How to Donate Blood to the American Red Cross

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North America’s blood banks are running dry. Only 30 percent of Americans are eligible to donate blood—even worse, 5 percent of eligible donors find their way to a local blood drive in a given year. Millions of people pass up the opportunity to save lives because they’re too busy, afraid of needles, or because the closest drive is over 10 miles away from where they live. Whether you are a first-time donor or just haven’t given in a few years, it’s time to put aside your excuses. These easy steps will show you how to find a drive and make an appointment, how to prepare to give blood, and what to do when you’re done. Read more »

Movies You May Have Missed: Penelope

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Now that the torrential downpour of summer blockbusters is mostly a memory, I’d like to rewind to last February. That’s when my favorite DVD buy of 2008 was released in theaters in both the US and the UK. I know you missed it because the film raked in less than $4 million on opening weekend.

Penelope has all the makings of an indie movie, not-so-tragically flawed with an all-star cast — Christina Ricci (Monster, Sleepy Hollow), James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland), Reese Ritherspoon (Walk the Line, Sweet Home Alabama) and Catherine O’Hara (The Nightmare Before Christmas) work to tell a fairytale for a new generation of women.

PAMS pushing to boost PSSAs

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By Marielle Messing
Special to The Phoenix

PHOENIXVILLE – In less than two weeks, students, teachers and administrators will return to their posts at Phoenixville Area Middle School with a new mission: to get a thumbs-up from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

In a presentation of PSSA scores at the Phoenixville Area School Board meeting on Thursday, August 14, district supervisor of mathematics and assessment coordinator Carolyn Marchetti explained the newly-released 2007-2008 PSSA scores for the Phoenixville Area School District. The PSSA, or Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test, is a standardized measure of learning to help level the academic playing field at K-12 schools across the Commonwealth. In 2002, in cooperation with the No Child Left Behind

Act, The Pennsylvania Department of Education tacked on an additional PSSA evaluation for schools called Adequate Yearly Progress. AYP helps schools target students who need remedial learning in order to achieve a score of “proficient” on their PSSAs. To do this, the PDE has divided the student population into subgroups by race, learning disability and economic disadvantage. Only subgroups of 40 students or more are analyzed and counted toward a school’s AYP.

Township OKs $60K for road repaving

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By Marielle Messing
Special to The Phoenix

The Charlestown Township Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to approve $60,000 from the budget to repave a segment of Yellow Springs Road at their monthly meeting on Monday night. The routine repair work will cover the length of Yellow Springs Road from Hollow Road to the Turnpike Bridge, according to Township Administrator Linda Csete.

The approval came following discussion by the board regarding the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Milepost 320-326 Widening project, which will eventually convert the existing four-lane highway between the Valley Forge and Downingtown exits into a six-lane highway. The project will widen the Mill Road Bridge, causing construction on Yellow Springs Road and Valley Creek Road.

For this reason, Board of Supervisors member Paul Hogan moved to deny the repaving, but was overruled by the other members, who based their decision on adequate room for the repairs in the township budget and on their desire to maintain safe roadways.

“[The widening project is] in their plans but we don’t know when it’s going to be approved. The board felt that we needed to repair the road now and couldn’t wait for that,” said Csete.

The Turnpike commission anticipates construction on the Mill Road Bridge will begin in 2010, according to their Web site.

Construction to repave Yellow Springs Road will begin in a few weeks, according to Csete.

©The Phoenix 2008

Bearoff named new Kimberton Fair Queen

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By Marielle Messing
Special to The Phoenix

Sweltering 90 degree heat did not prevent fairgoers from attending the opening ceremonies at the 80th annual Kimberton Community Fair on Monday night. The fair, a volunteer-run celebration of agriculture in Chester County, takes place in the last week of July each year at the Kimberton Fire Company on Route 113. This year, the festival of rides, games, juried competitions and award-winning donuts will run through Saturday, July 26.

Opening Ceremonies kicked off at 7:30 p.m. as members of the Phoenixville chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars presented the colors and Senator Andrew S. Dinniman led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pennsylvania State Representatives Curt Schroder, 155th District, and Duane Milne, 167th District, made brief welcoming remarks, followed by State Secretary of Agriculture Dennis C. Wolff, who presented Fair Secretary Karen Dobson with a certificate of recognition of the event’s 80th birthday.

