Martin Luther King Day is a holiday way too many people take for granted. Whether you make it a day off or make it a day on, as the MLK Day of Service slogan
suggests, that's up to you. Some local options are laid out for you HERE. (Keep an eye out for
mayoral hopefuls.) The least you could do
is brush up on your MLK Day history or the man himself.
Back shortly with a MLKMLU.
–B Love
12 January 07: Philly Skyline Friday Skyline
Up up and away. Just in time for your Friday happy hour, we glance sideways at the skyline from 11th & Vine in what some like to call the Loft District, others
Callowhill, others still Chinatown North. Whatever you wish to call it, it was here, and this was about 11am this overcast morning. As always, clicking the Philly
Skyline Philly Skyline opens up a larger version in another window.
Two bits of G-Ho all up in yo media for the weekend: (we never thought we'd utter these words together, but) check out the new Philadelphia Style magazine for an
article on our "up-and-coming" neighborhood immediately southwest of Center City. Props to writer Anne E Lotz for preferring G-Ho to those other so-so
also-rans.
Meanwhile, G-Ho's shining star bar, The Sidecar, makes an appearance in Joe Sixpack's column today as a destination for craft beer . . . and then he goes and says
it's in Point Breeze. Cripes. Call us Southwest Center City or Graduate Hospital Area if you don't prefer G-Ho, that's fine, but for god's sake don't call us Point
Breeze or Grays Ferry. That's like standing in the middle of Washington Square and saying how much you like this Queen Village neighborhood. Point Breeze: south of
Washington. G-Ho: north of Washington. (Thanks for the heads up there, DMac.)
A little further west in the Ho, we've been following the South Street Bridge saga. (Scroll down a little to our 1/10 post about the presentation put on by the
Streets Dept's bridges division. When we relaunch, we'll be able to link to individual posts like a grown-up web site.) We're putting together a special package on
the bridge as we speak, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, our friend Chris Doc at the Necessity for Ruins accidentally stumbled onto a goldmine of construction
pictures of the South Street Bridge whilst at the state archives in Harrisburg. Check out his post HERE.
–B Love
11 January 07: Inquiring minds want to know . . .
How many Inquirer editors reading phillyskyline.com does it take to get a staff photog outside for a new a picture of the skyline? Recall if you will our
first post of the new year (scroll down toward the bottom of this page) when we called the Inquirer out on running a four year old picture to illustrate our changing
skyline. Welp . . . the Local section (B) of today's print edition has a front page photo by Inquirer photographer Ed Hille (it's a fine photo, presumably from the
Girard Point Bridge on I-95; here's hoping he'd stopped his car before shooting it) with a diagram illustrating the tall buildings in the picture. And, again, they
got an important figure wrong.
Two, actually. Cira Centre is listed at 437' and Comcast Center is listed at 973'. With Brandywine's and Liberty's plans (respectively) laid out on this desk, I can
assure you with 100% certainty that Cira is 434' and Comcast is 975'. Like we said before, these are real nitpicky details, but they're nitpicky details the Inquirer
should not get wrong. I'm not sure where the 973' figure came from, but the Philadelphia Architects
and Buildings Project and Emporis are cited as sources. PAB is an incredible
resource run by the Philadelphia Athenæum, well worth the $25 annual fee. Emporis? Not so much. Here's why.
Emporis started out as Skyscrapers.com, a potentially amazing database of pretty much every tall building in pretty much every city in the world. (Now, and for the
past three years or so, if you type "skyscrapers.com" in your browser, it will redirect to emporis.com.) For some cities around the world, it is well done.
Check Chicago for example. Emporis' Philadelphia section was also once very tidy and
up to date, run by myself and Matt Johnson. Like the people volunteering their time and effort to Emporis in other cities around the world, we took pictures of
buildings that didn't have pictures, and we went to the basement of the Municipal Services Building to pull parcel files and confirm floor counts and building heights.
I remember being so happy to be able to end a dispute about the Blue Cross and Bell Atlantic Towers' heights (625' and 739') by reading the blueprints and files filled
out by the contractors and kept at L&I's office.
Matt and I did good work volunteering new pictures of the skyline and city scenes, and documenting the construction of
The St James and Cira Centre . . . that is, until Emporis stiffed both of us. Over the course of a year, Emporis licensed several high-resolution images we'd taken
to paying companies, on the promise that their editor payment system was being hashed out and we'd be paid. Nearly four years later, neither of us has seen a dime, and we've shifted our focus. So, rather than offering a giant FU to Emporis, I
think we'd agree to thank them for inadvertently developing Philly Skyline and SkyscraperSunset.com. Matt
takes great pictures, and da Skyline's got all of the info you need about buildings and construction in Philly. (And just wait till the Skinny and Buildings section
are relaunched.)
And check this out, "now available and only at Emporis" (uh huh) - Comcast Center construction progress which hasn't been updated since July and which has 22 total images. Since we're settin' the record straight,
the Philly Skyline Comcast Center construction progress hasn't been updated since Monday (but will be way updated after tomorrow)
and has approximately 1000 total photos, renderings, models and a diagram you ain't gon' see on Emporis.
The point of all of this dirty laundry is: Inquirer, we feel your pain. We don't want to watch a city institution crumble and the ivory tower go condo either. So
please,
do a better job with minor details and it will be one less reason for that to happen. Citing Philly Skyline is ok, too -- the Metro is doing it!
* * *
We're gettin' thirsty out here, so we'll run down our checklist real quick before heading out into the smoke free evening.
