June 30, 2006

Leftovers: Who Woulda Thunk It

• The drought watch is over! I'm sure those along the riverbanks are thrilled. [KYW 1060]

• Apparently, there's a superhero quizzo at the Franklin Institute tonight. Featuring QuizzoMan, who I am sure will be used as a (grade school joke alert) robot boss in Mega Man later this year. [Johnny Goodtimes]

• New Jersey doesn't have a budget yet. And the state's going to shut down all the casinos, beaches, etc., if one doesn't pass. Jon Corzine bought a cot for his office. No, really. [Inquirer]

• Neither does Pennsylvania. Ed Rendell bought 500 hoagies for his office. Okay, not really. [KYW 1060]

• If you ever wanted to hear Chris Webber quote Old School, your wish has been answered. [Mr. Irrelevant's Sports Blog]

• Headline in the Inquirer: "Why not a gay Superman?" [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

You're Next, San Antonio!

Okay, get your talking points ready, people! Phoenix is larger, it can annex land, who the hell wants to live in Phoenix anyway and so forth.

Update: A reader IM's...

reader: where the hell is nbc10 getting its info???

reader: from NYT:
reader: "The only change in population ranking among the nation's 10 largest cities was that San Antonio supplanted San Diego in seventh place, although Phoenix came within fewer than 2,500 people of taking over fifth place from Philadelphia, as it will almost certainly do in next year's estimates."
pwddmac: i dunno, it's an ap story
reader: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/21/us/21cities.html
reader: how could the AP or reuters fuck up the same story with conflicting numbers?
reader: (that's rhetorical, natch)
pwddmac: From the article: "A special mid-decade census in 2005 estimated Phoenix has nearly 1,476,000 residents, up 155,000 from the year 2000.

Census numbers from July 2004 put Philly's population at 1,470,000 -- a number that has been declining by an average of 860 residents a month."
reader: there is no such thing as a "special mid-decade census" -- they're all estimates for years not ending in 0
reader: stupid AP

So, uhh... yeah, I dunno. After a little searching, I found the AP story came from info from The Arizona Republic. But all I found on that site was a bunch of Philly-bashing articles from by a former Wharton dean. If it weren't Friday, I'd search a little more -- and probably make fun of that ex-Wharton dean -- but, uh, well, it's Friday. And I plan on being asleep or drinking soon.

Phoenix Replaces Philly As 5th Largest City [AP/NBC 10]
List of U.S. cities by population [Wikipedia]

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Obsessive Clinton Disorder

Writing in today's Evening Bulletin, Michael P. Tremoglie accuses Bill Clinton of beating up a woman, too, and whines that Clinton was allowed to make his next scheduled start in the rotation without any condemnation:

The reaction by feminists to the alleged spousal abuse by Phillies' pitcher Brett Myers is an excellent example of vile hypocrisy. It would even be amusing if it were not so pathetic. The condemnations of Myers by feminists (and holier-than-thou hypocritical journalists) were swift, certain and loud. [...]

Contrast NOW's reaction to a baseball player's alleged spousal assault to their statements regarding similar allegations of assault against a female (albeit not his wife) by a President of the United States, Bill Clinton. NOW made this tepid 1998 statement about the alleged assault of Kathleen Willey, "If the chief executive of the United States uses that position of power in the way that's been alleged, it has a very serious impact on women in the workplace."

We will never know the truth about Broaddrick's accusation of sexual assault by Clinton? Why? Because it was twenty years old? Or because he was a Democrat president who favored abortion? [...]

The only people who believe them are liberals - and to paraphrase Ronald Reagan - it is not that liberals do not know anything, it is that so much of what they know is not true.

If anyone comes up with a phrase that's roughly 10 times stronger than "holier than thou," let me know, because I'd like to apply it to Tremoglie. If this column weren't so pathetic -- aren't columns supposed to convince someone of something rather than just preach to the choir? -- it'd be amusing. Oh, wait. It is amusing.

A Tale of Two Abusers [Evening Bulletin]
If you're wondering, yes, that headline says both men are guilty. I dunno.

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Eddie Griffin: Not So Good At Multitasking

Here's the, uh, money shot:

The suit alleges that Griffin was watching a pornographic DVD in his SUV and masturbating when he crashed about 2:30 a.m. on March 30. Griffin, 24, had told the Star Tribune a day after the accident that a dropped cell phone caused him to crash.

Tee hee.

Tape shows Wolves' Griffin in store after accident [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

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Your Not-So-Subtly Racist 'Northeast Times' Letter Of The Week

Barry Saltzburg, from Nevada, writes:

What’s become of my Great Northeast?

I grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and attended Fels Jr. High and Northeast High School, graduating in 1964, at which time I promptly entered the Marine Corps.

It was a safe and great neighborhood both when I left for Parris Island and when I returned from overseas. Oh yeah, there were the occasional fights between kids on Castor Avenue but with fists, no knives, no guns.

The entire section was clean and you could leave only your screen doors open at night, unlocked. No graffiti on the walls of Northeast or George Washington high schools. What happened? I now live in Nevada.

You can take the kid out of Philly but you cannot take Philly out of the kid, so with that in mind I return often, only to get more depressed when I see the old neighborhood.

Heck, the city does not even attempt to mow the grass when one first enters onto the Boulevard from the north.

What a first impression of Philly. The World War II generation, our parents, used to speak often of how nice the old neighborhoods of Strawberry Mansion and Mount Airy were or Germantown with their huge homes. Now look at them. I fear that the Oxford Circle is destined for the same fate. It’s a shame. What happened? Now cops are getting killed on Castor Avenue, the Northeast is undermanned by police and mailmen are being stabbed.

We may as well just refer to the Northeast as North Philly — what’s the difference? I suppose it would not be politically correct to even discuss it, so I will leave it at that.

Sweet. Oxford Circle would be so much better if it were more like Mount Airy.

What’s become of my Great Northeast? [Northeast Times]

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Your Second Puppy Post Of The Day

In case you're wondering: The comment says it's from a breeder, not a pet store or anything.

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Wow, That IS A Lot Of Beer

Today's Joe Sixpack column by Don Russell is simply fantastic. Let's take a look at the highlights:

That's exactly what Rick Zinger and Ray Sefscik, a pair of energetic Coors salesmen, hope they've done inside Duffy's Pop & Beer in Pleasant Hills, just outside Pittsburgh. The pair carefully stacked more than 8,000 30-packs of Coors Light, creating a 15-foot-high mountain that features a steaming locomotive riding atop wheels crafted from eight stainless steel kegs.

"We wanted people to come in and say, 'Wow, that's a lot of beer,' " said Sefscik.

As soon as I heard someone say "world's biggest" and "beer" in the same sentence, I jumped into my car and drove 300 miles across the state to see it. [...]

Big, bigger and biggest has always been the key to effective beer merchandising, whether it's giant, inflatable cans or giant, inflatable breasts. The goal is to get the target audience - which is to say, guys - to drop their jaws and say, "Oh, Lord, I gotta get me some of that."

Still, I dunno, Joe. (Er, Don.) I like the idea of a giant beer tower, but I don't really know what you could do to convince me to drink Coors Light.

Joe Sixpack | 8,000+ packs of beer on the wall [Daily News]

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We Are Family

"Kids! Kids! Gather 'round, I'm going to read you a story about the Bible and porn!"

Bibles Are Hot Item At Porn Show [NBC 10]

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Comment Of The Century

On the Phillies recap from the Inquirer:

Interactivity! The wave of the future! Citizen journalism!

Comments on Madson puts end to Phils' drought [Inquirer]
Archives: Brett Myers

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Abridged 'Daily News' Columnists

Jill Porter: BRIAN! BRIAN! HEY BRIAN! CAN I HAVE A RAISE???

Elmer Smith: SHAKY JAKE!

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It's Friday. Here Are Some Puppies.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! So cute!

Journey [The Woolen Rabbit via Cute Overload]

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June 29, 2006

Leftovers: This Is Pennsylvania. Please Speak English When Residing Here.

• On a day when nearly every county in Pennsylvania was declared to be in a state of disaster emergency, what did our state house do? That's right: Declare English the official language of Pennsylvania. I'd make a Nero comparison, but I think that'd be unfair to the late emperor. [Philadelphia Business Journal]

• Okay, can anybody explain what this thing means and why it's on the front page of today's Evening Bulletin? [The Evening Bulletin]

• Number of times Jameer Nelson was drafted last night: 0. Number of times he's brought up in Dick Jerardi's draft column: 4. [Daily News]

• The editors at suburban alt-weekly Play have apparently decided that, instead of running movie reviews, they're going to run movie previews. (This is from last week's issue, so the whole idea could have been dropped.) [Play]

• Despite objections, the School Reform Commission approved an all boys' charter high school. Students at other high schools are expected to rework the "How come [all-boys' high school] has no steps?" joke by the time classes start in the fall. [Inquirer]

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Impulse: 'You Have Going To Be Tan'

Currently on the website of suburban alt-weekly Impulse:

Impulse: Hating the Irish since 2006.

