Great Moments In Batshit: Angry Old Prick Week Rages On
First Bill Conlin, now this: If indeed it is Angry Old Prick Week here in Philly, we certainly didn’t get the press release. Professional quizzo host/blogger (his parents must be so proud) Johnny Goodtimes directs our attention to the opening letter of one D. Herbert Lipson’s Publisher’s Letter in the front of this month’s issue of Philadelphia Magazine. In it, Lipson forgets his meds and lets the curtain up on the cruel secret behind his Oz:
Philadelphians are ugly…what the world sees is the layer of crud over everything, including us. We’re not clean …or safe…I’ve been railing for a long time about how shabby we are, how Philadelphians present themselves poorly.
If these words have the ring of actual impassioned feeling on the part of Lipson — and they should — it’s because the old man has finally let the cat out of the bag on something we’ve suspected for a long time: PhillyMag fucking hates you. It fucking hates your guts. It’ll take your money like a Taliban cab driver who secretly wishes to crush your entire way of life and then move to, uh, well, in this case, Boston:
We sometimes invite staffers down from Boston Magazine… and they’re startled by what they see…we prance around in public like we’re walking the dog in our backyard.[...] Boston Magazine, [he says,] is classier than Philadelphia both in appearance and writing.
Boston? Seriously, Herb? OK. Glad we’ve got that cleared up.
JohnnyGoodtimes: In My Day, You Were All My Servants, And You Liked It!
November 28th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Dorothy’s comment on that blog:
“Sure this is a ridiculous thing to publish but I can’t help but think he has something of a valid point–not about comparing Philadelphia to other cities but just about how bad we all look. And it’s not just here–it’s everywhere. And it’s not a class thing–even rich people spend a lot of money to look trashy.
As a culture we all shopshopshopshop and yet, everyone continues to looks like crap. I’m not talking about bringing back three-piece suits but I do think there is something to be said for putting a bit of effort into your outfit and appearance when you go out in public. This means no sweats at a sit-down restaurant. This means no flip flops at the office. This means finding a big enough shirt to cover your stomach if you don’t have a wash-board stomach. This means just, um, looking nice? I’m sorry if I’m partial for people who take the effort to look nice. Is that so crazy?”
(Just for the record: I AM talking about bringing back three-piece suits–because, by Jehovah, looking like a grown-ass man is a forgotten Philly tradition. Good enough for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, good enough for you.)
December 1st, 2007 at 2:11 am
Has Johnny Goodtimes ever returned the favor and visited Boston? I wouldn’t call plaid shirts and Red Sox baseball caps fashionable. And that’s just the women…