.goodspoonfoods.com/
5. In the side list I found Sunday atHeadhouse Farmers’ Market
http://thefoodtrust.org/farmers-markets/market/headhouse
6. And there's this volunteer activity
http://thefoodtrust.org/contact/volunteer
The Food Trust
One Penn Center, Suite 900
1617 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
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Schuykill Riverboat tour...
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Artists' Studio tour
This is a half-price (but still expensive) guided tour, but I'm pretty sure you can see all they're showing for free...just without the ride to everywhere.
Info on the open studios is at philaopenstudios.org/
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Salsa Friday Night
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Hum
The article about the development and expanse of coffee houses and cafes on the Mainline reminded me of a coffee house to which I went in New Orleans, where there was an open-mic event, followed by a singer-songwriter's concert.
I decided to look up open-mic events in Philly, but none take place during the day on Saturday.
I thought about slam poetry events as well, but, again, no luck in finding something for this Saturday.
So, I thought I could look up some interesting coffee houses. I found a couple, and I think I'd most like to check out One Shot Coffee, at 217 W George St.
I don't even like coffee. I'm a tea person, but regardless, I do like spending time in cafes reading and writing. Of course, it is a pretty typical place to sit and write poetry, but I sure would like - and desperately need - a poetic escape of some sort for part of a day.
It's quite soothing of an atmosphere, having the hum of coffee making machines and the buzz of conversation around... it's a nice space for your mind to bounce around and latch onto a word you might happen to hear someone say, or an image in a photograph on the wall... Anything.
I'm also a fan of meeting new people, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity of striking up a conversation with a stranger, if it seems like a reasonable thing to do at the moment.
So, yes. I hope to go to the One Shot Coffee cafe when in Philadelphia this weekend.
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Delaware River
Attempt 1:
Step 1: I tried to follow the article "Decades later, still standing against abuse"
Step 2: The article listed their website, www.womenagainstabuse.org. They have a lot of events, and there's actually a "Men-can" rally on the 5th, but it wasn't something I really wanted to do.
Step 3: I kept trying to wander around, but eventually decided to take on a different article.
Attempt 2:
Step 1: Read the article titled "'Gliders' allow look into Ocean's depths," which is posted here: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/science/20131001_Sweeping_project_allows_look_at_depths_of_ocean.html
Step 2: The article mentioned a website, http://www.ioos.noaa.gov, which redirected to an error message about the government shutdown.
Step 3: The other website mentioned in the Inquirer article is http://maracoos.org/blogs/main/ which has really cool pictures of the kinds of information that the gliders are collecting.
Step 4: Trying to connect this cool coastal article to something I could do in Philly, I googled "Philadelphia Delaware River area"
Step 5: Went to http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com/ and clicked on the events. I found out that there are a lot of concerts, as well as yoga on thursdays, and a whole bunch of museums and activities.
![tflurry's picture tflurry's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1274.jpg)
Bonnie MacAllister: Multimedia Fiber Art & Film
I started by reading the editorial "Culture has a Cost" in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and was intrigued by the idea of the art and culture of Philadelphia.
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I noticed several mentions of Independence Mall, both in the article and throughout the paper, so I looked it up. (www.nps.gov/inde/)
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The official website of Independence Mall was offline due to the government shutdown, so I tried another one of the buildings mentioned in the article: the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (http://www.kimmelcenter.org/)
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I was not overly interested in what I saw on the Kimmel Center site, so I tried a google search on "culture in philadelphia", which lead to Philadelphia weekly, and upcoming events in the area. (http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/events/?advEventSearchDate=10/05/2013&eventWeekDate=10-04-2013&calendarStartDate=10-01-2013&esCat=242179)
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Of those events, one that looked particularly interesting was Bonnie MacAllister: Multimedia Fiber Art & Film (http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/events/223835316.htmlO
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I looked around for more information, and found the facebook page for the events. PHILADELPHIA OPEN STUDIO TOURS: Multimedia Art by Bonnie MacAllister (EAST OF BROAD) (https://www.facebook.com/events/170604153119404/?ref=22)
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![Muni's picture Muni's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1297.png)
Ocean to Fishtown
1. I read the article entitled ''Gliders' allow look into ocean's depths.' It didn't have much to do with Philly, but it looked very interesting. I'm interested in water and people's interactions with it, so I used that idea to connect the article to Philly.
2. I googled "research activities on the Delaware River," curious to see if there are any research projects going on around the Delaware. Apparently, there's some research on shortnosed sturgeons: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/research/doc/CurrentSNSResearchActivities.pdf
Although this was interesting, it still wasn't quite connecting with the city.
3. I found the website for the Delaware River waterfront to see if there was anything interesting surrounding the river. http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com
4. I clicked "Events," then looked for events on saturday, because that's the day I have the most time this weekend.
5. I clicked "Rivercity Festival" because, well, who doesn't love a festival? It sounded playful. http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com/events/rivercity-festival
6. I clicked "More Info" to see the site of the Fishtown Rivercity Festival
http://www.rivercityfestival.org
It turns out that the festival is to celebrate the culture and community in the neighborhood of Fishtown, and the history and vibrancy of the neighborhood itself. Visiting it would be a chance to interact with some real Philadelphians in a really neat area.
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Coffee & Pastries
When I was reading the Inquirer, I came across one article that grabbed my attention: "Too Bean Or Not Too Bean", about a man who has several coffee shops and about all of the coffee shops on the Main Line. Following this train of thought...
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Ultimo Coffee
Stop 1: Article "Too Bean or Not Too Bean" - I love coffee, and I am tired, so I was intrigued.
Stop 2: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/04/04/philadelphia-coffee-shop-takes-1-spot-on-americas-best-coffee-list/ - It turns out that Philadelphia houses the best coffee shop in the US, so of course I had to click the link.
Stop 3: http://www.thedailymeal.com/americas-best-coffee-shops It is defined here as the best, but there was also indications of other best coffee shops that are also in Philly, so I chose to look at all of the rankings.
Stop 4: http://www.thedailymeal.com/americas-best-coffee-shops-slideshow Here Ultimo Coffee is listed as #1, however I was very excited to find that my favorite Coffee Shop in my hometown of Santa Cruz, Ca was listed as #22!
Stop 5: http://ultimocoffee.com The website of Ultimo Coffee in order to find the hours and transportation information.
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Joseph Fox Bookshop
Okay, bear with me here, my path is a little convoluted.
1) Saw the article 'Too Bean or not Too Bean' which talked about the saturation of certain types of shops (like coffee shops) on the Main Line
2) I was reminded of our journey to and on South Street which included a myriad of identical seeming types of shops.
3) which led me to try and find a bookshop that we visited the last time we were in Philly because it was really interesting http://mostlybooksphilly.com/
4) I was wondering if there were any other secret bookstores like that around the city http://www.phillymag.com/articles/top-five-indie-bookstores-in-philly/
5) and i found this place: Joseph Fox Bookshop
![lksmith's picture lksmith's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1263.jpg)
Past and Present in Old City and Queen Village
While reading through the Philadelphia Inquirer, I saw a many interesting things that caught my attention. A large portion of this was related to how the recent government shutdown will affect the economy if it lasts much longer than a few days. From that idea, I followed this trail:
1. The article on A1 entitled "U.S. Parks would close, drying up tourist cash flow." This led me to thinking about the national parks in the city of Philadelphia, namely the Independence National Historic Park.
2. I did a google search on Independence National Historic Park and found a walking tour of the park:
http://philadelphia.about.com/od/travel/ss/independence.htm
3. At the bottom of the page I saw a link to the neighborhoods of Philadelphia:
http://philadelphia.about.com/od/neighborhoods/Neighborhoods.htm
4. I looked through a few of the neighborhoods, starting with Old City:
http://philadelphia.about.com/od/neighborhoods/a/queen_village.htm
5. As I continued to look, Queen Village caught my eye as well:
http://philadelphia.about.com/od/neighborhoods/p/old_city_phila.htm
![Clairity's picture Clairity's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1275.jpg)
Wall of Rugs & 30th Street Craft Market
I found two places that I'm interested in going. Here is my "breadcrumbs".
