Philly.com’s Fancy Red Dot

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out how much the new Philly.com logo reminds me of those creepy Powerball ads with the giant red bouncing ball following potential lottery players around.

Leftovers: Lucky Numbers

• Not content to wait for casinos, Pennsylvanians threw more money away in the lottery this year than any other year. And, hey, tomorrow’s Powerball is $187 million, so let’s do it some more! [KYW 1060]

• Tomorrow is the grand opening of Macy’s in the former Wanamaker’s/Lord & Taylor building, and the grand opening celebration includes three concerts. The finale? “The grand finale, themed ‘Americana’ and starting at 7:30 p.m., will include a 40-member choir, a six-piece brass ensemble, and indoor fireworks.” Gee, guys, could you do it up a little? [Inquirer]

• A few women in Pittsburgh went up and ordained themselves Roman Catholic priests — or, rather, were ordained by women saying they were Roman Catholic bishops. They probably freaked out your grandmother, too. [Inquirer]

• The York Daily Record byline strike — what, you haven’t been gripped by it? — is over, but management is still holding reporters’ bylines off stories as punishment. Gasp! This is almost as confusing as when the two papers in York swapped owners a few years back. [Editor & Publisher]

Lottery fever (for conspiracies)

If you were in New Jersey yesterday, you might’ve had the opportunity to buy a “Mega Millions” ticket. The jackpot was up to $267 million, and, unfortunately for us, the winning ticket was sold in Ohio.

Northwestern Ohio, huh? Sounds pretty rural. Seems like this letter in the Daily News a few days ago might be on to something:

If you look at large winnings in these mega-lotteries, why is it always a white person in a rural or suburban town who wins the big money? With today’s technology, you can’t make me believe that this isn’t fixed.

Why is it that no one in an urban area like Philadelphia has ever won the huge jackpot? Blacks make up a large part of the participation in these mega-lotteries, and we never, ever win. Black America, we need to stop playing THEIR game and take our money and invest in our future the right way. Now, that’s the big payoff!

The advice to stop playing lotteries is probably a good thing — since the lottery is just a tax on people who can’t do math. And our letter writer is correct, no one in the city has ever won the mega-lottery. With today’s technology, you can’t sway me with facts!

The mega lotteries [DN, fourth letter]
Philadelphia Retailer Sells Winning Powerball® Ticket Worth $52 million [PA Lottery]
Winning Mega Millions Ticket Sold in Ohio [AP/WSAV3]

Quickies: Short bus

• The reason local boy Johnny Weir finished fifth in the Olympics? They changed the bus schedule. Or maybe he was secretly worried about how he was looking in front of his new pal Vai Sikahema. [ESPN.com]

• Geeze. I can’t believe that Jessica Pressler quoted a girl saying that Jennifer Aniston “was sooo nice.” That’s made me angrier than anything else she’s written in the Times! [New York Times]

• In Bucks County, they’re doing what’s important, i.e. passing resolutions saying a certain video game sucks. Oh, yeah, and they want to ban it from being sold in America. Sigh. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• Don’t bother playing Powerball, because I have it on good authority that I already bought the winning $365M ticket. [AP/Yahoo!]

Stop the presses!

Powerball Drawing Tonight [6 ABC]