Dear Rittenhouse Square: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the good times we've shared. Thank you for the picnics. Thank you for the people-watching. Thank you for the adorable dogs and even more adorable children. Thank you for serving as a frequent shortcut. I'm a big fan of any diagonal path that can get me there faster. Recently, while crossing the park, I saw two young men in t-shirts and baggy blue jeans carry......

For our parents, it was the assassination of JFK. Ask any of them and they can remember exactly what they were doing at the time they found out JFK had been killed. I never understood that until September 11, 2001. Our generation can remember it like it was yesterday. For us, that moment, frozen in time, is and will always be 9/11. Back then I was in community journalism at a small paper in Bristol,......

By Bill Hayes and Pencopal This week, the Renegade Phillyists are feeling slightly less hateful, but just as snarky. Think of it as haterade lite. So instead of picking people off one by one, we've decided to taze them. Bill's To Taze List: 1) The people at Pitchfork. If you've heard of an album, they probably think it blows. I've been listening to the latest Tegan & Sara album, The Con, and I have been......

Schoolyard Heroes, a Seattle punk-rock band, is shooting their latest video in West Chester, PA and you can be IN IT! They aren't your average punk-rock band (their MySpace tag line is: I vomit out my heart for you) and they are definitely far from your skinny-pants-loving-emo-crowd. Their gore-loving sophomore effort, Fantastic Wounds (is there really a wound that's fantastic?), had critics raving. Will their third album, "Abominations" be just as ground-breaking and horrifying? You......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Wow. Just, wow. You need to check this out. Dude decided to try to visit every Starbucks in Manhattan (that's 171) in one day - and purchase and at least partially consume a product from every one of them! He had to hit a store every seven minutes for 20 consecutive hours, spending $369.14, and the caffeine ended up leaving him dehydrated and......

The latest on the Rick's Steaks controversy: the Reading Terminal Market Merchants Association has declared Saturday "Save Rick's, Save The Market Day," and will be holding a news conference at 10AM at Rick's Steaks. "T-shirts, hats and buttons will be sold to raise funds for Olivieri's legal defense." Marjorie Rendell (that's Governor Rendell's wife) was being driven in an SUV by a state trooper Tuesday night at 8th and Pine when a luxury car......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Now here's a holiday we can get behind: today is National French Fries Day! (Via Sarah) Local photographer Kyle Cassidy has an interesting book out called Armed America, which consists of photos of gun owners from across the United States, in their homes, displaying their collections, etc. There's no political statements being made; it's just a cultural exploration. The project is interesting, and......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Dude, car cake! It even has a cake engine under the cake hood and everything. You definitely need to click through and watch the commercial, which is essentially a making-of video. (Via Sarah) Heh. Heh heh. That's so wrong. How many people have recorded themselves playing the theme to Legend of Zelda and uploaded it to YouTube? Who knows? But Music Thing found......

Bands I Caught: Public Record, Feather Mills, Phil Moore Browne, Hail Social Venue: Northern Liberties Block Party After the idle talk and identically polished wood floors, after the occasionally tired heads draped over banisters at 1 o’clock and often stiff legs standing in stuffy bars for sets that last a bit too long, after loads of manicured details that so easily lend themselves to overwrought introductions, it was nice to just relax outside for once.......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. It's Friday the 13th, and Cinematical has a nice present for us, in honor of the holiday. We usually find ourselves talking about a different Penn University around here, but Penn State is having a rap contest to build excitement about their big college football celebration, Blue & White Weekend on April 20 and 21st, and that's amusing. See the entries here (you......

On average, women and children in developing countries walk three miles a day to provide clean drinking water for their families. This Saturday, Philadelphia’s acknowledgement of the World Water Crisis will continue with the city’s Third Annual Walk for Water. The walk will begin at Love Park and end at the World Café Live, where participants will get to see a performance by the Sekere Women’s Ensemble, as well as enjoy a complementary lunch. Participants......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. This is an old article, but new to us: an organization called Jupiter Scientific does some calculations to estimate how many of the atoms in your average living human being originated within William Shakespeare. The answer: about 200 billion! Now that's some real science there. (Via) Check out this hot Japanese Galaga T-shirt. Too bad you have to......

