Bob Beru performing "Papal Swat Team"

My sister and I are longtime fans of Beru Revue — a band born out of a 1980s’ Philadelphia rock ‘n’ roll scene that was so much fun to be part of, your appreciation for having shared in that era became bolstered by the passage of time. There were so many clubs in and around Philly then that featured live bands producing unique, original sounds, and Beru was at the heart of it all with others like Tommy Conwell’s Young Rumblers, Robert Hazard and the Heroes, John Eddie and the Front Street Runners, the A’s, the Daves, the Hooters and lots of others. Each was armed with some staggeringly talented musical ability and personal panache.
Beru really stood out in that it was fronted by a charismatic singer/songwriter named Bob “Beru” McCafferty whose lyrics laced comedy with current events and political issues, and the band incorporated a cache of props and costumes during each performance. The (more…)

Beth Shak

This year the Chelsea hotel’s much-anticipated Double Down New Year’s Eve will include a celebrity of sorts.
Beth Shak, one of the hottest female poker players on the professional tour, will be a guest celebrity the Chelsea. She will be dining at Chelsea Prime steakhouse Thursday evening and be on hand for the countdown to midnight, Jan. 1.
Shak has only played professionally for four years, but has already earned substantial prize money at several major tournaments, including two World Poker Tour events and two World Series of Poker events. She has career winnings of more than $450,000 through her first four years. A mother and businesswoman, Shak is also a philanthropist who uses her fame and success as a way to promote concerns dear to her heart, and in giving back to the community. She is actively involved with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, particularly with its hospice care program for terminally ill children.
Shak also has a pretty good sense of humor, apparently. In her bio on the Web site pokerpages.com, her response to the query “If I could change anything in the poker world” was: “Please everyone, shower. It’s a long day at the tables.”

Bob Dylan’s “Carribean Wind,” left off his 1981 album Shot of Love for some reason has appeared in various versions over the past several decades on bootlegs and now online. Today, the fantastic Dylan fan site expectingrain.com links to another “demo” version of the song with Dylan singing “Atlantic City, two years to the day ….” I’ve always wondered what he’s referring to there. Anyway, someone made a video for the song, which you can watch here. Great tune. It’s officially available on the compilation (and one of the first box sets ever) Biograph.

Credit Suisse Group takes over Resorts in Atlantic City. Read all about it at Bloomberg.com.

IHOBF’s Michael Hoebler

The International House of Blues Foundation (IHOBF) of Atlantic City will present an Action for the Arts Visual and Performing Art Exhibition at the Atlantic City Free Public Library, located at One North Tennessee Avenue, from 2-6pm Wednesday, Dec. 30. The exhibition, which will be featured in the Main Library’s second-floor meeting room, will showcase visual and performance art created by participants who took part in Action for the Arts drumming/world percussion and visual art workshops in 2009. The IHOBF will also conduct hands-on workshops throughout the day.
Both the exhibition and workshops are free and for people of all ages. The workshops scheduled include:
* Hands-on visual art project from 2:30-3:30pm — Participants will
utilize a variety of materials and techniques used by well-known folk
artists.
* Make your own drum from 3:30-4:30pm — Using empty cans and other
every-day household items, participants will make their own drums.
* Community drumming and performances from 4:30-5:45pm — Percussionist Michael Hoebler will lead this activity and give everybody in attendance a chance to perform as a group in a drum circle. Participants can use the drums they made earlier in the program or those provided by the IHOBF.

Photo by Tom Briglia

In these tough economic times, Harrah’s Entertainment wanted to make sure Christmas remained a special time of year for some Atlantic City families that are struggling financially. On Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 23, Harrah’s executives took to the streets of Atlantic City and delivered Christmas meals to those less fortunate. Pictured left, Cherria Eichelberger of Atlantic City gets a surprise delivery of a holiday dinner from Ron Baumann, assistant general manager of Caesars & Bally’s Atlantic City, and Don Marrandino, Harrah’s Eastern Division president. The package contained a full-course turkey dinner with all the fixings and dessert.

In partnership with Warner Home Video, Caesars Atlantic City invites you to embrace The Hangover — the top grossing 2009 comedy in America — with free admission to the DVD release party screening at Caesars Circus Maximus Theater on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, at 7pm.
Officially declared “National Hangover Day” by Warner Bros, New Year’s Day at Caesars will embody a “hair of the dog that bit you” spirit. Attendees will be provided with a number of “day after” treatments including giveaways of Blu-ray and DVD copies of the movie and other merchandise, as well as special packages for Caesars hotel stays. Food and drink specials will be available at Mia, Caesars award-winning restaurant, and Toga Bar, an action-packed hot spot located right in the middle of the first-floor casino. Screening attendees are encouraged to remain and enjoy the after-parties at Dusk nightclub and Toga Bar. You must be 21 years or older for admission to this event.

As the 2000s come to a close, here is a call out to acweekly.com visitors to comment on their favorite album, movie and TV shows of the first decade of the new millennium. AC Weekly editor Jeff Schwachter’s picks, after careful thought, are as follows:

Best TV Show: The Wire (HBO) (close second HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm)

Best Movie: (Tie): The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), City of God (2002), Adaptation (2002). (Can you tell I haven’t been to the movies in a while?)

Best Album: Modern Times – Bob Dylan (2006)

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

Movie fanatics love to have fun putting together lists, especially when a decade comes to a close. In honor of that tradition, I’ve put together a list of my favorite movies from the past 10 years. In the ebb and flow of the movie biz, there seems to be an unforgettable decade of movies about every forty years. The decades that qualify in my book are the 1930s and the 1970s. If I can hold on for ten more years, perhaps the films of 2010-2019 will keep the trend going. In the meantime, here are the films from 2000-2009 that were the best of the best, a nice mix of epics, indie favorites and international cinema. For comedy fans, my apologies, but dramas and sci-fi are my two favorite genres.

In alphabetical order, my faves for the past decade:

Avatar (2009)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Children of Men (2006)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Far From Heaven (2002)
Garden State (2004)
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and II (2003, 2004)
The Lives of Others (2006)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Memento (2003)
Million Dollar Baby (2006)
The Station Agent (2003)

James Cameron’s awesome blend of breakthrough technology and emotionally satisfying storytelling in Avatar lived up to my expectations. It’s a spectacular flight of fancy that has a strong enough story to keep up with — and be enhanced by — the OMG technology.

Back in 2002, hot indie filmmaker Doug Liman (Go, Swingers) invaded the land of Hollywood genre filmmaking with his blissfully old-fashioned spy thriller, The Bourne Identity. Although set in modern times, the movie’s ambiance is from the time when spies were out in the Cold War, spying around colorful European locations and John Le Carre set the standard.

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Are you from South Philly? Do you want to know what’s happening in South Philly? Do you have family in South Philly? Well, our sister publication, the award-winning South Philly Review, has launched its new Web site. Check it out.