If you wanna be beautiful, you've gotta be tan [The Impulse]

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Ladies And Gentlemen, The Worst Argument Ever

Opinion pieces, whether on a blog or newspaper or magazine, tend to have the most potential for crap. Case in point: Lowman Henry's guest column about the flag desecration amendment in today's Evening Bulletin. Here's his rationalization for why Congress should have passed a law barring desecration of the flag:

Further, there is ample precedent for protecting the flag as a national symbol. The First Amendment does not give us the right to spray paint a moustache on the presidential visages chiseled into Mount Rushmore. Burning the White House or the Capitol building are not protected means of protest. Nor can we go around shooting bald eagles, another of our cherished national symbols. No rational person would argue that such antics are legal or constitutional. Constitutionally forbidding desecration of the nation's flag falls into the same category.

Wait, wait. Did he really just compare buring a flag -- a flag that, say, Joey Flagburner has purchased with his own money -- to spraypainting a national park, setting fire to a government building or shooting a fucking bald eagle? This has to be a joke, right? Have I been, uh, punk'd?

The U.S. Senate Again Fails To Protect Old Glory [The Evening Bulletin]

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Water, Water Everywhere

Today's Inquirer contains a list of tips about how to prepare for and stay safe during floods. Perfectly fine idea. Good idea, even. But check out the second part of tip #2:

Don't walk through flooded streets. Drowning is the No. 1 cause of flood deaths.

And here I thought it was radiation.

Wading the Waters [Inquirer]

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Lil' Kim To End Philadelphia Tour Early

LIL' KIM is scheduled to exit the Federal Detention Center on Monday morning, her attorney James J. Leonard Jr. confirmed yesterday.

The hip-hop diva, who reported to the facility on Sept. 20, is slated to walk out of the joint between 6 and 10 a.m., we're told.

Kimberly Jones was locked up after being convicted of perjury for lying to protect a friend on trial over a shooting in New York.

Atlantic City-based Leonard says Kim will leave the facility for an undisclosed New Jersey location for processing, then begin serving a month's house arrest at her North Jersey home.

Leonard says Kim has been a model prisoner and is humbled by the outpouring of support she's received in letters from local fans and radio station shout-outs. A spokeswoman for the Federal Detention Center did not return a message we left yesterday.

Aww, see, Lil' Kim does love our city after all! If NYC ever does anything to you, Kim, you know where to turn.

Dan Gross | Kim's busting out [Daily News]
Archives: Lil' Kim

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A Chart In Today's 'Metro', Presented Without Comment

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Gimme An N! Gimme An E! Gimme A W! Gimme An S!

To celebrate this monumentous occasion, the papers at 400 N. Broad Street (that'd be the Inky, DN and Philly.com) are having, uhm, a pep rally.

A pep rally. With cheerleaders. And mascots!

From a memo sent to all soon-to-be-former PNI employees:

At 8:45 on Friday morning, June 30th in front of 400 North Broad Street, employees are welcomed to join a press event to witness the Christening of newly wrapped trucks and cheer them on their way.

At Noon - all employees are invited to a PEP RALLY to "Bring Home the News" in the Public Room. Enjoy hoagies and treats with Eagles cheerleaders, mascots, and help give a warm, Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.Com welcome to our new owners.

Be aggressive! Be be aggressive! Uh, in your news coverage.

Full memo after the jump.

The time has come to celebrate our new local ownership.

Many activities are planned over the next week with employees and the community that will give all of us an opportunity to share in the excitement and fun. Below is a brief outline of what will be happening. I hope you get the opportunity to feel the passion and energy surrounding us at this wonderful time in our history.

The festivities will begin this evening at SPP when Brian will greet production employees as they report to work. At presstime, Brian, investors and union leaders will push the button to start the presses that will print our first publication under new management. After celebrating with production employees, drivers and circulation district sales managers, the fun continues at 400 N. Broad Street.

At 8:45 on Friday morning, June 30th in front of 400 North Broad Street, employees are welcomed to join a press event to witness the Christening of newly wrapped trucks and cheer them on their way.

At Noon - all employees are invited to a PEP RALLY to "Bring Home the News" in the Public Room. Enjoy hoagies and treats with Eagles cheerleaders, mascots, and help give a warm, Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.Com welcome to our new owners.

Throughout the day, Friday June 30, Brian will be visiting with employees in various departments. Below is the schedule of visits so you know when Brian will be stopping by to celebrate with you. Treats are planned in all departments.

