Here’s the latest in the Metro. In case you are wondering, the turnout from the quizzo community has been a supreme disappointment. There are about 10-15 of you that I am extremely disappointed have not joined the program, b/c I thought spending an hour a week to make a major impact in the future of the city you love was a no-brainer (If you think I might be referring to you, the answer is “yes”.) As for the guys who have signed up, I wanna say a sincere thank you for making such a huge difference in the community.
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” -Jackie Robinson
RELATED: Join the BBBS program today.

They haven’t had a chance to post it on the website yet, but my editor gave me the OK to post it here. It’s about the Friendly Lounge, which was just named by Esquire as the best bar in America. To learn more about the Friendly, click here.
In their June edition, Esquire Magazine listed the Best Bars in America. The only one representing Philly was a quiet little neighborhood bar on the corner of 8th and Washington called the Friendly Lounge. What was it about a quiet corner bar that earned it such praise? Sensing an opportunity to write off beer as a business expense, I decided to find out.

It was midnight on a quiet Monday, and the bar had two patrons. I met one of the twins who own the place, Marco. He was ebullient and excitable, at one point pulling out his guitar to sing along with a song on the jukebox, then putting it away after strumming only a handful of notes. “We already knew it was the best bar,” said Marco proudly. “It was at one time famous for its ribs. Legend has it that Frank Sinatra had the ribs delivered to a show in Atlantic City once.” He continued. “My father, who opened the place in the 50s, was John DiTullio, but was known as Skinny. In fact, listen to this.”

Marco ran to the jukebox. Louis Prima’s famous version of “Just a Gigolo” began to play. “Listen to the part where he goes ‘Newt da Newt, Dolly Dolly, Skinny Skinny.’ He’s paying tribute to my father. He and Louis were friends. My father knew Joe DiMaggio, Martha Rae. Lenny Bruce used to come here regularly, and his wife used to babysit us.” Not that John was the only one in the family who could name drop. Marco’s mother, Hilda, was a well known circus performer who appeared in a 1940 film with Fred Astaire. The celebrity surrounding the Friendly Lounge then went to the level of surreal when I spoke with Marco’s wife, an extremely pleasant lady named Ruth. “I’m a descendant of Pocohantes,” she said sweetly and honestly.

I spoke with Marco’s twin brother Dominick the next day. He was a bit more subdued than Marco, and at least mildly surprised by the Esquire honor. “I suppose if you hang around long enough, you’ll probably get something right.” He smiled and wiped the counter. “Everybody’s got their own idea of what’s a great bar.” One with a picture of a forever young Marilyn Monroe beside the antique cash register, one filled with the ghosts of legends, one that’s been in the same family for over 50 years? That fits my idea of a great bar.
RELATED: What’s your favorite bar in Philly?

Here’s the latest, a brief history of bowling.

Hey, here is my belligerent take on the people who have lobbied to take music out of Rittenhouse Park. I sound like Andy Rooney.

Hey, here’s my latest article in the Metro, about last Saturdays scrapplefest. The pic above is of the scrapple wedding cake. I’m running out the door right now, but I’ll have more pics and stories later.
UPDATE: One thing I wasn’t able to fit into the story. There was a guy named Tom in the Beergarden who was not at all pleased with the Scrapplefest. According to him, there had been a scrapplefest at the Troc many years earlier that was “awesome. Just a bunch of fat people getting wasted and eating scrapple. Now they are doing this stuff for the tourists, and not for the real scrapple fans.” Also, wanna send a shout out to Anthony and Koob, who I went to Scrapplefest with and who really did some serious scrapple testing. Koob told me at one point, “That guy’s Scrapple is a little too mushy. I think he’s cracking under the pressure of Scrapplefest.”
To read more about Scrapplefest, you can click here to hear from one of the celebrity judges who writes in the Inky.

Here’s the link to this weeks story on Philadelphia native Mario Lanza, who was an international superstar in the 1950s. Here’s a link to him singing. Here’s some more background info on him.

Here’s my latest column in the Metro, this one about visiting the Liberty Bell with my parents.

Here’s the latest in the Goodtimes Files. A couple of notes: First of all, I thought that it was the Sinatra Foutain. I asked the guy who had put the fountain there why they put a Sinatra fountain in Philly. He said, “It’s not a Sinatra Fountain. The songs are from the 40s, but they’re not Sinatra.” Thankfully, he didn’t add, “Way to do your homework, Bernstein.”

Also, when I arrived at the fountain, there was a stunningly beautiful young lady there with her mom. “Sweet!” I thought. “This writing gig is finally gonna pay off!” I asked them about the fountain, and the girl said, “We are from Poland. We don’t speak English.” That’s like the 10th girl this week that has told me that she didn’t speak English when I tried to put the moves on. There must be a convention in town or something.

Here’s a link to the column I did in yesterday’s Metro about the strange science museum on Temple’s campus, the one that hasn’t changed in 150 years.

Here’s my latest column in the Metro. Wanna thank everybody at O’Neals and Bards who helped me write it. I also wanna say, “You’re welcome,” to Trivia Art, Steve O., and everyone else who is quite pleased that I was able to get Chuck Fusina into a column.