Philadelphia, PA

Click here to find out who is McCain’s REAL Vice Presidential pick! Wikipedia and I were completely wrong!

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Click here to find out who is McCain’s Vice Presidential pick!

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So, what’s this cat that everyone is talking about? Dan Lieberman claims that Prince Chunk is a celebrity, and “sources” are making claims that this cat is being stalked by the paparazzi. How the hell have I not heard about this cat until now?

After reading these two articles: “Super Chunk! Pretty kitty nearly purr-fect” and “Prince Chunk finally gets a new home, and a clean bill of health“, I have learned a few things.

- This ten-year-old cat has the teeth of a seven-year-old.

- Seriously, this cat has beautiful teeth. They mention it like four times.

- Humans are complete assholes: 500 people applied to adopt Prince Chunk, but when they were told other animals needed homes too, most just said, “Fuck you, I want Prince Chunk!”

- Prince Chunk hates Monday’s, but loves lasagna.

- The national standard for celebrity status has been seriously lowered over the past few years.

[Inquirer - Super Chunk! Pretty kitty nearly purr-fect]

[Daily News - Prince Chunk finally gets a new home, and a clean bill of health]

Ted Kennedy, inspiring and relentless.

If you missed the Democratic National Convention last night, than you have to watch this video.

Since nothing hilarious or interesting is happening in Philadelphia right now, let’s take a little trip over to California to see wassup’.

The Mayor of California has shut down an eleven year-olds vegetable stand. Hah. Hah. Hah. Seriously? The child’s veggie stand was shut down because of lack of permits! What’s the difference between a lemonade stand and a veggie stand?

Call it a rite of passage: children by the roadside peddling their homemade goodies to adults who are more than eager to drop a few cents into a makeshift cashbox.

But Katie and Sabrina Lewis’ veggie stand, in the town of Clayton, Calif., where they sold homegrown watermelons for $1, has been shuttered by town officials who told the girls’ parents that their daughters’ venture violated local zoning ordinances.

“I think that they’re wrong,” dad Mike Lewis said of the town officials. “Kids should be able to be kids.”

Shouldn’t people be able to sell the food that they produce on their land? I don’t see any problem with a roadside veggie stand. Hell, I’d love to have one in my neighborhood. Their veggies would probably be better than the one’s I can find at my local grocery store.

Plus, who the hell called the mayor to complain about a vegetable stand? Come on…

But Clayton Mayor Gregory Manning said he first heard of the girls’ operation this past April, after two residents called to ask if it was legal. Two months later, a police officer was sent to the stand to tell the Lewises that the girls were violating zoning regulations that prohibit commercial activities in a residential area.

The stand also violates health regulations, he said, which state that food can’t be sold without a permit.

Geeze. If you feel like giving the City of Clayton gov. office a call, than do so at 1-(925)-673-7300.

[ABC News - Mayor Shutters Children's Produce Stand For Lack of Permits]

I’m slowly losing my interest in Joe Biden. CNet’s Declan McCullagh wrote an informative history of Joe Biden’s tech-related voting record. If Biden’s name rings a bell, it’s because he’s the guy Barack Obama picked to be his vice president. Maybe you don’t care about what happens in Washington, but you may want to know that Biden considers a lot of what you do care about criminal activity. Here’s what I’m talking about:

- He asked Congress to spend $1 billion to monitor peer-to-peer activity.

- Two Biden bills have been explicitly anti-encryption, because you know, encryption makes it hard for the FBI to read people’s e-mails.

- The RIAA seems to be one of his best buddies: Biden sponsored a bill that would restrict recording of songs from satellite and net radio, and another one that would make it a felony to “trick” a computer into playing back unauthorized songs or running bootlegged videogames. That latter one died when Verizon, Microsoft, Apple, eBay and Yahoo all argued against it.

- Biden was one of just four senators invited to attend a celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA’s Jack Valenti and the RIAA’s Hillary Rosen, two of American file-sharer’s most wanted.

- When he was asked in 2006 about proposing net-neutrality laws, he said there was no need, since any bit-filtering violations would provoke such a huge public ruckus they’d have to hold congressional hearings anyway–and they’d be standing-room only.

