Discounts to many December cultural events around Wilmington, via InWilmington.

Here's the link: http://inwilmingtonde.com/events/event.php?e=1795

Included are discounts to Wilmington Drama League, Delaware Symphony, Mt. Cuba Center, Hagley Museum, Winterthur, City Theatre Co., and more.   In a lot of cases, when you call for tickets you have to mention that you saw the discount on the InWilmington site.  So do be sure to read the details carefully.

I'll freely admit that I get a lot of content (band shows, etc.) from the InWilmington website, and I'd recommend saving it to your Favorites folder and checking back weekly.  The thing about it that cracks me up, though, is the front page: an image of a white girl (representing suburbia), timidly peering out from behind a curtain and picket-fenced yard, at the people beyond (representing Wilmington): a Hispanic girl and a black musician.  The message is painfully obvious: White People of the Suburbs!  Do not be afraid to come to the multi-cultural city and spend your money!

I don't know, the message is just a little ham-handed.  But inoffensive.  I swear it makes me laugh every time I see it.

Late addition: listening party for new Black Keys album, tonight at Rainbow Records

Join the employees of Rainbow Records as they spin the new Black Keys album, El Camino, on vinyl.  6pm, Rainbow Records on Main St. (just behind their former store-front), Newark.  There will be pizza and "sweet door prizes", and the album of the evening will be available, on sale, on CD and vinyl (it was just released today). 

SUNDAY on Pennsylvania Ave - Sustainable Gift Fair

Sorry for the late notice - I just saw this.  From the organizers:

Wilmington in Transition presents the 2nd annual Sustainable Gift Fair. Westminster Presbyterian Church in the Rodney Chapel,1502 W. 13th Street, Wilmington, DE 19806. Bypass the mall keep your holiday gift dollars in your community. Admission is free and there is Live m...usic from the Ellen Lebowitz Jazz Duo. Vendors include:*Barretta's Inc. Soap Factory *Clowning and Crafts by Marjorie Kafader *Furniture Caning by Phyllis Lan*Wilmington Children's Choir*Ninth Street Book Shop *Arts in the Media*Energy Audits by Jack Sol-Church *Yoga by Mia Muratori*Wilmington in Transition *DE Local Food Exchange*The Warped Loom- hand woven goods *Kelly Werkheiser - Jewelry*Jennifer Roman-Jewelry & recycled designs *Delaware Nature Society*Fresh Thymes Cafe*and more!

One Black Friday deal I don't mind recommending:

Today (Friday) only, Chelsea Tavern on Market St. is selling gift certificates at buy one, get one free.  According to them, there are no limitations.  It's like a Groupon, but without the annoying fine print!  Niiice.

WTB's recommendations for shopping locally this holiday season

Small Business Day isn't officially until Saturday, but any day is a good time to support local businesses.  You're not only supporting business owners, but also their employees, their local suppliers, and the employees of the local suppliers, possibly your own neighbors.  I don't mean to turn this into an anti-Walmart rant, but when you buy from a local small business you're also helping to stave off the slow but relentless encroachment of national conglomerates and big box stores into our shopping districts.

The following are some of my favorite ideas for local shopping:


Arden Holiday Shop at Gild Hall.
Sunday November 27th, 11am-4pm
2126 'The Highway' (off of Harvey Rd.)
Art, pottery and crafts made by locals

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Rainbow Records
What was once a small empire of stores in Delaware has now boiled down to one very small store, occupying a corner of the larger room it once was.  It's almost hard to believe that this is the same Rainbow as the vast store on Concord Pike that I built my first CD collection from in the early nineties. Needless to say, Rainbow Records could use your business, whether it be for LPs, CDs, or books.  But it seems to me that, even though the owner has had to whittle down his former local chain to one tiny spot, he's still living his dream.  Maybe more so now than before.  Now he's catering to avid record collectors (his people, I imagine), and that's probably what he set out to do in the first place.  The guy's been through a lot - let's help him retain this piece of his dream.
Rainbow will be having Black Friday version of Record Store Day specials, in addition to their usual deals (I think they had everything Black Keys discounted this week, for instance).

Hours are slightly longer on weekends but you can always count on them being open 11-7, 11-5 on Sundays.

54 E. Main St., Newark DE, 19711
302-368-7738
http://www.rainbow-online.com/

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Bellefonte Arts
This recently-opened shop, by the people who run the Bellefonte Arts Festival, features arts and crafts from local artists.  They also plan to host shows and events, and are a very worthy endeavor to support.
Tues-Sat. 11-6, Sunday 11-4.
803 Brandywine Blvd, Bellefonte DE 19809
302-762-4278
http://www.bellefontearts.com/

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The Chef's Haven
Cooking supplies, classes, gourmet take-out
But what caught my eye is that they will sharpen knives for you.  This is a great gift for foodies and serious home cooks.  Don't buy an automatic knife sharpener from a big box kitchen store - it will ruin good blades.  Have a professional like the owner of this store, chef Mark, 'tune up' your honey's best knives.

