July 08, 2008

Will Do Tumblr

There is now a Philadelphia Will Do Tumblr. I'll update it with random stuff not necessarily fit for the blog. (Note: I have no idea what that means. Whatever.) Huzzah for cross-promotion!

Posted by D-Mac at 03:22 PM | Comments (2)

Drug Roar

My column this week is about drug-free school zones, with bonus font specificity!

Posted by D-Mac at 10:54 AM | Comments (5)

May 30, 2008

Me, On The Internet

Hey, here's me on the On the DL podcast, the 2008 new media cross-promotion spectacular. If you have the stomach for it, you can listen to me ramble on about blogging and drugs -- and then say something stupid every couple of minutes! Woo-hoo.

Posted by D-Mac at 11:18 AM | Comments (2)

May 23, 2008

Way Back Base Ball

I'm going to be doing an occasional feature about old-timey baseball for Walkoff Walk, one of my favorite baseball blogs. And here's the first one, about a player in the 1800s who trained with a steel baseball only to have the batters wait him out -- there were no balls and strikes back then -- and throw 300 pitches through the first three innings of a baseball game. He died at the age of 21 of natural causes, but I decided to re-write history and say his arm fell off.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2008

Today on DrugRoar.com

Yes, I'm still blogging daily about drugs over at Drug Roar. Today I even did a few whole posts! One was about New Jersey's medical marijuana bill and another was a Redlasso (fight the man!) clip of a surprisingly long (and well done, to boot) report about low dose naltrexone and its possibility in treating a variety of diseases, including Chron's and Parkinson's.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2008

This Week's Drug Roar

As you can guess, it takes a lot of drugs to get through one episode of Gossip Girl. (Not really.) And, yes, I'm still doing the drug column: This week it's about the side-effects of drug prohibition. The column wanders a bit too much -- digesting the info I come across into streamlined columns is hard sometimes -- but I think I make some okay points. I guess.

Posted by D-Mac at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2008

D-Mac Continues To Dominate Internet

Ha ha, look, I went and was one of the three winners of this Phillymag contest. Was I even eligible? I guess so. Anyway, score another win for me. If only rock paper scissors was played online, I might actually win a match again sometime.

Posted by D-Mac at 09:54 AM | Comments (4)

May 15, 2008

Shameless-Self Promotion For 5.15

Check this out: NORML posted my column this week, which was about the media's coverage of drugs. I'll be High Times Stoner of the Year in no time.

And, in other news, I'm a finalist for an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Alt-Weekly award for best blog at a paper with a circulation of over 55,000. I'm up against Nikke Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily and Washington City Paper's City Desk blog. (And I even forgot to submit that post about the Barbaro messageboard!) I plan on breaking kneecaps 'til I'm the only one left standing.

Posted by D-Mac at 06:57 PM | Comments (2)

May 13, 2008

Recently In Me

This week's Drug Roar column is up. It's about how the media covers drugs, using the example of marijuana. I guess. As usual, I'm blogging at drugroar.com.

Also, I wrote this little column about Buzz Bissinger and blogs and truth and baseball in last week's paper. And, for some reason, reviewed The Price is Right.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2008

My TV Appearance, Annotated

So, yes, the segment on Fox 29 about Philadelphia bloggers -- and by that, I mean me and Johnny Goodtimes -- aired last night, and I've done a little guide to my favorite shot on last night's program. (You can click to enlarge.)

• 1. One of you called it No Country for Old Men hair and my hairdresser said it looked like a hockey player's haircut. (Complete with playoff beard!) I prefer to think of it as the too-lazy-to-get-a-haircut look, but I finally got it cut short again on Tuesday. The beard will probably go soon, too, but, again: Laziness.
• 2. These are the Dr. Seuss glasses one of you remarked on. I'm going to go get them straightened today, actually; also, they're hilariously Sean John brand classes.
• 3. This is not a shirt a picked up at a thrift store, it is an actual 1998 Viking Invitational cross country shirt, a race I competed in. (I was have been a junior in high school.) I never seemed to do well in that race, so I guess I never really wore the shirt regularly until a few months ago. I'm sure my high school coaches are proud of me.
• 4. One of the better things on my walls, this advertisement from around World War II is actually for Stetson hats, but the theme is "Keep it under your Stetson" -- as in, "Don't tell the enemy about the war plans. Wear Stetson hats!" Companies really need to start doing this style of advertisement again.
• 5. This is my MacBook, my pride and joy. If only Apple products weren't shoddily constructed -- I believe they're made out of butter -- I would be marrying this thing.
• 6. Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. Goodtimes accused me of putting this on top of my pile of books to make myself look smarter, but I pretty much re-read this thing every couple of months. If you're a writer and you don't have this book, go get it now, go get it now, go get it now. It's essentially the writers' bible.
• 7. The rest of the books here are pretty awesome as well. The best title is, of course, Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, but I'd also like to direct your attention to my proof of the new Lewis Black book, the copy of Jen Miller's The Jersey Shore: Atlantic City to Cape May, Hershel Walker's book about multiple personalities, Darren Daulton's book about how the world will end in 2012 and, of course, Drug Warriors and Their Prey: From Police Power to Police State, which I can also not recommend enough. It's probably the best-argued book I've ever read.
• 8. This orange pen is the one I used to write-in Brian Hickey for First District Senate and Chrissmari for State Treasurer. Although you can't see the cup it's in, it has a 1996-97 Sixers schedule on it, the team's first season in what was then called the Corestates Center.
• 9. Uh, this is the temperature, showing it was 53 degrees when my segment aired last night.

