Raquel Baskin had a neat little business going at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia after she was diagnosed with leukemia last year. "We were basically confined in the room, and there was a virus going around," says her mother, Susan, of Lafayette Hill. "People were sending presents and someone had sent us beads."

Raquel, now 6, started putting together keychains. In no time, her mom says, "nurses and doctors were asking for them." They started selling them, raising $20,000.

WOGL-FM (98.1), which hosts its WOGL Loves Our Kids Radiothon as a Children's Hospital benefit, has had Raquel's design made into keychains, which the station is selling for $25; details are at www.wogl.com and on the Ross Brittain and the Breakfast Club show this week. Raquel is cancer-free, her mom says.

Bump and grind

Delilah's, the Spring Garden Street strip club, draws on ecdysiastic experts to celebrity-judge its annual Diamond G-String competition. The panelists for tomorrow night's $10,000 showgirl showoff are mostly predictable - there'll be Miss Nude World 2008 (Aspen Reign) and Playboy model Laura Grillo, plus a few local media people tossed in. One eyebrow-raising name briefly on the roster was Michael Sheridan, who sees a lot of dancing in his workday, but mostly of the "one-two-plié" kind - not the "one-two-hey-baby" variety. He's assistant to the artistic director of the Pennsylvania Ballet, which yesterday said he would not be a part of the festivities.

 

Big break

Singer-songwriter Jonah Delso usually plays his acoustic pop tunes in front of crowds numbering in the dozens. The Drexel student, 20, won a contest sponsored by WMMR-FM (93.3) to open for Coldplay at the Wachovia Center on Friday - where there will be about 15,000 in the house. "This is blowing my mind," the Mount Holly-raised Delso says. "I hope that I get something out of it, like a stronger fan base and people who appreciate the music and want more of it." He'll be backed by Tim McGlone on bass, Mike Pomante on keyboards, Vince Pizii on electric guitar and Mike Monson on drums.

 

Kitchen capers

Jasper Restaurant in Downingtown will reopen tomorrow night, more than two months after chef-owner Nick DiFonzo suffered a brain aneurysm. As if the medical situation wasn't serious enough, DiFonzo was stricken the day before a positive review by Craig LaBan appeared in The Inquirer.

Center City's Pita Pit is now a Certified Green Restaurant, gaining the designation because of its recycling, water aerators to limit water consumption, biodegradable cutlery, cups and lids and biodegradable merchandise bags.

David Hamilton, who with his wife, Jeannine, owns the Pub of Penn Valley, has solved the oil crisis, as it pertains to his deliveries of catering orders. Hamilton, a crackerjack mechanic, bought a very used 1993 Mercedes 300D and modified the diesel engine to run on cooking oil from his deep fryer. He says the bomb not only gets 30 miles to the gallon (at 60 cents a gallon) but imparts a slight aroma. "Occasionally as I am driving, people will stop me and say, 'Whatever you are burning is making me hungry,' " he says.

 

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Contact columnist Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com. See his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelklein.