Even if it wasn’t one of your New Year’s resolutions, moving around is never a bad idea. One of the big problems we have is gym memberships can be expensive, and frankly we have such issues with commitment that getting locked into anything for a year is a frightening prospect. So we thought we’d look around for some cheap, noncommittal ways to get active; free is best, but the occasional class shouldn’t break the bank.......

In the wake of the deadly tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo, the Inquirer takes a look at the safety of the tiger exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo. Seven state lawmakers, naming the city as the defendant, brought a lawsuit before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday asking that all construction of the proposed SugarHouse Casino be halted, "contending its license to build on submerged land beyond the river's edge is illegal." Chester Township......

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......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. This apparently actually real news article contains the phrase "sex acts with traffic signs," and so of course is a must-read. (Via) Hello Kitty has been many things to many people, but now for cops in Bangkok, Thailand she will be a symbol of shame and punishment. The new rule is, when a cop does something wrong, he......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,......

This weekend in English football has as its highlights back to back "derby days" which will see crosstown rivals doing battle against each other. Come out to the pub, grab a coffee or a beer, and imagine The Eagles playing a game against a team from Northeast Philly. Manchester United vs Manchester City Man City seek the improbable as they travel across town Saturday to Old Trafford where they have not won since 1974.......

A unique event is taking place this Saturday afternoon. It's the Quest for the Holy Grail Benefit Bike Race! It's only five bucks to enter, and you'll be benefiting a cyclist who was injured by an uninsured motorist attempting to flee the scene of an accident. So it's for a good cause, and it'll really be something to see. Because not only is it a race (with 10 check points), it's also a scavenger......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. All About My Mother - Another in a series of re-releases of Pedro Almodovar's films, this one follows a nurse who loses her son in an accident after a performance of A Streetcar Named Desire. She heads to Barcelona to give the bad news to the boy's father, who is now a transsexual named Lola. She ends up in the company of another transsexual, a group......

Has Philadelphia dropped the cheesesteaks and picked up the barbells? That's what the latest issue of Men's Fitness claims, reporting that Philly is now America's "23rd fittest" city. Sounds mediocre, but that's quite a climb from 1999, when we were ranked the most obese city in America. That's a lot of uneaten scrapple!! And who's to credit for our Charlie Brown-esque rise to 23rd place? None other than Mayor John Street, of course. Besides......

- It's official, Philadelphia's annual Fourth of July celebration on the Parkway will feature Lionel Ritchie and...U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito? Frankly, we're a little disappointed the former Commodore and the Justice aren't going to be doing a duet. (For a full-listing of events for the week long celebration, visit the America's Birthday website). (Via) - More bands are having their vans stolen on our city streets. Come on, now, Philly; haven't we......

In a post entitled "Cheesesteaks vs. PlayStation showdown," Philadelphian and Joystiq blogger Vladimir Cole announced that he's taking the EyeToy: Kinetic fitness challenge, which he himself made up based on the product's "Body by PlayStation" marketing. His plan: work-out with the EyeToy PlayStation 2 video game at least four hours a week from March 12th through June 15th. If by the end of that time he has failed to lose 25 pounds (!!!), he's......

Pat Robertson calling for his death notwithstanding, Hugo Chavez is showing generosity to Philadelphians by shipping five million gallons of heating oil for distribution to area low-income families, and it will be available at a 40% discount. Mayoral hopeful and current U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah brokered the deal. Chavez, President of Venezuela, recently called President George W. Bush a "genocidal madman".In a really stupid move, Pennsylvania lawmakers are mulling over the idea of taxing......

Oh, how the mighty (and fat) have fallen. Men's Fitness has ranked Philadelphia #23 in the "Fattest City" rankings, a plummet from our great spot at #2. Yes, Philadelphia, we have managed to get thin while fatties like Chicago and Los Angeles have gorged themselves on those imposter "Philly Cheesesteaks" and climbed up the charts. Chicago now ranks as the Fattest City in America, while Baltimore ranks as the thinnest. Before you Baltimorians start celebrating,......

Despite being consistently rated amongst the top ten fattest American cities by Men's Fitness, Krispy Kreme doughnuts has not done particularly well in the region. The Freedom Rings (hardy har har) subsidiary, which operates six Krispy Kreme shops in the tri-state area, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week. Apparently, we Philadelphians crave cheesesteak grease rather than doughnut fat clogging our arteries. Speculation abounds that this may be the beginning of the end......

Dear Philadelphians: Please cover yourselves. We know it’s hot out. But here’s the thing. Philadelphia is ranked as the third fattest city in the United States, according to Men’s Fitness Magazine. This isn’t something to be proud of – and it’s certainly not something to show off. So we can’t figure out why you’re out every summer in your shortest shorts, your tightest miniskirts, your lowest-hanging tube tops, and your stretchiest t-shirts. Like it or......

If you read our post last week suggesting that you de-stress by jumping out of an airplane, but scoffed at the idea of being gooified by face planting into our rocky planet at a few hundred miles an hour, we have something a little less threatening for you this time around. It’s recently come to our attention that there isn’t a single mountain range in our fair city. Now, some of us may not have......