9:00 AM - Advertising - 4th & 5th Floors
10:00 AM - Circulation/Marketing - Mezzanine
11:00 AM - Finance - 3rd Floor
NOON - PEP Rally - Public Room
1:00 PM - Systems & Technology - 7th Floor
2:00 PM - Philly.Com
4:00 PM - Daily News Newsroom
5:00 PM - Inquirer Newsroom

Over the next several weeks, Brian plans on visiting more circulation warehouses, our newsroom/advertising bureaus and Broad Street Community News offices and Broad Street Magazine.

In the community, we will be seen at the Camden Riversharks Game, Kid's Festival at Penn's Landing, on the Boardwalks in Atlantic City, Ocean City and Wildwood; at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ, at the Battleship New Jersey and at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. On the Fourth of July, look for us at the Springfield Township Parade and Sunoco Welcome America Festival and Parade. We will be at the July 6th Phillies Game at Citizens Bank Park, and at the Hispanic Festival on July 9th.

This is just the beginning. Let's celebrate our future and commitment to making The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Philly.Com, Broad Street Community Newspapers, and Broad Street Magazines the best media print and online publications in the country.

Papers' sale to be official today [Daily News]

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'Metro' Interviews Doogie Howser

Today's Metro debate:

Wait, wait, wait. Can we zoom in on the upper right hand corner?

Update: Can we talk about the guy in the middle, too? The national team? Guh? Did he confuse him with the guy from Italy who elbowed Brian McBride in the head?

Metro Philly
Archives: Metro

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Next Week on 'Action News': Why Does Zeus Hit The Villagers With Lightning Bolts?

And, yes, the report begins with a Darren Daulton reference.

Special Report: Matt Looks Into The Ancient Maya Prophecy of 2012 [6 ABC]
Feb. 17: Daultonian Metaphysics

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Pot, Kettle: Meet Phillies

The blog post in question was by phillyBurbs.com's Dave Ralis, who started selling wife beater -- if the only media you've ever seen is this site, a wife beater is a tank top undershirt -- t-shirts with Brett Myers' number on them. (Not the one at right: that's from The Illadelph, although nothing was being sold there.)

I saw the wife beater post and Cafepress store yesterday, and I decided not to write about it because, uhm, it's the stupidest, easiest joke in the history of the world. Want to know how stupid and easy it was? I didn't even make it.

Naturally, however, the Phillies are upset:

"It makes me sick," one Phillie told the People Paper's Marcus Hayes when the player learned of the site's offering.

"The Phillies find it extremely offensive that any person or business would make fun of the very serious issue of domestic abuse much less attempt to make money from it," the team said in a statement on its Web site.

Ahh, yes. Some dude on a blog making fun of Myers with a tasteless joke is way worse than sending Myers out to pitch the day after he was arrested for beating his wife because he's your best pitcher.

Personally, I think the Phillies are just pissed they didn't think of the idea first and weren't getting a cut of the sales.

Update: phillyBurbs.com has posted an apology. I'll throw it after the jump.

Dave Ralis' Home Turf [phillyBurbs.com]
Phillies tire of alienating their few remaining fans; make belated effort to save face [The Illadelph]
Dan Gross | Newspapers' 'wife beater' clothing sparks outrage [Daily News]

MESSAGE TO OUR READERS:

For a short time on Wednesday, June 28, a blog post on phillyburbs.com offered merchandise for sale that made reference to the story involving the arrest of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers.

Though our intent was to find humor in a difficult situation, some in the community had negative reactions to our content. We made a decision to remove the blog post and all content related to it.

None of the items described were actually sold, and we do not intend to offer them for sale in the future.

Our actions were not intended to offend anyone in our community, and we apologize to anyone who may have been offended.

Bob Kellagher
Director of Interactive Media
PhillyBurbs.com

Posted by D-Mac at 11:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Abridged 'Daily News' Columnists

Michael Smerconish: Boy, Brett Myers probably wouldn't have gotten arrested if not for witnesses! (Even Smerconish couldn't tie 9/11 or his pro-racial profiling stance into this column, but he was able to get the military into it. Of course.)

Ronnie Polaneczky: The Home Rule Charter states that.... something... resigning to run... mayor... City Council... Stalberg... zzzzzzz....

John Baer: The citizens of Philadelphia totally need more than one handgun a month, according to state legislators. (I mean, duh. My gun-of-the-week club is radical!)

Stu Bykofsky: Isn't it sexist to say a man can't beat his wife when she's probably allowed to beat him? Allowed, of course, in the most important court of all, the court of sports talk radio!

Posted by D-Mac at 10:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

TV Reporters, On The Other Hand, Are Crying

Exhale, people. (Well, if you live in Manayunk.) It's all downhill from here.

