Bruce Springsteen To Play Barack Obama Rally Saturday

Yes, yes! Okay! I know I’m derelict on this one! It is true: Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen is playing a Barack Obama benefit this Saturday on the Parkway. (By the way, thanks, Phawker, your post on this gave me a seizure.)

Here’s the conversation I had where I heard about this, probably a lot similar to yours.

Springsteen is playing the Parkway on Saturday!
Me: Oh, neat!
It’s a benefit for Obama!
Me: Oh, well, that’s cool, too, I guess.
It’s an acoustic show!
Me: Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

So, yes, Bruce will play the Parkway to help Barack Obama, and if he plays “Atlantic City” the whole crowd will cheer when he goes, “Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night…” “Whoo! Say our city’s name again!” they’ll shout. And then a few weeks later they’ll vote for Obama and he’ll win the presidency. “Whoo! Good thing he never got caught with blow!” they’ll say, some of them will, to themselves at least.

Anyway, look: You can get tickets by volunteering to register voters. While Philadelphia will come in somewhere north of 80% for Obama, the rest of the state (besides Pittsburgh and the good colleges) hates blacks, Democrats and cokeheads. So there’s a bit of an uphill battle here for ol’ McHopey, and the only way for him to have a chance is for Bruce Springsteen to play a show for him.

The Boss for Ambassador of ROCK! Or at least to New Jersey.

Leftovers: Sign Sammy!

• With Aaron Rowand probably out for the rest of the season, it’s time for the Phillies to sign a proven home run hitter. A proven bat-corker. An over-the-hill slugger. That’s right: They need to sign Sammy Sosa. That, my friends, would be the only signing that could make this oh-so-strange Phillies season even stranger. [Beerleaguer]

• The weird-but-awesome Calder sculpture on the Parkway has fled the coup to New York City. Hipsters move to the Sixth Borough; art moves to one of the original five. I’m not sure this is a fair trade. [Changing Skyline]

• Drexel University was named the ugliest in the nation. For its buildings — not its students. (Penn would take that crown.) [NBC 10]

• When two male characters kiss on The Simpsons, Bucks County Courier Times columnist J.D. Mullane doesn’t know what to tell his four-year-old son! The horror, the horror! [BCCT]

• Atlantic City’s Steel Pier is being converted into condos. Each room will feature its own diving horse and slot machine. [NBC 10]

Surely, They’ll Build Real Hotels On The Liberty Bell One Day, Anyway

Yesterday, I wrote about the awful, awful plan for a new Monopoly board game. You, however, can vote on what landmarks will be on the new “Here & Now Edition” board. I’m not quite sure how you can put houses and hotels on, say, the Empire State Building, but I suppose you could say the same thing about Park Place.

Philadelphia is included among the cities that will have landmarks on the new Monopoly edition, and here are the three that you can vote on:

Independence Hall, the Libery Bell and… the Parkway? That’s it? That’s our third biggest landmark? Wait, what? Why not the Art Museum? Uh, City Hall? The late, great Shibe Park?

Naturally, I voted for the Parkway, though. Gotta root for the underdog.

Monopoly Here & Now [Hasbro]
Leftovers: Leftovers: ‘Free Parking’ To Be Replaced By ‘Parking, $10/Hour’