Oh...who knows

Well done Forum

2009-02-09T20:04:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to the cast of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot for their nomination for The Canadian Embassy Award for Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play at this year's Helen Hayes Awards. Well done guys, glad I got to see it. And well done Forum.

Such Good News

2009-02-09T19:26:00.002-05:00

For the past 5-6 weeks, my sister's status on GChat has been www.helpfindrocky.blogspot.com.

Rocky is a 7 year old tri color Australian Cattle Dog who'd been missing. He gone missing, and after 36 days of having his owner constantly out, putting up flyers and posters, and doing everything possible, Rocky was found, and is now home and safe with his dad. Numerous friends and people in the community helped, putting up flyers and spreading the word about Rocky.

I recommend you look at the pages, and read the posts, and look at the pictures of the happy reunion.

My dog Reggie, came to be mine in large part because he ran away from...who he was staying with at the time. He was gone for a couple of weeks, and had been found and kept, luckily, by two dog-groomers. After that we decided it was best if he stayed with us.

When I think of it, and I do, I can't even imagine dealing with if Reggie went missing now. It's hard enough for me, not getting to live with him, and see him regularly. It's so hard every time I go down to VA, for a night or a day or two, and then I have to leave.

Anway, I sort of avoided reading the blog updates while he was missing, because it was a hard thing to think about, and because since I wasn't local, I couldnt' really help anyhow. But now that he's gone...I just think that it's a beautiful thing to read. I hope you enjoy it.

So we all know Meth is bad but...

2009-02-09T15:31:00.001-05:00

...but do you have to try so hard to make it seem awesome?

2009-02-07T14:09:00.001-05:00

Unbelievable.

Thanks for the link, Geoff.

Whose side are you on?

2009-02-06T18:38:00.005-05:00

I'd held of for a while, but I finally started watching the A&E tv show "Parking Wars". To be honest, I don't recall why I had originally decided not to watch it, but it's possible that it's because it's set here in Philly.

Anyway, I enjoy it a decent bit. It's got kind of a playful, Pop-Up-Video type of tone to it.

But whatever, the point is, it pisses me off to watch it sometimes, and probably not for the reasons you'd think. I hate dickheads. Whoever you are, a cop, someone's boss, someone rude sitting next to me at the bar. I just can't stand people who have bad attitudes for no good reason. And most of the time on this show, that's the impression that I get from the people who get ticketed. That's right. Obviously there's some editing and some decision making done by the producers, but it doesn't surprise me at all (especially being set in Philly), how so many people react to, even just the site of a meter-maid (is it okay to say that?...ticketing agent? who knows).

Nobody likes getting tickets, obviously. But there are rules. And frankly those rules are there for a reason. I've gotten' plenty of tickets over my twelvish years of driving, for a variety of reasons. And a lot of them I've deserved. How can you get mad at someone for giving you a ticket for parking in an illegal spot, when you clearly parked in an illegal spot. If you want to try it, and then hope for the best, the most you're allowed when you see that you tempted the fates and lost, is a "Oh...bummer."

Idiot. You know the rules, but yet you think that they don't apply to you?! Obviously, as I said, the producers pick the most...interesting things to put on the show, so there's a lot of people on there getting mad for that reason. And listen, I've had more improper parking tickets on my car, than I imagine anyone else in the city could have. I've talked about it plenty of times; these people have basically two jobs when it comes to checking my car:
-You check to see if the meter is expired
-And you check to see if I have a residential permit sticker, that means I don't have to pay the meter, which clearly, I do, clearly displayed in the proper place.

Yet I've had dozens of tickets left. Getting them dismissed is a process that ranges from a few minutes of my time, to a moderate pain in the ass. And I complain about that when it happens, but you know what, it always gets cleared up, and hey, shit happens.

But when I park somewhere where I shouldn't, and get a ticket, it's my fault because I knew that it might happen.

This past week there was a lot of snow here. Someone posted this picture.

Then people started talking about it, saying stuff like: Jerks, the car is covered in snow, what kind of assholes would give that car a ticket?!

Who cares if it's covered in snow? Is it supposed to be there? If you have a car, snow is one of the things that we have to deal with. Life is harsh sometimes, but that doesn't mean that you're above the law. Traffic needs to move, other people need to park, people need to shop, and run errands, and park near their houses, and do all sorts of things and that's why have parking laws in the first place. Now, if you want to be upset that the parking people were out in force right after a snow, you can go ahead and saw "Oh drat". But aside from that, get over yourself.

