Month: June 2008

Latest in the Metro

Thomas_Jefferson_by_Charles_Willson_Peale_1791.jpg
Here’s the latest. A lot of people did amazing things when they were my age, I still haven’t done anything amazing yet. Oh yeah, and that whole, “I forgot that today was my birthday” thing I wrote about? Yeah, it really happened. All in all, one of the best blowoff lines I’ve ever gotten. Also, one time I was in line at Ross Dress For Less in Hawaii and thought that the sales clerk was flirting with me, so I asked her if she wanted to get together for a drink sometime. She said, “Thanks”…long dramatic pause…”But nooooo thanks.” (snarky, sarcastic smile). I’m still a little bit miffed about that one.

Impossible Round of Summer Quiz

summerwheatley.jpg
Here is the impossible round of Saturday’s quiz about summer. Answers after the jump.

  1. On what tv show would you have found a character named Summer Roberts?
  2. Who wrote the baseball classic, Summer of ’49?
  3. JAWS is considered the first ever summer blockbuster. Who wrote it?
  4. What Canadian city has a popular tourist destination known as The Beaches?
  5. In what movie did a character named Summer Wheatley (above) run for class president?
  6. In what city will you find Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue?
  7. This 2001 film starred Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce.
  8. Paul Newman’s first ever Broadway appearance was in this 1953 play written by William Inge. The title is one “summery” word.
  9. This water ice stand at 7th and Christian has been in business since 1945.
  10. What legendary rocker had a song called the Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues?

Continue reading “Impossible Round of Summer Quiz” →

But What Does Quizmaster Chris Reeeeally Think about Dirty Frank’s?

ap4.jpg
Well, one thing you can say about Quizmaster Chris: He doesn’t keep his feelings to himself, and isn’t scared to write what he thinks. A few months ago, I forwarded the fact that an employee of Dirty Frank’s had interrupted a game of quizzo by throwing a chair. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Dirty Frank’s pulled the plug on quizzo entirely, and Chris was none too pleased. Here are a few of his more choice comments about the bar and the way it went down:
No one at Frank’s gives a flying f*** about you. We’re all disposable pieces of s*** to them, which is ironic as you can’t get much s****ier than some of the staff. Keep in mind that an employee who smacked a customer in the head and threw a chair across the room is still employed there, but the quiz has to go, because the quiz made a few unsavory alcoholics unhappy…It’s very difficult for me to promote the idea of people coming to a place to play a quiz where an employee throws a barstool across the room, smacks a customer in the head, and not only remains an employee but hangs around to mock me on the odd off-duty night. It’s difficult to get people to come back to a place where sometimes people who need to be in the drunk tank are still being served, or where it’s hard to hear me over the terminally rude, who decide that question 3 of round 4 is the perfect time to sing “Happy Birthday.”… If you want slow and/or bitter service, the opportunity for a fistfight, an increasingly pathetic alcoholic-centered group of obnoxious patrons, largely unregulated by the world’s smallest bouncers… if you’d like to enjoy this with a skull-splitting soundtrack of bad metal and rap… try Frank’s.

Quizmaster Chris has replaced that quiz with a new one on Wednesday nights at Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar at 9 p.m.

JGT Upgraded to “Staple”

Staples.jpg
I just came across the following sentence in Saturday’s Inquirer**: …or you can challenge your brain at the Quizzo Tournament with Philly staple Johnny Goodtimes in the Innovation Studio. Philly Staple? That’s awesome. Staple is not really legend, but still bigger than “Philly regular” or even “Philly entertainer.” Ha! Staple. I’m gonna be riding high off this all day. In other news, I don’t have a lot of excitement going on in my life right now.

**no, I wasn’t googling myself. Puh-Leez. What do you think I am, some sort of loser? Don’t answer that.

Around the Horn, brought to you by Robot Snakes

roboboa-snake.jpg

It’s Alright, That’s My Hip Hop Fantasy

picresized_1214373564_DSCF0676.jpg
Got to see two hip hop legends over the weekend. First up, on Friday, went to see Slick Rick at the Trocadero. There was much hype about MC Ricky D playing with a live band. It was soon apparent why he was doing that. Because, on his own, Slick Rick has about much charisma as dry paint. He honestly never moved for the entire 45 minute set. I mean, it was still cool, because I got to see him perform some of his old hits, but I think he was, quite frankly, bored out of his mind doing “Children’s Story” for the 7,000th time. When the crowd called for an encore, the whole band returned…except for Slick Rick. On a brighter note, it was my first trip back to the Troc since the firing, and it was great to see the gang again.

After my gig at the Kimmel on Saturday, I decided to see Spinderella at the Perelman Center. And let me just say it was off the hook. She was all over it. I mean, it’s not real easy to just be a DJ on a stage all by yourself and own it, but she was just awesome. I wasn’t even dancing (I have never been able to walk up to a random woman and just start dancing. Just can’t do it.) but I sat there in awe of how great her set list was, and she kept chatting with the crowd. Of course, by the time I found someone who might have danced with me (emphasis on “might have”), she started playing freaking disco, and I can’t dance to that garbage. But for the most part, Spinderella was phenomenal. One of the best DJs I’ve ever seen. Then to top it all off, after she got done, she came down in to the crowd to sign autographs and take photos. Pretty stark contrast to a guy who wouldn’t even come back out for an encore.