W-HO IN G-HO: Advocates of gentrification earned themselves a giant score today, as Dubya-appointed Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings joined CEO of Philly schools Paul Vallas at G-Ho's Stanton Elementary School (17th & Christian, the one with the mosaic of the globe) for a Martin
Luther King Day assembly. At it, she commended the students for their improving their test scores while touting No Child Left Behind. Win some lose some. [Inquirer.]
DON'T LET THE DOOR HITCHA: Yo, Chris Webber? Peace out, and thanks for nothing. Teh SuXors are so gawd awful it's actually
amusing. This Friday's Faith & Family Night features a performance by Tonex. TONEX! There's a rumor the price of admission also includes a "basketball" game. Yes, you
too can spend real hard cash and go watch the squad Billy Jean King has assembled in South Philly (albeit one in which Larry Brown will now have the ultimate say).
Because, after all, IT'S A PHILLY THING! (As opposed to . . . ?) [sixers.com, your
home for Shavlik Randolph wallpaper.]
CONSPIRACY SHOWROOM'S NEXT CONSPIRACY SHOW: The way rad ladies running the showroom (who were so kind to sell our 2007
calendars) are rockin' it out this evening for the opening of Boringbot's painting on the walls. Boringbot is a Philly-based artist specializing in . . . well, in the
stuff you'd find on his Myspace. Conspiracy Showroom is at 910 N 2nd St in Northern Liberties. There's
a rumor they have two calendars left, so if you don't have one yet, get crackin'! [Conspiracy Showroom.]
–B Love
11 January 07: Philly Skyline Philly Skyline and the gravitational intensities
Oooooooooooowaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it's sucking you in!!! ("It's sucking all right.") We spotted the intergalactic travelings of Comcast Center and its friend
Mellon Bank Center from the perch at our South Street HQ last night. And after we got home from Tritone, that's about how it looked. (Seriously Dave, was the Russell's
Reserve really necessary?) Tritone which, by the way, is playing by the rules now and is officially smoke free. Coincidentally, there's also a smokin' new jukebox.
Smokin' in the sense that it's got more music, or perhaps smokin' in what it does to your wallet. It's of the Top 40 touchscreen variety (like they have at
Barrister's and Cheers to You), only it's not Top 40. It's retained all the old favorites (John Lee Hooker, Built to Spill, Public Enemy) but has added this "click
here for more" database option for a lot of artists, so where you might not have had the option to play Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody" or Slayer's "Seasons in the
Abyss" before, well, now you do. Just bring extra singles cos it ain't even close to free.
(Bee Love why you talkin' bout jukeboxes when the skyline's in the Inquirer today?) Ah, right! Let's see if we can't crank out a Thirstday update then. As is the rule
with the Philly Skyline Philly Skyline, clicking enlarges. See yous shortly. Hollaback at
Hollenback.
You can step back outta that time machine now. It's 2007 again, and One Liberty Place doesn't look half (or at least a third) as good as it did in 2005. They've just removed
the top red bar of neon from Christmas to leave the bottom two bars in green, presumably for the Eagles.
Now then, let's open up the floor for some questions.
What's up with South Street Bridge?
AHHH. We're glad you asked. Seriously -- we've finally got some hard info we can use, and we're working on bringing it to you in a whole new package. Keep it locked
right here for more info on that, and in the meantime read the back stories or participate in your own discussion here:
Some vitals you can use for now, presented without comment:
— It will be greatly widened to accommodate cars, bicycles and pedestrians.
— It will have a tubular, stainless steel mesh that will reflect both sunlight and artificial lights which allow it to shimmer.
— The existing buttresses in the river will be the only components of the bridge which remain, and at those columns there will be towers with cornices, serving as
both an architectural element and a lookout point to stop and enjoy the view from the bridge.
— The architect of record is H2L2, the firm founded by Paul Cret, who designed the existing South Street Bridge. The engineer of record is Gannett Fleming.
— The artificial lights will be LEDs, programmable to change colors à la Cira Centre and Boathouse Row.
— Estimated cost: $50M. (That's less than half of Donovan McNabb's contract, or slightly more than Chris Webber's contract buyout.)
— Estimated start date: November 2007.
— Estimated construction time: eighteen months.
— Will connect to both the Schuylkill River Park's southward expansion and University of Pennsylvania's eastward expansion, which sees the athletic fields just
east of Franklin Field being raised by levels of parking beneath them.
— The "official" traffic detour will be routed on 22nd/23rd Streets and Walnut/Chestnut Streets.
— Beginning January 22, vehicles over 6 tons will be forbidden to cross the bridge (with exceptions for emergency vehicles), and Septa's 40 bus route will begin
the 22/23/Walnut/Chestnut detour at this time.
— The on-ramps to I-76, at this time, are not a factor in the budget and will unfortunately remain unchanged for now.
Lots more info is forthcoming, but this has to be said: in spite of what Democratic 30th Ward Leader Terry Gillen and her supporters thought and vocally purported, Chief
Engineer of the Streets Department's Bridges Division Jack Lutz did a fine job in presenting the information to the public. As expected, there were heated moments where
irrational people spoke out of turn and out of line, but all told, it was a pretty good -- and informative -- presentation.
That picture of the Inquirer Building from the
Eagles Fever set looks familiar. Have I seen it before?
If you read the region's most read web site -- the official web site of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News -- then yep, you probably did.
Last Wednesday, the Inquirer famously cut 68 employees of its newsroom, leading Editor Bill Marimow to declare it the "worst day in the history of the Philadelphia Inquirer."