1304 Old Lancaster Pike, Hockessin
Hours: Tues-Fri, 10-6:30; Sat. & Sun. 10-4.  Closed Mondays.
http://chefshavenonline.com/

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Spaceboy Clothing
Besides offering interesting clothing and tchotchkes for the more punk-rock minded among us, they're running a great deal on one-off customized t-shirts this week.  Through Saturday the 26th, you can select an American Apparel t-shirt of your choice, provide the shop with a design to be screen-printed, and get a single, customized t-shirt for only $30.  Yes, I wouldn't normally call $30 for a t-shirt a deal, but when you're getting it screen-printed to your specifications and the shop is willing to do a batch of just one t-shirt, that's a really great deal. 

2306 Kirkwood Hwy, Wilmington DE, 19805
302-225-9781
http://www.spaceboyclothing.com/
Hours: Mon-Fri 10-7, Saturday 12-5, closed Sunday

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Kinetic Skateboarding

I was going to say that this will only interest the skateboarders, but in looking at their website it seems they have way more than just skateboard equipment, and are worth dropping in on, for the rest of us.  (I desperately wanted to learn to skateboard at one time, but didn't have the balance for it.  It is like a hot knife through my cold, dark heart every time I see some little kid get the hang of it immediately).  This shop, which recently celebrated the opening of a 2nd location in Haddonfield, is owned by a young father of two with connections to the local music world.  He's good peeps, and this shop deserves your business.

Hours: Mon-Sat. 10-8, Sunday noon-5.

5319 Concord Pike
Wilm. DE
302-477-1533
http://kineticskateboarding.com/

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Newark Arts Alliance's Holiday Art Market

Arts and crafts made by locals, including textiles, jewelry, ceramics, children's items, photography, paintings, glassware, and more.  The market will be holding a reception on December 2nd, 8pm, during which you can meet the artists and crafts people.
276 E. Main St.
Newark DE 19711
Runs Nov. 22-Dec. 31 from 11am-3pm

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Accent Music
Accent, a two-store small business, is in a little bit of a struggle right now with the newer and larger Guitar Center that just opened.  The thing to remember about Accent is that they employ not just the men and women selling guitar strings and amps, but literally dozens of music teachers.  You're helping all of them out when you choose Accent over Guitar Center, when possible.  (They are not paying me to post this coupon, though I do have several friends who work there).

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Honorable mentions: Grass Roots, Wild Birds Unlimited, Harvest Market, Delaware Local Food Exchange: good gifts for mom and dad and your granola sister.

Electric Factory offers $15 tickets for 5 upcoming shows, but you have to get them Wednesday or Thursday

WXPN's blog reports that the Electric Factory is offering a special $15 "Beat The Heat" rate, today and Thursday only, for the following shows:

August 1: Streetlight Manifesto with Reel Big Fish (tickets)
August 4: Big Audio Dynamite with HR/Human Rights (from Bad Brains) (tickets)
August 9: Nas and Damian Marley with Writtenhouse, Solomonic Sound System featuring Rob Paine (tickets)
August 18: The HARD Tour 2011 featuring Digitalism, Caspa, Switch (of Major Lazer), Designer Drugs, and Destructo (tickets)

The tickets are $15 plus fees if you get them online, or a flat $15 if you get them at the Electric Factory box office.  Unfortunately there's nothing in here that I'd want to see, but if any of these appeal to you, remember: the Electric Factory is air-conditioned.

Link to original XPN post: http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/07/electric-factory-offering-limited-time-15-beat-the-heat-tickets/

Pike Creek Chiropractic Center is offering free services in exchange for donations to Food Bank of Delaware.

If you donate $50 or more to the Food Bank of Delaware, through Pike Creek Chiropractic, you'll get an exam, X-rays, and a consultation for free.  The offer expires Friday June 3rd.

For more info and for a printable coupon:
http://www.relylocal.com/newark-delaware/business_listings/pike-creek-chiropractic-center#coupon2031

Also: Happy Memorial Day.   Will be thinking of my pop (who'd been a p.o.w.) today.

Attention Thrift Store Hounds:

(And also people who like to plan their Halloween costumes very, very early in the year).  All Goodwill locations in the state are having a 50% off clothing sale tomorrow, Monday May 30th.  Go get you some polyester shirts and vintage cords. 

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 7th, from 10-4pm at Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark.   There will be several comic book artists doing illustration demonstrations of popular characters, and attendees will have the opportunity to do their own drawings.  There will be ice cream from Caffe Gelato, and face painting for kids.  The store's blurb didn't mention the details of the free comics, but I would assume that, at some point in your visit, you will be receiving at least one free comic book, if that's your thing.

Captain Blue Hen Comics is located at the eastern end of Main Street, in the shopping center next to the erstwhile East End Cafe. 

