By Patricia MansFOR THE INQUIRER
Justin says thatwhat he likes mostabout himself is theway he acts, the wayhe reads, and theway he is nice to oth-ers. Always on thego, the 7-year-old isinvolved in manyactivities, includ-ing singing, playingvideo games, andwatching cartoons. He is alsofond of sports, especially bas-ketball and bowling.
Justin loves his bedroom’sastronomy theme and he en-joys learning about the so-lar system and the planets.In school, he attends secondgrade and is a good student.His favorite subjects aremath, computer, and gym.
When he grows up, Justinwants to be a police officer,so he was thrilled to visit thePhiladelphia Police Academy
recently. Greetedby members of themounted patrol unit,he had the opportu-nity to ride a horse.He also toured thecanine unit andlearned how thedogs are trained.
Although he hasa very active life,there is somethingimportant missing— a “forever” fam-
ily. He dreams of having afamily that will love and carefor him, a family that willgive him a lot of attentionand help him develop his so-cial skills.
He and other children are availablefor adoption by approvedapplicants. For a free informationpacket contact the NationalAdoption Center, 1500 Walnut St.,Suite 701, Philadelphia 19102. Call215-735-9988, or visit the websiteat www.adopt.org
Monday’s Child
7-year-old Justin wantsto be a police officer
Bee Gees star Robin Gibb’sphysician confirmed Sun-day the singer has advancedcolorectal cancer and re-mains in intensive care afterwaking from a coma. AndrewThillainayagam said thatwhen Gibb, 62, weakened bychemotherapy and surgery,contracted pneumonia andfell into a coma last week, hewarned Gibb’s wife and threechildren he might not comeout of it.
But Gibb is now fully con-scious and able to speak,though “exhausted, extreme-ly weak, and malnourished,”Thillainayagam said. “It istestament to Robin’s extraor-dinary courage, iron will,and deep reserves of physi-
cal strength that he has over-come quite incredible odds toget where he is now.”
The Bee Gees, brothersRobin, Barry, and MauriceGibb, had disco-era hits in-cluding “How Deep is YourLove” and “Stayin’ Alive.”
Appetite for HungerwanesDate-night movies Think
Like a Man and The LuckyOne have knocked The Hun-ger Games off its No. 1 box-office perch. Think Like aMan, based on Steve Har-vey’s dating-advice best-sell-er, debuted as the top week-end draw with $33 million.The Lucky One, starring ZacEfron, was No. 2 with $22.8million.
SideShow
Bee Gee Robin Gibbemerges from coma
Justin is activeand especiallylikes basketballand bowling.
By Matt HustonINQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The blistering pop of guitar strings,a thundering ground beat, and an audi-ence clapping in three different rhythms— this is a night with Mexican guitar he-roes Rodrigo y Gabriela.
Fans at the Tower Theater Saturdaynight watched as a two-headed mon-ster — the genre-breaking acoustic duoof Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quin-tero — joined forces with new musicalallies, six members of the Cuban ensem-ble C.U.B.A., a collaborator on the duo’smost recent album, Area 52.
With deft backing from the band,Rodrigo drilled out one mini-gun mel-ody after another and Gabriela beatrapid rhythms on the wood and stringsof her guitar, her hand shaking like aflame.
Launching first into “Santo Domin-go,” the black-clad musicians built ona riff that was part folk, part speedmetal. That composition, like the oth-ers performed with the Cuban band,was a reworked version of an oldertrack. The guitar duo made its vividdeclarations; C.U.B.A. added exclama-tion points.
The virtuosic show captured the nextturn in an evolution. The guitarists re-routed their careers a decade ago whenthey quit their metal band and moved toIreland. Since then, they’ve been swal-lowing up new sounds. Contrary to pop-ular assumptions, they don’t do flamen-co. But the Tower audience witnessedhints of everything frommetallic riffageand acid-rock moans to ska and toothyacoustic dance music.