1. Philadelphia Inquirer B1: "Today in Philly-Suspension of Time"
2. Google "Jessica Demcsak Suspension of Time"
3. Go to "philly.com"
http://www.philly.com/philly/health/calendar/?search=y&city=Philadelphia§ion&page=5&sortBy=date
4. click on "entertainment", then "art attack"
![Phoenix's picture Phoenix's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1269.jpg)
6 steps to tapas
1. Read the food coupons. Hmm, I wouldn't mind going for some food.
2. Google search for best food in Philly. End up on Yelp. http://www.yelp.com/c/philadelphia/food
3. Not all of the top listed are sit-in restaurants. Check in on a couple, change mind, change setting to Ethnic restaurants. http://www.yelp.com/c/philadelphia/ethnicmarkets
4. The top listed ethnic restaurants aren't foods I particularly like. Discover how to add search terms, and look for Thai. http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=ethnicmarkets&find_loc=Philadelphia%2C+PA%2C+USA#find_desc=thai+food&cflt
5. Realize that, although I love Thai, I had Thai a couple weeks ago and I haven't had Spanish since April. Change search to tapas bars. http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=ethnicmarkets&find_loc=Philadelphia%2C+PA%2C+USA#find_desc=tapas&cflt
6. Check out the website of the top listed tapas bar in Philadelphia. It's reasonably priced (for tapas), and right near a Metro stop. Also, it serves Manchego. http://philadelphia.amadarestaurant.com/menu
Therefore, I propose to go visit Amada and have tapas.
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PAWS
- Saw the title “Bunny Bunny, a Tale of Two BBFs ”
2. It reminds me of my bunny at home.
3.I searched “Animal Philadelphia” and find this link.
4. I haven’t seen any animal shelter yet, and I want to know how those homeless animals are treated. Do they have enough space to play? Are they in cadge all the time?
5.Hey you want to care about those homeless animals? Meow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
100 N. 2nd Street (at Arch)
Philadelphia, PA 19106:))))))
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Maybe not for fun
1. I found many funeral announcements.
2. The announcement reminds me of a few weeks ago, when I walked on the street in Philly, I saw a church somewhere, and near the church is a cemetery.
3. https://www.google.com/#q=philadelphia+cemetery I find many cemeteries.
![Cathy Zhou's picture Cathy Zhou's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1256.png)
Night Market in Chinatown
Step 1:google "october philly events"
http://www.visitphilly.com/events/fall-events/
Step 2:go to fall events
http://www.visitphilly.com/philadelphia-neighborhoods/?utm_source=VISITPHILLY.COM&utm_medium=REFERRAL&utm_campaign=HOUSE-FORMATTED-BANNER
Step 3:go to night market
http://www.visitphilly.com/events/philadelphia/night-market-philadelphia/
Step 4: official website
http://thefoodtrust.org/night-market
I did see this event last time I was in chinatown, and when I googled the events going on in Philly this fall, it came out and brought my attention.but this isn't just a chinese celebration, it has food from all over the Asia, and also, it's the place we've already been to, but only during the day,so we can observe the difference of the "night market" and normal times.
I think it's worth-going because it's the last night narket of the year and they've been preparing for a long time,there's certainly something to expect.
![nightowl's picture nightowl's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1260.jpg)
Breadcrumbs
1. Read Today in Philly in the Tuesday newspaper
2. Googled "Today in Philly"
3. Clicked on: http://www.philly.com/philly/calendar/
4.Went to events on Friday and so fall themed events:
http://www.philly.com/philly/calendar/?search=y&eDay=2§ion=&page=3&sortBy=date
5. Googled Philly ghost tour
6. Clicked on http://www.ghosttour.com/philadelphia.html
Haunted tour by candlelight!!
$17 tour, $15 if you order in advance