Smokity Smoke

Do you like smoking? The Dive is a bar where you can smoke. The clientele is pleasant, a combination of regulars and the hip folks, and many of them smoke cigarettes. Want to buy food? Psh! This is a smoking bar, son--less than 20% of their annual sales can be in eats. Don't think that the Dive is going to leave you hungry, though--that's free pizza in the corner. Sometimes the bar has events--DJ nights, fiction readings, etc. At all of these events, people smoke. I don't want you to think that I'm trashing the Dive just because there are usually more cigarettes in the place than people: the beer selection is good and cheap, and the atmosphere is down-to-earth and friendly. But when most bars in the city don't allow smoking, the ones that do tend to be defined by that, whether it's something you like or you not. Smoke smokity smoke smoke.

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Nightlife • Bella Vista / Queen Village

Ira Glass Was Wrong!

Ira Glass is convincing on many fronts. But does anybody else remember when he gave a big yawn to the cupcake trend in an interview in BUST? (Side note: I can't find a copy of the interview right now--can you? I need to remember those carefree days of early '08.) Moreover, in the interview, Glass claimed that BUST's readers would agree: cupcake trend = over. Well darn it, Mr. Glass, it's a year-and-a-half on, and I still don't agree. Maybe there are too many cupcakes in your Magnolia Bakery, Sex-and-the-City New York, but down here, our cupcake build up has been like good molasses: slow and sweet. Sure, we might finally be reaching our saturation point of cupcake shops, but I am still enjoying them. And the cupcake shop I'm loving the most right now? Buttercream Cupcake truck. The great thing about the truck's treats is they aren't an exercise in excess. Rather, they're normal-sized, with dollops of not overly sweet frosting in the center. The bad news? The truck moves regularly, and it's usually only in a given spot for a couple of hours at a time. Maybe it's just trying to avoid Ira.

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Shopping • Rittenhouse / Logan Circle

Chikara: Your New Obsession

Remember a couple of years ago when everyone was suddenly obsessed with Kaiju Big Battel, the monster wrestling league? It reminded us all that at its best, wrestling isn't overly ripped men with stringy, Gollum-like hair, it's tremendous athletes donning campy costumes and following ridiculous story lines. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have a new wrestling obsession for you: Chikara. Taking place with relative frequency in South Philly, Chikara is some of the most gleefully ridiculous shit I've seen in this city in the last year: tag-teaming men in ant costumes, midget wrestlers, moves with eight-plus people working together...it's fabulous. And it's family friendly, too--nothing all that dirty, disgusting, or violent: just good ol' fashioned wackyness. The next show in Philly is on November 22, just in time for Thanksgiving. Because what I'm thankful for this year is definitely men dressed up like snakes and lumberjacks doing body slams.

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Landmarks • South Philly East

Sunday Supper

Recently I took a class that kept me away from home on Sunday evenings for eight weeks in a row. The first Sunday I was home again, my boyfriend informed me that in my absence he had developed a Sunday routine, and he was going to teach me how to enjoy Sundays in the new style. He told me that this included a beer-filled trip to the Foodery and a good dose of mindless TV, but that the whole evening begins with a sandwich from the Cornerstone Market. I was a little surprised--I had always viewed Cornerstone with a suspicious eye. Oh, it's cute, and it has a nice selection of gourmet groceries, but I feel like gourmet corner stores like that exist primarily to carve a deep gouge in my wallet the moment I'm too lazy to walk the extra 10 minutes to an actual supermarket. But oh, the sandwiches. The sandwiches are so worth it. Like this guy here: he's mozzarella, tomato, pesto and artichokes served on fluffy multigrain bread. The Italian hoagie comes with basil leaves criss-crossing the top. Guys, listen: get a Cornerstone sandwich. They've made Sunday my favorite day of the week.

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Shopping , Supermarkets • Northern Liberties

Frogurt in the Fall

Fall is not the time to eat frozen yogurt. And because I have great timing, I'd like to tell you about a place I recommend not eating frozen yogurt at: Sweet Ending. Yet another Pinkberry knock off, Sweet Ending serves up pour-your-own tart frozen yogurt in a clean-yet-cutsey shop near Rittenhouse. The yogurt is meh--not terrible, but not as good as other establishments doing the same thing, like Phileo. Sweet Ending's plain is great, the strawberry fakey, and the green tea wholly unpleasant (if you're ready to call foul, know that this is from someone who is a fan of green-tea frozen treats and knows what this not-for-everyone flavor is supposed to taste like). But here's some great news: not only is fall not the best time for frozen yogurt, winter isn't either, so you have six whole months before you even think about getting accidentally temped by this place.

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Shopping • Rittenhouse / Logan Circle