Author: Johnny Goodtimes

Reminiscing About Quizzo Bowls Past


This interview was done for the documentary, which was shot before Quizzo Bowl IV. In it, I talk about previous halftime acts and previous bands at Quizzo Bowl. Of course, WID didn’t work out so well at QBIV. Last year’s dragon troupe was a bit more successful, though they went on a little long As for bands, every year I’ve picked a winner. Black Elvis was awesome, and so was Haulin Oats. The West Philadelphia Orchestra will definitely continue that proud tradition. This year, Chip Chantry, Fastball Pitcher Bob Gutierrez, comedian Eric Todd and myself will be doing the halftime act. Could be a hoot…or it could be an epic disaster. There’s only one way to find out. I’ll have tickets on sale tonight.

What a Feelin’!


For those of you who don’t think I can dance, think again. And when we dump all of the raffle tickets on the floor during Quizzo Bowl VI, now you’ll know why. It was a tradition started when one of the Hellcat Girls in Quizzo Bowl III grabbed the wrong bucket and dumped it on me. It was supposed to be the bucket with the glitter in it, not the bucket with the tickets in it. That’s why I am inexplicably covered in tickets at the end of this video.

Quizzo Bowl News and Notes

PrintFirst of all, Quizzo Bowl tickets are moving fast. I am at almost 100 sold. Which means that if you have not already bought them yet, you should definitely do so this week. That includes the “regulars” (Sofa Kingdom, Lambda, Duane’s World, etc.) The buzz is spreading (It’s already up on Phillyfunguide and I am expecting press coverage next week.) I am expecting another sellout this year, so don’t wait until the day of to buy your tix, because there is a good chance they will be gone by then.

Here is the 5 minute guide to Quizzo Bowl, and here is the facebook invite.  Also want to send a shout out to Owen, who designed this year’s Quizzo Bowl logo. I will have tickets on me tonight at quizzo.

Quizzo Power Rankings

powerranks

  1. Steak Em Up. Finally regain the top spot with a loss by L. Ron Hubbard’s Diabetics. Last week: #2
  2. Lambda Lambda Lambda. 5 straight wins at O’Neals and a win over the Diabetics at the Ugly American. These guys are serious about a three-peat. Last week: #3
  3. L. Ron Hubbard’s Diabetics. 8 game win streak finally snapped. Still a Quizzo Bowl Dark Horse. Last week: #1
  4. This spot reserved for any team to knock off any of the top 3 this week. In the past few weeks, there have been three dominant teams. They are all listed above. Any team that knocks them off this week is guaranteed the #4 spot. Last week: NR
  5. Duane’s World. Are they getting hot at the right time? 2 wins in the last three weeks. Last week: #5
  6. The Jams. How to rank the teams at the Rendezvous? 5 winners in the last 6 weeks. What was once the Jams birthright is now the most competitive game in town. Jams hold down the #6 spot as the only team in the last 6 weeks to win twice. Last week: #4
  7. 1022. A thrilling win at the Rendezvous this week, this is a team on the rise at the right time. Last week: NR
  8. The Champs. Haven’t been on the winner’s podium much lately, but their 2 Quizzo Bowl wins and 3rd place finish last year earn them a Top 10 spot. Last week: NR
  9. Axis of Evil Knieval. A 2nd Place finish at the Bards keeps them in the 9 spot. Last week: #9
  10. The Unusual Suspects. Finish third at Black Sheep. This is the team we are personally rooting for at Quizzo Bowl. Why? Because they finished dead last in 2009. Would love to see the worst to first story become a reality. Last week: NR

How the Other Half Lives


Last week, I asked the question, “A Jacob Riis Eye Opening expose, photographed and written in 1890, its title is heard in the INXS song Devil Inside. What is it?” The answer was, “How the Other Half Lives.”

The book can be found online, and what I’ve read of it is fascinating. People back then were dealing with many of the same issues that we deal with today. Invasion of privacy, rights of government over people’s lives, high rates of juvenile crime.