I don’t know what you may think about this, but it pisses me off. I can guarantee that Biden just lost the online vote.

[CNET - Joe Biden's pro-RIAA, pro-FBI tech voting record]

Now take a look at this video.

Grr John McCain.

Hah, people in Gloucester County are suffering from a wild boar invasion.

As many as 100 feral swine are ripping up golf courses, rooting through flower farms and generally making a mess of things in the swamps, forests and fields of Gloucester County. Thought to be descendants of domestic hogs freed from pens at least a decade ago, the belligerent boars have mentally and physically regressed and are no longer the familiar pink porkers slopping it up on lazy little farms. [...] “They eat anything, endangering rare plants and degrading the habitat. They compete with native wildlife, eating the eggs of ground nesting birds like quail and turkeys,” said Lawrence Herrighty of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Feral pigs have been declared one of the most destructive invasive species on the planet, and the federal government estimates about 6 million of the animals are digging up crops and making mud wallows of sensitive vernal pools, where rare reptiles and amphibians reproduce. They also are reservoirs for a host of diseases that impact domestic livestock, wildlife and even humans.

“They are a threat to wildlife, agriculture and landowners,” Herrighty said. “They have to be eradicated.”

Under a contract finalized in April with environmental officials and the state Department of Agriculture, federal biologists began trapping, testing and killing the hogs in June but so far have bagged only three.

I wanna’ go check this out. Who wants to come with?

Click here to find out who is Obama’s Vice Presidential pick!

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Holy shit. Take a look at Larry Mendte’s statement. This story finally got interesting again.

Let me explain. This whole episode started five years ago when Alycia Lane came to Philadelphia. Almost immediately, Dawn heard rumors that Alycia and I were a little too close and she should watch out.
The rumors were true. Alycia and I had a flirtatious, unprofessional, and improper relationship.

Dawn found proof of that relationship when she waited in my office on New Years Day 2005 and read emails that I had left out on my desk, emails between Alycia and me that confirmed her suspicions.

Dawn confronted me with the emails. I told her the truth. I told her I loved her, and I apologized. I then immediately stopped having long dinners with Alycia, staying out late with Alycia, and I stopped allowing her to come into my office to do her makeup everyday.

The relationship that was once close quickly turned into a personal feud.

Alycia Lane then became friends with others in the building, including the new General Manager. Suddenly, I had shows and responsibilities pulled away from me without explanation. The GM angrily confronted me one day and said that I was bad mouthing him. I was not. But, clearly, I was not on the list you want to be on with the new GM.

I found proof that it was Alycia who was undermining me when I saw an email she sent to management that she left up on the computer she uses on the set.

Then he goes on and on about how keylogger programs are available “too easily” on the Internet, and how he’s going to become a lecturer on how scary the Internet is.

Absolutely nothing.

That’s the legal price Larry Mendte is expected to pay for his very successful effort to destroy his TV news co-anchor, Alycia Lane.

Mendte was scheduled to plead guilty in federal court today for spying on Lane’s e-mail in a diabolical scheme to destroy her.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the terms of the plea agreement, will seek no jail time, and no restitution.

Unless the judge objects, which seems unlikely, Mendte will be given probation.

Lucky Larry…

The 2008 Barrymore Awards have arrived, and the nominees have been announced.

The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre are the Greater Philadelphia region’s only comprehensive theatre awards program, recognizing artists for excellence and innovation while serving to increase awareness of the richness of the local theatre community.

Each year, over 100 productions produced by the region’s professional theatres are reviewed by the Barrymore nominating committee. At the annual awards presentation each Fall, the Barrymore Awards are presented to honor excellence in acting, design, choreography, music, education, community service and lifetime achievement.

