Chicken

LOS ANGELES - Iran-born, Paris-based filmmaker Marjane Satrapi is a force of nature. A fluent English speaker, she's gregarious and easily takes over a room. Her French collaborator, Vincent Paronnaud, is the opposite: low-key, with a wry sense of humor, and he conducts interviews aided by a translator. But when it comes to cinema, the esteemed graphic novelists seem to have found a compatible sensibility. Their first feature collaboration, Persepolis , an expressionistic, hand-drawn, black-and-white animated film, earned them an Oscar nomination.

Company description: Our meaty chicken wings done in a special blend of our own spices. Lemony! Peppery! Garlicky! A little rosemary and some Romano cheese ... WOW. Chain: Chickie's & Pete's. Location: 1526 Packer Ave. Order time: 10 minutes. Price: $9.95 (small size). Review: Sure, you go to Chickie's & Pete's for the crabs and crab fries (and beer), but every once in a while the locally based chain adds a new item. These new Italian Wings are good. They taste of herbs and lemon, and our batch was cooked perfectly - crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's proudly proclaimed views on marriage set the stage for the first documented case of the sky actually falling on a chicken - or at least a purveyor of fried, dead ones. The Jim Henson Co., friend to longtime same-sex couple Bert and Ernie, pulled its toys from the chain's kiddie meals. Philadelphia Councilman Jim Kenney and other big-city politicians clucked furiously over Cathy's statements, while their demagogic mirror images Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee flocked to his defense.

According to a new poll, Loveladies, N.J., is one of the 10 "most unfortunate" town names in America. How the Hell, Michigan, did that happen? And why are some websites parroting FindMyPast.com's new list as if it's legit? OK, it is fun. Toad Suck, Ark. (No. 1) and Monkeys Eyebrow, Ky. (No. 10) are good for a few grins. But no way, Long Beach Island's Loveladies makes an honest countdown, while Satans Kingdom, Vt., and several famously suggestive Pennsylvania towns - Intercourse, Blue Ball and Bird-in-Hand - fail to get a sniff.

My father has never been much of a food guy. But when it came to melons, he was way ahead of the curve. Served a wedge of cantaloupe, he'd sprinkle it with salt and pepper. I've never seen anyone else do that, but the combination is terrific - a good melon is way too wonderful to be treated only as a sweet. There are plenty of traditional examples of this. The most obvious is melon and prosciutto, and a very good one it is: the satin saltiness of the ham playing against the buttery sweetness of the melon.

If you and your family visited a Chick-fil-A restaurant last Wednesday or Friday, your kids got a free, first-hand civics lesson.   I'm always searching for teachable moments for parents, those moments when you can have a great conversation with your kids on issues and values that are important. The Chick-fil-A restaurant in South Philly that I visited Wednesday had a huge crowd, and was a great spot to talk about diversity of thought, freedom of speech and voting with your wallet.

The debate over same-sex marriage shouldn't be reduced to a question of whether or not to buy a chicken sandwich — but it has.   Multitudes of evangelical Christians and others flocked to Chick-fil-A restaurants Wednesday to eat in support of the chain's president, who has been vilified for voicing his opposition to gay marriage. Meanwhile, multitudes of same-sex marriage supporters are organizing a national kiss-in Friday at the restaurants. Each demonstration should be viewed as Americans exercising their free-speech rights to express an opinion on this particular subject.

As nose-to-tail cookery becomes more popular in Philadelphia kitchens, chefs are left with a new challenge: What to do with the hide? "If you are going to use animal products, you have to be responsible and use the whole thing," says chef Andrew Wood of Russet restaurant in Center City, summarizing the philosophy behind whole-animal cooking. Wood has put pork, chicken, and goose skin on his menu, one of many local toques incorporating animal skins into their dishes in appealing, unexpected ways.

IT'S EVERY American's right to call someone a jerk, and that includes politicians. We applaud Councilman Jim Kenney for his letter to Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy, taking him to task for saying gay marriage is "inviting God's judgment on our nation. " We also support Kenney's plan to introduce a Council resolution in September condemning Cathy and his company. We're perfectly happy to have "Dan Cathy is a jerk" be the city's official position. But we hope this campaign stops there.

This is an excerpt from the blog "My Daughter's Kitchen. " I got the text from my son first thing in the morning on his girlfriend's birthday. "I want to make a birthday dinner tonight. Can you send a good easy recipe?" I'm happy anytime my kids cook instead of resorting to takeout, but I was especially thrilled that he wanted to cook a special meal instead of going out. "How about the scallops we made over the weekend," I suggested via text. "Eh, no scallops," he shot back.