Fix The Waterfront So I Don’t Have To

You see that image above? It’s from the flier for Plan Philly’s latest meeting series about the waterfront. (I, however, ganked it off Philebrity.) Anyway, there are three meetings this week regarding what Philadelphia should do for the waterfront. They had one for the casinos a while back, but, unlike the state’s Stalin-like powerhold on casino development, the city holds the cards on the waterfront, so these should be more important.

Anyway, back to the image above. Isn’t that nice? It looks like a cool place to hang out. Of course, I’ve never been there, I didn’t know the Delaware riverfront in the city could look that nice and if not for the backdrop, I’d think it was in the suburbs.

But I don’t feel like going to these meetings. So I have to publicize them. You know what you get stuck with when you let me and the rest of the Internet handle these things, right? You get G-Ho. And, actually, that is pretty cool. But you really don’t think we’d catch lightning in a bottle again, do you?

Meeting 411: Monday, Dec. 11: Saint Anne’s Social Hall, Memphis and Tucker Streets, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 13: George Washington School, 5th and Federal Streets, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 14: Independence Seaport Museum, Penn’s Landing, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. You can RSVP here.

And have you ever been to these things? One time I was at a meeting where residents argued over how to pronounce “Tacony.” And I bet it gets even better than that.

There, my good deed for the month. Don’t expect any more.

PlanPhilly

One Armed Man Loose In Philadelphia

Don’t read ahead if you don’t like spoilers:

The panicked driver faced a difficult choice: a ticket, or possibly worse - from a New Jersey state trooper who had chased him with siren wailing onto the Walt Whitman Bridge - or a plunge into the murky waters of the Delaware River 100 feet below. He jumped.

Just wait ’til he climbs out of the water and goes to find the one-armed man who actually killed his wife.

Driver chased by cop jumps off Whitman [Daily News]

Blogicized: Blogs Gone WIld

• Oh no! Frank Fitzpatrick makes an offhand joke about bloggers! An unfunny columnist doesn’t like us, guys? Oh no! Let’s get him! He’s not relevant anymore! And so forth! This is what you’re supposed to do when the mainstream press mentions blogs in a negative light, right? I lost the handbook. [Shallow Center]

• Another side of the baby seal in the Delaware: It this a sign of Philadelphia offering amnesty to seals that could have been clubbed in Canada? Developing! [Badminton Stamps]

• Milkshakes, naah, not that big of a deal. But has Wawa changed its coffee roast? [Life, Family Et Al]

• Congrats to Prep grad Jason Mulgrew, who has approximately 45 projects other than his blog in the oven right now. [Blinq]

• I’ll just pass on this rumor without comment: Did Jay-Z just buy a block of South Kensington? [Philebrity]

Cuteness Alert: Baby Seal In Delaware!

You all remember last year when Helís the Whale cavorted in the Delaware River over the summer and thousands of people ran out to places like Bristol to try to watch it. Right. Well now the Delaware has a new visitor — one who’s much cuter than a big mean ol’ whale.

The Delaware River has a baby seal.

It’s actually a baby grey seal, which is its own species of seal, Halichoerus grypus. Scientists (or whatever) say that the seal is just looking for some fish to chow down on and will be here for a little longer.

Unfortunately, this whale isn’t white and fluffy anymore. Still, here’s an example of a grey seal pup:

Aww. Who’s a good seal? C’mere boy! Actually, don’t, since I could get fined for messing with you. But, hey, still cute!

Baby seal in Delaware likely here for the fishing [Inquirer]
Grey seal [Wikipedia]

Snakehead in Delaware! How exciting!

Whoo! Are you ready? The snakehead is in the Delaware River!

For the uninitiated, the snakehead fish — also the “Frankenfish” — is a native of Asia. And somehow they’ve started to end up on the East Coast, first spotted in a Maryland pond in 2002. One was caught in FDR Park in the summer of 2004, and it was feared that the snakehead would end up in the Delaware.

The guy who caught the fish actually made the catch in September, but he put the fish in his freezer and didn’t get around to FedExing it to State College until late October. Which brings us to the question: it’s legal to FedEx a fish?

Regardless of the answer to that question, the snakehead is in the Delaware, like it or not. Pretty soon I’m expecting a horror movie to be made out of it. I bet the Frankenfish will be the opponent in Rocky 7.

It’s in the river: The dreaded snakehead [Inky]