The Joe In Philly Experience!

Four Extremely Quick Reviews

2012-01-26T00:11:00.001-05:00

Seeing as how I saw these four movies anywhere from 23 to 46 days ago, I hardly remember them all that much. I'm just going to throw out my grades and maybe one or two sentences on each. Ugh. I wish I could make more time for this blog. Anyway...

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - Stupid moment was when sullen human Bella informed dopey werewolf Jacob that she was pregnant. Jacob takes a moment to ponder it and then angrily says, "YOU did this!" to vampire Edward. You know, Bella's husband. Who else would have done it? My grade: C-plus.

New Year's Eve - A gigantic cast and a gigantic mess. My grade: D-plus.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows - Surprisingly, I tolerated it much more than the first one. My grade: C-plus.

Young Adult: Not quite as brilliant as I was hoping for. My grade: B.

An Old Phillies TV Broadcast Failure

2012-01-23T20:36:00.000-05:00

I'm watching a rebroadcast of the last Phillies game played at the Vet, which Comcast Sportsnet has been airing recently. I recorded it the other day and I'm going through it while my new tablet PC is charging for the first time. I never saw this broadcast because I was actually at the game. Remember when starting pitcher Kevin Millwood (whose Phillies career started with promise and ended up well short of expectations) was removed from the game after giving up 5 runs in 4-plus innings, walked off the mound and tossed his glove into the stands? Amazingly, the broadcast didn't catch that moment live because they had WIP's Anthony Gargano roaming the stadium doing reports, and at that moment he was interviewing former Phils Bake McBride and Manny Trillo. Granted, it was a special day so such reports are kinda warranted, but still...

Some K&A Banking Stuff

2012-01-22T01:24:00.000-05:00

More pictures. Aren't you happy about that? But this time, a few additional words.

I was born and raised in Kensington, and my first job after high school was at the K&A Social Security office. (It was so nice to be able to walk to work. Sigh. I miss that a lot.) Back then it was located in the Philadelphia National Bank building, which - except for the northbound El station at Allegheny - took up a large plot of of the northeast corner of Kensington and Allegheny Avenues.

Here's what's on that corner now -- after they merged and became CoreStates, and after CoreStates bought out First Pennsylvania Bank, kept the First Pennsylvania bank branch across the street open and closed the building where I worked, and after the El station was completely rebuilt:

The First Pennsylvania branch across the street is still there. It, like the sports arena in South Philly, went from CoreStates to FirstUnion to Wachovia to Wells Fargo. But what interested me is something I never noticed before -- not until one morning recently when I got off the El at Allegheny to catch the route 60 bus to work. One of the changes made in rebuilding the El station is that there are cashiers' booths and turnstiles only on on side -- in this case, the westbound side. So they built crossover bridges to the eastbound platform. One is quite close to the First Pa./CS/FU/W/WF building, and on this particular morning I noticed some words near the top:

I forget that these old buildings have had multiple lives.
I found very little information online about the Kensington Trust Company (and I was hoping to find an old photo of my old PNB building, but came up empty, although I admit I didn't search very long). Here's a shot of the entire building from street level:

One last thing: a short distance west on Allegheny Ave., on the opposite side of the street, is a Beneficial Savings Bank branch. Beneficial was famous because they would go into schools and open up savings accounts for kids. You'd actually get an account in your own name, with a passbook (in the days before ATMs and computerized everything) so the teller could record your deposits, withdrawals, add on the interest earned, and show your balance. They still open up accounts for kids today. Pretty cool. And probably one of the reasons they're still around and untainted by mergers and name changes.

Haunted Starbucks

2012-01-21T01:06:00.000-05:00

This is the 16th Street side of the Starbucks at 16th and Walnut Streets. It's haunted. Check it out:

Here's a closeup:

When I emailed the pics from my phone so I could easily save them to a folder, I referred to her as "Creepy Starbucks Girl."

I'm assuming this is another example of street art, although it's not as easy to spot as you'd think. You kind of have to be looking in that direction.

Vending Machine Of The Day

2012-01-20T23:49:00.000-05:00

Found on the concourse that runs from the 15th Street El station to Suburban Station...

