philly

I wrote about the casino design forum I attended last week and got an email about a rally happening the following week. Tomorrow's the day.

Noon, at the State Building on Broad & Spring Garden, there will be a rally organized by Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront, the Multi-Community Alliance and other groups from the area.

If anyone can make it, they're asking people to print out this flyer [.pdf] [a bigger version of the above graphic] and bring it with them.

I can't make it, but there should be plenty of familiar faces from all around town there taking part.

And who was behind the initial legislation opening up Pennsylvania to slots? That guy three of us had a meeting with a few weeks ago, Sen. Vince Fumo (D-Phila.). Ed over at Hallwatch has more info.

Fuck the casnios.

It would be great if this post gets a few more eyeballs due to the Daily News article [page 8] that's got my mug on it [only the print version] and a link to the blog [more on that later]. Some people really need some money and some help…

So far, an estimated 5,800 people have been killed as a result of the Inodesian earthquake four days ago. Aid is starting to trickle in now, according to the United Nations, to the 200K people left completely homeless and 647K displaced after the 6.3 'quake. There's a list of charities in the upper right corner underneath the banner image. Many of them are/will be involved in the relief effort. It's the end of the month and money may be short, but it'll go a long way to help out some very, very needy people right now. World Vision, Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF are four good spots to start out.

Thom H writes over on Philly Future about a new venture he's taken on in rural Senagal, 10,000 Girls.

A little background on the program over there in west Senegal:

To offer education and employment opportunities for 10,000 Girls in rural Senegal, enabling them to develop as self-reliant and capable women, through a self-sustaining organization run by the girls themselves.

The blog, written predominantly by girls from the Kaolack region of Senegal, is written in French and Wolof. Let's see if the seven years of French I took from 7th grade through college has stuck with me at all…

The Treeman mural has been one of my favorite murals since I moved down here two years ago. It's on the corner of South & 16th Sts so it was just a couple blocks from me and Lady's first apartment down here. We'd pass it frequently to and from the car [now gone] which was parked for free on Fitzwater [secret free parking!].

The Mural Arts Program rocks.

More murals in this flickr set.

The 14th Windiest State and Dan beat me to it, but I'll just go and say it again, what a fuckwad owner of Geno's Joseph "The Real American" Vento is. via the Inky:

"If you can't tell me what you want, I can't serve you," he said. "It's up to you. If you can't read, if you can't say the word cheese, how can I communicate with you – and why should I have to bend?a

"I got a business to run."

Now if this anachronistic fuckwad were to, say, take advantage of the burgeoning market of Asian and Hispanic people living in the area who, for some reason, want to buy a 'steak from him, wouldn't it be prudent to capitalize on that by, say, learing maybe a few words? He's actively turning away money. Whatever.

And the final comment about "pressing 1 for Spanish" was just classic. It reminded me of that Colbert Report skit Formidable Opponent about immigration where one Stephen agonizes over how long it takes to "Press 1 for English" – oh the hilarity. And then to see it actually practiced, oh the horror. I'm sure there's a YouTube of it, but that site is blockicky blocked here at work.

I wonder if his broken-english speaking grandparents were to try to order a 'steak on a loaf of pane with some fucking formaggio if he'd throw their America-hating asses out of line. I haven't been down to the Geno's – Pat's X in awhiles. But I've been there a few times. I don't recall anyone ever being thrown out of line, but maybe the new rule was enacted after I last went down there.

***UPDATE
And here's the YouTube.

If it's Tuesday, it's Drinking Liberally

Drinking Liberally tonight for some $1 off drink specials and free wings from 6p – 9p or so over at Tangier [1801 Lombard St]. Not feeling so hot myself today and I gotta do something at 7p so I'll probably be late to arrive and early to leave. Such is life.

I see via Blinq that Philadelphia Weekly has a new blog: The Out of Towner. It's written by staff writer Cassidy Hartman and has photos by… Jeff Fusco!

It's basically a blog version of a section that is both in the print and the online editions of PW in the A&E section – asking celebs from out of town who are in town for one reason or another what they think of Philly.

Hartman was an intern when I was at PW in 2004-2005. She rose through the ranks pretty quickly from what I recall and wrote a cover story just after she graduated [or before?] I forget exactly.

It would be cool to see a couple more photos from the quickie shoots by Fusco to go with the online version, but hey, he's a busy guy speeding around town all day seemingly covering every event that's going on at the same time. But a kid can dream, eh? More Fusco portraiture is a good thing.