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service: Philadelphia [National Weather Service]

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June 28, 2006

Blogicized: Tremendous Upside

• Hey, the NBA draft is tonight! Get ready to watch the 76ers pick the player who will disappoint fans at least 41 times next season. That is, if he shows up. [Philly-Sports.Net]

• Alert! You can buy FireCharlieManuel.com if you really, really think that firing him will solve all the problems of the Phillies. Or if you have a lot of time on your hands. (Incidentally, the Phillies are losing 6-0 today.) [The 700 Level]

• The body of this blog entry about the housing bubble in Philadelphia is essentially just C&P'ed from the Inky's story the other day, but the comments are somewhat interesting. Yes, it's a slow day. [The Housing Bubble Blog via Phillyist]

Posted by D-Mac at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Lost anything?

It might be here.

Photo by PW photographer Jeff Fusco

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Bunch Of People You Don't Know Want Michael Nutter's Job

One could argue this is good. Gridlock! They can't screw anything up! One would probably be right. But some want a special election to fill the seats of Nutter, Rick Mariano and the late David Cohen. And Nutter's replacements are already lining up, according to the Inquirer. They name several possible replacements, notably W. Wilson Goode, who lives in Nutter's district and could move from his at-large seat. Ward leader Louis Agre says he's considering it -- "And it should be a ward leader from the area who fills the seat. I wouldn't mind the job myself. I'm planning on considering it." -- which means he really wants the job.

Will City Council have a special election in November? (The candidates would be picked by ward leaders. Oh, goodie.) City Council prez Anna Verna isn't saying, which probably means no. Or yes. Basically, I wrote about this so I could share this paragraph from today's Inquirer:

Fattah, who has been listed as the presumptive front-runner, said in a statement that he wished Nutter well. FattahNutter, whose Council term would have ended at the end of next year, represents the Fourth District, which includes parts of Manayunk, West Philadelphia and Roxborough.

Tee hee. FattahNutter kind of sounds like a really good brand of cookie.

Nutter move sparks Democratic scramble [Inky]
Contenders start to emerge to fill Nutter's Council spot [Inky]

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Phillies Strike Out On And Off The Field

The story goes that the pitcher asked for a leave of absence himself, rather than be told by the team to take one. Phil Sheridan has a very nice column today about how the Phillies' front office managed to handle Myers' arrest even worse than anything else:

The Phillies failed miserably. Montgomery attempts to explain why in his statement.

"We have been engaged in a difficult balancing of concerns for the rights of our employee, the presumption of innocence, the rights of his spouse, and the legitimate public concern about allegations of spousal abuse by a Phillies ballplayer," Montgomery's statement reads.

And it's true. These matters are complicated. Everyone involved has rights. This is a matter for the courts to handle. That's why no one has reasonably suggested the Phillies handcuff Myers to the bumper of the team bus, or beat him with fungo bats or do anything else that would trample his rights.

But holding him out of one turn in the rotation - 36 hours after he was fingerprinted and booked on felony criminal charges - would have been an obvious and benign and even charitable thing to do.

Sheridan's right. (Overall. Honestly, I think beating Brett Myers with fungo bats would be kinda reasonable. And cool.) The Phillies had a chance to show that they were competent in at least one area, and they blew it big time. Putting the obvious things aside, what exactly did the Phillies think was going to be the reaction to letting Myers start the day after he allegedly beat up his wife?

Hopefully, no one needs to be told that hitting a man hitting his wife is wrong. Really wrong. And I don't think the Phillies think it's right. But by not saying anything, they looked like they simply don't care. Oh, one of our players beat up his wife, oh well, let's move on, there's a game to be played. And they didn't even really do everything right yesterday, either. Among other things, could either prez Dave Montgomery or GM Pat Gillick have made themselves for comment, instead of leaving it up to Charlie Manuel? (CHARLIE MANUEL!!)

Hopefully, the Phillies will get Kim and Brett the help they need, whatever they need and hopefully this story can have some sort of happy ending. But with their track record, well...

The Phils, though, have done one thing that at least makes sense. Brett Myers Back to School Pack Day is now:

See? That's a start.

Myers granted leave of absence [Phillies.com]
Phil Sheridan | After stumbling, it's too late for Phils to wipe slate clean [Inquirer]
Archives: Brett Myers

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Cry And Cry Again

Now that's where the column gets good (emphasis mine):

Lane yesterday morning met with Inqwaster columnist Michael Klein at Starbucks (8th & Walnut) to discuss her marital situation and seek counsel, sources say. Klein has been separated from his wife for two years.

Klein confirms the two had coffee yesterday, but says he wouldn't characterize the conversation that way.

