Clean Up Philadelphia...Mop-It for Muppet!

Stolen from one of the fine blogs in my links list there.
Let me start this blog by saying that, to the anonymous person who left a comment all in a tizzy about the blog being trash and all of that, name calling is juvenile, and will get you no where (you big stupid do-do head....). I never said all of the 'boro was trash. Just the most visible people. This was yet again confirmed by my breakfast today at Bob's Diner. Also, I ask our anonymous friend if they grew up around here, and if they did, ask their parents what a Yunker is. If not, walk down Ridge Ave some weekday during the day, and you'll realize everything I've said is true.

Also, I recognize the near death of this thing, and it having accomplished next to nothing. That's cool. School just started again, so I'll be back to having copious amounts of free time. The big Philly Clean Up is today, not a bad little idea. We'll see how it all works out, I know there were a few projects going around the boro and all.


More updates this week, getting back in the swing of things.

we'll do it for a country, for a people, for a moral vision...

ok, it's officially time for me to do what only a blogger can properly do...rant!

now, i must disclose that i am slightly biased on this topic (it's semi-private, pm or email me if you'd really like to know), but this nonsense with cops getting shot has to fucking stop. two more hit yesterday (thankfully, i believe they went home last night). i think i saw a figure that said 70 some cops have been shot at this year? like everyone is saying, it proves that the criminals are now callous and ballsy enough to actually shoot the po-lice. this is where it gets interesting, though...now, don't get me wrong, i was really hoping that i could see video of the cops dragging this guy out of the house and beating him (mostly) to death, but could we consider that maybe there's more to it than just cops and robbers (or dealers)?

consider the fact that there have been...what...over 300 murders this year, i don't know the actual number offhand, and something like 400 last year? now, alot will argue (often including myself!) that many of the people being killed are "non innocent victims," drug deals gone bad, vindication, and so on. but a criminal's life is worth the same as anyone else's (including the cops'). how many of these murderers have been caught and send to jail? not a whole lot as far as i know, and yet the sons of bitches who shoot cops get caught within a day, if not sooner. now, i'm not by any means saying that the cops shouldn't be looking after their own, or that crooks are worth more than cops, but shouldn't the same amount of effort be put into EVERY murder or shooting? now, like i said, many of the people murdered were drug dealers and such, the associates of the people shooting the cops. you wander why they have such disdain for the cops? even more than normal? because their friends are being shot, and no one cares. and if we can all get away with murder, why not unload on a cop when you're backed into a corner?
(now like i said, i'm not saying this is ok by ANY means...i'm just giving a little opinion about a possible reason).

i really believe that if the 5-0 put the same effort into investigating every murder, this would be the cleanest, safest city around within days. also, did anyone see Sylvester Jonhson's statement when the bastard who shot Cassidy was on the lose? he went on describing the man who DID shoot Cassidy, not the suspect who MAY have. well, this is Street's city, so that's not entirely surprising. i think it's equally comical (but not so much in the funny way) that johnson's whole army of 10,000 men patrolling the streets is actually the same idea MILTON STREET came up with in april during his circus campaign. interesting, isn't it? maybe they could have called up the 10,000 black men to find the kid who shot the two cops yesterday. actually, they were probably all being stopped and questioned about the murder...

but race and such aside, it's come to a point where today, walking downtown, i saw a cop drive by, lights and siren blaring, and i honestly think to myself, wow, i hope they didn't get another one...

so i feel like there's not much more that i can say that hasn't already been said, or that's not completely obvious, so from here, let's switch gears to something else...

halloween brought some fun to the 'boro, at least for the 'Trash crew. we hit up karaoke at murphys, (as is the tuesday night RT tradition) the big costume contest and all of that. the fun part was that we were the only ones there wearing costumes. good times, i recommend it highly, tuesday nights, murphy's at henry and roxborough (quizzo on sunday nights, but don't bother, we'll kick your asses...). picture of halloween to come shortly.

also, looking for things to do this weekend. i know there are some ideas out there, so what's a boy to do in the neighborhood on a friday night?

gay!

the city just decided to raise the rent on the boy scout's local headquarters in center city by 199,000 bucks a year, due to their position on gay leaders. i wrote this to respond to another message board, and thought it would fit in here, as well....


here's my take on it (i guess).

it seems like national is really out of touch with the local organizations, (to be fair, the local organization seems a little out of touch with the troops, too, but that's another issue). whatever national's position is today (banning all gays, banning openly gay leaders, banning people who wear purple shirts on tuesdays in november, whatever), i really do recognize the fact that, of course, BSA is a private organization and can make whatever retarded rules they want.