Outstanding Overall Production of a Play
Frozen (InterAct Theatre Company)
Skylight (Lantern Theater Company)
Six Characters in Search of an Author (The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Bug (Theatre Exile)
Eurydice (The Wilma Theater)

Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical
The World Goes ‘Round (11th Hour Theatre Company)
Assassins (Arden Theatre Company)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Azuka Theatre)
Les Misérables (Walnut Street Theatre)
The Irish… And How They Got That Way (Walnut Street Theatre, Independence Studio on 3)

Harmelin Media Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play
Dan Kern (Skylight, Lantern Theater Company)
Whit MacLaughlin (Frozen, InterAct Theatre Company)
Ken Marini (Six Characters in Search of an Author, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Matt Pfeiffer (Bug, Theatre Exile)
Blanka Zizka (Eurydice, The Wilma Theater)

Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Mark Clements (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Kevin Glaccum (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Azuka Theatre)
Terrence J. Nolen (Assassins, Arden Theatre Company)
Steve Pacek (The World Goes ‘Round, 11th Hour Theatre Company)
Marc Robin (Peter Pan, Walnut Street Theatre)

Outstanding Musical Direction
Eric Ebbenga (Assassins, Arden Theatre Company)
Troy Herion (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Azuka Theatre)
Dan Kazemi (The World Goes ‘Round, 11th Hour Theatre Company)
Douglass G. Lutz (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Ethan Popp (Being Alive, Philadelphia Theatre Company)

Ark Media Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play
Chris Faith as Steve (Grace, Luna Theater Company)
Kes Khemnu as Boy Willie (The Piano Lesson, Arden Theatre Company)
Jeb Kreager as Ralph (Frozen, InterAct Theatre Company)
Peter Pryor as Iago (Othello, Lantern Theater Company)
Matt Saunders as Peter Evans (Bug, Theatre Exile)

Charlotte Cushman Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play
Kim Carson as The Stepdaughter (Six Characters in Search of an Author, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Grace Gonglewski as Agnes White (Bug, Theatre Exile)
Mary Martello as Nancy (Frozen, InterAct Theatre Company)
Geneviève Perrier as Kyra (Skylight, Lantern Theater Company)
Amanda Schoonover as Lucy (Mr. Marmalade, Theatre Exile)

Garfield Refining Company Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical
Jeffrey Coon as John Wilkes Booth (Assassins, Arden Theatre Company)
Steve Luker as The Sewerman (Dear World, Bristol Riverside Theatre)
Hugh Panaro as Jean Valjean (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Paul Schoeffler as Javert (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Dito van Reigersberg as Hedwig/Tommy Gnosis (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Azuka Theatre)

Garfield Refining Company Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical
Kim Carson as Yitzhak (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Azuka Theatre)
Ann Crumb as Florence Foster Jenkins (Souvenir, The Media Theatre)
Mary Gutzi as Countess Aurelia (Dear World, Bristol Riverside Theatre)
Cary Michele Miller as Peter Pan (Peter Pan, Walnut Street Theatre)
Erin Weaver as Jamie Hawkins (Treasure Island, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play
Peter DeLaurier as The Director (Six Characters in Search of an Author, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Jeb Kreager as Mr. Marmalade (Mr. Marmalade, Theatre Exile)
Triney Sandoval as Nasty Interesting Man/Lord of the Underworld (Eurydice, The Wilma Theater)
Yaegel T. Welch as Lymon (The Piano Lesson, Arden Theatre Company)
William Zielinski as Jerry Goss (Bug, Theatre Exile)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play
Lee Ann Etzold (The Happiness Lecture, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Geneviève Perrier as Girleen (The Lonesome West, Lantern Theater Company)
Ceal Phelan as The Mother (Six Characters in Search of an Author, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Marcia Saunders as Madame Pace (Six Characters in Search of an Author, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Catharine K. Slusar as Margo (Mr. Bailey’s Minder, Walnut Street Theatre, Independence Studio on 3)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical
Jeffrey Coon as Enjolras/Ensemble (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Chris Faith as Ezekial Machete Scabbs (Treasure Island, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Scott Greer as Samuel Byck (Assassins, Arden Theatre Company)
Scott Greer as Thénardier/Ensemble (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
James Sugg as Charles Guiteau (Assassins, Arden Theatre Company)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical
Julie Craig as Cosette (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Christina DeCicco as Eponine (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Danielle Herbert as Anita (West Side Story, The New Candlelight Theatre)
Gwendolyn Jones as Mme. Contance (Dear World, Bristol Riverside Theatre)
Mary Martello as Sara Jane Moore (Assassins, Arden Theatre Company)

