So, ah, this is cute. SEPTA and Philly Beer Week have put out a special Beer Week pass that is an “unlimited, all-day, bus-trolley-rail pass that will be sold for $9 daily from March 6 until March 15.” Neat!
“It was designed in-house by one of our graphic artists. And I think people liked the look of the skyline but unfortunately didn’t take a really good look to see that it wasn’t Philadelphia. It’s a stock photo.”
Williams says that Septa is redesigning the pass, and new corrected ones are being printed at what she calls a “minimal” cost.
They’re actually going to fix it? Umm… good? I guess? Or is it: Boo, wasting money, bad!! I don’t really know. But at least
It is good that someone has found a way to combine two of my favorite things (good beer and making fun of SEPTA). Thanks, SEPTA. Let’s hope your tribute to Martin Luther King webpage has similar errors.
I am not entirely convinced it is real. I now share my thoughts with you.
THERE WAS a time when Philadelphia was among the great cities, full of charm and class.
And that time was: 1640. I have on my desk the text of a letter to the editor to the Public Ledger in 1850 complaining about residents from other cities bashing Philadelphia (specifically, calling it “The Murder City”). As you can see, nothing is different in Philadelphia now.
Growing up, I thought I lived in a terrific city with endless possibilities, and I couldn’t wait to grow up and raise a family here. Ten years later, the only thing I can’t wait to do is leave this wretched city.
Ten years? Seriously, nothing major happened from 1998-2008 that seriously made the city worse, unless you count the election of John Street. Which, eh, isn’t really a reason to leave Philadelphia and certainly didn’t make this city any more wretched.
Every day, I read philly.com to see who was killed, robbed or victimized by the shameless criminals who find solace in harming others. I then move on to see what new budget cut is under way and think of all the dropouts and criminals that will emerge as a result.
Ohhh, so that’s you in the comments!
I wonder, though: How bad can it possibly be when the most horrible thing that’s happened to you so far is “My Philly.com experience was not as good as it could have been, because all the news I specifically searched out was kinda sad.”
So far, so good. Typical media-influenced exaggeration of crime in a big American city. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the attention paid to root causes. (Uhh, what Philly.com reader cares about that?) Here’s where I start to think the letter is fake:
Paranoia sets in, and I frantically lock all my doors and windows, double-check the alarm and read online for new ways to protect against thieves. Instead of looking my best, I opt for a style that says “bargain” as opposed to designer labels, as not to propagate the idea that I can provide a “come up” for the next man.
I must leave Philadelphia because I cannot dress well enough!
I really need to find out the URL of that Lifehacker-type blog that’s about thief protection. Man, one can scarcely count the recent innovations in that field!
I find myself running to the car, to the house, in and out of stores, constantly looking around me. What has this city become if this is what its residents have to do to feel safe?
No one’s saying this city is Lovely Fun Time Paradise, a place I just made up. But as long as you’re relatively not stupid, you can stroll along the streets of even the toughest neighborhood without being disturbed. (And where exactly does this person live? Not West Kensington, I bet.)
Why should I have to limit my outside activity in fear of falling victim to the evils of the streets? Instead of saying, “Hi” to strangers in passing, I look at them, as well as my neighbors, with the same distrustful and cautious eye. Where is the brotherly love or sisterly affection in any of these actions?
How, exactly, is it the fault of Philadelphia or of criminals that this person is rude to her neighbors and strangers? Look, I don’t really greet strangers on the street — I’m sure I’d hate them — but somehow the level of violence in Philadelphia does not prevent me from saying hello to the people in my building or the man with the martini glass who sits out front of Louis Kahn’s house or the nice old woman who lives next to my parents in the Northeast or even the guy on the other side of my parents rowhome because none of them are out to harm me and I can’t believe I’m even arguing with this stupid letter to the editor on this hypercritical Philadelphia blog.
As I read about all of the Philadelphia music greats, I imagine what it was like during the days of Philadelphia International that my uncle, songwriter Allan Felder, loved so much. I wonder what it was like to live here when artistry and love existed.
Allan Felder? Really? Didn’t he write a ton of disco songs? Anyway, man, sometimes I imagine what it was like when my uncle — who once entered (and maybe won?) a John Kruk lookalike contest — lived in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia International Records was founded in 1971. Coincidentally, Frank Rizzo was elected mayor that year. WHAT A TIME OF LOVE IT WAS IN PHILADELPHIA!
As hard as I try, I can’t imagine this city, laden with crime, poverty, despair and negativity, ever being a city of hope or love. I’m not sure where the great Philadelphia went, but I am sure that when I’m done my doctorate, I’ll be looking for a better life, away from this Philadelphia.
And here is the exciting conclusion, where we find out that our writer is going for her doctorate. And, after bashing the city for several paragraphs, complains about the negativity. There is absolutely no way this letter is real. None. This is faker than a 100 million Northeast Times letters.
Who’s up for some good homicide jokes (as opposed to good Homicide jokes) at 8 in the morning?
Not me. (I’ve been up all night telling them.) That’s why this story’s getting the <blockquote> treatment:
Homicides accounted for 29 percent of workplace deaths in the Philadelphia area last year, the highest percentage of the country’s 12 largest metropolitan areas, according to government figures.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said Monday that there were 93 workplace fatalities in the area last year, with 27 of those being homicides. Other causes included falls to a lower level (14) and highway crashes (12). [...]