Adkins, who operates several insurance agencies, did not return our call yesterday. Lane emotionally declined to comment.

Holy shit! Did Dan Gross just make Alycia Lane cry?

Dan Gross | Distance takes a toll [Daily News]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:01 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Abridged 'Daily News' Columnists

Jill Porter: Let's hope some good can come from the whole Brett Myers situation.

Posted by D-Mac at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Good idea: The Daily News sports department expands its online coverage.

Bad idea: Making this your new online logo:

AHHHHH! What is that? AHHHHH! No, seriously.

Posted by D-Mac at 10:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

I'm Blaming The Otherwise Likable Sal's Pals For This

More on the Myers leave of absence in a little bit -- yeah, it's been a little sports heavy the past 24 hours or so -- but check out this screencap from the front page of Phillies.com:

"Is Sal Fasano the future at catcher." IS SAL FASANO THE FUTURE AT CATCHER. Yes, the 33-year-old catcher who came into this season with a .222 lifetime batting average is the team's future at catcher. With a strategy like that, this team's going places!

Phillies.com
Sal Fasano [Baseball Reference]
May 3: Everything You Need To Know About Our Conflicted Love For Sal Fasano

Posted by D-Mac at 09:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Overwritten Lead Of The Moment, Tragedy Edition

Sam Wilf survived Auschwitz.

But after running Pike Lanes in Southampton for 30 years with his wife and son, it looked like his business wouldn't survive.

Bowling alley gets a spare [Bucks County Courier Times]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:16 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 27, 2006

Leftovers: Philadelphia Backward?

• Michael Nutter is stepping down as a City Councilman and officially declaring himself a candidate for mayor. So that leaves, what, three vacancies on Council? I've solved it! Shift a couple of at-large members to the vacant district council seats, don't replace anyone and -- bingo! -- we can reduce the wage tax by a hundreth of a percent or something with the money saved. [Inky]

• As with any -gate scandal, Razorgate is taking a while for the details to come out. KYW 1060 reported today that "[a] search of Razorgator finds a single ticket for the Eagles-Giants game next season going for more than $800. Selling for that price at the stadium will land you in jail." Indeed. [KYW 1060]

• A dissenting opinion in the Carl Singley for Mayor Phillymag idea comes from -- where else? -- Bucks County. [Daily Rant]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:39 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Rain, Rain, Go Away, So We Can Return To The Drought-Watching Fray

This, by far, is the most interesting angle I've ever seen on any story:

Yeah, screw you, rain! Always hampering our drought watches!

Rain puts damper on drought watch [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Boo! To... Kim Myers? Really?

Or, rather, the lack of reaction, since he pitched at Fenway Park the following day, isn't suspended, etc. Armstrong also tells people to email Charlie Manuel to tell them how they feel, which makes an assumption I don't know that I'd make, i.e. that Cholly knows how to use his email. (Ba-dum-pum.)

She also talks with the executive director of Women in Transition as well as a family-law attorney, who gives this quote (emphasis mine):

Lynne Gold-Bikin, a family-law attorney and past chairwoman of the American Bar Association's family-law section, agreed, saying, "Am I pissed off? Yes, I think they people should not go to any games in which he pitches.

"If people truly believe domestic violence is an issue, they ought to walk with their feet and say this is not appropriate," she continued. "And boo to the wife who bailed him out."

Yes, booooo, Kim Myers, booooo! Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. Boo. You were probably in a perfect state of mind after allegedly being attacked by your husband and clearly should have done the decision the former chairwoman of the American Bar Association's family law section would have wanted!

That being said, Armstrong later does point out that it's not uncommon for wives to post bail for their husbands. I don't know what Gold-Bikin thinks of all of them, but I would like to use this space to offer the Phillies another piece of advice. I know you've gotten a lot of it, and I know you seemingly haven't accepted much or any of it, but I think this one is a no-brainer:

Might want to cancel that ASAP.

Update: It's been changed.

Jenice Armstrong | For the Phillies: Boo! [Daily News]
Archives: Brett Myers

Posted by D-Mac at 02:19 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack

Forbidden Media Criticism

A correction on Forbidden Drive

The article about the WPA-era guardhouse on Wissahickon Drive that appeared in the June 8 edition of the Local reminded me once again of an error of nomenclature that frequently appears in the Local, the Inquirer and the Daily News. I refer to the mysterious “Forbidden” Drive.

