Just Wait Until This Is Turned Into ‘Rocky VII’

This is pretty impressive. I mean, I almost always hit my trainer when I’m doing that stupid training mode, and this dude doesn’t at all! Oh, yeah, and the near shot-by-shot parody of Rocky is pretty neat, too.

Wii Sports Experiment, Results [WiiNintendo.net]

Leftovers: Mannequin From, Uh, ‘Mannequin’ To Head To Be Donated Later This Week

• Sly Stallone donated some Rocky memorabilia to the Smithsonian yesterday. D.C. hipsters seething on their blogs as we speak. [AP/Metro]

• Lincoln University’s athletic director has apologized for his school’s 201-78 win over Ohio State-Marion, and apparently lectured the coaches, too, though as of last night no coaches had been lectured. [Inquirer]

• It’s not just Cherry Hill that’s fighting the War on Smut! Two Burlington strip clubs are suing the township over new laws that bar them from doing pretty much everything. Cue the “But we’re saving the children!” reference. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• The City Controller’s office says that police buildings are substandard. KYW 1060’s Steve Tawa reports the controller had photos showing “showing walls in imminent danger of collapse, basement fire exits blocked by grates, pipes and wire mesh, and prison holding cells beyond filthy.” Oh, goodie. [KYW 1060]

• Oh, and the mayor of Lake Como, N.J., is going to ask Kuwait if the Arab nation will build a $4 million police station for the town. Guh-wah? [AP/NBC 10]

Rocky Statue To Provide Jobs For Vandals

The big debate about the Rocky statue’s placement is over, but the letters to the editor are still rolling in. And, well, things may be more complicated with the statue right next to the Art Museum:

Now that the Rocky statue is permanently in its place, the thought occurs to me that it should have some kind of protection around it, like they do for the Liberty Bell, just in case someone in the middle of the night tries to knock a piece of Rocky off, just for the fun of it.

There it is now, out in the open, for anyone to take a potshot at it. Don’t laugh. It could happen, God forbid. I had a dream like this.

Pity the man whose dreams consist of vandals destroying the Rocky statue. Implementing this protection idea could be part of the “jobs [and] economic development” John Street promised the statue would bring.

Protecting Rocky [DN, 4th letter]
Sept. 11: Rocky Statue To End Homicides In Philadelphia

The Bugs Statue Can Go At The Spectrum

While the Inquirer appears to finally be done with the Rocky statue — today was the second day no article about it appeared in the paper — the debate rages on in the letters pages of the two dailies at 400 N. Broad. (If you’re wondering: No, Philadelphia Will Do is not really all that close to being done with this just yet.)

In today’s Daily News, a letter writer from Oreland comes up with some new statue ideas for the city and beyond:

WHAT A SURPRISE, the Rocky statue is going back to the Art Museum.

I have a few other suggestions for commemorative statues. Why not include Bugs Bunny and friends, they’ve sure made Philadelphians laugh over the years. Why not put Clark Kent in front of the Daily News building or King Kong in front of the Empire State Building?

I’m no expert, but artistically speaking, the Rocky statue is a piece of junk. The next time an aircraft carrier comes to Philly, we should strap the statue to a catapult and launch it into the river.

Silly letter writer. Everyone knows the next statue the city’s putting up is one of Donald Duck.

Rocky paves the way… Bugs & King Kong [Daily News]
May 11: People Quackers Over ‘Rocky’ Statue

Rocky Statue To End Homicides In Philadelphia

Friday night, Sylvester Stallone — and Frank! — showed up to dedicate the Rocky statue in its new place next to the Art Museum. (Saturday night around 10:30, there were about 25 people taking photos outside of it. It’s the new Liberty Bell!)

The unveiling didn’t attract the “hundreds of thousands” of admirers predicted, but it did draw about 3,000 people, as well as the Inquirer’s Michael Vitez, who wrote his 48th story in a week about the statue’s move.

Our fine mayor John Street was there, too. And he was eloquent as usual:

“I’m telling you, when we unveil this statue, and when it’s sitting here for just a few months, there’s going to be some people who find out just where the Philadelphia Art Museum is located,” Street said.

But that’s not all! Street said the statue wasn’t just a little movie prop on tucked into a formerly vacant spot at the end of the Parkway.

“This will be a huge attraction for the city of Philadelphia. One that will bring jobs, economic development, and will be a huge impact on the city.”

Indeed! Here’s a short list of just what jobs the Rocky statue will bring to the city:

• Statue polisher
• Statue cleaner
• Statue guarder
• Assistant statue polisher
• Supervisor to the statue guarder
• Director of statue management
• Superintendent of statue management
• Intern
• Special assistant to the superintendent of statue management
• Consultant

All with city benefits, of course.

