Ever wonder what’s on the other side of the Berks El Stop? It’s THIS!
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We think we got the gist of what the Mondays Upstairs At Elena’s party was like the second we clicked play on the G.C. Cameron clip of “It’s A Shame” that adorns the party’s Facebook invite. With DJs Apt One (fresh off the dizzle!) and JJC manning the decks, we’re expecting lots of Double Dutch, a spot of Rubber Band Man, and even a little Mt. Airy Groove. Starts tonight and runs every Monday in lovely West Philadelphia.
The dude says that the all-powerful soda lobby is doing everything it can to sack his proposed soda tax. As a public service, here’s some things to look out for: 5. Beware of any councilpeople or aides with new love interests named “Seven.” Don’t ask them what they are doing later. They are feeling Seven up. 4. Local union reps suddenly switching tracks and using Mountain Dew to destroy the paint jobs on the cars of political foes. They used to just use acid. 3. Any white male council reps stumping for funding for the Faygo Parade, the newly re-christened moniker for the legendary Mummer’s Parade. 2. Notable appearance of Franny Rizzo’s Gourmet Old Style Black Wishniak Soda suddenly all the rage at political fundraisers. 1. Late-night power meetings at The Capital Grille attended not just by five human-sized cans of Coke, but also a mysterious high-roller dressed like this.
Join us tonight after the break, when our guests will be The Kool Aid Guy and Michael Jackson’s Flaming Hair.
After years of searching for this on YouTube, here, friends, is the motherlode: Nearly ten full minutes of Dancin’ On Air — the WPHL 17 version, before it went national to ultimately become Dance Party USA. Even though many of us who grew up here remember watching this after school, solid footage (like this) of the show has remained either elusive or of poor quality. This stuff, though? Wow. Exactly as we remember it. And frankly, maybe even better. There’s more (including a young Kelly Ripa) here.
Repo Men — not to be confused with the 1980s Emilio Estevez/Alex Cox classic — is a new film starring Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker as dudes who repossess body organs in a not-too-distant future where the health care system is even more fucked up than it is now. It’s both funny ha-ha and funny scary. Repo Men hits theaters this weekend, but we’ve got passes for a screening in Center City tomorrow night. You want to go? Sure you do! To enter to win, email ihopeiwin[at]philebrity[dot]com with “REPO MEN” in the subject header. You’ll automatically be subscribed to the new Philebrity Reader weekly newsletter and win chances for other exclusive free stuff. We’ll pick winners at the end of the day, so check your email tonight!
After months of speculation and its editors acting like they didn’t know it was gonna happen, Philly sportsblog The 700 Level has finally announced that they’ve officially partnered with Comcast SportsNet and CSNPhilly.com. Now, if five years in the blog biz has taught us anything, it’s this: Frequently, the moment blogs/bloggers get “picked up” by pre-existing media empires is the exact moment said blog/blogger begins a lush, comfortable decline. (It’s basically the equivalent of what usually used to happen when your favorite indie band got signed to a major label, back when things like “major labels” existed. And before you call us knee-jerk anything, it’s usually the fault of both parties.) Now, with all of that being said, here’s hoping that The 700 Level will become the exception to the rule — they’re already promising “editorial independence, while tapping into the unique access, technology, and resources of Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia” — rather than the rule. The Sev is a great site, and it’s often been our go-to link when we get tired of acting like we care about any sport other than baseball (and soon, soccer). And that access that they speak of is a big deal for a sports blog: Even 2010, most professional sporting organizations lord over media access to their players and coaches in a most medieval fashion — a problem the rest of the blogging world (this site included) hasn’t had to endure. So this is a pretty big deal. And if you didn’t read The 700 Level before, now, YOU MUST. It’s kind of like how you ended up with that land line just because you wanted cheap cable.
In case you missed the season premiere last night, here is a relatively spoiler-free roundup on this bizarre show we have come to love, fully and unironically:
- Bret Michaels is raising money for “DIABEETUS” which, even though he has had it since he was six, still calls it “DIABEETUS.” - There are TWO wrestlers in the cast, one some giant jerk called “Goldberg” and another one, a LADY WRESTLER, who is hilariously porny. - Which kind of dovetails how, on this season, there is a great divide between actual celebrities (Sharon Osbourne, Sinbad) and weird people like the Victoria’s Secret model that make you go, “Huh?” - It is already pretty apparent that the producers of Celebrity Apprentice wish to give America the Rod Blagojevich public, televised caning they never got. Even Sinbad looks down on him. - Did I mention that half of the people on this year’s Celebrity Apprentice are not actual celebrities? (Because it needs to be mentioned again.) - Potential good guys/who I’m rooting for this season: Curtis Stone (he’s the only non-American and we always root for the non-American, also he is DREAMY), Cyndi Lauper (she’s so damned dippy and proud of Rosie O’Donell being the only rich person she knows), Daryl Strawberry (aww, it’s Daryl Strawberry!).
So yeah, in the absence of Mad Men or Big Love or anything decent at all, really (don’t you dare come near me with that Breaking Bad shit, no Malcolm In The Middle cast member will EVER be forgiven) it’s Celebrity Apprentice. And we’re totally OK with that. For now.