Few would argue with that statement, not least those whose jobs were axed and the people who love them. There's a good deal of irony buried, then, somewhere in the fact that a
Philly Skyline photo went unattributed in Dan Rubin's story Here Today on Blinq,
an Inquirer-sponsored blog, when one considers the role the internet has played in the de-circulation of print media, when one considers how old media generally frowns
upon blogs (think more George Will and Bill Conlin here, less Will Bunch and Inga Saffron), and most of all considering the subject of the story. Now, I like Blinq, and I read
it relatively regularly. Dan even gave a shout-out to our Comcast Center hard hat tour the day before this story.
To put the truth up front, we (all web sites and blogs) rip pictures off the internet all the time thanks to fair use, and we here aren't any exception (most notably with our regular collages). Still, in the online community, it's nice to give a nod when it's fam being cross
referenced. (Like, for example, the "Tears for My Colleagues" credit to Eric Mencher in that same Blinq story.)
So yeah, here was my picture of the Inquirer Building when it had Eagles Fever, on the homepage of the Inquirer's web site on one of the saddest days in its history. Um . . .
thanks?
What is up with The Skinny? I thought you were gonna update that better than you do.
Yes, this is true: we busted tail to get The Skinny up to snuff, and there it's sat ever since. For this we apologize. But! For this, we have also brought in some new talent,
talent which is diligently working behind the scenes on two major overhauls to da Skyline that will not interrupt your visit whatsoever: 1, The Skinny will be far, far more
manageable and will be database driven, as such dynamic in content, meaning YOU can choose how you wish the info to be displayed (e.g. by architect OR by location OR by size,
etc, and not just how B Love puts together the graphics). 2, All you cats asking about RSS feeds may finally get your wish. Or we might be dicks about it and say "ha ha,
here's our fancy new blog, bookmark us anyway!" Seriously though -- the implementation of actual blog software will improve pretty much everything around here. If
you're only here for Bridgeman's View Tower updates, you'll be able to search for Bridgeman's View Tower updates. If you're only here for Phillies commentary, you're really
really bored. But, you'll be able to search for Phillies commentary. It'll be like Time Warp 2005 all over again.
What's up with the "news" section?
Yeah, that's gettin' an overhaul too. All that news is old news, way old news. We're just gonna do away with it altogether since updatin' the site is news. It'll be replaced by
something better. Please bear with us.
Bridgeman's View Tower, you say?
Yessir. The original, single tower concept (66 stories and 915', though it is zoned for up to 950') was approved unanimously by the Northern Liberties Neighborhood
Association's zoning committee, good news for everyone who like the really tall option and for everyone who was against still more traffic. BVT's developers have volunteered
the idea of a pedestrian walkway across Delaware Avenue to the forthcoming Sugar House Casino, another effort toward being a good neighbor, as they have been all along. When
Philly Skyline's retooling is live, we'll have an all-new BVT section and archive.
Anything new with Independence Park?
Yeah, speaking of sections and archives, there's this one which skyrocketed our traffic in August and found our fearless leader in the New York Times and on Swiss Public Radio.
This little item, though, has less to do with the draconian federal government and its National Park Service, and more to do with Ed Bacon's vision and the City of
Philadelphia. While many would argue that Bacon's vision for clear sightlines on Independence Mall cost the city an extremely valuable chunk of its own history and urbanism,
it's hard to say that the finished(?) product on the mall is not at very least handsome.
Why it took so long to plant grass and lay a brick sidewalk between the Independence Visitors Center's grass lawn and Arch Street, only they could tell you, but it's
open now. From the entrance of the National Constitution Center, one can finally enjoy the unobstructed view nearly due south, nearly a half mile long, to Independence
Hall (and its broad Penn Mutual shoulders). The grass is very slightly graded to a hill, and walking across it, you'd never know you were standing on top of a large
parking garage. That's the idea. The brick sidewalks curve slightly across the grass, their sides are bound by stone pavers, trees and steel lights structures, and they
arrive on Arch Street at the Free Quaker Meeting House.
Didn't you forget someone in your Friday shouts?
YES WE DID. Our sincerest, most heartfelt apologies to Vox Populi, and a super duper congratulations on a long, successful run at the Gilbert Building. This past First Friday
was the last opening at its longtime location. They'll be relocating, but only because they have to. The long threatened promised expansion of the Pennsylvania
Convention Center is finally moving forward. Sez PAconvention.com,
The largest capital project in the history of the commonwealth took a step forward, when Governor Edward G. Rendell
presented a check for $16 million for the long-awaited expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority.
And don'tcha know, the Convention Center has podcasts (the Convention Center has
podcasts!) for all your conventioneering needs, which you'll surely put on your brand spankin' new iPhone. Right???
Yo, did you see that "Box in a box" video???
No, we've been living in a box under a rock here for the past two weeks . . . Of COURSE we saw it, and it was fantastic. I mean, Justin Timberlake and Andy
Samborn raised the bar for original satire, but Bunny? Bunny done cleared that bar on the first leap, box first. The original (i.e. non-parody) production, the turnaround time,
and the homage to JT and Andy's insta-classic, all stellar, so much in fact that it made the top spot on Monday night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. We're gonna go ahead and
Yank On, um, YouTube, yeaaah that's it, to take this Q&A session home, but a memo to Keith: BUNNY IS FROM PHILLY. (Duh, doesn't he read Philebrity?)
Check honey's Myspace location, check her blog's love of all things Eagles (she even drops "Fly Eagles Fly" lyrics and mentions the New Orleans Saints this
week, c'mon!), but most of all Keith, look at the location of her video. For that Philly-NY gaff, you are tonight's WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD!
