Philadelphia blog stories

The glorious holiday of gluttony and laziness is over, and your ass is back at work. The Birds win seems like it was a week ago, and the Flyers and Sixers kinda had a shitty weekend, but two things are keeping me in good spirits today: (1) I didn't shoot myself in the leg, and (2) this video—another brilliant celebration of the Phillies 2008 World Series win.  ... Read the rest of "Your Cure for the Post-Thanksgiving Hangover"

As we begin Part 3 of the movie, CamCam is back at GNN space command central, editing his footage of the mysterious man in the prophet costume. But this time, Mr. Fake Beard and Bathrobe is speaking in Hebrew."What's he saying?" CamCam asks."I don't know, it sounds like Hebrew," the mystery girl from Part 1 says. Several days have passed since we first saw her (I think), and she's wearing a different outfit, but she still has that greasy smear on her forehead. So if it's not Ash Wednesday, what is that? The Smudge of the Beast?"I was there," CamCam says. "I heard him. It was English." As he says this, CamCam appears sincerely and genuinely to be trying to look like someone who is puzzled. This is the only way one can apply the words "sincere" or "genuine" to his performance in this film. "Never let 'em catch you acting," Spencer Tracy said, but it's a rare moment in this movie when we don't... Read the rest of "LBTM: Growing Pains"

Came across this nicely produced show, and figured I pass it on. We have cats at home, but I'm a dog lover too.www.the dogfiles.com... Read the rest of "The Dog Files"

Who is having turkey salad for lunch! An old school Monday Extras! Bill Conlin points out the fact that having the number one draft choice is a sign of your ineptitude and bids adieu to Philly icons Pat Burrell and Donovan McNabb in the first of many long goodbyes.So here we all are today, still deeply involved in the career endgames of Burrell, the veteran outfielder who led the fabulous World Series victory parade, waving joyously behind the famed Anheuser Busch Clydesdales, and McNabb, the quarterback who showed up on Thanksgiving night disguised as engineer of the 2004 Super Bowl express.He goes on to express his hope that the parting of ways does not come back to haunt Philadelphia but also adds that the time for these relationships to end is ... Read the rest of "Monday Extras: Catching Up With the Philly Sports World"

Thanksgiving is over. Now you may play Christmas music at your place of employment without making Phillyist staffers homicidal. (Although if your Christmas music is all-accordion, all the time, we may still get homicidal.) ... Read the rest of "You May Now Commence With the Christmassing"

At a press conference this morning, President-elect Obama is expected to announce his national security team. From CNN.com: President-elect Barack Obama will name Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state as he unveils his national security team at an event Monday morning, two officials said. Sen. Hillary Clinton will be nominated to be Barack Obama's secretary of state, sources say. Obama also is expected to finally confirm that he is keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his current post, and to name retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones as his national security adviser at the White House, the officials said. [...] Two sources close to the transition said Obama will nominate Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador; Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary; and Eric Holder as attorney general. President-elect Obama is sp... Read the rest of "Obama Unveils His National Security Team"

We started our 3rd season over at Fork You. Watch and let me know what you think!... Read the rest of "Fork You: 2 Dips plus 1"

Villanova is off to a 6-0 start to their season. They are ranked 20th in the country. They are one of six teams, along with UNC, UCLA, West Virginia, Louisville and Memphis, to make the Sweet Sixteen in 3 of the last 4 years. Things are good on the Main Line, but there is a good chance they will get a lot better. In fact, probably better than people in the area realize. The team Jay Wright has right now, combined with the players he has committed to him for 2009 and 2010, has more talent than any other team in the Big East, and arguably any other team in the nation aside from North Carolina and Duke. Better than big east powerhouses UConn, Louisville, Georgetown and Syracuse, better than national powerhouses Kansas, UCLA and Michigan St. and right on par with recent Final Four partici... Read the rest of "Jay Wright and Villanova: The Start of Something Big"

As a cog in the machine of the MSM, I don't take it personally when one of my favorite bloggers, Brad DeLong, repeatedly laments the sorry state of journalism and asks "Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?"DeLong winds up asking that question several times a week because, A) he understands economics, and B) an awful lot of reporters writing about it don't.If you have any particular area or areas of expertise -- or even if you're just an enthusiast on a particular subject -- then I'm sure you've shared DeLong's frustration at some point. At some point you've come across an article that addresses a topic you already know something about and that gets it howlingly, obviously wrong. And at that point you realize that neither the reporter nor any of the editors who touched this piece had any clue what they were writing about and you, too, ask "Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?"An economis... Read the rest of "Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?"