Notice how the prices aren't shown. I assume you have to make a selection and then the display will tell you how much you owe. Dammit! Why didn't I think of that when I was down there?

Which vending machine is better: the Nivea machine or the Proactiv machine (which I've seen at Franklin Mills)? Discuss.

My 2011 In Blogging

2012-01-20T00:30:00.000-05:00

Here's my year-in-review post, at long last...

The actual links are over to the right. Help yourselves. ;-)

Yeah, you guessed it: that particular planned post just isn't going to be done. Womp womp. Maybe I can do it in 2013.

The Comcast Xfinity Mega-FAIL

2012-01-18T01:22:00.001-05:00

So there I was late on Sunday afternoon, in front of my computer, which is in my basement. I think I've mentioned that before, but in case you weren't aware, keep this in mind as you continue to read. I was scrolling through my Twitter feed when I noticed that none of the pictures people were posting, via Twitpic, Instagram, etc., were opening when I clicked on them. I looked at the cable modem and the little light on the side that indicates a signal is available, was out. I had no Internet service.

I tried cutting the power to my modem and rebooting, but it didn't help. I figured Comcast, or Xfinity, or whatever they're calling themselves this week, was having a temporary glitch. (I'll just use Comcast the rest of the way, because Xfinity is a monumentally stupid name.) So I went up to my living room to watch the rest of the NFC playoff game (by the way, as well as the New York Giants played, the Green Bay Packers really, really gave the game away with flat-out awful play). When it ended I watched "The Simpsons," and then went back downstairs to try the computer again.

No luck. No Internet connection. Which means, because my phone service is VoIP, I had to rely on my cell phone as I called Comcast. I was on the phone for an hour as their representative tried various things or had me try various things. Because my cell phone gets no signal in the basement, I kept having to run up and down the stairs each time the guy did something. First he sent a signal to refresh my cable modem, then tried something else, then asked me to push the reset button, then asked if I had a wireless connection of some kind. Then he asked if my modem was connected to a splitter or if it was connected directly to the main wire. Since I have an extra TV outlet in the basement, there is a splitter. One line then goes to the TV, the other to the modem. So I suggested I try switching out the cable going from the splitter to the modem, because my TV service was fine; I thought that stretch of wire might be causing the problem. I took off the old cable, put on the new cable, and...still no luck.

The rep finally said he'd have to send a technician out, but because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday the earliest someone could come out was Tuesday. I told him I didn't want to go two days without service. He said that they have some people to work emergencies, but that in my area of the city they didn't have anyone to cover it (really!). He said he could set up a service appointment for 5 pm-7 pm Tuesday. I explained that I could not miss work and, because of my lengthy commute, wouldn't get home until 6 pm at the earliest. He said that the best he could do was put a note on the schedule to make my stop the very last stop of the day. So I told him to do that, but if everything didn't go perfectly that I'd cancel my entire Comcast service, noting that I've been a customer for over 20 years.

On Monday I went about my business, with no Internet or phone service except for my cell phone. Monday night, after having run an errand in Center City, I returned to my block not long after dark. Eight doors up the street from my house, I saw a white van with the Comcast logo plastered over it parked in the driveway. So clearly someone was able to get service on the holiday. It just wasn't me. I was tempted to knock on the door and complain to the technician, but I decided against it. I went home and stewed, and watched some TV -- one good thing that came from this is I was able to make a major dent in my DVR backlog -- and then decided to do something I've been thinking about for a while: move my computer from the desk in the basement to my dining room table.

It was shortly after midnight when I finally got everything moved up, hooked up and plugged in. I pushed the switch on the surge suppressor to turn on the power. That's when I noticed that all the lights on the modem were lit. I had a signal again, somehow! I opened my browser and instead of it bringing up my home page (Yahoo.com), it opened a Comcast.com page to activate my service. (I seem to recall this happened before when I had some issue.) Anyway, I went through the whole process and thought it was completed. In fact, I even installed some Comcast program that was supposed to make it easier to access my email and things like that, but then I still couldn't get my home page. Even after I reset it to Yahoo, the browser kept opening up on the Comcast "activate service" page.

So I decided to call Comcast again. (At least this time I didn't have to run up and down stairs.) This time I had a man who had a foreign accent (I'm guessing Jamaican or something like that) so he was a little difficult to understand. He had me rebooting, he tried sending the refresh signal, etc. but my browser still kept opening on the Comcast page. Finally, after over a half-hour on the phone and with the time nearing 1 a.m., he asked me to stay on hold while he got someone "with more expertise." I told him I had to go to bed because I had to get up for work. I said that someone was scheduled to come out to the house Tuesday and I'd let him take care of it. After I hung up, before I shut down the computer I uninstalled that Comcast program.

I got home from work tonight (Tuesday -- after all, it's past midnight now as I write this) and logged on, and the browser finally went right to Yahoo. However, I couldn't access my email. I had to change my password in order to get it. Once I did that, I decided to call Comcast and cancel my service appointment, hoping to do so before the technician showed up at my house.

Going through the menu prompts, the only option I could find was "confirm your appointment." I pressed the key for that option, figuring that once I confirmed it, I'd then be given the option to change or cancel it.

That's when the computer voice said: "You do not have any scheduled appointments. To schedule an appointment, press '1.'" Either the first guy on Sunday never made the appointment, or the second guy on Monday canceled it!

Wow. If I had still had an outage, I'd have waited in vain for someone to show up, then become infuriated and called Comcast, undoubtedly screaming into the phone.

I've said in the past that, while many people have complained about Comcast's customer service, after a rocky start when I first signed up for cable, I've gotten good service from Comcast over the years. Now I see what everyone else was talking about. In the next couple of days I think I'm going to have to contact them to let them know what steps they need to take to keep me as a customer...

76ers: No Need To Play Out The Season

2012-01-17T23:58:00.000-05:00

Ummmmm...wait, isn't this just a little bit premature? I mean, they're in first place with a 10-3 record (remember when they started last season 3-13?), but NBA champions?

Needless to say this gave me a chuckle on the way to work this morning.

A while back (like, months) I spotted a bus that had an "Eagles/Super Bowl champions" message. We know how that turned out...so perhaps SEPTA is the new Billy Penn jinx?

Foster The People!

2012-01-13T00:42:00.000-05:00

It seems that Foster The People is playing the Mann Center in June. I think I need to see the concert. Who's going with me?

If you checked out my "2011 in music" post you know that their album "Torches" was one of just four 2011 albums I own. And I wasn't planning on buying it, even though I had heard and liked "Pumped Up Kicks." Then one of the TMZ people I follow on Twitter posted a link to the song "Houdini" on his Tumblr page. (By the way, does anyone think I really need a Tumblr page of my own?) Once I heard it, I knew I was buying the album. And although it's really, really, really early in the year, every track is at the top of my most-played in Tunes since I reset the count.

"Houdini" is currently, and surprisingly, at number two. Here's their performance from the "Live on Letterman" concert:

If you prefer, their "Saturday Night Live" rendition...with special guest Kenny G????

But which song is at number one? That would be "Call It What You Want." Here's the music video:

McRubble

2012-01-09T23:13:00.000-05:00

When Ronald says "I could use a new look," he really isn't kidding, is he? This McDonald's is -- err, was -- at Broad and Allegheny.

K&A Mural-ity

2012-01-09T23:06:00.000-05:00

One of my options for getting to work, particularly if I'm cutting it close time-wise, is to get off the El at the Allegheny stop and take the route 60 bus. Today I ran out the door and forgot my phone, so I had to run back for it, which made me miss a bus, which meant I'd have to take the 60 to avoid being late for work.

After getting off the El and down the stairs to the street, I was going to walk a block away from the Kensington and Allegheny bus stop because there's usually a lot of people getting on and off there. I began walking east, then changed my mind and turned around, only to see the back wall to the station (facing the Walgreens parking lot) had been visited by the good folks from the Mural Arts Program...

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 1-9-12

2012-01-09T22:57:00.000-05:00

I was shuffling papers in work and my iPod was shuffling songs...

Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar

Angel (7” Mix) - Gavin Friday

Thin Line Between Love and Hate - The Pretenders

Hidden Live Track - Mark Weigle

Your Love Keeps Working On Me (MK Brooklyn Mix) - Jody Watley

Private Dancer - Tina Turner

Morning Sunrise - Weldon Irvine*

Too Hot - Kool & The Gang

Did You See Me Coming? - Pet Shop Boys

Beautiful Child - Rufus Wainwright

I Should Care - Nat King Cole

Still Can’t - The Cranberries

Whatever We Imagine - James Ingram

*Technically this was a 1:18 clip of the song, as part of a mixtape compilation of summer-type songs by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie. It was available to download for free in 2010. I think I posted the link here at the time.

Picture With A Message

2012-01-09T00:26:00.000-05:00

Today I took another one of those photos where the sun makes an appearance. I saw the sign from a short distance away and thought it might have been adorned with street art such as this. I was mistaken. It was a protest.

I was trying to show the image of the sticker placed on SEPTA's Route 23 sign but the sun may make the words difficult to see. It says, "Where's the trolley SEPTA promised?" Route 23 used to be a trolley line, the longest in the city and possibly one of the longest trolley lines in the nation. Twenty years ago it was replaced by buses, but there are people who want the trolley back. SEPTA has said in the past that they would restore it. Another line, the 15, had its trolley service restored in 2005.

Riding a trolley as compared to the same old bus is a pretty cool thing, especially if the weather's warm and the windows are open (although I don't know if the new trolleys on the route 15 actually have windows that you can slide up and down to let in some air).

Someday...

2012-01-08T00:43:00.000-05:00

Someday I'll get the time and inclination to sit down and write about the four movies I've seen in the last month, and the year-in-review post I wanted to do, and the comics I bought over the last month or two (one of them was even a DC book!!!!!) and how I love the Foster The People album, and I still need to finish putting together the photos I took when I walked around town back in October (the same day I took those Occupy Philly photos -- hey, remember when that was a thing?), plus that one other post that I began thinking about TEN MONTHS AGO and still haven't put together...sigh...someday I will do some of these posts, seriously.

But if any of you want to write them for me, hey, that'd be great as well.

Why I'm A Jerk

2012-01-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

Remember this?

I know you've been waiting desperately for the answer to why I'm wearing this t-shirt.

Well, one person has, at least.

It's not because I'm an actual jerk, this tweet notwithstanding.

It's because of this TV show I started watching last year. I like it so much I bought the t-shirt. (To be honest, it was on sale for 50 percent off at the time, which helped spur my decision.)

You're welcome.

My 2011 In Music

2012-01-02T01:55:00.001-05:00

And now that we've moved into 2012, here's a look back at what I downloaded in 2011 -- some of it purchased, some of it, ummm, not -- and what ended up as the 25 most-played songs of my iTunes library.

There are only 271 new tracks in my iTunes since the beginning of 2011. That's down from 317 in 2010. Only 19 were Christmas songs, though, compared to 73 a year earlier. So if you take the holiday songs out of the mix, my musical acquisitions increased. However, a lot of those were downloads of individual songs. Part of the total also comes from a few artists I discovered through various means (such as Twitter or Facebook) who made albums available for free download:

Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover) - EP (he's funny on "Community" but he has definite skills in the hip-hop arena; he now has a full-length album out, but I haven't bought it yet)
Loco - No Shade (Mixtape)
Simon Curtis - 8Bit Heart
DISCO PUSHER - Now You Know How The Story Ends (also a mixtape)

Then there were the records released before 2011...

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
RuPaul - Champion
various artists - Christmas Remixed-Holiday Classics Re-Grooved (my only "new" Christmas album)

So that leaves just four albums I got that were actually released in 2011:

Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Chad D - The Story Begins
Maroon 5 - Hands All Over
Foster The People - Torches

So much for a top 10 of 2011! (But I can say that I recommend all of these.)

Part of the reason for this was my financial situation. Since that is a bit improved right now, perhaps 2012 will see me getting more albums. But the other thing is: I'm not exposed to new music like I used to be. I got rid of my satellite radio and I just don't listen to regular music radio. After having commercial-free music without a lot of moronic DJ chatter, I can't go back.

Also, I'm kind of a passive listener. I rarely seek out music. It has to come to me. Reading Twitter and websites such as Entertainment Weekly's site, I always find posts touting new artists' releases or new songs from established acts, with links to click to sample them, and I just don't do that. So I really should make an effort to seek out more new music beyond the select few artists who I will automatically buy (Annie Lennox, Madonna, now Lady Gaga as well, and...hmmm...that might be it now).

