When Phillyist went on the Unemployment Diet, we lost fifteen pounds. While it probably wasn't a terribly healthy way to lose weight, we were a lot closer to our target weight than we had been in the months prior, and we looked and felt better than we had in some time. Then we started dating the boy and he saw to it that our inability to afford food didn't have an impact on our ability......

- Identity fraud seems to be the hot crime this week. The feds shut down SIX separate id-theft related crime rings this week, and a would-be rapist got access to a building by claiming he was an FBI agent (allegedly). It's enough to make Phillyist paranoid. - July has gotten the dubious honor of being the deadliest month of the year. Let's hope none of the remaining month's in 2006 attempt to steal that......

When Phillyist was in 2nd grade, we fulfilled our Poetry Week requirements by arriving in class in ghoul make-up and reciting Shel Silverstein's Dreadful. This earned us an A on the assignment, and more or less left us forever branded as "weird" by our classmates. However, had we chosen Silverstein's more lurid six-part epic, The Devil and Billy Markham, chances are we would have earned the esteem of our classmates...and a one-way ticket to permanent......

Philly Roller Girls...

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Most Likely to Rule: A Night of Crawling Terror! w/Squirm and The Boogens - Another wonderful double feature of cheesy B-movies courtesy of the folks at Exhumed Films. When Phillyist saw Squirm a few years ago, it was as part of an episode of one of our most beloved (and sadly now twice cancelled) TV shows, the movie-lampooning program "Mystery Science Theater 3000." So you know......

Phillyist has already told you how we feel about using cell phones on public transit. But there are other times when cell phone usage is, if not completely inappropriate, utterly irritating. What follows here is a partial list of bad times and places to use your cell phones, as well as suggestions to how to handle calls if/when they’re made. It’s not a full list, by any means – but trying to do that, this......

Congratulations to our -ist parental units and siblings on garnering nominations for the 2006 Bloggies! Gothamist promises to make a great showing In the Best Topical Weblog and Best Group Weblog categories. In addition, Londonist gets the nod in the Best British/Irish Weblog category, and Torontoist has been nominated for Best Canadian Weblog. When Phillyist grows up, we want to be just like them! Good luck to our partners in crime - voting will close......

When Phillyist heard about Vox Lumiere The Hunchback of Notre Dame, we thought it sounded way cool. The 1923 silent film, projected above a stage, with live musicians and singers and dancers performing along with it. How friggin’ cool is that? Old and new, sound and silence - we loved the idea. We couldn’t wait to go. And we have to admit, it was really cool. The Creator/Composer/Conductor Kevin Saunders Hayes is a wildly accomplished......

It’s no secret that Phillyist loves beer. Therefore, Phillyist loves Abbaye, the welcoming Belgian bar where the beer list is written on a blackboard above the dark wooden bar and the selection changes regularly. Fortunately, the wait staff are always helpful in choosing the perfect beer. When Phillyist asked for something light and crisp to counter the heat outside, we received an Allagash White, which was sharp, sweet, citrusy, and exactly what we wanted. Along......

When Phillyist returned a truck to 12th & Washington not long ago, bright colors caught our eye as we crossed Carpenter on our way home. As we walked over to check out what turned out to be a mural on this building, something much more rare and more beautiful emerged from a abandoned lot: genuine graffiti pieces. Phillyist doesn’t mean the mural wall in the playground (which isn’t half-bad, actually) - if you’re there, wrong......