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May 14, 2008
Great Balls of Fire! Mrs. Louise Matthews was having a relaxing evening stretched out on her sofa one night in 1960 at her South Philly home. Yawning and dozing, and freeing herself from the stress of the day, she suddenly became aware of a strange glow emanating from the window. Upon glancing towards the blinds she was alarmed to see a burning ball of light heading towards her. The orb was making a sizzling noise...
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The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. This looks like a cool contest: you could win a hard drive with more than 4 terabytes of space on it, pre-loaded with mp3s, videos, and more. (Via Matt) A gospel musical tribute to the Ewoks complete with a cameo from... well, you should really see for yourself. Some interesting casting rumors: we could see Bruce Willis as Hannibal in the...
Continue Reading "Whiz of the Web: Wednesday Whiz-Up"
I like to read. I also like facts. I also like to feel superior. Imagine how superior I felt reading all the facts in A.J. Jacobs' The Know-It-All : One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. Answer: very superior! It's a good book. I stole it. Anywho, there is an entry called "The Etruscan Language." Apparently the Etruscans (from Etruscanzania) came up with a way of writing where they interchanged...
Continue Reading "Your History Lesson for the Day: The Etruscan Language"May 13, 2008
We all know by now that we should be taking steps to conserve gas. We can do things like carpool or arrange our errands so that they are all done in one trip. But a key tip that we can practice every time we drive is this: SLOW DOWN. Many of us have read articles suggesting slowing down, but we are skeptical about just how much we really are saving. Well, according to this article...
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Looking back on a week's worth of local craigslist hijinks... Rather than nabbing his (or her?) prey the old fashioned way, one wannabe kidnapper is advertising on craigslist instead. A poster in Aston has an adult cake pan for sale but declined to post pictures, offering instead to email photos to interested parties. Wow—who knew cake pans could be too titillating for craigslist? The enterprising driver of an obscenely bright car is attempting to sell...
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May 13, 2008
The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. If you watch TV at all, you've probably seen those rather odd new Coldwell Banker commercials which feature portraits of the company founders talking to each other. Well, as all things must these days, the portraits have a blog, which lately chronicled their visit to Philadelphia. The world is a strange place... (Via Megan) Um... what? We're a...
Continue Reading "Whiz of the Web: Tuesday Torpedoes"May 12, 2008
I just got an email that really annoyed me. Somebody posted to a listserv that I'm on, saying that s/he (I'm not being vague for anonymity... it was an androgynous name) had won a pair of very expensive tickets to Kooza, the Cirque du Soleil production that just opened here in Philadelphia. Unable to use the tickets him/herself, the emailer offered them to the first interested party—for full face value. This, boys and girls,...
Continue Reading "Monday Manners: The Best Things in Life Are Free (Especially When You Can Turn a Profit)"
The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. The Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting article about a museum of bogus artwork in Italy. (Via Jill) A pic of Goku from the Dragonball Z movie. It's been recorded rather poorly, but this Dark Knight TV spot is still pretty cool. Check out Nerd World's hilarious burger-centric deleted scenes from Iron Man, then take a look at this screenshot from the...
Continue Reading "Whiz of the Web: Monday Meat Slices"May 11, 2008
Photograph of the Reverend Al Sharpton by Armchair Messiah on Flickr Gothamist watched a series of civil disobedience events, protesting the Sean Bell shooting verdict, unfold across the city--over 200 people, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, were arrested. Somewhat related, on behalf of a black freelance reporter for the NY Post, the NYCLU sued the city and NYPD for racial profiling.Phillyist took a look at how city employees are bankrupting Philadelphia. Not that they...
Continue Reading "Week Around the Ists"May 9, 2008
We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Phillyist. UWISHUNU, because you wish you knew. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. Popped Music Festival, in Philadelphia on June 20, 21, and 22. If you're interested in advertising on Phillyist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit....
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Don’t go out in sweats; you never know who you’ll run in to. Make your own money. Know how to make one really great dinner to entertain guests. Live on your own, at least once. Don’t be afraid to fall in love. When someone says, “Is Melissa there?” Say “This is she,” not “This is her.” Always, always write a thank-you note; even if you say “thank-you” in person. Know when to end a...
Continue Reading "What I Learned From Mom"
This entry is part of our week-long series profiling adoptable pets from Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So far, we've introduced you to Crunchy, Dunkin, Nevada, Sebastian, Mesu ,Meena, Midnight, Pooh and Miracle. Also, don't forget to make it out to tomorrow's PAWS on Main event in Manayunk. And now, it's time to meet today's PAWS Dog of the Day: Griff (A# 04409697) Griff is a one- to two-year-old pit bull mix. He’s a curious...
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A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Papa John's has surpassed $1 billion in online pizza sales. Even though ordering pizza online is obviously attractive (it's kind of a nerd's dream, actually), we're still kind of blown away by that number. $1 billion worth of pizza! (Via Jill) A dude in Illinois had his coffin made to look like a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. He's not dead yet (he's...
Continue Reading "Whiz of the Web: Friday Fried Onions"
You know that movie Super Size Me, where that guy Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald’s every meal for 30 days? People actually paid money to see that. Well, if that’s a movie, I’ve got a movie! I’m going to smoke pot every day for 30 days, and it’s going to be called Super High Me, or Business As Usual… I haven’t decided on a title yet. But guess what? McDonald’s is going to be in my...
Continue Reading "Super High Me Screening"
This entry is part of our week-long series profiling adoptable pets from Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So far, we've introduced you to Crunchy, Dunkin, Nevada, Sebastian, Mesu ,Meena, Midnight, and Pooh. Also, don't forget to make it out to tomorrow's PAWS on Main event in Manayunk. And now, it's time to meet today's PAWS Cat of the Day: Miracle (A# 04610314) Miracle is a one to two-year-old calico kitty with a little junk in...
