Our peerless prognosticator predicts what’s up for 2009
by JIM HARRIS

Four wild animals — a lion, a zebra, a giraffe and a hippopotamus — will escape from the Philadelphia Zoo sometime in 2009 after digging a huge tunnel under their enclosures.

It’s that time of year again, when I peer deep into my crystal ball/air freshener to divine the secrets of the universe. I now predict that in the year 2009:

•A city employee will actually show up at City Hall and put in a full day of work with a smile on his face. In addition, he will actually help people who have received notices from the City Revenue Department demanding that they pay taxes that they have already paid. That city employee will be immediately fired and forced to undergo psychiatric testing.

•German “oompah” music will top the U.S. pop charts. All the kids will be wearing liederhosen and drinking German beer.

•Rap artist/entrepreneur “Diddy” will launch his own brand of stool-softener.

Combats sexism with sarcasm
Mt. St. Joe grad a powerhouse at new 10 Arts
by LEN LEAR

Jennifer Carroll, who graduated from Mount St. Joseph High School in Flourtown in 1993, is now one of the city’s top chefs. She runs 10 Arts in the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Jennifer Carroll, who grew up in the Somerton section of Northeast Philadelphia but attended Mount St. Joseph High School in Flourtown from 1989 to 1993 along with her sisters (one of whom, Jessica, also graduated from Chestnut Hill College in 1995), is small, thin, pretty and could pass for a college sophomore, although she insists she is 33. But despite her diminutive, seemingly delicate stature, Jennifer is a powerhouse in the highly competitive, macho local restaurant industry.

The deceptively demure and soft-spoken Ms. Carroll, who hardly looks like a drill sergeant, is the chef in charge of running 10 Arts, the recently opened, posh restaurant in the palatial lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. This is a job that in the not-too-distant past would have always gone to a man, probably one from western Europe. Professional kitchens have long been a bastion of sexist, intimidating behavior towards women.

“There’s certainly still some sexism you face in this job,” said Jennifer, who appears to weigh not much more than 100 pounds, “but I’m strong, and I stand up for myself. I’m sarcastic. Some women (in this business) do let the boys push them around, but I don’t. Sexism doesn’t bother me; I can deal with it. I have to work harder and faster to get the job done. If there is something heavy to lift or some other (physically demanding) task, I always say I’ll do it.”