Stroll

First Friday in Old City makes art the stellar attraction in a version of the traditional Italian passeggiata, the evening stroll around the main piazza before going to dinner after sundown. In Philadelphia, we have the galleries between Front and 6th, Vine and Locust streets, open to the public and welcoming all visitors. Join the fun and meet your friends in Old City. And later in the evening, there are restaurants and watering holes for everyone. Artists' House, 57 N. 2nd St., 215-923-8440 Group show of invited artists: David Baker, Michael Doyle, Frances Galante, Stefanie Lieberman, Kyle Margiota, Nhan Phung, Kate Brockman, Glenn Rudderow and others.

June exhibitions in Old City galleries range from innovative new works by emerging artists to group encounters of gallery regulars. For some galleries, these are their summer shows, accompanied by covert nods to the coming Republican National Convention. Take advantage of First Friday gallery hours, generally from 5 to 9 p.m., to visit Old City galleries from Vine to Locust streets between Front and 6th. It's the perfect time of year to enjoy an evening stroll. Artists' House, 57 N. 2nd St., 215-923-8440 "Perspective," by Michael R. Bartman, revisits the workings of one-point perspective, which has been in existence since the Renaissance in Italy.

Who knew the Backstreet Boys were old enough to get married? Oh, right: It's only their fans that are 10 years old. Golly, are they going to be disappointed. Heartthrobby Boy Kevin Richardson, 28, and cute-as-a-button Boy Brian Littrell, 24, both confirmed this week that they plan to wed. Kevin popped the question to Kristin Willits on Valentine's Day. The two met seven years ago, when they worked at Walt Disney World. "She knew me when I was a Ninja Turtle," Kevvy told MTV News.

High on a hill - charming, chic Chestnut Hill - is Hill House, a relatively new apartment complex in a historically significant section of Philadelphia. Built in the mid-1960s by its present owner/manager, Connaught Inc., the 11-story brick complex, distinguished by its stature and prominent bays, offers spacious apartment living with wonderful views. Beyond the residential streets and interesting architecture of its immediate locale - an area settled more than 300 years ago - the rolling terrain of Montgomery County, and the skyline of Center City can be seen from the windows of Hill House.

Two men and a woman share some banter and some laughs on an Olney street. Suddenly, one of the men becomes violent, pulls a gun on the two others, killing them, and then calmly walks away, police and witnesses said yesterday. Police said that shortly after 4 p.m. the gunman was waiting at the Brown Rice Cafe at Olney Avenue and Fairhill Street to deliver a package to the woman, who may have been his girlfriend. When the gunman left the bar to meet the woman, he spotted her across the street.

They want Mr. Peanut back on the Boardwalk. Not the old, chipped statue that still can be found plopped atop a rusting peanut roaster in the window of Peanut World, where peanuts are mostly an afterthought in the vast selection of T-shirts sold four for $10. City planners want the man himself - the dapper, monocle-wearing, white-gloved meet-and-greet Planters mascot - who for many people still symbolizes the days when the Boardwalk was...

Philadelphia Park will offer its highest-quality program of the year today with the 30th running of the $200,000 Cotillion Handicap (Grade II) along with two other $100,000 stakes on the 10-race card. Strolling Belle, runner-up to division leader Silverbulletday in the Grade I Alabama in her last start on Aug. 21, is the 120-pound topweight and favorite for trainer John Kimmel and jockey Mike Smith in the 1 1/16-mile Cotillion, which features an outstanding field of 3-year-old fillies.

In 1921, when the first eight contestants paraded down the Atlantic City boardwalk with nary a sliver of skin showing, movies were silent, radio in its infancy and a woman's right to vote but a year old. Movies now explode with lifelike sound and special effects; radio has been eclipsed by the Internet, and women are astronauts, Supreme Court justices and soccer stars. Yet this hokey pageant stubbornly lives on, dodging bullets in the nation's cultural wars while it desperately reinvents itself to epitomize not just outward beauty but - supposedly - inner intelligence, determination and social commitment.

Justin Leonard deftly avoided making a prediction for the Ryder Cup, then proceeded to use the word "fun" three times, as in: "We're going to have as much fun on the golf course as we do away from it. " "We're going to have fun being in a team situation. " "It'll be a lot of fun. " Hmmm. For the American side, the 33d Ryder Cup, which begins Friday at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., figures to be as much fun as a root canal. Leonard expressed his hope for the week in an interview Monday before the Exelon Invitational at Wyncote Golf Club.

Summer is nearly over, but there's still a lot of celebrating to do, especially in the city, over Labor Day weekend. Lest we forget that Labor Day is not just barbecues and revelry, labor organizations will meet Monday morning for the 12th annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade and Family Celebration. A labor rally is set for 9 a.m. at JFK Plaza, 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. Labor union leaders and politicians will speak, including Rep. Robert Brady (D., Pa.) and City Council members David Cohen and Rick Mariano, and Bill George, president of the state AFL-CIO.