On Monday and Tuesday nights (don't know about Sunday), Prince partied with his crew and some celebs at a newish club called Tragos on 19th Street in Philadelphia. Bumped into someone Tuesday afternoon who got a call to go and DJ the party.

Anyway, there was NO WAY to get into this place. This was a very private affair, supertight security. No club ins.

But based on a report in the Philadelphia Weekly, Prince doesn't like cigarette machines. Read on...

http://www.philadelphiawe...hp?id=7901

Pressler's Miscellany


by Jessica Pressler

No Moles Allowed

We all have our quirks. I know when I go to a bar, I have a few simple requests: All the tables have to be aligned at right angles and no people with moles are allowed in. Still, some famous people really take things too far. Like Prince, who after-partied at Tragos while he was in town last weekend. Apparently, the Artist required a VIP room with pool tables--meaning the Tragos folks had to rent a second one and lug it upstairs--plasma TV screens (to watch his show) and a tinted glass, "so that people wouldn't see what he was drinking," says our source. The cigarette machines had to be covered up entirely with fabric, the reason for which we spent way too much time trying to fathom. (Is the light that comes out of them a peculiar and unflattering color? Is he afraid the advertising will suck him in? Or is it just something totally boring like he's trying not to smoke? In which case: dude.) Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson DJed, and the entire place was on lockdown. Just as well, as we may have actually died if we'd been able to experience the scene in person.

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Here's What's Fun

That old chestnut: The fab-ification of the upper blocks of Chestnut Street continues. Everyone can now stop waiting in front of Continental Midtown, looking like they're trying to buy bread in the U.S.S.R. Hamburger Mary's, a burger chain that asserts homos don't have to stick to arugula, opened this week. >> Cold Case, which isn't the same show as deceased CBS drama Hack, filmed this weekend near Eastern State Penitentiary. "They made everyone move their cars," groused a neighbor, who won't be joining Young Involved Philadelphia anytime soon.

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Here's What's Crap

Speaking of the YIPs, I still haven't fully recovered from the bout of violent barfing I suffered after reading Melissa Dribben's Sunday Inquirer feature on those hideous overprivileged pod-youths. You most likely missed it, so here is the most vomitacious bit:


"On Walnut, at the Caribou Cafe, three friends are talking about their love for Philadelphia. One of the guys (dark eyes, easy laugh, relaxed in short sleeves) is enjoying an $8 burger, the other (tall, debonair, handsome) savors a glass of Rioja. The woman, (urban chic, black top and slim gray skirt, sunglasses on her head), marvels at how pleasant it is watching people hurry by, with the background clatter of the city and the creme caramel voice of a Brazilian crooner. 'This feels like we could be anywhere in Europe,' she says."

And, the awesomest bit:


"[YIP]'s like one big echo chamber," says one City Hall critic who asked for anonymity. "The members are young, white and Center City. People who are full of themselves. They tend to stand up and ask a 10-point question, supported with quotes from Descartes."

I couldn't pull myself up off the toilet long enough to make fun of this myself, so, following Dribben's model, I found a similarly colorful, anonymous City Hall critic to comment on the YIPpies: "God, am I sick of those smarmy, self-congratulating pricks," says the source. "They take credit for supposedly doing all this precious, wonderful stuff, but all they really do is sit around and sip fucking Rioja and have little Real World garden parties and never venture out from a 16-block radius, except to go to the King of Prussia Mall and charge things on their Brooks Brothers accounts, which they then pay off on time. They're vile, self-centered, trust-fund-having assholes, and I hate them. I hate their clear skin and squeaky-clean bullshit-bullshit. Fucking 'young JFK.' Enough already."

So by "City Hall source" I meant "someone who's been in City Hall." That's okay, right?

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Things to Do This Week
(other than be glad you're 100 miles from New York)

>> Turn-of-the-century hardcore geeks, put on your Minor Threat T-shirt and your vegan loafers and hoof it over to Fishtown, because Brian Sokel and Major Taylor are making Dischord Records Night a bimonthly event. Finally! A place to discuss weird minutiae--like: Whores in need of hose pay three cents for thin ski pants--in peace, with like-minded souls. Mon., Aug. 30, 9pm. Free. Johnny Brenda's, Frankford and Girard aves. 215.739.9684

>> Watching paint dry is entertaining at North's live art event, EASY, where Gravy and artists paint live to DJ Brendan's beats. Thurs., Aug. 26, 9pm. Free. North, 222 South St. 215.238.0298. www.northonsouth.com

>> Hear the improbably named Tuesday Gordon, a manager at Joan Shepp, issue a Special Fall Fashion Report while scooping up handmade T-shirts by Tracy and jewelry by the lovely Zeda at the Latte Lounge's trunk show. Fri., Aug. 27, 6-8pm. Free. Latte Lounge, 816 N. Fourth St. 215.629.9808



SEND PM TIPS T0: jpressler@philadelphiaweekly.com
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Additional articles by Jessica Pressler:

Pressler's Miscellany (Aug 18 '04)
Pressler's Miscellany (Aug 11 '04)
Pressler's Miscellany (Aug 04 '04)
Pressler's Miscellany (Jul 28 '04)
Top 5 Of The Moment (Jul 28 '04)

vfiorillo said:[quote]On Monday and Tuesday nights (don't know about Sunday), Prince partied with his crew and some celebs at a newish club called Tragos on 19th Street in Philadelphia. Bumped into someone Tuesday afternoon who got a call to go and DJ the party.

Anyway, there was NO WAY to get into this place. This was a very private affair, supertight security. No club ins.

But based on a report in the Philadelphia Weekly, Prince doesn't like cigarette machines. Read on...

http://www.philadelphiawe...hp?id=7901

Pressler's Miscellany


by Jessica Pressler

No Moles Allowed

We all have our quirks. I know when I go to a bar, I have a few simple requests: All the tables have to be aligned at right angles and no people with moles are allowed in. Still, some famous people really take things too far. Like Prince, who after-partied at Tragos while he was in town last weekend. Apparently, the Artist required a VIP room with pool tables--meaning the Tragos folks had to rent a second one and lug it upstairs--plasma TV screens (to watch his show) and a tinted glass, "so that people wouldn't see what he was drinking," says our source. The cigarette machines had to be covered up entirely with fabric, the reason for which we spent way too much time trying to fathom. (Is the light that comes out of them a peculiar and unflattering color? Is he afraid the advertising will suck him in? Or is it just something totally boring like he's trying not to smoke? In which case: dude.) Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson DJed, and the entire place was on lockdown. Just as well, as we may have actually died if we'd been able to experience the scene in person.

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I too had a friend working there, and this is crap. Someone came in just to drape material to make it look nicer. Big deal.