Playing with a rhythm section, horns,
and a backup guitarist allowed the duoa bit more freedom than usual. Gabrielagrinned widely and bounced across thestage to the big beats. The two split up andplayed alongside the band members.
They had a fiery partner in stringswith bassist Alfredo Hechavarria, whotook a solo against a tight drumbeat,scatting every note he played. The oth-er members took turns in the spotlightas well.
But Rodrigo y Gabriela won it back,with neat leads and rhythms and out-right shredding on songs like “Ixtapa”and “Tamacun.” And when the bandtook a break, the guitarists reignitedthe dynamic that made their reputa-tion.
Contact Matt Huston at 267-872-9207 [email protected].
Review:Music
A rousing Mexican-Cuban blend
By Peter DobrinINQUIRER MUSIC CRITIC
Mild-mannered he is not.If Jaap van Zweden were adinner-party guest, he mightdominate table chatter, slideheadlong into controversy,and hold forth in a self-impor-tant if good-humored tone.
As it was, leading the Phil-adelphia Orchestra in Fridaynight’s all-Russian program,the 51-year-old Dutchmanwas one of those guests trail-ing disagreement in his wakewhile still managing to leaveyou feeling more stimulatedthan riled.
His most questionablepiece of judgment on the po-dium in Verizon Hall was thesprint through the last move-ment of Tchaikovsky’s Sym-phony No. 4. The pace wassimply ridiculous. A strung-together series of blurs doesnot a legitimate artistic state-ment make. Elsewhere, how-ever, his interpretive sympa-thies revealed a lively artisticsoul with a fine ear for en-semble.
Music director of theDallasSymphony Orchestra since2008, van Zweden started,
at age 19, as concertmasterof the Royal ConcertgebouwOrchestra. Do such creden-tials give him any special in-sight or authority in shapingstrings? Simon Rattle was apercussionist, Riccardo Mutia pianist; a conductor’s in-strumental rearing makes fora weak correlation to stringsavvy on the podium.
Van Zweden, though,reached a rarefied sonic stra-tum in Rudolf Barshai’s 1960string-orchestra arrange-ment of Shostakovich’s StringQuartet No. 8, redubbed the
Opus 110a Chamber Sympho-ny. The piece is actually twogenerations of repurposing,as Shostakovich wrought hisstring quartet from previousthematic material (the Sym-phony No. 5 and Cello Concer-to No. 1, among many otherworks).
That Philadelphia’s stringphilosophy coalesced beauti-fully won’t be news to anyone,but van Zweden took certainnotes one step deeper on theintensity scale, drawing thatcascade of complex overtonesthat seems to build upon it-self.
The conductor sees Hitch-cockian terror in this score,which, along with somberbut burnished solos fromfirst associate concertmas-ter Juliette Kang and a starkabsence of vibrato in places,made for the kind of musicyou’d expect to attend an anx-iety attack on a dark winterafternoon. Shostakovich hada much wider swath of suffer-ing in mind during its compo-sition: The work, written inbomb-devastated Dresden, isdedicated to victims of warand fascism.
An alternately crisp andbrooding Rimsky-KorsakovRussian Easter Overture of-fered no controversy. Andthough van Zweden’s Tchai-kovsky 4 could be fussy, itwas also a chance to recon-sider settled law.
Yes, the last movement wasso brisk it drained away thepleasure of certain details.But what long and lovelyphrases in the first movement— here, the opinions were noless emphatic, but every ideawas couched in luxurious le-gato, rising in volume slowlyover many bars.
Van Zweden could be heardon the radio not too long agoleading the Chicago Sympho-ny Orchestra in a Brahms Vi-olin Concerto that unearthedtruths. Parts of van Zweden’sTchaikovsky were similar,arguing that, on balance, anunlikely mind is a good thingto have around.
No additional performances.
Contact Peter Dobrin at 215-854-5611 or [email protected] his blog at www.philly.com/artswatch.
