Street Movies

Find your favorite lawn chair and blanket and head down the block for Street Movies, a drive-in movie experience without the cars. Back for its 12th summer, Street Movies is a showcase for independent filmmaking organized by Philadelphia's Scribe Video Center. This year’s focus is on youth-produced works in a range of genres that explore a gamut of social issues including environmental justice.

“We’ve got an animated film called E-Wave which illustrates human damage to the environment as a result of electric energy waste," says Street Movies Program Coordinator, Boone Nguyen. "We also have Eve’s Garden, a piece on a community garden in Camden, N.J. that is bringing the community together as they reclaim green spaces.”

So give your wallet and the environment a break this August and check out these free, family-friendly outdoor screenings around your neighborhood. Screenings start at 8:30pm and include post-film discussions.

Wednesday, August 6 - CAMDEN
Host: Walt Whitman Arts Center
Location: 2nd & Cooper Streets

Thursday, August 7 - MANTUA
Host: Montesorri Gensis II
Location: 3510 Brandywine Street

Wednesday, August 13 - FRANKLINVILLE/NORTH PHILADELPHIA
Host: Centro Pedro Center
Location: Eagles Park, 7th and W. Schiller Street

Thursday, August 14 - GERMANTOWN
Host: Why Not Prosper and Social Re-entry
Location: 717 E. Chelten Avenue

Wednesday, August 20, EAST POPLAR/NORTHERN LIBERTIES
Host: Friends Neighborhood Guild & Friends Housing Cooperative
Location: 8th and Fairmount

Friday, August 22 - WEST PHILADELPHIA
Host: Jubilee School & Neighborhood Bike Works
Location: Clark Park, 43rd & Baltimore Avenue

Saturday, August 23 - SOUTH PHILADELPHIA
Host: First African Baptist church
Location: 16th & Christian Street

Waterfalls

Annie Shaw loves Niagara Falls. Having lived in urban centers such as Hong Kong, St. Louis, Los Angeles and New York, she has often found herself a tourist of nature, appalled and attracted to our impulse to make nature more natural. As an artist, she is determined to discover new beauty in cliché, and to shatter the cliché in what we consider beautiful.

This video was captured on the Canadian platform overlooking the American Falls, in the morning mist, devoid of people, while a maintenance truck prepares the area for hundreds of incoming tourists.

Annie is currently presenting a project based on the Mega Millions lottery at Monte Vista in Los Angeles. Visit www.montevistaprojects.com for details.

It's CSA Time!

with Sesame Street string beans to inspire you...

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it means exactly that: directly supporting a small, family-run farm in your area by purchasing a share of what that farm produces over a season. They typically span from May to November, and each week members receive a box full of fresh-picked vegetables and sometimes fruit. Many CSAs also offer local eggs, dairy products and organic beef and poultry.

Every year since I've lived in Philly, I've tried a new one. Each has offered family recipes and an annual potluck at the farm. But as far as offerings, they've all been different, and each has been wonderful. I love the anticipation of finding out what small (and sometimes giant) treasures will be in my box each week. You may have to get used to an overabundance of a certain vegetable (it always seems to be green peppers for me) and it's a great way to create kitchen improv. My first year, I was a member of Greensgrow, an amazing urban farm in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia; then Spiral Path, a certified organic farm; and last year, Lancaster Farm Fresh, a cooperative of farms in Lancaster county. This year I joined Lanisdale Farm in Jonestown, PA. (pic below)

I've found the best way to find a CSA is to ask around your local farmer's market. Buy Local PA has a directory, but I'm not sure how up-to-date it is. And Farm to City allows you to join several CSAs in the Philadelphia area directly from their website.

Now if we could just figure out how to get this kind of produce prepared for forty people and onto our set for twenty days... Ideas, anyone?