We heart capitalism. Americans come up with some really kooky, brilliant, ridiculous, and/or creative ways to make a buck. And what could be more American than finding a way to cash in on a holiday? That's why the Christmas decorations hit Macy's before you've even taken your little cousins trick-or-treating. It's why jewelers can sell and men will buy a rose dipped in gold for their girlfriends or wives (but not their girlfriends and their......

Today is March 14th, or if you are a big numbers nerd, 3/14. If you are an even bigger numbers nerd you know that 3.14 is the first three digits of Pi. If you are the biggest numbers nerd you know today is “Pi Day.” It is also “Steak and Blowjob Day!” I am not making this up. February 14th is Valentine’s Day, a holiday created for the ladies (which includes flowers, candy, and......

'Twas the Sunday after Valentine's Day and all through the World Cafe Live, folks were stirring about, probably even mice. A familiar face graced the stage to prepare the audience for the night's headlining act. It was none other than Dawn Landes. Her weapon of choice varies (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano). Her songs, though, remain the same. At times upbeat and hopeful; at times, introspective and hopeless. She's touring the country in support of......

Some of you have off today. Others, not so much. In fairness, we will restrict today's list of things you should do to convince yourself that you are engaged and in tune with your city, if not the rest of your life, to things that fall into the "after work" category. LOST BOYS OF SUDAN STORYTELLING AT THE WHITE DOG CAFE Sudan's "Lost Boys" - children forced to become soldiers in the humanitarian nightmare......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. We've seen examples of humorous rejected Star Wars merchandise before, but... here's some more! Always funny! Plus, we totally want that Jabba the Hutt beanbag chair. The first photo from the set of G.I. Joe is... a guy talking on a phone. Still, kind of vaguely exciting. If you would have told this Phillyist this morning that he'd be interested in a movie......

The sun is out and, although it looks pretty, it isn't doing us much good. It's still colder than a Phillyist's, uh, hand, in a, um, brass, hm, glove? Politically correct humor is an oxymoron. Since it's Valentine's Day, we'll offer something angry for the loners, something romantic for the lovers and something educational for the learners to do in the city that is suddenly too cold for murderers. At least there's something good......

There are lots of reasons why drinking heavily on Valentine’s Day is probably a good idea, but here’s a new one: University City Kiwanis Club is sponsoring A Shot for Love, a fundraiser at McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon tonight from 9PM-12AM. As you head in, let the nice person at the door know that you are there for the Kiwanis Club gathering, and your $5 cover will be donated to the Second Chance Support Group,......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Hey, it's Valentine's Day! Or, as we're going to call it from now on, Horny Werewolf Day! To celebrate the day, we offer you links to geeky valentines of the naughty, mean, and sweet varieties (via), as well as some super-nerdy comic book valentines from Chris Sims (definitely check out all of them, as the last one is seriously hilarious, and seriously wrong).......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Double Feature: Andrew's Video Vault presents Zabriskie Point and Secret Ceremony at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut), 8PM. Free (donations accepted) Valentine’s Grinches: Anti-love party with readings from Joey Yearous-Algozin, Hailey Higdon, Maria Raha and others at The Dive (947 E. Passyunk), 8PM. Free Love Letters: Poet Susan Windle reads from her collection “Love Letters” at the Big Blue Marble Bookstore (551 Carpenter Lane), 7PM. Free The Buddha is......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. In case you were waiting for the official word, yes, the WGA strike is really officially over now, and everyone is expected to go back to work immediately. Our long national nightmare is over. Even though Microsoft recently spent $240 million to buy a 1.6% stake in Facebook, Bill Gates recently decided to stop using the site because he was tired......

Have your Valentine’s Day activities planned out yet? No? Us neither (and we really have no excuse). Luckily foobooz is looking out for you, or at least your stomach. They have an extensive list of eat-out options and specials, including many singles events, to get you through the (perhaps dreaded) day. Our favorite is the Puppy Love Valentine’s Party hosted by Devil’s Alley tomorrow night at the Painted Bride; $35 buys tickets for one person......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. David Murray, who'd been set to star as Destro in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie, apparently had some troubles with his Visa, and couldn't make it into the States in time for the start of shooting. So now Chris Eccleston will get the role. Which is actually pretty cool. Doctor Destro! Word came out a while back that......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Mercy Blue: Mercy Blue, Somerset Project, Countervision and The Siren Thesis at the Khyber (56 S. 2nd), 8PM. $6 Nouveau Riche: Nouveau Riche, Tu Phace, and Patty Crash at Silk City (435 Spring Garden), 9PM. $5 Exercise Your Rights: Planning and instructional meeting for protesting the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis at LAVA Space (4134 Lancaster), 7PM. Free Organic Chemistry: The Schuylkill Center goes dowtown to celebrate an......

