LOLadelphia!

I highly suggest getting pizza nuggets from Narducci's in Fishtown! The best around here! It's the store on Cedar and Dauphin. I'm not sure if you've had them yet but you won't be dissappointed!!

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:20:38 -0400

Pizza nuggets eh? I am very intrigued. Thanks for the tip, Anonymous. I am going to investigate this further.

Chris

Kensington and Tioga

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:51:02 -0400

Just saw two people leave the EL platform. One was wearing a cape. The other was in full juggalo makeup. This is a first.

Fish for sale! New Spring Garden Market on 4th and Spring...

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:55:49 -0400

Fish for sale!

New Spring Garden Market on 4th and Spring Garden.

Awesome new wheatpaste in Brewerytown!

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:41:34 -0400

Awesome new wheatpaste in Brewerytown!

LOLadelphia Daily Pick: “Lacquer Head”- Primus

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:00:27 -0400

LOLadelphia Daily Pick:

“Lacquer Head”- Primus

I went to Circle Thrift in Fishtown on Friday. I had a feeling I...

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:30:24 -0400

I went to Circle Thrift in Fishtown on Friday. I had a feeling I was being stared at. I turned my head and saw this damn thing…and it scared the hell out of me.

Check out this video that my man OZ (a true legend in Philly...

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:32:00 -0400

Check out this video that my man OZ (a true legend in Philly graff) passed onto me tonight. Featured in this video is BLOOM, a man who has been writing graff here in Philly for a long time!

Check out the interview with OZ and others below

Three Year Anniversary

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:59:00 -0400

Dear Readers of LOLadelphia.com,

Three years ago, things were very different. I was going through the motions of Philadelphia life, not really knowing what I was doing or what my purpose here was outside of my job. One night, my friend Cory and I spoke about how much ridiculous shit happens in Arizona, where Cory was living at the time. In order to make Cory feel less homesick, I would send him pictures and news articles of ridiculous things happening in Philadelphia. Cory started a blog of silly shit called LOLizona, and recommended I do something the same, but for Philadelphia. That night, LOLadelphia.com was born.

The site has continued to grow almost every day since its conception. There was a time where we had only one follower for about a month. Now, we have 3,304. What first started as a site that tried to be funny has become more than that. It has completely rejuvenated my love of this city. It has made me see things I’ve never seen before, pay attention to almost every thing I observe, and always be aware of my surroundings in the hopes of generating new content. I was telling some people at the meet up this past Saturday at Tattooed Mom’s that there is very little in my life I have stuck with for as long as I have stuck with this blog. For that, all the credit goes to you, the readers. The amount of love, support, and positive words you have given me in this time has meant a lot to me, and encouraged me to keep this project. for that, I am very humbled and feel honored that so many people come to this site to learn about Philadelphia in various capacities.

It is because of this website that I have had the opportunity to make several good friends. I have been able to network with more people as a result of this site. LOLadelphia has reminded me of just how many great people there are in this city, and how amazing and generous people can be. I’m aware the site is misleading, and it’s really not very funny. However, the purpose of the site is to share my vision of Philadelphia and what I find most beautiful about it—-the architecture, the streets, the graffiti (as well as the people responsible for the graffiti), and to share my undying love for North Philadelphia in particular. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing in my perspective of Philadelphia and sharing it on your respective sites time and time again. I’d also like to thank the good people at 215graff.com for helping me gain access to the graffiti world, and help take this site into an exciting new direction.

I have enjoyed my interactions with those of you I have gotten to interact with over the years, and I really hope I can get to meet, talk, and hang out with even more people in the future. It has been a great three years, and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for this blog. I would do a list of personalized thank yous but that would be way too long and I do not want to leave anybody out. So, if you are someone who has helped along the way or offered your words of support, please know it is greatly appreciated and I am grateful to have you as a reader.

Sincerely,
Chris of LOLadelphia.com

Love this stretch of signage on Germantown Avenue right before...

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:32:00 -0400

Love this stretch of signage on Germantown Avenue right before where it crosses Chelten Avenue.

