For the first time in almost ten years, fewer people in the Philadelphia area are predicted to travel 50 miles or more this Fourth of July weekend than did the previous year. The change is believed to be due to high gas prices, increases in the price of food, and other expenses. And it's probably just as well, because cops are hiding out there on the roads in PennDOT trucks, ready to tip off other......

The Phlash Center City trolley will have special hours this Friday and Saturday to accommodate Independence Day celebrations. The Phlash will operate until 7PM on Friday and until 11PM on Saturday. (Via RJ) The Inquirer tells the story of how a plan to convert an empty convent in Germantown into apartments for formerly homeless men went south, in order to underscore the problems Mayor Nutter is likely to face with his initiative to fight......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. So, anybody want to pool their cash and buy Phillyist a deluxe LEGO Death Star? (Via Amy) Cinematical takes a look at the pros and cons of Netflix's recently released set-top box, the Roku. Yay! Finally a new episode of GameTrailers' Star Wars Retrospective! Spider-Man video games have generally been a disappointment, but we've gotta say this preview for Spider-Man: Web......

It's not Philly-related, but we were shocked to learn this morning that comedian George Carlin died Sunday evening of heart failure. He was 71. Allentown and New Galena Roads in Bucks County will close today for maintenance work. Click through for the full details. The Inquirer takes a look at some of the big success stories from the 2008 U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, held this past weekend right here in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania hunting licenses for......

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......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Yay! Sulu's getting married! (Via Jill) A new study reveals that diet and exercise don't just make you slimmer and healthier: they actually drastically change you at the genetic level. That's almost scary. Of course, if this means we can go on a diet and become Wolverine... well, just tell us what to eat! (Via Sarah) Nintendo of Europe's Laurent Fischer,......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. If you, like this Phillyist, own a PATCO Freedom card, you can head over to PATCO's official site and enter to win tickets to upcoming shows at the Susquehanna Bank Center. (Via Sarah) The Atlantic asks, is Google making us stupid? (Via Laura) Ooh! Details on Beck's new album, Modern Guilt, which will be released on July 8th in America. The MTV Movies......

The Inquirer profiles a Germantown clinic whose services are described as indispensable, but which may shut down soon due to a lack of funds. Suspended Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. testified yesterday in his ecclesiastical trial, trying to explain why he had not told anyone that his brother was sexually abusing a high-school student in the 1970s. A preliminary hearing was held yesterday for the five North Philadelphia teens arrested in the beating and......

Yesterday a Delaware County trade-school instructor mistakenly left his 14-month-old grandson in the backseat of his sweltering car in the Lawrence Park Shopping Center while he went to work for several hours in Broomall. Apparently he typically picks the child up in the morning and takes him to day care, but yesterday he forgot the boy was with him, and only realized his mistake when he came back in the afternoon to get something out......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. That scene in Iron Man where Tony Stark goes to Burger King wasn't just a glaringly obvious product placement—it was based on a true story! In fact, Burger King saved Robert Downey Jr.'s life. (Via Sarah) If you hadn't heard yet, the big info from Apple yesterday is that the iPhone is now better and cheaper! There are......

The Inquirer covers yesterday's early school closings due to heat, and points out that we'll see more of the same today. They also talk about the help and charity inspired by an article about a family struggling without air conditioning in the heat. A while back, state legislators increased pay for injured police officers and made it easier for them to resist returning to work. Now on any given day, roughly 250 Philadelphia police......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. A very silly trailer. Mel Brooks will produce and co-write a horror film called Pizzaman. Is he a man made of pizza who eats himself to death? New pics from Lost Boys 2:The Tribe. Watch this new trailer for The Incredible Hulk quickly, because it could be pulled down any second. We'd heard the movie was influenced very......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. We think we've mentioned the Turn Around America video contest here before, but things have changed a bit since then: now in addition to a national winner, a Philadelphia winner will also be chosen. Also, the deadline has been extended to June 10th. (Via Rachele) Beware! The LOLCat meme is leaking into the real world! Yay! The First Avenger: Captain America is going......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. A pretty sweet Punisher: War Zone poster is now available for viewing online. There had been talk about a Cloverfield 2, but now J.J. Abrams is saying he'd rather take the team that did the original film and do a completely new project with them, rather than a sequel. As you might expect, the restricted trailer for The Happening is even......

Phillyist likes supporting good causes, and you can’t get a better cause than breasts. Our lip service pales in comparison, though, to the efforts of five local women, who are raising money to participate in 2008 Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3-Day this October. Each walker must raise $2,200 to take part in the 60-mile trek, and the women, collectively known as Team Bosom Babes, are turning to a time-honored Philly tradition to meet their goal: the......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. The Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting article about a museum of bogus artwork in Italy. (Via Jill) A pic of Goku from the Dragonball Z movie. It's been recorded rather poorly, but this Dark Knight TV spot is still pretty cool. Check out Nerd World's hilarious burger-centric deleted scenes from Iron Man, then take a look at this screenshot from the......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Economics PhDs: Philly originals The Contractions at World Café Live (3025 Walnut), 9:30PM. Free The N Crowd: Improv comedy troupe the N Crowd perform at the Actors Center (257 N 3rd), 8PM. $10 SATURDAY If You Can Stand the Kiddies: NBC10 day at the Adventure Aquarium (1 Riverside Drive, Camden), 9:30AM. $10 for all tickets Get Healthy: Annual Health and Wellness Fair featuring workshops and seminars on......

