The forecast called for one very wet and mucky Saturday afternoon.

But after having already been postponed a week, Spiral Q Puppet Theater’s “10th Annual Peoplehood Parade and Pageant” in West Philadelphia went on as planned.

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Valedan sits on an empty bucket once filled with Spackle.  He picks a paint-splattered fold up table from the floor and sets it to his right.  A big screen TV is hung on the wall to his left and a massage chair acts as a living room couch. He rests his razors and drawing pencil between a few carefully placed glass trinkets on a mirror-plated table.  His customer sits on a foot rest from the bedroom upstairs. The room is bright, as far as …

A  pink tank sits in the middle of a green grass lot located between Susquehanna and Norris Street, along Frankford Avenue.  It was originally created for the annual Kinetic Sculpture Derby, an event that the Kensington and surrounding areas look forward to each year.  This particular device is a six-man, powered-operated machine that stands out for both its motor and bright camouflage pink display. Its exotic presence adds …

Too often, we view Philadelphia through the cynical and sardonic glasses we wear with civic pride. Sometimes, it takes an outsider’s take to remind us of the inherent beauty of the city we call home.
Enter Mustafa Lamaj. A rising star on the Philadelphia art scene, the Albanian-born Lamaj’s latest work captures the city the way he sees it: full of life, vigor and opportunity. His canvas transforms the gray, gritty and crowded into structured, colorful forms that resonate with invitation rather than apprehension.
“I am fascinated …

It’s four o’clock on Friday and the click-clack of freshly shined shoes and black leather pumps pound the pavement in four-four time.
As trains roll in and out of Suburban Station at 15th and John F. Kennedy streets, commuters bustle by in hopes of catching an early train. Their focus is tight on the overhead digital boards reading off their train’s arrival and departure.
Five minutes late.
Their disappointment is as apparent as it is fleeting as it is quickly wavered by a thumping bass and rat-a-tat-tat of …