Morning news- 5.2

:: Schools chief Paul Vallas to leave for much cleaner city. -Inq-

:: McGreevy’s ex’s gaydar on the fritz. Daily News inexplicably compares her to Princess Di (?!?). Um… wha? I guess maybe Bon Jovi can rework “I’ll Be There For You” to include her name or something.

:: Also, for shame, DN. You can photoshop up freaky headed Knoxes and Blackwells, but you can’t put Alycia Lane in a bikini? I’m so disappointed in you.
:: Alycia Lane: Just Friends With Rich Eisen -PWD-

:: Philebrity retracts rumor about sale of Philadelphia Weekly. Man, what the hell is his beef with them, anyway?

 

Sincerely liking Philadelphia

You know, with all the sarcasm and people being down on the city and everything, this just so- I don’t know, nice – phillylovesteachers.blogspot.com

Hello teachers! I’m super excited to help everyone from Indiana get a feel for Philadelphia in preparation for this summer’s NEA conference. I love living in this city, and I know you’re going to have a great time here on your visit.

I like to think of Philly as a “small” big city. Unlike New York and Chicago, where business and industry can seem to loom over people on the street, Philadelphia was planned and built– and continues to be developed– on a human scale. Market Street is our major skyscraper, business-y street, but walk two blocks north or south, and the hustle and bustle gives way to trees, browstone houses, boutique shops, TONS of restaurants, and moms with strollers (that would be me!). Philadelphia is all about its neighborhoods, and the regular, everyday people who live here. It’s also an extremely diverse place, and you’ll hear about all kinds of different neighborhoods that are each famous for one thing or another. To live in Philly is to love it, and if you ask anyone on the street, they’ll probably tell you they have a prodigious amount of pride in the city. That’s why we love visitors– we get to show off!

Seriously- this is awesome. And it’s a lot cheaper than Uwishunu.

 

Briefly: That is a very high horse, with a saddle made from massage parlor ads.

:: Why the heck is Brian Hickey taking some kind of moral high ground over the Sunday Inquirer doing a story about a bar? Please explain in comments. [EDIT: Mr. Hickey has, in fact, explained in his comments at the link. I guess.]

:: Inga Saffron is back to the weblog thing with a very lovely post. I feel badly that I have included this item in a post with swears.

:: 24th place? Come on- if we can lead in murders we can certainly step things up a bit here, too.

:: Bob Brady “slings the shit” on WHYY. In-studio updates from Phawker.

:: Also, word is, a more svelte Neil Stein has been spotted in the Washington Square area quite a bit lately- with guys in suits pointing at various buildings. Especially on Chestnut near the new 707.

 

I am not sure which one is Steve Buscemi, though. Maybe Evans.

Congressional Politics takes a look at the mayoral race, analyzing last week’s poll-

Yet a survey released last week by Susquehanna Polling & Research of Harrisburg — which does polling for Republican candidates but also for independent entities — indicated that the five-candidate primary is closely contested, and that neither Fattah nor Brady stood out as the front-runner entering the campaign’s closing weeks…

But David W. Patti, president of Pennsylvanians for Effective Government, which sponsored the poll, noted that it was Nutter — the other major African-American candidate in the contest — who appeared to be gaining momentum, while Knox seemed to have leveled off. A March survey showed Knox at 22 percent and Nutter well behind at 12 percent.

“Michael Nutter can win,” Patti said in an official statement on the poll. “In December, we noted that candidates Tom Knox and Michael Nutter had the ‘most room to grow’ and that has proven to be the case. Knox improved first; maybe too early. Nutter is riding a wave that is cresting at the most opportune time.”

Okay, here’s what I think it is- Nutter is Jon Lovitz in that one scene in The Wedding Singer, where he’s standing backstage, wringing his hands saying, “He’s losing his mind- and I’m reaping the benefits.”

 

Eyaaahhhh

Michael Nutter’s new ad is pretty good, but he’s missing a Wilhem scream at the end when those little guys fall out of the city hall dome.

Related: Wilhelm scream compilation

 

There also has to be a joke about Prince Albert and ‘in the can’

NYPost.com:

May 1, 2007 — FOXY Philadelphia TV reporter Alycia Lane is in hot water after a series of private e-mails and saucy snapshots she sent to handsome NFL Network anchorman Rich Eisen were intercepted by his wife.

Suzy Shuster, a sideline reporter for ABC’s college football broadcasts, hit the roof when she discovered seven e-mails and several bikini photos sent by Lane – who works for CBS affiliate WKYW-TV and is recently divorced – to an account she and her husband, Eisen, share. That had Shuster firing off to Lane a scathing letter, a copy of which was obtained by Page Six.

A seething Shuster wrote: “Boy, do you look amazing in a bikini . . . congrats! Whatever you’re doing, (Pilates? yoga?) keep doing it – it’s working for you. Anyway, sorry but those seven e-mails you sent to my husband, Rich, well, oops, they came to the e-mail address we both use from time to time, but no worries, I’ll forward the beach shots as well as the ones of you dancing with your friends on to his main address. Do you have it?”

Oh, snap, as the kids say!

Okay, here’s my theory- I think this is all totally innocent and Ms. Lane (whose dream job is ‘professional figure skater’) just has a bikini photo listserv for other television news folks. At least Bob Schieffer and the others know how to keep their mouths shut about it.

 

BREAKING – LOUSY PAPER NEEDS SOMEONE TO FIX THEIR LOUSY SITE

The Bulletin is Hiring For…
WEB SITE ADMINISTRATORThe Bulletin seeks a full-time web site administrator to redesign, streamline and maintain our newspaper’s web site (www.thebulletin.us). Duties include: uploading stories and commentaries five days a week, coordinating links with Associated Press to provide up-to-date news and videos, and finally, to increase user traffic to the site.
(link)

What? Change this beautiful layout? Why, that’s like hiring someone to go in and touch up Vincent’s Room!

Oddly enough, they mention nothing about prospective applicants having sufficient Photoshop skills to ruin photographs on the homepage by messing with the contrast.

 

Ham and Eggs and Larry Kane

Ah, fun- we’re in the homestretch and the guys gathered this morning for another debate, this time on KYW-AM. A bad, evasive start for Brady on last week’s fun revelations and occasional interruptions by the KYW traffic jingle (classy!) were the highlights as the gloves continue coming off.

The Next Mayor has a recap, in case you’re like millions of others in the Del. Valley and don’t want to bother listening to newsradio (B-101′s where it’s at, apparently…).

Relatedly, please let this comment on the post be true, because union thugs out busting heads? That’s so retro, Phila.!

 

Crazy with the crazy

In this increasingly heated Phila. mayoral race, there’s been a guy in a shark costume going to Tom Knox appearances to draw attention to the fact that Knox briefly ran a payday loan business. Today, the shark held a press conference at which hell sort of broke loose- Dan McQuade was there and… jesus, you just have to read it.

This city. Man.

 

Duck and Cover

Anyone who knows me well knows that this video about a massive bomb shelter in Phila. FREAKS ME THE HELL OUT.