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Nov
6
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Photographer E.A. “Ed” Kennedy III, who is originally from New Orleans, is amazed at how little appreciation Philadelphia seems to have for the Mummers.
“We’re tolerating them, we’re putting up with them,” he said. “There is really an antipathy toward white, working-class culture in the United States.”
Kennedy, who is African-American, added, “If these guys had been black, there would have been four or five books like this.”
The Mummers are apparently finally getting the respect they deserve, after being held down by the black man for so long. Finally, a win for the white man. Um.
Inside the Mummers [Daily News]
[Photo by andrea2382, CC license]
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dmac | 12:20 PM | 4 Comments
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Apr
9
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Dan Gross reports today Inquirer reporter Michael Currie Schaffer has left the paper to work on a book about dog culture. (Gross also reports Jonny Lee Miller used to have sex with Angelina Jolie. They were married. Yet another good that came from Hackers.)
Schaffer says the book is about “consumerism, pet mania and the domestic-animal-industrial complex” — cute last one there. It’s due out in 2009. You may be aware of my feelings about animals (especially pugs) and how I’m not quite sure I understand why they’re awarded a better place than, oh, humans in our society. An explanation of that, at least about dogs, certainly sounds like an interesting book to me.
And then I read this:
Schaffer and wife Keltie Hawkins are the parents of a St. Bernard named Murphy and a black cat named Amelia. Murphy is on doggie anti-depressants. [If you're wondering, dogs' names get bolded in Gross' column just like peoples' do.—dmac]
Earlier today I didn’t know doggy anti-depressants existed. I think I enjoyed my life more back then.
Dan Gross | He was a Jolie good fellow [Daily News]
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dmac | 9:42 AM | 3 Comments
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Mar
5
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Mark B. Cohen is back in the news! Yes! The voracious reader, extender of lifespans, hardcore Phillyblog supporter/Phillyblog Day proposer, Mayor of the Internet and — most importantly — one of Philadelphia Will Do’s People of the Year is now at it again, hoping he can find ways to stop you from knowing how he spends your money. (Please that Cohen spent $28,000 on books over two years; one of them was AOL For Dummies, clearly the most important thing for any legislator to read.)
In his column today on the “reforms” enacted by the state legislature, Daily News columnist John Baer notes Cohen’s lone dissent on a bill that would post House expense reports online:
My personal favorite, putting all expenses online, won commission approval by a vote of 23-1. The one “no” was Philly’s Mark Cohen, the Babe Ruth of spending, the king of per diems, he who built a personal library with taxpayer money. [...] Cohen says making expenses easily accessible provides “a wonderful source of gossip… reporters can write endless stories on this.”
I know, can you imagine the gossip? “Ooooh, did you hear what Mark B. Cohen did? He spent $28 on a lunch at Sizzler and expensed it!” “Ohmigod! I gotta call Tammy!”
John Baer | Harrisburg digging its way out of the muck [Daily News]
Archives: Mark B. Cohen
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dmac | 10:48 AM | 0 Comments
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Feb
26
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If you’re wondering what has John Street’s ire these days, it’s not the city’s murder rate, or the lack of snow removal last storm, his brother Milton or even the terrible play of the Flyers and 76ers.
No, he’s upset about a new book that hypothesizes about a terrorist attack in Philadelphia. That’s not the whole point of Stephen Flynn’s The Edge of Disaster — which “offers a chilling Philadelphia scenario in which terrorists target the Sunoco refinery, causing toxic fumes to drift over Citizens Bank Park packed with Phillies fans” — but it’s gotten Street up in arms nonetheless:
“They ought to be qualified in a way so that they’re not calculated or likely to create any kind of panic in Philadelphia, New York or any other cities.”
With any luck, this will happen during a Phillies-Mets game, taking out a bunch of North Jersey residents in the process. Hey, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.
New Terrorist Book Upsets Mayor Street [KYW 1060]
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dmac | 4:00 PM | 0 Comments
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Jan
31
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Mickey DeLorenzo, the man who lost weight by playing Wii Sports every day for six weeks, has turned his clever little blog post into a full-fledged media onslaught. He’s been interviewed by the BBC, NBC 10, the Inky, the India Times and, least importantly, me.
And now he has a book deal. He has a book deal from a company that one represented Kafka and Sartre.