I used to live in Philadelphia for the first three years of my life and resided in Northern Liberties-- right on Wilde Street, but when I was three, I moved to New Jersey and lived there since but often visited Philly on the weekends. Now, my folks and I are moving to Florida.. But I want some memorabilla of Philly to take with me so I won't miss Philly too much. What do you recommend? - Phil aka TheLastRaigeki

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:57:52 -0400

Phil:

If I may get personal for a minute, the thought of having to leave Philly for whatever reason scares the shit out of me. It’s certainly a possibility in my life, and I often wonder how I’m going to cope with that should I have to move. What I have done is amass a huge collection of Philadelphia-based pictures, t-shirts, and stickers. My coffee table is covered in stickers, like 90% of my shirts have something to do with Philly—sports teams, restaurants, products, etc. I also take a shitload of pictures, as evidenced by the site you see here.

That’s what I suggest, hope this helps.

Chris

What is the "Eraserhood"? I've lived in Philly a very long time, but this is the first time I've ever heard that term used.

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:45:00 -0400

The Eraserhood is the area just south of Spring Garden, east of Broad Street, but north of Vine Street, because once you pass Vine Street you’re in Chinatown/Old City.

It is called the Eraserhood because it is where the director of the movie “Eraserhead,” David Lynch, used to live.

It’s not an official neighborhood name, but rather a colloquial name used by those familiar with the movie and the director.

Consult the excellent Tumblr “eraserhood” for further information.

Chris

Michael Nutter meets Bart Simpson in Northern Liberties.

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:59:00 -0400

Michael Nutter meets Bart Simpson in Northern Liberties.

“The bicycle with the national reputation.” Love...

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:53:43 -0400

“The bicycle with the national reputation.”

Love this old signage in the Eraserhood.

Good morning, LOLadelphia followers. Hope you’re having a...

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:41:17 -0400

Good morning, LOLadelphia followers. Hope you’re having a good day so far. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

KAEX, ENO, and GOOSE in North Philly.

LOLadelphia Daily Pick: “Popscene”- Blur

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:00:38 -0400

LOLadelphia Daily Pick:

“Popscene”- Blur

There are some good names in graff in this picture: KEECH, MAD,...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:07:00 -0400

There are some good names in graff in this picture: KEECH, MAD, BARD, and 4EVER.

Erie Avenue.

Sun, 19 May 2013 19:45:00 -0400

Erie Avenue.

Brianna

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:04:47 -0400

A few days ago I shared a story about a young lady who needed a lot of support from her teachers to be successful in the name of making a point about the effect of budget cuts on kids.Today I will share another story of a young person that I worked with, but with a much different story and result. To protect her identity, I will refer to her as Brianna.

Brianna came to be a client of mine in February of 2009. She lived in a pretty nice area of Germantown with her mom. However, what separated Brianna from every other student I have ever worked with over my years with the School District of Philadelphia is that she is the first, and only student I have ever been responsible for to come from Julia R. Masterman School. For those unfamiliar, Masterman is the highest-achieving school in the entire city as well as state. It has a great number of the best and brightest minds in Philadelphia. In the years that have followed, I have yet to get another student from Masterman. Brianna was labeled as a behavior problem not because of violence, but rather because she was caught with a weapon on school property and was expelled via the District’s no-tolerance policy. The weapon was a switchblade knife, which had fallen out of her backpack while getting out some markers.

Upon my first conversation with Brianna, I quickly realized something: this girl is NOT a behavior issue. She’s so goddamn intelligent, she’s likely smarter than me. When I asked her what she wanted to do as a job when she gets older, she replied that she wanted to be a “hematologist.” I didn’t even know what that was, and had to google it. Most kids I work with say they want to do hair or play ball. This was clearly something different. I also asked her why she was carrying a knife on her that day. Her response was completely eye-opening and frightening.

According to Brianna, “I live in Germantown, mister. That’s a long way from Masterman. I would be on my way to school and all these dirty old men would be sitting on their porches saying things to me about how they wanted to have their way with me, how they were going to show me what a real man does, and things like that. I needed protection on me for my own safety.” I had an epiphany that afternoon: there within lies the problem with zero tolerance. The schools automatically move to expel kids for weapons, but very rarely do they ask follow up questions or try to figure out why the child, especially one intelligent enough to go to Masterman, would think to carry a weapon on them. “Don’t worry,” I told her, “this is just a little detour. Do you what you need to do at your new school, keep your grades up, and you’ll be back on track with your goals in life.” Turns out, this was easier said than done.