“The construction industry sector accounted for almost one-quarter of Philadelphia’s fatal workplace injuries with 22 deaths; 14 of these were from falls,” the bureau said. Another 17 deaths occurred in the transportation and material moving sectors.
I’m going to be on optimist for once: At least workplace fatalities are so now low that homicides make up a large percentage. Plus, this is actually everywhere:
Philadelphia was not alone in having homicide as the number one cause of workplace fatalities last year. That also occurred in Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Miami, and San Francisco, the bureau said.
Still, though, that won’t stop some lazy sports columnists (sorry, redundant) from writing a column about “the time Philadelphians killed Santa Claus with snowballs back in 1868″ sometime soon enough.
Philly EDGE posted this video of a DVD trailer for a calendar. I’m not quite sure how that works, but apparently Preston & Steve are putting out a calendar, and a DVD, and it’s pretty much porn. Because if there’s a best way to experience hot babes, it’s on the radio.
And what better way to top this story off with the news that this was screened at Mad River Manayunk.
Pity the poor giant piñata! First, it gets booted from Center City to Broad and Washington; then, so many people show up on Sunday that the cops tell Carnival Cruise Lines (the people behind said giant piñata) they’re not allowed to burst it open. The horror, the horror!
The Fox 10 O’Clock News last night interviewed disturbed candy-less Philadelphians. Somehow, the giant piñata publicity stunt had turned into an enormous disaster, at least according to the tone of the onlookers.
Apparently the problem was that they were unprepared for the amount of people who showed up (about 7,000, according to Mr. John Heald), and even called the police in to help. This kind of doesn’t make sense, as the people inside the fence had all been let in, most people were stuck outside. The gist I got from our friend who was inside was that they couldn’t keep people behind a line of cones or something.
Seven thousand? Man, Philadelphians will come out for anything. Anyway, at least the giant piñata stunt made wacky news pages across the land.
Oh, there will be love in with the loathing; in Philly, there’s always a little of the corrective therapy about their booing. Sometimes very little. And it isn’t always about assessing complete blame, either. Sometimes, the portions are just a little uneven.
But Rollins, the starting shortstop who was born in Oakland and did his internship in Alameda, returns to Philly today carrying a grisly 0-for-10 into Game 3 of the World Series, tied at one game apiece after Tampa Bay’s 4-2 victory Thursday night.
Yes, yes, Jimmy Rollins sucks right now. But it’s Game 3 of the first World Series game in Philadelphia since the Great Flood. Unless he made three Rafael Furcal-like errors in each inning of Games 1 and 2, he won’t be booed. Maybe if he’s 0-for-3 and the Phillies are getting killed, but, eh, even then: It’s Game 3 of the World Series.
Eh, whatever. At least this column got off track after the first few graphs and didn’t mention throwing snowballs at Santa Claus. A first in sports column history!
Spread this meme around: The Phillies are getting screwed by Bud Selig, Major League Baseball and everyone else who’s scared of a World Series without Manny Ramirez and Boston. (See: Rays 9, Sox 1, earlier today.) Okay, maybe not, but how else do you explain the announcers openly rooting for the Dodgers? And how do you explain the called third strike to Chase Utley (at right), which was “just a bit outside.”
The Phillies remained up a run ’til the Dodgers got 2 in the bottom of the 5th; the Phillies got the first two men on in the top of the 6th but then Charlie Manuel bunted with Shane Victorino. The Phillies ended up only getting a run. Chad Durbin gave up a homer to Casey Blake and a double to Juan Pierre. Now Scott Eyre is in, and Tim McCarver is saying that if you grow up in a small town you are not likely to enjoy curtain calls.
Now Ryan Howard threw the ball away, and the Phillies are down 2 runs. It’s like my idea of Hell. Ugh.
I know it seems tempting to join this list of superstars, but ask yourself: Do you really want to argue about it in comment sections for days? Plus, this job is apparently only for a freelance local celebrity. I hear the full-time local celeb gig is a little cushier.
Note: If you’re still willing to take the plunge, I strongly suggest you become a local celebrity in Philadelphia rather than Houston.
Back when Dan Rubin ran Blinq as a daily blog, everybody read his posts no matter how good or bad they were because he was, for better or worse, the Philadelphia paper of record’s official blogger. Then a while back they pulled him off the blog full-time and gave him a column. Now nobody under the age of 35 reads his stuff anymore, because while they know he writes one of the paper’s metro columns, they can never be bothered to find the thing on the website.
Well, well, well! Rubin wrote a column yesterday that quite a few people read. Specifically, police officers read his column. To be more specific, the kinds of police officers (and cop wannabes) who post on Domelights read his column. Don’t get too excited at once; the media in this town is still too terrified to write about any actual problems with our local cops. No, Rubin wrote about the free parking cops get at sporting events down at the sports complex.
Who’s up for some good homicide jokes (as opposed to good 
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ray “Romano” Ratto has 
Spread this meme around: The Phillies are getting screwed by Bud Selig, Major League Baseball and everyone else who’s scared of a World Series without Manny Ramirez and Boston. (See: 