‘Rocky Horror’ fans gather, ‘Do the Time Warp again’

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By Marielle Messing
Special to The Phoenix

Over 500 patrons, dressed as maids, bikers, mad scientists and transvestites, swarmed the Colonial Theatre to get their fix at the 8th annual Rocky Horror Picture Show on Saturday night.

The yearly performance is one of the Colonial’s best-selling events and is part of an international cult obsession with the 1975 sci-fi parody starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick. The live show includes a shadow cast of actors miming and lipsyncing in front of the film as it plays. Audience members are encouraged to participate by bringing props and shouting off-color comments at the screen.

Although live RHPS performances traditionally begin at midnight, The Colonial has found the most success with a 10 p.m. show, according to House Manager Scott Bauman, and it is a quirk that’s likely to stay.

An Intelligently Designed Game

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By Marielle Messing

Gamers and science nerds, rejoice. After three years of salivating over Internet rumors and 30-second trailers, EA Games has finally announced the date of the next Big Bang in gaming. “Spore,” the latest game from ”Sims”-genius Will Wright, will populate stores on Sept. 7 and is the first evolution simulation not made for the biology lab or classroom. You start off the game as a single-celled organism Pac-Manning your way through the primordial ooze. As your creature gives birth, you control new generations. The different organisms you eat dictate how much you grow, until your critter’s species is big enough to make the journey onto land. In the Creature Phase, your organism meets individuals from other species, fights for dominance, mates and explores. The Tribal Phase lets you control a small society of your species, which now has the brain power to use tools and develop a culture. Then, upgrade to the Civilization Phase and try to dominate the world, Risk-style. Finally, when you’ve exploited your planet to the fullest, rocket off to colonize other worlds in the Space Phase.

The social simulations are epic, but the best part of the game is sure to be the dynamic of what Wright calls a “massively single-player online game”: although you are not playing with other users across the Internet, you will be able to download their species and integrate them into your own world.

“Spore’s” gaming technology is top-tier and, wacky creative license aside, so is its science. Consistent with the theory of evolution,  species evolve according to the traits you pick for previous generations. The game uses all the stuff you learned in Intro to Bio—competition, predation, fitness—and plenty of stuff you didn’t (like how to create a three-legged carebear with fangs).

And since it will be available in versions for the PC, Mac, Nintendo DS, Wii and iPhone, “Spore” proves that God complexes can come in any size.

Cocoa Karma

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Can you really reach your om-zone with an exotic chocolate treat?

By Marielle Messing

There are two types of people in this world: Those who do yoga and those who don’t. Until now, I’ve been an exemplary member of the those-who-don’t camp — avoiding all illustrated guidebooks, videos, magazine articles and even the nagging advice of my own yoga-loving mother. But the Yoga + Chocolate Chakra Gift Box by Vosges Haut-Chocolat was enough to motivate me to get off the couch and finally get my om on.

Yoga + Chocolate makes a great gift for the chocolate-loving and yoga-curious. The concept is simple, but enticing: the body has seven chakras — spiritual power centers that run from the base of the spine to the crown of your head — and this box holds all the resources you’ll need to nurture them. Included are a mini-guidebook written by Yahoo!’s mind-body expert David Romanelli and seven aromatic gourmet chocolate bars.

For each chakra, Romanelli suggests music playlists (available for download on iTunes), proposes his own thoughts on each chakra, explains and illustrates a yoga pose, and then rewards you with an exotic chocolate bar. In this way, he encourages you to achieve Nirvana by using all your senses — but especially your taste buds.

After trying this irresistible experience, I should caution you that, although the chocolates are composed of all-natural cacao and healthful ingredients such as high-protein Australian wattleseeds and spicy chipotle chillies, the basic poses introduced in the guidebook won’t burn off an iota of the calories. Nevertheless, let this kit inspire you to sign up for a yoga session at the local gym — just be sure to bring an organic chocolate treat in your tote for a sweet finale.