Newspapers do not have legal authority to alter the official names of park drives. Only the Fairmount Park commissioners can do that. Quite recently that body voted to change the name of West River Drive to Martin Luther King Drive. Some years before that it voted to re-name East River Drive as Kelly Drive and before that, to change the name of the lower end of Wissahickon Drive (the paved portion) to Lincoln Drive. To the best of my knowledge the upper end of Wissahickon Drive (the unpaved portion) has never been formally re-named, or should it be. The name Wissahickon is much revered throughout the entire region. Why would we want to change it to Forbidden? How might the Friends of the Wissahickon feel if the newspapers started calling the organization the Friends of the Forbidden?

This is not an accusation that the Local is trying to force a name change. More likely, it is simply inaccurate journalism. May I suggest that you contact the Fairmount Park Commission and ask for the date of the meeting of the commissioners at which there was a vote to change the name of a portion of Wissahickon Drive to Forbidden Drive. I have written to the commission four times requesting this information and have never been given the courtesy of an answer, or even an acknowledgement that my letters were received. Perhaps the Local will receive more courteous treatment.

If the commission does give you a date, I would stand corrected. If it doesn’t, then the use of the name Forbidden should be forbidden in future accounts of Philadelphia’s glorious trail through the Wissahickon Valley. It is a happy place and not foreboding in any way.

You hear that, journalists! You don't have the authority to rename streets, popular opinion be damned! Take that!

A correction on Forbidden Drive [Chestnut Hill Local]

Posted by D-Mac at 01:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Todd Jones Wants You To Research His Life Before Booing Him

Yeah. Well, apparently, his poor performances in Philadelphia -- and the fans' reaction to it -- made Jones all upset. Apparently, he likes every major league city besides Philadelphia. Jones writes this about the fans of our local nine:

New York and Boston can be tough, but the fans there are knowledgeable. To hear them say it, they're on a first-name basis with my mother -- and every other player's mother.

You can see the troublemakers from a mile away. Usually, it's a few buddies going out for the night. One will get his beer muscles on, and then it starts.

You see them plotting. Finally, one of them leans over and lets you have it: "Hey, Jones! You stink!"

That's it? That's all you've got? All that beer at 8 bucks a cup and your buddies egging you on, and that's all you can come up with?

Come on. At least be creative. Do your homework. If I gave up a homer the night before, mention that. If I have an unusual middle name (like, say, Barton), heck, throw that out. At least show us you're prepared and have done some homework.

Now, I'm not saying Philly fans aren't occasionally uncreative. Heck, maybe we're the least creative fans in the world. Even so, if you're scoring at home, Todd Jones would rather you obsessively check out details from his life, find out where his mother lives and then come up with some chant that involves a test Jones failed in third grade, his mother's maiden name and the homer he undoubtedly gave up last night.

Jones is in the AL now, so he's not going to make it to CBP this year barring a trade. But if he does ever show up in the opposing bullpen, please remind him that time he blew a save for the Phillies on gay pride night.

That was a night when people of all walks of life -- people of every creed, race, sexual orientation and class -- all came together to boo Todd Jones.

We get our Phil of screeching fans [Sporting News]
Homosexuality and Baseball [The Cub Reporter]
Bingadunkchewhound [promothree]

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The Phillies Use Lifebuoy, And They Still Stink

I'm not quite sure what I have to add to the general sense of malaise on all the Phillies blogs and messageboards a"nd talk radio, but here's a go: They stink. All of them stink. Every single player, coach, front office exec, ticket taker, parking lot attendant, webmaster, anyone in any way shape or form associated with the Phillies absolutely freaking stinks.

Hmm. That wasn't all that helpful. Let's go to aspiring model and Phillies blogger Jason Weitzel, who wrote something in a comment on his blog I found summed up the way this team works:

To summarize and hypothesize: The Phillies have lost 13 of 16 games. Two of their wins came with two bench players starting. The last game they won was the 4-2 game against New York in which the manager was buried for sitting Howard and Abreu. The last game they won with the "regular" starters, including Fasano instead of Coste, was over two weeks ago in Arizona.

There's a pattern, and it's crystal clear why this team underperforms for Charlie Manuel.

It would be a travesty to trot out Jon's lineup [Rollins-Utley-Abreu-Burrell Howard-Rowand-Victorino-Bell-Fasano] tomorrow against the left-handed pitcher, but that's precisely what Manuel will do. He will play Burrell, who went 0-3 with 4 men left on base [Editor's Note: After coming in as a pinch hitter!]. He will play Bell, who stranded 4 men on base and hit into a rally-killing DP in the second inning.

This will reinforce to players that failure is acceptable, and success is meaningless. Yet this has been Manuel's pattern for two seasons.

When you lose at the rate the Phillies are losing, you don't sit the few players who show you something.