Beginning at 10AM today at City Hall, Philadelphia School District officials will present their proposed $2.28 billion budget to City Council. You can already see the budget and prepared testimony on the district's website. Members of the public will offer testimony on the budget tomorrow. The Inquirer investigates the lasting effects of the shooting death of 33-year-old Moroccan-born Ouadii Souliman. He was gunned down at the door Al Aqsa Mosque on the border between Northern......

There is a debate on the best way to combat HIV/AIDS. Researchers are developing new treatments and possibly an HIV vaccine. What about those of us who gave up on our chemistry doctorate degrees after eleventh grade? Should we focus our efforts on better awareness campaigns? More accessible testing? Stronger policies? Why not fight HIV with a fork? You read right. Go out for dinner on May 1st. We know, it’s a Thursday night; you......

"A man who was being evicted from his apartment in Yeadon, Delaware County, yesterday pulled a gun and shot the constable who served the eviction notice and the apartment manager, police said. The gunman fled into Southwest Philadelphia and hid in a rowhouse at 1846 Conestoga St, but a host of cops tracked him down and arrested him as he attempted to get away out the back door." The wounded men were listed in critical......

Last week this Phillyist stopped off at Brasserie Perrier for a quick lunch after running some midtown errands. Sitting alone at the bar as to not take up the prime table real estate, I was treated to excellent and helpful service. What I also got was a nice long look at a fat roach, lazing its way up the side of the wine refrigerator. Without making a scene, I tried quietly yet unsuccessfully to get......

TV critic Ellen Gray at the Daily news takes a look at last night's Colbert Report, filmed right here in Philly, featuring appearances by Mayor Nutter and Benjamin Franklin. We have incredible amounts of news today related to the Pennsylvania primary. First off, applications for absentee ballots have to be in no later than 5PM today. Clinton is announcing a "major endorsement" at noon today at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. Obama admitted to......

In reaction to that AP series last month revealing that Philadelphia ranked first among 24 metropolitan areas reporting traces of an assortment of drugs in its water supply, today the City Council's committees on health and human services and the environment will examine the Water Department's data on the subject. Hopefully you're already aware that tomorrow is Tax Day. If not, you'd better get to work! Regardless, a warning: "According to a recent study......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Photographs of real places with video game characters added. We like! (Via) Wired takes a closer look at the world's most powerful laser, recently built and turned on at the University of Texas at Austin. It's 2,000 times more powerful than all the power plants in the United States and the builders hope to use it to recreate astronomical phenomena like......

Picture yourself in fifth grade. Three of your classmates are cooler than you. Two think you are the cooler one, but you are unaware of this fact, and thus it has no effect on your opinion of them. Regardless of your rung on the social ladder of prepubescence, your elementary school has thrust new rules upon you all: 1) No sodas 2) Snacks must fall within limits of fat, sugar, and salt contents 3) Nutrition......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. We still say Hellboy was a very disappointing film. But this new, longer trailer for Hellboy II along with these new pics from the film are starting to make us feel like the sequel is not going to be disappointing at all. It looks like it's a Pan's Labyrinth/Hellboy crossover movie, actually. We can't wait. Check out this totally mesmerizing stop-motion animated film.......

Philadelphia native Michael Brecker is one of the most expressive, celebrated jazz saxophonists of his generation. Musicians ranging from Paul Simon to Frank Sinatra, from Quincy Jones to Herbie Hancock, featured him on their albums. After a career that included over 900 albums and more than a dozen Grammy awards, he died at age 58 from a bone marrow disease known as myelodysplastic syndrome. Under normal circumstances, bone marrow makes blood stem cells that go......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Mon, 10PM-10:30PM, Food Network) One of our favorite Food Network shows visits Philly again, this time in order to sample scrapple at a diner. Host Guy also visits other neighborhood joints in St. Louis and Virginia. Live to Be 150... Can You Do It? (Tue, 10PM-11PM, ABC) This Barbara Walters special report on aging takes a look at ways to increase longevity, and......

A recent report on the western bluebird stated: “Genetic studies showed that 45 per cent of nests had young that were not fathered by the defending male, and that 19 per cent of all the young were fathered outside the pair bond.” Our feathered friends do not have access to an affordable, reliable way to identify paternal lineages on their own. Philadelphians, however, do. Over the counter DNA paternity tests are now available at Philadelphia......

For those of you on the left side of the Schuylkill, it’s time to give a warm sun salutation to your new neighbors on 45th and Baltimore: Studio 34 founders and longtime West Philly residents Angela Norris, James Peniston, and Stephen Fisher. With their respective backgrounds in Eastern practices, nursing, and community arts, these friends spent the past year renovating the huge, gutted space above Fiesta Pizza into a wellness center designed around the needs......