People are too mean.

Woohoo!! Consume Obey

2009-02-06T15:54:00.002-05:00

Geek's rule!!

2009-02-06T15:46:00.004-05:00

So apparently some dude in Colorado Springs, CO robbed a 7-11, and then went and robbed another 7-11 like, a half hour later. What's great is that he robbed them using a Bat'leth. You know that Klingon sword. Oh come on. You know.

Anyway, what's great, is that both clerks....BOTH CLERKS, when they described their assailant, not only knew that it was a weapon from Star Trek, but the BOTH actually knew the name of it. You know, it's hard to move out of the basement, when you're only making $8.25 an hour.

Oh, George Lucas...

2009-02-05T15:01:00.004-05:00

So I watched Volume 1 of the "Star Wars: Clone Wars" tv show. It wasn't excatly offensive, and sometimes it was cool, but I don't think I'm going to watch anymore. Either way, not a biggie. But I found out something about Star Wars that I hadn't known before (or maybe it wasn't even known before, I don't know, don't think it matters).

You remmber Admiral Ackbar, that fish-faced guy leading up the Rebel attack at the end of Star Wars? Do you know what he and his fish-faced race of people are called?

The Calamari.

That's retarted. Sorry.

And he was always one of my favorite characters (God, I really love character actors, huh?). The Calamari. Shut up. Go home.

America's Most Wanted

2009-02-05T10:01:00.002-05:00

Thanks Deborah, for sending me this. I've watched it about a million times, and keep laughing.

2009-02-05T01:38:00.002-05:00

So apparently T-Shirt Hell is going out of business.

Did anyone else know that it's founder calls himself Sunshine Megatron? That's.....awesome. Especially if, like in the above linked article, you're quoting him:
”I made a shitload of dough. I’ve done cocaine off the better body parts of supermodels,” Megatron wrote in an open letter to the company’s fans. ”I’ve even raped and killed a mountain panda in the hills of Shaanxi. But these perks are besides the point.”

Hurry, only a few days left.

Pictures are nifty

2009-02-05T01:32:00.003-05:00

And in that vein, here: Wired.Com has put up a couple lists of shadow pictures, as chosen by the staff and the readers.

Ummm...I thought we just solved racism...

2009-02-03T14:35:00.002-05:00

From the Philadelphia Inquirer

Two black employees at the city's trash transfer center in Roxborough have sued the city for discrimination, claiming their supervisor assigned blacks a separate bathroom and reserved a water cooler for white workers only.

...

In an interview, Young said whites and blacks at the center were not allowed to use the same bathroom. In one case, he said, a black worker had to walk down five flights of stairs because he was prohibited from using a whites-only bathroom.

...

During a heat wave in the summer of 2007, Young said, Gill took away the water cooler from black workers in the scale building "because he said we were using it too fast."

I'd like to say something witty, but I really don't even understand. They've filed a civil suit, but isn't there also some way that this guy could go to jail?

Postcards We'd Like To See

2009-02-03T14:28:00.002-05:00

Well played HolyTaco.com's: Postcards We'd Like To See

Here are my fav's.

Damnit! Why is San Francisco so cool?

2009-02-02T14:02:00.003-05:00

http://www.baconcamp.com

http://baconcamp.pbwiki.com/

PETA could take a page from Pennsylvania

2009-02-02T13:43:00.002-05:00

The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals voted last month to allow cruelty investigators to carry guns.

When you want to tell her you love her...

2009-02-02T13:28:00.002-05:00

...but you don't have a ring of fire, or a tiger costume.

Who's House?....Obama's House

2009-01-31T13:40:00.002-05:00

You may recall we went to a park in Botswana

2009-01-31T13:15:00.007-05:00

Aquarium Telephone Booth In France

2009-01-31T13:15:00.004-05:00

Can you believe it's taken me this long to talk about Bacon?

2009-01-29T14:06:00.006-05:00

So, thanks to Keith for telling me about the above pictured Bacon Explosion!!! Also, thanks to the liberal, Jew-run New York Times, for writing about it, at length.

