Results tagged “neighborhoods”

“Let me first say that it was not my intention to be a Pain in the Ass. I was far too lazy, arrogant and insecure to think I could ever be one. Apparently I was halfway there.

Dear Philadelphia:

If you still aren't bored of stories about Jocelyn S. Kirsch and Edward K. Anderton, then by all means, read on. Meanwhile, other rather more dangerous criminals are still on the loose. Police still have little to go on in the brutal November 25th murder of John Bartram High School sophomore Antonio Q. Clarke, who was last seen alive trying to catch a trolley in Southwest Philadelphia. Call police at 215-686-3334 or -3335 with...

SFist witnessed a new apartment building tszuj the skyline with spectacular, gaudy turquoise aplomb, the (informal) renaming of the Mission/SOMA neighborhood border, the return of the Maltese Falcon, the Mayor Gavin Newsom mea culpa-ing over his Hawaiian getaway during the oil spill, and double-decker buses hitting the streets of San Francisco. Oh, and some baseball player named Barry Bonds is a liar whose pants, it seems, are totally on fire. LAist continues to cover the...

Werner Herzog's increasing popularity in this day and age is a little bit of a mystery to us. How can so many jaded urbanites—folks whose every word comes with air-quotes—venerate a passionate, nature-obsessed German madman who claims that "I simply do not understand irony, a defect I have had ever since I was able to think independently." This year's mini-hit Rescue Dawn, for instance, was arguably the least cynical Vietnam movie since the John Wayne-starring The Green Berets, even if Herzog's hero, Dieter Dengler, played by Christian Bale, is obviously completely insane. As with Timothy Treadwell, the protagonist of Herzog's incredible documentary Grizzly Man, it's impossible to tell whether the film's a critique of Dengler's peculiarly American brand of grinning, maniacal persistence or an homage to it.

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse.

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities.

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic night" and sang a custom version of Madonna's "Borderline" to a much-beleaguered board member.

, also starring Rick "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" Moranis. Phillyist re-watched the movie recently and were struck by two things: (1) It's exactly as funny as we remembered it being. (2) Despite the funny, it's beginning to show its age. Case in point, a dialogue between Vinnie (Martin) and the manager of a supermarket. On his way out, the manager asks if Vinnie has any suggestions for things he'd like to see the store carry:

By now you may have read about the arrest of 20-year-old street singer Anthony Riley on charges of disorderly conduct. He is, apparently, one of several criminals (read: victims) recently caught by police in an attempt to quell the evil uprising of mimes, musicians and street-based merry-makers terrorizing our city's wealthier residents.

To state the obvious: Spiral Q Puppet Theater is a Philadelphia institution. Combining social activism with larger-than-life puppetry has made the organization a neighborhood favorite in, well, many neighborhoods in the city, seeing as how their folks partner with the community to put on fantastic parades and pageants.

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend

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CBS 3 Eyewitness News anchor Larry Mendte

Tonight at 7, the International House will be showing the premiere of Precious Places, a documentary put together by Scribe Video Center's Precious Places Community History Project. That's a mouthful, but what it translates to is local folks from largely non-touristy areas of the city and some parts of Camden were given cameras and asked to record the goings-on of their community. There are interviews and looks at out-of-the way historical and cultural sites; Scribe says, "For the first time in Philadelphia history, the people in the neighborhoods are telling their own stories about vital neighborhood issues and the people and places that make their communities unique." That's a great idea, but maybe should be ammended to say "on film." Phillyist hasn't met many Philly-ites that are shy about telling you what's what. But what a great opportunity for a look into parts of the city that often get overlooked when someone thinks of "Philadelphia."

, State Senator Vincent Fumo (D., Phila) has been under FBI investigation for the last four years. He is being accused of using "the assets of the charity Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods and his senate office staff for his own personal and political benefit." In order to preemptively address a potential indictment, Fumo:

Being a native Californian, Philadelphia's culture and variety of neighborhoods continues to intrigue me in so many different ways. As there are so many different neighborhoods, I try not to venture into uncharted territory unless something really exciting is happening and I know where I am going. One wrong turn, and you could end up in an area that’s unsavory, or, even worse, Camden. (Trust me...it has happened several times) On Friday night, I put my fears to rest and decided to venture to the World Cafe Live to hear the up and coming new artist, Paolo Nutini play. His debut album, "These Streets," was just released Jan. 30th, 2007.

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to.

Halloween is Tuesday, which means this weekend is really the time for all of the –ists to celebrate. And whether they’re designing super-spooky costumes or talking about the super-spooky upcoming elections, we’d say that they’re doing a fine job of it.

• A Philly PD chemist has been arrested on suspicion of helping herself to some of the pharmaceuticals in evidence she was meant to be looking after - a fact which might make her expert testimony in some pending cases suspect.


• Quick, everyone grab your Escalades and SUVs - gas apparently dropped down to an average of $2 a gallon in South Jersey the other day. Who ever thought $2 a gallon would be good news?




• The homicides just keep coming (at last count we were at 315 for the year). And if you think they're all in the same neighborhoods - think again: The Inquirer has an interactive "murders map" detailing the crimes and locations from January 1 through September 30 (so it won't include, say, the two victims found Thursday), and it's looking a little scatter shot to us. [via]

Earlier, this week, city leaders announced a coordinated effort to thwart local violence (and with different shootings in 3 different parts of the city in the time span of one 1/2 hour Monday morning clearly something needs to be done (via)).