"I don't know why this happened. I want justice. I want to know who did it."

Civilians are regularly getting caught in the battles between Hamas and the Israeli army. Soldiers on both sides are young kids who would be in college if they were Americans. Babies are dying because they have the bad luck to live next door to Hamas members. The scene, no matter how you look at it, is bad.

There's more to being an NFL coach than the things we as fans can cavalierly critique. There's near-endless behind-the-scenes work. And in a week when the Eagles are advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs for the seventh time in nine years, Andy Reid excels.

Kicking around his room in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace, a body brace and what looks like a hockey helmet, Hickey, who was left for dead after a hit-and-run accident, is making a miraculous recovery.

"Jim McGuinn is Midas."

With the Internet expanding, with the good stuff it's brought (like Wikipedia) has come an explosion of disinformation. It seems that bullshit and lies, as we learned from Fox and the Bushites, is now an acceptable norm.

TCNF's dishes have the depth of flavor to allow it to stand tall among its peers. All it has to do is recalibrate its barometer as to how much spice we can take.

Golden-hued bread is packed to the bursting point with the North African equivalent of a Southern meat-and-three plate. Hot fillings range from stew-tender lamb to perfectly spiced meatballs and come with a trio of veggies — green beans, zucchini, carrots, splendid stewed white beans and half a dozen other options.

Crêpe Maker | Closings: Brasserie Perrier, Raindrop Café, Azul Cantina | Lunch at Mémé, liquor license at Joe's Peking Duck Original 1984, Primo Hoagies in Wayne, free wine at Du Jour Symphony House

Quigley began creating mail art of her own, first sending it to her best friend, who had moved away to Alabama. Yet as her creative bent grew over the years, so, too, did the extravagant envelopes adorned with collages and drawings that poured out of her Havertown home.

Methodically pulling her brush from left to right and top to bottom, Friesicke creates layers upon layers with the treasure on the end — a rich, shimmery glint of gold beaming from below.

The Snyderman Gallery show that ushers in 2009 isn't large, but the theme is ambitious and, appropriately, reflects back — way back — on the history of art. Owner Rick Snyderman says he was led to "The Spirit of the Figure" by encounters with ancient Mesopotamian art at NYC's Metropolitan Museum.

Slots-only gambling parlors located in highly populated areas are precisely the model that Foxwoods and SugarHouse casinos hope to replicate here in Philadelphia. If they do, we will be the largest city in the United States to host them. Gov. Ed Rendell and others have portrayed slots as a safe medium. The opposite is true.

Philly, in all its tumbling mess of democracy, strife, toil and glory, is the kind of place where the greatest American writer needed to be, to hone his vision, to perfect his craft.

Man, am I scared. Fuck it. Stay classy. Welcome to 2009.

When it comes to crystal-balling 2009's music, this year should be more of an epoch than '08 if my instincts are right.

Last time we spoke to Craig Elkins he had just moved to L.A. and gotten access to a top-secret Universal Music Web site that hooks up songwriters with big-name stars. By now the ex-Huffamoose frontman must have a few juicy anecdotes about Christina Aguilera, right?

Though the world's taken a few steps forward and a few steps back since then, Chapman's worldview remains remarkably unchanged. Aside from "I Did It All," a sort of Sex and the City waltz, her most recent work is cut from the same cloth she's been using for so long.

Randy's time is wearing down, along with his body — which he keeps toned, tanned and topped by a signature, now thinning, blond mane. Still, he resists the end of his story, encouraged by his friends in the business, low-rent as they are, to look ahead.

Studdard had the air of soul's most amiable gentleman. But singing as the Harlem Renaissance's bawdiest persona — along with fellow AI alums Trenyce and Frenchie Davis — is just one part of a Ruben revival.

Safe Clothing Online Sale | Nicole Miller Semiannual Sale | Duross & Langel Sunday School | Winter Wonderland Sale at Bus Stop

Jan. 14-17, various show times, $10, Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St.; Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St.; 215-717-6499, kcactf2.org