Phillybits

A Special Breed

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:25:46 PST

Dear Sir,

I would like to apologize for any inconvenience I posed to you this morning as I wandered onto the race course this morning. Please understand it was not done intentionally and please accept my most humble apology, and praise, for both your ability to react, your professionalism, and your keen driving ability.

With that, let us review and honor your accomplishments this morning.

While driving on S. 48th St. this morning, as I passed through the intersection of 48th and Cedar, it appeared your brakes failed to properly engage as you rounded the corner from Cedar onto 48th without stopping, positioning your car not only directly behind me, but in the process, also almost performing a side oriented PIT maneuver on the car I was driving. And while the PIT maneuver itself is a highly specialized form of controlled driving typically reserved for members of law enforcement and something I would be excited to actually see performed first-hand, I do not think it has a place in normal day to day driving through the generally quiet neighborhood streets of Philadelphia, nor would I like to see it performed on myself or anybody else who has not performed an illegal action that would actually require it to legally be undertaken.

At this point, assuming your car must've suffered some sort of loss of braking ability, one would expect you to proceed South on 48th St. with the utmost appreciation for speed and safety. Sadly, this did not happen. Instead of provide at least one car's length between you and I for every 10 mph you were driving, you positioned your car so close to my bumper that I could see the whites of your knuckles as they maintained a pit-bull's grip upon your steering wheel, your fingers tap-tap-tapping on the top of your steering wheel, surely a sign of the exhilaration (most likely due to the rush of adrenalin and endorphins that must've kicked in right about then) you were experiencing at almost taking 1st Place in the West Philadelphia Demolition Derby that I am only now becoming informed was scheduled for 9:45 this morning.

And yet, as surprised as YOU must've been at encountering an obviously errant driver on the course today, can you imagine how surprised I was when just a few short blocks down the road, oblivious not only to today's scheduled derby race, I somehow COMPLETELY MISSED the fact that at the conclusion of the course, the checkered flag had just dropped, signaling the start of the Southwest 500?!

I have NO IDEA how I missed the hundreds of cheering fans who had filled the bleachers that were lining the sidewalks, the sawhorse barricades blocking off all cross-road access, the unmistakable "thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka" of numerous overhead news helicopters and the massive police presence...

...but I did.

As I tried to hightail it to the next intersection to get off the track and out of everybody's way as quickly as possible, you, fully understanding how my presence could pose such a serious detriment to your ability to get out in front of the pack, popped it in low gear, crossed the yellow into the northbound lane of S. 48th and for the entire block between Chester and Kingsessing Avenues, proceeded to put the pedal to the metal, laying down not only molten rubber but two white-hot trails of fire in your wake.

I suppose you didn't quite hit 88 MPH as amazingly, you were still on the track, this 10th of December, 2009.

Acutely aware at this point of the trouble and confusion I had caused by wandering carelessly into the middle of a race this morning, at 48th and Kingsessing, I made sure to honk my horn several times, roll down my window, give you a hearty 'Thumbs-up!' and yell "Good luck!" and "Go team!" to you, loudly, several times. However, due to the loud roar of your finely-tuned (was that alcohol-fueled? Good choice!) engine, you must not have been able to hear my words of encouragement as you didn't seem to be aware of my presence as you waited for the caution light to drop so you could continue onto the next section of track.

Figuring that was the last I would see of you, I continued on my way only to find just a few short minutes later that I would AGAIN wander onto the course.

At the foot of the Grays Ferry Bridge, I again missed the crowds and started to turn right onto the bridge. Being the keen driver that you are, aware of the risk to your championship trophy I posed, you proceeded to cross traffic directly in front of me, cutting me off with a sharp left turn and blazing to glory on the other side of the bridge. Though I can only imagine the satisfaction one must experience as he blares down the course, the roar of the engine as one overtakes the lead car and the burn of morning sun as it breaks into your eyes from just below your visor as you crest onto the top of the bridge, the path to victory unfolding before you, I do hope that with your win, you bring pride and recognition to all those who look up to you for the skill and mastery that you so demonstrated on the streets of Philadelphia today.

Bravo!

