No debate: there’s no better, or more appropriate, place to celebrate the birth of our nation than right here in Philly. Here are a few things to help you enjoy your freedom this weekend. The best part? Most of it’s free. Today: Forget lunch, there’s cake! A reading of the Declaration of Independence is followed by an eight foot cake that’s needs some eating. Head over to the Independence Visitor Center at noon to snag......

All seasons have their harbingers, but spring's seem to be the prettiest, especially in the D.C.-to-Boston corridor that we're strategically placed in. What makes springtime so lovely in these parts, you might ask? Well it's certainly not the weather we've been having of late. We were thinking more along the lines of the annual appearance of fluffy pink and white cherry blossoms on trees throughout Fairmount Park, commemorated annually with the Subaru Cherry Blossom......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY The N Crowd: Weekly improve comedy show at The Actors Center (257 N. 3rd), 8PM. $10 Andrew Gregory: Andrew Gregory (CD release party), John Francis, and Ian Thomas at Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd), 10:30PM. $10 Leslie and the Ly’s: Leslie and the Ly’s, MC Digga and Sgt. Sass at North Star Bar (2639 Poplar), 9PM. $10 Intertwine: Opening reception for Intertwine, with work by Brooke Hine,......

The 2008 Mummers Parade. Oh Philly, how this Phillyist is missing you from Texas!......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed. All Time Low, Mayday Parade, Just Surrender, and Every Avenue Crocodile Rock, Allentown Fri, 1/25/08, 6PM $12 On sale: Fri, 10AM, Ticketmaster Van Halen GIANT Center, Hershey; Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City Wed, 3/19/08, 7:30PM; Fri, 3/28/08, 8PM On......

Let's get all the holiday news out of the way first: the Inquirer has coverage of the 88th annual Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, which mainly focuses on the great weather. They greet Black Friday by reminding us of the many toy recalls, and by pointing out that there could be lots of great deals to be had out there due to a yearlong sales slump and tons of extra inventory. Now that the Mayoral......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed. COMEDY Chris Rock Borgata Event Center, Atlantic City Fri, 11/23/07, 8PM; Sat, 11/24/07, 8PM Pre-sale: Today, 10AM - Fri, 8PM, Live Nation (Fri show, Sat show) On sale: Sat, 10AM, Live Nation (Fri show, Sat show) MUSIC Misery......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Heroes (Mon, 9PM-10PM, NBC) - Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars shows up in this episode as a mysterious woman who's searching for Peter. Meanwhile, Matt and a surprise ally come to Philadelphia (hey! We know that place!) to hunt down Molly's attacker. Frosted Pink (Mon, 8PM-9PM, Style) - A special featuring musical performances and a skating event which are put on to benefit research on women's cancers.......

A gunman attacked an armored car as it pulled up to service an ATM at a Wachovia Bank in Rhawnhurst early yesterday morning. He killed two guards, injured a third, and escaped with a bag of money. Surveillance cameras recorded the entire attack. The killer "is described as a black man, wearing a yellow baseball cap with a black logo, a black short-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. His car appeared to be......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Tuesday post only collects the early announcements, so definitely check back on Thursday for the latest ticket news. COMEDY Lisa Lampanelli Sovereign Performing Arts Center, Reading Fri, 9/14/07, 8PM $32.75 Pre-sale: Fri, 10AM-5PM, Ticketmaster On sale: Sat, 10AM, Ticketmaster Jerry Seinfeld Resorts Atlantic City Sat, 9/8/07, 11PM $150 On sale: Sat, 10AM, Ticketmaster MUSIC As Cities Burn,......

We're going to make this week's Suburban Fun column quick and to the point. This weekend is The Blobfest at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville. The annual event celebrates the filming of The Blob right here in Chester County. (True story: We didn't know this until we made a joke about the diner looking just like the Downingtown Diner and our friends looked at us like we had sprouted a second head, Zaphod Beeblebrox-style. Occasionally,......

Just a quick note: if you're interested in seeing some coverage of the Welcome America and other Independence Day-related festivities, you should know that our readers came through in a big way! Just check out the photos in our contribute section, or go straight to Flickr to see the most recent pics tagged with "phillyist" (such as the one included here). There's a ton of great photos of various activities that went on in the......

Philadelphia's parade of presidential candidates continues; today the NEA will hear from Senator Barack Obama, Senator Joe Biden, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The Inquirer has more details on the strange drama surrounding that recently discovered manuscript of The Good Earth. Early yesterday morning, a West Philly biker was bringing up the rear of a group of bikers who were weaving in and out of traffic as they headed north on 95 when he......

