The curse of Billy Penn

If you've ever watched a Philadelphia sports team blow a championship you've undoubtedly heard about it. In the late 70's and early 80's Philadelphia was a city of champions with the Eagles making a Superbowl appearance, the Flyers winning the Stanley Cup and the Phillies bringing home a World Series Title. Then, in 1987, a gentleman's agreement that had stood since the city's founding was broken and Liberty One and Two extended above the head of the city's founding father. For 20 years these beacons have stood as the tallest points in the city until now. This past year the Comcast Center topped the Liberty buildings and upon the top they placed the hopes that the city will once again win a title.

From the Phillie's Official Website:

Liberty Property Trust, the center's builder, made an effort to mollify the sports gods by affixing a 25-inch statue of William Penn to the structure's highest point. The Penn statue -- albeit a much smaller one than the official City Hall statue -- is once again enjoying the top perch in the city. It was all part of the plan, said Jeanne Leonard, a spokeswoman for Liberty Property Trust.
"To reinforce that the building would lift whatever curse there is, we decided that he would take his rightful place at the top of the city again," Leonard said.

I never thought I'd be giving any praise to Comcast, but this is fantastic.

Pheeling the Pheaver for the Phlaver of the Phillies

To be a true phan, everything "F" must be replaced with a "PH." In the interest of public service I will now recommend places to watch the remainder of the world series.

Sidecar: 22nd and Christian

Good beer, good food but a little pricy for my tastes and not close to my house. When I was there they had the game on, but only a portion of the patrons were actually interested. No smoking (this isn't a value judgement, just a fact). Probably the best spot in the area, but not my favorite.

1601: 1601 south 10th street (at Tasker)

1601 opened a few years ago, probably as a part of the East Passyunk Crossing renaissance. It's a nice place with great beer--many deliciously on tap. Prices are reasonable and happy hour is a great deal. The food went downhill for a while, but the old chef is back and it's on the upswing. Highlights are 25 cent wings on Sunday--not only a great deal but the best wings I think I've ever had. It generally doesn't get too crowded, but if it does it can be a pain in the ass. It's not a very long bar and there is only one smallish TV. The seats are really uncomfortable. You can't smoke inside, which is good and bad, but you can see the TV from the door. All in all, decent if you want good beer and good food but can get a little annoying if you want a little dirt and a comfortable seat.

Rays Happy Birthday Bar: Passyunk and Federal (Near Geno's and Pats)

A depression-Era south philly tavern which got it's name from owner Ray Capozzoli always greeting patrons with "Happy Birthday" when the walked in the door. There's no food at the bar but plenty to eat in the neighborhood including not so good pizza at J&J's, expensive alright Mexican, and Racist cheese steaks at Gino's. All that within a 10 foot radius. If you want to extend to a 20 foot radius you can also hit Pats.

The bar itself is nice good. A sufficiently surly bartender who treats you right if you're not an asshole. The beer is decent--Philadelphia Brewing Company if you want to be a little fancy, PBR is $2.50 if you're on the cheep. You can smoke inside which is nice when you're drunk but you definitely leave smelling like an ashtray. The TV is big and loud and so are the patrons for the most part. The only complaint is the occasional crowd of hipsters that wonder in. Thankfully the Phillies Fans by far outnumbered them. All in all, a nice open room to watch the game with friends.

Bonnies Capistrano Bar: 13th and Dickenson

I'd have to say this was my favorite spot. $2-$3 draft pints of lager, highlife, bud light and miller light. Fancier beer in bottles if that's your preference. It was pretty empty but everyone there was friendly and excited. There's not generally food, but sometimes they make stuff. Even cooler--they have a whole stack of menus and allow you to just order your own meal from the wealth of take out options in the area. There's three TV's so you won't miss a play. You can smoke inside and in this instance we had the whole back room to ourselves. Excellent.

and finally...

My House: Tree Street

They ran out of beer, you have to make the food yourself, you can't smoke inside unless you're really drunk and don't want to get up and the Phillies lost. Although generally a lovely place for a gathering, in this instance it is not recommended.

never mind

Our attempt at nature was a bust. Montgomery County Community College, which seven years ago was in the middle of a lovely patch of nowhere, is now surrounded by awful subdivisions. Linnvilla Orchards was a mad house--full of all the people i was trying to escape. The craft show was mainly a crapt show and none of the people I actually wanted to buy stuff from where there. Michael was very dissapointed as they were also severely lacking in pipe cleaner art. There were a few bright spots on the craft show front. Jungwhon Joo does amazing enameled jewelry and will be at a craft show later on in November in Chestnut Hill. She has no website, but i will try to post the information here. There were also some nice ceramics including one woman that draws beautiful chinese drawings on rice bowls and my favorite--the butter bell--but at that point we had had enough. The major upside to the day was that everything i ate on Sunday was served on a stick. Hurray.

Nature, Please.

I've been getting really down about the city lately. Don't get me wrong, the energy here is great right now. The Phillies are in the World Series and people are spontaneously cheering in the streets. However, I can't shake this intense need for trees. I expect part of it is this amazing fall weather. I just want to bundle up and listen to wind rustle through trees, not a sickly looking stick struggling to grow through concrete.

If any of these feelings sound familiar I'd invite you to visit the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen annual craft fair. Anna and I went two years ago and it was lovely. Don't go expecting uber hip art star stuff (though you may well find some of that too). This is old school. There's loads of ceramics, woodworking, jewelry as well as music, food and a truck with people that make their own soda-pop. When I went before I got the greatest pair of hand made slippers EVER.

So check it out. The fair runs today and tomorrow and is held at Montgomery County Community College. Click here for directions. I'll post some photos from our outing later. In the meantime I will post some pics from my trip to Vermont exactly one year ago today.

South 8th Street

I've been working on taking these drawings and turning them into etchings. As the drawings have gotten bigger I've found that the etchings are great fun to shrink down as small as possible. This one is a drypoint with spitbite and some softground.