Yours truly,
a devoted fan,

-- Ray Skwire

Severely Misguided Conservative Glee Over Olympics Decision

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:21:47 PDT

(As stated elsewhere)

I don't get conservatives misguided glee over the Olympics decision. They don't care about Chicago, they don't care about America, and by their logic, this was Obama's loss. I see it differently.

Given associated costs w/ hosting an Olympics event, Chicago's loss means no angry teabagger rants over the cost and no worries about batshit crazy right-wing Glenn Beck militia wingers blowing the place up, meaning the rest of America remains safe from domestic terrorists.

I believe this was highly planned & as a direct result, Obama won because he saved us money (pacifying the right) and he kept us safe from angry wingers, which though certainly a relief to left-wingers, should come as a relief all America that isn't bat-shit cuckoo bananas.

This is a solid win for Obama and furthermore, it demonstrates that ability of the President to unite both the left, the right (whatever's left of them, anyways) and the rest of America.

/tea-bagger
/straw-man

Of Trash And Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:26:00 PDT

Two topics, inter-related. Garbage and math. And perhaps even some garbage math. Yes, they can be both individual and mutually similar. Let's get to it...

After the 9/12 teabagger rally in D.C., a couple things happened. The first was the whole set-up with the crowd estimate, first reported by Michelle Malkin, that upwards of 2 million people attended the event. You probably already know this story but essentially, some jerkoff hopped on stage and shouted out a crowd estimate of between 1.2 and 2 million people and then attributed it, falsely, to ABC News.

This was not true and ABC News actually put up a front page post on their website debunking the myth of that estimate. By this point, the bullshit that had been thrown to the wall had stuck and it began to trickle down to the other lowlife Republicant bloggers. However, it seemed once the truth was revealed, all the conservatives started linking to some UK based media source. Funny that, considering that they couldn't even trust FOX News this time around, as FOX News was also reporting the more accurate number of 50-70k people in attendance that day.

Yeah, who knew?

Next, the Republicants started posting pictures of an entirely different rally showing a packed National Mall. The only problem was that the picture itself was from a completely different rally some 10 or more years ago that was so easily disprovable (there was an entire MUSEUM missing in the picture that hadn't even been built yet at that time), it too was quickly laughed away.

However, the best I have seen so far is the irony in what I'm seeing emerge now. My favorite wingnut blogger in Philadelphia (whose blog I won't link because she knows who she is) has a post up comparing the cleanliness differences between Obama supporters during the inauguration and the heavenly sparkling 9/12 teabaggers, with their golden tea leaves and baby tear teabag strings trailing not far behind them.

Here's a picture and, given all the BS surrounding 50 billion people crowd estimates, who even KNOWS if this pic is even remotely related to the 9/12 rally in D.C. the other day but regardless, here's a picture purporting to show just how clean those awfully nice and gentle teabaggers left D.C.

And now compare that with the awful, no-good, nasty America hating Obama supporters the day of the inauguration:

Now here's where the garbage and the numbers become related. I don't think anyone has properly put into perspective just how many people attended the inauguration of Barack Obama so I looked for some photos and I think I found one that gives a pretty good visual idea of how many people we're talking about here:

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

When you have that many fucking people, sure - you're going to get this:

We didn't really see that at the 9/12 rally did we?

Anyone have any ideas why?

(P.S. - If you WOULD like to see some pictures of the aftermath of the 9/12 rally in terms of what actually WAS left behind, you can look at this.)

WPVI Story Addresses City Surveillance Cameras Covered With Trash Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:33:33 PDT

It's great to see local media covering this very important story today, August 12th, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - August 12, 2009 (WPVI) -- There's a cover-up involving dozens of surveillance cameras in Philadelphia... literally.

Those cameras have been covered with black plastic bags. Of course, in that state, they're of little use in the fight against crime.

It was back in late 2007 when the city announced, with fanfare, that it was installing 250 surveillance cameras over the next year.

Well, here it is mid-2009 and Action News has learned that only 161 have been installed.

And of those, only 98 are useable. Another 63 of them are covered with bags, waiting to be activated.

I only wrote about it on July 9th and July 11th...

...of last year...

