philly

Unofficial/Official Winner?

So, I was just on an online session thingie for NowPublic users. It was going through the various things they offer on the site. I think the coolest part of the entire session was the online conference call interface. They had a text chat + webcam + streaming video + streaming audio +live desktop thing going on all via Flash. Mine was messed up for the first half, but I restarted the session and it was all good. They've got some cool features over there. My favorite is their batch upload feature. Me taking hundreds of photos at the events I go to and submitting footage for, uploading in one .zip file is so great.

And at the end of the session, I asked whether or not they had announced a winner for the Grand Prize and Michael [head of NowPublic?] said that they hadn't sent out the check or notified the winner nor the users yet, but that I'd like the news, so, I guess I won?!

Atrios, Pressler's Newest Obsession?

I saw in Pressler's June 15^th PW column that she mentioned one of her readers spotting Duncan

Bloggers! They're just like us!: "I was running east on Lombard Street crossing Broad," divulges a reader, "and I saw this sweaty lunk running in the opposite direction. He seemed to be fiddling with his iPod, and I was like, oh my God, it's Atrios, aka Duncan Black of http://atrios.blogspot.com/. He's like a really big deal. And then I thought, no, he's just a guy who keeps an online diary. Does Wonkette sweat when she runs, too?" Hey, it was a slow week.

And then in today's column:

Brushes with Web greatness: "I saw Duncan Black, aka Atrios of the blog Eschaton (atrios.blogspot.com), having cocktails-at Tangier of all places-with a group of people. They were all leaning against the bar. It was really hot as shit, and he was all sweaty. I thought, 'Wow. Atrios sweats. Just like the rest of us.'"

Maybe Duncan will become Pressler's new obsession once Neil Stein, of SteinStalker^TM fame, is in jail. Maybe she'll even make it out to Drinking Liberally Tuesdays at Tangier [1801 Lombard St] and meet him herself, in the flesh. And I don't understand this portrait she's painting of him. He's not some sweaty dude. But it does get a tad hot in there.

Philly For Change: August 05 Meet

It's one week until the über huge Philly For Change Meetup on August 3^rd at Yards Brewery [map].

On the agenda:

• Repeal the Raise and Increase the Minimum Wage!
• Justice Roberts: Theo-CON, neo-CON, Republi-CON?
• Karl Rove: Tarred and feathered?

AND three Democrats — Lois Murphy, Lois Herr and Paul Scoles — running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Philly area will be there talking about what they're about, how they're doing it and how we can help.

Perhaps Chris Bowers from MyDD.com will be on hand to discuss his potential run for committeeperson in Ward 27, Division 33.

AND there may be one more big announcement. But you'll have to come by [for a free beer] for that.

Londoners Biking to Work

Just read this article on how now, after the recent bombings in London, there are tons more people biking to work.

Two hours after the bombings on 7 July, a man walked into a bike shop in London Bridge.

"He said 'I'm never going on the Tube again. Sell me a bike,'" recalls Travis Lindhe, manager of On Your Bike, where sales have increased from three bikes a day to 15 ever since.

A cyclists' organisation, the London Cycling Campaign, reports a 10 to 30% increase in use of bike stands at three points in central London, although it says this news is hardly a cause for celebration, given the circumstances.

Later on in the article, they point out that many people are taking to bicycles not because they're scared, but simply to get around all of the delays on the Tube and bus system in London.

I'm all for riding bicycles as a primary means of transportation. Now if society could just wrap its fat head around the fact that one does not have to wear a suit to be a productive worker, I think more people would be wearing comfortable clothing more suited to bike riding.

Wear a helmet.

Biking to Work

Crap. I got the shaft this morning at the Broad/Market Blue Line. Right as I was about to put in my token into the turnstile, the booth attendant yelled at me. He said that I wasn't allowed to take my bike on the train. I said I had been doing this for the past two days. He replied saying "Not here" and I said, "Yep, here." He said that I'm not allowed to bring a bike onto the train from 6a to 9a "rush hour" he said. There are almost no people on the train going out to West Philly from Center City at 7.15a I said. He didn't care. Fuck.

I recalled seeing two transit cops standing right next to the booth on Monday morning when I hoisted my bike on my shoulders and walked through the turnstile, they didn't do anything. And if it was the same guy in the booth, he didn't either, for the past two days.

So, I biked it, about 3.5mi, to work. It wasn't too bad. But I was pissed off. So I went to SEPTA.org to check things out and sure enough:

Broad Street, Market-Frankford and Route 100 Lines Passengers may ride with bicycles weekdays before 6 a.m., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and after 6 p.m. and at all times on weekends and the following major holidays (space permitting): Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Folding bicycles are permitted at all times, although they must be collapsed and stored away from passengers.

Crap fuck.

I don't understand why they need this rule on the outbound trains since there really isn't much ridership at all in that direction at that time of day. And this just gives me another reason to hate those stupid folding bikes. Grrr.

Latoyia Figueroa

I've had countless discussions with friends on how the media feels the need to make a story out of a missing white person over a non-white person. Case in point, Natallee Holloway v. Latoyia Figueroa. I missed it yesterday on All Spin Zone, but not today. From Richard in his letter to CNN's Nancy Grace:

* * * * * *

Latoyia Figueroa is still missing after 8 days. And as tragic as the Natalee Holloway case might be, Natalee doesn't have a seven year old child wondering where she is, nor was Natalee (to the best of our knowledge) 5 months pregnant.

