Results tagged “ifi”

Andrew in Society Hill

Dear myphl17:

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know!

As the weather gets yucky (this week's high temps will be at or near fifty, but we're looking at rain, rain, and more rain), I find myself reluctantly taking SEPTA more and more often, often during rush hour. Because I try to be a courteous SEPTA rider, I make a point of not putting my belongings on the seat beside me if the subway car, trolley, or bus seems to be getting crowded. I...

To the Writers Guild of America: It's not that I don't support your fight. I do. I've signed your petition. I'm a writer myself, and I'd hate it if I wasn't profiting from my own work. (If I was working in TV or film, that is – bloggers don't exactly earn residuals...) But here's the thing: as I write this, I'm watching a month-old episode of Journeyman. My DVR is 95% full. I've just discovered...

Ah, what I wouldn't give to be the average George Bush supporter at this very moment in time. If I could, then I could delusionally ignore what I have just seen and pretend like everything is all right with "the home team." Yes, the Eagles just thoroughly dominated the overmatched Jets! Yes, there are WMDs hidden behind one of the flat-screen TVs in Saddam Hussein's palatial domain that just haven't been found yet! Yes, voting an actor from Law & Order to the highest position of responsibility in the world would go a long way toward restoring our luster in the eyes of the world. But, no, I am a realist, and as a realist I know two things: 1) Bush should have been impeached three years ago and 2) The Eagles are about as "out of the woods" as the Unabomber was out of the woods. Rejoice in this victory if you must but realize that if this is as good as it gets, you might actually have to start giving a rat's ass about the Flyers before long. On to the diary!

By Bill Hayes and Pencopal

Sometimes, it's hard to resist the hate. You may not be having an especially bad day – you may in fact be in a good mood. But sometimes the snark comes so naturally that you have to marinate in it. Like it's Lawry's.

I arrived at the Mann last Friday with nothing but the highest of expectations, and I left positively annoyed. It wasn't because of the weather (there was a thunderstorm between A Fine Frenzy and Neko Case's sets, but I loved it). It wasn't because of the audience (although there were plenty of obnoxious people there). Those are things that you get annoyed with, and then get over.

Despite the fact that Transformers is a film based on a cartoon, which itself was based on a story that a marketing company came up with to sell a line of toys, and despite the fact that it was directed by Michael Bay (a piece of news which, when it first came out, caused thousands of nerds to cry out in terror, and then become suddenly silent... before running to the internet to voice their displeasure), I was pretty excited about it. I tried to temper my excitement, though, to avoid a let-down. I tried to tell myself that I shouldn't expect something really intelligent or moving. I tried to tell myself that it would be a big, dumb summer blockbuster, and would therefore be all about action, with very little character development and probably not a lot of good dialogue, and that I should embrace that - that I should go in expecting that. Anyway, there would be tons of action, plenty of giant robots hitting each other, and lots of incredible visual effects, and that would be enough to make a really entertaining movie.

Dear SEPTA:

You may have noticed that yesterday's video post has been taken down. It should never have gone up. That was a huge, huge oversight on my part, which I am completely mortified by.

Films: Exiled, Sisters

Films: Paprika, 12:08 East of Bucharest

Films: Hula Girls, The Guardian’s Son, Life Support

Jackson O'Connel-Barlow of Grand Buffet, on influences, sweatshops and baseball cards.

I would be a complete hypocrite if I said that I wasn't guilty of the occasional breach of decorum. I like to think that I'm better than most, but that doesn't mean I'm perfect. Fortunately, I'm the co-editor of this pretty big blog in Philadelphia, where I write a manners column, and I can use that column as a forum for others to learn from my mistakes.

To your daily liquid-crack intake?

A little while back, I was getting ready to go out for drinks when Latoya puked all over my apartment. The friend I was heading out with looked horrified as I explained that I couldn’t clean it up immediately, because I was entirely out of paper towels (and running low on toilet paper. And all but one of my dish towels was already crammed into my laundry basket. This was not my finest hour.). Then, inspiration struck:

The last time I got into a cab, I realized that I had enough money to pay for my ride, but not enough to last me for the rest of the night. I asked my driver if I could pay with a credit card. He said “No, reader’s broken.” I asked why every cab in town seemed to have a broken credit card reader (because multiple people I know have been told this, and I’d heard it before, too). He then said, “Okay, I won’t lie to you. It’s not broken, but when people pay with a credit card, we don’t get the money until the end of the month. And the people who process it take ten percent of our earnings.”

I worry that you, our readers here at Phillyist, are going to start thinking I'm too nice. I seem to like just about everything. But honestly, that doesn't make me nice. It just means that local theatres are putting up a lot of great work. powerful. I'm guessing a little of Column "A," a little of Column "B."

I can't believe this year is over. It has come and gone in a haze of concerts, martinis, deadlines, endings, beginnings, highs and lows.

Since we originally composed this question, Rupert Murdoch has declared that he has ix-nayed both the book deal, and the ensuing Fox TV interview (this is what we get for preparing posts ahead of time). However - despite the news that this show won't go on, we're still curious why you think it ever was conceived in the first place. Speculation as to why it got pulled also welcome.

automobiles. It’s about men in automobiles, and the dumbass things they yell:

I love entertaining. If I made more money and I could keep my apartment clean (it's not that I'm messy, it's that I don't have time to make sure that I put everything away), I'd have weekly dinner parties. Or teas. Or brunches. This is a recipe I made for a brunch this past weekend that can be used on all of those meals. As always, the recipe came straight out of my head, so it comes without ingredient measurements. We're not making a soufflé, though, so no harm no foul.

Dear Readers: If I tell you that I feel old, I’m not looking for you to tell me, “oh, but twenty-three is still so young, you still have so much of your life ahead of you!” I’m telling you I feel old because, goddammit, I feel old. You going to argue with me about my emotions now? Seriously? It’s been happening for a while. I mean, I threw my back out for the first time...

Twenty-five hours without food or drink. (That's a lie, actually: I drank water to stave off the dehydration-based migraines that I get. I figured God wouldn't mind; the fast isn't supposed to ever endanger your health.) Sure, Ramadan lasts longer, but you never have to go a full twenty-four. Just have breakfast early and dinner late; skip lunch. The usual corporate eating schedule. And Lent doesn't even kind of compare. I know that several Eastern religions have fasts, but I don't really know much about what they entail.

The Rocky Horror PUPPET Show (playing through Saturday - but don't fret if you miss it; they'll be staging it again in October.)

...Drunk Drunk Drunkity Drunk Drunk: Paris Hilton finally got hers. (Via Yahoo!)

Dear Incoming Class of 2010 (at whatever local university you may be matriculating at): Welcome! Four years ago this week, I was in your shoes. I'd been to Philadelphia exactly once before I moved in to my dorm at Penn. I'd been on the East Coast twice. I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting myself into. And I couldn't have been more excited. You see, I chose to go to Penn because it...