the problem is that the retarded rule really isn't fair in and of itself...i could stand here and say that preaching homosexuality absolutely does not belong in scouting. and you know what? i really do believe that. (*gasp!*) but before i get labeled a malicious person, i really don't think that sexuality really belongs in scouting at all, gay, straight or otherwise. the boys shouldn't hear about what the adults do in their bedrooms, regardless. would you tell the boys in your troop "hey, i'm married to a woman, and we like to have kinky sex!"? or have a leader talk about how he has sex with a number of women? certainly not. these things don't belong in a youth organization, gay or straight.

scouting shouldn't be the place where you learn about sex (well, i could see if they wanted to give general advice, like safe sex whenever you choose to do it), but scouting should be more about non-specific morality and camping (bass, trout and pickerel, as well). helping old ladies, holding doors, and standing up for what you believe in, not necessarily standing up for what the old-heads believe in.

when i was growing up in my troop, i had never even heard of the whole debate about gay leaders (and hopefully our boys now aren't being dragged into it, even though they are...). my troop (and parents!) taught me to treat others well, that everyone is equal, and that if i feel something is unfair, i should try to change it. i remember my handbook specifically saying that last one, in fact...

i know there was controversy a few years ago about the scout leader who wore his scout uniform to a gay rights protest. and i think scouting was justified in calling for his removal. if a straight man wore his uniform to a pro-life march, or an anti-death penalty march or a gun-rights or a klan meeting, same thing. they specifically say that the scout uniform is only for scout activities, because when people wear their uniforms to other things, it attaches Scouting to that cause, which it usually wants no part of (except the anti-gay rights thing...)....

i think the city has ulterior motives with the marks center, i really do. i don't believe john street gives a shit about the gay community or the scouts. the city comptroller (or whoever it is) is gay (motive), the city knows what the property is worth (motive), and they're turning the school district building into condos i think (motive). but the city made a deal 80 years ago to let the scouts use the land forever, and a contract is a contract. how much good has COL and Phila. council done for the city over the years? how good has scouting been to the city? how many boys are off the streets one or two nights a week because of local troops? and let's not forget that the brass of COL DID try to make peace with the city, got in trouble, made a compromise, and was told that it was good enough by the city. nothing to be too surprised about, hopefully it can be pushed off until street is gone, and some more competent people are running the city.

well...as much as we love to complain about our city...at least we don't live in baltimore...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/us_sport/baseball/article2313739.ece

ouch.

The Good Old Summertime...

Ah, far too long since I've written anything....

I recently saw a program on tv (I think PA's channel) about all of the old neighborhood games people used to play around the city. They had all of these 50 year old men talking about and playing all the great classics....It made me think back to when I played some of this stuff...games like:

Freeze tag
Wall ball
Wall ball baseball (I think we sort of made this one up)
Chink (playing with a tenny, of course)
Spring
Wireball
Horse (or Pig, if time was limited)
Cheezeball (I think this one was unique to the playground at Terrace St, you would stand at the base of the pyramid slide steps, and shoot a ball into one of those concrete climbing tube things, moving up a step each time you got it in...)

We'd play all the wallball style games on the back wall of the old Polish Falcon, next to the Korean Church on Manor St (between Terrace and Manayunk on Salaignac).

So let's think back to some other childhood memories (and yes, I know I'm young, but things have change ALOT around the 'boro since then, with an excess of year-round sports leagues and afterschool activities, not to mention video games, too).
We have:

Nursery School and Kindergarten at Wissahickon Christian Preschool (Ridge and Manayunk)
Playing in the firehydrant on a hot day (the neighbor who had the key for it SWORE it was legal!)
Playing all of the games above, or simply playing football in the street, using telephone poles as the endzones and throwing the ball over the wire at the end from the top of the hill for field goals
Buying school clothes at the House of Bargains
Movies at the Andorra Theatre
Shopping with Mom on Ridge Avenue (long before it was all nail salons and beeper stores)
Woolworth's in Ivy Ridge AND on Ridge Ave.
Clover in Andorra
Grade school at St Josaphat's (shudder) and the longstanding rivalry towards St John the Baptist
The sprinkler pool thing at Houston Playground (it was so far away!)
Swimming at The Rec (Kendrick) or Venice Island
When Pretzel Park was a big drug hangout
The Main St Stroll on the Friday or Saturday before the bike race
Canal Day
Block parties on every block closed off by the Bike Race (and the 8 AM drunks)
The ungodly long Memorial Day Parade
The ungodly short 4th of July Parade
Marching in East Fall's 4th of July Parade, and the picnic at McMichael's Park afterwards
Scout Troop (still involved!)
Going to Kennedy Kenrick, getting made fun of for being from Roxborough (we made fun of the kids from Bridgeport)
Wissahickon AA baseball at Daisy Field (the 21st Ward kids at school made fun of that too), practicing in Cook-Wissahickon's parking lot
Biddy Basketball for the Braves at the Rec
Being bussed to Cook-Wissahickon and Mifflin for M.G.