Do Not Order Here

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:21:58 PDT

Here's what happened. As you can see, the sign says "2 Slices and a DRINK $4.95". As you can imagine, when I saw that, I walked up with my 14 year old son to get some lunch. I ordered 1 slice of plain, 1 slice of pepperoni, one Coke and one Fruit Punch thinking it'd be $4.95 for the 2 slices and the first drink and probably a couple bucks for the 2nd drink.

The woman behind the counter told me it was going to be something like $13 and some change.

I looked at her and asked in a confused but not rude or angry manner, "$13? The sign (looking up, pointing at it) says 2 slices, two drinks, $4.95"

At this point, what I can only assume is either the manager or the owner comes up from the back of the kitchen area and starts hollering at me, very rudely, that "That's the price. If that's what you wanted, you need to tell us that's what you wanted!!"

I replied, while holding out my arms in the direction of this big giant advertisement banner, that the sign is "RIGHT THERE" and that's why I came over. I don't think I should have to tell them about their sign since that's why it's there, advertising this special so that people come over, right? It's not like I had a tiny coupon that most likely say "Please present coupons at time of order", right?

Said manager/owner dude continued his tirade, in front of me, my 14 year old son, and at least two other families with many kids also at or in the vicinity of the counter, literally yelling at me that the banner was for 2 slices of plain pizza and a small soda.

However, that's not what the sign says. At this point, I questioned if this is how he treats all his customers who travel some distance to come here and who pay exorbitant prices for entertainment while visiting and how he expects to stay in business treating people this way.

He then made a rude remark about being able to communicate properly in this country and if I can't communicate, I can go somewhere else. Which I did.

So for anyone seeing this picture, if you're heading to Ocean City this summer or any summer for that matter, please do yourself and your family a big favor and do not visit Primavera Pizza

1102 Boardwalk
Ocean City, NJ 08226-3336

(609) 814-0187

Being Gay: Lifestyle Choice Or Demons? You Decide!

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:24:29 PDT

There's a recent video out of a church in CT that displays to be what is called a gay exorcism. Here's that video:

And, like any good, God fearing, gay-demon exorcising preacher, there's always a tv appearance after the fact with an explanation (if you can call it that) of what we're actually watching and why this shouldn't shock anyone once we all understand what's really happening here.

I haven't watched either of these in full. I heard about this the other day, and found the second video at Huffington Post, where they summarize some of what this preacher says:

Pastor McKinney said she agreed to the interview to to "let the world know out there that Manifested Glories Ministries is not against homosexuality. We do not hate them. We do not come up against them. We just do not believe in their lifestyle."

According to the pastor, her church believes heavily in spirits: "You have the alcohol spirit. You have the crack cocaine spirit. You have the adulterous spirit. Everything carries a spirit."

She said the man in the video walked into her church on a Sunday "six or seven months ago" and that "on this particularly sunday we were just beginning to worship the lord, and all of a sudden he hit the floor." They performed the "exorcism" and she said it worked because she's been in contact with the young man and that he's changed his lifestyle. Take that as you will.

Now, here's what gets me. Many religious individuals will say that not only do they not agree with homosexuality (which is fine, they don't have to) but that they also feel it's a lifestyle "choice" much like, I suppose, buying a Nigerian coffee bean over an Ethiopian blend.

However, listening to the video, you can clearly hear the preacher casting out "the homosexual demon!" and from reading the above partial summary, her particular church believes there's all types of spirits - alcohol spirits, crack cocaine spirits, etc.

What I want to know is which is it? Is it a choice? Is it a gay demon? Is it a choice to let the gay demon in? Can't they keep their gay excuses straight anymore?

For The Sake Of The Party

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:46:20 PDT

Constituents? What constituents?

The day after a rambling news conference during which a pained Sanford admitted to three romantic rendezvous with the woman, Sanford spent most of his time visiting with his family at their coastal home on Sullivans Island. Asked whether he was resigning, Sanford shook his head no as he departed.

"I right now am focused on the important part of this — the family in this circumstance," he said.

His wife told reporters she was "going to worry about my family and the character of my children" and said as she left for dinner and a boat ride with the boys that her husband's career was his concern. "He'll have to worry about that," she told reporters as she drove away.

On Friday, Sanford planned to focus on work. He called an afternoon meeting of state agency chiefs during which he plans to discuss the tumultuous week, "then he's going to get on to conduct the business of the state," said spokesman Joel Sawyer.

