Results tagged “philadelphia”

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

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.

Anyone who clicked here thinking they were getting info on some reunion of Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier and the Wayans Brothers (the older and funny ones, not the younger and stupid ones), click away now. We're here to talk about rock. Furious, hard, guitar-shredding rock.

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

              

As you might have noticed, we were pretty damn excited about the XPoNential Music Festival happening at Wiggins Park in Camden this past weekend. With three days packed full of music, we were more than a little disappointed when unavoidable other commitments rendered us only able to attend the Friday evening portion of the event. Still, we were able to catch a bunch of great music courtesy that evening.

In yet another stunning display of blatant disregard for the economic plight of his constituents, the City of Philadelphia, and the state of Pennsylvania, Republican Minority Whip Frank Rizzo, Jr. (son of the ex-mayor depicted in the statue at right) is the lone City Council member intending to accept his cost of living raise this year. Other members—wiser, more informed, more considerate members—are planning to give the money back to the general fund, or to various city charities. They're primarily doing so in order to show solidarity with union workers who are shit out of luck being asked to decline pay raises for 4 years.

   

*Yes, it's Wednesday. But we needed some extra time to prepare our new Foodsday Tuesday feature, Quick Nosh, which will feature snack-sized servings of food news that we couldn't dedicate a full post to. Check out the first one at the bottom of this post. Got a Philly food tip? Send 'em over!

Isn't it annoying when people say, "Can I ask you a question?" "Umm, well, you just did." Yeah, maybe it's just us. We generally kind of have the same reaction to when we get press releases about upcoming announcements, meta-announcements if you will. But this Phillyist got one today, and being a soccer fan with season tickets for Philadelphia's MLS team already reserved, I'm actually pretty happy about it. The Philadelphia MLS team name, colors, logo, and ticket pricing will be announced on Monday, May 11, at 11:30 a.m. The honors will be done at City Hall by Mayor Nutter. (Buzz on the Internets is that the team name will likely be AC Philadelphia, with Union Philadelphia still as a possibility. But given that's what we've read on message boards and the like, take it with a bag grain of salt.)

While we are all waiting with bated breath to see how Barack Obama’s stimulus package is going to help the economy and our wallets, we thought you’d be interested to know that Mayor Nutter (along with all the mayors of cities with populations greater than 30,000) has already made a wish list for what he wants to do with the money from the stimulus when it starts rolling into Philadelphia. The list is a long one and has a variety of green initiatives that will bring green jobs to the city and help it become more environmental. Here are some of the green things, and their price tags, we could see happening in our fair city if we get enough money from the stimulus package.

Some of you may have read the article in last Friday's Inquirer by Inga Saffron, the best/only reporter who covers planning and design issues in the mainstream media, about the Mayors' Institute on City Design. MICD is essentially an annual conference on city design only open to U.S. mayors in which design professionals teach top city officials about the value of planning and design in an informal and confidential setting. Mayors can rub elbows, trade secrets, and exchange valuable knowledge in a safe space where they don't have to worry about parsing their words.

While we all wait with bated breath to see how our new Lord and Savior, Numero 44 himself, is going to save us from further economic peril, we thought we'd give you a preview of the action Philadelphia might be seeing when the Obama Economic Stimulus Package kicks into high gear. President Obama has made it very clear that he sees infrastructure revitalization as the key to the country's success in the 21st century. Investing in the very systems that keep society running—roads, sewers, transit, buildings... basically anything that needs to be constructed—will give cities like Philadelphia a boost they could never get as tax revenue continues to plummet. And it creates jobs while building the structures needed to keep current job centers alive and thriving.

If you celebrate Christmas, you likely have a tree standing small or tall in your apartment or house. The question is, what the heck do you do with your lovely tree after the holiday season has come and gone? Fear not, Philadelphia earth-minded citizen! We have the solution for you. But first, here are some facts about Christmas trees.

Strange Philly Legends

For those of you who aren't enamored with our winter freeze-fest...

It seems these days that everyone wants a piece of the $700 billion bailout bill, and now you, Philadelphia bicyclist, can have your piece of the monetary pie. Hidden within the bailout bill was a provision for anyone who bikes to work "regularly" to receive a $20 a month tax break from their employers, courtesy of the federal government.

Phillyist is pleased to welcome new writer Lori Litchman. Lori is a Philadelphia environmental journalist and narrative writer. She is currently finishing up her M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction at Goucher College and working on a collection of personal essays about her relationship with her adopted city, Philadelphia.

When Is A Yeti Not A Yeti ?

              

This past Saturday the first ever BarCamp Philly was held at the University of the Arts in Center City. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of BarCamp, it is a worldwide network of individually organized user generated conferences, with participating cities spanning the globe. The conference schedule is never prearranged—BarCamp attendees simply show up, and in a very low tech (but functional) organizational system, scribble their presentation topics on a grid of index cards set in certain time slots to create the day's agenda.

You know how we're always popping in right about here to tell you what you can't miss? Well, to miss this would be downright irresponsible. More importantly, it would rob you of every American's fundamental right to demand change, to join together in one of two (or any one of several decidedly quieter, although no less vital, third party) voices and express yourself in the most important venue there is: the voting booth.

If you are looking for a fun (and free!) attraction in the historic section of the city, be sure to check out the recently opened museum at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Does anything with the word "chemical" in it scare you away as being a bit too brainy? Well don't let it, because CHF has done a marvelous job of creating its permanent exhibition Making Modernity, which includes "scientific instruments and apparatus, rare books, fine art, and the personal papers of prominent scientists. Topics range from alchemy, synthetics, and the chemical-instrument revolution to chemistry education, electrochemistry, chemistry sets, and the science of color." Trust us, it's cool to see the evolution of modern technology as exhibited through the installations of Making Modernity. The gorgeous main hall features an interactive tower screen that will have you learning more about the periodic table than you ever thought you would again after tenth grade chem class.

Even the elephant at the Philadelphia Zoo is happy it's the weekend.

Hey you! Michael Cera fan. Yes, the one wearing the hoodie over the polo shirt. Can't wait to see Michael's new movie Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist? Philebrity has a contest that might just interest your nerdy, emo, super-bad self.

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The Daily News is once again showing Philly that single is sexy. But is sexy single? Of course not, that makes no sense. Regardless, Phillyist is giving some local singles the attention they too "deserve."

Philadelphia made its way onto a Top 10 list that didn’t have anything to do with overweight citizens or crappy sports teams. According to Forbes.com, Philadelphia is the 4th Best City to Buy a Home:

Local Philadelphia sketch group Secret Pants recently set up shop near the Constitution Center, asking locals a simple question... Bush, or Batman?

An unidentified man jumped from the Betsy Ross Bridge this morning in an attempt to escape police. Police responded to a Domestic Dispute at Griscom Street around 4 a.m. The man involved jumped into his Lincoln Town Car and fled the scene. As police chased him, the man proceeded to throw items out of the car. He then pulled onto the Betsy Ross, got out of his car and jumped, falling 200 feet onto concrete. He was pronounced dead on the scene. (Via Philly.com)

Film: The Polymath, or the Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman