Miscellaneous: October 2009 Archives

It's Friday and I'm back. All Da Way Turnt Up for All Hallows' Eve. So smash your pumpkins and go crazy with Week 8's "turnt up" picks.

We love to hate SEPTA. It may be one of the best public transportation systems in the country, but that's cold comfort when your bus doesn't come, or the driver curses you, or when the people on board are doing convincing renditions of the elusive hyena-werewolf-zombie monster. But, that said, we depend on it. We depend on our trolleys, buses, and subways to go to work, school, the doctor, and the World F'ing Series.

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So, I'm siting in Rittenhouse Square with an out-of-town friend, and an angry middle aged dude suddenly rushes at an old homeless man. They're screaming, grabbing onto each other, shoving, and a trash can goes flying. And it seems like nobody else in the park notices.

Wes (ID# A08863696)

Weinberg Park is a small, triangular park located at Moyamensing Avenue, 6th and Jackson Streets in South Philadelphia. It's about a block and a half above Mifflin Square, and shares some of the same problems with that park—mainly litter. Often, seeing loads of trash on the ground makes me want to scream. But, in all fairness to the users of the park, the garbage can was overflowing. So, really, there was nowhere else for the crushed Old English cans and empty cigarette packs to go but on the ground. There may also be an issue with short dumping in the park as well, as bottles of car windshield wash were gathered around the trashcan. So unless someone was chilling out at the park with a bottle of washer fluid, it looks as though they made a special trip to the park to put their empty bottle on the ground. How thoughtful. In the random and kinda strange category, an empty Pathmark shopping cart was parked at the 6th Street and Moyamensing Avenue corner.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you're well aware the World Series is scheduled to start today. We're sort of skeptical this rain is ever going to stop, but while we're all waiting for that to happen check out our run-down of why the Yankees suck (and some reasons why the Phillies are better) below:

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David Caruso (ID# A08253817)

How do you like your pin-ups? Beautifully deranged? Covered in blood? Deadly hot and just in time for Halloween? Damned if Charlie's Rippers aren't all of the above.

Phillyist watched MLB.com call it too soon before celebrating the Phillies' second consecutive trip to the World Series. Sorry, LAist—but at least you still have one hometown team in contention.

Continue reading "Across the Ist-a-Verse"

Hey there, Philly Mag. We love long sweaters, too. But you know what we love even more than long sweaters? Remembering the apostrophe in "we're." (We can't tell whether it makes things better or worse that you remembered it in the initial post, but forgot it on the eleven slides following.)

Mildred (ID# A08863768)

We don't even need to say more. All aboard!!!

We know this is short notice, but tonight's Community Night at the Franklin Institute and with dozens of great exhibits open gratis it's certainly worth the extra effort of a weeknight out. In what is, essentaialy, a sceince extravaganza, the Franklin is opening up the doors to all of their hands-on exhibits (including the Sports Challenge and the Giant Heart) as well as the IMAX and Planetarium for free. That's right. Tonight, starting at five o'clock, you can visit this awesome muesum and take advantage of all the extras for no charge. Live science shows, 3D movies at the Franklin Theater, access to the fancy observatory, it's all free. Just show up at 5:00, register at the desk, and you're in. Commuinty nights are monthly, so if you can't make this one, there's another coming up in mid-November. Visit the website for more information, and check back here with Phillyist for a reminder!

Today we venture over to Northern Liberties to check out Liberty Lands park, the only park located in the NoLibs (do people actually call it that?) neighborhood. Liberty Lands has a terrifc back story. It rests on the site of the former Burke Brothers Tannery. The land was donated to the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA) in 1994. The original plan was to renovate the former tannery buildings, but the city stepped in, deemed the structures condemnable, and demolished them all. NLNA was then left with an empty lot that had over $1,000,000 in demolition and tax leins on it. Some donation. (Although the city did later forgive the $500,000 demolition lein).

Scott (ID# A07581829)

Hey there, readers!

Bostonist chronicled the HONK! festival, a gathering of activist street bands.

This week, we have a real set of winners. You know how on the Titanic, as it was sinking to its cold, watery grave, women and children were protected first? Because that's how the disaster cookie crumbles. In times of need, society moves to protect those who are deemed the least able to provide their own rescue.

Here we are in October. Fall is in full swing. The temperature is falling. We're entering "Project Bundle Up" territory where every attractive girl wears enough clothing to overheat an Inuit.

