Archive for the 'Philadelphia' Category
What to Do With Philly’s Vacant Land: An Idea
In the process of evaluating Mayor Street’s NTI legacy, the Nutter administration uncovered causes for concern.
In late May Nutter froze acquisition of new property through NTI. The city now holds large tracts of vacant land in many neighborhoods. Nobody’s quite sure of the land’s value, and it’s suspected there’s a $30 to $40 million shortfall [...]
Changes
My neighborhood is slowly changing, with a recent influx of young, white hipster types, people a good 10 years younger than me. It’s interesting to see how some of the newer residents have a different philosophy toward our block.
For example, there’s a large vacant lot next door to The Mitten, a three-story house on [...]
Some Pictures of Sam
I didn’t bring a camera to OATS, so I don’t have as many shots from the festival as I’d like, but here are some shots from the rest of Sam’s visit to Philadelphia and the Jersey shore.
Our friends Ryan and Amy have one of those large inflatable pools in their backyard. I caught a [...]
Overheard in Fishtown
“Yo NIGGER, I said ‘WHERE THE FUCK YOU AT?”
I was walking down Master Street and glanced up at the two men standing on the corner ahead of me.
“I TOLD you where I was gonna be, so WHERE THE FUCK YOU AT NIGGER? MOTHERFUCKING FAGGOT!” At the top of his lungs, holding his cell phone like [...]
Phillyist Framed 2008 Competition
My brother Ray has an opening tonight. He’s one of the finalists for Phillyist’s Framed 2008 competition.
The show is tonight at Studio 34 Yoga, at 4522 Baltimore Avenue. Hope to see some of you there!
PS See more of Ray’s work here.
Shooting Last Night
We stayed in last night and watched the charming and hilarious Lars and the Real Girl. Across the street in the park there was a huge basketball contest that had been going on since before I got home from work, tons of kids shooting hoops.
Sometime around 8:30 or 9:00 we heard a familiar POP [...]
Trolleys
Via Andrew Chalfen, here’s some footage of Philadelphia trolleys dating to the 1950s.
The first video features the West Philadelphia trolleys and the El. At this time I believe none of the est Philly tunnels had been built yet, so there are some great scenes of the trolleys circling 30th Street Station and cruising past the [...]
Trolley, June 9, 2008
“Yo, you bumped me.”
The 13 trolley was packed like a can of sardines jerking slowly up Chester Avenue. At every stop sign, the driver slammed on his brakes. Sam, who is 4, wasn’t holding onto the pole and I was trying to keep him from falling down as an older woman was trying [...]
Back Yard Garden Zen, June Edition
It’s been a while since I posted anything about the backyard garden, but today we completed some pretty incredible work. I’ve got photos.
The week before the trip to Austin, my parents dropped off more used cedar, which I used to make our new bed. I found some time to pick up a bunch of [...]
Police Fired for Beating Suspects
Last week, there was a truly wretched incident in Philadelphia’s troubled history. Following the unacceptable and disgusting murder of Sgt. Steven Liczbinski, police in an unrelated incident pulled over a car filled with individuals suspected in a triple driveby, pulled the suspects from the car, and administered an uncalled for beating. Although Police Commissioner [...]
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