We've still got some more emails to reply to so if you haven't heard back from us yet, you will. But as always, if you have a question, tip, suggestion or request, drop us a line.
Finally, a couple suggested readings in case you missed 'em yesterday:
• Urban Warrior: The Daily News' Chris Brennan invites
your input on the antiquated mess that is the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and its new, Rendell-secretly-appointed head Joe Conti. Just don't suggest privatization.
Because seriously, why would you want a choice on where you buy your wine and whiskey, and why would you want to buy it on a Sunday anyway, you drunken heathen?
• The Illadelph: On a related and a bit depressing
note, our friends o'er Illadelph way offer some thoughts on the very position Conti was appointed to and how he got there, as well as half a dozen links to editorials
from across the Commonwealth about it.
•
Inquirer: Joseph Slobodzian profiles city planning executive director Janice Woodcock and the
challenges she's facing by taking on that role, including heading the proposed Zoning Code Commission.
–B Love
9 January 07: Fever isn't such a new thing; fever started long ago
Holy moly. There's so much going on we can't keep up, but we're going our best. What we do know is this: attending the Mummers parade requires much
patience. The new year has not brought a new outlook on murder but has in fact added a new 50 Cent element to the mayoral race, with Dwight Evans and
Chaka Fattah each claiming to have been shot (talk about your GOTV). Civic meetings, no matter how well
organized or well intentioned, will always always always bring out the nutjobs and abominable NIMBY monsters. The Airport Auto Mall is hard to get home from if you're dropping
your car off. Jeff Garcia drives Barbera. Jeremiah Trotter drives Woodbury Nissan. And right now? The Eagles drive the NFC, baby.
Brian Westbrook: OUTSTANDING. David Akers: MONEY. Koy Detmer: SOLID. Tony Romo: NERD!
Yes indeedy, the Eagles are flying high and, because of it, we're gonna dip into PHILLY SKYLINE TIME WARP.
It's now January 2005 in the City of Brotherly Love. Joe's Pizza on 16th Street has sustained a major fire, but we hear they'll be back. The Smoked Joint (GET IT?) has just opened
in the Academy House, full of blues and BBQ, sure to be a hit. The big holes in the ground at 17th & Arch and Delaware & Penn are starting to fill up with equipment that will
officially bring Comcast Center and Waterfront Square to construction, and across the Schuylkill, Cira Centre's glass is climbing up to its pinnacle. And down in South Philly,
Donovan McNabb has won the Offensive Player of the Year and Terrell Owens has set a team record with 14 touchdowns as the Philadelphia Eagles stomped through the NFC. T.O. went
down thanks to that chump Roy Williams' horse collar tackle, but he's strong -- he's not gonna miss the Super Bowl, you can count on it. We're Super Bowl bound, baby, and the
city's got the fever. Look at all the buildings lit up in green. Fly Eagles Fly, on the road to victory.
We'll jump back to 2007 and finish up our leftover Monday thoughts later today with a Q&A.
–B Love
8 January 07: Show me the Mummers
Hey hey ho ho. We promised a MMLU and we'll deliver on it . . . but it'll be later today, maybe a Monday Evening Lookin' Back by the time it goes. But it'll go. Keywords will
include Eagles Fever (Brian Westbrook and David Akers, holla), Free Our Independence Pt IV, City Hall, the Inquirer, the Vox, some new friends, and other miscellany.
It's happening, but so are the Mummers in this mini-essay of Saturday's events on Broad Street and vicinity. As always, Comcast Center is up to
date.
–B Love
7 January 07: Philly Skyline Philly Skyline, concerto in green
Sunday morning . . . praise the dawning. It's just a restless feeling by my side, and whether it has more to do with beverages consumed during Mummery on a
70+ degree January day, the lamb shanks at Dmitri's or just a few playoff butterflies, we just can't say. Whatever it is, we're gonna settle it out with
strong black coffee and a coffeecake, but we wanted to make good on the promise of a weekend Philly Skyline Philly Skyline in NFC East green.
That picture above (CLICKING ENLARGES) was taken at the Girard Ave el station two years ago when the Birds were marching toward the Super Bowl. We're gonna
time warp it back to 2005 with a set of pictures taken all over town when the entire city had Eagles fever, and we'll put together a mini-essay of
Mummers-themed pictures from yesterday. Those will each be up in time for your Monday Morning Lookin' Up.
We're gonna spend the rest of the pre-Eagles day getting back to your emails. It's Sunday, baby. Fly Eagles fly!
–B Love
PS: Don't forget that Penn Praxis' Delaware Riverfront presentation by NYC city planner Howard Slatkin is tomorrow morning at 8, at WHYY, 6th & Race.
PPS: There are only FIVE -- 1-2-3-4-5 -- calendars left, so get to the store right quick or you'll miss out on this low
budget rookie card collectors edition!
4 January 07:
Hi dilly ho, neighborinos. Cecily Tynan made a funny last night. She said . . . what did she say? Oh, right: on that little cloud with the words for the forecast,
she said "liquid snow" was coming today. Ha! Ha! It's liquid snow because it's January, but it's not cold enough to snow! Oh you silly non-existent global warming
breakin' em off a lil somethin up in the Arctic, are you
trying to make the Mummers sweat? It's one thing to march around in large fancy feathers amidst snow flurries, but when it's 71° I can't imagine that's
too comfortable.
Hey didja hear? It's just another funtime Friday, and that's my Fly Day.