This week, I will do the obvious and write about Rittenhouse Square. Everyone who has spent more than ten seconds in our fair city has heard of Rittenhouse, right? Heck, Robert Downey even made a documentary about the park, so you needn't have even been here to have heard about and gotten some sense of the experience in the park. But, still, it's unfair of me to ignore a park because it's popular or because I have some unspoken agenda to introduce you all to the smaller, more neighborhoody parks that abound in Philly. I cannot be a park snob. So, Rittenhouse: this week is your week.

The Phillies advanced to the NLCS Tuesday night in true Philly fashion: by making the whole town cower in fear, waiting until the last minute, then pulling ahead by a margin so minuscule it could have easily been wiped out in the bottom of the 9th. Tonight our Fightin's square off against the Dodgers at 8:07 p.m for Game One of the series. If the last few games serve as any indication, you might want to keep a barf bag nearby. (Note to the Phillies: It's not exciting when the wins come down to the wire, it's just nerve-wracking. Stop doing that and get big leads early instead. Then keep them. Please and thank you.)

Today is Blog Action Day, an annual event that unites the world's bloggers—that's you, you and even you—in posting about the same issue on the same day. Blog Action Day is designed to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. This year's topic? Climate change.

Shawn (ID# A05532847)

After two stupid early games, a snow-out, and a late, late game, Phillies fans can rejoice in a game we'll actually get to watch. Tonight's 6:07 p.m. start time still doesn't make a whole lot of sense (what's with the :07, anyway?), but it's a hell of a lot better than last night, anxiously trying to keep our eyes open at 2 a.m., watching to make sure Brad Lidge didn't blow the perilous 1-run lead the Phils gained in the top of the 9th after a hard-fought game.

Gothamist was part amazed and part horrified by this crazed fight between a taxi driver and pedicab driver.

Continue reading "Across the Ist-a-Verse"

Bloody hell, what is going wrong? Didn't we say to stop doing this?

Mona Lisa

Today happens to be National Poetry Day for our friends across the pond. And for those of us here in Philadelphia—you know, on the winning side of that little revolution—it's Game 2 of the NLDS between the Phightin's and the Rockies.

HOLY CRAP. Did you see Cliff Lee's awesome no-walk, complete-game pitching yesterday? And he stole a base? How about outfield giant Jayson Werth's amazing throw to third? Oh, and did we mention the entire team racked up hits? What? No, you say? You were at work and had to make do with completely unsatisfying online box scores? Mph. Us, too. So why are our beloved Phils being forced to play their Division Championship games at the ungodly early hour of 2-freaking-30 in the afternoon?

The expansive set of free (or next to free) things to do in the fall around Philadelphia continues. While this week has some age restrictions, look closely because there are a lot of big venues offering up some great deals this week.

Well, this past weekend was an exciting one up in Fairmount park. On Forbidden Drive, there was apple cider pressing, and there were open houses over at both the Pennypack and Wissahickon Environmental Centers. I managed to catch the last few minutes of the apple pressing, which was enough time for me to crank two apples through the cider press, sample some cider, and see a ten year old make apple butter and then watch in dismay as the apple butter came exploding out of the poorly sealed squirt bottle. So much for that.

There are very few things that annoy me into "action." One of those things is protests. I find them trite, pointless exercises that delude people into thinking that their voices are heard. You can count on one hand the number of protests that resulted in effective legislation or affirmative action taken. The other is the people constantly soliciting you for money from Greenpeace, Children International, etc. Don't try to prey on my guilt to get me to donate money to your organization. The answer is "No"; I do not have a second for the chlidren or the environment.

Smokey (ID# A07010062)

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

Gothamist asked its readers if bicyclists should ride with the cars on the roadway—not the walkway—of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Continue reading "Across the Ist-a-Verse"

In an experiment that would make Warwick Estevam Kerr cringe, I attempted to mix things up and let Miss Bee author last week's picks column. Well, as it turned out, that experiment got all Africanized on me. Comments from fellow Phillyists noted things like "I am dying. Andy better watch out, you might have to take his job for comedy alone." Not only does this comment imply that I'm humorless, but it also suggests that this job would be better done by a flying, pollinating insect—however clever she may be, not to mention busy. But, your voices have been heard. You can find the Bee's picks and pithy banter at sidebar for no additional cost. We're making a contest of this. I pick against the spread; she picks straight up. Winner gets what? That's where you come in. Please suggest a suitable prize for the winner (read: punishment for the loser) in the comments.

Phillyist's quick-picks for a rock your socks off start to the weekend.