Pennsylvania

Even with the rain, it's great to see you, Philadelphia.

Realized tonight that Mike Watt chooses to play with guitarists who sound not like D Boon did, but how he would by now if he had survived.

This month, Cambridge and Philadelphia are my parallel universes. As part of the bargain, my desk chair in the latter is now made of cat.

Backstage, an hour before show time, the cramped green room buzzed and shuffled with conversation and preparation. Rhinestones and tassels adorned leather and denim, which adorned bodies aged eighteen to forty-eight, travelers hailing from as far as West Virginia. Many were veterans of the air guitar stage, and some had competed as recently as the previous night. Having failed to capture the titles in their home towns of New York, Boston, and Washington DC, they… See more →

Starting the car. Philly, I'm gonna miss the shit outta you.

At @Tmoms, saying goodbye to lots of awesome people.

Philly people: I'm leaving you. Please join me for a tearful goodbye over drinks at @Tmoms on Friday night. crush3r.com/page/qtszlcaees

Back home from not being able to get anywhere near the parade. Four hours of Misfits begins... now!

Absorbing second-hand smoke from a pregnant woman.

Wednesday night's Broad Street party was fun. This parade is just a clusterfuck.

Philadelphia is a playground of parking ingenuity. PPA will cover its entire annual budget today.

Heading out to the parade, hoping the Phillies will be in costume.

Tonight, this city is made of joy.

Succumbing to fair weather fandom.

Got to walk a mile home carrying my luggage thanks to some illegally parked Terror Behind the Walls patrons blocking my bus route.

Any Philly people going to see Don Cab at Johnny Brenda's tonight?

The librarians at the Perelman Building missed that day at librarian school when they learn that libraries are supposed to be quiet.

Karaoke at National Mechanics with @sarahphymn, @polexa, @alexknowshtml, @haveboard, and more.

Philadelphia parks would be great places to hang out if the benches were designed more for sitting and less for thwarting homeless people.

First Person Salon at the Gershwin Y.

Trying to decide if I'll stay in Rittenhouse Park to check out the bands playing tonight, or go elsewhere to continue my reading.

Philly, I wasn't thrilled to return to you. But the gorgeous weather and sizable city tax credit waiting for me will help me reconsider.

Cheers to Paul Green School of Rock for this fest with kids from all over the US playing rock music. Jeers for letting Skoal be a sponsor.

Just saw what is sure to have been the best Bruce Dickinson imitation ever to be perpetrated by a teenage girl.

The Hold Steady has found the ears of the lite beer crowd.

These kids are exceptionally skilled musicians, but they can’t save this Yes song from itself.… See more →

The Riverview's numbered theaters don't say what's playing inside, so I just snuck into The Incredible Hulk. You win, Riverview.

Sitting on a bench on West River Drive, reading about Harold Shapinsky.

On the outside of a tent at Rittenhouse Square, looking at the well-dressed people inside and wondering what compelled them to be there.

Emperor X was so good tonight. Pretty much everyone I can think of would have enjoyed this show.

I like adjectives that are both crystal clear and totally vague. For example, you may be coming off a “good” weekend just like I am, but it’s entirely possible that the “good” elements of our respective weekends were completely different. Perhaps you were served an amazing slice of peach cobbler, or your blind date turned out to be George Clooney, or you finally disposed of some incriminating evidence that’s been haunting you for years. But… See more →

Won the motherfucking Philadelphia Regional US Air Guitar Championship. Heading to nationals in SF in August.

Registering for the motherfucking US Air Guitar Championships! Come see me compete at the TLA in Philly on Friday: livenation.com/event/getEven…

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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 →

Philly peeps: Who wants to join me for Exhumed Films Bizarre Biker Battles tonight? ihousephilly.org/exhumedbikerbatt…

Heading into the Frida show at the Art Museum.

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

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

Philly peeps: Here's my schedule for the Philadelphia Film Festival. D me if you want to join me for some screenings: urltea.com/31yf

Making my schedule for the Philadelphia Film Festival.

A lotta drama in Center City this afternoon.

Just strutted my stuff on stage for a free t-shirt and drink ticket. Now the whole place is getting rickrolled. God bless America.

At Bob & Barbara's drag show. The dollar bills are going fast.

Lots of sirens in Philly tonight. I hope tomorrow's headlines aren't too nasty.

Any Philly peeps going to see The Supersuckers tonight?

overheard (to a screaming infant): "Shut up, you fucking faggot!" Ah, Girard Ave., paved in dreams.

Hey Philly! Who wants to go see Black Dahlia Murder and 3 Inches of Blood... right now?

If the bland cookie cutter housing springing up all around me is allowed to be influential, I weep for Philadelphia's aesthetic future.

Misinformed of Leah's arrival time, I've spent the last 40 minutes confirming that 30th St. Station is no place to be on a Saturday night.