Also thanks to Deborah for being so open-minded, both of my bacony-ways, and also of the part of the recipe where you weave the bacon, and also for sharing this with her friends. Finally, thanks to her friend Kristin, for finding this:

and also this:

Other Uses For Google Maps

2009-01-29T13:57:00.002-05:00

Apparently, there are some great uses for the Google Maps Street View that you might find. So careful of what you do in public. The interweb is always out there, and you will get caught. Also, incase you needed another reason, stay the hell out of Pittsburgh.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it)

2009-01-29T12:24:00.003-05:00

I sent this around a bit, but for those who I missed, or who missed it:

It's just what it sounds like. Some guy asked his friend, who had seen only bits of the Star Wars Trilogy. Her re-telling is great, and also pretty adorable.

Enjoy.

NPH almost as good as Leslie Nielsen

2009-01-29T10:20:00.002-05:00

from IMDB News

Actor Neil Patrick Harris was left red-faced at a TV academy event in Hollywood - after leaving his microphone on during a visit to the bathroom. The How I Met Your Mother star was on stage at a fan question-and-answer session on Tuesday to discuss his hit TV series along with co-stars Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders and Josh Radnor. But after leaving mid-discussion to visit the restroom, Harris was caught short when he forgot to turn off his mic - leaving the shocked crowd listening in. Harris was heard giving himself a pep talk, saying, "Wake up!" before being informed of his embarrassing broadcast by his publicist.

Is this real, or staged? Even aside from last week's "30 Rock" episode use of it, this is a pretty old, (and excellent) gag. I'm not sure which I'd like better, if it were an honest mistake, or a perfectly pulled of prank. Either way, that dude can do no wrong. Although, as I was reading this bit of news, I was hoping it was going to end up more like it did in The Naked Gun.

The Best Idea Since Springtime For Hitler

2009-01-29T10:07:00.006-05:00

from IMDB News

Clint Eastwood's classic action film Magnum Force is set to be given an unlikely musical makeover. The Dirty Harry sequel, released in 1973, featured Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan, and now cult singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is planning to produce an off-Broadway musical based on the film. He says, "It's a film that seemed to be on all the time when I was on tour. By the fifth time (I saw it), I became addicted to it. It's taken a very strange hold on my life."

Three bald men get onto a train traveling 90mph...

2009-01-23T00:43:00.002-05:00

I have a secret bar.

Everywhere I travel in this city, Philadelphia, as I like to call it: a big city and a small town at the same time....everywhere, everyone knows everyone. People who work in restaurants all know each other anyhow, but I always go to bars where my friends work, or sometimes, where my friends own the place.

Well I have a secret bar. It's in my neighborhood, where most of my friends live, but they don't know this bar. Only me. And I don't tell them, because sometimes, you just want to sit, and have a drink, and not bother anyone and not get bothered by anyone. Though I must admit that, of course, I've befriended some people there. But the drinks are cheap, the decor is full of character, and on Thursday nights they have live jazz until midnight.

And I can talk about this bar because, even if I told my friends about it, and even if I told them the name of the bar, they still probably wouldn't be able to find it. And do you want to know why? Well....I'll just tell you the name of the bar. It's called...

The Twilight Zone

2009-01-22T13:59:00.002-05:00

Act I of last weeks "This American Life" was called "All Your Base Are Belong To Him", a reference to Guantanamo Bay.

That video will just make me laugh forever.

2009-01-05T18:22:00.001-05:00

Izzard Gives Private Performance to Terror Victim

By John Scott Lewinski January 03, 2009 | 3:48:54 AMCategories: Comedy, Current Affairs, Movies, Television

Some stories are too cool to let slide even if they don't make the radar of the day's top entertainment stories.

Will Pike, a 28-year-old Englishman, was badly injured in the tragic Mumbai terror attacks -- shattering his body in a failed escape attempt. He has since returned to the United Kingdom and entered a spinal unit in a London hospital, hoping to walk again.

During Pike's ongoing recovery, he and his girlfriend missed their eagerly awaited night out to see British comic Eddie Izzard. Pike's father wrote Izzard, asking if the comic could send along a note to ease Pike's disappointment and depression.

Izzard refused. Instead, the star of The Riches and Valkyrie showed up at the hospital and performed his entire 90 minute stand-up set at Pike's bedside.

In reporting the appearance, Pike's father said it was the best medicine his son could receive.

Philly Actually Doing Something Right

2009-01-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

3,500 calls flood new 3-1-1 center

By CATHERINE LUCEY
Philadelphia Daily News

luceyc@phillynews.com 215-854-4172

Philly's new 3-1-1 information line received 3,576 calls within its first 24 hours of operation - with public-safety questions topping the list of requests.

