It’s that time of year again: The live manger scene at Old First Reformed United Church (4th & Race) is up and running, complete with a cow, a donkey, some sheep, mannequin Joseph and Mary, and so on. And pardon our corny, but passing this thing is pretty much the best part of every day. [...]

Monday, December 12, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAYOR NUTTER TO SIGN THE EQUAL BENEFITS BILL Philadelphia, December 12, 2011 – Mayor Michael A. Nutter signed Bill No. 110057, which requires certain City service contractors to offer the same benefits to the life partners of their employees as are offered to the spouses of married employees. [...]

Do you want to see pictures of this fucking majestic display of suburban-assholes-treating-the-city-like-it’s-their-own-personal-theme-park? Of course you do. It’s like the Sarah McLachlan adopt-a-wounded-pet commercial, but for human souls!

Is it wrong that this makes me miss my grandfather terribly? And that the next thing I looked up on YouTube was Mark E. Smith singing “Hark The Herald Angels Sing,” only to find that they are but two sides of the same lovable-old-bastard coin? Aw man, even Byko’s sex tour feels Christmas-y today! Merry [...]

Well, maybe. A just-launched 501c3 called Sink Or Swim Philly seeks to directly aid those among who, in these tough times, go without health insurance, only to be bitten in the ass by that later. (And increasingly, that’s a lot of us; as of 2008, 14.1% of Philadelphians were uninsured, accounting for 1 in 6 [...]

Available (and recommended) for your perusal at mayornuttersfacebookcomments.blogspot.com. We especially like the one where his cousin asks him to call and passes along his phone number.

We were deeply saddened to learn that alt-country musician Beth Case (pictured at left) passed away over the weekend after a long, tough battle with cancer. Many will remember Case as one half of the popular local duo She-Haw, who were a staple of Philly’s thriving alt-country scene in the 1990s. Along with co-hort Amy [...]

The 26th best reason, as a matter of fact. Which prompts a number of questions, not all of them comfortable. Such as: How can NYC claim ?uestlove when he has already been so thoroughly and willingly claimed by Philly? And what’s up with the blurb that says that ?uest “claims to” live in Philly? Has [...]

GUESS WHO’S BACK! That’s right, you smelly hippies, it’s your old pal Byko! Now listen! Before I go any further, you should all know that it’s been a weird fucking time for me lately! Like, even weirder than my last 40 years living in this burg as the unofficial ball sweat inspector of Philly media! [...]

FRIDAY: >>>In the show of the weekend that First Mate Jim is most bummed about missing, we have Meeting in the Aisle (Radiohead tribute), Sons & Heirs (The Smiths/Morrissey tribute), and Carnival of Sorts (pre-1987 R.E.M. tribute) at the North Star Bar. Seriously, he’ll be in 80 degree temperatures in Miami and he’d rather be [...]

RECOMMENDED: Well, obviously you should see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. A remake (eek) of a British spy mini-series starring Gary Oldman (yay) and about 40 other super-great English actors. Seriously, everyone is in this. Plus, it’s directed by the dude who directed Let the Right One In, and not the American one. Also, this thing [...]

Saying, “Covering everything from current events and historical exploration to the performing arts and pop culture, this Terry Gross-hosted interview and reviews show both entertains and informs,” iTunes has named WHYY/NPR’s Fresh Air as 2011′s Best Audio Podcast. YOU DID IT GUYS! CONGRATULATIONS! Fresh Air can be heard here.

Philly local RJD2, probably most known to non-fans as the dude who did the Mad Men theme song, currently resides in the Overbrook Farms neighborhood. Victor Fiorillo on the Philly Post reports, RJD2 (born Ramble John Krohn) is at the forefront of a fight against the neighborhood getting a Historical Designation. Fiorillo says, “It’s been [...]

Man we could really go for a Burger What and a Swooash drink right about now Plans have been in the works for years to clean-up Market East, but according to (Philebrity Awards nominee) Daniel Denvir at City Paper, it may actually happen now. According to Denvir, “After years of false starts, change is now [...]

According to (Philebrity Award nominee) Tara Murtha at Philadelphia Weekly, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has pulled the ad depicting a date rape victim we told you about yesterday after, “receiving hundreds of phone calls and hundreds of email complaints.”

Or click here to listen with iTunes. Got an HD radio? Tune in to 88.5-2 FM HD! ON THE BIG SHOW TODAY: A PERSONAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE GREATEST RECORDS OF ALL TIME!

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com. When asked by NBC10‘s Lu Ann Cahn what she says to the people criticizing her application for unemployment, Akcerman says, “I don’t know that I can respond to those kinds of words because people who say that don’t know me.” Ah, the classic “you don’t know me defense,” most often [...]

They’re both part of the winter event calendar at the Philadelphia Museum of Art‘s Art After 5 series (we would love to hear what else they have in common though). Along with the Zoe Strauss exhibit in January, the PMA is bringing some great events for Art After 5, “an eclectic mix of international music [...]

Holy crap, it could be! From the Siltbreeze show, 08/07/1993. Jesus Christ we’re all so so old.

As it turns out, that whole Michelle Bachmann incident got The Roots in a bit of trouble. According to Stereogum, Questlove will now have to run their intro song choices by three different NBC execs. We’d love to be in on the meetings where Questlove explains inside jokes and background on the reason these songs [...]