The Best Of Parking Wars, Season 1: Guess Who's Got Some Extra Copies...

Perhaps like myself, you were really excited when you heard about A&E's special, Parking Wars. You probably thought to yourself, "Oh, I can't WAIT to see see! This is going to be so awesome!"

The only problem, however, was that you don't have cable and that really hot bartender you chat up on Friday nights - yeah, the one you think likes you because she smiles at you and wears a low-cut shirt? - really doesn't like you as much as you thought and won't turn off the game that everybody else is watching.

Well, I've got a little bit of good news. It seems several copies of The Best Of Parking Wars, Season 1 will be gracing my doorstep soon, if the email I just received is to be believed (and I have no reason to doubt it) and to be perfectly honest, I really only need one copy to review myself so that means for a couple lucky people who happen to be both interested and quick with the email, you can get your hands on a free copy yourself.

I'll probably have two extra copies so the first two interested parties get dibs. If I get more than that, I'll post otherwise.

The email is to the upper right.

Kid Thugs Flash Stun-Gun During Attempted Robbery In N. Liberties

Though this guy's account doesn't mention a robbery, I can only imagine that was the goal.

This is getting just a little bit out of hand. Luckily, the guy they went after carries a gun and a quick flash sent them running.

But still.

In other news, I have to appear in court tomorrow on a subpoena as I am a witness to an attempted robbery a month ago.

Anyone Want To Go Kayaking?

h/t Phillyist

Paint That Shit Gold

This ranks right up there with Gizoogle.

To Be An Absolute Dick Or Not To be An Absolute Dick

That is the question.

Just In Case...

"This site will provide an objective look at both." - Larry Johnson of the No Sense blog discussing how it will be looking at both presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain

Given how the last four weeks, at least, has been All-Obama, All The Time, with unrelenting attacks on the validity of the primary, his experience, his leadership, his ties to this person and that person, his wife, the 'whitey' video, the race card, the terrorist fistbump and the pat on his wife's lower back (hmm wonder why that post and it's comments appear to be missing...), black liberation, anti-Semitism. whether or not he's a Muslim....

...the objectiveness and equally harsh posts against John McCain questioning everything from his age and his temper to his own wacky religious leaders, his seemingly being out-of-touch on a whole variety of issues, his opposition in terms of issues with Hillary Clinton whom many of your commenters seem to wildly think is the next best choice, his comments towards his current wife about being dressed up like a trollop, his supposed support for family values and the sanctity of marriage despite his own problems surrounding why he left his first wife, his numerous flip-flopping on everything from taxes to Social Security to the war, will be starting...

....when exactly?

Sometimes, comments on Larry's blog "go missing."

Just like blog posts on his site do, too....

User 'NoWeWillNot'



Userpage and sole remaining entry for 'NoWeWillNot'



Morning Update - Five of the next six posts were about Obama.

I Have To Essentially Agree With Steve

Philly has nothing on this.


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Via Dovate, via Geekadelphia

Over The 200K Hump

Thanks Atrios!



I guess that's his way of paying me back for taking his Rickroll virginity.

Photo: Bush Sr. In Terrorist Fistjab

Simply earth-shattering



h/t atomic punk

Larry Johnson: The Accurate, Yet Condensed Story In Full

Michelle Obama Video Watch

It's been almost 1 week since Larry Johnson at No Quarter proclaimed there was a purported video making the rounds of conservative circles featuring none other than Michelle Obama railing against whitey in church.

This video is being used for variety of reasons, including fundraising by Karl Rove, is being sought out with a million dollar prize to unseat John McCain's presidential aspirations, as well as show how unelectable, radical, and out-of-touch with America Barack Obama is.

As such, I've added a "Michelle Obama video watch" clock over there to the right and towards the top. I'll be leaving this counter up to count the passage of time since LJ announced said video without ever having produced said video, thus creating an eruption of hysterical proportions both on his site, in his comments, and on his follower's sites as well.