ARIAL, PHOTOGRAPHY: It's what's new and what's old on da skyline. You might have noticed the change right away, or maybe you
didn't notice a change at all. (We promise this will be the only time we ever talk about fonts at length, unless it's to deride Comic Sans -- seriously people, do
NOT use Comic Sans. It kills your integrity before those cartoony Comic Sans letters even spell out any words. Doesn't matter how good your PEI mussels are, Azure.)
Anyhow, the arial. Kate in Germantown suggested a while back to switch to a sans serif, and we thought it was an ok idea. Century Schoolbook has been our font of
choice for graphics since forever, but it didn't work as the site font. So, we thought lucida would be a fair choice, since it's Mac-centric but since PCs have
lucida installed. Right? Wrong. Some do, but many do not, and thanks to the various styles of lucida, it often showed up on Macs as arial and worse, as courier on
PCs. Ew. So here we are, arial. Nice and clean, and any old computer can handle arial/helvetica. If this font you're reading does not appear the same as "The quick
brown fox" jawn above, smack the side of your computer several times until it does.
And photography? Duh. The current tally has us at over 100 photo essays, neighborhood tours and building galleries, from over a dozen photographers. More are on the
way, natch, including both City Hall and Olney essays. Plus . . .
THE EYE OF THE EAGLE: Saturday Mummers and Sunday Eagles, what a weekend. As the re-Koy'd Eagles prepare for battle against
the sorry-ass 8-8 blue men group from New Jersey, we'll whip together a little ode, culled from photos taken in Januaries (and Februaries) past when the Philly
Skyline was decked out in green in their honor. That'll be your weekend Philly Skyline Philly Skyline.
THE END OF COWHER POWER: Please pardon the Pittsburgh parentheses, but the Steelers fan in all of us wants to wish Coach
Cowher all the best as he steps down from the storied Steelers in favor of family life. Dan Rooney has hired two coaches in his life, Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher, so
we'll trust his judgment.
MUMMERS, WORD: For this segment, the affable Michelle Schmitt speaks:
Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year, or at least the re-scheduled version of my favorite day of the year. Though I am concerned that it may be a
little too amateur night given the hot Saturday schedule. The only things that keeps things under control are the fact that most are hung over from NYE, most people
have to go to work the next day and it's freezing cold. With none of those constraints, it could get ugly.
But I am excited, if a little fearful. I adore the Mummers. I get together every year with a very random group of people who are all bound together by our love of
the Mummers and the fact that the other people in our lives cannot understand that love. (It's racist! It's homophobic! It's just a bunch of drunk, suburban thugs!)
Sure, but it is so much more complicated than all that.
Just like the new year will be. For me, it feels like a 24 hr emotional microcosm of the next 365 days. I
laugh, I cry, I cringe, I dance, I yell a little, I get pretty angry and disheartened, I feel total euphoria. Every thing truly beautiful is a little broken right?
Fly Eagles Fly performed by a String band?! I weep and so does the drunk suburban thug next to me. Anyhow, I fucking love it. 9 AM hot toddy (or maybe a long
island iced tea?) in one hand, egg and cheese in the other, can't wait. I think that we may head south to avoid the riff raff, but I'll have beer, clean bathrooms
and some food on the stove.
DA D.A. VS DA MAYOR, STEEL CAGE DEATH MATCH, REFEREED BY THOM NICKELS: It's a banner week for print journalism in
Philadelphia,
yes it is. Case in point? The Center City Weekly Press, of course! Now, we admit we've been a little harsh on our favorite Toilet Reader, but their paper product has
steadily improved over the past year, we always scan their calendar, and now? In a week where Lynne Abraham has rightfully called out the mayor for his
lackluster performance dealing with the horrible, horrible murder rate (by far the highest per-100,000 people among the top ten cities in America) and his best
response is "she
goes bananas sometimes" and that she was throwing a temper tantrum . . . well, by god I proclaim to you, Philadelphia, the best thing I've read on shootings and
murder in Philadelphia was written by the painted nude himself, Thom Nickels. Seriously, it's great -- packed with punch and heavy on sarcasm, it is HERE. Now mind you, it IS still the
Toilet Reader so, y'know, their web site makes their stories JPGs instead of text you can read, but whatev, there it is. Well done, Thom Nickels. Not for the faint
of heart or those living their lives by the Second Amendment, mind you. I'm pro-gun and a gun owner but I still think it's great. We're still digging
Thom's Philadelphia Architecture book, too.
LIBERTY HEIGHTS: Two Liberty Place, you're old news (but about to be new news again, as the top-half condo makeover
continues). One Liberty Place, you're on notice. Comcast Center, you're what's next. The two decade reign of skyscraper supremacy is this close to being over
for Liberty Place, in favor of another Liberty place, Comcast Center.
One Liberty Place clocks in at 945', where it has proudly stood for the past twenty years as the buildin' with the balls to thumb its nose at William Penn and his
Quaker Oats hat, king of ye olde Philly Skyline. Well, by our count, Comcast Center's concrete core is on the 55th floor, putting the top of the slip forms somewhere
around 880'. It's already taller than Two Liberty (848' to the pointy arrowhead top), and most of the top 100' of One Liberty is spire, so one might argue that
Comcast Center is already taller. (It's very clear that its two cranes are already the tallest things in Center City. If we're talking city wide structures, that
award goes to Roxborough's TV Towers, six of which are over 1,000' tall. More on those later this winter, promise.)
Anyhow, Liberty Place. It was nice while it lasted. Nothing lasts forever. It's so hard . . . to say goodbye . . . to yesterday . . . ayyy . . . eeeee.
NOWUDU AND OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS: First and foremost, mad props to the Inquirer's Tom Belden for the headline "Are there Philly places uwishunu? nowudu!" That's solid. The article itself is indeed
interesting. Uwishunu has been up for a minute, and it's no secret that it's the YOUNG AND HIP mouthpiece of
the GPTMC (that's Greater Philadelphia Marketing and Tourism Corporation, aka gophila.com). It's a good little site,
regularly updated with cool stuff to do. But man, five mil from the city? Can we maybe get a little slice of that? Philly Skyline's been around way longer and we all
still have day jobs over here. We'd be cool with just a hunna thousand to start, thanks.
But yeah, Uwishunu. They're rockin' it out just for U tonight at the Real World House, aka FUEL. Onto your events calendar then:
• tonight, 6-9, Uwishunu party, 3rd & Arch. Uwishunu
• Saturday, all freaking day: MUMMERS! On South Broad Street, duh. Mummers.com
• Monday morning, Penn Praxis presentation by Howard Slatkin of the NYC Planning Commission, scheduled to speak on the Greenpoint-Williamsburg plan and
how it relates to our Central Delaware Riverfront, 8am at WHYY (6th & Race). Planphilly.com
• Monday evening, South Street Bridge community meeting by SOSNA, CCRA, SSWBA and the City, 7pm at St Matthews Church, at Grays Ferry & Fitzwater
We'll actually check back in at some point this weekend, so watch for green buildings (in the literal sense), and we promise promise promise we'll get back to your
email. Word booty!
–B Love
4 January 07: The Philly Skyline Philly Skyline
We've decided that the Philly Skyline Philly Skyline will become a regular feature 'round here. Lord knows we've taken enough pictures of the skyline in the past
five years to serve up material for probably five years forward. It will also stand in when we're either too lazy to put an update together, or when we're behind the
scenes working on something big and bad, but it seems incongruous to say which it is when we do. That said, here's today's Philly Skyline Philly Skyline, taken at
approximately 11:11 this morning from the feet of Wild Bill Penn.
ALSO: forgot to mention a time and place about the South Street Bridge meetin'. (Thanks David and Laura for the heads up.) It is 7pm at St Matthews Church, Grays
Ferry & Fitzwater, this Monday (the 8th). Fair warning: it seems mostly civic oriented, i.e. SOSNA/CCRA-ish, so make like a boy scout and be prepared.
–B Love
3 January 07: Precious moments
AWWWWW. Philly Weekly, you are so CUTE.
On Saturday December 30th, Philly Skyline went live with its photo feature, Faces of 2006. And then? On Wednesday January 3rd,
Philly Weekly came out with its photo feature . . . Faces of 2006!
ISN'T THAT JUST ADORABLE?
–B Love
3 January 07: Take it to the bridge
G'day g'day Hump Day fans. We're mailing this one in, but consider this image a preview of the next week or so. (If you click it, it'll pop open a new window
with a wallpaper sized version of it, if you so choose.) Two things there: the skyline and South Street Bridge. It was brought to our attention by a reader
several months ago that, for being Philly Skyline and all, pictures of the Philly Skyline are hard to come by around here, save for a few in the wallpapers
section and those mixed in with other essays. Ergo, we're rolling out a new feature called the Philly Skyline Philly Skyline. That right there is the
first installment. It was taken, of course, from the South Street Bridge, G-Ho's favorite integral infrastructure. There's a big neighborhood meetin' coming up
on the bridge next week, after which we'll report back with facts, figures and fun. It's something we've been watching and waiting for for a while, so we promise
not to half-ass it like we did today's post.
We're gonna spend the rest of the day writing back to everyone who's been patiently awaiting a reply. Don't forget: tips, suggestions, requests, love and hate can
be directed HERE.
See yous tomorrow . . . CLAP HANDS.
–B Love
2 January 07: Get on the good foot
Since the weather went and postponed the Mummers bringing South Philly alive on New Years, we figured we'd just head south and check it out for ourselves. What a blast --
really, look off in the distance there. South Philadelphians don't mess around when it comes to their merry explosives; just ask the cop who was helping set 'em off on Passyunk
at midnight. Dig it. Despite the postponed Mummery, it was indeed a happy new year in South Philly, and we hope you're off to a good start in 2007.
Speaking of South Philly and the weather . . . check out the blooms o'er yonder:
These trees are all out of order because our weather is all out of order. Since global warming doesn't exist, something must explain why we haven't had even a dusting of
snow and the ten day forecast hovers in the high 50s. Jeff Garcia mojo? (Continuing the South Philly theme, JG was spotted supping at the Cantina last week.) The
out-of-leftfield rumor that the Phillies are looking to trade Brett Myers to
Tampa Bay? (Though at first you'd think dealing a 26 year old almost-ace is a bad idea, a 25 year old Carl Crawford in the outfield sounds like a hell of a
consolation.)
Whatever the case, it's winter, man . . . make like January and hit us with some snow already. If you've got a snow jones, just consult
your Philly Skyline, The Calendar: 2007. If you haven't bought one already, you better act quick -- there's about a dozen left and once they're gone, they're gone. Pick
it up in person at Conspiracy Showroom (910 N 2nd St in Northern Liberties) or hit us up in the store.
One last thing about the weather: while the rain made New Years Day that much more hung over and dreary, it did feature some amazing looking rolling fog.
That picture is, of course, Comcast Center's concrete core & cranes and Mellon Bank Center's pyramid. There are a few more (larger) pictures in our Comcast Center section, whose diagram and pictures are up to date as of yesterday. For those keeping score, we're at #817 in the
photo tally of the building's construction, and that doesn't even count pictures from the hard hat tour, the model, or skyline composites done from renderings.
