Remember that whole flap from a few years back where the City of Philadelphia passed a law requiring tour guides to acquire a license after passing a written test showing that they possessed a minimum competency in, you know, historical facts? Well, this moment in idiocracy: Three of said tour guides went before a U.S. [...]

So says this Philly Mag report by Steve Volk, which is ironic in two ways: For one, Larry Platt, who was the editor-in-chief at said Philly Mag for years, was now infamously run out of that shop on a rail after years of allegedly terrorizing his own staff there — including the now-legendary story of [...]

“Blood libel?” Really?

You know, you kind of have to admire a guy who not only says, “Aw man, it’s snowing, I’m gonna take a cab to the gym,” but also has the cab literally pull up onto the sidewalk to drop him off. Also, we’re pretty sure the guy pictured here is a regular Philebrity commenter. Seriously. [...]

>>> Kyle Andrews and Anders Larson brave snow and stabbings at 700 for Philebrity Salon. Tonight, Kyle dials in some prog, acid folk and psych for those of you that missed the (utterly beautiful) marathon on XPN last weekend. >>> Elsewhere: Some crazy “retro”-emo night at the Barbary that 176 people RSVP’d for, and Dave [...]

We suppose they finally really did take the guesswork out.

As is the usual routine when we’re expecting a decent size snowfall, the City of Philadelphia issued a press release detailing its plan to make it look like shit is still happening. These are very boring to read, so here’s our version of what was said: · NUTTER: Everybody be cool, we got this! Oh [...]

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video. And now, your moment of zen: This completely silent video the general vicinity of 5th and Thompson, apparently pretending to be Venice. We hope everybody’s alright, and real talk: We’re dying to know what Greg Bucceroni has to say about this.

Hey, remember that time we did that “Philebrity’s Thursday MP3 Dizzle: The 10 Best, Newest Local Tracks You Sent Us”? Hot damn, that was fun. Welp, it’s a new year, with new bands, and everybody’s broke so nobody is buying music and thus, local bands, NOW IS THE TIME for you to charm your way [...]

After a nice run through the oughties that saw them as being a key piece of retail revitalization in Fishtown, the sci-fi bookstore Germ Books is closing. In a letter to friends and supporters, Germ’s David E. Williams announced that January 31st would be the store’s last day open. “We persevered, transmuting grief and forging [...]

You know this already: Up to 8 more inches of snow overnight, because suddenly, Philadelphia 2011 has whiplash-morphed back into Philadelphia 1983, where the winters were long and unforgiving and the city was home to any number of stranglers, rippers, freaks and drunks. The Mayor will be announcing the City’s “plan” at 3PM (which we [...]

This was the view from my office (41st & Market) at the end of the day. Seeing something around town of note? Cameraphone it to: tips[at]philebrity[dot]com.

We had intended to lead off today with pictures of Cliff Lee‘s new condo at 1706 Rittenhouse Square, a tip that was roundly blasted out to local media by Philly Realtors the Atacan Group last night. Well, what a difference a few hours makes: The Atacan Group’s post about it, with address, pictures and other [...]

Via the NoLibs Town Watch Account on the Nothern Liberties message board: A NEIGHBOR DESCRIBES THE FOLLOWING: So I just returned home to a dead person on our corner (7th and Brown). A homeless man was stabbed at 7th and Fairmount and then collapsed at Brown. Whoever stabbed him walked to 8th and Fairmount and [...]

A fire at 48th and Walnut has now raged to four alarms. No injurys reported, and West Philadelphia High School is being used as a make-shift shelter. Seeing something around town of note? Cameraphone it to: tips[at]philebrity[dot]com.

The partners in the proposed Foxwoods Casino in South Philly have petitioned to appeal the PA Gaming Control Board‘s December decision to revoke their license. The partners told the Inky that they’ve “submitted documents showing a completed agreement with Caesars Entertainment, which would develop and operate a casino in South Philadelphia, as well as commitments [...]

Destroyer – Kaputt from Merge Records on Vimeo. We don’t know why they cast a lookalike of the brother from Napoleon Dynamite in it. We are also curious to know why Destroyer in particular have appointed themselves to be evangelists for the forthcoming return of the rapesax genre of music. And finally, the whale disturbs [...]

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, Dance/USA Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Music Project just launched PhillySpaceFinder.com, an online resource that helps performers and promoters find venues for either rehearsals or events. Using the handy search engine, you can scan for places that do rentals for a wide range of usage, [...]

Late last week, we got an intriguing missive: We are Jerry Blavat‘s baristas. In order to properly chronicle his daily conversational gems, favorite snacks, and phone calls to Chubby Checker, we’ve started a blog. Since you’re big Geator fans, we thought you’d like to know. We’re also happy to publish anyone else’s favorite Jerry Blavat [...]

It’s probably just a coincidence, but note how in today’s always-pleasing-to-look-at Accuweather snow graphic, there is no mention of “paralysis,” “strong flow,” “wintry battle zone” or any other ripped-from-World-of-Warcraft phrases. Today, it’s just fucking snow. And you’re getting some. Hey, is this average?