Lab #1 Pup In Philly

KYW 1060 reports the labrador retriever is the most popular dog in the country for the 18th straight year.

For the 18th consecutive year, the Labrador retriever is the most popular dog, according to 2008 registration records released by the American Kennel Club.

But the breed may not be for everyone, a local expert warns.

Man, can the news report any story without coming up with some dire warning from a local expert? Ahh, whatever. I got to post another puppy photo, so all is well. Plus, it turns out the Labrador retriever is the number-one puppy in Philly, too.

Unfortunately, the top-10 table for Philadelphia is followed by this quote:

“Working breeds are popular among Philadelphians with the Boxer highest on the list in third place – perhaps as a tribute to hometown hero and boxing brethren ‘Rocky.’ Rottweilers made big gains from ninth in 2007 to sixth in 2008 along with the Doberman Pinscher which debuted this year on the list in tenth place,” said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson.

Man, no matter where you look, there’s a Rocky reference. What, couldn’t figure out a way to say Labs can be the color of a cheesesteak?

Photo by corrieb used under a Creative Commons license

Phillymag’s Groundbreaking Dec. Issue

If someone (the devil, I guess) were to come to me and ask me to come up with the most annoying magazine feature imaginable, I’d be able to reply immediately: Rocky and cheesesteaks, which has the added bonus of sounding really hacky and out of towner as well as being superbly annoying. Then the devil would be like, “You’re cold, man,” and I’d get a golden fiddle.

In an unrelated story, Philadelphia magazine’s December issue is a list of the top 100 moments in Philadelphia in the last 100 years.

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Philadelphia magazine devotes its December issue to the 100 moments that have shaped Philadelphia over the last century. Included on the list are the filming of Rocky, the MOVE bombing, the Phillies 2008 World Series victory, and Frank Rizzo becoming police commissioner. But the mag says the single most important moment in Philly history since 1908 was the birth of the cheesesteak.

There are two things anyone who’s lived here more than six months never wants to hear about again: Rocky, and cheesesteaks. This feature is all that with the added bonus of Phillymag being the one who’s doing it.

Check out the top 10 slideshow, which features a No. 10 of “Dilworth & Clark, 1951″ (who could forget that moment!), the results of two baseball games at Nos. 6 and 7 and “the invention of the computer” at No. 4. I’m currently working on a feature about the top moments of the last 1000 years. I’m thinking “printing press invented” at No. 1 and “Mickey Morandini’s unassisted triple play” at No. 2.

Discussion Questions
1. Why is the Phillies’ 2008 World Championship more important than the Eagles’ back-to-back NFL titles in 1948-49? How about the Athletics’ 5 titles? Where should the Athletics’ 107-45 (!) season and subsequent loss in the World Series in 1931 rate?

2. Does the inclusion of the MOVE Bombing at number two make the top 10 less white, or does it actually somehow make it even whiter?

3. Throwing snowballs at Santa in 1968 is definitely on this list, since it’s right up there with Rocky and cheesesteaks in terms of annoyance. Where do you think it ranks?

4. It was pretty awesome when the Big 5 started playing a full round robin season again back in the late 90s. When Phillymag does another version of this list in another 100 years, where will Drexel joining the Big 5 (expected date: 2065) rank?

5. Cornbread tagging the elephant. Top 20, no?

Politician Finds Actual Rocky Statue

Yes, the Bulletin is still fighting the Barnes Foundation move; today the paper writes about Pennsylvania attorney general candidate John Morganelli promises to fight the move if elected. The Bulletin wants the Barnes to stay so much they put a Democrat on the front (!).

Anyway, apparently it is possible to get a real-looking statue of Rocky for your campaign event. Hear that, Michael Untermeyer?

Editor’s Note: Of course, by “actual,” I mean “cardboard.”

Keeping The Fight Going [The Bulletin]

A New Type Of ‘Rocky’-Style Celebration

Here’s an ad I spotted this morning, apparently designed to appeal to those who are having their houses foreclosed on any minute now. But the real prize is the intro, where a man runs to the top of the Art Museum steps and (to celebrate his accomplishment, or his foreclosed home, or something) he does the “Apache” dance and then pantomimes sex. Honestly, at first I thought this was going to be an ad for Hillary Cinton.

Why Is There No Barkley Statue?