So, about my 25 most-played songs of 2011: you'll notice one act takes up most of my top 12 (this relates to my 2011 albums list). There are 3 songs that were also among my most-played in 2010. And unlike the past two years, not only did a Kelly Rowland dance track not top the list, but she doesn't appear at all. The one new Kelly Rowland song I got was "What A Feeling," a collaboration with Alex Gaudino, and it finished in 37th place. And now, without further ado...

25. (last year's #2) Teenage Dream (Glee Cast Version) - Glee Cast
24. T.G.A. - Chad D
23. (last year's #19) Marry You - Bruno Mars
22. Beautiful People (Club Mix) - Chris Brown (feat.Benny Benassi)
21. Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse
20. S&M - Rihanna
19. Moment 4 Life - Nicki Minaj
18. I Hate This Part (Dave Aude Remix) - The Pussycat Dolls
17. Dirty Talk - Wynter Gordon
16. Say Somethin' (Stereo Anthem Mix) - Mariah Carey
15. Life Is A Ride - Chad D
14. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
13. (last year's #18) Only Girl (In The World) - Rihanna
12. Hair - Lady Gaga
11. Judas - Lady Gaga
10. Somebody To Love Me (feat. Boy George/Andrew Wyatt) - Mark Ronson & The Business Intl
9. I Want It All (Manny Heatherly Remix) - Dangerous Muse
8. The Edge Of Glory - Lady Gaga
7. Government Hooker - Lady Gaga
6. Fame Kills - Dangerous Muse
5. Higher (Jody Den Broeder Club Mix) - Taio Cruz (feat. Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy)
4. Bad Kids - Lady Gaga
3. Heavy Metal Lover - Lady Gaga
2. Higher - Taio Cruz (feat. Kylie Minogue) -- Yes, two versions of the same song. If we added them together they'd be way ahead of...
1. Born This Way - Lady Gaga
...but we won't.

The Eagle Waits...

2012-01-01T01:33:00.001-05:00

This is the center city Macy's store that was formerly known as John Wanamaker's, where the bronze Eagle stands in the Grand Court. This is where the holiday light show is held every year. Two weeks ago I was passing through and stopped and took a picture, because it seemed to me that the Eagle was standing there, looking up, just waiting for the light show to begin. That photo is the wallpaper on my phone right now.

But I wasn't entirely happy with it because I didn't quite get the top of the Christmas tree. So after I helped my friend move earlier this afternoon (well, yesterday afternoon as it's now after midnight) I stopped in center city on the way home and tried again. The photo at left is the one that is closest to the one I took two weeks ago.

I took a couple more, as well as one from the opposite side, showing the people today sitting around the Eagle waiting for the show to begin (it was 2:30 pm at the time), and you can see that, with the head turned as it is, the Eagle actually isn't looking at the tree...

Happy New Year. Posts on my 2011 in music and this blog coming in the next day or two.

Thanks Again, Republican Scum

2011-12-27T20:40:00.000-05:00

Their stalling and infighting resulted in this message, emailed to me at work:

“On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed legislation extending the payroll tax cut until February 29, 2012. This means the employee Social Security Tax will remain at 4.2 percent until February 29, 2012. Future legislation is also expected to extend this tax cut to December 31, 2012.

"Due to the late passage of this legislation, employee Social Security taxes will be deducted at 6.2 percent until the new rate can be implemented into the Commonwealth payroll system. Once the reduced rate is implemented employees will be credited for any overpaid Social Security tax.”

Seriously, you may not like the Democrats, and they often give you valid reasons not to like them. But if you vote Republican and you're not wealthy, you are a stone-cold moron.

A Thought On Adam Lambert

2011-12-27T00:26:00.000-05:00

So by now you heard about Adam Lambert and his boyfriend being briefly arrested in Finland after a drunken brawl in a gay bar last week. While I am a fan of Lambert's music, and I liked how he handled the coming-out issue during and just after his "American Idol" days, and I was on his side when people (and TV networks) flipped out after his American Music Awards performance a couple of years ago, I find that I like him as a person less and less.

