Philly Today

The poster shown above was published in 1918 and apparently made us feel victorious in a WWI-era kind of way. Yes, I realize that Daylight Saving Time is ending and it would have been more appropriate to share this with you all back in March. But when DST comes back next spring you had better believe I will be getting my hoes ready (yes, all of my hoes). Actually, if you live in some locations in the Southern Hemisphere, your hoes should already be ready. In the U.S., it’s time to get your, um… flashlights ready. The third option is to get nothing ready and do exactly what you have been doing, if you are in one of those freak states like Arizona or Hawaii, or if you remember the days where some parts of Indiana were too cool to observe DST. No matter where you are or what time it is, this is a classic poster and I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and Happy Halloween!

There is less than a week left in the month of October, but there is still plenty of time to get yourself scared beyond your worst nightmare. The Philadelphia area has all kinds of haunted attractions this time of year, but one of them stands out above the rest. Eastern State Penitentiary, located on Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia, puts together a tour every year called Terror Behind the Walls. This place is considered one of the most historic prisons in America. It was operational from 1829 and 1971, and it’s no surprise that many consider it to be haunted. The place looks scary even during the day, and in fact you can take a daytime tour at the prison (year round). But the Halloween attraction is the talk of the town every year. ESP has been featured on several TV shows, including the MTV ghost show “Fear”. Below is a feature about Terror Behind the Walls from a show on the Travel Channel.

October is here, which means time for pumpkin picking. I went to a farm market today with my family and some friends, where they had their annual Fall Fest. Everything you would expect at a Fall Fest: hayrides, corn maze, pony rides for the kids and lots of crazy looking pumpkins and gourds for sale. I happened to see a sign at one of the pumpkin tables. The sign was a little bit faded so it took me a minute to read, but it said something to the effect of: Due to this year’s extreme weather conditions, all pumpkin sales are final. Okay, fair enough. Wait a sec… does this mean that pumpkins are normally a returnable item? Who knew? I think next year when I buy pumpkins I will try to go back and return them on November 1 and see what they say. Is it okay if it is rotten, has a face carved into it and the insides scooped out? I swear, it was like that when I bought it.

Today I am writing a post that was requested by madrigalblue on the “Suggestions” page.  I personally encourage this, because for me it means less thinking is required. She noted that there are film crews currently on Chestnut Street so she wanted to hear more about the film projects happening in the city.

From what I’ve been able to research and what I am already aware of, I only know about one movie filming in Philly, but it’s a pretty big one. It is directed by James L. Brooks and stars Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson. The movie is untitled at the moment, but I do know that they’ve been in the city for a while. Last month they were filming inside the Armory located on the campus of Drexel University and have moved to various locations around the city. Two weeks ago they were at a house at 19th and Green Streets and Rittenhouse Square. I am not sure if that was them on Chestnut Street but it’s highly likely. So if you live or work in Philly, keep an eye out for some of these stars as filming continues. Thanks to PhillyChitChat.com and thetriangle.org for the info.

The news from the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday was a little surprising: tackle Shawn Andrews was placed on injured reserve, meaning he will not play football this season. I have a sneaking suspicion that Andrews is finished with football for good, at least with the Eagles. He has had back problems since training camp that have kept him out of action. But in addition, I am not so sure that he is passionate about playing football. His real passion seems to be his music.

Even if you aren’t an Eagles or a football fan, no doubt you will be entertained and/or amused by Shawn’s music videos which are currently on YouTube. Andrew’s stage name is E.D.I.D., which stands for Every Day I Do. The first song is called “Getting My Michael Phelps On” and the second song is “Mama Ima Rock Star”. It is clear that E.D.I.D. has a bright future ahead of him in music and he will now have plenty of time to get his Michael Phelps on. I would actually like to see some sort of collaboration between him and Michael Phelps in the future. Stay tuned for more YouTube videos and tweets from ShawnAndrews73.

Have you ever purchased something with cash and the clerk doesn’t give you back enough change? Maybe they thought you gave them a five dollar bill but it was really a ten. That’s happened to me a couple of times and I always think, “It’s my word against theirs. They’ve already put my money in the cash register so I hope they don’t try to argue with me.” In this case, it was the other way around.