The new 3-1-1 nonemergency call line formally kicked off just after 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

"We promised you at the beginning of this year that we'd have 3-1-1 up and running by the end of the year," Nutter said during a news conference. "Now all Philadelphians only need one number."

All nonemergency calls - whether it's an inquiry about your trash day or a request to fill a pothole - should now be made to 3-1-1. A call-taker should be able to provide information, take a request for a city service or forward the call to the right department.

The 3-1-1 service will be available by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or citizens can use a walk-in center in room 167 in City Hall.

"3-1-1 can even say 'God bless you,' " Nutter joked at his announcement after someone sneezed.

Emergency calls for medical help or to report a crime should still be directed to 9-1-1.

During the first hours of 3-1-1, the top calls for information or services were about police, courts, the Streets Department, noncity services - for instance, help with utility bills - and prisons, according to the mayor's press office.

The call center had a "soft start" back in October, when calls to the City Hall switchboard started getting transferred to 3-1-1. The center is staffed with 57 call-takers and seven supervisors, according to Rosetta Carrington Lue, the call center's director, .

Managing Director Camille Barnett - a key architect of the project - said that the city had spent about $890,000 in start-up costs for the center, including software, consulting and training. The annual cost to run the center is estimated to be between $2.3 million and $2.5 million.

The city's initial plans for 3-1-1 had to be scaled back in the fall due to budget constraints.

Plans to buy a $4 million to $8 million custom-designed software system were shelved in favor of a cheaper off-the-rack model. The center is in a backup 9-1-1 emergency-call center, so the $4.2 million in renovations were paid for through 9-1-1 funding.

Improvements are still being made to the 3-1-1 system.

Barnett said that the city wants to enhance online access to 3-1-1, so that computer users can access the database themselves.

And the city eventually wants 3-1-1 to able to resolve most requests for service without transferring calls to other departments. *

Oh, whatever...

2008-12-23T20:57:00.001-05:00

http://www.barbiecollector.com/shop/product.aspx?product_id=61555

Mailbox Fun

2008-12-19T17:35:00.002-05:00

Remember a few days ago when we had that light dusting of snow?

Reminds of the largely unexplained R2D2 Phenomenon of a year or two ago.

Poop on the sidewalk

2008-12-19T11:33:00.001-05:00

Hehe. Poop.

Proof of a higher power

2008-12-10T08:31:00.003-05:00

Sweet Christ! She's going to play a stripper!!

Tomei Turned To Michaels For Stripper Help
10 December 2008 4:15 AM, PST
Oscar winner Marisa Tomei studied rocker Bret Michaels' raunchy reality show Rock Of Love as part of her stripper research for new movie The Wrestler.
The actress tried pole dancing too - just to make sure she'd look authentic in her film debut as an exotic dancer.
She explains, "I had a friend who is a yoga teacher and she does a lot of pole dancing so I asked her to teach me. I went to a lot of clubs and watched to see the different styles of dancing.
"I would practice in a dance room with a bar and a mirror, like a ballet studio. I watched Rock of Love, that reality show with Bret Michaels, where he's trying to get a wife and they're all strippers. That was my closest association to the actual world of it."
And her brief flirtation with the world of the stripper has brought Tomei a new love: "I like going to strip clubs now."

2008-11-21T14:49:00.001-05:00

Hey. I just Googled myself (which I don't think I've done for a long time), and the first eleven links, were actually and legitimately about me. Cool, huh?

"You"

2008-11-18T13:25:00.002-05:00

I realized something about myself, or rather, figured something out about myself a couple of days ago. You see, sometimes I dont' take compliments very well. I like them and appreciate them of course, but sometimes they make me a little uncomfortable.

But then, there are other times when I really want a compliment, and might even fish for one. If I've done something that I think I've done well, and maybe surprised myself about and feel good about because of that, I might look for validation through a compliment.

So where's the line? Well, I think I've found it: the word 'you'. I think that I enjoy compliments, so long as they don't contain the word 'you'. "Hey man, you really did a great job on the such and such" makes me feel like, I don't know, like I'm not sure what to say. But "Hey man, the such and such really turned out great", is like something I can appreciate, but also get together with you in your support and appreciation of that such and such. "You look really nice tonight" sounds like bullshit to me (even though I say it, I think I just don't believe it about myself). While "I really like that shirt", can warrant a "Yeah, me too. Thanks." from me.

