Recently my daughter showed up at our house, after a weekend with Mom-Mom, with her fingernails and toenails painted pink. She is 2 years old. As a Dad, I am very protective of my child. I think she is beautiful whether she is dressed up for school pictures, covered in macaroni and cheese or leaking snot from her nose at the rate of a sprung fire hydrant. And while I want the world to think......

What was the best part of Invincible? Was it the story of triumph and struggle in the harsh economy of the Carter Years? WRONG! Was it the extremely well shot and realistic football scenes? Not even close! How about the strong bond of brotherhood and friendship in a tight-knit but emotionally stunted community of uber-masculine guys? Nice try. Well, then, it has to be the sheer unearthly hotness of Elizabeth Banks? Sorta. The best part......

Here’s the scenario: It’s a beautiful summer day at Citizens Bank Park. The sun is shining, the air is still, and the scent of hot dogs, peanuts, and beer wafts through the crowd. There’s really not much to complain about on such a picturesque afternoon. Our beloved Fightin’ Phillies, however, are down by one run in the 6th inning and we all know what comes next. “E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!!” It pierces the mood like a knife.......

Dear Readers: You may recognize "phillybits" as a frequent commenter on Phillyist. But Phillybits (capital "P"), aka Ray Skwire, is also a great local blogger with a love for grammar that rivals our own. He also seems to have a love for animals that rivals our own. And that's what this post is about. See that squirrel up there? Cute, right? Until you realize that it's not climbing the fence – it's stuck in it.......

On December 9, 1981, Officer Daniel Faulkner was brutally murdered by an assailant whose identity has since been the subject of historical speculation. There are myriad theories as to the identity of the murderer, many of which are ridiculous, but some of which deserve merit and further investigation beyond blindly being dismissed as "just another conspiracy theory." As I write this, it is 3:51 a.m. on December 9, 2007. I am sitting on the ledge......

To my fellow XX chromosome-possessing brethren sistren: Okay, I'll admit it: last time a mouse ran across my apartment, I jumped up on the sofa and squealed. But a cockroach? Yeah, they're gross. Really, really gross. But they're not worth shrieking about. So when you walk into the bathroom at your office, see a cockroach (where, admittedly, it shouldn't be), it's not exactly worth it to let out a high-pitched yell, followed by: "ewomigodacockroachnevermindillcomebacklater!" –......

Dear Travel + Leisure: If you're going to talk smack, get your story straight. Least attractive city? (Insert buzzer sound.) Have you seen the people who live on Staten Island? You said we were least stylish. Wrong , wrong, and wrong. You said we were the least active. Does any other city have this? You called us least friendly. Bullshit. If we've got to live with the ugly label, at least recognize that we are......

For our parents, it was the assassination of JFK. Ask any of them and they can remember exactly what they were doing at the time they found out JFK had been killed. I never understood that until September 11, 2001. Our generation can remember it like it was yesterday. For us, that moment, frozen in time, is and will always be 9/11. Back then I was in community journalism at a small paper in Bristol,......

By Bill Hayes and Pencopal This week, the Renegade Phillyists are feeling slightly less hateful, but just as snarky. Think of it as haterade lite. So instead of picking people off one by one, we've decided to taze them. Bill's To Taze List: 1) The people at Pitchfork. If you've heard of an album, they probably think it blows. I've been listening to the latest Tegan & Sara album, The Con, and I have been......

Sometimes, it's hard to resist the hate. You may not be having an especially bad day – you may in fact be in a good mood. But sometimes the snark comes so naturally that you have to marinate in it. Like it's Lawry's. Today is one of those days for two Phillyists who found themselves in an e-mail conversation about Tori Amos, lactating, and people we'd like to have killed. This may be in poor......

Boy, did I wake up to good news this morning!? As it states on page D2 of today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, Brian Tierney’s publication has stripped Stephen A. Smith of his column-writing duties, effective immediately. They have stated that they want him to return to reporting, which, since he spends most of his time in cities not named Philadelphia, is probably code for “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” Now I don’t want to rush to......

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a disturbingly effective visual aide that brings together the homicide data from last year - data we are quickly on our way to surpassing in 2007. Philadelphia was once referred to as the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ but lately, it has been making a name for itself as one of the most violent and murderous cities in the nation. A recent Inquirer article said that the murder rate is indicative of......

On July 17th, Michael Vick (among others) was indicted on myriad charges, including illegal dog fighting. You also shouldn't forget his weak attempt to "smuggle" a bong through airport security in January – a charge which was dropped because all tests on the confiscated substances came back negative. You'll also remember that in 2005, Vick was sued by a woman alleging that he passed herpes onto her while using the alias "Ron Mexico." Paris Hilton......

Haven't heard of it? From the same form of racial profiling that results in people getting pulled over for Driving While Black, basically, if you're black and travelling by plane, the odds of having your luggage (or self) searched are significantly higher than the odds white travellers operate with. In 1999, Mos Def rapped about it on his album Black on Both Sides: Some folks get on a plane, go where they please, but......

No this isn't an ode to the Rolling Stones (though we do hear the bass line from that song in our head when we're walking down Market Street in the summertime). This is an ode to our love, Philadelphia. We are counting the hours until we get back to your edgy goodness. Unlike our other trips to Vegas, this one sucks. Perhaps it is because we are travelling alone and aren't in the mood to......

