In The Spirit Of The Holiday Season…

Okay, people. It’s time for a good deed. Here’s part of a post on Philly Future I spotted earlier in the week:

Anyway, I thought love at first sight was hocus- pocus. That is, until today Saturday November 25, 2005 at 2:45 PM. It goes like this, my son my daughter and I were at Macy’s department store in center city. We were standing in a very long but worthwhile line (for their sake) to see the Dickens Village.

While in line, the most beautiful women I have ever seen began to talk to me. When I turned to look at her and into her beautiful eyes my mind immediately went blank. I thought I was frozen in time and I suppose I was. I couldn’t think of anything to say, not even anything stupid or meaningless. I just stood there, smiled and stared at her. I’m in my mid forty’s now and I felt like a teenager again. For the first time in quite a while I smiled at someone from the bottom of my broken heart. The same heart I thought I had lost. Today, I knew it was still there because it was beating fast, really fast.

“The most beautiful woman in the world” was also there with her son and daughter. As the line grew shorter and we began to approach our destination I began to panic. I thought I would never see her again so I mustard up enough courage to talk to her. We began to talk about Sushi restaurants in Philadelphia. She apparently knows them all and it seems she knows Philly quite well too. Unfortunately, I do not. She told me of a sushi place in the Reading Terminal Market and another in University City called “POD.” As we walked through Dickens Village I felt a connection to her and I know she felt it too. We even liked the same movie as a favorite (George C. Scott in a Christmas Carol).

Unfortunately, with both of us watching both sets of our kids we lost each other in the extreme crowd and we didn’t see each other again. I walked through the store back and forth up and down so many times I thought my son and daughter were going to abandon me. They kept asking me what I was looking for and I said, “hope.” I never did get her name or saw her again and I finally gave up searching.

If on the slightest chance (about 300 million to one) you (the one I met today (November 25) in line at Macy’s Dickens Village) read this, I’ll be at the same place with my daughter in two weeks from now (Saturday) because she really wants to go again. My son said he would sit this one out (he’s 16). Now here comes the pessimist in me. I will probably never see you again. But maybe you read these BLOGS and I guess it’s worth a chance of hope.

Okay. I’m not even going to make fun of the random capitalization of BLOGS. (I’ll just point it out.) As such, now that the Christmas tree is lit and it’s a day ’til December, I wanted to pass this along.

Here’s to finding love at first sight, Dickens Village and, hell, even Macy’s for figuring out if they didn’t keep that old setup people would be pissed. Now, if you’re reading this, oh mysterious “most beautiful woman in the world,” the ball’s in your court.

Love & Hope, found then lost. At Macy’s Dickens Village. Love at first sight. [Philly Future]

Abridged ‘Daily News’ Columnists

Ronnie Polaneczky: Mayor Street is supporting his brother too much!

Mark Alan Hughes: Chaka Fattah is needed in Congress!

Michael Smerconish: Hey, let’s tell the maniacs who think they’re going to heaven for killing people that if they kill people, we’re going to destroy their holy cities. What downside could there be except the murder of million of people!

Stu Bykofsky: Could the SPCA return to animal control? Phew, this column makes some sense, at least.

Continental: The Hotel To Open In NYC?

As you may remember, earlier this year Stephen Starr became yet another Philadelphian to try New York City, opening Morimoto and Buddakhan up in the original five boroughs.

In an interview in the current issue of New York magazine, Starr explains his newest idea for New York: a hotel.

What’s next for you in New York?

We’d like to do one of the Philly restaurants here, Jones or Continental. I’m also thinking of opening a small hotel in New York. I used to just want to do it in Philadelphia, but the more I’m here the more I feel confident I could do one here.

Stephen, how could you? You’re supposed to do your cool things in Philly first (for much cheaper, might I add!) and then move them to New York or Atlantic City or wherever you’re planning on going next.

Come on, open a hotel near the Convention Center or something. We have hotels here in Philadelphia that were built on top of parking garages. And that hip Aloft hotel is going near the airport instead of in, oh, a good location.

As The Illadelph wrote, “You need to open a boutique hotel in Philadelphia. And you need to do it soon…. Philadelphia wants a fucking original. An independent. Be the man. Think the James, but even a little more urban. You’ll own the market.” I can’t help but agree.