Review:Music
A conductor’s unlikely choices
Conductor Jaap van Zweden.atwork. HANS VAN DER WOERD
C4 | THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 C | PHILLY.COM
elvic problems are hard totalk about, but we listen
with compassion, preservea patient’s dignity, and
offer a full range of conservative andsurgical options to restore confidenceand normal function,” says medical
director Dr. Elizabeth Babin.At Athena, care is approached
individually and comprehensively.Conservative strategies such as
medication, behavior modification,or simply avoiding certain foods can
make a big difference in controlling
to-frequent urination. Devices suchas pessaries support pelvic organs to
relieve pressure,and urethral plugscan provide temporary control for
special activities. Linda Narcisi, our
women’s healthcare and urologynurse practitioner, specializes in
conservative treatment options andis available for consultation.
State-of-the-art-SurgeryWhen surgery is the best option, Dr.
Babin and Dr. Timothy mcKinneyare international leaders in minimally
invasive approaches. Laparoscopy, in
which a small probe with a camera isinserted through a tiny incision, is just
one of their specialized techniques.
Ninety-nine percent of their
procedures—including hysterectomy,sacral colpopexy, and fistula
repairs—are performed as outpatient
procedures, getting patients homewithin 24 hours.
“We get referrals from allover the country,” notes Dr.
McKinney, who, in 1989, was one
of the first surgeons worldwide to
perform laparoscopic hysterectomy.“Minimally invasive surgery is our
hallmark, not something we just
perform occasionally. I haven’t
‘opened’ an abdomen in more than
a decade.”
Dr. Babin holds one of theregion’s only certificates from the
Council of Gynecologic Endoscopyrecognizing her special skills in
minimally invasive surgery. In
addition to traditional laparoscopy,
Athena surgeons are experiencedwith robotic-assisted surgery.
“We give patients abundantchoices,” continues Dr. McKinney,
“but we won’t recommend a treatmentjust because it’s new; we recommend
what’s best for the patient.”
They also serve as the regionalreferral for difficult surgical casesand patients who have complications
from prior surgeries.
Pioneers in the FieldWith more than 35 years’ combinedexperience, Athena surgeons wereinstrumental in defining the medicalsubspecialty of female pelvic health,
and fostered many technologicaladvances used widely today.
They are world leaders in
research for urodynamics, interstitialcystitis, vaginal pain, and prolapse.
“We are dedicated to advancingour specialty with scientific research,”
Dr. McKinney says, “but we never
lose sight of the personal side of the
practice. We are all about quality,
customized care.”Concludes Dr. Babin: “We are
passionate about giving women back
their lifestyles.”
FEMALE PELVIC MEDICINE:
SEEK THE EXPERTS FOR
EXCEPTIONAL CAREPelvic pain, prolapse, and incontinence can rob your quality of life. The world-renowned
physicians at Athena Women’s Institute for Pelvic Health can help you get it back.
“P
Terminology 101
Formally called “urogynecology,” the name
of the specialty practiced by Drs. McKinney
and Babin is now “female pelvic medicine
and reconstructive surgery.” The doctors are
faculty for one of the few certified fellowship
programs for this specialty in the country.
To learn more about how Athena Women’s Institutefor Pelvic Health can help you get your lifestyle back,call 856-374-1377.
Elizabeth Babin, MD, MS, FACOG, ACGETimothy B. McKinney, MD, PhD, FACOGLinda L. Narcisi, RN, NP-C
University Executive Campus151 Fries Mill Road, Suite 301Turnersville, NJ 08012athena-wmg.com
AID FORAFRICAAthena Women’s Institutefor Pelvic Health is proudto provide services—such as fistula repair—towomen in Africa throughthe InternationalOrganization for Womenand Development, Inc. Todonate to this worthy cause,visit iowd.org.
Don’t forget to wish your Mother,
Grandmother or Wife a Happy
Mother’s Day!
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Mother’s Day, May 13th in The Inquirer and
on Friday, May 11th in the Daily News.
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