Meanwhile, some fellow Republicans issued sharp calls for him to step down. Glenn McCall, a local representative to the Republican National Committee, said the GOP "can recover from this if we hold him accountable and the governor does the right thing and resigns for the sake of the party."

Un-friggin-believable.

300,000

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:55:43 PDT

Somewhere along the line, while essentially ignoring this site except for extremely ridiculous posts on a variety of topics and my other main stead, photography, this site recently surpassed the 300,000 mark.

Don't know how, don't know why, don't know when but it's true - I've now passed into 300,000 territory and it only took 5 years.

Sad, I know, but true.

Perhaps in another 5 years, I can boast of 300,000+ hits on my really cool, totally awsome, top notch, super fantastic photoblog that I know you're all checking in on at least once a day for new content.

Right?

RIIIIGGHHHHTT???!!!

Two Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:34:33 PDT

I just wanted to provide two quick updates for regular viewers here.

1) I posted yesterday about some stereo equipment I was looking to get rid of. It's gotten rid of.

2) For those who have picked up on and have been visiting my photoblog Scene In Philly, you were aware of my recent computer problems that were providing a serious impediment to continuing to take and post photos.

As a result of several donations received from some great and generous individuals, I received the part I needed, and after updating my computer, it is back up and running and I am currently now in the process of transferring files, reinstalling some photo software, and have begin posting again to the photoblog so please be sure to stop by and check in from time to time as I love having visitors!

Thanks!

-- Ray

Breaking News: 2nd Daytime Kidnapping In Philadelphia

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:27:02 PDT

Wow. This is getting crazy!

Philadelphia Press - Police dispatchers today received a frantic call just after noon today from a man who claimed he had been kidnapped from the parking lot of an area Boston Market.

According to police, Tyrone Johnson, 33 of Upper Darby, called 911 early this afternoon to report that while leaving Boston Market with a bucket of Double-Crispy Chicken Gizzards, he had been grabbed from behind and thrown into a waiting minivan.

Johnson described the person who grabbed him as a middle-aged white woman with long blond hair, standing about 5'3" tall, with no ass whatsoever and carrying a purse "big 'nuff t'carry at least a coupla pair of nice shoes, fa'sho".

He described the vehicle as a late-model Chrysler minivan with what looked like a softball lodged halfway through the rear side window, a pink Mary Kay sticker, and at least 5 McCain/Palin stickers of assorted styles and designs on the lower bumper.

Dispatchers only received one call from Mr. Johnson and tried repeatedly to call him back, only to get a Jay-Z waiting tune followed by an automated message stating that Mr. Johnson's pre-paid Boost mobile phone account was currently inactive due to failure to re-up on minutes.

Police are asking the public for any information but pointed out that there is no reward being offered for information that results in Mr. Johnson's safe return.

Bloggers! I Need Your Help!

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:29:47 PDT

I'm writing from my phone since it's all I have currently. I need a specific motherboard if possible. It's a Gigabyte GA-K8nsnxp-939 board and if anyone is able to put me in in touch with someone who has either a working new or used board that they would be willing to part with, either cheap or free, it should be the answer to all my pc problems. Any help or leads you can provide, via a blog post or email blast, would be great and greatly appreciated. Hope you can help! Thanks in advance!

- Ray (Phillybits)

An Age Old Question Has Finally Been Answered

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Sun, 24 May 2009 10:18:29 PDT

Often times, we find ourselves in certain situations where, when faced with a dilemma between two or more choices, we ask ourselves what others might do in the same situation. From that was born the question/phrase/mnemonic device - WWJD?

Well, an answer has been found and it may surprise you. It certainly surprised me!

The Odd Couple

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:05:37 PDT

Pat Toomey and Brendan Skwire of Brendan Calling at Triumph brewery in Old City, Philadelphia....

...current home of Drinking Liberally!

I Love America

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:36:20 PDT

I specifically started my photoblog Scene In Philly to separate and highlight my growing interest in photography off of this site but occasionally, I take a picture that I'm really proud of that I want to share with more people so here's one I grabbed yesterday.

Hope you like it!