Spring Training is all but finished, and that local sports team heads back to Philly to open the season on April 2 (that's Monday, folks). If you're keeping track though, you'll need to get in on your office fantasy baseball pool before that. Unless you do the second half only season, which is just silly. Anyhow, it's not too late to get a group together. Invite your lady friends too; chances are that they'll eschew......

Yesterday was President's Bush first press conference this year. If you missed the conference and you haven't read about it, you can read the transcript here. Since I am a teacher, I had the day off yesterday, so as I was casually changing the channel, in my pajamas, I began to notice that every channel had President Bush on. Boy, was I pissed—he was ruining my daytime television romp. Before I switched to my......

While everyone else was writing about this yesterday, I was too busy working [read: getting a tattoo of Barbaro on my shoulder while listening to Bad Brains]. What does one think when one sits down to write a piece of garbage like this? “Hmm. You know, I was at a [fill in latest indie band] show the other day, and I saw two black people! They were dressed like me and seemed to be really......

If you pay any attention to Phillyist’s Staff Page, then you may have noticed that I recently became the site’s Associate Editor. What this specifically means is that I’m working on increasing the Philly-based content on the site, in regards to both regular columns and special features. I’ve got a lot of ideas, as does the rest of the staff, but we create this site for our readers, so I want to know what YOU......

It's official. New York stinks. While New Yorkers and North Jersey folks woke up to the smell of a gas-like odor (read: rotten eggs tag teamed by the worst. fart. imaginable) we here in Philly woke up to the smell of victory. Between last night's Eagles win and making it through weekend-long Mummers parties with only the slightest of hangovers, Philadelphia's slogan for this week should be "It's good to be the king." Image Credit:......

Confession time. I'm a registered Republican. I know that's probably going to alienate me from most of you, our readers, but I'm asking you to hear me out. First of all, I'm still registered to vote in Texas. So my vote in most major elections has very little impact on the rest of you. (Especially since we all know what happens with absentee ballots.) Secondly, I don't vote straight-ticket anything. Most of the time,......

We here at Phillyist love the holiday season as much as the next person. It always brings fond memories of great home cooked food, warm fireplaces and those wonderful family get-togethers where something always gets broken, someone always falls asleep really early, and someone else takes WAY too many pictures (Mom...). And while those things are what family and celebration are all about, this article delves into the more sordid and shady world of government......

Having received an Au Bon Pain gift card, my initial happiness ("FILL YERS BOOTS WHILE YA CAN MATES 'CAUSE WHEN WE GET BACK TO SCOTLAND IT'S McCAIN'S OVEN CHIPS TILL FUCK KNOWS WHEN"*) was a bit derailed by the ensuing application process. Granted, logging in to write this post has taken time itself, but the damn registration page for the gift card was insistent that I fill in ALL my details. Fucking gestapo requirement for......

As you've no doubt heard (and several times by now), Thomas Jefferson University plans to sell "The Gross Clinic," a painting by local artist Thomas Eakins, to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas for a not-so-inconsiderable sum of money. Some members of the community are upset by this decision on the part of the University, and would prefer to see local art stay, well, local. And as we told you yesterday, Mayor......

As we mentioned in this morning's news round-up, our local council is considering making it illegal to sell drug accessories - so we thought we'd see what you thought about the drugs themselves. Specifically: marijuana. Should it be legalized? Why or why not? Image via Mourguefile......

Since we originally composed this question, Rupert Murdoch has declared that he has ix-nayed both the book deal, and the ensuing Fox TV interview (this is what we get for preparing posts ahead of time). However - despite the news that this show won't go on, we're still curious why you think it ever was conceived in the first place. Speculation as to why it got pulled also welcome. Regardless of public opinion on the......

In response to the growing violence problem in our fair metropolis, some folks have proposed Philly's men and women in blue institute a "stop-and-frisk" practice, wherein they would, well, stop and frisk individuals they suspect of potentially carrying illegal weapons. In the Inquirer article from which Phillyist learned that this crime deterrent strategy is under deliberation, a video clerk from Kingsessing said he would support the measure, saying, ""If you've got nothing to be guilty......

The votes are in, and Phillyist wants to know your feelings on how the ballots played out. Are the results a triumph, a tragedy or a travesty? For those of you who didn't vote - we'd love to beat you with sticks hear your reasons why. Photo by author......

Last week, the city of Philadelphia announced that it had a budget surplus of -- everyone put your pinkies to your lips -- $200 million dollars. When the news was announced, City Councilman Jim Kenney said the money should be put aside for a "rainy day fund" and not spent right away, which Mayor Street agreed with. KYW's Larry Kane, reflecting on the news in his blog, came up with a couple other good ideas......

- Philly voters are mad as hell about violence and corruption in our city (ed- ah, James, you're not alone!) - at least mad enough to voice their opinion in a survey. Opinion polls are all well and good, but the voting polls are what count. (via) - Last week it was identity theft, this week's crime - dealing illicit prescription drugs. - And speaking of drug-dealing - what's worse than getting picked up by......