He seems to be rather arrogant, which isn't a big deal in itself. But when you're a celebrity, and you date another celebrity, and he happens to be a TV "reality" show star (in this case, the Finnish version of "Big Brother"), and you get drunk and get into a big fight, you can't complain about the media being interested in you, and you really shouldn't say that the media exaggerates...

...especially when at least one person has said she was accidentally punched while trying to break up the fight. After I read the tweet shown above I stopped following Adam Lambert on Twitter. Like I said, I'm still a fan of his music, and I'm looking forward to his second album. But his huge ego, combined with his whining about the media, is more than I can handle.

Mural-ity In North Philly

2011-12-24T19:29:00.000-05:00

I've written about the Mural Arts Program and the various murals on walls around the city before. In the area near where I work, I was happy to find some more...

This one is on Broad Street, between Indiana and Glenwood Avenues. Amtrak and SEPTA trains run on the tracks above. There's a station nearby.

This is just east of Broad and Glenwood -- the outside of a fire station.

And further south, as you near Broad and Lehigh, is a mural of the legendary Jackie Robinson. At 21st and Lehigh, about 7 blocks to the west, is where Connie Mack Stadium once stood. Robinson, of course, played in Connie Mack Stadium when the Dodgers came to town.

Weird Christmas

2011-12-24T18:43:00.002-05:00

I was watching the NFL Red Zone channel, the one that switches between every game going on, and it dawned on me: it's Saturday. And it's Christmas Eve. And I'm watching NFL games. There's a bit of a surreal feeling to the day (although this has happened before, of course). And for me, the holiday season itself has been unusual.

Normally I'd be trying to get through my stash of Christmas movies or TV shows (as listed here). This year, I haven't watched even one. The only Christmas shows I've watched were new holiday episodes of "Glee" and "Community." The "Community" episode was excellent, as it basically attacked "Glee" all night. I have listened to every bit of Christmas music in my iTunes, but that was in part because for the last week or so I've been taking my iPod to work and listening to music during the day. Having a job and a commute that's over an hour each way has really cut into my time. Besides the holiday TV problem, and the difficulty I've had in finding time to go to movies, I only added 12 new posts to the blog last month and just nine so far this month -- and a number of those are quick "post a picture and add a brief comment" posts. It's really frustrating.

I think I'd have an easier time if I had bought an iPad or other tablet PC, and gotten a 4G data plan to go with it, instead of the laptop I bought in September. That way my time on the bus and El (at least before it goes underground) could be more easily spent surfing the web, reading Twitter, etc., and that would allow me more time at night to blog and such. The more I think about it, the more I want to buy a tablet, but now I have this perfectly good laptop.

But I digress.
Yesterday we were allowed to leave work two hours early. After those years with Social Security where we got out four hours early, that was a bit of a disappointment. Still, it's better than nothing. And it's three-day weekends this week and next. So I just need to make the best of things.

And now, Mariah Carey found some helpers to present this Christmas message:

What I really need is a clip of Krusty the Clown ending his non-denominational holiday special with: "So, have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, kwazy Kwanzaa, a tip-top Tet, and a solemn, dignified Ramadan. Now a word from MY god: our sponsor!"

Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and if you read this blog regularly or semi-regularly or just now and then, thank you.

CHRISTMAS UPDATE: Usually the last thing I do before going to bed on Christmas Eve, after I bake my chocolate chip cookies (from my old Aunt Pillsbury's recipe) for the family dinner the next day, is turn off the TV and the lights, light a couple of candles and listen to Christmas music, either from the radio or my iPod.

Not last night. I fell asleep in front of the TV while watching "The Muppet Christmas Carol." I woke up once or twice, at some point turning off the TV, but otherwise I slept through the night in the living room. The weird Christmas continues.

More Gay Media Fail, More Flyers Annoyance

2011-12-19T23:57:00.002-05:00

Okay, I don't want to keep picking on writers for gay media outlets when they delve into the world of sports. (Of course, I'm talking about the mainstream outlets and not sites like Outsports or Wide Rights.) Whether it's just that this particular writer isn't that familiar with sports, or is trying to dumb down the article to try and appeal to an audience that isn't sports-friendly or sports-knowledgable, I don't know. But this article from the Philadelphia Gay News about Flyers' scout Patrick Burke, brother of Brendan Burke, regarding Patrick's advocacy on behalf of LGBT issues, has a flaw. The beginning of the article refers to Patrick Burke as "a recruiter for the Philadelphia Flyers," as does the headline. Ummmm, no. He's a scout, not a recruiter. Colleges recruit athletes. Professional teams don't.