I’m assuming the book will be titled Can You Believe I Got A Freaking Book Deal Out Of This? The Wii Sports Diet, but that’s just conjecture.
This is awesome. Sometimes things happen that just make you realize what a fantastic, ridiculous world we live in, and this is one of them. Lovely.
Wii Sports Experiment, from Digg to book deal [WiiNintendo.net]
Jan. 19: How I Learned To Stop Running And Just Play Wii Sports
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dmac | 11:44 AM | 2 Comments
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Jan
4
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Once again, it’s time for Central Connecticut State’s ranking of the America’s top 10 most literate cities.
Once again, Philadelphia is not in the top 10.
Philly did remain pretty much unchanged this year, though, dropping a spot to a tie for 33rd. Philly’s tied with Colorado Springs, who was 19th last year, so that city seemingly had an influx of idiots this year or something.
Seriously, I’m not sure how this works. Last year, Philly was 32nd and Oakland 30th. This year, Philly’s 33rd but Oakland’s 35th. Take that, Bay Area! We’re a little better at reading than you!
In the individual categories, Philly doesn’t crack the top 10 and ends up behind Pittsburgh in pretty much everything. Pittsburgh! Do they have a “One Book, One City” initiative? Er.
Philly’s rankings: 31st in bookstores (per 10,000 population), 45th in education (down from 33rd last year, whoops), 35th in Internet (somehow down two spots), 33rd in libraries, 39th in newspapers (don’t worry, that’ll drop even more next year!) and a big 16th in periodicals, up from a tie for 33rd last year. Whoo! Go Phillymag Speciality Publication Division!
The full list is at CCSU’s website. We reed good in Filly!
And, hey, we have the top pediatric hospital in the nation. Our kids may not be able to read Moby Dick but we can keep them alive! Eat it, Pittsburgh.
America’s Most Literate Cities [CCSU]
Overall Rankings [CCSU]
Magazine Names Philly Hospital Top In Nation [AP/NBC 10]
Dec. 6, 2005: America’s Most Literate Cities 2005
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dmac | 1:02 PM | 2 Comments
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Dec
12
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Yesterday, the author of The Boy of Steel spoke at several elementary schools in Bucks County, talking about his best-selling kids book where a cancer-striken boy goes to Yankee Stadium to be Robinson Cano’s bat boy for the day. (No, really.)
Author Ray Negron’s book clearly taught the kids everything they needed to know — you “shouldn’t give up if you are sick, if you are bald, or if you have special needs,” said one. In addition to writing Yankee-themed children’s books, Negron also works for the Yanks as a personal assistant to owner George Steinbrenner, who hired him originally after he caught him spraying graffiti on the wall of Yankee Stadium.
Allow me to compare the Yankees and the Phillies for a moment. Negron was somehow caught by the team owner defacing the team’s stadium. The owner then said he’d give him a chance and somehow he’s now The Boss’ assistant.
What do you think would happen if the Phillies caught someone spraypainting Citizens Bank Park? A quick arrest, a press release vowing prosecution to the full extent of the law, maybe even a segment on the local news. “Not even… two… year old… Citizens Bank Park… covered with graffiti!”
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Author tells kids to never give up [Bucks County Courier Times]
Photo by wallyg, licensed via Creative Commons
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dmac | 9:53 AM | 1 Comment
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Oct
6
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Terrell Owens has a children’s book coming out. Called Little T Learns To Share.
I’ll pause while you laugh, even if you’ve heard about it before.
Okay, let’s move on. Yes, T.O. is coming out with a series of children’s books, each one more horrifying than the next:
“I tried to play outside alone and throw it by myself, but football isn’t football unless you play with someone else,” Little T tells his mother in the book, the [Dallas Morning News] said.
Owens is writing a number of books with Courtney Parker as part of “T.O.’s Timeout Series.” The second volume, “Little T Learns What Not to Say,” is due this spring 2007; “Little T Learns To Say I’m Sorry” is expected to hit shelves next fall.
“It’s a life lesson for discipline,” Parker told the newspaper. “It’s ironic because he’s considered one of the more undisciplined players in the NFL.”
Clearly, the first page of Little T Learns What Not to Say will be something like, “Don’t say yes when the officer asks if you were trying to harm yourself.”
Owens, friend writing series of children’s books [ESPN.com]
Cover image via Galleycat
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dmac | 3:00 PM | 0 Comments
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