Likes & Likes

Had the chance to check out the new Philly Apple Store this weekend. One thing the girl and I were still marveling at (beyond how many people crammed the space) was the sheer smallness of the current generation Shuffle. Of course we’d both seen them before, but it’s still so amazing how much can be crammed into something the size of a small piece of gum.

However, the player’s size is also concerning. It’s barely bigger than the headphones it connects to. Where is it best clipped so that it doesn’t get snagged or lost?

Enter Pod à porter, an clever way to “wear” the player and earbuds and keep everything together. Simple, unobtrusive, elegant. From the creator:

I thought that what you need is just the earbuds, and a simple shape to keep them on your body - just like glasses are nothing more then an elegant way to keep lenses near your eyes. The result is this iPod shuffle accessory… Pod à porter is the easiest way to wear your music - even if you’re not wearing much. No more headphones dangling by your knees; no more ripping the buds from your ears when you take off your jacket.

Find out more, including where to buy, here.

Home and product design blog Design*Sponge just released their online Philadelphia Guide. The guide follows an itinerary of sorts, broken down by neighborhood, and guides you through a short tour of each area’s go-to boutiques, eateries and architectural points of interest - over 50 locally-owned businesses are represented along with dozens of restaurants and cafes. Like!

UPDATE: Follow along in more detail, with all locations marked on this Google Map.

Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design is about to be taken over by the crew from House Industries:

For a week starting on Wednesday, April 28th, Andy Cruz, the founder of House Industries, will be here working with students in many of our design programs on a creative problem that he’ll present as a challenge. Cruz will also be working with Music Industry students on packaging and promotion for the upcoming three-track 7” release by acoustic singer/songwriter Dave Hause. The House Industries residency will conclude on May 5th when we take over the Armory for a fun afternoon that includes an impromptu exhibition of House Industries work, a talk by Andy Cruz on the House design philosophy, a concert by Dave Hause, and ping-pong and other table games to keep you amused. When you’re not listening to Dave Hause perform or facing off in a ping-pong match with one of your professors, you’ll be able to walk the Armory and see the creative work of the students who participated in the residency on display.

Very interesting stuff. I’ve seen the House crew do a live “performance” before at one of their AIGA events, and based on that experience, I can confidently say this will not an event to be missed.

More information here and here.

I previously had posted about Steve Power’s mural project that had begun in Philadelphia. Since then, the project has been completed and even documented in a book. Above is a video of Power’s discussing his motivation for “Love Letter.” It includes some beautiful still photos taken by Adam Wallcavage of the community interacting with and responding to the art.

Attention all Philly-area people! Please take this survey to help define bicycling priorities and goals in the greater Philadelphia region:

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission survey seeks information related to bicycle use, facilities, policy, as well as information about what would best enhance the cycling environment and lead more people to bike as a common form of transportation. Cyclists of any level, as well as non-cyclists are invited to participate.

Also, the city will be installing about 500 bike racks under the Adopt-A-Rack program. You can suggest a location using their online form. You must have permission from the property owner of the location and promise to maintain the rack.

Since Mayor Nutter took office, the Streets Department has installed over 1,400 bike racks as part of an Adopt-a-Rack program. The program provides a city installed u-shaped bike rack to community groups and individuals that accept maintenance responsibility for the rack. 

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. Department of Energy is funding a new round of the Adopt-a-Rack program. The department expects to be able to install about 500 additional racks through the program.

Act fast - the deadline for submission is March 31.

What happens to the banners that hung from streetlamps in Center City, welcoming visitors to Philadelphia and promoting cultural events? They usually pile up in storage. But now, Philadelphia’s Center City District has found a way to recycle them as hand-made tote bags - no two are alike.

All manufacturing is done right here in Philadelphia by two nonprofit work rehabilitation programs: the banners are cleaned by Philacor, a vocational program in the Philadelphia Department of Corrections, and then another non-profit vocational program, Baker Industries, makes the cleaned banners into the totes.

