WANT

holy dogshit these are awesome.

much more here.

Attention single people!

Old and busted: Doing rails off the floor of L'Etage with Jersey chicks.

Soon to be hotness: Lunching at the Kimmel.

Congratulations to the Kimmel Center, for addressing a major problem, in the most ass way possible: six years too late.

Don't get me wrong. The Kimmel Center is a gorgeous building, and when it went up my first response was that it's nicer than Philly deserves. Early on in its life, I even took to eating a brown bag lunch up on the top floor under all the sunshine that streams in that unbelievably dramatic glass roof. But I haven't repeated those lunch trips in years. YEARS! Why? Cause yeah, the building is unwelcome as hell. You just don't feel like they want you in there when there's no concert going on, and it'll take more than replacing some bricks with glass and ropes with shamrocks to remedy that.

"Right now, blank brick walls run for long stretches on the Kimmel's three public sides, Broad, Spruce and 15th Streets. The few street-level windows that exist are either frosted or curtained. Worst of all, Vinoly squandered the site's greatest asset, its Broad Street corner. He marks the high-energy spot where the city's pedestrian grid converges with a dull, black granite cube that houses, of all things, a work room for the box office."

Making the Kimmel more welcoming to the public is a worthy proposition. I just wish they could've gotten it right the first time. And I fear that they'll get it wrong again. I get the distinct feeling the result will be more akin to the atmosphere at the outdoor tables at Bliss than the Roman Forum. Which is a shame. Publicly supported buildings such as the Kimmel should hold their role as public space as central to their mission.

Here's an idea- during the holiday season, get Santa in the atrium (I think Milton Street's available), holiday music playing all around (including pumped out into the streets), throw open the doors, and get the kids in there.

Dinosaurs!

Apparently, according to researchers at UPenn, dinosaurs can cure cancer. Or something. All I know is there's totally a velociraptor in there. And it's awesome.

Statehood

I finally got around to picking up the recent album put out by DC band Statehood, "Lies and Rhetoric". Statehood features Eric Axelson on bass and Joe Easley on drums. You might recognize them from such bands as the Dismemberment Plan.

But enough name dropping - is it any good?

Yeah. It's good. The lead singer has a serious case of sandy vag emo affectation, but otherwise it's quite good. Hearing Easley again is worth the price of admission, and his work on End the Moderation is on par with, if not better, than the most energetic of DPlan songs. Axelson continues to do good work throughout, offsetting the singer's wussiness with a nice rolling bassline that keeps up with the drums. If the vocals were on par, this would be a GREAT album. And yes, I realize that my viewpoint is impossibly jaded, given my adoration of Travis Morrison, but there it is.

CasiNot So Fast

Nutter got my friday off on the right foot with his apparent decision to cock-smack the casinos right in their ugly mugs. No telling how this'll all end up, but for now, I give the Mayor three snaps up in a Z formation.

Glen and Gary

Hilarious.

I AM FINE NOW!!!

Thank you, Matt Osypowski Doppelganger, for restoring my faith in humanity.

Fresh out

If anyone's heard anything positive recently, please share. This story from the Washington Post has got me pretty much devoid of optimism today.

Child abuse is always gut wrenching. It's one of those rare subjects that unite an entire population around a common moral ground. That's what government is for, first and foremost- an arm of justice that can act on behalf of the common moral agenda of society. When government systems set up to be that arm of justice fail this egregiously, it's time for the entire population to weep.

Foodie Report - Rumor Mongering

From a poster on Craig LaBan's chat today:
"Thomas Keller's Per Se over the holidays and a woman at another table, with Philly connections, said she'd heard that Keller is supposed to open a burger place here? The Per Se staff hadn't heard anything, but I was wondering if you knew of such a plan?"

PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN!

Lolpols in full effect

Bring the MF Raucous (Caucus)

Best of luck to all the candidates. Despite disagreeing with 99.99% of his policy positions, I gotta give some love to the Huckster just for this photo. That's presidential.