I’m not going to be home for the 4th of July this year, but in recent years I have enjoyed going down to the fireworks display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Hanging out on the Parkway with hundreds of thousands of people in a party-like atmosphere — and the fireworks are just about the best you can get. However, looking at the musical lineup for this year’s celebration, I’m kinda glad I will miss it. From the official website: “John Legend returns to Philly for an evening of smooth R&B followed by a colorful fireworks display above the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philly’s own Russell Tompkins, Jr. and the New Stylistics open the show…”
Ehh… I guess that’s okay. But it doesn’t compare to past years where they had people like Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Jill Scott, and Hall and Oates. I even enjoyed cheesy acts like Boyz II Men, Bryan Adams and Peter Frampton because at least you could sing along and have fun with them. Lesser-known acts like those playing this year kind of kill that party atmosphere for me. Usually Patti Labelle, the default Philly star, at least makes an appearance.
I got a little frustrated at the gas pump the other day. And believe it or not, it had nothing to do with the $4 per gallon price tag. I usually pay at the pump using a credit card. Most newer pumps ask you to insert your card to begin. But this pump made me press a button first (it had a Credit button and a Debit button). OK, I pressed the Credit button. Then I had to swipe my card. Then it asked me if it was a debit card? Umm… what was the point of me pressing the Credit button if the pump already forgot? In my opinion, just swiping a card should have answered all of those questions in one step. If I’m paying this much for gas, I would at least expect it to be a little quicker. Well, actually I was thinking that before I saw the little sticker on the gas pump that said “Fastest gas pump allowed by law”. That made me rest a little easier. The time I just wasted has been made up because the gas pump is so fast. That’s great, but an even better feature would be “cheapest gas pump allowed by law”. Actually, at this point I wouldn’t mind if it were a price lower than the law allows.
I realize that making up words and/or definitions can be fun. So I was wondering if anybody has any new ones to contribute. My rules are not as strict as the Washington Post that you can only change one letter, etc. All I’d like to know is: what are some words you’ve made up? It could be a combination of two words, for example this word defined in UrbanDictionary:
celebutard: refers to any of a crop of famous people (mostly young, mostly filthy rich) who are unable to form complete sentences in a public setting, e.g. Paris Hilton
Here is a short list I came up with to get it started. Yes, I realize that not all of these words are my own creation:
Drapples: Dried apples
Allsome: Something that is awesome all the way
Pastabilities: The menu options at an Italian restaurant
Squarbles: Square marbles - this is a real toy that came out when I was a kid. See the commercial here.
I know I am a couple of days late on this story, but I just read it and couldn’t believe it. Reportedly, former Phillies General Manager and current Houston Astros GM Ed Wade was involved in an altercation the other day with one of his players. The article says that pitcher Shawn Chacon grabbed Wade by the neck and threw him to a ground during an argument, and the team suspended Chacon indefinitely for insubordination. As a Phillies fan who was not a fan of Ed Wade, I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of someone finally getting so annoyed he picked up the smug little underqualified baseball executive.
Although what Chacon did was wrong and it probably killed his career, it was an interesting note to read about. Of course I am sure soon we will hear Wade’s side of the story.
About 3 weeks ago I wrote a blog about how hot the Phillies are now that summer is here. Since I wrote that, the Phillies have won 4 games and lost 11, including today’s 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Oakland Athletics. So I am just here to clarify, summer is heating up and the Phillies have overheated and now cannot hit their way out of a paper bag (although I don’t know why they would want to). When they do hit, then pitching or baserunning or defense lets them down. Amazingly, they are still on top in the National League East. Let’s hope they start winning and stay on top, rather than becoming “the team to get beat” in the East.
According to KYW-AM, the cost to get your car towed by the Philadelphia Parking Authority will be going up. Citing “rising fuel costs”, the fee will be raised to $150 for most vehicles that are confiscated. Getting towed is bad enough; I have had my car towed once and it was not a fun experience. I left it overnight in a parking lot because it had broken down and I would take care of it the next morning, only to find that it was in a no-parking zone and had been towed away (not by the PPA). Now it is 7AM on a Sunday morning and I had to get dropped off somewhere in Manayunk to wait for the place to open. Only it never did. I happened to talk to a guy in a diner next door and learn that the owner was at some NASCAR race for the weekend and couldn’t open the lot. Someone else shows up after I’d been waiting for 4 hours when I discover I don’t have enough cash. I go and get cash, pay, and then also pay to have it towed FROM the tow place to a mechanic miles away only to learn that the engine is damaged beyond repair and I should have just let them keep the car.
