Pennsylvania

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Brooklyn is not terribly far from where I live, so waking up there this morning made a clear enough impression that I would be arriving home today. But I still just couldn’t get my head around the idea of being home and staying there. Perhaps in a subconscious attempt to slow the approach, I made a few stops on the way. There was a very nice breakfast with Stan and Shawn Morrison at DuMont in… See more →

My windshield gathered an impressive collection of insects today, arthropodal inhabitants of the five states through which Google Maps sent me (Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky). An apocalyptic downpour washed them all away, which would surely have made an anthropomorphized version of my windshield quite happy or quite sad, depending on whether or not it was the collector type.

Hopefully the good people of Florence, KY (Florentines?) will not be offended that I… See more →

Wondering what motivates people to spend money to talk over a band.

Apparently I’m a sucker for a cute girl with an accordion.

Stupid shrieking girls have no place at any show that would entice me to buy a ticket. DMB ain’t on the bill tonight, ladies. Please go home.

Don't ask me why, but the Art Brut vocalist reminds me of a cross between @lloydi and @adactio. Guitarists: Gareth Keenan and Bob Dylan.

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn is like an unlikely, overjoyed hybrid of @joshualane and my friend Ashley. Best fucking show I've seen all year

I killed my own summer. I took on more work than I should have, and hopefully I suffered the consequences more than my clients did. The summer is drawing to a close, though, and with its end, my schedule is finally becoming kind of manageable again. Today was the first day in ages that I was able to leave the house for something that didn’t resemble work.

In the early afternoon, I took in the… See more →

Another busy summer has come and gone, most of the fruits of which are still not quite ripe enough to talk about. I do, however, have a few things going on this month that are worth a mention.

Screens ’N’ Spokes

Throughout the year and across the country, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society hosts the MS Bike Ride, a lengthy cycling excursion whose participants have raised a considerable amount of money to fight the organization’s… See more →

For the last few years, I’ve been getting the bulk of my world news from a number of New York Times RSS feeds. I’m sure you don’t need me to extoll the publication’s manifold virtues. However, as a Philadelphia resident, one thing the New York Times can’t give me is detailed local news. As my schedule’s density has increased, my ability to absorb the local goings-on through my usual channels (free weeklies and sheer osmosis)… See more →

I understand that a strong community is important to you, even if a busy schedule and certain cultural disparities have kept me from truly being a part of it. I fully support your desire to have a block party every single weekend of the summer, to take over the streets with charcoal grills and picnic tables, Motown and soul. If I get annoyed at the noise sometimes, I remind myself that you are celebrating the… See more →

Late last year, my friend Scott added a Philadelphia-based band called Chromelodeon to the roster on his Bloodlink record label. The band initially piqued my interest with a nine-song EP called The Dark Sword of Chaos, which was dedicated exclusively to the music from Ninja Gaiden II, the second installment in the greatest video game series of all time. It was clear that these guys shared my enthusiasm for the game, and they brought its… See more →

The weather of late indicates that Spring is finally making a gesture of commitment to Philadelphia, and with it, my annual resolve is reborn to get the hell out of the house and find things to be excited about. I’ve been both busy and lazy these last couple of months (a paradoxical combination at which I excel), which, along with the temperature, has caused me to miss the first half of this year’s Philadelphia Film… See more →