In Delaware, a woman tried to buy $20 worth of gasoline. When the cashier told her she had only put down a single dollar, not a twenty, she went berserk. Vickie Gambrell, 53, was adamant that she was right, and when the situation escalated, she argued, cursed, and then… jumped over the counter and began punching and kicking the clerk, demanding her $20 back. She got a hold of some scissors and held them to his throat, threatening him. Out of fear, he gave her two tens. Gambrell left the gas station but realized her mistake a few minutes later, returned the money and tried to apologize. But by then the police were already on their way. She was arrested and charged with possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony and several other counts. Wow. This whole ugly incident could have been avoided had this woman taken a few seconds to read and/or count.

Yesterday, I ended up winning a prize for answering a trivia question. I was listening to a local Philly radio show as I usually do on my daily morning commute. I hadn’t tried to call into the show before, and the prize I won was a DVD for a television show that I have never watched and truthfully don’t ever plan on watching. So why did I call? Because in that split second, I had this impulse to do it because I was so happy that I knew the answer, without even thinking. It’s rare that I get it so quickly, if at all. So I called in, waited on hold, then made it onto the radio for the first time since my “indie” college DJ’ing days. And I won, so that was a great start to my day.

Then I remembered that there are people who do this kind of thing for fun. About 10 years ago, I worked at a place where everyday we would call in to try to win the same radio contest. You had to identify seven classic rock songs by listening to a (very) short clip of each song one after another. We had two guys who were music buffs and they would tape record the series of clips and then rewind and write down song titles as fast as they could. At one point, we must have won five different prizes in a two-week span. Well, actually it was the two guys who won the contest, but a different co-worker had to pretend to call in each day because you can only win a prize once a month. Come to think of it, now I am ineligible to win another trivia prize for the next 30 days. I hope they aren’t giving away anything that I actually want.

Time for a post about Philly sports. If you think I’m avoiding talking about the Eagles signing Michael Vick, it’s true. I’m sure there are plenty of other blogs talking about it so I will touch on a more humorous story. Pitcher Brett Myers has suffered a minor setback in his recovery and his hope to return to the Phillies. No, it has nothing to do with his repaired hip. Instead, Myers hurt his eye over the weekend. When I heard the news yesterday, it was the same as the “official” story from Brett, that he tripped and fell while getting out of a truck and banged his eye causing it to swell up.

I later found out that there are a lot of questions surrounding Myers’ story. Brett admitted that the reported original reason, that he hurt his eye while playing catch with his 4-year old son, was a story that he had made up. “The reason I told the Phillies that story at first was because I felt like an idiot, a klutz. But then I felt bad so I told them the truth.” Uhh… okay. Because you felt like an idiot, you made up a lie that made you look like more of an idiot.

Then, of course, there is the rumor swirling that Myers was somehow involved in an altercation that took place that same night in a Jacksonville, FL bar. One witness says that a friend of Brett’s was involved, but Brett was not. I think a bar fight makes for a better story than both of the scenarios Myers came up with, but he denies that he was involved. I guess I believe him but it kinda makes you wonder.

In Tenafly, New Jersey, residents are being terrorized by a wild turkey that has turned the Bergen County town upside down. When people see this bird coming, they run for safety. The turkey has chased several people, including a mail carrier and a man who was trying to put up a sign for his garage sale. Why is this bird so scary? Probably because people have been feeding it, so now when it sees a person, it goes all roadrunner on him. According to the Associated Press, residents are “advised to clap, stomp and yell to scare the bird away”. Yeah, like that’s really gonna work. Beware the turx!

That’s right, I said “turx”. If people can abbreviate chicken “chix” by adding an x that isn’t even in the word, I feel very strongly that “turx” should be the official abbreviation for turkey. And by the way, I wouldn’t have minded it if Ben Franklin had his way and the turkey was the official national bird. Oh well, that’s enough turkey conversation for now, I need to save some for Thanksgiving.

I just read a story about some police department activity that went on last week in western Pennsylvania. What happened in the town of Greenville was that a toddler did such a good job of hiding during a game of hide-and-seek that the police and firefighters were called. Two-year-old Natalie Jasmer was finally found after an hour of searching, not by police, but by the family dog. The girl had hidden herself in a drawer under the washing machine and fell asleep there.

The part of the article that really got me thinking was the very end: “The little girl told her family she was sorry. Hide-and-seek is now banned in the Jasmer household.” Are you kidding me? The girl apologized, for what? Because nobody could find her? That’s not what should happen. What she should say is, “Um… family? You just got owned at hide-and-seek! I am the greatest kid ever to play this game!!!” It’s not her fault, she was just playing the game the way it should be played. Even the cops couldn’t find her. And they banned the game in the household!? Sounds like somebody’s just embarrassed that they suck at seeking. If I were that family I would demand a rematch.