As fun as all of that was, if I had heard at that point some sob story about the tow trucks jacking up their price since they are losing money because of gas prices (like I’m not??) I probably would have had some kind of meltdown on the spot. Note to self: don’t get towed ever again.
Last night, VH1 premiered the first episodes of I Love the New Millennium - 2000 and 2001. Taking a page from their highly successful I Love the 80s, and I Love the 70s, and I Love the 80s Strikes Back, and I Love the 70s Volume 2, and I Love the 90s, and I Love the 90s Part Deux, a bunch of comedians, musicians, and actors talk about the “old days”. I love all of those shows. They help me remember back to all of the old pop-culture phenomenons, music videos and ridiculous news events of every year since I was born (and some when I wasn’t), and it’s hilarious.
I am not sure how I feel about this latest series. I mean, the ’00s aren’t even over yet, and the millennium just started if you think about how long a millennium is. Yet we still get to listen to Michael Ian Black, Dee Snider and recent Philly morning radio host Booker (!?) reminisce about Segways, Napster and the TV show Cribs. I don’t know, I can’t help but think it’s a little too soon to start talking about this stuff, especially once they get to the 2007 episode. But then I remembered that VH1 already has the show Best Week Ever, aka I Love Last Week. And that show is awesome.
If you live in Pennsylvania, you may have seen different colored road signs popping up that say “Blue Detour” or “Orange Detour” or many other colors “Detour”. See the example below:
I started seeing these signs last year, maybe earlier than that. Then at the beginning of 2008 they started putting lots more up everywhere, and that’s when I really started having questions. What are these signs, and what do they mean? I finally started hearing on the local news and was sort of told what is going on, but not really. Apparently this is part of an emergency plan to help guide traffic when there is a major roadway closed that needs to be detoured. This plan started after September 11, 2001. Do you think that perhaps sometime within the last 7 years we could have gotten a clue about this plan? Or at least tell us what the plan is in detail BEFORE we start seeing these signs everywhere for over a year, so that we can get used to the idea? And when they did finally tell us… yeah, I’m still confused. I think it would still help to let us know which major roadway is being detoured, and which color goes to which roadway. Does the Blue Detour correspond with the Blue Route, which is the name of one of the major arteries in and around Philly, 0r are we going to have to remember that the Green Detour is for the Blue Route? And what if you’re driving around not on a major roadway, but you see a Purple Detour sign randomly, what the heck are you supposed to think? And if you’re taking a road and need to get off at the Orange Detour, I guess you would follow the signs, but not know if you’re going east or west, or for how long you will be on this detour. For something that is supposed to reduce confusion I think it only creates it. And for something that will only be used in an emergency, these signs are confusing and pointless 99% of the time. The roads have had names or numbers on them for a very long time. Just tell me what road name to take and I will be able to get to where I need to go. I shouldn’t need to carry a freaking color chart to be able to drive.
When I’m watching TV, I’m not a big fan of commercials. In fact, I pretty much never watch them and do something else whenever they’re on. So much so that I’ve noticed that I will have heard the jingle to a commercial 50 times but not once have I “seen” it. The 51st time it comes on I will finally look up at the actual images on the screen and realize that it was the first time I had actually “seen” it, making it a new commercial for me. So if you’re like me you will love the website CommercialsIHate. I think it all started with one guy making humorous observations about all the commercials he can’t stand. Now they have a forum where you can add your own. I recently started a topic about one of the most annoying commercials I have ever seen, for Six Flags, which you can find the posting here . Great Adventure is the name of the Six Flags park closest to Philly. These commercials make me not want to visit there. Anyway, check out CommercialsIHate, and there you will find others who feel your pain.
Reports out of Delaware are that a 28-year old soccer player has bitten a referee in the face after disagreeing with a call. Apparently this guy Rannord A. Jones got ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. So he grabbed the 38-year old ref by the shoulders and bit him on the chin. The referee suffered deep lacerations on his chin and lip in the attack, which must have caught him by surprise. I can’t imagine what the guy did to get thrown out of the game, but now he should get thrown out of the league.
A few days ago I talked about weird baseball traditions, and I forgot about a soccer tradition that might be even stranger. The first time you do something wrong, I’m going to hold up a yellow card. But we’ll still let you play even though you’re pretty likely to do something worse. And when you do, I will hold up a red card and you will be asked to leave. Maybe it would be easier to hang up a giant traffic light that is green most of the time but can change colors if something bad happens.