If the video happens to be true, then I'll update with that information. However, if I were Larry Johnson, I'd be crossing my fingers on that one.

Atrios Says We Can Post Into The Future

(6:25p ) Let's see if it's an epic pass or an epic fail.

(6:56) PASS! All hail Atrios...

Even I'm Surprised!

Apparently, I matter! And not only that, but the things that matter to me matter too!

Who woulda thunk it?!

^{(h/t Tami @ Citypaper)}

Since Don Surber Like To Censor Comments On His Website...

...let me post it here.

After claiming that Barack Obama's campaign bragged about receiving an endorsement by the New Black Panthers while failing to notify his readers directly that the Obama campaign had since refused the endorsement as well as removed it from it's web, when called out on that misgiving, instead of publish the comment, he instead decides to not publish it altogether.

Awaiting moderation...



And later, denied...



My comment, however, only pointed out the obvious. That Surber is claiming that the Obama camp is bragging about receiving the endorsement even though it had been rejected and removed from the website which Surber must not have noticed he published when he linked the FOX News article on his website as the FOX article stated:

“Barack Obama’s campaign has removed an endorsement by the New Black Panther Party from its Web site, one day after the Illinois senator delivered a speech calling for improved race relations in America.”

Since Surber wanted to delete my comment, unanswered, I'll ask from here instead:

Don, in what world does a candidate for Office of the President of the United States of America "brag" about an endorsement while simultaneously removing it from their website?

Breaking News

Must see Sadly, No! for all the fresh details.

So...Anybody Else Having Horrible Vomiting And Diarrhea?

I know that's a horrible question to ask but let me just explain my weekend.

Last weekend, not the one we're coming out of, I was supposed to have my older son up from Jersey. Unfortunately, my younger son who lives with me had come down with a nasty bug, was vomiting and having several bouts of diarrhea. The initial day, he was very lethargic and just crummy all day but the following day on, he was bright, chipper, and his usual self. He has, however, continued having diarrhea but has been very good about drinking plenty of fluids and eating some, with his appetite just beginning to come back.

So since the younger was sick, I pushed back my weekend with my older son so he wouldn't get sick and wouldn't be stuck in our apartment while we watched his brother. And so on Friday, I was supposed to take Elliott down to Jersey where we would pick up Floyd and spend a couple days there.

Meanwhile, my girlfriend was having a friend come in from Ohio Thursday night, staying until Sunday and they were going to have a girls-only weekend, with Elliott and I out of town. On Friday morning, though, everything changed the moment I woke up.

As my eyes opened from sleep on Friday morning, I felt a rather urgent need to use the bathroom. Upon seating myself on that favorite of locations, everything started coming out. First one end, and then shortly after and without even having to leave my seat, the other end kicked in.

Full on vomit and diarrhea. I honestly can't remember the last time, even IF, I've ever been so sick that I had both V&D. After my first trip to the bathroom, it got worse. I quickly developed a fever, chills, a headache, body ache, and constrained vision in the sense that my head hurt so much, I was squinting my eyes and could barley even keep them open.

I ended up spending the entire day practically in bed, feeling worse than I've ever felt in my life. I felt so bad that death would've literally been a welcomed alternative. I felt so bad, I'd have given a limb just to feel better. I felt so bad, I'd have voted a third term for George W. Bu....

Well, let's not go that far and just agree that I felt so disgustingly horrible, that almost anything would've been better than how I felt.

Come Saturday, however, and I was on the fast track to recovery. I felt 100% better, although I wasn't 100%. I had some semblance of an appetite, some energy, and was able to actually go out and run a couple errands, take my son for a walk. Unfortunately, my girlfriend and her friend from Ohio than came down with the same thing so it was round two of staying indoors, for the most part.

It gets more interesting, however as I show up for work. My co-worker beside me apparently had to leave work yesterday due to the exact same symptoms and as she came in and told me about what she experienced, we both started laughing hysterically as we agreed that what we felt was worse than death itself. Later, talking to some other co-workers, some have experienced the same symptoms, some have the flu and one even has walking pneumonia.