Now take a look at this again: This is the lineup I would go with tomorrow, rewarding all the top performers of [yesterday] and sitting the flunkies:

Victorino
Utley
Howard
Dellucci
Rowand
Rollins
Nunez
Coste
Hamels

Once again, there's no doubt in my mind they would smoke the O's [tonight] with this lineup. And if they would, I'd start 'em the next day.

Too long? Here's the abridged version: If the Phillies are going to lose like they did yesterday, at least let new players lose rather than the same ones we've seen lose since around '01.

Comment on Game 3 in progress, Bell DP kills early threat [Beerleaguer]

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Movies Just Keep Getting Better And Better

Adam Sandler and Kevin James will star as two of Philly's Bravest in a movie directed by David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers") and written by "Sideways" director and co-writer Alexander Payne and his regular writing partner, Jim Taylor.

Sandler and James play "two heterosexual Philadelphia firemen who pretend to be gay and get gay married so they can procure the desired domestic-partnership insurance," Payne told CN8's Barry Nolan.

The film's scheduled to shoot in New York and L.A., and is titled "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," according to imdb.com.

You know what the worst part is? Someone in Hollywood said, "Y'know, I don't think we have enough movies for the homophobic frat boy demographic." And then someone -- many people, probably -- agreed with that person and decided to make this movie.

Sandler and James to play our firemen [Daily News, 2nd item]
Editor's Note: I couldn't find a photo of the fireman from Sopranos, so you get Vito instead.

Posted by D-Mac at 10:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Abridged 'Daily News' Columnists

Ronnie Polaneczky: Another Ronnie Polaneczky Heartwarming Column™. Enjoy!

Bonus! Guest Columnist Joseph Bast: There's no such thing as global warming -- and if there is, it's good for the Earth -- I'm worried about Al Gore becoming president, etc., etc. Hey, Daily News, you messed up this guy's tagline. Where it says "Joseph L. Bast is president of the Heartland Institute, a non-profit that promotes free-market solutions to social and economic problems," you should have put "Joseph L. Bast is an idiot!"

Posted by D-Mac at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

'Inquirer' Puts 'Evening Bulletin' Demo In Its Sights

Y'know, I was wondering when the Inquirer was going to start their 1994 Rwandan Genocide Blog. They've been due for one.

Rwanda Journal [Inquirer]

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As Opposed, Of Course, To Those 100 Percent True Novels

Phila. City Hall Subject of Fictitious Novel [KYW 1060]

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Nightmare on I-95

I-95, in Delaware County:

Yikes. Might want to avoid that area for however long it takes to clean that up, which should be sometime in 2022.

Editor's Note: Earlier this morning, I'm fairly sure that on KYW 1060, the reporter said an accident on the turnpike was caused by a truck that crashed and caught fire -- and it was hard to put out, because it was a truck carrying paper. Tee hee.

Three Major Backups Causing Traffic Delays [KYW 1060]

Posted by D-Mac at 08:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 26, 2006

Leftovers: 'Twins' Residual Checks Not Enough For Danny DeVito

• Here's what people did in the 1940s down the shore: "It was the height of World War II. [Al] Cunard remembers military patrols walking up and down the beaches, having to shutter the cottage's windows in air-raid drills, even keeping a bucket of kerosene handy to wash the tarry oil from feet sullied by fuel oil that washed ashore from ships sunk by German U-boats." Thank you, Lord, for letting my shore trips be a bit more fun. [Camden Courier-Post]

• Skateboarding is probably the only time white suburban kids feel some Michael Smerconish-approved profiling. Be very afraid, shaggy-haired teens with boards. [Daily News]

• Press release of the day: Sherman He[l]msley to attend Altoona Curve game on Wednesday, June 28. [Altoona Curve]

• Lines of the day, courtesy of George Mallet's blog about horses: "I have a tendency to hit the saddle harder than I should when I'm posting," and "Plus, it is always a thrill to ride a retired athlete who competed in the sport of kings." [George's Horse Blog]

• Today's afternoon activity is obsessively checking the Phillies box score. Down 6-0 after six -- it was scoreless through 5 1/2, of course -- the Phillies tied it in the ninth on a solo shot by Chase Utley. First homer rookie sensation Jon Papelbon's allowed all year. Now let's cross our fingers... [Yahoo! Sports]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Irresistible Charm

In typical NBC 10 -- and, to an even greater extent, NBC10.com -- fashion, it's absolutely ridiculous. It's a news organization, a TV station, with a freaking cartoon character who narrated a news story updated every weekday on the website. Somewhere, someone decided this was a