The Shins World Changes

The Shins played to a full house last Tuesday night at the Electric Factory but for front man James Mercer and company, they must have felt left out.
The crowd, which was filled with emo teenagers, frat boys, thirtysomethings and a couple over 50 patrons, was unresponsive for the majority of the show.
The anticipation once opener Viva Voce left the stage was mild at best, and after roughly a half hour wait, the band from Albuquerque took the stage to a less then wild ovation.
Opening their set with the first four songs from their new album, “Wincing the Night Away”, The Shins must be held responsible for the lackluster crowd response.
Throughout the night, the band seemed to lack focus and the intensity that is expected at a rock show. It was not until the fifth song of the night, “Kissing the Lipless” from their second LP “Chutes Too Narrow”, that the audience got into the set and sang along. A few songs later though, the band had lost the crowd again, so they went to their bread and butter.
“New Slang”, their most famous song after being featured in 2004’s Garden State, was able to grab the crowd’s attention again despite a lackluster performance. The remainder of the set was up and down.
The crowd was an odd mix. Before The Shins took the stage, one teenager upon entering the venue remarked, “There’s a lot of old people here.” There were the fans who knew every song, dating back to the band’s 2001 debut “Oh, Inverted World” and then there were the fans like the one’s standing next to me.
About an hour through the set, after guitarist Dave Hernandez told the crowd, “We’re gonna start to rock!!”, the girl next to me turned to her friends and informed them that she wanted to go home. Her friend replied she had heard everything she wanted except for “Caring is Creepy”. A couple minutes later they left.
This is a majority of the reason for the lukewarm reception The Shins received. Their performance itself was inconsistent but had enough high points, like the new song “A Comet Appears” and old song “Know Your Onion”, that an audience of paying customers should be interested.
The Shins, after two releases that fell below the radar, have broken through to the mainstream. This results in a different crowd attending their shows, like the one at the Electric Factory. It also must result in the band finding a way to please their original fans while keeping new ones interested, at the same time without compromising themselves.
Last week, they were unable to find this balance. As one of the few talented and original popular bands hopefully The Shins can find this balance or else they will find themselves left out.

Fine Dining

If you’re tired of City View Pizza or blowing your money at the Draught Horse, here is an opportunity to try something new.
The Aromatic House of Kabob, a small corner restaurant at 113 Chestnut Street in Olde City, has the ambiance of a café in the Middle East. While serving some of the best Persian food around, they offer one of the greatest gifts known to mankind, the BYOB.
“I’d say about 60 percent of our customers take advantage of it,” said waitress Helen Mojgani. She also stated that on the weekends, Aromatic serves about 150 to 200 patrons each day.
My dinner party was greeted warmly at the door and told to sit anywhere we wanted. We chose the couches against the front wall, which along with the Persian music and dimmed lighting created a relaxed vibe. The earth tone color of the walls and Persian rug added to the feeling.
A basket of pita bread was complimentary. As for an appetizer, we ordered kash-bademjan ($5.95) which is a mixture of sauteed eggplant, grilled onions, garlic and boiled yogurt. The falafel ($4.95) was rather bland.
The entrees we ordered were a good sampling of the menu. The aromatic melt ($5.95), was a vegetarian sandwich served on pita bread with melted feta cheese, mushroom, tomato, spinach and onions. A good amount of food for the price.
When you come to Aromatic, you should make sure to get a kabob. Each of the traditional dishes comes with a choice of bread, rice, salad or baked potato. Combo II ($14.95) was one kubideh (ground sirloin) and one joojeh (lamb chunks), along with rice. This was served on pita bread with lettuce, tomato and onion.
The aromatic kabob ($16.25) combined the best of all their dishes. It included chunks of lamb, chicken, tenderloin, char grilled tomato, green pepper and lettuce. I ordered the baked potato which was served with mushroom, spinach and feta cheese.
I can honestly say that the aromatic kabob was the most fulfilling meal I have eaten in years. The secret to what makes Aromatic so good is their special house dressing. And luckily for us, the beer we brought, Tupper’s Hop Pocket Ale with its rich, hop-heavy flavor, complemented our food choices.
And in the end, a BYOB should be about good food and good drinks, all at a reasonable price.

A Beautiful Day

Here are some random shots I took walking around the city today. The second day of March was unseasonably warm, to the point where I found myself taking off my hat because it was too hot. Hope this weather keeps up.

Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home. Founded in 1889 and the home of the Paoli Massacre, the biggest events in Malvern every year are still the Memorial Day Parade and the famed Malvern Fair sponsored by the Fire Company in July. With only one stop light and one bar in town, Malvern is small-town America to the core.

Old Glory flying on folks front porches is a familiar site year round.


Taken from the abandonded lot across the street from my house in the Borough. The house was knocked down after it was discovered the house was built upon a sink hole.


An old spring on Grubb Road in Willistown on the edge of the farm owned by the Campbell's Soup heirs.