Anyway, I think that's something that I've figured out.

Side note. I'm starting to think, maybe, I should let someone else know about my blog besides Keith.

Addendum to last post

2008-11-18T13:24:00.001-05:00

Someone brought up a good point: the next time I hear someone say "I swear, officer. It isn't mine. Someone must have put it there. I've never seen that before in my life!", I'll have to take their word for it.

2008-11-16T14:31:00.002-05:00

I have a small messenger-style bag that I take with me, usually to both of my jobs, but always to the restaurant. At work last night, I went into one pocket to retrieve some pens, and found accompanying them, a small bag of pot. I don't smoke, so I was a little bit surprised. I even checked with a friend to make sure it was what I thought it was.

The only thing I can think of, is that after work on Thursday night, on the way home, I stopped off at a bar I'd never been to before (though I'd been meaning to). I'd been strolling home, crossed the street, and heard the unmistakable sounds of a live jazz band flowing out the open door. So I crossed back and went it. I had a great time, and even gave my number to a couple of middle-aged black women. As I recall, there was a younger woman there who invited me to a party @ 15th & Spruce that night, but was already 2am, and I had to get up at 6.

Anyway, I have to assume, that while there, someone put pot in my bag. I don't know why, and it wasn't a lot of pot. But I guess, maybe they thought it was their own bag?

Good Governatoring?

2008-11-11T12:10:00.002-05:00

So.........

Schwarzenegger Urges Supreme Court To Overturn Proposition 8

10 November 2008 11:28 AM, PST

Movie star-turned-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging the state Supreme Court to overturn the controversial bill that banned gay marriage last week.

The Proposition 8 bill was voted in earlier this month, overturning an earlier ruling legalising same-sex unions in the state.

In an interview on network CNN on Sunday he said, "It's unfortunate, obviously, but it's not the end. I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area."

Speaking to gay marriage supporters he added, "I learned that you should never ever give up... They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done."

****************************************************

Aren't I not supposed to be in favor of Schwarzenegger as governor? With stuff like this, and his pushing for higher auto emissions standards and stuff, he's making things kind of confusing.

Blood on My Hands

2008-11-08T18:09:00.002-05:00

So I "saved a man's life" last night. Again. I was walking home from the bar, and there was a guy lying on the side of the road, still straddling his bicycle. Hit and run. I got him conscious, got him out of the street, and tried to keep him stable until the ambulance and the firetruck arrived. They took it from there. They always do. That's like the weirdest part, is that you're sort of really important for a few minutes, and then obviously, when they get there, you've got nothing to do. Then it's just "Okay, so...I'll see you". And then you have to drive (or walk) away, and hope nothing happens to you. Seriously, this is like the third or fourth time that I've found a man bleeding on the side of the road and called 911. Does this happen to other people? If not, is it just where I am, or do other people not stop? Whatever. It's not like I mind, it's pretty good for your ego. But last night, this guy was kind of...covered in blood, and it made me a little uncomfortable. I kept trying to not touch the bloody parts of him too much, and then I tried not to touch anything of mine until I got home and washed. That made me feel like kind of a jerk. Anyway, I think he'll be okay.

The illadelph

2008-10-31T15:22:00.006-04:00

I used to subscribe to a New York Times podcast called "Only In New York". A short (usually about 4 minute) audio podcast that came out once or twice a week, supposedly about things that "could only happen in New York". I romanticize about New York, and about living there one day, which I plan to do. I like to think that I know NYC as well as anyone who has never lived there can. I have also been known to mention that I feel like (and I sort of jokingly attribute this to being a Jew), whenever I'm in NYC, I immediately feel strangely at-home. That being said, screw all of you guys who think that your city is so much better than anywhere else, and that nothing could ever compare to it. It certainly is a very unique place, but while I've seldom been abroad, I've been darn-near everywhere in this great big country, and I can tell you that anything that you can see there, you can see anywhere else too. It's usually just a lot easier to see it in New York (there's a lot more folks there doing stuff).

Anyway, I stopped listening to that particular podcast, because it was dissapointing and lame. I thought it would be reminiscint of some of the more fun things and examples of wacky stuff that I like to romanticize about NYC. Instead it was stories of old mayors and their uninteresting coincidences with how things are named or something, I don't even know. It just wasn't interesting, and truly felt like they couldn't have taken place just as easily in Cleveland or San Ysidro.