It's drawing close to the day when all Phillyists must decide what to do with a day off in the sweltering heat - the Fourth of July. Do we hang around the city, deal with the onslaught of tourists dressed up in their red, white and blue best to sit on the parkway and listen to Hall and Oates? Do we sit around drinking beer and grilling burgers and dogs? Do we venture into the......

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they......

"WAAAAAR-EEEEEEEEEE-ORS, come out and PLAY-E-AY!!" It's that time of the week again, son. Do work. I stole your crutches. craigslist > best of craigslist Hey, Jimmy, if you’re looking for your crutches, I think Timmy’s got ‘em. I smell another CRIP-PLE FIGHT!!! I’m not sure what’s more important, this dude getting his crutches back or the fact that the Philly contingent finally got an entry on 'Best of.' Sexy neighbor across the street - m4w......

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally topped off, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

To state the obvious: Spiral Q Puppet Theater is a Philadelphia institution. Combining social activism with larger-than-life puppetry has made the organization a neighborhood favorite in, well, many neighborhoods in the city, seeing as how their folks partner with the community to put on fantastic parades and pageants. You'll be able to see puppets in action this Saturday at 1 pm, rain or shine, when Spiral Q presents the 3rd annual UP North Parade and......

When I go to the ballet, or really to any other dance performance, I must admit that I often get bored watching the pretty, dainty women dance across the stage en pointe. I'd much rather watch the men: for them, dance is a sport as much as it is an artform – and when they jump, they seem to stay suspended in the air forever. I never get tired of watching men dancing. Which......

As a tribute to Rick D, Tritone's Co-Owner and Booker, who passed away from a sudden heart attack on April 7th, Tritone is hosting "A Month of Sundays." The event was organized by Beth Boccassini, who works at both Tritone and Bob and Barbara's. It started on April 15th, with Rock Tits DJs, and continued last Sunday, as DJs Evile Mademoiselle Memphis and Thunderchicken spun some of Rick D's favorite music. Tonight, Plain Parade,......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. The site is horribly designed, and the audio quality isn't the best ever, but this internet jukebox that lets you listen to the best of the top 100 via a streaming playlist for each year from 1950 through 1984 ("the golden years of popular music") is pretty cool anyway. (Via Editor Jill, via her grandfather) For those of you who use Valve's Steam......

Phillyist is pleased to welcome another new writer, Andrew Johnston, who asks that you not piss on his poop parade. Her resume includes opening for acts such as Television, Xiu Xiu, and most recently, on her previous jaunt to Philadelphia, indie up and comers Midlake. You may also recognize her as one of The Polyphonic Spree. Or, perhaps you caught her as part of Sufjan Stevens’s touring band. Whatever it may have been, tonight, for......

In this fine city of ours, 88.5 WXPN is an institution. While we've never been able to figure out exactly the relationship between the station and the University of Pennsylvania (beyond an apparent mandate to broadcast all home Quaker games) and we keep getting letters telling us to renew our membership even though we did a few months ago (and it wasn't twelve either), Phillyist definitely has a soft spot for the X. We mean,......

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The latest on the violence in our schools: first, the 15-year-old charged with ultimately breaking the neck of that Germantown High teacher has admitted his part in the assault. Second, things continued to be pretty insane at West Philly High yesterday. The day began with the arrest of a student caught with a nail file at the metal detector, then continued at 11AM with a fire in a locker that led to an evacuation......

Little-known fact: There are a hell of a lot of blogs in Philly. While we here try to hold our own, there are a lot of good stories out there just waiting to be read from around the Philly blog community. Here are a few that popped up throughout the week. Go ahead, check it out, we won't get jealous. Just come on back here when you're good and ready. We'll have cookies and soy......

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With Valentine's Day only a few days away, nothing could be more appropriate than giving your loved ones a little sugar. Sugar Town that is. While Sugar Town has absolutely nothing to do with Valentine's Day (we just needed a clever opening), it does have to do with fantastically talented ladies who rock, spin, sing, and otherwise kick performative ass. Which is far more fun and less painful than other kinds of ass kicking. (Unless,......

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. Austinist said goodbye to their co-editor (sell-out) and played rumor monger on the SXSW lineup. And when dozens of dead birds littered downtown Austin, it's......