Today’s Philly.com Poll

I voted “no.”

Of Books And Blogs

The best sportswriter in the whole world — sorry, Buzz Aldrin! — Kyle Whelliston, has a book deal. I couldn’t be happier for him. Also with a book deal: Doree Shafrir, former PW A&E editor and one of the people who helped guide this blog in the beginning.

Shafrir’s book is from her Postcards from Yo Momma while Whelliston’s just sounds in-freaking-credible:

I plan to chronicle my 2008-09 season on the road, as I travel to and between over 100 Division I games. Along the way, we’ll stop by hallowed halls like Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse and Penn’s Palestra. We’ll meet head coaches on the rise, as well as on career declines and rebounds. We’ll visit with student section superfans and explore their odd rituals, and reveal heated local rivalries often overlooked by the national media. Invariably, a previously unknown school will leap into the limelight as a surprise nationally-ranked instant powerhouse. We’ll discover players who go from unknowns to legends in a single episode of March Madness. And as winter turns to spring, small towns across America will become transformed, as tiny local colleges achieve berths in America’s ultimate college sports showcase, the NCAA Tournament.

I’d like to remind any editors out there that I run a blog and if you pay me money to do a book or something, I will fill my apartment with Chuck E. Cheese tokens and swim in it á la Scrooge McDuck.

You Will Soon Know More About Cask Ale

Hey, so how’s this for a specific blog: Philadelphia Area’s Cask Ales.

The blog, by Kevin Rowe, is all about the “a beer brewed from traditional ingredients (malted barley, hops water and yeast), matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide.” That’s the CAMRA definition, and the site also helpfully defines CAMRA (”the Campaign for Real Ale, is an independent, voluntary, consumer organisation which campaigns for real ale, real pubs and consumer rights”).

Rowe updates apparently every day about what is on cask at different area bars. This is a feat more impressive than summarizing (PWD definition: not summarizing) the Daily News columnists every day; there’s also a list of all the cask ales available during Philly Beer Week.

Philadelphia Area’s Cask Ales

New Ally In War On Duck Boats

I’m all for fighting against the horrible duck boats, and, although it’s a bit too serious for me, here’s a new partner in the fight:

Here’s the dude’s his petition:

We the undersigned do hereby call for respect from the Philadelphia Ride the Ducks Tour Company. The Ride the Ducks Tours are loud, noisy, obnoxious and an ear sore to local citizens of the Philadelphia area. By blasting music, shouting over a loud PA system, and encouraging the tooting of “quackers,” the Ride the Ducks Tours consistently disrupt the life of the average Philadelphian and are violating a number of noise pollution laws. We ask for Ride the Ducks Tours to work for a better relationship with Philadelphia residents and by agreeing to three guidelines:

1) When driving through a residential area, Ride The Ducks Tours will respectfully lower their music, exhibit a more restrained use of the PA system, and encourage a more mindful use of “quackers.”

2) Ride the Ducks Tours will revise their tour routes of Philadelphia to minimize exposure to the residential community.

3) Ride the Ducks Tour guides will no longer encourage tourists to “quack” at individuals on the street.

Eh, go ahead, fight the duck boat people. The War on Duck Boats will one day be won!

See also: Anti-duck activism in Seattle

Million March 4 God Softens Rhetoric

Okay, so last night I noticed this post about the ACLU on the Million March 4 God website. It called them commies, or something? I sent it to a friend, but the only thing she said near it other than laughter was, “I think we should campaign to ruin the Pro Bowl by organizing a campaign for John Beck.” They even changed the wacky health care plan. Aww.

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Anonymous Blog Poster Wants Fistfight

Don’t worry, don’t worry, youse are all safe, even from the wrath of Mark B. Cohen. The above “Blog comments to be investigated” headline comes from Quakertown, where, indeed, blog comments are going to be investigated. The comments were made on a local news chat forum, so, yeah, it wasn’t a blog but that’s a shorter word to fit into a headline.

Following an angry debate over student performance and other matters, a person who signed onto a local news chat forum as “QCSD Board Member” threatened another poster by saying “…please say that to my face, preferably in the parking lot out back. If you’re a woman, say it to my daughter so that she can tear you apart.”

The anonymous poster then revealed confidential district information and called his or her adversary a “fool” who lacks “the courage to lie to my face.” With a street fighter’s bravado, the poster added, “You know where to find me. I don’t have to hide in anonymity like you.”

With a street fighter’s bravado anonymously on the Internet, of course.

Blog comments to be investigated [The Intelligencer]

So Does Anybody Know Who Linked This?

Hey, check it out, a story from May 2 is currently at the top of the Inquirer’s most-read articles list! Anybody know what popular blog linked it? Maybe Drudge? Blog search engines are about as useful at finding blog posts as yelling out the window is, so I’m stumped. There is the possibility the public was just interested in months-old news en masse yesterday, as “Alycia Lane” has been topping my search term lists for months.

Anyway, let’s all keep clicking on it; maybe we can keep it at number one for months and months until Alycia Lane does something with something while wearing something.

Alycia Lane defends “saucy” e-mails [Inquirer]

Reason #5 To Love Philadelphia: ‘Inky’ & ‘DN’

Oh, let’s just post this whole email, like everyone else did, from the Newspaper Guild. It’s an “open letter” to the community about contract negotiations and why blogs are boring and why the local papers are superawesome. And, hey, I hate blogs, too!

So, in case you didn’t know: I heart the Inquirer and Daily News. Let’s get this contract business settled. After all, what would I make fun of if the papers were on strike?

The new owners of the Inquirer, Daily News are having an acute case of buyer’s remorse.

Philadelphia Media Holdings – a group of local investors with no prior media ownership experience - now realize it paid too much for the papers and Philly.com, outbidding its rivals.

Sadly, the new owners now are targeting their own union employees – and particularly the workers’ previously negotiated pensions, job security and sick pay - as the solution to their mistake.

There is absolutely no justification for the company’s behavior as it negotiates for the first time with The Newspaper Guild, the union that represents 900 workers including writers, editors, photographers, artists, clerks, auditors and ad salespeople. While we are dedicated to a fair, professional and frank collective bargaining process, and welcome the intervention of a Federal mediator, we also recognize a responsibility to our readers and the community to explain the key issues at the heart of this dispute.

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You’d think we’re the Inquirer with all these blogs

Yesterday we saw the triumphant return of the Beanie Blog, if only for another brief day of hearings for Philadelphia’s favorite troubled son of Sigel Street.

Today, PW officially launches another regular blog, and the second not dedicated to Beanie Sigel. Managing Editor Liz Spikol has launched her The Trouble With Spikol blog, focusing on mental health issues.

I’ve been reading this since the soft launch, and it’s something I’d check in on even if I wasn’t blogging here for PW. And, well, there are plenty of blogs I read every day that I don’t feel that way about. I have an interest in mental health issues, but I think even if you don’t you’ll consider it an interesting read. Check it out.

The Trouble with Spikol