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Ok, so I threw my little hissyfit on friday about the lack of quizzo in this years Best Of…edition. Well, it’s time to move on and turn the page, and see what they got right and wrong. Alright, they start with Food and Drink. I’ve gotten old and predictable in my old age, so I haven’t been to a lot of hip new spots. But Philafoodie says that they got a lot of stuff right, and we’ll take their word for it. A weak award for Cheap Eats: Wegman’s. As many good cheap eats as this city has, and you give it to a chain grocery store out from Rochester? Lame. However, Steve’s, Prince of Steaks, has a really great steaks. Good call. Alright, enough of the food. Let’s move on. Fashion. Uh, yeah, whatever. This line from Philly’s Best Tableware: “Glassware, dinnerware, and that teacup you saw on Oprah? Yes, yes, and heck yes.” I think that’s all we really need to know about fashion. Let’s move to FUN.
After the jump: JGT responds to Philly Mag’s “trite quizzo” comment.

Continue reading “A review of Best of Philly” →

So I’m at Chaucers with Trivia Art the other night (which is kind of like being at Cheers w/ Norm. Or like being at Grace’s with Triva Art. But I digress.) And there is a very cute girl with a tattoo of a vase of some kind on her arm. I ask her, “What kind of urn you got there on your arm?’ and she says, “Grecian”. Now, where this knowledge came from, I have no idea, but before I even recognized what I was saying, I said, “Oh, so you’re a Keats fan?” Brilliant, right? How can a girl not be impressed when a guy instantly recognizes a 19th century Romantic poet who died at age 25 of tuberculosis that she is such a big fan of that she gets a giant tattoo of his most famous poetic symbol on her arm? Anyways, she smiled, said, “Yes” AND WALKED AWAY. Not kool! I’m afraid I’m going to have to call shenanigans. That’s not playing by the rules! If you get a freaking tattoo of a Grecian urn on your arm, and I correctly identify the author of “Ode to a Grecian Freaking Urn”, you owe me a sentence. No phone number, no date, but damn if you don’t owe me a sentence. You owe me, “Oh, what’s your favorite Keats poem?” or “Are you a Keats fan too?”

Now fair is fair, I would have had nothing to say, because the only things I know about Keats are that he wrote Ode to a Grecian Urn and that he died of tuberculosis. I mean, I probably would have said something stupid, like, “I’m not a big fan of Keats, but I am a big fan of tuberculosis.” And then it would have been more than acceptable for her to walk away. But NOT UNTIL I BLEW IT. Hey, I don’t make the rules, I just play by them. The women of Philadelphia need to play by them too.

Philadelphia Magazine apparently thought that quizzo had quieted down since last year, b/c they decided not to include it in this years “Best Of…” edition, though they did include best karaoke. It’s probably a good call because (with the exception of about 95% of the pubs and taverns in the local area) you can hardly find quizzo anywhere anymore. And it’s not like it is now a national phenomenon that first saw the light of day in our fair city. Something as uniquely Philadelphean as quizzo certainly doesn’t deserve a spot in a magazine named Philadelphia, though karaoke, which does not hail from Philly, certainly does. For shame, Philly Mag. If you’re going to use the word Philadelphia in your title, at least try to cover and promote things that are unique and popular in this city.

Anyways, that’s all the hating I’m gonna do, because I will say this: I’d rather nobody win Best Quizzo than Kildare’s win Best Quizzo. On Monday, we’ll take a look at all the winners, and figure out what they got right and what they got wrong. And in an effort to not make this whole entry sound like sour grapes, I’d like to give big ups to John McDonald (aka Johnny Mac), who won Best Chef (Snackbar). He’s not only a damn good chef, he’s a damn nice guy. Kudos!

Young Einstein turns 54 today.

-This from Dan Gross’s column yesterday: “Don’t ever apologize for being patriotic. F— ’em,” advised country star Toby Keith to fans at his sold-out show at the Tweeter Center Sunday night after closing with the song “Angry American,” complete with pyrotechnics. No, Toby, please. F— you. Patriotism is not overzealous zeal to kill random Middle Easterners in retaliation for a completely different group of Middle Easterners attacking our country. You’re an idiot. Here’s a spoof of that moronic song by Bill Maher.

