Daily Magazine

By Jack Patrick Rodgers, For The Inquirer

There's no shortage of products and methods available right now promising to help Americans get in shape - bulky exercise equipment, fad diets, weight-loss programs. But how about playing a video game to shed those extra pounds?

Your thoughts: Do you think any video game can help you get in shape?

Jonathan Storm: David vs. David in 'Idol' finale

By Jonathan Storm, Inquirer Columnist

The two Davids square off tonight, having already knocked the increasingly predictable American Idol Goliath down a few pegs. Sure, the finish is likely to produce a come-from-behind winner, but he passed the favorite weeks ago, and viewers, feeling the inevitable, have been turning away.

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Eschenbach as 2 separate artists: By Peter Dobrin , Inquirer Music Critic

What future title, if any, Christoph Eschenbach will hold with the Philadelphia Orchestra is unclear. Pianist-in-residence might be the most valuable one to the city's musical health.
Great music dwells where least expected: By David Patrick Stearns , Inquirer Music Critic

Great music is so often found within the Orpheus and Eurydice legend, there shouldn't be much surprise that there's plenty of it in the Wilma Theater's current production of Eurydice, the Sarah Ruhl retelling of the story of love that dies twice. What's startling is that Toby Twining's music - a significant component of the production's success - is a synthesis of elements unlike anything heard outside cutting-edge downtown Manhattan art circles. Maybe not even there.
Sideshow: How Jolie got her jollies: By Tirdad Derakhshani , Inquirer Staff Writer

British tabloid the Sun (www.thesun.co.uk) has posted a bizarre video from 1999 that features a 23-year-old Angelina Jolie 'fessing up to some serious drug use - not to say a few creepy instances of what sound like animal battery.
Inqlings: Long-held1789 letter at auction: By Michael Klein , Inquirer Columnist

An original George Washington letter, in the hands of a Philadelphia-area family since it was received in 1789 and previously unknown to the rest of the world, will go on the block June 12 at Christie's in New York.
Tell Me About It: A friend admits to an affair; now what?: By Carolyn Hax

Question: How do you feel about people who flip out on a friend who admits s/he had an affair?
'MMR's rockin' 40th birthday: Stone Temple Pilots, still relevant to a reminiscing audience, led the lineup.

By A.D. Amorosi , For The Inquirer

The smell of charcoal from the parking lot permeated everything. There was beer splashing, and Flyers jerseys everywhere. But this was no sports tailgate. The only hockey pucks to be found were guys wearing "Boobies R Nice" T-shirts.
Ensemble premieres 250-year-old Fasch works: By Daniel Webster , For The Inquirer

All music is new. The lullaby sung nightly reveals new shades and flights; the almost automatic encore piece astonishes as it turns thoughtful and complex.
Helping young classical talent grow: Musicians aided by the trust played here recently

By Patrick Cole , Bloomberg News

Franco Buitoni and Ilaria Borletti are channeling the passion they once applied to making pasta and sauce into supporting young classical musicians.
TV Today: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (3-4 p.m., NBC10) - American Idol judge Simon Cowell; Alanis Morissette performs. Oprah Winfrey (4-5 p.m., 6ABC) - Guests get youthful makeovers; author Kathy Freston provides her new 21-day plan to look and feel better.
Gift of self-reliance: For a teenage veteran of Uganda's civil war, a $10,000 prosthetic arm means getting his life back.

By Carolyn Davis , Inquirer Staff Writer

The doctor was telling the teenage war veteran from Uganda that he could alternate between two attachments to his new prosthetic arm: a hook or a hand.
GreenSpace: Vampires stand by to suck your energy: By Sandy Bauers , Inquirer GreenSpace Columnist

My husband's legs stuck out from under the computer desk, and I heard a quot;wow!" He couldn't believe the balls of dust. Or the energy we were wasting.
Which is the real James Bond?: Hint: He's not the one wielding a gun.

His work took him to exotic locations, and he was deadly accurate with a firearm. His name was Bond. (Yes, James Bond.)