Good Grief!

After being on the air for two years, Good Grief! has run its course.  A million thanks to anyone who has ever read, commented, or e-mailed–you made the endeavor worthwhile and fun.  Until the next project, so long, and thanks for all the fish!

And there are absolutely some broken eggs (and permalinks). Good Grief! has moved to a new home, and there is some residual weirdness like missing pictures and boring templates. Do not e-mail me about missing favicons and banner images, or I will ban you, and then you will be sorry. Sadly, I shut off several of the old feeds before announcing the new one, so probably no one is reading this anyway. But just in case, the new RSS feed for Good Grief is here: http://doesthisblogmakemybuttlookbig.com/feed/

Big thanks to Scott of Blankbaby fame for helping me find a host and introducing me to Wordpress. And now, business as usual.

Blogging about blogging is sooooo tedious. Therefore, I will not blog about blogging. Instead this blog is about how I am not blogging about blogging and in fact am not blogging much at all because of a blog project that is keeping me too busy to blog. When the super-secret blog project is over, there will, by necessity, be one of those much-dreaded meta-blogging posts.

In the meantime, if you link here using the goodgrief.typepad.com link, could you update to doesthisblogmakemybuttlookbig.com? Pretty please? If you already use the butt link, carry on.

Please accept this most awesome mp3 (courtesy of Mr. Wade Bloggs) as an apology for all of the blawg nonsense.

Image courtesy of muppetcentral.com.

Today’s the big day, when Philadelphia (and the rest of the US?) celebrates the official 300th birthday of Benjamin Franklin. Philly is a Franklin town: we have the Franklin Parkway, the Franklin Institute, Franklin Court, the Underground Franklin Museum, the University of Pennsylvania, and maybe even Ben Station.

As part of the “Philly’s Got Benergy“* campaign, the National Constitution Center has been featuring Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World, an exhibit that contains documents from every phase of Franklin’s life and many artifacts that have never before been shown publicly. I enjoyed the entire exhibit, especially the JibJab-esqe animated re-creation of the night that Franklin and Sam Adams shared a bed on a business trip and bickered over the open window. Why isn’t this gem on the Internet?

The details of Franklin’s diplomatic skills are also fascinating, especially the image of him appearing at the French court in his fur hat. And there’s a copy of the very first Poor Richard’s Almanac. And a list of Franklin’s many pseudonyms (e.g., Fart-Hing, Anthony Afterwit). And much, much more–something for everybody.

The exhibit is $14, which includes admission to the Constitution Center proper.

* Philly’s Got Benergy? Did we learn nothing from the You’ve Got a Friend in Pennsylvania debacle?

Technorati Tags: franklin, benfranklin, philadelphia, philly

What the hell is going on with the Philadelphia City Paper’s I Love You, I Hate You? I still peruse these reader-submitted rants over cereal, but the section ain’t what it used to be. I’ve said that before, but this time I really, really mean it. Admittedly, I am biased towards the former Love/Hate editor, who ensured that all entries adhered to the word limit, threw in some recurring characters just for fun, and issued the “duck you fuckboats” proclamation every spring. I miss his work.

Also, why aren’t the Love/Hates online? Say it’s a temporary glitch, City Paper! Now I have to go to the basement, dig through the recycle bin and TYPE some very important entries that everyone should see. A few weeks ago, someone wrote the following:

N’EASTIES-
To the fugly sluts who come downtown and skank up Old City-get back to Bustleton, ladies! You’re not wanted, all you do is make nice places nasty with your tight knock-off Guess “outfits” and heinous hairdos. Yes, hairdos, only Northeast skanks “do” their hair and wear “outfits.” Stupid girls, you think you’ll come to Philly and find a man? You think you’re Philly but you’re really just embarrassing.

