Posted a somewhat controversial column today in the Metro (well, as controversial as I can be in under 400 words), and listed a few things that I think are over and underrated about Philadelphia. Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you think is overrated and underrated about our fair city in the comments section below. Looking forward to reading these.
Vote For the best Worst sequel idea!
Alright, it’s time to vote on the best worst sequel ideas that were turned in to me a few weeks ago in our best worst sequels contest. I have posted the ones that I liked the most below, after the jump. Of course, you had to provide an email address to be nominated, b/c I have to know how to get in touch with you if you win. Unfortunately, that eliminated several good ones, including Jaws vs. Rocky. Then some of them were just crappy. Here is the poll, but before you vote, be sure to read after the jump, because I was also asking for at least a short synopsis, and for some of them yu have to read the write up to get the joke (particularly Much Ado About Nothing and Electrocting an Elephant). Winner gets a $20 gift certificate to the Bards and 2 IMAX passes.
The Cooler
Came up with a good nickname for Adam Eaton last night. Did you ever see the movie The Cooler, where William Macy plays a guy who, when someone gets hot on the craps tables, goes over and touches them and cools off their hot streak? Well, The Cooler is the perfect nickname for Adam Eaton, who is guaranteed to cool off the Phils every time they threaten to get hot. Of course, this nickname could also apply to every single pitcher we have besides Kendrick, Hamels, and JC Romero. Here’s Bob Ford telling us what we already knew:
The Phillies’ starters, as a unit, aren’t capable of producing the kind of stretch the team will need eventually – even just to sneak into the postseason. Nearly anything is possible in baseball if you watch long enough, but waiting for the Phils to win eight out of 10 with this pitching staff would be asking for a very long wait…That means there is nothing to do now but wait the wait, watch the games fall slowly off the schedule, with a win here, maybe a couple, here a loss, here another, until the team comes to rest somewhere right around 85 wins, same as last season. In the hunt, but just behind the baying pack. It will be another solemn end, and another year tacked to the lengthening string of frustration. But at least everyone concerned is used to it.
RELATED: JGT discusses Phils and Iggles in today’s Metro.
What we learned last week
1. When Israel’s first president died in 1952, this man was offered the position, but turned it down.
2. Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand all have this constellation on their national flags.
3. What state capital is named after a German chancellor?
4. Who was shot and killed William McKinley by on this date in 1901?
5. The title of what play do essentially all performers consider unlucky to say at the theatre
Answers and interesting facts about each after the jump.
In defense of Britney
It seems that everyone is buzzing about what a terrible performance Britney put on the other night. And it was pretty awful. But what is all this talk about how “fat” she looked? This from the AP: Out-of-synch lip-synching. Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing home. The paunch in place of Spears’ once-taut belly. The New York Post’s headlines read, “Lard and Clear”. “The bulging belly she was flaunting was SO not hot,” wrote E! Online. Well, forgive Britney for looking like an actual human being. I happen to think that actual human women are attractive, and I am not really all that attracted to women who look like they’re addicted to heroine or who have washboard stomachs that look like they belong to a young male athlete. So the AP and E! calls a healthy looking mother of two fat, and then in a few weeks they’ll run a story trying to figure out why so many young girls have eating disorders. (Speaking of pathetic, how about the fact that this is the 2nd time I’ve discussed Britney this week, and it’s only Tuesday?)
The Donspiracist Presents: Is Big Pharma Conspiring to Make You Sick?
The Donspiracist is back. This time he takes on Big Pharma, and wonders if there is a conspiracy in place to keep us sick.
In the last 15 years, Big Pharma has ramped up their advertising and have flooded the market with drugs treating diseases that were unknown just a generation ago. And they won’t stop until all of you are taking prescription or over the counter medication.
Take this quote from Selling Sickness: How The World’s Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients by Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels: “Thirty years ago, Henry Gadsen, the head of Merck, one of the world’s largest drug companies, told Fortune magazine that he wanted Merck to be more like chewing gum maker Wrigley’s. It had long been his dream, he said, to make drugs for healthy people–so that Merck could ‘sell drugs to everyone.’ Three decades on, the late Henry Gadsen’s dream has come true.”
Continue reading “The Donspiracist Presents: Is Big Pharma Conspiring to Make You Sick?”
Question of the Week
On September 12, 1983, a group called Los Macheteros (The Machete Wielders) robbed a bank in West Hartford, CT, then threw much of the money off a high rise building. From what country does Los Macheteros organization originate?
The Weekend
OK, so I went to a Fringe play on Friday with buddy and fellow Metro scribe Bruce. We saw “Hearts of Man” which was about this guy who tries to pick up kids in a chat room and about how his lawyers and the prosecutors handle the case. It was like a bad Law and Order episode. So then we went and got Happy Hour Margarita’s at the Mexican Post. That was followed by a trip to the Bards where I watched the Phils lose and then to a party hosted by a member of a member of Narcotyzing Dysfunktion. A fine time was had by all.
Saturday was spent recovering from Friday and winning a game of Rat a Tat Cat. Rat a Tat Cat is my jam. If anyone would like to become a better Rat a Tat Cat player, please let me know. I am thinking about teaching a Rat a Tat Cat class.
And then there was Sunday and the Eagles game. Watched it with the Sofa Kingdom crew. Needless to say it was a disappointment. It was the first time that I can say with a straight face that if I had been returning punts for the Philadelphia Eagles, they would not have lost the game. The loss was compounded by a loss at RISK, as, after 6 1/2 hours of play (seriously, 6 1/2 hours), Nate dominated the world. Oh well, at the least the Phils won 2 of 3. And oh, Trivia Art was at Lambeau yesterday and is at Wrigley today. Pretty sweet.
Jams Win (repped by JR Reed)
What is a Belgian cartoonist named Peyo best known for giving the world?
Dork Sided Wins at O’Neals
Belgium has three national languages. What are they?