We're starting up a queer/trans friendly American Sign Language group.Come join if you're looking to practice sign, are a signer, are Deaf, used to sign but are currently rusty, sign some but want to learn more, are looking for a more queer friendly/radical conversation group than the Wednesday ASL meet up at 9th and South.So far, we're made up of one hearing person who used to sign quite well but who forgot most of it, a couple hearing people who sign at a lower intermediate level, one Deaf person who didn't grow up signing but wants to learn more than she knows, and one person used to date a Deaf person for a year and a half and studied sign lots, but now doesn't get to practice signing as much as she'd like.We'd love you to join us. We want this space to be open as possible, and hope to get something going bimonthly.Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.A few logistics: There'll be some snacks (and bring som... Read the rest of "Queer/trans friendly ASL Group TOMORROW Dec 2 at 7:30"

I'm a big fan of TypePad, despite writing a book about WordPress (if anyone wants me to write a book about TypePad, contact me and we'll work something out!), which is why I have been a happy TypePad user since August 2003 (here's my first post). I find the TypePad line of products to be very good, and that's why I just switched Blankbaby's commenting system over to TypePad Connect (Oh, a beta commenting system. Yeah, I'm badass. I like to live on the edge.). What does this mean for you? Not too much. You'll notice a few new things when commenting: A picture is disp... Read the rest of "Comments now powered by TypePad Connect"

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Holiday Concert: Featuring a heart-warming mix of favorite songs, arias, and Christmas classics, all sung by the big, beautiful voices of the Bel Canto Lyric Opera Company, at the Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd (3820 The Oak Road), 7:30PM. $10 Monday Poets Reading Series: Featuring Ann Michael and Daniel R. Collins, at the Skyline Room in the Parkway Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia (1901 Vine Street), 6:30PM. Free. For more information, call 215-686-5402. The Comic Vs. Audience Comedy Show: Comic vs. Audience is a ... Read the rest of "Frugal Fun Alert: Monday"

Deepak Chopra: To be happy in a recession means, first and foremost, resisting all the threats that fear possesses. Don’t obsess anxiously over what you could lose. Don’t reduce your world to a bank account or a 401k. Isn’t there an upside to losing some “consumer buying power”? To be honest, we went too far with consumerist mania. By any measure this is an inordinately rich country, and instead of mourning sagging profit margins, can’t we use the current slowdown to ask what makes for true personal happiness? Relationship. Gratitude. Appreciation. Compassion. Mutual regard. Strong social connections. Love you can trust. I don’t know why it takes a crisis to bring out those fundamental human qualities. But it often does. We all realize that the next video game, the next new ... Read the rest of "How To Be Happy In A Recession"

Fair warning, since I wrote a book (what? You hadn't heard? Read all about it!) I'll be blogging about the process for awhile. It might not be very interesting to you, but guess what? This is my blog so I'll write about what I want! Yeah, I said it. Anyway, as the title of this post suggests my WordPress book ('Building a WordPress Blog People Want to Read') is now shipping from Amazon. That's pretty cool, and it means that I can now obsess over my Amazon Sales rank. At the moment my book is ranked 24,348th out of all books on Amazon.com (and 74th... Read the rest of "My book is now shipping on Amazon"

Wizard Eye/Technician/Serpent ThroneAt Disgraceland12/13/08For exact location information, please drop a message to: www.myspace.com/wizardeye... Read the rest of "For Those Who Like The Heavy"

We cut to Chicago, a series of fades beginning with an aerial shot of downtown and ending in the interior of the Steele's suburban bathroom, where Rayford is looking at himself in the mirror. The soundtrack blares the title song, "Left Behind," by Bryan Duncan, which is worth mention here since it's a near-perfect introduction to the frustrating Mr. Duncan: great pipes, capably derivative but dated musical style, insipid lyrics. This song, recorded in 2000, is not intentionally retro... Read the rest of "LBTM: Meet the Steeles"

i forgot to rabbit, rabbit. (i wound up saying "lay down, Beri" more than twice though.)... Read the rest of "OF COURSE..."

There were a LOT of overturned cars on the road yesterday in upstate New York.... Read the rest of "Deep Thought"

When Christina and I began dating, Sam's mom told me in no uncertain terms that Sam was not to crawl into bed with the two of us. It would lead to confusion for him, she said. It wasn't a good idea. Boundaries. And so, like the straight shooter I am, I ...... Read the rest of "Double Standards"