Congrats to Jon K., who just coined “People on bikes that ride on sidewalks” as our new favorite euphemism for… Mexicans! Hiyo! Thanks, we’ll be here all week. No, really. Also: Nice hand lettering!
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From the progressive blog Balloon Juice comes a heads-up about Broadband.gov, the Obama Admin’s FCC collaboration that, among other things, wants to help you make sure that you’re getting what you pay for when you buy Internet connectivity. To that end, they’ve put out a Consumer Broadband Test, that’ll test things like upload and download speeds on your connection. (To our shock and disbelief, the connection here at Phileb HQ was not at sub-dial-up speeds; turns out, we’re just impatient and spoiled. Thanks, Gub’ment!) And while many could argue — and no doubt will — that giving The Man that kind of access to your Internet connection is just a bad idea, unless The Man is looking to crack down on those watching episodes of Community on Hulu and googling things like “am I dying?,” we’re not too, too worried.
There’s a pretty interesting interview in Fast Company with Josh Kopelman, managing partner at First Round Capital, about why one should go ahead and start up a new company in Philadelphia. Now, before we get to the various and sundry elephants in the room, let’s ponder what Kopelman has to say: There’s an inspiringly scrappy DIY environment. A fantastic community bonds many entrepreneurs here. And the abundance of schools nearby breeds entrepreneurs themselves. All in all, it’s a great pep talk. But we kind of wish Kopelman had addressed those elephants: Namely, how outright unkind the city is to businesses, whether your particular gripe is with the BPT, the wage tax or L&I. And then there’s also the issue of the brain drain — the kinds of minds entrepreneurs need to get their startups off the ground generally aren’t even living here by the time they’re 25. (Of course, that’s a chicken-or-the-egg issue, but still.) Nevertheless, we’re still picking up what Kopelman is putting down. Now, if only others would.
Let’s not pretend that last weekend was anything more (and nothing less) than a furtive glimpse into the raw future, where we shall one day frolic in the sun and eat out of doors all over again, like the humans did in ancient times. And let us also regard what we’ve got this weekend — rain, rain, and oh, how about a little rain with your rain — as something like a speeded-up version of the last throes of adolescence. You’ll stay in and listen to The Smiths. You’ll spend whole half-hours staring at things that have been hanging on your walls since you moved in. You’ll go out, but it won’t mean anything. Cherish this time, this idle melancholy time. Revel in it. It’s not like you have anything better to do. And when you do finally emerge — when we all do — we’ll remember this time, this rainy season in the wake of the thaw. And on Sunday, you will rise, turn the clocks forward and know:
IN THE FUTURE… SEPTA fares will cost 5-6% more, leaving everyone scrambling for pennies and nickels as they rush out the door each morning, wondering why it all goes so smoothly for their friends in NYC (in the future, there won’t be SmartCards in Philly, either), while we are all scouring around like a bunch of crackheads, looking for $1.53 for a goddamned SEPTA token.
Wow. In about 24 hours, we received submissions from over 50 local acts, all of whom wanted to share their tunes with you, the good music lovers of Philadelphia (and beyond). Some were from acts we knew, and lots were from people we’d never heard of at all before. And if this shock-sampling was anything to go by, we just learned a couple of things, which we’ll now wrap all into one: The DIY spirit is alive and well in the Philly scene, especially when it comes to lo-fi lookers, garage rock monkeys, and hi-tech/lo-tech secret popstars. It wasn’t easy, but here’s the ten best mp3s we received this week. Check these acts out, adopt them as your own, share their tunes and, most importantly, go see them sometime and buy their stuff when it comes out. (more…)
>>> Henry Rollins will be at First Unitarian Church tonight talking about his recent world travels, which is almost de facto (probably) a talk about how fucked up America is. Which, if you haven’t been paying attention, is our national pastime. >>> Congrats to our lady friends who do The Rag, the monthly girls-getting-drunk-and-blasting-ELO night at the 700: Tonight, their kooky DJ night turns one year old. If you’ve never been to this, you should go: Everybody gets hammered, and there’s cupcakes. >>> Elsewhere: Gildon Works/Scout Niblett/Walker Lundee (reunited!) are at Johnny Brenda’s; and Night Train is back at Kung Fu Necktie. I’m going to all of these. With my man date, Henry Rollins. Our necks put together are larger than the Great Wall of China.
@rachelriot has the right idea here: It’s all bars.
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Says mapper Jon Goff: “I made this for some friends moving to Fishtown last year. Please note that it references ‘Secret Fishtown.’” OK, but, well, isn’t the first rule of living in Fishtown that there are no secrets? Ahem.
Anybody else want to join in the fun? Send us your hand-drawn neighborhood maps to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com and we will totally run them. And check out more neighborhood maps here on Philebrity.
Holy wow: We’ve gotten a TON of submissions already for this new Thursday MP3 Dizzle thing we’re gonna try out. We’re still sifting through them, but have already heard some really great stuff. Nice going, Philadelphia. The first-ever Philebrity’s Thursday MP3 Dizzle will go live at 7PM tonight, so be sure to check back in and download like a crazy person when you get home. To everybody who submitted: Thanks! Submissions are closed for this week’s post, but hang in there: We can already tell we’re gonna do this again. Stay tuned!
After months of speculation and its editors acting like they didn’t know it was gonna happen, 
There’s a pretty interesting 
IN THE FUTURE… 