And after just getting off the phone with my mother, now my brother and his girlfriend have some bug. Whether it's the same thing or not, I'm not really sure but they've been in bed for two days now feeling like shit.

So that's what I want to know - did you catch the bug? I want to know how widespread this is and if others in the area are feeling the same.

It's February 10th. Where Is Anonymous?

I haven't heard anything yet, but perhaps it's still early at 9:30 EST for any reports of activities to come in.

If you recall, last month, several videos came out detailing some assault on Scientology that was scheduled to happen today.

Anybody heard anything? Has the moon blown up? Has Tom Cruise's pseudo-human exo-skeleton melted off to reveal the inner alien?

Update - Well here's something really f'n stupid. It's a site dedicated to protest in San Fransisco that gives some tips on what to and what not to bring to a protest, how to act, etc. But this part right here seems to just be so obviously stupid...

- Accessories NOT to bring: Any form of ID, excessive cash, a car (public transit is cheaper and maintains anonymity)

- Make sure your propaganda focuses on the extortion and scamming of the church- DO NOT attack the general religious beliefs (aside from the truly twisted ones- like anti-gay and such)…

Ok, I can get understand that. I don't care for the gay bashing and stuff but then if you're going to attack Scientology based on anti-gay stuff, you probably shouldn't continue later down the fold by saying:

- REMAIN PEACEFUL AND RESPECTFUL AT ALL TIMES! This one is important… You will likely be harassed by CoS fags… NO MATTER WHAT do not buy into their antagonism- if you do, they immediately have an excuse to legitimately attack you… This also applies to members of the general public, and Police Officers. If a Police Officer tells you to do something, you MUST remain respectful in your response- THE FATE OF OUR EFFORTS RELIES ON RESPECT TO EVERYBODY

COS is anti-gay and claims it can “cure” homosexuals. Push this in your propaganda!

And our personal favorite point:

Don’t use the words “fag” or “nigga” during the protest, either verbally or in propaganda. You shouldn’t be doing this regardless of the law, since it’s bad PR.

Since, yes, it is bad public relations. That’s why we don’t use it.

Thanks for setting that straight, FACTnet.

Good luck in your protest today...

Blogroll Amnesty Day Already Providing Fruits Of My Labor

See what happens on BAD? I checked my Sitemeter, found a referral from a search for the phrase "Blogroll Amnesty Day", clicked the search terms, and found a post from Rubber Hose's amnesty post.

But that's not the fruits of my labor. What I found perusing his blogroll, which I'll point out I'm NOT a part of (some amnesty, huh?), I did find a link to the Philly Blogmap which is really pretty cool.

So I fired off an email to be added to the list and hopefully soon, I'll be on the map.

Happy Blogroll Amnesty Day

Today is the 1 year anniversary of Blogroll Amnesty day, and as such, Jon Swift is celebrating this day in good fashion by not only blogging about of what today means, but by also including links and excerpts from all those non-A listers who frequently get lost in the mix of the biggest and brightest bloggers across the tubes yet have made it a point to also celebrate Blogroll Amnesty day today.

So in good fashion, I will be joining in on this today with my own, albeit brief post.

I started this blog back on May 11th, 2005 with this post:

Welcome to my very first blog.

I think we, as humans, have a certain built-in sense that sometimes we need to be heard. We go to bars and get loud, we see a TV camera and hop in front of it, we write letters to the local paper. I, too, like to be heard and sometimes I have something good to say, and sometimes not. The problem with trying to be heard is that what you have to say doesn't always make it where you want it to go.

This is the joy of having a blog. On the one hand, it may or may not get the coverage that a Letter to the Editor may get but on the other, it's readily available for anyone to read, at any time.