This weekend, 4/15 - 4/18:

UPDATE:  Any outdoor event on my weekend lists will probably have been rescheduled due to the rain.  But there's still plenty to do.

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"Get Outside" is hosting Kite Day tomorrow, 4/16, 1pm-3pm. Make and fly your own kite for $3! Call 655-5740 to register.
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Record Store Day is tomorrow, 4/16.  Rainbow Records has some beautiful t-shirts for sale to commemorate the day.  Now that their store is half the size it was, it's too small a space to host an in-store performance.  However, they will be giving away tickets to future WCL at the Queen Theatre concerts, plus releases of recordings that were made only for Record Store Day.  If you're passing by the store tomorrow, stop in - it's the last Rainbow Records in the state, and they could use some love (and I'm telling you, those blue t-shirts are great).  They're also holding sales all weekend.

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Brandywine Village's "Taste Of Brandywine" event has been rescheduled for May 14, due to weather concerns.

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In Philly this weekend, The Mountain Goats are at the TLA and Yoni Wolf is at the First Unitarian Church.

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Admission is free at the Brandywine River Museum on Sundays from 9:30 am to noon.  I did not know this!  Will definitely be going down there some Sundays from now on, with picnic blanket, lunch, and sweetheart.

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A Civil Unions bill was just approved in Delaware.  Will write more about this later.

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For prospective students at DCAD, today is preview day.  Stop in for tours of the campus.

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For a dose of nonrelevance: Wilmingtonic is bummed that she missed the O'Death show at Kung Fu Necktie this week.  Didn't even know about it, but was out of town anyway.  Saw them open for Dr. Dog in New York a few years ago, and they're pretty amazing.

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Okay, gotta run to work.  But I'm finding quite a few good things to blog about in the next few days.  Stay tuned!

Earth Day, Christina River Clean-up, and other Saturday daytime events:

Delaware Nature Society Earth Day Festival:

"Come to the DNS Earth Day Festival at the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge on the Wilmington Riverfront ~ Saturday, April 16, 10 am to 3 pm ~ Rain or Shine. Celebrate with canoe trips down the Christina, live music, green living exhibitors, hikes, children's activities and much more. U.S. Senator Tom Carper will speak at noon. It's FREE!"

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Wild Birds Unlimited (Hockessin) 16th anniversary celebration:

First 16 customers of April 16th get a free gift, and everything is 16% off.  Stop in Harvest Market Natural Foods next door, where they'll be giving away free reusable bags for Earth Day.

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"A Healthy Taste of Brandywine".  From Greater Brandywine Village Revitalization:

"Saturday, April 16, 2011, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the intersection of Concord Avenue & Market Street. Food, Live Music and Giveaways. Cooking demonstrations by Trader Joe's market, Healthy Smoothies by Zina DiTonno to sample and buy, Health Information by Christiana Care Health System, samples from neighborhood businesses. This is a kick-off for new Village Farmers' Market"

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Brandywine Zoo Earth Day Festival:

Sat., 10am-3:30pm at the zoo, free with zoo admittance fee.
"Learn about the "Wonder of Water" at this year's annual Earth Day Celebration!  The day will include live animal presentations, live entertainment, and fun water-related activities, games, crafts, and more!"

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Christina Watershed Clean-up:

Saturday from 8am-noon at White Clay Creek State Park and other sites in the area.  (8am!  Why can't one of these clean-ups have night-owl friendly hours?)

For more info and exact locations: http://www.christinarivercleanup.org/

The Wilmington Library's bi-annual book sale is on this week

The spring book sale this year spans from Monday the 11th to Wednesday the 13th, inside the library.  On Monday and Tuesday, hardbacks are $2, most paperbacks are $1, and the small pocket-sized paperbacks are 50 cents.  On Wednesday, the selection will be smaller but you can fill a bag for a set amount of money - usually about $7.   There's also a small collection of (mostly dated) CDs, DVDs, VHS, and vinyl. 
Hours are 9:30 am to 7:00 pm, making it ideal for city workers to drop in during a lunch break or after work.  The library is located on the south side of Rodney Square, at 10th and Market. 

Vinyl enthusiasts won't find the latest 7" from Secretly Canadian, but if you're into the Mantovani Strings Play Vivaldi, you're in luck!  Still, the book selection is pretty large and interesting.  I always manage to find a few really choice books, especially in the non-fiction section.  Funds benefit the library. 

While you're there, check out the library's small-but-interesting exhibit on the 150th anniversary of the first shot of the Civil War.  The exhibit includes a very old map of Delaware from the library's archives, and vintage newspapers that reported on the activity at Fort Sumter.   It's worth a glance just for the mid-19th century newspaper advertisements, including one for a brand new "Living Home and Home for the Insane".  This particular ad reported that beds were filling quickly, so you'd better sign up if you saw a need for this home in the near future.  It was, hilariously, at once matter-of-fact and chipper, as if they were selling prom dresses. 

For more information on the book sale:  http://www.wilmlib.org/events.html