Time’s yours, Stephen.

Mr. Big Box [NY Mag]
Breaking: Stephen Starr’s hotel dreams resurface [The Illadelph]
Jan. 25: Morimoto, Buddakan latest Philly expats

Reason #10 To Love Philadelphia: O Tannenbaum

Peace on Earth, and good will toward all men.

Things Will Return To Normal

in a few moments.

Mgmt. Finally Responds To Byko Memo Machine

Yes, it took forever, but Brian Tierney & Co. — or, more likely, a different PR person — drafted a memo to respond to the constant barrage of memos sent from the Newspaper Guild in the past weeks.

Although it contains language that is the textual equivalent of Ambien — for example, “we will consider a lump sum payment that will help offset a portion of the diversions members will need to divert in order to fund an ongoing pension” — it’s also an old fashioned passive-aggressive shot at the union asking them not to strike.

We think a strike would be a mistake, as it would cause long-term damage to our company that would hurt all of our employees, including Guild members…. We are optimistic that we can continue to work with the Guild to resolve all of these issues in the next few of days. Hopefully, the Guild leadership will put a higher priority on resolving the issues than on a strike threat.

Oh snap! Full (pretty boring, though) memo after the jump.

More »

Leftovers: McNabb To Return In Next [x] Months

• Donovan McNabb underwent surgery for his torn ACL yesterday, and here’s the Associated Press’ lead: “Donovan McNabb could miss as much as a year or could be ready for the 2007 season opener after having surgery yesterday to repair a torn knee ligament.” Or, perhaps, he could die from complications, or return tomorrow and lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl. [AP/Toronto Star]

• And another awesome AP lead, from Bethlehem, Pa.: “A man serving life without parole for stabbing his neighbor more than 80 times with a samurai sword and setting the victim’s clothes on fire was awarded $1 by a federal jury that ruled five of the officers arresting him used excessive force.” [AP/Philly.com]

• Good news: There are lots of flu vaccines this year. Bad news: There are so many, there will probably be a shortage next year. Aye. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• And the Philly Future comment of the century: “Oh… the ‘papers’ are going on strike? Thank God for the Evening Bulletin!” [Philly Future]

Paper Execs Attempt To Get Every Last Penny Out Of Staff

Actual memo sent out at our newspaperly neighbors to the north:

From: [redacted]

Sent: Wed 11/29/2006 2:50 PM
To: PNI Weekly Update - All
Subject: BISTRO MUGS

Union Readies Site Shockingly Not Hosted On Blogger

When I heard that the Daily News and Inquirer were readying their own website in case of a strike, I immediately went out and registered inquireranddailynews.blogspot.com in anticipation of being able to sell it back to the Newspaper Guild for a buck or two.

Shockingly, though, the Guild went out and purchased their own domain and got some free newspaper software and set up PhilaPapers.com. According to a release from the Guild — Byko is churning them out like a machine! — some content will immediately be posted online, with news to follow throughout the duration of the strike. Tom Ferrick is coordinating this whole shebang. (There’s precedent for this sort of thing. Salon.com was founded due in part to a San Francisco Examiner strike in 1995.)

Once again, midnight Thursday is the deadline. Let’s hope they can get this settled. Although, either way, it appears we’re going to get our weekly Faye Flam fix.

Full guild release after the jump.

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Plastic Teens Hoping For Big Break In ‘Mannequin 3′

Yesterday evening on NBC 10, Cherie Bank reported on teens who get plastic surgery. Two teens who had gotten plastic surgery were interviewed — not sure by who — about why they decided to get the procedure.

First up was Rita Demetriou, who at 18 got (deep breath) new boobs, ass, stomach, thighs and nose. Why, you might ask? Well, it’s simple: “I would look in the magazines, especially the… Playboy models, and see how pretty they are and everything, and I want to be like that.”

And why did Kyla Broderick get a nose job and a boob job (even though she looked better before, as this side-by-side comparison shows)? Because she wants to be in the fashion and music industries, of course!

I’m not one to judge people based on their looks — well, no, okay, I just don’t feel like doing it today — so I’ll leave it for you to decide. Was it worth it?

Oh, forget it, let’s just be mean: Your noses are still big, ladies.

Teen Plastic Surgery Trend Worries Experts [NBC 10]