Philadelphia Metblogs » phi_ian

Philadelphia Kindness

phi_ian — Fri, 12 May 2006 14:26:41 +0000

This morning I witnessed an act of kindness that made me feel good to be a Human and live in this wonderful city of Philadelphia. I normally walk up the Parkway on my way to work and today was no different. As I turned left onto the parkway from 20th street I noticed a woman in front of me. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, as I often see people in front of me, but just as I turned she left the sidewalk and walked into the grass.

My first reaction was “What the heck is she doing” as she was in high heels and the grass was muddy and wet from last nights rain. As I followed her path with my eyes I saw a gentleman sitting on a slab of concrete with a fence that sits overlooking the Vine Street Expressway. He looked homeless and was just watching the grass grow. I don’t think he even saw the woman moving his way.

She said something to him, but I was too far away to hear. I saw his eyes light up and a big smile come to his face. She reached over to hand him a cup of coffee, it might have been Starbucks, but it looks like it might have come from the vendor 2 blocks away. I noticed that she had another cup of coffee in her other hand, presumably for herself.

This amazing woman, woke up today and thought that she would do something nice for someone. I have no idea if she passes this man regularly, or if this was a random act of kindness. The woman bought two cups of coffee this morning with, what I imagine, intent to give one away. She walked 3 blocks with 2 cups of coffee and not only made this man’s day, but also made my day.

When I witnessed this I realized that this was a true act of kindness. I felt proud to be part of this human race, and proud to live in this city.

To the woman I saw this morning, you just made my small list of amazing people. Thank you.

Fairmount Arts Crawl Sunday April 30th 4-9pm

phi_ian — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 22:12:38 +0000

So your local MetroBlogger is also on the FairmountArtsCouncil and has helped bring together the Spring Fairmount Arts Crawl. I was enlisted as the web developer and assited with the marketing. I think this Crawl will be amazing, and I am not just saying that. So much to do, music, art and walking around my beautiful neighborhood. So check out the site, check out the event, below is the flyer I’ve been e-mailing around.

Fairmount Arts Crawl – A Multi-Sensory
Adventure

What started out as a local neighborhood event in November 2004 has evolved into
an ‘art happening’ worthy of its status as an early kick-off to the city’s many
summer events. On Sunday, April 30^th from 4-9pm, more than 20
Fairmount restaurants and neighboring businesses will open their doors and
highlight the work of a wide variety of artists and their mediums — including
fine arts, pottery, porcelain, wearable and visual arts. Sponsored by the
Fairmount Arts Council, the Fairmount Arts Crawl is a semi-annual event held in
the spring and fall of each year centered around 22^nd and Fairmount
Avenues.

In addition to the traditional art venues, this year’s Arts Crawl will include a
variety of outdoor events designed to appeal to families and art lovers of all
ages and interests.

Founded in August 2005, The Fairmount Arts Council is a group of artists,
businesses and associations formed to promote Fairmount and its artistic
heritage.

Members include the Fairmount Art Center, Fairmount Community Development
Corporation, Sandi Pierantozzi & Neil Patterson Pottery, Fairmount Civic
Association, Shaping Design, the Eastern State Penitentiary and the
Philadelphia Mural Arts program among others.

Check out our website for the most up-to-date information.

FairmountArtsCrawl.org

www.FairmountArtsCrawl.org

Strolling jugglers and magicians
Sidewalk pottery demonstrations
Interactive
slide show and historic pictures of Fairmount and the Eastern State
Penitentiary
Musical venues offering Jazz, Classical, Blues, Colombian and
Brazilian selections

As testimony to the event’s growing popularity, the day’s program has been
extended and now includes:

MINAS – a renowned Brazilian musical group that has played at both the Lincoln
and Kennedy Centers
Artists from Philadelphia’s renowned Mural Arts program who will work onsite
with mural cloth
A special exhibit of “Dream Flags” — inspired by Nepalese
prayer flags, more than 6000 students have created more than a mile of ‘Dream
Flags’ — resulting in a visual line of color and hope.

Beautiful Philly Block

phi_ian — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 13:49:00 +0000

After my 2 week vacation I came back to beautiful Philly in the spring. Trees were in bloom, flowers growing, temperature was great….and I get to walk through this block on my walk to work!! It’s the 800 block of N 21st, and is in full bloom. These trees..(Any idea what they are called? They are all over Fairmount) were in bloom when I first saw my house last year, and I think they were a big reason for my purchase. The owners of my house also first viewed the house 4 years ago around the same time. It’s a beautiful block.

Off to Europe

phi_ian — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 19:15:15 +0000

Boy I’ve been really busy lately getting ready for my trip that I haven’t had the time to even breathe let alone blog. Its a two week trip, but with the amount of work I HAD to do before I left it felt more like I would never come back to work. Maybe that’s the plan and I don’t know about it :)

So did I mention I’d be gone for 2 weeks?? :) I’m traveling with my sister and here’s our plan. Fly into Prague and stay for 3 nights. Train to Budapest and stay for 3 nights. Train to Zagreb, bum around for 4 hours, and fly to Dubrovnik. Stay in Dubrovnik for 3 nights. Spend a week in Croatia, not sure how we’ll get around, but I would like to see the islands of Korkula and Hvar. Stay in Split a night. See Troigir. And then on the 6th of April take a night train to Vienna, spend two nights, and head home.

For all those interested in pics of the trip, I’ll hopefully be able to post on Flickr.com. You can see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamian.

Cheers to the Philly crew, I’ll be back and ready to blog in April. Hopefully with interesting comparisons to Philly living.

Best Hamburger in Philly

phi_ian — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:02:06 +0000

I was just reading my e-mail and saw a link on the lower left hand side that read “Best Burgers in 21 cities.” I clicked it to see which of my favorite bars got the nod in Philly. Boy was I surprised when I saw the list. My immediate thought was “What the F$%k!” And “This is such sh&t” What Philly person voted for this? And can we find them and hunt them down? I expected to see Royal Tavern, Standard Tap, Ten Stone, among a ton others. But Fuddruckers? Red Robin?? Come on people, this can’t be real. It’s some sort of scam. These aren’t even in Philly. One was even in Delaware. I think we can do better. Quick. Informal poll. Add your favorites in the comment section.

Here it is

1 Charlies Hamburgers
336 Kedron Ave, Folsom, PA

2. Fuddruckers
1170 White Horse Rd, Voorhees, NJ

3. Rossi’s Bar & Grill
501 Morris Ave, Trenton, NJ

4. Red Robin America’s Gourmet Burgers and Spirits
610 Middletown Blvd, Langhorne, PA

5. Phil’s Tavern
931 W Butler Pike, Ambler, PA

6. Nifty Fifty’s
2555 St Rd, Bensalem, PA

7. Eulogy Belgian Tavern
136 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA

8. Cheeburger Cheeburger
235 Lancaster Ave, Frazer, PA

9. Jake’s Fresh Burgers
2401 Kirkwood Hwy, Wilmington, DE

10. Copa Too
263 S 15TH St, Philadelphia, PA

photo found on citysearch

Roof with a view

phi_ian — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:55:54 +0000

Having entered the home owners group this past summer, I knew I had a few large items that needed to be fixed. The major need within the first year was replacing my roof. I finally got a new roof yesterday! I know I know, I am sure people are thinking “Wow that’s really boring” and “it’s just a roo” And when I bring friends over and show them where leaks will not be forming for the next 10-18 years, I am sure they will think inside “What the hell is wrong with him?”

For me it’s really exciting because for the past 9 months I have had those thoughts in the back of my head that worry about each rain storm. I check all the ceilings for signs of water. Every single house I have lived in has had a leak from the roof. So I know I am a bit paranoid, but the inspector said I had months left on this roof, so I hired a great roofer and in 4 hours I had a new roof!

The most exciting other part, and the part my friends and family will be excited about, is that now I have roof access!! I have a skylight in the bathroom that I had the roofer replace. With the new skylight I can unhook it and pop it open. Using a ladder I can climb right up. I have an amazing view of downtown and will be able to see the 4th of July fireworks!! I am so excited!

1001 posts!

phi_ian — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 19:24:27 +0000

I just read Vince’s new post about the Franklin Square PATCO ghost stop…never even heard about it before, I wonder what else is down there. Well I looked to the right and saw that Philadelphia Metroblogs had reached 1000 posts! I get to have the 1001th post :) Congrats to all the Philly Metbloggers and our loyal readers. We’ve been in business for less than a year and we’ve reached the 1,000 mark. Keep up the great work!

If you’ve got a gun, come see the Sixers!

phi_ian — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:36:48 +0000

Ahh yes exchanging guns for goods, something I am still not quite sold on. The City of Philadelphia announced yesterday that in an effort to get the guns off the street they will exchange a gun for a voucher to a Sixers game . These vouchers will be good for 2 upper level seats at either March 9th againts the Denver Nuggets, March 14 against Toronto, March 22 against Atlanta, or March 24th against Orlando.

I have read, and also figured, that the guns that are exchanged are either hot, as in there is a need to get rid of them, or they are old and never going to be used. Maybe grandma finally has a reason to get rid of her husbands old World War 2 relic, or maybe my gun doesn’t shoot straight anymore, why not excahnge it for some tickets?

I’d love to see more info on the impact of these programs, and how effective they are at getting firearms away from criminals. I am sure the city and police will take a picture at the end with the 1,000 guns they have received, I hope these kinds of echanges are more than just publicity for the war on crime.

‘Nova Wins!

phi_ian — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 02:03:43 +0000

Wow, what a game!! Nova was up, then the start of the second half they went down 11, and boy what a come back! I am sick as a dog, but this game was amazing! Go Nova! A record crowd was on hand, the largest attended college b-ball game in Penna, I think it was 20,859. Ok off to bed, nice work Nova!

Side Porch

phi_ian — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 15:52:25 +0000

Side Porch

Originally uploaded by iamian.

So the weather people were right, it snowed. It snowed a lot. I couldn’t open my porch door because of snow. I figure that if it only really snows once this winter, then I am glad it was a foot of snow. I am considering dragging out my snowshoes and walking around, since no one has shoveled around me, and the streets have not been cleared, it might be fun.