So how did I get into blogs? My brother has been a Blogspotter for some time now. I'm not sure of his blog address but I'll post it when I talk to him later. But to get back to how I got into blogs, it was because of my brother and his keen sense of my increasing interest in politics. I'm on his "Everyone" email list and when he reads an article or picks up on an interesting or important story in regards to politics and/or the key players, I'd get an email. Some of the articles I don't read, others I skim, and others I get into and then we begin emailing back and forth. It''s pretty funny when there's a lot of people on the initial email and the subject of the email is one of those in which you know you're bound to piss someone off. That's why I always hit Reply All!

So I get a lot of emails from my brother and a lot of the posts come from what is, in my opinion, the leading (well it is) and most diverse political weblog available on the internet, DailyKos. There is some great commentary and opinion posted there as well as updates on bills and rulings all across the country. There's even a number of US Representatives who've registered on this site and post from time to time about proceedings and other current political news.

I'm gonna end it here. I'll provide some more background about me as time goes on. Hope to talk to ya.

Since I wrote that post, I then started blogging semi-regularly, picking up various links (mainly through my brother's posts) and started receiving some comments. In time, as I began to fully understand and digest the blogosphere and how it works, I began regularly reading specific blogs and doing cross-postings and I even started a blogroll of A-list and some non-A-list blogs.

As the war raged on and various blogger campaigns came out, such as Blogs Against Torture, I began signing up and adding various new sites, badges, and embed's onto my site to increase my exposure.

And then I discovered Technorati and through that service, I began seeing who was blogging about me. Sometimes it was nice, sometimes it wasn't but at least I was able to see my blog had a voice that was being heard.

When the battles in Fallujah were running and there was questionable use of white phosphorus, I started to see that my blog was actually picking up steam. I was covering many different stories at one time, covering a vast variety of issues, and providing many links to many sites that were also covering the same issues. I think my Technorati rating around then was the highest it had been, probably somewhere in the vicinity of 165. Heck, I even had my blog listed on the front page of Technorati once and I thought I was really going somewhere.

But then, ultimately, things started going down hill. I became too busy with school to keep up with the blogging I had been doing and then later, my girlfriend gave birth to our son and well, the rest is history. Now, the only people who read my blog are Frank @ From Pine View Farm, my brother (linked below), Steve @ Dovate (photoblog/variety issues), Abbey @ Gales Life Thoughts, Lutton @ Lutton Square, Andrew @ Malcolm X Park (photo/daily blog of Malcolm X Park in W. Philly), Eric @ UWishunu, Mithras, and others whom you can find scattered throughout my "Everybody Else" and "Philly/PA" (honestly, the best ever conceived) blogroll to the right.

(By the way, the above links will be my contribution to BlogRoll Amnesty Day in case you didn't figure it out. :) )

My brother, by the way, is Brendan of Brendan Calling. His blog is chock full of personal stories, background on his musical career(s), as well as plenty of great posts on a wide range of political issues. And he spares no mercy when he has his sights set on someone, Democrat or Republican.

Take his latest post on a phone call to Sen. Arlen Specter's office:

“Hello Senator Specter’s office.”

“Hi, my name’s Brendan Skwire. I’m a constituent calling from Philadelphia PA. Is it true that the Senator compared the New England Patriots’ spying on other teams to the destruction of the CIA tapes?”

“Yes, he was quoted in the New York Times.”

[pause]
[longer pause]
“Sir? Do you want me to pass along a comment?”
[pause]
“Sir…?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m just trying to get my head around such a monumentally stupid statement. Yeah…yeah, I would like you to send him a comment.

“Tell him that I’m looking forward to him writing legislation that gives the Pats retroactive immunity from prosecution for spying, just like he did for his buddies at AT&T.”

Specter’s office didn’t like that too much, but when I related the story to Bob Casey’s office, the guy who answered the phone couldn’t stop laughing.

Great shit, isn't it?

Well, I hope you enjoy this year's Blogroll Amnesty Day and walk away with a few extra reciprocal links. See you in comments!

Best. Movie. Review. Ever.

Phillyist goes to the movies and sees Rambo.