At the Galactic show on Thursday night, the attitude was "What smoking ban?" New friends became old friends who passed the bowl without thinking about TLA security guards trying to blend in with the crowd in their maroon t-shirts. The room, about three-quarters full, moved intently, sometimes languidly for those with grey beards and wedding rings; more jerkily for those with bare chests and new curly cues. Maybe it's the whole New Orleans thing. When......

For some reason we've yet to determine, it's nearly impossible to finish Elite -ist before one a.m. It wasn't a problem when we were undergrads, but it's not a lot of fun now. Austinist: Want to go to an awesome festival in December? Parisist: We still think this looked like fun. Bostonist: Shiny things? Really? We could win that. SFist: We sure hope this video is still online by the time Elite -ist is published!......

My name's Brian. That's me in the picture above. It's not a good picture of me. In fact, it may be the worst picture I've ever taken. So begins SettleforBrian.com, the answer to all of those pretentious, swishy websites out there that promise love in two clicks and $29.99 a month. Brian doesn't want kids, sports a bald pate and a big nose, and got spurned by EHarmony.com ("I'm completely serious", he says, explaining that......

The Daily News tried to track down the people behind some T-shirts they'd seen that seem to glorify crime and violence. They didn't have much luck. We're personally a fan of the one that looks like the Warner Brothers logo, except it's been altered to read "If you see the cops coming...Warn a Brother." Besides freedom and democracy, we're also bringing soccer to the Iraqi people. A Marine who grew up in the Philly......

On Wednesday, the art and architecture committee of the city's Art Commission voted on whether or not a bronze statue of Stallone as Rocky (donated by the actor during the release of Rocky III) would be moved to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and ended up returning a split decision. The application has been withdrawn, but will be brought before the committee again in a new form - and possibly with a......

Dear Madonna Fans: Y’all rock. I’m not a big Madonna fan, especially not lately, but man, does your loyalty ever astound me. On Tuesday night, I ended up playing Kinky Quizzo at Valanni (more on that some other time), and in honor of the next night’s concert, there was a Madonna question in each round. I have never seen a more excited group of mostly gay men and fag hags. I loved overhearing some of......

We just got back from seeing rock legend Neil Young! Wooo! Not at a concert, though, sadly. No, this morning Mr. Young was down at the Reading Terminal Market, not giving a concert, but announcing one: Farm Aid 2006, to be exact. Neil and his friends Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews will all be performing, along with plenty other bands yet to be announced, at the "Camden shed," as Neil described it......

- Phillywriters give the heads up about an upcoming silent auction to support Philadelphia Stories magazine. - Philadelphia Will Do notes some profanity on, of all places, CNN! Is this the sort of journalistic integrity that's got Michelle Malkin's site advertising those troublesome t-shirts? - The Philadelphia Craig's List Missed Connections section has gotten strangely stalkerish this week. Well, more strangely stalkerish than usual. Image via MDA Carnival......

...Mischief: Utah Jazz player Carlos Boozer (we're refraining from making a joke about his name) has filed a complaint against Prince, who is currently renting Boozer's Southern California home. The Artist, or somebody employed by him, made "unauthorized home improvements" in the form of purple stripes and other decorations (including Prince's symbol and "3121," the name of his new album.) Oh, Dave Chappelle, where are you and why aren't you making fun of this? (Via......

Yes, folks, a lot of you have asked, and now I can finally answer. Phillyist t-shirts are now available for purchase. That link will lead you to our new shop, which includes logos from all of the Gothamist Web sites. If for some reason you're a Philadelphia resident with a love of Austin, for instance, you can pick up an Austinist t-shirt. And design it yourself. So, go forth and order, children.......

Frugal in Philly is a weekly celebration of all things Philly that are fun, frugal (costing $10 or less) or free! Stop here each week to see what Philly's got to offer for those of us who haven't quite mastered the art of becoming Independently Wealthy (although believe me, we're trying). Featured Pick of the Week: This week, we're highlighting an activity beyond our city borders. But as it's (a) easily accessible by PATCO and......

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......

An open letter to those Philadelphians posting to “Live 8 sucks” message boards: I am not going to Live 8. I am not going to Live 8, but not for the same reasons you’re not going to Live 8. I’m not going to Live 8 because I’m claustrophobic. That doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re an asshole because you’re complaining, though. People, we’re talking about starving kids in Africa! I really don’t see what there......