ROADTRIP Philly’s Mummers Madness

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Along with its cater-corner rival, Pat’s

Steaks, Geno’s serves up cheese steaks

24-7 to voracious South Philly hordes.

Aww, sweeeet. A young Philadelphian

contemplates her options at Chocolate

by Mueller, one of more than 80 merchants

in the Reading Terminal Market.

Philadelphia restaurateur StephenStarr’s many hip creations includeTangerine, Pod, Morimoto andEl Vez (above), aMexicanrestaurant and bar.

Strut with the fine-feathered mummers on New Year’s Day.

The “City of Murals” boasts thousands ofwallscapes, including this one of formerPhiladelphiaMayor Frank Rizzo in theItalianMarket.

Parade here Get cheesy at Di BrunoBros. House of Cheese,where you can samplehundreds of varieties.

See a collection ofstrange objects peoplehave swallowed and hadremoved at the MutterMuseum, where medicaloddities are manifold.

It’s all about the Benjamin whenthe National ConstitutionCenter celebrates Ben Franklin’s300th year with a new exhibit.

The Mummers Museum opens itsdoors all year long for fans who can’tget enough revelry on Jan. 1.

You can’t tour PhiladelphiaInternational Records, butit’s cool just knowing whereproducers Kenny Gamble andLeon Huff launched legendarysoul acts such as the O’Jaysand Teddy Pendergrass.

In a city that treasures its jazz,the subterranean ZanzibarBlue is a premier venue.

The Kimmel Center,themodern home for thePhiladelphia Orchestra,is just a block from theorchestra’s old home,the stately Academy ofMusic, which openedin 1857.

A favorite on New Year’sDay, McGillin’s OldAle House— opensince 1860 — hashosted celebs fromWillRogers toWill Ferrell.

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Howzat? A briefpronunciation guidefor Philadelphia visitors:Atlantic City: lanick siddyattitude: addeetoodbagel: beg-ullboulevard: bull-vardcomfortable: con-fer-bulldid you eat?: jeet?Eagles: igglesgranted: granitice: oycejersey shore: downashoremine and yours:my-un and yornPhiladelphia: fluff-yaThe Philadelphia Inquirer: the inquireThursday: thirstyWalt Whitman Bridge: wallwomenbritchwater: wooderwinter: winneryou all: yooze or yizzez

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M8 Sunday, December 25, 2005 The Washington Postx

WHERE: Broad Street in Philadelphia.

WHY: Mummers, murals, medical odd-ities and more.

HOW FAR: 137 miles, or 2 hours and 40minutes from downtown Washington.

F or a gritty, no-nonsense city,Philadelphia throws onespectacularly wild and loopyNew Year’s Day party. LikeCarnival in Rio (minus the

bethonged beauties, of course), thefreewheeling Mummers Parade is amagical riot of color and music as wellas a heated contest between rival clubsfor cash awards and bragging rights.

Tricked out in feathers, glitter, make-up and elaborate costumes, some 8,000mummers of all ages strut from deep inthe heart of South Philly toward thejudging stands at City Hall. Along theway, New Year’s Day revelers, bundledagainst the cold, line the sidewalks fourand five deep, cheering — and occa-sionally jeering — as only those in theCity of Brotherly Love know how.

According to mummers historians,the practice of mummery — masquer-ading in costumes and performing pan-tomimes — can be traced to celebra-tions by Roman laborers in 400 B.C.Though its Philadelphia origins dateback to colonial times, the city’s annualparade officially began in 1901 and hasbeen held every year since then — ex-cept for 1919, due to hardships broughton by World War I, and in 1934, becauseof the Depression. (The parade has alsobeen postponed numerous times due torain, snow or heavy winds.)

Divided into three main categories— fancy, comic and string band — the

mummers start marching at 9 a.m. withbanjos, accordions and saxophones pro-viding the bulk of the soundtrack forthe day-long event (the parade oftendoesn’t end until 6 or 7 in the evening.)

“I think it’s so popular because it issuch an elaborate and festive event thatis put on by everyday working people,”says Palma Lucas, director of the Mum-mers Museum. Indeed, the organiza-tions that make the parade what it is —clubs with such names as Goodtimers,Golden Sunrise and Hog Island — aremulti-generational blue-collar clanscommitted to celebrating the annualrite.

With its Liberty Bell and Indepen-dence Hall, Philadelphia is a city ofgreat history, but there’s plenty here formore modern tastes as well. Hip newrestaurants, a bustling Center City andthe Kimmel Center, a 21st-century addi-tion to the performing arts scene, aresigns of the new growth that’s givingPhiladelphia buzz: National Geograph-ic Traveler magazine recently designat-ed it as the “Next Great City.” The tra-dition-bound Mummers Parade mayseem a bit of an anachronism in con-trast, but Philadelphia is as embracingof its storied past as it is of its promis-ing future. And besides, who doesn’tlike to see grown men in feathery cos-tumes? — Joe Heim The Mummers Parade is Jan. 1 at 9 a.m. onBroad Street from Washington Street toMarket Street, Philadelphia. 215-336-3050.www.mummers.com.

Road Trip maps are available online at www.washingtonpost.com/roadtrip, as are ad-dresses and hours of operation (be sure tocheck before you go). Have an idea for atrip? E-mail roadtrip@washpost.com.

MAP BY JEROME COOKSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; MUMMERS PHOTO BY CHRIS GARDNER — ASSOCIATED PRESS; OTHER PHOTOS BY JOE HEIM — THE WASHINGTON POST

MEDIAMIX | A Quick Take on New Releases

Miss MiseryBy Andy GreenwaldSimon SpotlightEntertainment $21

“You’re not in your life anymore, littleman. You’re in my life. And I think it'stime I asked you to leave.”

— Gould's double makes a power play

Heavy questions about personality and identityare leavened with pitch-perfect New York setpieces — from underground clubs to a hair-raising cab ride.

The impostor is unmasked a third of the wayinto the novel, and even though he continues towreak havoc, the most interesting part is over.

— Reviewed by Carolyn JurisBOOK

Turning AngelBy Greg IlesScribner$25.95

A retired lawyer takes on an old friend’s case,only to become embroiled in a seedyunderworld of drug trafficking, adulterousaffairs and ruthless violence.B

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Minimum-MaximumKraftwerkAstralwerks/Emd$99.98

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Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk No. 1By Damon Lindelof andLeinil Francis YuMarvel Comics$2.99C

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2046Rated RSony Pictures $29.95D

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The Football FactoryRated RImage Entertainment $24.99D

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Grizzly ManRated RLions Gate$27.98D

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Condemned: Criminal OriginsXbox 360Rated MatureSega $59.99

Players control Ethan Thomas, an FBI agent investigating two things: why the city’s homeless are becomingincreasingly violent and who's trying to framehim for murder.

Good detective work will trigger “mind’s eyemoments,” intuitive glimpses that could lead toThomas’s redemption, disgrace or death.

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A haunting documentary aboutself-taught naturalist TimothyTreadwell, who studied Alaskangrizzly bears for more than adecade before being eaten byone of his subjects in 2003.

“2046” BY WING SHYA — SONY PICTURES CLASSICS; “ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK NO. 1” BY MARVEL

The tome’s fast pace anddeliciously sordid plot twistsmake it difficult to put down.

“Even as I ask the next question, I praythat I’m wrong. ‘Are you telling me you wereintimate with the girl?’ Drew doesn’t blink. ‘Iwas in love with her.”’

— The protagonist learns that hismarried client had an affair with

a teenage murder victim

The price makes thisrelease definitely onefor diehard fans only.

— Shirley Halperin

Treadwell’s footage fascinates — his ability to get within reach of his humongous, fuzzy “friends” amazes, while Herzog’s skill at unearthing existential angst isunparalleled in cinema.

By examining the lives andrelationships of threegenerations of men, the movieeffectively explores what drivessome to form war coalitions andviolently back abstract causes.

Wide-eyed forays into raveculture and the sexed-up lives ofmodern teenagers feel morethan a little out of date.

— Sara Cardace

Sad-sack writer David Gouldcreates a hard-partyingcyberspace version of himself— who mysteriously appears inthe real world.

Ultimately, the film glorifies amphetamine-driven sociopaths who, having been denied thewar of their grandfathers’ generation, fight forno reason at all.

— Justin Rude

Astoundingly, thisre-telling of therivalry betweentwo fierce warriorsfeatures no actionwhatsoever.

— Evan Narcisse

“Before, when people had secrets they didn’t want to share, they’d . . . find a tree andcarve a hole in it, and whisper the secret intothe hole . . . then cover it over with mud.”

— Mr. Chow (Leung) longs for asimpler time

“What haunts me is that in all the facesof all the bears Treadwell ever filmed, Idiscover no kinship, no understanding,no mercy. I see only the overwhelmingindifference of nature.”

— Director Werner Herzog takes issuewith his subject’s Pollyanna-ish outlook

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This is the kind of sickly frightening gamethat will make it hard to sleep at night.

— E.N.

Powered by stellar sounddesign and grainy graphics,this first-person actionthriller fuses the shadowymania of “Seven” with thetechnological focus of “CSI.”

It would be nice to see more about howTreadwell spent his time with other humans;the paltry extras only include a “making of”Richard Thompson's so-so soundtrack.

— G.Z.

“I’m coiled up like a spring and I’mready to burst and wanking ain’tdoing it anymore. I need violenceto make me feel I’m still alive.”— Our “hero” indulges in a bout of

simple self-analysis

“She’s posing for consumerproducts now and then / Forevery camera she gives the bestshe can / I saw her on the coverof a magazine / Now she's a bigsuccess, I want to meet heragain" — "Model"

“Aw, shucks, you brought me in here to save your job, Nicky? And I was hopingfor somethin’ noble.”

— Wolverine learns that his job is cleaning upsuperspy Nick Fury's mess

Wong Kar Wai mixesnational allegory withsci-fi parable in this

film about a lothario-writer (Tony Leung Chiu

Wai) living in a HongKong hotel in the 1960s.

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Based on the best-selling novel by John King,the film follows an English football hooliganwho reexamines his destructive lifestyle whenhe begins to have portentous nightmares.

With its meticulous interiors, painterly CGI, and stunning composition, this is the mostgorgeous film of the year, and the superb

cast — Maggie Cheung, Li Gong, Ziyi Zhang (left) and Leung — make it all feel real.

Yu’s pen gives the characters uniqueexpressions that match the darkly humoroustone of Lindelof's flinty dialogue.

There’s a reason that Kraftwerk's minimalist rhythms have been wildlyinfluential on every moderngenre, from rock to dance pop to hip-hop.

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Those who don’t go in for poetic ruminations onlove and memory might find the film a littleponderous; everyone else will be richlyrewarded.

— Greg Zinman

B-

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Lindelof, a writer on ABC's TV hit“Lost,” puts the Canadian

X-Man on a collisioncourse with BruceBanner's alter ego.

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A four-disc (two CDs and twoDVDs) box set thatobsessively documents thepioneering electronic band's

stunning 2004-2005 tour.

Proofed by: duncanl Time: 18:14 - 12-22-2005 Separation: C M Y K HIGH-RES PROOF. IMAGES ARE RIPPED. FULL PROOF INTEGRITY.Product: SOURCE LayoutDesk: SOU PubDate: 12-25-05 Zone: DC Edition: EE Page: RDTRIP