I actually spotted this ad for the first time last night; it’s the new Dwayne Wade/Charles Barkley T-Mobile ad. While the series has produced some of the more entertaining on TV recently — they’re no Spy Hunter Pontiac ad, however — this one is so far the best.

And we totally need to build a statue of Sir Charles riding a horse, eating a cheesesteak. We can put it right in front of Pat’s. Or, hell, maybe Chink’s!

Nothing Stops The Baby Boomers!

Yo, somebody stop him before he kills himself! Sylvester Stallone is considering more Rocky and Rambo sequels. He’s signed a two-picture deal for action movies, and they just might be based around the same character he plays in every movie. Oh, wait, they are definitely going to have that. One just might have John Rambo and the other might have Rocky Balboa.

Rocky, the more intellectual of Stallone’s two flagship franchises, got a largely positive reaction when it returned to the screen after returning to the screen in 2006. Stallone was so shocked he went out and made a new Rambo movie, which managed to lose to Meet the Spartans at the box office.

But, hey, whatever. How could he even make a seventh Rocky movie? I assume John Rambo could just indiscriminately kill tons of bad guys, but who is Rocky gonna fight?

In possibly related news, Stallone is also working on a remake of Death Wish.

Serbian Village To Be Subject Of Rocky Doc

Earlier this year, the Serbian village of Zitiste decided to erect a statue of Rocky to help the citizens get through hard times, and by “hard times” I mean “floods.”

Now, there is a documentary coming out about the movie: “There was this little village in Serbia and they wanted to get a statue of Rocky Balboa because they were having a lot of misfortunes in their village and they thought that having a Rocky statue would bring them hope. I thought that was such a sweet story, it would make a good documentary.”

Oh, so it’s going to be positive? That’s not as fun, then.

See also: Rocky statue unveiling video

Yo, Adriatic!

Earlier this year, the town of Zitiste, Serbia, erected a statue of Rocky Balboa and flanked it with giant chickens in order to show the town’s hard-working spirit.

Well, move over, Sly, because more fictional characters are coming to Eastern Europe! The New York Times reports today towns in Serbia have erected or are planning on erecting statues of Tarzan, Bruce Lee and topless model Samantha Fox. (One would only imagine the reporter was simply fooled — “Ha! We made that guy from the Times think we’re building a statue to Samantha Fox!” they’d say, in Serbian or whatever — on that last one, but he writes: “Officials boasted that the statue would be larger than Rocky, but so far the only sign of Ms. Fox’s likeness is an empty pedestal in a local art gallery, with the word ‘rumors’ written on it.”)

The statues are uplifting to some, but Serbian visual artist Milica Tomic called the statues “a dangerous joke in which history is being erased and replaced by Mickey Mouse.” (Note to Tomic: You’re supposed to use Donald Duck for these analogies.)

“This turning to Rocky or Tarzan is unhealthy and dangerous,” she said. “We need to find a way of representing our grief, our responsibility and our despair. Until we do that, Serbia cannot come to terms with the present and the future.”

Samantha Fox, though, now that’s inspiration.

And Now, Video Of The Historic Moment

Thanks to YouTube and a Serbian with a camcorder, there is now video of the unveiling of the Rocky Balboa statue in Žitište, Serbia. If you’re wondering, this unveiling took place at an event called “Chicken Fest,” and you can see funny band names in a promo here. (Ha ha! Rambo Amadeus!)

Be sure to watch the unveiling video at least halfway through, where you can hear an incredibly spot-on impression of Rocky Balboa.

Serbia Zitiste Dzingl Chicken fest [YouTube]
Rocky Balboa Monument in Serbia [YouTube]

Cocks Dig Rocky

Earlier this year, a small town in Serbia announced it was going to put up a Rocky statue in order to distract the citizens from the giant floods and landslides it had suffered. Putting up a likeness of Rocky Balboa would inspire the citizens of Zitiste, about 35 miles north of Belgrade.

They have now unveiled the statue, along with a few giant chickens. (Perhaps Rocky will fight a giant chicken in Rocky VII.) “Our idea has really stirred the public,” said the mayor, Zoran Kasalovic. “Now, no one in Serbia can say they don’t know about Zitiste.” Or its giant chickens.

Serbian village unveils Rocky Balboa statue [AP/MSNBC.com]
[Photo via AP/Yahoo]