August 07, 2008

On Assignment

I'm at the Phillies, doing a story about... uhm... I'm doing a total immersion piece on fan interactions of drunken Phillies fans. Yeah, that sounds good. I'll post about it after the game. You may tide yourself over with the post about a George H.W. Bush speech in 1989 which for some reason enlists the Denver Broncos to fight the war on drugs.

In other news, I'm blogging the Olympics for Vanity Fair. Ha ha, best joke ever on Philadelphia Will Do!

Posted by D-Mac at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
Archives: Meta, Shameless Self-Promotion

New Phillies Fan Club: Kendrick's Hendrix

A brief non-researched history of Phillies fan clubs: The first big fan club was the Wolf Pack, in support of rookie pitcher Randy Wolf, in 1999. He began his career 5-0 and the Wolf Pack was at literally every game and so they got some attention. They also had dances and rules and, of course, wolf masks.

The Phillies were almost always out of the race by June. Fans needed something to do to make the losses more entertaining. The Vet was always nearly empty in the outfield upper deck; there was plenty of room for banners. Sal's Pals is a CBP equivalent. The Wolf Pack begat (in no particular order) the Padilla Flotilla, Myers' Squires, J-Roll's Bakery, Person's People, The Adams Family, Giambi's Zombies, Abreu's Amigos. (More here.)

One of my favorites was the Pratt Pack, for catcher Todd Pratt. When Brandon Duckworth debuted, there were tons of fan clubs at the Vet: Duck Pond, Quack Pack, etc.

Last night the TV showed the (possibly) new fan club Kendrick's Hendrix. Give 'em points for trying. It is clear, though, they have no actual clue who Jimi Hendrix is. Observe:

As you can see, these kids have confused Jimi Hendrix with Mr. Kotter.

Posted by D-Mac at 09:20 AM | Comments (19)
Archives: Gabriel Kaplan, Kyle Kendrick, Phillies, Phillies Fan Clubs, Welcome Back, Kotter

Abridged Daily News Columnists

Ronnie Polaneczky: This is kind of a sad story, and the column isn't bad, so let's just write that Polaneczky mentions PW!

Posted by D-Mac at 08:31 AM | Comments (0)
Archives: Daily News, Ronnie Polaneczky

August 06, 2008

Leftovers: Survivor Girls Love The Phillies

• Apparently, young Phillies pitchers can only date women who have been on Survivor, as Kyle Kendrick makes two (Cole Hamels is now married). You're up, J.A. Happ! [Phillies/baseball]

• SEPTA plans to extend regional rail service (on at least the R5, 6 and 7) after midnight as early as next month. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• Yes, yes, I've seen this. [Philebrity]

• That anti-casino guy Bill Kearney on the casino industry: "The power this industry has is greater than oil, insurance and banking businesses combined." The casino industry could totally win the presidential election if it wanted to. [Courier Times]

Posted by D-Mac at 05:26 PM | Comments (1)
Archives: Leftovers

Philly.com, The Annotated Front Page

For your perusing pleasure, I've gone through an annotated a few things on a recent front page of Philly.com.

If you'll excuse me, I have to go calm down; I am so psyched about Prince Chunk being back on the front page I need to go find a Xanax or something.

Posted by D-Mac at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
Archives: Fat Cats, Philly.com, Philly.com Front Page, Polls, Prince Chunk

The Best Headline You'll See All Year

This is on the front page of this week's Center City Weekly Press. I'm not sure if this is as good as the time the paper ran a Super Bowl preview from the game three years earlier, but it's certainly close.

Larger scan of the front page after the jump.

Click here to continue reading "The Best Headline You'll See All Year"

Posted by D-Mac at 02:29 PM | Comments (4)
Archives: Bob Jovi, Bon Jovi, Jon Bon Jovi, Philadelphia Soul, Spellcheck, Typos, Weekly Press

It's Daily Cantastic!

Everyone's favorite local media conglomerate, Comcast, has purchased email newsletter Daily Candy for a whopping $125 million. Who said the economy was going to slow down the acquisition parade?

Comcast EVP Sam Schwartz said Daily Candy has "an extremely loyal base of fashion and lifestyle-conscious women. The company pioneered the ad-supported e-mail model and has built an industry-leading sales team." A friend writes that it also has about 2.5 million subscribers, which means Comcast paid about $50 per user -- an extremely high sum.

But, hey, when you the opportunity to acquire a captive (or loyal, whatever) audience of women obsessed with stickers and jellybeans or whatever it is Daily Candy writes about, does money really matter?