YouTube clip of the segment after the jump. Thanks to Kerri-Lee Halkett for actually doing a piece on me! On the TV!

Continue reading "My TV Appearance, Annotated"

Posted by D-Mac at 12:40 PM | Comments (6)

May 09, 2008

Banished To 10 PM Friday Night!

Okay, the headline is a joke. But it's true: I've just found out I'll be on Fox 29's 10 p.m. news tonight blathering on about the Internet, complete with since-cut hockey player haircut.

If you have a life (unlike me) and won't be at home at 10 p.m. Friday night, I'll post the video of Kerri-Lee Halkett talking with me, Johnny Goodtimes and (I assume) other various bloggers.

Posted by D-Mac at 04:34 PM | Comments (3)

May 05, 2008

Today on DrugRoar.com

I wrote late last night about the scare over "skunk cannabis" in England, which is leading the government to increase the penalties for possession and sale of the drug. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that marijuana use can be lethal, too, which is a level of lie even our politicians won't touch. (Not that the Inquirer won't.)

Posted by D-Mac at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2008

Go Play RPS In Camden

You kids like Camden, right? Neighbor just across the river from Philadelphia, perennial competitor with Pittsburgh in the competition for city that Philadelphians make most jokes about, home of summer festival concerts. Of course you like Camden.

Well, this Saturday is Philadelphia Rock Paper Scissors League Day at the Camden Riversharks, the independent minor league baseball team. As the Riversharks website says, "This season, the team will try a lot of new ideas that have never been done in Camden or any of the other parks in the area." Indeed!

There's an RPS tournament, unlimited wings and beer from 4-6 and a game at 5 p.m. The tournament will begin "around 3," which could mean anytime from 3 p.m. to June 26.

But better yet, who will be refereeing at this tournament? That's right: Yours truly, the competitor formerly known as This Rock is a Pipe Bomb, Danny Awesome. (That's my new name.) As you know, last time I tried to referee I ended up heckled by superior RPS players, was featured in a documentary about RPS and won a second place award in the state for the article I wrote about it. I can only assume this time I will not only ref, but I will win the entire tournament. (Yes, I'm playing also.)

As an update, Philadelphia Will Do's sponsorship of the timeouts for the RPS city league is going swimmingly so far; and I'm in 12th so far this year. I'm also working on an Elo rating-style system for RPS, because I am the biggest freaking nerd in the universe.

Posted by D-Mac at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

This Week's Drug Roar

It's about marijuana decriminalization, the "duh" of drug policy reform. (I forgot to post this Tuesday, mainly because I was sick.) As usual, I'm blogging at drugroar.com nearly every day.

Posted by D-Mac at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

Today On DrugRoar.com

Yes, I'm blogging here every day, for the most part. Today, I write about the big drug bust today and the staunch rhetoric of public officials -- ahem, Mr. Mayor -- who should know better.

Posted by D-Mac at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

'PW' In The 'NYT'!

Well, kinda.

Pennsylvanians go to the polls [New York Times]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)

Drug Roar

Look, this column is super-topical: Both Obama and Clinton aren't progressive when it comes to drug law reform. Actually, they're pretty much the same as Ronald Reagan. Ooh, goody!

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

April 16, 2008

Liveblogging The Debate Tonight

PW endorses Obama today in the paper in our political issue today; indeed, everybody is thinking about politics all over Philadelphia!

Why, tonight is the only debate before the Pennsylvania primary, and I will be liveblogging it along with PW's Alli Katz. To celebrate my new drug column, I will also be doing several lines of hope and shots of change beforehand, and drinking bitter beer.

Posted by D-Mac at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

Drug Roar

This week's Drug Roar column is up. It's about low-arrest drug crackdowns. And we have a fun new logo on the front page, thanks to Alex Fine. And, yes, sadly, this is serious stuff again; it pains me to be so unfunny! Intentionally, I mean.

I'm also blogging at drugroar.com.

Posted by D-Mac at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2008

I Write Something Serious For Once

After 2 1/2 years (or so) of making stupid jokes for this website and for PW, the paper's finally letting me write something serious! Okay, so I've done that in the past, but whatever, I couldn't think of a better intro to let youse know about my new weekly column about drugs.