Vosges Yoga + Chocolate Chakra Gift Box, $45, Grocery, on the corner of Chestnut and 13th streets, 215-922-5252; vosgeschocolate.com.

Your KOP Christmas Workout

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Burn off holiday treats with this gift-hunting sweat session

By Marielle Messing

So, you’re slightly busy. There’s one week left until Christmas and you’re still not done shopping. The chance of making it to the gym is looking less and less likely, and any visions of quality time with your treadmill are being rapidly buried beneath the growing pile of homebaked goods on your desk.

This is one time where the giganticness of the King of Prussia Mall will work in your favor. From Plaza to Court, the shopping mecca holds 2.7 million square feet and over 400 shops. So wear something comfy, grab your sneaks and follow these 6 tips to turn your next mad dash to the mall into a heart-thumping workout.

1. Park in a galaxy far, far away. In King of Prussia’s case, parking at the end of the universe will not only save you half an hour of driving around searching fruitlessly for an empty spot, but will provide you with up to 10 extra minutes of heart-healthy brisk walking.

2. Power-shop. Now that your heart is pumping, keep up the pace. Pass the slow walkers (stroller-pushing parents and absent-minded list-readers), and stay in the fast lane as you hurry from shop to shop.

3. Stairways to Heaven. Be sure to avoid the KOP’s nine sets of escalators and take the stairs between floors. For the maximum burn, jog up two step at a time.

4. Checkout Those Abs. Instead of stressing while you wait in the 15-minute checkout line, channel your Pilates class, breathe deeply, and contract your lower abs. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat. By the time the clerk starts to ring your through, your abs will be ready for a break.

5. Refuel. Ditch the diet-destroying Starbucks latté and go for a 90-calorie Mango Beach smoothie from the Freshëns Smoöthie Company in section D. It’s a Sex on the Beach without the morning-after guilt and light enough that you won’t be weighed down as you check off that list.

6. Work Your Arms. Sneak in one last exercise on the way back to your car, when you can use those shopping bags draped over your arms to do some curls and tone your biceps. By the time you get home, not only will your holiday shopping be completed, but you’ll have gotten your heart rate up and reaped the benefits of a mini workout.

The King of Prussia Mall, 160 North Gulph Road, King of Prussia, 610-265-5727, kingofprussiamall.com

Net-fairing

See the original article here. NB: Philadelphia Magazine has discontinued their blogs. Former entries are no longer available for viewing online.

I’m not very good at picking out holiday gifts. I’m the dreaded giver of itchy socks, ugly ties, lumpy sweaters and occasionally my own badly-written poetry. Which is why I was so pleased with myself when I started shopping online for other people’s homemade gifts and found these unexpectedly hip Upcycled Starbucks Card Mosaic Coasters for my sister’s new house at Etsy.com. But it didn’t end there: By 4 a.m. the next morning, I had 37 items on my wish list and vowed to revisit year round for birthdays, anniversaries and personal shopping binges.

Think of Etsy as an Internet craft fair, where artists and hobbyists gather in one place to sell their hand-sewn (-painted, -crocheted, -sculpted, -melted, -pressed, -spun … you get the picture) wares. The problem with Etsy is that looking for cool stuff is as much fun as finding it: Those marketing geniuses have devised 16 different ways to find that special handcrafted something, whether searching by favorite color (choose from 196 different shades) or by using the Time Machine function to send the most recently posted items spiraling onto your computer screen. Or you can search the old-fashioned way — by keyword or category.

To support artists and crafters in Philadelphia, try the Shop Local function: just plug in the city of brotherly love and more than a hundred local sellers appear, peddling handcrafted jewelry, artwork and, well, just about anything: I’m thinking of avoiding the winter chill with a cozy pair of fleece fingerless gloves by stay-at-home mom BabyPop ($14 plus shipping) or picking up one of prossackdesigns’ hand-cut Stained Glass Journals to document my life in 2008 ($12 plus shipping).

Now that I can officially call myself an Etsian, (us frequent perusers), I’ve got my eye on this Chocolate Patterned Mug by AmyEsther — made from rich, textured earthenware that will add a little more hearth to my home ($18 plus shipping). — Marielle Messing