Comcast Buys Daily Candy for $125M [Philadelphia Biz Journal]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
Archives: Acquisitions, Comcast, Comcastic, Daily Candy

Dunkin' Donuts Colors Called 'Shocking'

Yesterday, officials in Milford Township, Bucks County, finally approved a drive-through Dunkin' Donuts just off the Quakertown Exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The doughnut shop was approved after changing the design to a "colonial architectural style that would fit in with the Upper Bucks township."

What was the problem with the original Dunkin' Donuts? Well, you can read for yourself:

“You drive around our state and others and the villages and towns are a hodgepodge and are ugly. This keeps us neat,” said Supervisor Tim Damiani.

It also means the store will be designed with more muted, earth-tone colors, and not the bright orange familiarly associated with the chain.

Original plans for the location called for a flat 1950s-style roof with “shocking, startling colors,” said township manager Jeff Vey, so township officials requested the developer rework the design

There really is nothing more frightening than the orange and hot pink. If an NFL team picked those as their colors, they'd go 19-0 and win the Super Bowl every year.

Officials OK new doughnut shop [The Intelligencer]
Thanks, Joe

Posted by D-Mac at 11:50 AM | Comments (5)
Archives: Bucks County, Dunkin' Donuts, Fright, Milford Township, Quakertown, Shocking Colors, WTF

Adam Eaton Continues Stellar Play In Minors

Hey, Adam Eaton had his second start in the minor leagues yesterday. After lasting only 3 2/3 innings (and losing) in Single-A Clearwater, how would he fare this time?

Oh.

Adam Eaton's return to the mound in Reading wasn't much different than his past few starts in Philadelphia: He heard boo birds, gave up a pile of runs and didn't last long.

This time, though, the 30-year-old right-hander felt OK about his outing, even though it put the Reading Phillies in a deep hole en route to their 13-3 Eastern League loss to visiting Portland.

Indeed! Eaton went 3 1/3 innings, gave up 7 runs -- including a first-inning grand slam -- and took his second straight minor league loss.

"I felt good," Eaton told the Reading Eagle. "The ball was coming out pretty nice. I was happy with the way I threw." It is the minor leagues, and he is just attempting to work on his command, but... yeesh.

Eaton hardly unhittable in his R-Phils start [Reading Eagle]
Photo via ReadingPhillies.com

Posted by D-Mac at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
Archives: Adam Eaton, First-Inning Grand Slams, Phillies, Reading Phillies

This Is, Uhm, Wait, What?

A correction from today's Inquirer:

A commentary Friday incorrectly described an eight-gate terminal for commuter planes as the "small" Cincinnati airport.

Is this snarky or something? Or is it... oh, let's go back to the original commentary. Looks like the word "small" was quietly removed from the article. Or maybe it didn't contain the word at all. You know what? I think it's just easier to be confused.

Clearing the record 8.6 [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 10:15 AM | Comments (2)
Archives: Airports, Cincinnati, Commuter Terminals, Correctons, Inquirer, Small Airports, WTF

LOVE Triangle Leads To Fatal Stabbing

Um, yeah: Yesterday, two women were arguing over Tony Stewart (not the race car driver) in LOVE Park, when one of the women fatally stabbed the other.

As far as I can remember, this is what precipitated the renovation of the park to make it "unskateboardable." No, wait, that was just a bunch of suburban kids who pissed off John Street because they brought a major week-long event to the city (and were white). Well, whatever. Here's the details from yesterday:

Cops said that the squabble reached a tipping point at about 3 p.m., when Stewart's homeless girlfriend, Yvette Prince, slugged her rival in the head. The other woman, also homeless, jumped up and plunged a knife into Prince's chest.

Prince, 45, died of her injuries at Hahnemann University Hospital at 4:54 p.m., investigators said. The unidentified stabber, who is in her 50s, was taken into police custody, but charges were not filed as of last night.

Click here to continue reading "LOVE Triangle Leads To Fatal Stabbing"

Posted by D-Mac at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)
Archives: Homeless, Homicides, Love Park, Philly.com Comments, Stabbings, WTF

Abridged Daliy News Columnists

John Baer: 102-year-old Arlen Specter leads Chris Matthews in a poll for 2010's Senate race. Yes, if those are our two candidates for Senate, we all are doomed.

Posted by D-Mac at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)
Archives: Daily News, John Baer

August 05, 2008

HTML Radio Buttons Of Wackiness!

