The top news of the day is bridges, bridges, bridges. With 44% of Philadelphia's bridges determined to be structurally deficient, it seems the only safe option is to work from home today. But in good news, you get to hide out in a nice home, as Forbes justed named Philadelphia the fourth best city in the country to buy a house. You may not have a job to do, though, according to this magazine, which......

In the wake of last month's devastating earthquake in China, a group of Widener University professors is using video-conferencing to train faculty at East China Normal University in Shanghai to teach psychological first aid. State Rep. Darryl Metcalfe refused to apologize for the comments he made on the floor of the House on Wednesday, wherein he suggested that he was opposing recognizing a Muslim religious organization's convention because "Muslims do not recognize Jesus Christ as......

Photo by TObike from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. Torontoist featured the astonishing story (and equally astonishing photos) of more than 200 cyclists spontaneously taking over the westbound lanes of the city's downtown expressway for 7 kilometers late on a Friday afternoon.Phillyist got to chat with singer/songwriter and internet phenomenon Eric Hutchinson as his major-label debut hit stores.Shanghaiist was annoyed by Sharon Stone's suggestion that the Sichuan earthquake was China's karma for its treatment of......

Gothamist was enraptured by the Telectroscope, supposedly developed from a "forgotten tunnel connecting New York to London."SFist, after providing a practical map of liquor stores near the historically naked/tipsy Bay to Breakers marathon route last week, saw itself this week get blamed by the San Francisco Chronicle when the race devolved into an even messier urine and booze free-for-all.Torontoist featured some amazing time-lapse videos of their city—from their skyline during Earth Hour, to a......

Photo by SFist's James Passey SFist reported on this week's California State Supreme Court's ruling that overturned the ban on same-sex marriage.Londonist noted that Boris Johnson – the city's brand-new mayor – continues to polarize opinion, even when announcing obviously good news. Is he a genuine change for the better, or is he just taking credit for his predecessor's ground-work?Philllyist did some celebrity stalking on the set of Owen Wilson's latest, Marley and Me.LAist......

The Inquirer takes a look at local folks and aid organizations trying to send help to China in the wake of the earthquake. All U.S. and Pennsylvania flags at state facilities will be flown at half-staff today for Peace Officers Memorial Day. And since it was Governor Rendell who gave the order there shouldn't be any complaints... "The Philadelphia Orchestra leaves Monday for a three-week tour of China, Japan and Korea." Eric DeShawn Floyd......

The fourth annual commuter competition sponsored by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia started this morning at 8AM. Three commuters race from 45th and Spruce to City Hall, one on a bike, one in a car, and one in a bus. The BCGP is obviously expecting the cyclist to win, thus proving that two wheels are better than four. Philly's own Bonnie and Clyde are the "poster children for identity theft," according to Federal authorities.......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Nature (Mon, 8PM-9PM, PBS [WNJS]) - In this episode of the venerable PBS nature show, narrated by F. Murray Abraham, reptile expert Ron Whitaker actually goes looking for giant crocodiles - those are crocodiles that are over 20 feet in length! That's one of those things we'd never do, but are more than happy to watch someone else do. The episode description mentions that he succeeds in......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

Much to our surprise, the world actually continued turning this week, and things kept happening! Here's some of the latest stuff that's been going down in Philly and the surrounding area. A small group of men entered a home in Kingsessing by pretending to be utility workers. They proceeded to tie up the two women they found there and ransack the house. However, they were unable to find any cash, and ran away. The descriptions......

We just love when work interferes with our personal lives. And our other work. Austinist: Mmmmm...must smell lovely. Parisist: All of our childhood memories, ruined. Bostonist: Crap! Was it really that long ago? SFist: Politicians are awesome. Chicagoist: That sounds like an accident waiting to happen. Sampaist: Woohoo! English! Houstonist: That's...interesting. Seattlest: If they were doing this in Philadelphia, we think even the mayor would have a few dozen tickets. Nobody waits for the signal......

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. Houstonist announces their new Cops spinoff "World's Funniest Tazer Videos" and the possible cancellation of their pervs' "World's Grossest Bathroom Videos" and PBS trains cams on cows at, uhg, Mootube. Also,......