Philadelphia Weekly

Thich Thien Son sets us straight: The revered Buddhist teaches us not to freak the fuck out.

>>Chill Pill

The risk of having a bad day runs high these days, no? Food cost, gas prices and a lack of real community can make even the biggest The Secret devotee wonder if the latest Man Man show is all there is to life. So here we are, racking our irony-addled brains, stewing in angst and trying to think up another motive for living that doesn't sound like an incredibly weak line from Ravens and Vultures. Where do we seek spiritual information? Socrates? Atlas Shrugged? (Only if you're a Paultard.) Anyone buried in a coffin shaped like a cash symbol shouldn't be advising your inner life. Enter the Venerable Thich Thien Son, abbot of Germany's largest Buddhist monastery and spiritual guide to locals at Buddha's Liberty Bell Sangha. He's coming to Philly to help us work through our road rage, line-waiting freak-outs and little-brother complexes with a wide-ranging lecture at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. For people interested in seeing how Buddhism can affect your everyday life, attend the all-day retreat Saturday at Pennsylvania Hospital, where Thich Thien Son and assisting monks will teach sitting and walking meditation. Forty-five dollars includes a veggie brunch. You need to chill out. Learn how. Email talkdharma@gmail.com to register for the workshop. (St. John Barned-Smith)

>>Chain Pullers

Cranky types are pedaling down to this show that traces the social history of the bicycle through vintage illustrations, photos and assorted graphic ephemera. Though this retrospective stretches back 150 years, attempts at building a bicycle actually go back quite a bit before the penny-farthing (picture one huge front wheel and one tiny back wheel), such as the German laufmaschine --which was reportedly sturdy and steerable but sadly lacking pedals--France's Velocipede and the Roller Derby-sounding Boneshaker. Bikers are the real outlaws, refusing gas, getting exercise and operating on a simple Lockean system of exerting enough energy to get you what you need, which in this case, is where you have to go. (Tara Murtha)

>>Pro Simian

Shakespeare in Clark Park is one of the best ways to add a little gas to ol' Billy's witty pastoral comedy--this one most famously the source of the line "All the world's a stage." Besides, who wants to be in some poorly ventilated theater surrounded by crushed velvet and sticky floors on a nice evening? Shakespeare in Clark Park imagines the production in the year 1895, the year the park was established by the city of Philadelphia. It also works because of the Forest of Arden setting. Many Shakespeare scholars disagree about whether the forest represents a real place or a fantastical world where pastoral characters can jump into urban settings with ease. And there's no better way to jump between the rural and the urban than in Clark Park. Take a deep whiff of exhaust, smush your toes into the grass and enjoy the show. (John Steele)

>>Wax On

Melt down the artistic barriers keeping you from making your next masterpiece this weekend at Philly's art school most cool, Yo Darkroom, at the encaustic and mixed media workshop. (Encaustic means painting with hot tinted beeswax.) On day one, throw conventions from freshman Photo 101 out the nearest window and create collage-esque photographs in the darkroom with everything from handmade negatives to found objects (i.e., super cool trash). Teaching is Leah MacDonald, Philadelphia Art Institute wunderkind and a photography and encaustic mixed-media art specialist. On day two, get down with the encaustic (kinks totally prohibited) side of the workshop. Mix hot wax with assorted minerals and other elements to create richly hued and surfaced paintings. Show everyone your inner depths. Then go home, tell your next date you're an artist and don't forget the wax. (S.J.B.S.)