‘Rocky and I thank you’ [Inquirer]
Archives: Rocky

Leftovers: Frank Stallone To Make Appearance For Adoring Fans

• Sylvester Stallone has the power to overrule art lovers, defeat evil communists and, indeed, altering traffic patterns and PennDot work schedules for the dedication. And he was able to convince his brother Frank to put aside the other events in his busy schedule and come to the statue dedication! [Inky]

• Headline in the Courier-Post: “Racial slur reflects problem of bigotry.” Oh, really? [Courier-Post]

• Frank DiCiccio and Jim Kenney have set up a website to protest the city not being able to have any say in the zoning of slots parlors. Of course, you can’t edit the letter that they want you to send, because, you see, this is about Frank DiCiccio and Jim Kenney, not you worthless serfs. [KYW 1060]

Mike Vitez Continues All-Important ‘Rocky’ Statue Beat

Michael Vitez, Sunday, Sept. 3, Inquirer, “Its home is where the art is“:

Yes, move the Rocky statue to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art - to the bottom of the steps - but not because it is or isn’t art.

Move the statue because the closer it is to the “Rocky Steps,” the more it will resonate with the thousands who come to run them. The statue is symbolic for so many, but the steps themselves are the source of inspiration, the place where people bring to life the message of the movie.

Inquirer photographer Tom Gralish and I spent a year at the steps for our new book, Rocky Stories: Tales of Love, Hope and Happiness at America’s Most Famous Steps. We interviewed and photographed people who came from all over the world, every day, to run them. The original Rocky movie is 30 years old now, yet the people still come. The movie, the character of Rocky, and actor Sylvester Stallone may draw people to the steps, but when they run, the people are celebrating their own lives, dreams, accomplishments and friendships. As one Rocky runner, a welder from British Columbia, told me, running the steps “gives you the feeling that anything is possible.”

This may sound corny, but it’s true.

Michael Vitez, Wed., Sept. 6, press release, “Author Endorses Rocky Statue at Foot of Philadelphia Art Museum Steps“:

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ — The Pulitzer Prize winning author of “Rocky Stories”, the upcoming collection of inspirational stories about individuals running the famous Rocky steps, has officially endorsed the Philadelphia Art Commission’s decision today to place the 12-foot-high Rocky statue at the foot of the Philadelphia Art Museum steps.

Michael Vitez, said, “I hope that the statue does what it is intended to do: complement the experience of people who come to run and celebrate their own achievements and dreams, inspired by the original movie. I think the location the city has chosen should allow it to serve that function perfectly. Time will tell.”

More »

PWD Report: The Best Lunch Break Ever

In the tradition of blowing things up to ridiculous proportions for no apparent reason, today a Rocky and Adrian lookalike contest was held at LOVE Park.

Right: Awesome. While the hundreds of thousands slated to attend Friday’s statue unveiling weren’t there, there was a decent-sized crowd, several dignitaries from the local media (natch) and one dude from Florida.

While I wasn’t able to attend, official Philadelphia Will Do on-site reporter and D-Mac’s Quizzo partner Shannon McLaughlin was able to. (And now I owe her two beers.) Armed with only her wits and a Razr cell phone, she braved the sunny, 75-degree weather to find out: Just who is the best Rocky impersonator “officially” in the contest who showed up to LOVE Park today. (We would have had crappy quality video, but Verizon is the worst cell phone company in the world.)

She files her (hilarious, and better than anything I would have come up with) report after the jump.

More »

There’s Only One Logical Solution To All Of This: Replace William Penn With A Larger Version Of The ‘Rocky’ Statue

Guess which way I voted.

CBS 3

We (And The ‘Inquirer’) Are Not Done With These Art Museum Steps Just Yet

Oh, ho, turns out that Sly Stallone isn’t the only one profiting from having the Rocky statue moved to the Art Museum. (For the record, he’s footing the bill for the whole thing, so he’s paying money for some nice publicity.)

But, in addition to the December release of Rocky Balboa, the sixth and (hopefully) final installment of Sly Stallone’s neverending story, there’s another two people benefitting from it: Michael Vitez and Tom Gralish. (Yes, the same Michael Vitez who penned the story about the statue this afternoon and the “preview” this morning.)

In November, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and photographer will release Rocky Stories, a tale of people who come to the Art Museum to run up the steps. The book also has a foreward by Sylvester Stallone. (Ohh, boy, and do we all ever want to read that one.) A little excerpt from Philly publisher Paul Dry books:

The movie premiered in 1976, thirty years ago, yet they still come–a high-school track team from Belfast, three busloads of professional wrestling fans from Australia, a college rower from Maine, a librarian and her fiancé from Lake Tahoe, a race car driver (he ran the steps for good luck)… The story of Rocky inspired them, stirred them.

So, you see, the front page news story today also ties into a book. The book will in turn tie into some sort of parchment scroll, which will tie into an oral tradition somehow.

Update: The testimonials on the book’s website are from Ed Rendell, Dawn Staley and the Inky/ex-Inky trifecta of Mark Bowden, Buzz Bissinger and John Grogan. What, no Jennifer Weiner?

Rocky Stories [Paul Dry Books]
Archives: Rocky