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk! The above wacky poll is brought to you by Philly.com. Ho, ho, look at all those comedic choices. Personally, I was thinking of an Atlasphere. Man, that's almost as wacky as a Segway!

FBI chases Pa.'s 'Running Man' Bandit [Inquirer]
Thanks, Master Fister

Posted by D-Mac at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)
Archives: Philly.com, Polls, Random References, Segways, Wackiness

Dude In Funny Photo Indicted

Catherine Lucey sends news that Jack Kelly's chief of staff has been indicted, along with three local developers. The local developers did not appear in any funny photos, however, so who cares about them?

Breaking News: Council Staffer & Developers Indicted [Clout]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
Archives: Chris Wright, City Council, Funny Photos, Indictments, Jack Kelly

Pigs Flying Much Closer To Ground

Last last week, Phillymag's Steve Volk wrote about the financial worries at Philadelphia Media Holdings, the Brian Tierney-captained crew running the Inquirer, Daily News and other related properties.

The 411: Standard & Poor's reported PMH will have its debt interest rate go up a point in exchange for being allowed to miss a few payments. Its loan was trading in the mid-70s in June and is now in the 40s.

Want more bad news? Sure: Boscov's, which has filed for bankruptcy, owes the paper nearly a million dollars.

Of course, when the company gets that money, it will immediately be spent on inflatable pigs and cat food, so that Philly.com may construct a whole army of 40-plus pound cats to put on the front page.

Financial Worries Deepen at Philadelphia Media Holdings [Phillymag]
Boscov's files for bankruptcy; several stores closing immediately [Baltimore Sun via Phawker]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:52 AM | Comments (2)
Archives: Boscov's, Brian Tierney, Daily News, Flying Pigs, Inquirer, Philadelphia Media Holdings, Philly.com

Golf And War Cure All Depression

Yesterday, the Daily News finally got the story of why Eagles' offensive lineman Shawn Andrews was missing training camp; he's been battling depression. (Here's today's follow-up.)

We all knew that there would be at least one comment on Philly.com complaining that Andrews was a rich guy who was depressed. No sense even getting worked up about it (not that it would stop anyone). But who knew that it would be so freaking awesome?

Another millionaire who's depressed! Let me tell you about my world Shaun: I am an Air Force reservist who has done two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. In between tours, I work a full time job, carry a mortgage, have managed to put 3 of my 4 children through college without them incurring too much personal debt, and now my fourth goes next year. You know what I get up every day, do my job, have fun and even occasionally get a round of golf in. I know it's tough playing a kids game everyday and making a million dollers doing it but maybe just maybe you could get up off you fat, lazy, a__ and get to work. Depressed my a___!

Man, Shawn, can't you just get on to the golf course and feel all better about yourself? The nerve.

Photo by Speedpicks, Creative Commons license

Posted by D-Mac at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)
Archives: Eagles, Golf, Philly.com, Philly.com Comments, Shawn Andrews

Troops In Danger Of Consuming Fake KFC

The crack morning show team at Fox & Friends reported last week on a KFC now open in Fallujah. For some reason the U.S. military reported on the opening of a branch of the fried chicken chain, instead of some sort of company spokesperson. Anyway, the opening of a fried chicken restaurant in Fallujah meant that Iraqi citizens were no longer killing each other and were doing their killing the American way: To themselves, by clogging their arteries.

Anywho, it turns out the KFC in Fallujah is an unauthorized knockoff, as if you hadn't already guessed. (Why else would I be writing about it?) TPMMuckraker got this comment from a KFC spokeschicken:

I understand you wanted some details about the store in Falluja that looks like a KFC. This store is not approved by KFC International and we have [been] working with the US Military to warn the troops of this situation.

Yes, please warn the troops immediately! We wouldn't want them eating chicken not up to the colonel's usual standards.

I also enjoyed this little bit at the end of the article:

We've also called the number of the faux KFC itself, but no one at the restaurant seems to speak English.

Gee, nobody seems to speak English at the bootleg KFC in Fallujah? I think they're just stonewalling, scared of the muckraking about to take place. Someone will get to the bottom of this.

KFC In Fallujah? Too Finger-Licking Good To Be True [TPMMuckraker]

Posted by D-Mac at 08:51 AM | Comments (3)
Archives: English, Fallujah, Fox News, Hilarity, Iraq, Iraq War, KFC, Spokeschickens, WTF, War