Here's an overview of the important details in this "missing woman" case:

1) Latoyia (we should only use her first name) is not white.
2) She does not have blonde hair.
3) She was not scheduled to get married last weekend.
4) She's from West Philadelphia.
5) There may actually be a lead or two in her case.
6) HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY.
7) To the best of our knowledge, no one from Texas has yet offered to bring in cadaver dogs to search for Latoyia, nor have forensic dive teams volunteered to scour the Schuylkill or Delaware rivers.
8 ) Also to the best of our knowledge, the FBI hasn't been requested to participate in the investigation (even though Philly actually is in the US of A), nor have any DNA samples been rushed to Washington, DC.
9) HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY.

I hope this enough for you to run with - certainly, the crackerjack CNN research team available to you can fill in any speculative details or obscure leads of prurient interest. While it's doubtful that Latoyia's family can offer $100 reward, much less $1 million (as has Natalee's), I'm sure they'd still have an undying gratitude for any of your viewers who could turn up a lead on Latoyia.

* * * * * *

The story has been picked up by AlterNet. When will it be picked up by the national MSM?

The All Spin Zone and the Philadelphia Citizen's Crime Commission have established a reward fund for information on Latoyia. More info here.

***UPDATE*** 12.22p
CNN.com front paged an article on Latoyia. I guess the answer is nine days. Hopefully she is found and hopefully it is not too late.

A roundup from the blogs over on Philly Future

Photo: WPVI

Drinking Liberally Tonight!

If it's Tuesday, it's Drinking Liberally

In just over an hour, the Philly chapter of Drinking Liberally will gather at Tangier - 1801 Lombard St. Come by for $1 of drinks and free wings. Come quick though, the wings go fast, I only got three last week!

Biking to Work

Monday was the first day of commuting to work sans Lady's car since I started this temp job out in West Philly at the end of May. I rode my bike to the blue line, lugged it onto the train and got off at 46^th St and then rode my bike the last few blocks to the field office. It was a nice ride.

During work, I was contemplating what to do after work, to ride the train back or just ride my bike. I decided to try to save my tokens in this last week before I go get a train pass and ride it home. It was a nice downhill ride back to Center City.

I'd like to ride my bike to work all the way, but that would require me getting up even earlier and needing a cold shower once in the office. And unless they install a shower for me somewhere, that's not gonna happen. The bike-train-bike commute to the office isn't too bad, I like it actually. Once it gets cold though, we'll see how much I like it. I'll probably end up taking the bus/train to the blue line and then hoofing it in the cold to the office. But this temp gig is only for another few months, before the cold cold sets in.

Anyone got a really cool, meaningful, convenient commute job they wanna give me? Oh well, thought not.

"Oh Shit"

Chris stated it very well in his last post on Sanitorium's appearance on The Daily Show last night. Ricky was good. Very good.

I hope the entire Pennsylvania Democratic establishment and grassroots just watched Rick Santorum's interview with John Stewart on the Daily Show like I did. If they did, they would have seen what they are up against, and the picture isn't at all pretty. Make all the cream puff, man on dog, drama queen jokes you like, but Santorum is a very seriously talented politician. If we allow ourselves any underestimation of his ability to win a general election, we will have our asses handed to us in the general.

I hope tonight’s show serves as a wake-up call to the people who feel as though they can throw a Valium like candidate, with good name recognition, at a major political talent and hope to come out on the better side of deal. It's not happening. No matter how totally fucked in the head Santorum’s world view may be, it’s just not happening. We can't blind ourselves with the insanity he spits out on a regular basis, as most voters will never hear about them. That's the case no matter how loud we scream.

And that's why Chuck Pennacchio's got my vote. That's why I stuck that gigantic badge in the top right position of this blog. That's why there's a form/button to contribute funds to his campaign, his campaign for us. We're in dire need of a candidate like him and we got him, right here.

I can't stand that slippery, smarmy fuck Santorum, but like Chris said, he's a very good politician and he's won before, right here in this state of Pennsylvania.

Why the Democratic leadership of this state refuses to put up a candidate like Pennacchio and give him the spotlight he deserves is beyond me. I hope all three Democratic candidates for the Senate seat saw Santorum on The Daily Show last night. If not, I hope they catch the rerun tonight. I'm sure they all know Santorum's skills as a politician, but seeing it on a platform like The Daily Show should apply a bellows to the fire that should already be raging under their asses.

Where does Chuck stand on the issues? Looky here.

Now Public Grand Prize Finalist

I've been using Now Public for several months now. It's a site where you can upload images of news you see around you as a citizen journalist. Sort of like what we're doing over at Philly Future here in Philly.

And just a little while ago, I received an email from the powers that be over at Now Public notifying me that I'm now a finalist for their Citizen Journalism Awards. Pretty cool. If I win, that'll mean a cool $500. Noyce. If I were to win, not only would it be an honor, but it would also help offset all the equipment I've bought and keep on wanting to buy [I'm a fiend!]. Unfortunatly, my Live8 submissions didn't count, they were posted after the deadline, but they did mention two of my sets that they felt would've qualified otherwise. Oh well.

Wish me luck!