Upon being expelled from Masterman, Brianna was reassigned to another school in North Philadelphia with kids from around the neighborhood. Things went very smoothly for the first few months at Brianna’s new school. Her teachers, who were used to dealing with kids who are below grade level in reading and math were absolutely blown away by her abilities. They described her as a “joy,” and a “breath of fresh air,” among other things. I thought that maybe, for once, things would be as easy as I anticipated. I was wrong.

I got a phone call in the middle of the night in late April/early May from Brianna’s mom informing me that Brianna hadn’t come home that night, and asking me if I would have any idea where she’d be. I said I had no idea. But then, her mom mentioned something interesting. “I knew that girl Yasmine was no fuckin’ good.” I had no idea who Yasmine was, so I inquired a little further. Apparently, Brianna had befriended someone named Yasmine who was encouraging her to skip school, experiment with drugs, and hang out with some of the older men from around the neighborhood. It was definitely one of the more alarming phone calls I have received, but I assured her mom that I would speak with her daughter about these decisions.

I lived up to my word, but it didn’t matter. Brianna’s downward spiral continued until I received another phone call from her mother in the first week of June informing me that Brianna and Yasmine had been arrested at the King of Prussia Mall for shoplifting over $2000 worth of merchandise and she was being held at a placement area in Montgomery County. The sentence that the two ladies received seemed harsh to me (I can’t remember the specifics), but I was reminded that judges in Montgomery County also don’t really like when kids from Philadelphia come to their malls to break the law. It sent me into a minor depression. I thought I was going to strain my neck from shaking my head so much. Given the nature of her expulsion, I was not required to follow up with her progress. However, I knew this was a student I’d always remember.

I had no idea what had become of Brianna until September of 2011. I was at a Dunkin Donuts in North Philadelphia near Tioga when I noticed my cashier looked really familiar. I looked at the nametag, and low and behold, it was Brianna. I ordered my coffee, and I asked her what she had been up to. It wasn’t what I was expecting. Following release from her court program, Brianna returned to Germantown where she enrolled at Simon Gratz High School. She completed about a year and a half of school before getting pregnant and eventually dropping out. Now she was working at Dunkin Donuts. It was a tough position to be in for me. I wanted to lecture her for making horrible decisions. I wanted to know why she wasn’t using her intelligence to its full potential. Instead of asking all these questions, I instead asked her, “Are you happy with the direction your life is going?” Her response was, “I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed that I have to work here to support my baby girl. I know I let my mom down. I let you down. I let my teachers down. However, Masterman shouldn’t expelled me in the first place. That’s where it all happened.” I nodded, took my order, walked out the door, and haven’t seen her around the city since.

I can’t help but feel as though Brianna was right with what she told me. Her expulsion from Masterman, which I agree was unjustified given the circumstances, was what started this downward cycle. One can argue that she’s clearly not as smart as she was made out to be, given the fact that made such poor decisions and allowed others to influence her in that way. However, kids will make bad decisions in their lives. Every kid does, it’s part of growing up. Kids like Brianna who come from difficult situations need the support of good teachers, counselors, and other support staff at the schools to keep their head screwed on straight and to keep them from making bad decisions before its too late. The best teachers and school workers are the ones that get to know their students, can see problems unfolding, and can address them and help fix them before it’s too late. I take some of the blame on this one. I should have done more. However, students like Brianna who are smart and have remarkable potential are more likely to fall victim to dangerous influences when the school district decides to cut back on these supports.

Protect the young minds of Philadelphia and support the public schools.

Bally's II Menu Total--Update

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:45:34 -0400

By my count, the number of items on the Bally’s II Menu is 279!

Congrats to bern13, who came the closest with their guess of 270.

This menu for Bally’s II in West Oak Lane arrived in my mailbox...

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:54:28 -0400

This menu for Bally’s II in West Oak Lane arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I’ve never seen a menu with so much shit on it. Therefore, lets play a game. Try to guess how many items are on this list. “Price is Right” rules in effect: close as you can without going over or getting sexually harassed by Bob Barker.

Leave your guesses for # of items via reply. I got some counting to do.