Wednesday, February 18th, 6:30pm. FREE. Whenever Wednesday’s at the Institute of Contemporary Art @ 36th and Sansom in University City.
Dinner: 10% off food total at the White Dog Cafe, 3420 Sansom Street, 215-386-9224 (about one block east on Sansom from the ICA; when you leave the ICA with the building behind you, walk straight on Sansom. The White Dog is on the right hand side.) www.whitedog.com
What does a 28-min film about French pop-musician’s Serge Gainsbourg’s love songs have to do with a feature-length film about puppy love? Well, for starters they were both filmed in 1971; are both titled “Melody;” and they are both part of this week’s aptly named “Melody, Melody and Meg” Whenever Wednesday programming at the ICA.
Starting at 6:30pm, the ICA will host a wine and cheese screening of filmmaker Jean-Christophe Averty’s music video to Gainsbourg’s provocative album Histoire de Melody Nelson. Directly after the screening, artist Anthony Campuzano and curator Kate Kraczon will tour and discuss the exhibition “Touch Sensitive” on view till March 29th in the Project Space at the ICA. 
And then at 8pm the International House at 3701 Chestnut Street will play a different Melody. This film is much lighter and quasi-innocent, Waris Hussein’s Melody is a love story between two twelve year-olds who want to get married ASAP. The film features hit music by the BeeGees and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Following the film at the International House, Philadelphia-native Meg Baird, a founding member of the folk band Espers, will perform.
There are enough cultural things to do in University City any given Wednesday to make a full night of it, so pick and choose wisely and don’t forget to eat! Just down the road from the ICA is the lovely, socially active White Dog Café. With both a magnificent bar & grill menu and full dinner menu, White Dog Café has something for everyone’s tastes and pocketbook. The bar menu has mouth-watering burgers, gourmet wraps and a free-range chicken cobb salad with avocadoes and apple smoked bacon that puts ‘salad’ on the dinner table as an entrée. Not to go unmentioned, the bar also has nachos, calamari and organic chicken wings that pair flawlessly with the reputable beer list, if you’re dropping in for a small bite.
Looking for something a little more substantial? Walk through the bar to be seated in the White Dog Café’s elegant dining room. Pepper Crusted Hawaiian Ahi Tuna, Maine Diver Scallops, Fennel Crusted Wild Striped Bass, Berkshire Pork Tenderloin, and Sesame Crusted Tofu top the menu of delectable favorites, but really I could list the whole menu for you because there’s no going wrong here. Supporting local, organic, sustainable farmers and paying employees a living wage, the White Dog Café is in a class of its own. And with entrées ranging from $17-$28 in the dining room (about $12 at the bar) its an affordable way to have gourmet food while being socially and environmentally concerned. 
Image: Anthony Campuzano, Domestic Affairs/Foreign Affairs (P. Mondrian, Pier and Ocean, 1915), 2008.
