Headed down to Virginia on Saturday to spend some time with my niece Lucia (almost ten months!), and will probably stay till manana. Lucia has started crawling and clapping her hands and standing up (with support) in her crib since I last saw her!

Dunno if I can get photos of last weeks winners posted until I get back, since I don’t have a computer on me (I’m on my friends mom’s computer). In the meantime, here’s a few things to kick around:

• My latest on Kerrie Lee’s blog is about today’s weird news, including the latest giant squid info.
• Went to the Sixers game on Friday and was amazed that it wasn’t a sellout. In fact not even close. What’s the problem? This is an exciting team with lots of loveable players, from rookie phenom Thaddeus Young to workhorse Reggie Evans to point guard/savior Andre Miller (the better half of the AI trade, if you ask me). The team tanked hard in the 2nd half yesterday, but hopefully can pull off another upset at Detroit on Tuesday.
• Today is Harper Lee’s 82nd birthday. She has not written a single book since 1960s To Kill a Mockingbird. Here is a very good piece on her and her friendship with Truman Capote.

Still looking for companies to help sponsor my basketball awards banquet. We have a pamphlet we hand out to the 200+ people who come to the event, plus you will get recognition on this site. It is $10 for a quarter of a page, $20 for half a page, and $30 for a full page ad. 100% of the money goes back into the program. Special thanks to Foobooz, the Philadelphia Rock Paper Scissors League, Bard’s, and Lazaro’s, who have all signed on as sponsors so far. If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact me. Thanks!

Well gang, Darth Ern is retiring from his job to spend more time at the Death Star. I am sure that everyone here wants to send Darth retirement wishes below, so feel free to do so. And if you want to see the Prince of Darkness in person, his retirement party is tonight at the Locust Rendezvous, starting at 5 p.m. Best wishes Darth!

One of the basketball leagues I coach in is having their banquet on May 3rd, and I need to get some sponsors for the event program they will be handing out to the people at the banquet. The prices are ridiculously cheap ($30 for a full page ad, $20 for half page ad) and you will be helping out a good cause. (It helps pay for the league, which has provided an extremely positive environment for hundreds of children.) If you wanna donate to the program, please hit me up asap. Thanks!

Do it early and often!

Alright, gonna post pics of last weeks winners. Since it was on this date in 1917 that the Red Baron was shot down, all questions will be about Barons and Reds. One guess per person.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot I had one more review. Last Saturday I went and saw the Rocky Balboa Picture Show, which consisted of three shorts. The first one was called Rocky Jumped Over a Park Bench, and it was hilarious. Basically, the guy hosting it was a big Rocky fan and went to all of the spots in the area where Rocky’s 1-6 were filmed to see how they look today. Really great stuff, and apparently he’ll have it uploaded to Youtube in a week or so, so I’ll post a link once he does. Next up was Frankie 13 vs. the World. This one was a little weird. I couldn’t tell if they were trying to make a documentary or a movie. Either way, I thought they took Rock Paper Scissors a little too seriously. Not a bad film (and D-Mac and I had cameos!), but RPS is a minefield of comedic opportunity, and I thought it coulda been a little funnier. That being said, I still got mad love for Frankie 13, and look forward to destroying him in upcoming RPS matches. Finally, the night ended with This is My Cheesesteak. This was a flat out winner. I know I kind of get down on the ubiquity of cheesesteak culture in Philly sometimes, but this film was just flat out fun. Basically, a guy named Ben Daniels visited six of Philly’s most beloved cheesesteak shops and hung out with the owners of each, and got the story behind each one. He then had some fun by showing them a Hot Pockets cheesesteak and had them all try one. The results were hilarious. A true love story told by a former native now living elsewhere. You can buy this film by clicking here, and I highly recommend doing so. You are going to love this film.

All of Philly’s best comedy troupes are putting on a show tonight at the M Room that I highly recommend. Seriously, I’ve seen all of these guys perform and they are really talented and I really think Philly needs to do a better job supporting comedy. We’ve got guys here who are just as talented as anything New York has to offer, but Philly just doesn’t show ’em the love NYC shows. Make it happen! The Welcome to the Terrordome show kicks off at the M Room at 9 p.m., and is well worth the trip to Fishtown. Tix are only $10. I’m gonna try to make it, but I have to announce a basketball game between halfway houses (my life is weird) so it depends on when I can get out.

I have a meeting (could be interesting), so I’ll be back in the afternoon. In the meantime, ABC is getting flat out blasted for its debate questions on Wednesday night. What were your thoughts?

Went to the Prince last night to see the Richie Ashburn movie, and it was simply tremendous. Emotions ran high right off the bat, as Harry the K came out to give a short intro. At the end of it, he said, “It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry” and his eyes began to water. The film then began and Harry’s words rang true. There were numerous moments of hilarity, such as when person after person testified about how much Whitey hated pitchers, followed by Ashburn saying, “They cheat. They spit on the ball. They cut the ball. They’re not a group with very good character. Never trust a pitcher. I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry a pitcher.” It also showed him bemoaning woeful decisions made by the Phillies over the years, and talked about the tennis rivalry between he and Nails. The movie was an emotional roller coaster, and the footage of Ed Rendell’s incredible speech at his funeral almost had me lose it. But the film, which was narrated by Ashburn’s best friend, Harry, ended on a high note, and the movie was followed by a Q & A with the producer (Dan Stephensen) and with Phillies legend Robin Roberts (both of whom deservedly received standing ovations). Somebody in the crowd asked Robin, who was Whitey’s roommate, “If Richie hated pitchers so much, how did you two get along?”, to which Roberts replied dryly, “We didn’t.” All in all, a terrific film and a wonderful night. If you are at all a fan of baseball (and especially of the Phillies) then this movie, which will be out on DVD in a week, is an absolute must see.
RELATED: A short clip of the film.