The first one's about the recent "historic" cocaine bust in Philadelphia. Here's an excerpt:

And if there is a short–term paucity of cocaine on the streets, it’s not just users who are harmed. The head of Atlanta’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force credits stronger policing against drugs for the city’s 2007 uptick in robberies, burglaries and auto thefts.

More murders, Jack Killorin told the Atlanta Journal Constitution March 9, could be on the way: ”If the market here gets unstable down to the street, then the streets will get bloody.”

Whoo! More murders! I can't wait 'til those hit Philadelphia. The column is called Drug Roar, and I'm also going to be blogging at drugroar.com starting later this week. I'm not sure how many of you will be interested, but if I can't shamelessly promote myself here, where can I?

Drug Roar [PW]

Posted by D-Mac at 03:33 PM | Comments (1)

March 27, 2008

Win Free Quizzo Bowl IV Tickets!

This Saturday is Quizzo Bowl IV, the annual masters-of-quizzo competition hosted by none other than Johnny Goodtimes.

As part of a promotion for that, yours truly will be hosting a round of quizzo tonight on Philadelphia history at Bards (20th and Walnut) at 10 p.m. I'm pretty sure the Philadelphia Will Do readership pretty much overlaps with the quizzo-playing population, so come down and hear me stutter through a few questions about my favorite topics. (If you read this blog, you should get at least a couple of them easily.)

And the headliner of this year's Quizzo Bowl is Black Elvis. Black Elvis! There's no reason to miss this, except that my team is going to win so you're not gonna.

And, hey, you can do it for free: After the jump, Johnny has graciously provided three free pairs of Quizzo Bowl tickets that you, the reader, can win, if you just answer a question.

Continue reading "Win Free Quizzo Bowl IV Tickets!"

Posted by D-Mac at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2008

LOLita Read-A-Thon

Tomorrow is LOLita, the marathon reading of Nabakov's Lolita at Kelly Writers House. It's done in anniversary of the 50th anniversary of its American publishing. People have been whining that it should be banned ever since. And tomorrow, I'll be reading from some of it. Take that!

The event starts at noon and goes 'til 11 or so. I go on around 7:20 p.m.

LOLita (a delirious read-a-thon)

Posted by D-Mac at 07:31 PM | Comments (1)

March 02, 2008

See Your Editor Stutter Live And In-Person

For the third time, Penn's esteemed Kelly Writers House has invited me to speak in front of a crowd there at an event. Yes, your self-deprecating editor will be speaking at a respected institution of writing once again; for me to be doing my third reading at Writers House not even four years out of college is mind-blowing. (I am certain it was this post that drove them to invite me this time.)

Monday's Writers House event is called 7-Up on Rock, this year's installment of the annual 7-Up series. Seven writers read for seven minutes about seven different topics loosely related to a theme; there's a nice recap of last year's even here. I will be reading about the great sport of rock paper scissors. It will be the second time I've read about RPS at Writers House; the other reading I did was basically five minutes of me whining about not having a girlfriend. I've also managed to curse at both readings I've done so far; expect no less this time.

I thought I had posted this Friday, so hooray for late notices. If any RPS players or blog readers come out we can head to a bar sometime afterward; if any of you actually come out I will probably blush. 6 p.m., Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk.

The full release is after the jump.

Continue reading "See Your Editor Stutter Live And In-Person"

Posted by D-Mac at 04:47 PM | Comments (2)

November 14, 2007

Shameless Self-Promotion 11.14

There is a veritable onslaught of D-Mac writing in this week's Philadelphia Weekly. No, really!

• This year's holiday guide is all about cuteness, so naturally I wrote the little intro piece. If you need any justification for my qualifications to write about cuteness, simply check our my Flickr favorites.

• I also wrote about recent books about dogs, even the two new Marley & Me spinoffs. Yeah, I made fun of them. Oh, come on, what was I going to do?

• Continuing the dog-love theme -- gaww! -- I previewed the National Dog Show, this weekend at the Convention Center. Needless to say, I am super excited.

• Pop Rocks entry #4 here is about a comic Steven Wells found at Fat Jack's titled A Love Letter to Pennsylvania City: The Unauthorized Biography of John Street. I don't really need to say any more, do I?

• I also did my weekly Cultural Report Card feature, but it looks like it didn't make it online. So, uh, go pick up the paper, you lazy bums!

Posted by D-Mac at 12:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

October 31, 2007

Shameless Self-Promotion 10.31

Hey, lookatthat! It's another Daniel McQuade cover story!

This one's about another tangential-to-sports topic, Steve Odabashian, the guy who impersonates Eagles coach Andy Reid. According to my friend Rob over IM, "I thoroughly enjoyed it!" With praise like that, how could you ever not Reid it? (Sorry.)

If that's not convincing enough, there's a decent amount of cursing and the cover photo is fun. Huzzah.

Headset of the Class [PW]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:34 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)