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May 8, 2008
We bring you the buzz from the 215 blogs this week. The Clog is recruiting Flyers fans in Pittsburgh for a bit of mischief. We assume this is in response to something some Pittsburgh person did to slight our fair city and/or our hockey team, but this Phillyist isn't enough of a sports fan to know these things. Anyway, The Clog forgot step three: take a picture (it'll last longer). PSoTD noted that the military...
Continue Reading "Blogged Around Philly"
This entry is part of our week-long series profiling adoptable pets from Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So far, we've introduced you to Crunchy, Dunkin, Nevada, Sebastian, Mesu, Meena and Midnight. And now, it's time to meet today's PAWS Dog of the Day: Pooh (A# 04049478) If ears are your thing, Pooh’s the dog for you. Just take a look at the cute fella. This pit bull mix is between six months and a year....
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Proofreading Philly tries to capture typos, wordos, and all other kinds of grammatical mistakes that we see around the city. But we need your help! Email photos to us from your computer or your phone, and show the city that you care about good grammar. Editor Jim found this shining example of singular-plural disagreement on his daily PATCO ride. While "their" may now be considered acceptable as a gender-neutral pronoun, it was intended in the...
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A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Check out the trailer for Global Metal. Metal's taking over the world! Beware! Tom Cruise is in talks with Paramount to star in a fourth Mission: Impossible movie. For some reason, they're making yet another film adaptation of Jane Eyre, and this time it looks like Ellen Page will star as the titular character. Moviesonline has more new pics from The Mummy: Tomb...
Continue Reading "Whiz of the Web: Thirsty Thursday"
Battlestar Galactica is easily the best drama on TV! You're cut, The Wire! Get lost, Lost! Err, ER! If you can put the original campy Star-Wars knock-off (that we all loved back in the 70s) out of your head and give this Sci-Fi Channel reimagination a chance, you will be treated to some of the best writing, action, and drama this side of the Eye of Jupiter. (Plus some pretty hot "Human on Toaster" action....
Continue Reading "Nerdgasm: Battlestar Galactica Party in Old City"
This entry is part of our week-long series profiling adoptable pets from Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So far, we've introduced you to Crunchy, Dunkin, Nevada, Sebastian, Mesu and Meena. And now, it's time to meet today's PAWS Cat of the Day: Midnight (A# 10715063) Midnight loves to play so much that sometimes it gets in the way of eating and drinking. But don't worry, from chasing string to playing with visitors, Midnight is one...
Continue Reading "PAWS Cat of the Day"May 7, 2008
Hellhounds! The black phantom dog is one of the world's most sinister and intriguing legends. Several theories have been put forward to explain such ghastly spectres which take on varying forms, but always have the characteristics of huge, fiery-eyed dogs. Such manifestations have been observed headless and often roaming old cemeteries, whilst on other occasions they have been seen wearing heavy chains around their necks. Ghostly hellhounds also appear red, white, yellow and blue in...
Continue Reading "Philadelphia Weirdness"
This entry is part of our week-long series profiling adoptable pets from Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So far, we've introduced you to Crunchy, Dunkin, Nevada, Sebastian and Mesu. And now, it's time to meet today's PAWS Dog of the Day: Meena (A# 04295190) Meena is a pretty pit bull mix (check out the eyes – one blue, one brown) who's somewhere between 1 and 2 years old. She's very smart, and very eager to...
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The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Hooray for bacon! Slashfood examines the popularity of the tasty meat slice with a couple of amusing links. (Via Sarah) Tastykake is going to release Philadelphia Eagles snack cakes later this year, and the Eagles Cheerleaders will be on hand for Tastykake promotional events. (Via Sarah) Some British Burger Kings are now offering a $167 hamburger with Kobe beef. Apparently it...
Continue Reading "Whiz of the Web: Wednesday Whiz-Up"Advertisement: Phillyist Continues Below!
May 7, 2008
This entry is part of our week-long series profiling adoptable pets from Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So far, we've introduced you to Crunchy, Dunkin, Nevada, and Sebastian. And now, it's time to meet today's PAWS Cat of the Day: Mesu (A# 04638615) Mesu is an 8-month-old doll who sadly seems to have given up hope of ever getting out of the shelter. He was a very playful kitten, and with a nice, warm home...
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With Mother’s Day around the corner, I turn my attention to that special someone, a someone who is so important in the makeup of the universe that she has a whole 24 hours named after her. My Mother. My Mother was an amazing woman. She was a single Mother and yet she knew the atomic weight of every element on the Periodic Table. She was stern but fair. When my sister and I would fight...
Continue Reading "My Mother"May 6, 2008
Pretty much every media outlet we rely on, mainstream or otherwise, constantly bombards us with "green" topics. Many retailers and manufacturers are moving towards greening their products (though whether they are successful or whether sometimes it is just greenwashing is debatable). These days it is pretty hard to avoid the issue, but sometimes there is just such an overwhelming amount of information, including both scare tactics and sound advice, that we might find ourselves using...
Continue Reading "Saving Us From Ourselves: Do What You Can Do"
This entry is part of our week-long series profiling adoptable pets from Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So far, we've introduced you to Crunchy, Dunkin and Nevada. And now, we're happy to introduce you to today's PAWS Dog of the Day: Sebastian (A# 04274007) Sebastian is a really sharp 2-year-old male who's already mastered the "sit" and "down" commands. He was found as a stray, and could use some fattening up. He's very affectionate, and...
Continue Reading "PAWS Dog of the Day"