Currently, the bags are available at Open House at 107 South 13th Street, the Pennsylvania General Store at the Reading Terminal Market, and the PAFA online and retail store at 128 North Broad Street.

Philagrafika is Philadelphia’s city-wide international festival created to celebrate printmaking in contemporary art. It was conceived by a consortium of print curators and artists to build audience and visibility for the area’s print community. Opening weekend starts this Friday the 29th, and the festival extends all the way into May (see the calendar of events).

The events planned for the festival will explore the role of printmaking in shaping contemporary visual culture around the world. Almost every major Philadelphia art institution is participating - the exhibition now involves more than 300 artists for events and exhibitions to be held at more than 80 venues throughout the city. Philagrafika is being billed as one of the largest art events in the US and “the world’s most important print-related exposition”.

For more information and events, see the official website.

A friend forwarded this to my attention. It’s a new shop called Big Green Earth Store on Philadelphia’s South Street where you can bring your own empty bottles and refill them with locally-produced Sun & Earth (of Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen fame) natural cleaners. You pay by the ounce. So far the list includes laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid and packs, all-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, fabric softener and hand soap. For more information. check out their website.

Growing up, I vividly remember the burning barrels keeping workers warm in the Italian Market during the long, bleak Philly winters (see here and here for examples). Well, designer John Briscella has created this Philadelphia Outdoor Barrel Fireplace,which harkens back to those makeshift urban firepits. He both updates the exterior and at the same time mimics the holes and cracks created in the barrels by laser-cutting the city’s grid into the walls. Interesting. Via PSFK.

Continuing on the sandwich kick from a few posts ago, the girl and I decided to finally get to the bottom of all the buzz surrounding Paesano’s, a new sandwich shop straddling the line between Northern Liberties and Fishtown in Philadelphia.

Fist off, we’re talking hoagies here. Not subs. Not heroes. Hoagies, a long time Philadelphia tradition (see here for etymology). So you can imagine the gravity of the situation when critics began calling this newcomer a maker of the best hoagie in the city. A bold statement, and one that the girl and I had to put to the test.

Paesano’s is small, no frills, straight-forward. It’s located directly across the street from big sister restaurant Modo Mio, a wonderful italian BYO (and a Likes and Likes favorite). They only have a few sandwiches listed on the chalkboard menu, and only a few seats in the restaurant itself. But the names and descriptions sounded wonderful, and we were eager to order.

First up, the Daddy Wad. This is the Paesano’s take on the traditional Italian hoagie. Pretty standard looking from the outside, but there’s a few interesting twists. The ingredients are high-quality and really fresh, something you notice right away when you watch the Italian hoagie being prepared. No shredded iceberg here. Handfuls of whole fresh arugla. Thick tomato slices. Just the right amount of meats, sliced thin. Also, the ends of the bread are cut off (and saved for bread crumb duty across the street) and some of the bread is removed from the inner top half of the roll. Small touches that make a difference when you’re eating the sandwich.

We also picked up the Arista, which is a take on another Philly standard - the roast pork sandwich. Again, the same small touches: broccoli rabe cut into manageable chunks. The top half of the bread torn out to provide the right ratio of bread to filling. A hearty portion of shredded pork and au jus.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, the whole experience was marred by one incredibly important flawed ingredient: the bread. Soggy. Soggy! While we didn’t eat our sandwiches right at the counter, we drove five minutes to the house and ate them right away. We both expected the roast pork to be a little bit moist, what with the au jus, but even the bread on the relatively dry hoagie began to disintegrate after only a few bites.

While this may seem a bit like picking nits, when you have purveyors of quite possibly the best bread in the known world right here in Philadelphia, there really isn’t an excuse for anything sub-par… especially when being touted as a best sandwich maker.

Maybe we were both a little misled by the hype. Honestly, the sandwiches are good, and we will most certainly be back in the future.But all in all, while the sandwiches were really tasty, we here at Likes and Likes came away a bit underwhelmed.

Paesano’s
152 W. Girard Ave.
267-886-9556