-Don’t look now, but the Phils pitching staff is starting to come together, and if Durbin can pitch decently and Kendrick can continue to pitch like he is, and Myers returns, and Gordon stays healthy…etc. Anyways, I really hope we don’t deal Rowand for some mid-level pitcher (which is all we’ll get for him). But what do you guys think of Bourne for Bronson Arroyo? To be honest, unless it involves Barajas, Helms, or Nunez, I hope Gillick stands Pat.
RELATED: Salisbury’s column about the Phils and the deadline.

-Did the Founding Fathers write the Constitution to defend us from Presidents like George Bush?

-And finally, some sad news. The Weekly World News, who printed what the mainstream publications were scared to print, is going out of business. To be honest, the quality of the rag had gone way down in recent ears. I was a huge fan in the late 80s and early 90s, but the beauty of it was it’s subtlety. It wasn’t yet a spoof of itself, so you felt like the reporters really thought that aliens had captured a 42 pound newborn. But lately it had just gotten silly (and expensive). Godspeed, once proud publication. Godspeed.

Well, we made the CBS Evening News for being the murder capital of America last night. 236 murders thus far this year. While Mayor “I-phone” Doolittle certainly deserves some of the blame, it is up to the citizens of Philadelphia to quit waiting on the government to do something and get involved themselves. The reason many of these kids kill is because they have no hope and no mentors. There are a number of programs you can get involved in to help curb the violence. As I have been suggesting all year, the Big Brothers Big Big Sisters Program is an excellent way to mentor a child who has no male role model. The men of Philadelphia are dropping the ball on this (there is a wait list of 1,000 boys), and it has nothing to do with Mayor Street. Some other worthwhile projects include: Reading STARS, where you can help a child improve their literacy. 85% of the children who appear in juvenile court lack reading skills. If you’re looking more to donate money than time, how about the Digital Divide Program, which tries to get home computers for low income children. Or you could get involved in the Byron Story Foundation, which helps at-risk youth get their GEDs. If you would like to find other worthwhile causes to help make Philadelphia a better city, please go to Philacares.com. This is not a white problem or a black problem, a rich problem or a poor problem. This is a Philadelphia problem, and if you love this city, then you owe it to Philly to do your part to help solve it. And remember, ALMOST doing something about the problem is the exact same thing as doing nothing about the problem. Get involved!
RELATED: Attytood on how Street was quiet about problem ’til Katie Couric showed up.

-Today is Simon Bolivars birthday. Learn more about South America’s biggest hero. Celebrate it by having a Corona tonight at O’Neals quizzo. Oh wait, what? Mexico’s not in South…Oh, uh, nevermind about that Corona thing. But still play quizzo.

-Think that all athletes are dog-fighting drug addicts who cheat and lie? They are. We kid, we kid. Actually, a couple of Texans just made a pretty cool deal. When Ahman Green went to the Texans, he wanted #30. The guy wearing #30, Jason Simmons, said that he could have the number…as long as he made a down payment on a house for a single parent. Deal.

-Joe Sixpack is the bearer of some interesting news: Yards Brewery is breaking up. Founder and co-owner Tom Kehoe is splitting with his partners, Bill and Nancy Barton, and will move the 13-year-old brewery to a new, to-be-chosen location…The Bartons will keep Yards’ hulking brewing facility in Kensington and begin producing a new brand. The new brand? Gonna be called Meters. God, that was awful. I just don’t got it this morning.

–Lindsay Lohan arrested for a DUI, possession of cocaine, and skyjacking a plane and then jumping out over Oregon. Just kidding about the last one…but would you really be THAT shocked if I wasn’t?

Found some pretty interesting stuff about South Philly while tooling around on the internet this weekend.

*First up, here’s an article in which Philadelphia legend Mario Lanza (who I featured in a Metro article a couple of months ago) talks about how much he loves his hometown.

*Where did Frank Sinatra like to hang out when he came to Philly? Find out here.

*Here’s a brief history of the mob in Philadelphia. The most succesful mob boss in Philadelphia history was Angelo Bruno, who was killed in 1980. His wife passed away last week.

JGT pal and former Wheel of Terrific co-host Chip CHantry is vying for the role of Philadelphia’s funniest man in the annual Philly’s Phunniest competition. That picture above is not of Chip, but if you google image Chip, that guy comes up. And I think that the guy above is how I see Chip now: going the distance, the finish line in sight. And wearing a tank top and black short shorts. Two different rounds of comedy tonight. Some really funny guys at both the 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. shows at Helium.