(Well, I suppose the process of signing high-priced free agents is a form of recruitment, but that is handled by front-office personnel much higher up the food chain.)

Meanwhile, the article mentions the Wayne Simmonds incident...

Flyers player Wayne Simmonds was criticized for allegedly using a slur during a game that was caught on camera, although, because there was no sound on the video, he did not face a fine or other repercussions, as some other professional sports players have.

Burke noted that he has never spoken with Simmonds — or most other Flyers players, as he is based in Boston and his role as a scout keeps him on the road most of the season.

He said he could not comment on the specific incident because of legalities but did say that the NHL’s follow-up is an important, yet often overlooked, addition to the story.

“The NHL released a statement in the aftermath where they announced that going forward the league would treat gay slurs in the same way they do racist comments. They took a firm stance that gay slurs are not acceptable,” Burke said. “That got lost in everything else that was going on, but I think it was a very important statement and one that other leagues are now starting to follow up with. But I think the NHL is well ahead of some other leagues in encouraging diversity and a safe atmosphere for gay athletes.”

I don't think the league's follow-up has been overlooked. I think the entire story has been overlooked.

The fact that Simmonds, a day after his post-game comments about things being said in the heat of the moment, etc., made a 180-degree turn and completely denied using the slur is still, nearly three months later, ruining my interest in and enjoyment of Flyers hockey. The man lied. Flat-out lied. As I previously wrote, anyone who looks at the video of the entire fight sequence from the Flyers' broadcast of that game, and not just the small, soundless clip that was posted online, will be able to hear the slur, and see that he said it not just once (during the replayed soundless moment), but at least one additional time. I still have the replay of the game saved to my DVR. I still hope to find a way to get it to my computer. I still may resort to buying a DVD recorder solely to record that video.

And the fact that, with the Winter Classic and the corresponding events at Citizens Bank Park less than two weeks away, my Flyers fandom is so challenged by this liar and his enablers is borderline unforgivable.

Patrick Burke says he hasn't spoken to Wayne Simmonds because Burke is on the road so much. He might want to try using a newfangled device called a telephone.

Jerk

2011-12-15T00:10:00.000-05:00

Why am I wearing this? You tell me. Seriously, take a guess.

What Does This Mean? (Plus An Update)

2011-12-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

First, the update:

As you can see, this box that I wrote about finally has its door, or lid, or whatever, back in place. I'm not sure exactly when it was done. I noticed it on Thursday. Not sure who did it, but there it is, with some sort of band holding the cover in place. I think that's because it got dented while it was lying on the ground, most likely from being stepped on a time or twelve.

Now then, here's a photo I took last week. This has been on the wall at the 15th Street station on the El for as long as I can remember. Someone wrote a message on it, and for the life of me I have no idea what it means. It's not just regular graffiti. There seems to be a message, but I can't figure it out...

Click on the photo for the large version and tell me what you think the writer is trying to say. The only part I really understand it that it was someone's mother's 116th birthday. Is it possibly some form of street art?

Too Long For Twitter: Stand Back, Philadelphia...

2011-12-10T09:04:00.000-05:00

...because you oughta know whatcha gonna get in me: just a little touch of star quality!

Yep, the Evita song "Buenos Aires" is stuck in my head this morning. (The classic Patti LuPone Broadway original, that is, not the Madonna movie version or that "Glee" thing the other night.) And this, on a little more than 3 hours' sleep after having a rather tough week. This could be an interesting day.

Speaking of star quality, my friend Kurt was fantastic last night in his featured role in the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus holiday concert, "Nutcracker: A Tale of Sugar Plum Fairies." There are two more shows, this afternoon and tonight. Go see it.

I hope to see a movie today, and if so, tell you about it more promptly than I did with the ones I saw recently.

For now, I leave you with this: Justin Timberlake's musical comeback hit has already been written for him...