I'm going to come out and say it: I hate Valentine's Day. And no, it's not because I'm historically single when it rolls around. I'm not single now, and I'm still against the holiday. Blame it on my hatred of chocolate. Blame it on my preference for yellow roses over red. But most of all, blame it on my high school. Or, more specifically, blame it on many of the girls I went to......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Some Art for the Wall: 5th Annual Emerging Artists and Emerging Leaders Art Auction, with entertainment by local guitarist Marisol Rampolla and an open bar, at Drexel University - Paul Peck Alumni Center (32nd and Market), 7PM. $10 There Are Some Who Aren’t?: Local author Lynn Hoffman reads from his novel bangBANG, the story of “a feisty Philly waitress,” at Molly’s Bookstore (1010 S. 9th), 7:30PM. Free......

Today we have basketball, masturbation, and ancient, unrequited love. What more can we say? YOUNG FRIENDS PROGRAM: GREATEST HEARTBREAKS OF ANCIENT TIMES The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology knows how to kick it old school, especially around Valentine's Day. The most sacred of Hallmark holidays, Valentine's Day is a day which lonely people spend masturbating and couples spend, well, um, doing romantic stuff? Anyway, the Young Friends of Penn Museum are bringing......

Ah, love. Though we may not have an overflow of the brotherly variety, Philly is offering plenty of options for those happy couples looking to sanctify said happiness with boxes of chocolates and a night on the town. We’ll tackle the latter here; we've given you some chocolate-related goodness already. If you forget to get a card and all the Rite Aid has left are American Idol Valentines, take heart: you can make your own......

It’s almost that time again folks: Compulsory Love Day is next Thursday, so it’s time to stock up on the champagne, chocolates, and condoms. That is, if you have a partner. If not, tradition dictates you sit at home alone, preferably in a battered bathrobe, and eat a quart of ice cream out of the container. If you’re feeling somewhere in the middle of the champagne/battered bathrobe spectrum, here are some ideas to keep you......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. Cracked offers a horrifying (and hilarious) vision of what next year's Oscar nominees could be like if the writer's strike doesn't end (via). Meanwhile, Taco Bell has launched a contest on its website that offers striking WGA members a chance to win free food for a year (valued at $250) by "injecting fun and fresh bits of wisdom......

Girls have always known that the way to a guy's heart is through his stomach, and as more and more guys become interested in migrating off the couch and into the kitchen, we thought it would be fun to share some thoughtful Valentine's Day gift ideas as they pertain to all things cookery or at least set a romantic mood. Yes, chocolate for V-Day can be cliché, but local Philaldelphia chocolatiers John and Kira create......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. The cast is filling out for the upcoming Fox sci-fi drama Fringe, produced by, amongst others, man of the hour J.J. Abrams. Sounds like it's going to be an X-Files type of thing. We're down with that. Speaking of J.J., the director of the Abrams-produced Cloverfield is already in talks to do a sequel. Seeing that the recent controversy about Mass Effect made......

Dust off those pens with the big fluffy feathers at the ends: It’s time to play Cyrano. In honor of their East Coast premiere of David DiChiera's Cyrano, the Opera Company of Philadelphia exhorts you to “unleash your romantic spirit just in time for Valentine’s Day” with a love letter contest. One lucky winner will rack up significant significant-other points: on February 15, a limo will take you and your beloved to a dinner at......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Yet another thing you can do with the all-purpose food that is bacon: make vodka out of it! (Via Sarah) Cool pics of a new stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl that re-imagines the first level of Super Mario Bros. And every once in a while, it will randomly load up the second, underground level instead. (Via) Scott Adams got his readers to......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. A painfully true video about what's really important to voters. It's composed mainly of NSFW language, so remember your headphones! (Via Jill) Basic Instructions discusses something of serious importance: How to Decide Which Star Wars Character You Are Most Like. Cloverfield's impressive opening weekend box office numbers make the possibility of a sequel seem pretty inevitable. Grindhouse is back up on......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. The perfect Valentine's Day gift for that gamer you have a thing for: Chocolate Miis! (Via Sarah) Comic book fans are so pissed about the recent change Marvel made to Spider-Man - using a deal with the devil to erase Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane Watson - that even USA Today heard about it. For the record, we think it's stupid, too.......

Plenty of updates on the mayor's race! First of all, Brady cleared his first legal hurdle Monday when the judge in his case ruled that he could amend his forms, and thus he can be on the May 15 ballot. However, this is by no means a final ruling; an appeal has already been promised. Meanwhile, according to a recent poll of Philly's African American voters, Chaka Fattah has the number one spot by a......

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,......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. The Italian - A Russian film - originally released there in 2005 but apparently only just now getting to screens in America - about a six-year-old orphan named Vanya living in a children's home run by a corrupt headmaster. An affluent Italian family is interested in adopting him, but he wants to find his birth mother, so he teaches himself to read, tracks down his mother's......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. We've gotta say, we get a bit of a kick out of throwing snowballs at NBC10's rather annoying, be-bow-tied weatherman, "Hurricane" Schwartz, even if the game is on NBC's own site, and is therefore rather tame. Thanks much to the anonymous contributor who gave us the heads-up on this link! A detailed comparative analysis of '80s teen time travel comedies Back to the......