Two praying angels represent the importance of religion in a small borough of only 1.2 miles. Within the boundaries are 4 churches.


15% percent of the roughly 3,000 residents are over the age of 65. With everything within walking distance the town is easy for it's older citizens to navigate.

An old swing sits rusting from years of neglect.

White Manor Country Club, located in Willistown is one of 3 golf courses located within only a couple miles of Malvern.

Frozen water in a Christmas cup.

View of the farmland that is located within a five minutes drive of downtown Malvern. This is Willistown, which is filled with rolling hills and animals such as geese, cows, donkeys, llamas and peacocks.

The Paoli Massacre occured in Malvern during the Revolutionary War. This is a view looking east towards First Avenue.

Rocking chair with no one to rock. Abandonded lot in the middle of town is a sore spot among Borough residents.

Someone left this glove on a table and never returned. They let the property, which could have been a beautiful garden, become overgrown.

"Remember Paoli!!" was an early American Revolutionary call used to motivate troops against the British, who ambushed the soldiers sleeping under the command of Gen. Anthony Wayne.

I don't think too many of the items in this bin can be recycled together.

The City That Never Sleeps

Sidewalks jammed pack with people. Streets filled with cabs ready to run you over. And those silly accents. A nice place to visit, but I'll take the City of Brotherly Love any day of the week. I do enjoy sleeping once in a while.


Fifth Avenue in Manhattan looking northward. Tiffany's & Co. is ahead on the right.

51st Street Subway.

Some graffiti on the side of a place called Burger Heaven. Paying $9 for a piece of meat that wasn't even cooked is far from heaven.

My sister holding up the Brooklyn Bridge before returning to her home on the Island.

Six Weeks and Counting....

The ground in Philadelphia may be covered in snow, but down south in Clearwater things are just heating up.
Your 2007 Philadelphia Phillies have begun their preseason schedule down in the Grapefruit League, not without a little controversy to warm things up. Jimmy Rollins' now famous comments that the Phightins' are the team to beat in the NL East sparked a small media circus, primarily in New York, where the defending division champion Mets laughed off his comments.
NL MVP Ryan Howard and $85 million dollar man Chase Utley along with Rollins give the Phillies their strongest lineup in years. Wes Helms takes over at third base for Abraham Nunez, a definite upgrade. Also brought into the mix was catcher Rod Bajaras, which figures to make for an interesting battle behind the plate between last year's surprise 33 year old rookie Chris Coste and the equally pleasing David Ruiz. Jason Werth was brought into fill the 4th outfielder role, but he hasn't seen any action since 2005. Gone are late season acquistion and former Phillie-killer Jeff Conine along with David Delluci who formed a nice platoon late last season with the much-maligned and deservedly so joke of a star, Pat "The Bat" Burrell.
As for pitching, the Phils could possibly have the best rotation top to bottom in the Senior Circuit. Freddy Garcia, traded for from the White Sox, is the ace. Hard-throwing and hard-living Brett Myers, fresh off a contract extension, is back and hopes to improve upon his 12-7 record from last season. Phenom Cole Hamels looks to only to develop further and will continue to learn from journeyman St. Joe's graduate Jamie Moyer.
The battle for the fifth and final starting spot has been of much discussion this spring. GM Pat Gillick brought back Adam Eaton, who has struggled with injuries since ex-GM genius Ed Wade (doesn't this team have such a different feel now that he is gone?) traded him away for Andy Ashby (that really worked out well). Also in the mix is veteran Jon Lieber. The Phillies have brought all six starters into camp this year and Lieber figures to be the odd man out. He was the subject of much trade discussion this off season. Something's gotta give, and the bullpen looks to be in dire need of a fresh arm.
Gone from the bullpen are clubhouse favorite Rick White and nobody's favorite Arthur Rhoades. In their place are the six-fingered man Antonio Alfonseca and.......well, they really didn't get anyone else. The team figures to keep Ryan Madson, Geoff Geary, Alfonseca, closer Tom Gordon (let's see if he lasts the entire season), Matt Smith and possibly one or two others.
Worthy of note is the upgrade of baseball minds to give manager Charlie Manule some help. Former manager and player Davey Lopes is the new first base coach and former Red Sox manager Jimy Williams takes over as the bench coach.
The last playoff appearance for this team was the Macho Row crew of 1993. The rest of that decade was filled with lowered expectations under the veil of "rebuilding". Things began to look up once Larry Bowa took over, but the team fell just short every year. The past two summers' under Manuel have been as equally up and down. The key to this year's success is to start off fast. Last year's team dug themselves a hole, went on a nice win streak in taking 15 of 16 and then proceeded to be left for dead by the end of July. But something happened after the trade deadline and the departure of long term fixture in right field, Bobby Abreu. The team, feeling the effects of no expectations began to play together as a team for the first time since April. That will not be the case this spring. Jimmy Rollins has made sure of that and the always vocal Philly fans will be sure to let them hear it if this team sputters out of the gates.