Bella Napoli Pizza

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Last week, I went out to Bella Napoli Pizza (1524 Shunk) in South Philly with Kayla. Pizza originated in Naples, so I figured we should give this place a shot. They had a ton of choices, and I think we went a little overboard with our choices. Here was her take:
Bella Napoli should be considered a take-out place only, as it consists entirely of a pizza kitchen and a single table. Said table was occupied when Johnny and I walked in, presumably by the owner and friend, since our momentary urge to flee was squelched by these gentlemen immediately getting up to offer us the table.

Bella has an extensive list of specialty pizzas, and it took us a while to settle on half-white/goat cheese/red pepper/pesto and half-red/broccoli rabe/red pepper/spinach/garlic. I thought they were pretty accomodating to let us do half-and-half. While we were waiting, the owner kept coming over to bring us every condiment he could possibly find, which I thought it was kinda sweet.

The pizza had a good crust, crispy on the outside but doughy enough that you don’t feel like you’re eating cardboard. Both halves tasted pretty decent, but the amount of grease was overwhelming, and it was getting pretty soggy towards the end. I thought the white side was better, and we both agreed that the vegetables on the red side overpowered the sauce to much to be able to comment on it. Sadly, they did not have fountain soda, just cans and 2 liters. Overall, I’d give it a 2.5 out of 5 due to grease and lack of atmosphere. If I were to eat Bella pizza again, I’d just take it home and mop it off first.

While this is definitely a takeout place, I think a lot of what she called “grease” was just liquid from the tons of toppings we had ordered. I would wanna try the place again with a little simpler pizza, though I think that Kayla is right in that this is a takeout joint, not a sit down place. But they do have lots of intriguing choices for pizza, and I might consider it again. Give it a three.
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A Wild, Wild Week in Review

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Wow, one of the weirdest, wildest weeks in recent quizzo history. We start on Monday, when 8 other cities across the country dared to compete against us in a battle of brains. By the time it was done, Philadelphia reigned supreme, taking 5 of the top 7 spots (with Sofa Kingdom finishing first) and firmly establishing itself as the Quizzo Capital of North America.

O’Neals, however, did not fair so well at the Smackdown. It had 3 teams representing, but Badger Tsunami, the Young the Old and the Restless, and Dork Sided finished 7th, 9th, and 10th, respectively, out of 11 teams. So it was only fitting that Dork Sided, who finished 62 points behind the Kingdom on Monday, would come back with a vengeance on Tuesday and score higher than the Kingdom would later that night with the same questions. The Dorks knocked off Lick My Nutters, 103-98.

On Monday, the Sofa Kingdom won $800 at Rembrandt’s (23rd and Aspen, where the Philly portion of City vs. City Smackdown took place). On Tuesday, Rembrandt cost them a win at the Bards. They led going into the final question, but missed, “Who painted the Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolas Culp as well as the Prodigal Son of the Tavern, both in the 17th Century?” The answer was Rembrandt, the Axis of Evil Knieval got it right, and walked away with an impressive 99-98 victory over the Kingdom.

Things returned to normal at the Rendezvous, as the Jams (aka Now That Falwell’s Dead, Tinky Winky can Come Out of the Closet) knocked off Jan and Dean Need $30, 90-83. $30 cash on the line against next week to anyone who can knock off the Jams (plus the $25 gift certificate.)

An upset at the Black Sheep, as CATDOG finally got over the proverbial hump and held off the Satan’s Minions and Rum Dog, 90-88-88. Congratulations, Catdoggers! Defending Champs Duane’s World finished with an 84. Strictly Prohibited had the lead going into the final round, then tanked hard and finished with 73.

Onto the Good Dog, where MAGMA and the 2 1/2 Armenians continued was has to be, with no debate, one of the worst rivalries in sports history. On weeks when the 2 1/2 Armenians show up, MAGMA doesn’t, and on other weeks Armenian warlord Steve O just comes by himself and teams up with MAGMA. Such was the case on Thursday,and the results were fairly predictable. The MAGMenians quashed We’re Getting Quashed, 110-69, which I’m pretty sure is the biggest margin of victory ever. To put it in perspective, MAGMA could have missed the first 8 questions of Round Four and still won.

Round four questions must have been a little too easy on Thursday, as two teams at the Bards aced the final round (MAGMA aced it at at the Dawg). But the Kingdom outplayed Nutter? I Hardly Knew Her in the speed round and that would prove to be the difference, as they won 112-107. Chucks Bike-O-Rama had the lead going into the final round, but had to settle for 3rd with 99.

Holy Freaking cow! ANother kickass festival this weekend!

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Dude, this is the craziest weekend ever (until Rubefest, hopefully in early June). In addition to the Rittenhouse Jam Session and the Italian Market Festival, the Trenton Ave. Art Festival in Fishtown is going to be happening on Saturday. This includes a Kinetic Sculpture Race, which is when people make a tricycle look like a giant turkey and then race. Plus, the Phils are gonna sweep the Blue Jays and move over .500. Who needs Intercourse?
UPDATE: It’s supposed to rain all freaking weekend. Aaaarg!

Bush Cronies continue covering selves in glory

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The problem with surrounding yourself with dishonorable, shady people is that they tend to do dishonorable, shady things. Paul Wolfowitz, the neocon who really pushed hard for a war in Iraq, has now resigned from World Bank under tremendous pressure for ethics violations. Meanwhile, Alberto Gonzales has been called out yet again for highly questionable behavior, trying to get John Ashcroft to sign off on domestic spying while lying in the ICU. Man, if we only we had a person of honor running this country, a person of integrity, then we wouldn’t have worry about these shenanigans. A good, honorable person…like Dick Cheney!!! (Inspired by this gutsy column, I am hereby making johnnygoodtimes.com your official Dick Cheney in ’08 Campaign Headquarters!)
Cartoon courtesy of the Guardian.

Italian Market Fest

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If you can’t make it to Rhubarb Fest, or are bitter because they have their Bake Off on a friday, which is total bulls***, then I highly suggest the Italian Market Festival. THis weekend, they are going to honor the Philadelphia Sound, so it should be awesome. And today, I am going to be working on making Philadelphia RubeFest a reality.