The situation was summed up by the Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor in these words: “Crazy old buildings, crowded rear tenements in filthy yards, dark, damp basements, leaking garrets, shops, outhouses, and stables converted into dwellings, though scarcely fit to shelter brutes, are habitations of thousands of our fellow-beings in this wealthy, Christian city.” “The city,” says its historian, Mrs. Martha Lamb, commenting on the era of aqueduct building between 1835 and 1845, “was a general asylum for vagrants.” Young vagabonds, the natural offspring of such “home” conditions, overran the streets. Juvenile crime increased fearfully year by year…In that year the Board ordered the cutting of more than forty-six thousand windows in interior rooms, chiefly for ventilation–for little or no light was to be had from the dark hallways. Air-shafts were unknown. The saw had a job all that summer; by early fall nearly all the orders had been carried out. Not without opposition; obstacles were
thrown in the way of the officials on the one side by the owners of the tenements, who saw in every order to repair or clean up only an item of added expense to diminish their income from the rent; on the other side by the tenants themselves, who had sunk, after a generation of unavailing protest, to the level of their surroundings, and were at last content to remain there…The basis of opposition, curiously enough was the same at both extremes; owner and tenant alike considered official interference an infringement of personal rights, and a hardship. It took long years of weary labor to make good the claim of the sunlight to such corners of the dens as it could reach at all. Not until five years after did the department succeed at last in ousting the “cave-dwellers” and closing some five hundred and fifty cellars south of Houston Street, many of them below tide-water, that had been used as living apartments. In many instances the police had to drag the tenants out by force.

Of particular interest is the chapter on The Color Line in New York, a fascinating (and remarkably liberal for its day) look at race in New York City in 1890. As for the book itself, here is the lowdown. Riis was a big Dickens fan, and it shows in his work. Anyhow, just a reminder that there is usually a lot more to a simple trivia question than an answer!

Philly History: Philly Rappers Involved in Cop Killing in 1996


Old School Philly rapper Steady B is heard rocking the mic in the above song, Serious, a song I was a big fan of as a teenager. That song, along with another one called Goin’ Steady, were his biggest hits. He faded into obscurity in the early 90s. In 1996, he and another Philly rapper, Cool C, who was best known for a song called “The Glamorous Life“, robbed a PNC bank in Philadelphia. Cool C (real name Christopher Roney) and a friend named Mark Canty actually went inside the bank, while Steady B drove the getaway car. When police officer Lauretha Vaird responded to the robbery, she was shot and killed by Roney (who still proclaims his innocence). She was the first female officer killed in the line of duty in Philadelphia’s history. This from the NY Times article that came out after the rappers were arrested:
Mr. McGlone, who uses the name Steady B., and Mr. Roney, known as Cool C., were boyhood friends who began rapping with Fresh Prince when that television star was known as Will Smith, said Mr. McGlone’s uncle, Lawrence Goodman….The arrests came as a surprise, Mr. Nicolo said, because “these are not hard guys.”

The police said Mr. Roney and Mr. Canty accosted three bank employees at gunpoint before the branch opened on Tuesday, demanded access to the vault but left without taking anything.

Cool C is currently on death row, and was scheduled to be executed in 2006, but had his execution stayed by Rendell. This from prodeathpenalty.com: On January 6, 1996, around 8:30 in the morning, Christopher Roney and accomplice Mark Canty entered a Philadelphia bank dressed as utility construction workers and forced several employees to open the bank vault at gunpoint. Canty went into the vault with two of the women while Roney held a third at gunpoint. Canty shouted to Roney, “Here comes the heat,” and Roney replied, “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of them.” At this time, Police Officer Lauretha Vaird, who was the first officer to respond to the silent alarm, approached the front door of the bank building. As she entered the bank, Roney fatally shot Lauretha in the abdomen and then ran past her through the front door. Meanwhile Canty fled from the bank through a side entrance, leaving his gun behind. Outside the bank, Roney exchanged gunfire with the second officer to arrive on the scene. Escaping the shootout, Roney jumped into a getaway vehicle, a green minivan driven by another accomplice, Warren McGlone, and the vehicle sped away. Later that morning the three men met at McGlone’s home to discuss the robbery. In the meantime, police found the abandoned getaway vehicle and various pieces of the robbers’ disguises. They also recovered two weapons lying on the ground outside the bank. One weapon was traced to a relative of Canty, who had discovered the weapon had been stolen. It had last been seen in Canty’s possession. The other gun was traced to a friend of McGlone, who had purchased the weapon for McGlone. After being taken in for questioning, Canty and McGlone confessed to participating in the robbery. Roney was sentenced to death and the two accomplices received life sentences. Lauretha was 43 years old and had served for 9 years. She was a single parent raising two sons.

Another Philly rapper later lent his two cents to the story, as G. Love recorded a touching tribute to Vaird called “Slipped Away”. A story on Action News a couple of months ago talked about her legacy, and interviewed one of her sons. You can see it here.