We're hoping to put something big together when the building opens later this year.
* * *
So I'm rappin' with Bama about the Philly Skyline in the new year, and he mentioned the Sunday Inquirer's business section. It ran a feature called 10
to watch in 2007 -- would love to post a link to it, but philly.com is impossible to search, and it's still using that old Knight-Ridder RealCities template (that's
why your url sometimes redirects to the San Jose Mercury News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) instead of some new era of journalism design by
Philadelphia Media Holdings, whose CEO Brian Tierney was one of those 10 to watch for, by the way -- and this feature had a front page image of the skyline. (In
fairness to BT, he mentions in his interview that web site improvements are in the budget.)
Accompanying one of the segments, about the business tax burden, which mentions property development and construction cranes on riverfront condos and the "58
story" Comcast tower (it's 57, guys) is a photo by Akira Suwa of the skyline from Camden . . . circa 2003.
Yes, check out that crane on The St James, the apartment tower on Washington Square that opened nearly three years ago. (Remember, it's 2007.) The photo, whose
caption also mentions "riverside condos and Comcast's tower", features neither riverside condos nor Comcast's tower. Jesus H Christ, Inquirer, YOU ARE OUR PAPER
OF RECORD. You must have two hundred photographers working up there -- you couldn't have ONE step outside and take a new picture??? Cripes, I can think of a dozen
locations off the top of my head where you can see multiple cranes at once.
Here's another thing: "Comcast tower" vs "Comcast Center". While yes, it is Comcast's tower and it's probably acceptable to casually call it the Comcast
tower, it has a name, and its name is Comcast Center. Shouldn't the paper of record call it its proper name and avoid pesky little discrepancies like
57 stories and 58 stories? It's unbecoming to split hairs like so, but it's also unbecoming to spend money on newspapers and read things you know are wrong,
particularly when the same paper runs a feature on its own boss in the same section.
But hey Inquirer, we ain't entirely mad atcha -- in the same day's paper, culinary connoisseur Craig LaBan recaps his Y2K6, calling out for the third time our
favorite neighborhood, our home, G-Ho. It's a nice rundown of his reviews and a good checklist to keep handy for your next night out, but we have two suggestions
for Monsieur LaBan: 1, please revisit the Sidecar, and 2, how about a review of August in South Philly? The Sidecar has really stepped up its menu since June
(when he reviewed it in the paper), and if you can time it such that the menu includes the lump crab-stuffed tilapia wrapped in bacon and served over butternut
squash puree . . . then boss, I see an increase in bells. August, the BYOB at 13th & Wharton, gets the Philly Skyline nod for best meal of 2006.
* * *
Finally on this first post of the new year, a couple quick shots to go for your 2007 Morning Looking Up:
RYHO GETTIN' A RAISE(?), BRETT MYERS GETTIN' A NEW HOME(?): In Philly sports: it was the best of times, it was the blurst
of times? Stupid monkey! The Flyers and Sixers couldn't be worse, but the Eagles are riding the J Garcia wave and before you know it, the skyline could be lit up
in green again. Meanwhile across the street, the Phillies are shaping up to, I dunno, maybe win more than 85 games for a change and finally punch their ticket to
the playoffs. The Freddy Garcia acquisition is already enough to count me in with the season ticket holders, and the Carl Crawford rumor is a crazy tease.
That the Phillies are at last coming around to recognizing Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are underpaid really hints at a sea change in thinking down there. Knowing is
half the battle . . . signing these dudes to longer contracts is preparing for (a long and successful) war. RyHo's already taken the first step by firing his agent. Today's rumor finds RyHo entertaining the idea of sharing an agent with Allen Iverson.
Here's hoping AI doesn't talk him into moving to a town where athletes get shot. [Thanks, Daily News' Marcus Hayes and Inquirer's Todd Zolecki, each very good
Phillies writers.]
DOVATE IS DOPE: This is just a general shout to my man Steve, running the show over at Dovate, which has become pretty much daily reading over here. That reminds me, one of the new changes at
Philly Skyline in this new year will be a list of links (ugh, ok, a "blog roll") on the front page over by our own Quick Links. We already have a links page but this'll just make everything easier. Meantime, go check out Dovate.
2006 LEFTOVERS: They're still the main course in our current photo selection. Links via graphics below -- check out the
Faces of 06, my quasi portraiture series of Philadelphians -- and Steve's reflections of 2006. Peace.
–B Love
31 December 06: But wait, there's more!
Squeaking in just minutes ahead of the deadline . . . you know how we do. Instead of one look inward and backward, we decided that two heads are better than one and
went with the one-two punch of RBM & Steve Ives on the 2006 retrospective tip.
After months of shootin', talkin' & plannin', I'm proud to finally share the first set of people pictures -- Philly people in portraiture -- on da Skyline. It's a
new take on an old favorite, the Philacentric photo essay. West Philly warrior chief Steve Ives is on the scene for his own Philacentric take, his look back on the
year that was. This is it folks, say buh-bye to 2006, and say hello to the brave new world awaiting us after midnight.
To look ahead to the future, we're gonna look deep into the past, twenty-seven years ago when the Polish American String Band strutted their Mummer stuff in a 1980
Philadelphia.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
–B Love
29 December 06: Usher in the New Year
Yeah! Yeah, yeah! Yeah!
How you doin' there? You good? Keepin' the soap up outcha coffee? You gotta rinse out the pot after lathering, else you'll be drinking soapy coffee, yo.
