If you're in work and actually working, you're probably in the minority. ISEPTA/RIPIT LAUNCH PARTY AT NATIONAL MECHANICS Independents' Hall is a homegrown collective of tech-savvy brains dedicated to breaking up the monotony of their work-a-day lives with challenging and innovative feats of awesomeness. Tonight, they're partying at National Mechanics in Old City. The occasion? The simultaneous launch of iSepta and Ripit. iSepta is an elegantly simple alternative to Septa.org that was originally cooked up......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Screenings Under the Stars: The Bourne Ultimatum at the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing (Chestnut and Columbus Blvd). Activities start at 6:30PM, movie around 8PM. Free You Can Has Outdoor Movies: Laughter on the Banks Summer Movie Series presents Office Space at Walnut Street Dock (25th and Walnut, underneath Walnut Street Bridge), 8PM. Free Srsly: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport......

TV critic Ellen Gray at the Daily news takes a look at last night's Colbert Report, filmed right here in Philly, featuring appearances by Mayor Nutter and Benjamin Franklin. We have incredible amounts of news today related to the Pennsylvania primary. First off, applications for absentee ballots have to be in no later than 5PM today. Clinton is announcing a "major endorsement" at noon today at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. Obama admitted to......

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Phillyist VIP: Matt Nelson...

D'oh! We up and forgot to celebrate Pennsylvania Day yesterday! While we were forgetting, Pennsylvania was earning the national average grade of B-minus in the Pew Center on the States scorecard on the effectiveness of state government, which just happened to get released yesterday. PA "was praised for creating a plan to respond to its alarming backlog of bridges in need of repairs and furnishing meaningful information about programs funded with state money." Meanwhile,......

Senator Vincent Fumo was eating dinner at his Spring Garden home at 7PM last night when he started experiencing chest pains. He was taken by ambulance to Hahnemann University Hospital where it was determined that he had suffered a heart attack and that his right coronary artery was 100 percent blocked. He had emergency surgery and remains in critical condition this morning, although he was alert and speaking with his family after the procedure. Hey,......

There is only so much to be said about Monday. We are running out of metaphors, puns and descriptive analogies. So, let's make a brief mention of walking etiquette. You can read a more in-depth discussion via a past edition of Monday Manners. The people who can't walk a straight line must be corralled into maintaining a steady course. Often, as was the case this morning, these people are not homeless or drunk: they......

An interesting entry by a blogger describing some conversations overheard on a train involving a local politician and Republican presidential candidate John McCain. (Via Sarah) Delaware River Port Authority officials announced yesterday that a $4 million network of cameras with "intelligent" software will be installed along the PATCO rail line and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge starting in April and scheduled to finish up by the end of the year. The cameras are designed to detect......

We'd like to start this post off with something we just read in a press release: "If Ben [Franklin] were alive today, we believe that he would be brokenhearted to see the abuses endured by the same birds whom he sought to honor," says Lettuce Lady Nicole Matthews. "With so many delicious meat alternatives available, there's never been a better time to go vegetarian." We quote it because PETA's scantily-clad Lettuce Ladies will be......

Ever wondered what it would have looked like if Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin fought about the Declaration of Independence? Wonder no more!......

The Philadelphia Marathon is fast approaching (ha!), and those fleet-footed folks are looking for volunteers to help support the thousands of athletes who will converge upon the Art Museum on November 18. Tasks range from stuffing runner bags two weeks out to distributing blankets and Gatorade on race day. You can sign up for a specific job or offer your services as a general volunteer to be dispatched where you're needed most. You can also......

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Yesterday Unity Day was celebrated in the rain on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and thousands of people of all shapes, sizes, and colors attended, enjoying music, food, games, and activities. A report to be released today by City Controller Alan Butkovitz shows that two decades of expensive attempts to build a new computerized water billing system have achieved little, and the system will almost certainly not be done by the time Mayor Street leaves office,......

In a rather surprising decision, the Board of License & Inspection Review voted unanimously yesterday to allow the Death of Venus mural to remain on the wall in the historic district, even without a permit. Although the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Tacony-Palmyra Bridges are still officially "safe," they're also described as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Most will be undergoing repair or updating soon. The extremely congested Terminal F at the Philadelphia International......

