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This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

Uh oh. Even Katie Couric has said—and on the national news, no less—that Philadelphia has a violence problem. So now it must be true. The 13-year-old Lansdowne boy who fatally stabbed his 16-year-old brother because he wanted a turn playing video games has been allowed by the judge to attend his brother's funeral, although he will be shackled and accompanied by deputy sheriffs. Maryann Neabor is accused of killing her brother-in-law with an antifreeze-laced......

Turns out we've been a bad blog. Thanks to Phillyist Sarah, and the Inquirer, we've found some local news stories that we were supposed to be writing about but haven't. One is the story of Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan getting sued by Chops because, they say, he gave a bad review to their strip steak when he didn't even eat it. However, the receipt from the meal, which he cleverly kept, seems to......

Looking for some outdoor fun this weekend? If AccuWeather is to be believed, it won't be raining, so you'll be able to join the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia for their Freedom Valley Ride. There will be five routes to choose from, all incorporating stretches of the Schuylkill River Trail, which proceeds from previous Rides helped build. Those routes range from an eight-mile "easy" ride to a 68-mile journey that will take you all the......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

After missing one too many trains as a result of crowded escalators en route to the platform, we have decided to offer up, as a public service, a basic escalator riding tutorial that will be an education to some and a refresher to others. Plus, we want you to get out of the way when we are trying to catch the train! There are twelve steps to riding an escalator and none of them involve......

A fire that killed the owner of the House of Bread in the Italian Market on Wednesday was caused by a cooking pot left on the stove. The man accused of supplying weapons to the Fort Dix terrorists has been denied bail. Runner-up mayoral candidate and professional rich guy Tom Knox wants more money! He plans to go into investment banking and make hundreds of millions of dollars. Then maybe run for office again. Mumia......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

Or, at least, not putting up any new ones for now. In a victory for Philadelphians and all Americans, on Friday the National Park Service announced that a proposal to enclose Independence Hall within a security fence has been scrapped [Philly.com]. If realized, the plan would have cut Independence Square in half with a six-foot tall black iron barricade, hypocritically restricting access to one of the world's most important symbols of freedom. After releasing the......

Dear Bicyclists: I absolutely agree that you have a right to the road, and that stupid drivers do things all the time that put your lives in danger. But would you please, please decide whether you're going to follow pedestrian laws or traffic laws, and then stick with your decision? If you're going to go the "car" route, then pedalling on sidewalks is absolutely a no-no. And if you're going the pedestrian route, you......

Reading our sister sites is not only enjoyable, but also educational. Just look at some of the lessons we've learned from the other -ists since last we spoke! Gothamist gets us started with a lesson on Asparagus. SFist: Liberals? At a NorCal tech firm? Seriously? Austinist: It is impossible to test for drugs in samples that are six years old. Hint, hint. DCist: The DC police don't care about your bicycle. Londonist: Nobody likes what's......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. We don't know about you, but Phillyist only knows one language well, and our penmanship is pretty poor with the right hand and illegible with the left. But the 4- to 8-year-olds at the Veena Vadini School at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, India "can use both their hands to write in two different languages on two different subjects at the same time." Um,......

The Penn and Drexel Cycling Clubs are co-hosting The Arkema Group Schuylkill Challenge Bicycle Race in Fairmount Park this weekend. (Note that the title of that last page we linked to predicts the winner as Penn - we wonder if the folks at Drexel, not to mention the other schools, have noticed that yet.) It's actually a series of bike races and time trials taking place in various places and at various times on Saturday......

Best of the week is compiled and edited by Seattlest's Dan Gonsiorowski. DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi's tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. LAist documented graf artist Banksy's most recent visit to LA in......

Oh potholes, how you mock us! Lying in wait for us to bicycle into your Cadillac-sized craters, laughing maniacally when our gaping head wounds bleed onto your broken edges - no more! Or so says Mayor John Street. Mayor Street has announced war on city potholes come this April with the introduction of his 100-day initiative, Operation Smooth Streets. This time it's personal. City Managing Director Pedro Ramos says city residents spoke up, letting their......

by Sarah M. GranlundWhen Ed Bacon planned Independence Mall, it was lauded as visionary. It was to be a green, open space in the middle of the city's historic district, providing an area for public gathering and a place to view the historic buildings of the area. But, as with many of Bacon's visions, Independence Mall did not stand the test of time as well as it could have. Soon after it was built,......

It feels like a broken record around here: SEPTA is still on strike, commuters are still pissed (and sometimes stranded), and the union and management aren't on speaking terms. We mean that quite literally -- there were no talks at all yesterday. Politicians seem to have abandoned our city without even the benefit of a sympathy reach around. Mayor John Street says he'll get involved when the time is right, and there are worries that......

Things are not looking good for a quick resolution to the now three day old SEPTA strike. Talks resumed yesterday between SEPTA management and the union, but broke down around 1:00 am this morning. No new talks are scheduled and no progress is being reported. We're thinking it might be a nice idea to kidnap all the important players, chain them to a radiator in some crappy, run down motel, and threaten to feed them......

Critical Mass is "an unorganized coincidence that happens in cities around the world on the last Friday of every month. It is a ride through the city to celebrate and remind everyone about the use of the bicycle as an effective means of transportation." If you live or work in Center City - we don't doubt you've seen them surrounding City Hall once a month. (And heck, gas prices being what they are, we wouldn't......

In 1997, a group of cunning arts folk decided that Philadelphia was really missing out on something. With all of the alternative culture in the city, Philadelphia needed a Fringe Festival, much like those held in Edinburgh and New York City. The Philadelphia Fringe Festival is now two separate, concurrent festivals: The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and the Philly Fringe (PLAF) , both of which kick off tomorrow and run for sixteen days thereafter.......

In this week’s Phillial, we move on from glass cocks to glass houses - or Home Depot, that is. We know there’s a catchy transition in there somewhere. Please don’t throw stones at us. Or dildos. Phillyist reader Kim asks: “Can you provide tips on how to walk into a hardware store and pervert everything there? Example: I hear my spreader bars could've been made with a wood bar or two and some loopy things......

With equal rights comes equal responsibility. Bicycle enthusiasts everywhere have long complained that they haven’t gotten the respect that their four-wheel counterparts do when it comes to road rights, but now things have changed. By sheer numbers (and force) the two-wheelers have taken over the streets and lazy drivers across the city are feeling the burden. How many times have you been desperately trying to escape Old City and not been able to get......