Outstanding Set Design, sponsored by KieranTimberlake Associates LLP
Beowulf Boritt (Art, Delaware Theatre Company)
Dirk Durossette (Skylight, Lantern Theater Company)
Michael Fagin (M. Butterfly, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Mimi Lien (Eurydice, The Wilma Theater)
Matt Saunders (Bug, Theatre Exile)

PECO Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
Chris Lee (M. Butterfly, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Tyler Micoleau (Eurydice, The Wilma Theater)
Tyler Micoleau (Mary’s Wedding, Delaware Theatre Company)
David O’Connor (Skylight, Lantern Theater Company)
Joshua Schulman (Art, Delaware Theatre Company)

Earl Girls Award for Outstanding Costume Design
Colleen Grady (Les Misérables, Walnut Street Theatre)
Richard St. Clair (Sleeping Beauty, Arden Theatre Company)
Janus Stefanowicz (Age of Arousal, The Wilma Theater)
Charlotte Cloe Fox Wind (The Illusion, Villanova Theatre)
Lisa Zinni (Go, Dog. Go!, Arden Theatre Company)

Clear Sound Award for Outstanding Sound Design
Chris Colucci (Suburban Love Songs, 1812 Productions)
Jorge Cousineau (The Happiness Lecture, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Jorge Cousineau (Eurydice, The Wilma Theater)
Fabian Obispo (Mary’s Wedding, Delaware Theatre Company)
James Sugg (Bug, Theatre Exile)

Outstanding Original Music
Michael Keck (I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Robert Maggio (M. Butterfly, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Fabian Obispo (Mary’s Wedding, Delaware Theatre Company)
Michael Ogborn (Treasure Island, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Toby Twining (Eurydice, The Wilma Theater)

Outstanding Choreography/Movement
Samantha Bellomo (Go, Dog. Go!, Arden Theatre Company)
Lee Ann Etzold & Whit MacLaughlin (Prom, New Paradise Laboratories)
Karen Getz (Suburban Love Songs, 1812 Productions)
Bill Irwin (The Happiness Lecture, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Chu Shan Zhu (M. Butterfly, Philadelphia Theatre Company)

Independence Foundation Award for Outstanding New Play
Wittenberg (By David Davalos, Arden Theatre Company)
The Happiness Lecture (Conceived by Bill Irwin, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
House, Divided (By Larry Loebell, InterAct Theatre Company)
Six Characters in Search of an Author (By Luigi Pirandello, Newly Translated and Adapted by Louis Lippa, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)
Getting Near to Baby (By Y York, Based on the Novel by Audrey Couloumbis, The People’s Light & Theatre Company)

City Paper Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Play
Suburban Love Songs (1812 Productions)
Go, Dog. Go! (Arden Theatre Company)
Animal Farm (Mum Puppettheatre)
The Happiness Lecture (Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Mr. Marmalade (Theatre Exile)

Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical
The World Goes ‘Round (11th Hour Theatre Company)
Assassins (Arden Theatre Company)
Being Alive (Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Les Misérables (Walnut Street Theatre)
The Irish… And How They Got That Way (Walnut Street Theatre, Independence Studio on 3)

The Ted and Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaborations
Arden Theatre Company & Christ Church (Our Town in Old City)
Philadelphia Young Playwrights & Mural Arts Program (Poetic Life and The Choices We Make)
Theatre Exile & American Society of Capoeira & Arts from Brazil (Roosters)

Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service Award Prize, sponsored by the Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Arts Education Fund
1812 Outreach (1812 Productions)
Delaware Young Playwrights Festival (Delaware Theatre Company)
Classroom Connections (Lantern Theater Company)
Access Education (Montgomery Theater)
The Open Door Project (Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival)
PASSPORT Theater Residency Program (Philadelphia Theatre Company)

F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist (semi-finalists)
Kala Moses Baxter
Chris Colucci
Jeb Kreager
Rosemarie McKelvey
Matt Pfeiffer
Peter Reynolds
Sarah Sanford
Joshua Schulman
David Stradley
Charlotte Cloe Fox Wind

Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Dolly Beechman Schnall

To purchase tickets for this years Barrymore Award ceremony on October 6th, 2008 at 6:30 p.m., click here.