I remember just before I moved to Philly (now over six years ago), I was at a friend's wedding and met a guy who had just moved from Philly. "You're going to have to be an Eagles fan" he said to me. "Well, duh" I thought to myself (hopefully didn't say it like that outloud). I mean, that's the home team and fans are always nuts about their teams, and certainly about football (a sport I'm not a fan of, in part because of how much hype it gets). But I did not know what I was getting into. Philly sports fans are nuts, and often, quite frankly, assholes. They (we...though I don't think I'm an asshole, at least not about sports) are well aware of it, but they also don't have a problem with. Partly because it's all they know, and partly because they feel they're entitled. I've had plenty of good moods spoiled (and of course that one story about almost getting beat-up for not going to an Eagles game), by uber-obnoxious Eagles fans. And I've had no shame about occasionally quoting the Dude "Look, I've had a really bad day, and I hate the fuckin' Eagles". Side note, there is a much-larger-than-you'd-think contingent of people here in Philly who hate the Eagles just as much as I do, and for the same reason...the fans.

I am a Phillies fan. I didn't feel anything special for the Orioles growing up, and when the Nationals came to DC, I had been in Philly long enough to feel conflicted about it, but I have been to a bunch of Phillies games, and love my Philly-fan friends, and am proud to be a Phillies fan.

I'm especially proud now, because on Weds, the Phillies won the city our first Major Championship in 25 years, and our first World Series win since 1980. It turns out the curse of William Penn was real, but that's another story. The pandemonium was immediate, and is still going on now. Broad St and Market St, the two main drags through Center City, not to mention 5-Points (yes, we have our own, New York) and Germantown Ave and a number of other places, were scenes to thousands of people drinking, cheering, honking horns, and crying while donned in a sea of grey but mostly red shirts, till the breaka'-breaka'. Today, the parade took over the city, and while I wish I could explain the Mummers to you, I don't think that any explanation of what generations of South Philly blue-collar bud-drinking italian men end up doing for only the most special of choreagraphed occasions.

We're love to make fun of ourselves here. We know that we've been on the top of the lists for the country's worst roads, fattest people, the meanest fans. These past couple of days have been one of, honestly, many, many times that I've experienced in this city, where you know you can just walk down the street, day or night, see any man, woman, child of any age or ethnicity, and upon offering, get an honest, smiling handshake, hug or pound. This week every homeless person has more change in their hat, every bartender has more cash in their till, every other car that passes honks it's horn at passing pedestrians in a sign of unity. Philly sports fans are so used to being angry and upset, but we're not fair-weather fans, and we never lose faith. Well we did it, and we earned it. Only in Philly.

Why I Love the Metro Daily

2006-11-15T22:33:00.000-05:00

The Metro Daily: the self-proclaimed "world's largest global newspaper", is one of the greatest things ever, and one of my favorite things about Philly (for being global, I'm not really sure how available it is in other places). But in Philly, there are people on the street corners in the mornings and in the subway terminals belting out "METRO METRO". The office buildings get daily shipments to spread out for staff by the water coolers and copy machines. The familiar green metal dispensers are on every other street corner. And best of all, of course, it's free. And not just that, the staff is friendly and helpful. Why, I remember when the subway system, SEPTA (South Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) went on strike (for about three weeks, way longer than NY, but that wasn't on CNN), the newspaper vendors worked to help the SEPTA managers who had to stay on to help passengers find alternative ways home. Kind of odd actually.

But the truly great thing about the Metro is the content. It has all of the info you really need, the headlines from most any other news outlet from political or international headlines, to gossip and celebrity news. With it's own sections for movie reviews, su doku and crossword, suggestions on local "massage parlors", and a recurring focus on a local "hot bartender of the week". Nothing truly special there, except for the layout. The somehow manage to keep both the world and national news, as well as the local news in the spotlight at all times. Just look at the NEWS page above (admittedly from a long time ago). The visual of mourning Iraqi families after a brutal and horrendous affair, is beautifully sandwiched between a shot of a six week old Gainesville, FL baby squirrel healing from a broken leg, and the news of a father breaking his own leg after jumping off a bridge with his ten year old daughter to help her with her fear of heights. With some Valerie Plame news to seal the deal.

It's news, infotainment, and heartwarming local stories to boot. And best of all, it's free. Why get the NY Times?