Uh-Oh

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:18:01 PDT

Sometime last year, my initial hard drive failed and it really sucked because I had a lot of photos on it. I managed to get the majority, if not all of them off but now I find my remaining hard drive starting to fail which means I need to A) get a new hard drive and B) back this one up.

Pronto.

Anyone have a decently sized hard drive that they're not using that they want to part with either free or for a reasonable cost? Please send me an email. SATA drives are preferred.

Oral Treat Indeed!

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:43:21 PDT

Sometimes spam links aren't that bad.

Progressive Gets The Better Of Some Teabaggers

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:09:16 PDT

Hats off to Sinfonian for this gem!

Hailing Frequencies Closed

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:44:28 PDT

Talk to them because you might persuade them that YOUR ideas are the right ideas.

But whatever you do, don't listen to theirs.

If that's the strategy, good luck in 2010.

h/t Talking Points Memo

Yes, It's True. Philadelphia Was Heavily Teabagged Today

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:06:21 PDT

(Brendan Skwire of Brendan Calling)

~~More pictures to come.~~ And now the rest. And if you could take a moment, apparently this post has been Dugg. Won't you please go dig it up?

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

ALL images are copyrighted. Interested in displaying some? Email me first please! (Upper right hand corner under my mug)

(Update) - Ok, so despite the title, perhaps we really weren't as heavily teabagged as I may have led you to believe.

(Update 2)

Thanks to Atrios for the link, Talking Points Memo for the slideshow, Citypaper's Brian Howard for another slideshow, Brendan, Noz, Frank, Steve, DailyKos for the front page ticket!!, Huffington Post as well as numerous others who have cross-posted on their blogs and via Twitter.

(Update 3) - And here's some other great shots from the Philly rally courtesy of Pop Civics

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:29:45 PDT

Testing mobile blogging

In Light Of All The Teabagging Today.....

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:27:07 PDT

h/t Brendan Calling

"If You Haven’t Done Anything Wrong, You Have Nothing To Worry About"

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:30:19 PDT

I'm so glad Brendan wrote about this today. I started to, but got sidetracked with Elliott and never got back to finishing it. And besides, Brendan makes the argument so much better than I:

We tried to warn you, [on Michelle Malkin's Fear of the DHS looking into rightwing extremism] and you just wouldn’t listen.

...

Personally, I believe that threat is real. However, times have changed.

Thanks to the efforts of conservatives and wingnuts over the past 8 years, Obama has the power to lock you up forever, with no charges. We tried to warn you.

Thanks to the efforts of conservatives and wingnuts over the past 8 years, Obama has the power to tap your phones without a warrant. We tried to warn you.

Thanks to the efforts of conservatives and wingnuts over the past 8 years, Obama has the power to have you waterboarded if he wants to. We tried to warn you.

Over and over we tried to warn you. Bush will not be president forever. The Republicans will not have a permanent majority. Do you really want Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton empowered to lock you up with no recourse to the judicial system?

You made your bed, and now you can lie in it. Oh, and how does it feel to know that YOU’RE being watched now? Honestly, if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of.

What else is there to say?

Oh yeah.

Have You Seen The Enzyte Male Enhancement Santa Ad?

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:35:38 PDT

After mistakenly looking for the "Cialis" Santa ad, I realized it was Enzyte but nevertheless, have you seen this ad?

This is Bob. Looks like Bob is here to spread a little joy. While there seems to be a lot of rumors going around about this chubby Santa. Because not long ago Santa decided he needed a little more room in his sled. So he made a call to Enzyte about natural male enhancement. And after a few short weeks what did he get, but not only a sleigh full of confidence and a sack full of pride, but it looks like Bob got the one thing every lady likes. The joy of a gift that keeps on giving. Yes with things heating up on the old North Pole it looks like there is no mistaking this Santa for an elf anymore. Sample packs of Enzyte now available while supplies last. Just call or visit Enzyte.com. Enzyte, the once-daily tablet for natural male enhancement.

The Face, Or Lack Thereof, Of Homelessness

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:49:48 PDT

I thought I'd share some photography here for those who don't come over or aren't already aware of my photoblog.

Where Can I Find A Testicles Costume?

noreply@blogger.com (Phillybits) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:39:39 PDT

I've been hearing about these teabag parties conservatives are holding and I want to go but I really don't know what I should wear.