Philly Skyline will keep your coffee clean, but soap-free -- that's a promise, a new year's resolution we guarantee we'll stand by. We've got a lot of resolutions
for the new year, all with you -- our friends -- in mind. Like?
WE RESOLVE TO KEEP OLD PROMISES: Just wanna get this out of the way first. Remember Circling the Square, the study of
architecture on Rittenhouse Square? Remember the Great Cheesesteak Debate? Remember the Parking Garage Survey? We do. These previously alluded-to features will all be
rolled out in the new year. The research is mostly complete, so it's basically a matter of organization at this point. But rather than unleash one vigorous wallop,
we're more likely to ease them in one at a time, thanks to the fact that . . .
WE RESOLVE TO BE MORE USER FRIENDLY: As the days have passed and Philly Skyline has grown beyond the occasional photo essay,
we've stuck to our guns and written this mamma jamma in hard html . . . and at our own expense. Blog software makes what we do very very easy, but more importantly
does two things we don't do: gives each new post its own link, and creates archives based on categories. While phillyskyline.com has technically always been a web
site, not a blog, we're this close to making it a hybrid. Just as soon as we figure out how to get Wordpress rolling without messing up the work we've already
put in, we'll have all the features you've been asking for (looking at you, multiple "do you have an RSS feed" emailers) and -- what a concept! -- a search function
and errrthing. We're actually looking forward to this.
WE RESOLVE TO CONTINUE THE BEST COVERAGE OF COMCAST CENTER'S CONSTRUCTION: Ever since Comcast Center was a One Pennsylvania Plaza twinkle
in Liberty Property's eye and Symbolic Building of a City was
the shortest lived mural in the Mural Arts program, we've been up on what would eventually become Philadelphia's, and Pennsylvania's, tallest building. The 975' glass
tower is a column of confidence, a symbol of the world's largest provider of cable television believing in its hometown. Since this is Philly Skyline, after
all, it's therefore been the item of our greatest interest over that same timeframe, and is why we update our Comcast Center section as
frequently as we do, and is why we're proud to be the only site recognized by Comcast
themselves.
WE RESOLVE TO ALSO RECOGNIZE NON-COMCAST CENTER CONSTRUCTION: Meanwhile all over town, there are cranes and detours and dudes
in hard hats building non-On Demand things. To the Murano, to the Western Union Building, to the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, to the Target on City Line:
we'll see you in 2007. Guess this is another old promise we need to come through on, and we will. We envision mini-Comcast Center sections for all these projects, and
they'll all be a part of The Skinny, Next Grilleration.
WE RESOLVE TO UP THE DOPE DOSAGE OF THE SKINNY: With a little help from our friends -- two leading ladies of the young &
important Illadelphian community -- The Skinny is about to meet its makers and be 1, more dynamic, 2, easier to update, 3, updated more frequently because of it,
loaded with photographic updates and 4, map happy. Michelle and Nidhi are two of our favorites around here, and by the time it's said and done, they'll be favorites
of yours too.
WE RESOLVE TO STAY SHOOTING IN THIS CITY OF NEIGHBORHOODS: The whole of Philadelphia is greater than the sum of its parts, no
doubt, but those parts do make up a hell of a sum. The Philly Skyline army of photographic documentarians is in 2007 marching into Olney, Chinatown, the Gayborhood,
Fairmount, Mount Airy, and yes, you too Port Richmond. We'll probably also make various stops in Northeast Philly and North Philly, maybe go check out Lancaster or
Allentown, maybe dig deep into South Street or Castor Ave or the Schuylkill Expressway . . . it's all good, the skyline's the limit.
WE RESOLVE TO FURTHER BREAK SKYLINE DOWN INTO BUILDINGS: Sumthin' else we've been doing on the back end here is fixing
up the Buildings section of the site to be more presentable. More buildings and more architects in the new year.
WE RESOLVE TO BRING OUT THE HUMAN ELEMENT: One of the things we were working on all this year was a portraiture project, to be
a sort of personalized photo essay. To everyone who's participated: thank you kindly. The series is finally ready to roll, so just as soon as we stop yappin' on about
our new years resolutions, we'll launch Philly Faces 2006. In 2007, we plan on kicking that idea up to the next level for an as yet unnamed interview/interesting
people feature. It's a mayoral election year, so it could get real good real quick.
WE RESOLVE TO STAY CRUNK AND HELP YOU GET THERE WITH US: You might have joined us at the Sidecar back in August, and you might
have joined us up in Northern Liberties a couple weeks ago, and you might have our 2007 calendar on your wall right now, to all of which we say: thanks, holmes. In
2007, we've got some fun lined up and we'd be so happy to see you there. We'll let you know just as soon as the details work themselves out, but as a heads up: we
hope you're not afraid of heights, and we sure as hell hope you eat meat.
WE RESOLVE TO KEEP YANKIN' ON YOUTUBE: Oh technology, you magnificent mistress, you. As we do, we're gonna send this post and,
well, this year, home with a video whose bandwidth is hosted elsewhere. New Years is the ultimate party, most definitely my favorite holiday. While it's fair of you
to question my integrity by attending Phish concerts (28 of them if you're keeping score), I just have to go back seven years to the best New Years party ever,
Phish's millennium* concert in the Everglades. (* - As everyone knows, 99-00 was not the millennium, but who cares.) Peter Jennings, rest his soul, introduces the
band's performance of "Heavy Things" from the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in the Everglades, where 80,000 people danced under the stars and watched the
most amazing sunrise.
Peace in the Middle East, papachino, we'll see you in 2007 at the Mummers Parade.