A photo set of twenty-three shots from the Memorial Day event at Washington Square's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War. The twelfth annual event on Memorial Day organized primarily by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

I associate summer with this song, Summertime by The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff, not the other way around. I was eleven years old when this song came out. Right when I was getting into hip hop and moving away from whatever my [ten and eleven years older] brother and sister listened to and left around the house when they were away at college. For me, this song is just it. You don't have to like hip hop or Will Smith or Philly to appreciate this song and the video. It's just summertime fun in visual/lyrical/musical form.

Intro/Chorus: *sung*

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind

Verse One: Fresh Prince
Here it is the groove slightly transformed
Just a bit of a break from the norm
Just a little somethin' to break the monotony
Of all that hardcore dance that has gotten to be
A little bit out of control it's cool to dance
But what about the groove that soothes that moves romance
Give me a soft subtle mix
And if ain't broke then don't try to fix it
And think of the summers of the past
Adjust the bass and let the Alpine blast
Pop in my CD and let me run a rhyme
And put your car on cruise and lay back cause this is summertime

Chorus

Verse Two: Fresh Prince
School is out and it's a sort of a buzz
A back then I didn't really know what it was
But now I see what have of this
The way that people respond to summer madness
The weather is hot and girls are dressing less
And checking out the fellas to tell 'em who's best
Riding around in your Jeep or your benzos
Or in your Nissan stting on lorenzos
Back in Philly we be out in the park
A place called the plateau is where everybody goes
Guys out hunting and girls doing likewise
Honking at the honey in front of you with the light eyes
She turn around to see what you beeping at
It's like the summers a natural afradesiac
And with a pen and pad I compose this rhyme
To hit you and get you equipped for the summer time

Chorus

Verse Three: Fresh Prince
It's late in the day and I ain't been on the court yet
Hustle to the mall to get me a short set
Yeah I got on sneaks but I need a new pair
Cause basketball courts in the summer got girls there
The temperature's about 88
Hop in the water plug just for old times sake
Break to ya crib change your clothes once more
Cause you're invited to a barbeque that's starting at 4
Sitting with your friends cause y'all remincise
About the days growing up and the first person you kiss
And as I think back makes me wonder how
The smell from a grill could spark up nostalgia
All the kids playing out front
Little boys messin round with the girls playing double-dutch
While the DJ's spinning a tune as the old folks dance at your family reunion
Then six o'clock rolls around
You just finished wiping your car down
It's time to cruise so you head to the summertime hangout
It looks like a car show
Everybody come lookin real fine
Fresh from the barber shop or fly from the beauty salon
Every moment frontin and maxin
Chillin in the car they spent all day waxin
Leanin to the side but you can't spead through
Two miles an hour so everybody sees you
There's an air of love and of happiness
And this is the Fresh Prince's new defintion of summer madness

Chorus

Lyrics via Lyrics Depot and the YouTube linkage.

And a summertime hat tip to Philly Sklyine for the YouTube.

There was a Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution event at Washington Square today as I was with some friends having a summer lunch. I stopped over take a few photos.

There were war renactors from several different wars there in full garb. One lady was in full revolutionary garb as well. Pleny of flags from various chapters of various organizations. All there for the twelfth annual event at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Washington Square.

I hope everyone took just a moment throughout the day to think about why [most of us] we are off today. I caught the end of 60 Minutes on Sunday and saw Andy Rooney's onery old man signoff. He touched on the memory of an old friend of his from high school; they were both captains of the football team, I guess back in the ninteen-dicketies or something. His friend died on the deck of an aircraft carrier. He said that not a day goes by without thinking about him and doesn't need a Memorial Day to do so.

He said that maybe we should be taking Memorial Day to think about all the children who are being born now. Thinking about them and how we should be stopping ourselves from entering wars in the future which they will die in and will be memorialized for. While he was talking, there was a black and white image of a little boy and a little girl, probably no older than five years old. Crouching down in debris picking at a disassembled rifle.

I think he's got a point there, but there are many of us, myself included, who have no direct connection to wars past and wars present. Not a day goes by that I don't think about the boys and girls, men and women, sons, daughters, wives, husbands overseas. But I don't have that direct connection. No extended network to reach out to to relate to that direct connection.

I'm rambling…

More photos coming later on.