Inqlings: O Tannenbaum at tearin'-down

They're clearing out the Spectrum, all right.

Chairs, posters, lockers, scoreboards: Gone. Sold.

The Kate Smith statue: In storage.

That beautiful blue spruce outside: On its way up Broad Street.

The nearly two-story-tall tree - planted outside the west side of the arena possibly before its 1967 opening - will be trucked to City Hall this month to become the city's official Christmas tree on Dilworth Plaza.

The Spectrum will be razed to make way for an entertainment center called Philly Live!

While I'm looking ahead to Thanksgiving, here's the talent lineup for the 6ABC/Ikea Thanksgiving Day Parade: Brandy, who by then could be champ on Dancing With the Stars; Good Morning America's Sam Champion; Miss America Caressa Cameron; American Idol finalists Siobhan Magnus and Justin Guarini; Kristen and Eddie Alderson from One Life to Live; Stephanie Gatschet from All My Children; Allstar Weekend from Radio Disney; and Broadway veterans Sheryl Lee Ralph and Deborah Cox.

Signs are pointing to a Nov. 17 noontime ceremony on Broad Street between Spruce and Pine, which will be designated Gamble & Huff Walk after music pioneers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Next year is the 40th anniversary of the duo's Philadelphia International Records, headquartered there.

A hall at Girard College has been transformed into a Chinese casino, and filmmaker Boaz Yakin has been holed up in the garish surroundings to shoot a wild gun battle for the action thriller Safe, starring Jason Statham. This fight scene starts in the Philly nightclub Shampoo, which serves as the disco upstairs. Yakin filmed at Shampoo on Wednesday.

Safe, whose production forced detours last weekend on JFK Boulevard near 17th Street, is scheduled to film indoors till Friday. It's here through mid-December.

That room at Girard College, by the way, was decorated as a boxing gym six years ago for the James Franco-Tyrese-Jordana Brewster film, Annapolis.

On this first Sunday of November, of course you're thinking about 24-hour Christmas music on the radio. Indications are strong that powerhouse WBEB (101.1, or B101) will have competition from classic-hits WOGL (98.1), which did not go 24/7 last year. Reason: Christmas music pumps up ratings, and WOGL has been hurting lately. In October 2009, Arbitron had WOGL as the top-rated station in town in the advertising sweet spot of listeners ages 25 to 54. But last month, WOGL finished eighth while B101 was second, behind the surging WDAS-FM (105.3). B101 is being cagey about its Yule start date. It's also possible that WBEN (95.7) will join the fray. So far, only those with HD radios can hear over-the-air Christmas stations at 95.7-2, 97.5-2, and 101.1-2 FM.

To readers and Action News viewers obsessed with such important matters: Reporter Erin O'Hearn is pregnant with her second child, a source close to her confirms. Her due date has not been divulged. O'Hearn married builder Sal Paone Jr. on Sept. 6, 2008, and their daughter, Sienna, was born July 25, 2009.

Blue Bell's Kirsten Sowers, 11, will sing at a show Monday in Antioch, Tenn., with country stars Keith Urban and LeAnn Rimes to benefit that community's Lighthouse Christian School, which was devastated by flooding May 1. Kirsten also will deliver hundreds of Philly-style lunches, courtesy of Tony Luke Jr. The school will be featured on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Author Stacy Schiff will be at the Central Library on Tuesday night to promote her just-released biography of Cleopatra, whose movie option was snapped up by Scott Rudin and Sony and is being developed into a vehicle for Angelina Jolie. Last weekend, Schiff visited the Franklin Institute's Cleopatra exhibit, and the store sold out of the bio.

Want to be a TV traffic reporter? Tango Traffic, a new partner of MYPHL17, promises to deliver 24/7 info for Philly starting Jan. 1. It will be carried on digital channel 17.4 and on mobile devices. Open casting calls for reporters will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 13 at MYPHL17 studios, 5001 Wynnefield Ave. Hopefuls can also send videos and resumes to www.tangotraffic.com

Over the last four years, Tiffin has grown from one Indian restaurant to five. Now owner Munish Narula can think bigger. Tiffin topped 170 restaurant concepts to win a national contest sponsored by the food-services company Sysco to encourage franchise development. The Wharton School-educated Narula, who says he entered on a whim, will get at least $100,000 worth of consultation services to expand the brand. Narula says he wants to keep Tiffin regional.

Legal eagle F. Lee Bailey will join a fund-raiser for his friend Walter I. Hofman, who will run for reelection as Montgomery County coroner next year. It's at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Spring Mill Firehouse, 1210 Hector St. in Conshohocken.

The Four Seasons at the Four Seasons? The cast of Jersey Boys, now at the Forrest Theatre, will appear at the Logan Square hotel Nov. 29 for a $200-a-head concert and auction to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Jerry Blavat will host the auction. Tickets: www.broadwaycares.org or 212-840-0770.

The First Person Festival will host CNN's Soledad O'Brien at a "First Taste" dinner Monday at Le Méridien Philadelphia. She'll talk up her memoir, The Next Big Story. Alma de Cuba chef Douglas Rodriguez will cook. It's $135 a head, or $250 including a reception. Info: 267-402-2055.