When I came on board at 451 Press I brought my love of Redlasso with me. As of right now, none of my archived Redlasso videos on this blog work, and there’s pretty much nothing I can do about it. The reason I haven’t been using Redlasso lately is because they suspended the service for the immediate future. Two networks took legal actions against Redlasso, which is why the service has temporarily been suspended. Here is Redlasso’s original statement:

To Our Loyal Users:

We would like to thank you for your continued support of Redlasso. You have been essential to making Redlasso a household name online. Unfortunately, due to the legal actions taken against Redlasso by two networks, we are left with no alternative but to suspend access to our video search and clipping Beta site FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. The networks have provided a big blow to the blogger community’s right to exercise the first amendment and comment on newsworthy events. It is anti-Web. During this service suspension, we will continue our conversations with content providers, with the goal of establishing formal partnerships that will quickly help us restore access to the Beta site.

For our business and Radio To Web clients, Redlasso will continue to operate and provide those services to you without interruption.

Again, thank you.

REDLASSO

I have a solution for the whole philadelphians aren’t paying their taxes on time deal. I stumbled across a well laid out website called ThinkCash. They offer bad credit loans and installment loans. Lets not think of these types of loans as payday loans, but more as personal short term loans. Why should we think of ThinkCash more as personal short term loans? Well, their rates are typically 25% to 75% lower than payday loans. They have more convenient payment options, which is a huge benefit, unlike payday loans. ThinkCash loans can be paid back in several installments, with no penalties. ThinkCash wants to work with you, to make your life easier.

I know a lot of people fear payday loan operations, but don’t be afraid of ThinkCash. Its simple, online, and fast. We all have unexpected financial events happening in our lives, ThinkCash is just here to help.

Now if you don’t know what a loan is, let me try to explain. A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower.

The borrower initially does receive an amount of money from the lender, which they pay back, usually but not always in regular installments, to the lender. This service is generally provided at a cost, referred to as interest on the debt. A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of the loan.

Acting as a provider of loans is one of the principal tasks for financial institutions. For other institutions, issuing of debt contracts such as bonds is a typical source of funding. Bank loans and credit are one way to increase the money supply.

Legally, a loan is a contractual promise of a debtor to repay a sum of money in exchange for the promise of a creditor to give another sum of money.

Bad credit loans…don’t be afraid!

Of course, the biggest worry on your mind is going to be your credit report and how it will affect you getting a bad credit loan. If we were all to be honest, most people do not have perfect credit. Lenders and banks know how to look past a lot of things to get the real financial picture of the prospective borrower.

However, there are some things you can do ahead of time to clean up your credit report and put your best foot forward with the lender. These things include paying off some of the small things such as those video store late fees and writing letters to the reporting agencies to clear up any errors on your credit report. Most people have charges from purchases that they did not make appear on their credit report. For the most part, these errors can be cleared up with a simple letter to the agency.

Yesterday, officials in Milford Township, Bucks County, finally approved a drive-through Dunkin’ Donuts just off the Quakertown Exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The doughnut shop was approved after changing the design to a “colonial architectural style that would fit in with the Upper Bucks township.”

What was the problem with the original Dunkin’ Donuts? Read for yourself:

“You drive around our state and others and the villages and towns are a hodgepodge and are ugly. This keeps us neat,” said Supervisor Tim Damiani.
It also means the store will be designed with more muted, earth-tone colors, and not the bright orange familiarly associated with the chain.

Original plans for the location called for a flat 1950s-style roof with “shocking, startling colors,” said township manager Jeff Vey, so township officials requested the developer rework the design.

There really is nothing more frightening than the orange and hot pink.