Turns out we've been a bad blog. Thanks to Phillyist Sarah, and the Inquirer, we've found some local news stories that we were supposed to be writing about but haven't. One is the story of Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan getting sued by Chops because, they say, he gave a bad review to their strip steak when he didn't even eat it. However, the receipt from the meal, which he cleverly kept, seems to......

As part of an inspection for damage, some vaults have been opened - for the first time in a very long time - at Christ Church Burial Ground at Fifth and Arch Streets, "the resting place of more than 4,000 prominent Philadelphians, including Benjamin Franklin and four other signers of the Declaration of Independence." The vaults look quite a bit different than expected, and new sketches will have to be drawn. The PA budget......

As part of Sunoco's Welcome America! series, you'll be able to watch Rocky go the distance tonight on the steps of the Art Museum. And you'll get to watch it for free! This now annual event is a good time for all-- just be sure to bring a blanket. Those steps are hard whether you're pounding 'em or sitting on 'em. Sunoco Welcome America! Philly @ The Movies Rocky Thursday June 28, 9 pm Philadelphia......

Restaurateur Susanna Foo has completed her six-month probation and 50-plus hours of community service, which she received for supposedly striking an officer of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, something she still claims she didn't do. About 1:30AM yesterday morning a woman died when she crashed her car into the back of a stationary PennDot dump truck in a construction zone on northbound I-95 near the Chichester Avenue exit. Northbound traffic was detoured until the lanes were......

A Quirky Column about Dog Walking Adventures in the City of Dog-Owning Love... Fantasy Crushes and Used Condoms Dog walkers are, in a way, akin to nannies or au pairs. We are invited into people’s homes, we are caregivers to the “kids,” we are often told, “Mi casa es su casa,” and we wind up helping ourselves to the last slice of cold pepperoni pizza in the fridge without pissing anyone off. We sometimes run......

Nonprofit organization Campus Philly, in association with the city, IKEA, and plenty of other companies and organizations, is holding a huge free concert and festival Saturday afternoon to welcome and celebrate new and returning college students. It's called Campus Philly Kick-Off, and it will lead to un-fun things like road closings (the 2000 block of Winter Street will be closed during setup, and both directions of the inner drives of the Parkway, from 20th......

What's interesting on TV this week. Great Performances (Tue; 9:30PM-10:30PM; WHYY) - Bruuuuuuuuuuuce! Yep, Tuesday's episode of Great Performances is the Boss doing the Seeger Sessions classic folk tunes from his new album live at St. Luke's in London. (Official site) Philadelphia's 4th of July Celebration (Tue; 7PM-11PM; ABC) - Dave Roberts and Cecily Tynan of ABC are covering the usual festivities. It all starts with a parade along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and winds up......

Why does it not surprise us in the least that Senator Rick Santorum is supporting Geno's Steaks and their now nationally (in)famous "Speak English" sign? Does somebody or something hate the Wissahickon Creek? Not long after a still mysterious contaminant killed more than 1,000 fish in the creek, sparking a short-lived health advisory warning everyone to stay away, the creek has now had 55,000 gallons of raw sewage dumped into it due to "electrical......

Divers from local volunteer fire departments and a search-and-rescue team were looking for a stolen car in the Allegheny River this past Saturday, and they ended up finding it - along with two other cars, one of which may have been in the river for as long as four years. Police believe all of the vehicles were stolen. A number of interesting and generally solemn gatherings took place on Sunday, including a remembrance ceremony......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Blivit: Philadelphia-based band Blivit performs at the Cheltenham Art Center (439 Ashbourne Road, Cheltenham). $7 at 7PM Hands and Knees: Friday DJ dance party at the M-Room (15 W. Girard Ave). $5 (21+) Five Spot House Party: Weekly event with DJ Lowbudget & Gregg Nyce. $5 before midnight, $10 after. At the Five Spot (5 S. Bank Street) natch. 9PM SATURDAY Land of the Lost Films: Flashback......

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban. Bostonist has its first birthday party and investigates how to attach more gambling dollars to the Red Sox. Benjamin Franklin is celebrated and Johnny Damon is not. Image by Ethan Bagley......