Last week’s paper printed a response:

RE N’EASTIES-
Listen up hipster: the Northeast is a part of Philly. It’s the part that pays our taxes and gas bills on time. I’m sorry if you’re all broken up about Northeasters entering into the sacred preserve of Center City residents, but I’m afraid you’ll have to get over yourself. We live here too, and have been making this city work since back when your skinny ass wouldn’t have been caught dead in Northern Liberties or Manyunk. So if any of us are included to drink an overpriced beer in a trendy neighborhood, then we’ll do so. You might find us “embarrassing,” but it’s your snobbery that is the true embarrassment to our shared city.

The responder makes some good points. Snobbery towards our fellow Philadelphians is silly and counterproductive and only distracts us from the real threat across the bridge. Let’s keep our priorities straight, people.

Behold, yet another reason to boycott all things French. French fries and French toast? Dangerous, artery-clogging cuisine. French wine? Too confusing, what with the labels written in French. But this. This so-called coffee making device is an appalling example of a country in decline. Observe the shoddy workmanship and lack of precision. Not only is this product defective, it is a consumer hazard.

And consider the larger picture. Perhaps this broken apparatus is not merely a simple defect. Perhaps it is part of a larger French plot to eliminate the enemy via glass shards and a lack of caffeine. So be vigilant: check your coffee, chuck your wine, and comb through your camembert. We cannot let them win!

He was playing on the road again.

It hardly seems like Thanksgiving without visiting Superwoman’s house, getting tipsy on Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck, and making pies, but there’s a lot to be thankful for nonetheless.

• The end of my probationary period at work. I don’t think that Jekyll and Hyde will fire me, unless they’re waiting until after the holiday.
• Bobbi’s hummus, which makes the list every year.
• Working across the street from a Wawa, even if it is the shittiest Wawa in all the land.
• No longer living in the apartment with $300 gas bills. Pity the fool who took that place.
• Discovering that I am not the only person in the office with Queen of my Double Wide Trailer on iTunes.

The list is long this year, so I’ll stop before it gets cheesy. Have a great weekend!

Last Saturday, a strange message from my mother (who really needs a better nickname than “Mrs. Moon Pappy”) appeared on the answering machine:

Hi Beck, just wondering if I won a contest on your blog. Let me know!

Am I having a contest?

A nip is in the air, the daylight is still in savings, and the weekend forecast is sun and more sun. To celebrate, a road trip to Ricketts Glenn State Park on Saturday and Sunday. Which means, of course, that Friday night is devoted to baking the season’s first batch of pumpkin muffins.

After mixing all of the dry ingredients, I realized that I am missing a key item—the pumpkin.

So instead of making muffins, I am drinking beer and reading blogs. Since I complained about lame blogosphere Fridays last week, it’s only fair to recognize a good Friday*

• Matt crashed his blog by linking to the hilarious and brilliant re-cut trailer of The Shining.
• Mark kindly handpicked some free and legal mp3s.
• Scott put on some pants, preventing the women in the office from checking out his legs.
• Flea linked to Feministe, which linked to a hilarious mp3 of Eugene Mirman’s conversation with United American Technologies, a phone company that is against the homosexual lifestyle. You must follow this link and download the bizarre, funny, and disturbing exchange.
  

  
  UAT: Did you press one to oppose same sex marriages?
  
  Mirman: Oh, I pressed it. Yes.
  
  UAT: Okay, that’s great to hear. And are you against same sex marriage?
  Mirman: Oh, I want to destroy it, yes. LIKE A FIST OF GOD, WE WILL SMASH THEM.
  
  UAT: Exactly.
  [snip]
  
  Mirman: AT&T sponsors child pornography?
  
  UAT: No, that’s MCI. [via our Canadian pervert neighbors]

Frankly, I’m a lot more disturbed by the lack of emergency pumpkin supplies in Fishtown than I am by our Canadian pervert neighbors.

The other thing I’m doing in lieu of baking is downloading pictures from the camera. Feast your eyes on this Fishtown boobie graffiti. The artist is obviously part of the emerging “Port Fishington” arts corridor.

*Yeah, maybe all of these things weren’t actually posted on Friday, but that’s when I read them.