Billy turns 58 today. Yeah, I have kind of been on a Billy Squier kick lately. I am just so amazed by how people in entertainment can wreck their whole career with one bad decision. In this case, of course, it was Billy’s decision to dance in a pink tank top in the Rock Me Tonight video (I did a full write up on this Rock Me Tonight video fiasco on the Kerri Lee blog today.) One thing I find interesting about Billy Squier is that he is a legend in hip hop circles because his beats were so dope, and he is sampled constantly. Listen to the song above, then listen to 99 Problems by Jay Z and Dizzee Rascal’s Fix Up Look Sharp. And who can forget Run DMC with Here We go, Here We Go, Here We Here We Go. Another thing is that, while I find most non hip-hop music of the 1980s to be “good” solely in an ironic fashion, Billy Squier kicked total ass without cheesy synthesizers and drum machines. So what is he up to now? Here’s an article about him from a couple of years ago.

When FOX called and said they wanted to do a story on D-Mac and I, I thought, “How interesting. FOX wants to do a story on Handsomest Men in Philadelphia.” But it turned out that they just wanted to do a story on bloggers. Geez, when are people gonna realize that I am not just a brilliant writer, but also a pretty face?

SeeqPod – Playable Search
Here it is, the best 16 songs about the rain. I expect you to heartily disagree with my selections.

Hey remember that movie that they kept shutting down Rittenhouse for? And remember how Marky Mark wore his Red Sox hat when he ate at Smith and Wollensky’s? Well, that movie is coming out soon, and it looks pretty damn interesting. I didn’t really mind Signs or The Village like a lot of people did, but when he did a movie about mermaids I thought he had officially jumped the shark, and I wondered if his next movie would be about unicorns and warlocks. But hopefully he gets back on track here. Whattya think? After checking the trailers (here’s another one), do you think it’s gonna be good?

Trivia Art and I hit up a couple of new spots last night. First we tried Time, the place where Ludwig’s used to be. It was weird being in Ludwig’s without pictures of old German leaders on the wall. The setup was still similar, in terms of where the bars and tables were, so I still felt like it was a just a cleaned up Ludwig’s. The beer was more reasonable than I had been led to believe, as they have an 11-1 am Happy Hour, so I got a Leffe Brown for only $4. It was a pretty decent spot for a drink, and the only problems I had with the place were music related: it’s kind of a dark, mellow, candlelit place where you should talk in hush tones. Therefore, the fact that it has a jukebox kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. Some places should have jukeboxes, some shouldn’t. This place shouldn’t. Also, this is the kind of place that should be playing jazz or possibly ambient music. It absolutely should not play three straight Styxx songs, like they did last night. There is a time and place for Styxx, and Time wasn’t the place (Yes, I know I’m clever.)

Then we headed off to Apothecary for a drink on their opening It was pretty cool. The drinks are definitely interesting, using ginseng, absinthe, cucumbers, and a variety of other unusual ingredients. The one I got, the Booty Collins, employed cayenne pepper, and it was excellent. This is a great “fun drink while you wait for your table at Lolita” spot. The drinks are expensive ($10-$15), but the ambience is fun (the bartenders dress in old timey bartender gear) and they seem determined to keep out Jerseyites, Manayunkers, and other assorted riff-raff.
RELATED:Read more about Apothecary in today’s City paper.

That’s right, been hard at work all day putting together video from the 7th annual goat races in Phoenixville over the weekend. Here’s the fruits of my labor. Enjoy!

“The fact that we put forward a piece of legislation to prevent the sale and use and transfer of assault weapons and have a Philadelphia police officer assaulted on the streets with one, I think makes it pretty clear to anyone who is confused about this issue that there’s no reason for any citizen, any person other than in law enforcement or in the military to have such a weapon. There’s no legitimate argument by the NRA, they need to get in the real world where the rest of us live and come to grips with these kinds of issues. They owe an apology to the family for their staunch opposition over many, many years blocking legislative support for these kinds of matters.“

To read more about the gun control aspect of the cop killing, click here.

Pittsburgh State Rep. Dan Frankel has introduced an assault-weapons ban in Harrisburg every year since the federal ban expired, but his bill has never even made it out of committee.

“The pro-gun community has been very effective in creating fear among legislators,” Frankel said. “Plenty of my colleagues say to me, ‘Dan, you’re right on this, but I just can’t support it, because it will create political problems for me.’ “

• Since it is Cinco de Mayo, why don’t hop in the time traveler and go back to 2004, when Johnny traveled to Mexico to do some pinniped consulting and had a run in with the police shortly after arriving. Mexican women were not interested in JGT, but there was a sea lion that seemed to take a liking to him.
• Hung out with Kerri-Lee and D-Mac on Friday and we got some somewhat amusing video of D-Mac and Kerri-Lee tooling around on the computer. Today on KL’s blog, I ask a few more Mexico related questions. See how ya do. I have some great video of yesterday’s goat races, and I will be editing tonight and posting manana.
• Thinking about doing a piece in the paper this week about Jersey drivers. Whether you think that Jersey drivers are awful, or if you think they are unfairly stereotyped, please shoot me an email and give me your thoughts on the topic.

The small peninsula that nobody has ever heard of where I grew up was featured in the New York Times today. Dave Burden, the kayak shop owner, is a buddy of mine (he beat me at Scramble last week.) They didn’t check out my town, Nassawadox, because well, there’s nothing to see there.

A question at quizzo this week was: This song, which sounds sweet but is actually pretty creepy, is Louisiana’s state song. Hint: It was heard in O Brother Where Art Thou. The Answer is “You Are My Sunshine.” Now I remember learning this song as a little child. Kind of funny that I was learning a song about a psycho co-dependent who will probably eventually murder his ex. Check out these lyrics:

I’ll always love you and make you happy
if you will only say the same
but if you leave me to love another
you’ll regret it all some day

You told me once dear you really loved me
that no one else could come between
but now you’ve left me and love another
you have shattered all my dreams.

You’ll regret it all someday? Is that a threat? You have shattered all my dreams? All of them? My God, man, pull it together!