Feel free to comment with more...it's a shame things like Canal Day and the Stroll have basically died, it seems like all of the old Main St events are wrapped into the Arts Festival, which is nice and all, but not the same. It doesn't seem like there are even kids outside playing anymore. We used to block of the street playing stuff, and hearing "CAR!" and "GAME ON!" was common around the area.

Strangely enough, I find myself playing things like stickball and wall ball with my friends who've never heard of stuff like this today. I really wish I could be blocked by kids playing Chink on the back wall of the old Falcon.

I've learned a lot since I've turned 21, too...(I'm going list crazy today...)

Main St. is a lot cooler when you're 15 and peoplewatching.
Upper Roxborough trash is the same as Lower Roxborough trash
Stay out of Peck Miller's at all costs!
Murphy's is the bar to frequent (especially for karaoke and quizzo!)
Castle Roxx is the douchiest bar in all of Doucheville
The people at the State Store on Ridge Ave (next to the Post Office) hate their job as much as they hate you

What other great memories and lessons do you have to share about our fine neighborhood, or your own?

Hey lush, have fun! It's the weekend...

Well, citizens of Roxborough, the weekend has arrived. The week was chock filled with daily late SEPTA busses and just as many local frustrations. For example, Gary Barbara is leaving BEAAAAAAAAUTIFUL ROXBOROUGH to move his Dodgeland up to the northeast. It's a shame that constant complaining by the neighborhood drove away one of the few large businesses that actually bring money to the area. So let's see, what can we choose to replace the former Dodgeland? Maybe it can be Cheesebus Land! 3 acres of yellow schoolbuses corralled into a conveniently located bus depot! No, we can do better, maybe a Wal-mart or a Target? One of the small ones. Maybe we can get a developer to build more douchey overpriced houses there! I like it! Seriously, though, there's a lot worse out there than Barbara, and it's probably going to move right into there. But as long as we complain, we can keep ANYTHING from moving in. It's the Roxborough Way.

In a similar vein, why is there nothing to do for people my age in Roxborough? I spent my Friday at Textile's Battle of the Bands, which is far better than walking around Main St (unable to get in anywhere, and not really wanting to) or trolling around for a bar that serves minors (too easy). So what's a boy to do? Too old for kid's clubs, too young for grown up ones. That's why everyone my age leaves here when they get the chance.

Well, I'm finishing up work this week, and headed back to school on April 2nd. So that means more frequent updates, more bitching about the area, and maybe even some reviews of places I go, things I do, dirty restraunts I've eaten in.

If anyone out there is reading, give suggestions, submit shit, make a comment. Liven this place up a little. If you comment, no matter what it is, I'll post it, reply, consider doing whatever you've suggested, and so on. So have fun kids, I'll see you in a few days.

Something New

Well, after a bit of though, I've finally decided once and for all to quit bitching (as much) to my friends and family and complain in a place where everyone can see, share, and bitch back.

So let's begin by learning a bit about me. I'm 20, soon to be 21, and a lifelong resident of The 'Borough. I went to gradeschool in Manayunk (the now defunct Polish Prison), and highschool in the 'burbs due to the aweful state of our public schools. I currently attend Drexel University (maybe you'll hear some good tidbits about University City and Center City here, but there are already plenty of people who blog about that).

What do I want to come of this blog? I really don't know, to be honest. It's really going to take shape in the coming weeks and months as I write more, and maybe someone reads it. We'll see where it goes. I DO know, however, what I want out of my neighborhood.
I want:
-something to do on a Friday Night
-something to do on a Saturday Night
-something to do AT ALL
-a clean place to hang out outside
-a non-bar concert venue
-a store on Ridge Ave. that ISN'T a seedy pager/cell phone shop or a defunct Farmer's Market turned "development group" headquarters
-local kids/young adults/people who AREN'T total d-bags

So come on, guys, I know you're out there. I know there have to be some people who like it enough here, but are just plain sick of alot of the crap that goes on. Let me know what you think, what you want, why you hate me, whatever. Also, feel free to vent about the city, SEPTA (Lord know's I'll be bitching about that...) or whatever else goes on around here. Talk about places you've eaten (Bob's Diner is aweful. There, I said it), coffee houses (Why the hell isn't the new place on Ridge open late?), events, things to do, anything at all.