NewsWorks: Stuff We Like

loladelphia: Michael Nutter meets Bart Simpson in Northern...

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:01:31 -0400

Michael Nutter meets Bart Simpson in Northern Liberties.

This should be lacquered to the wall for posterity.

7th annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby Design enthusiasts...

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:57:28 -0400

7th annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby

Design enthusiasts from all over Philadelphia turned out to see the 7th Annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby and to watch the parade of human-powered sculptures roll through the neighborhood last Saturday. For the finale, spectators watched as the floats barreled through a mud pit one by one, hoping for a crash. Judges awarded builders in categories such as best costume, engineering and best breakdown. MORE

800 lb. alligator star at Camden aquarium “Mighty...

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:00:31 -0400

800 lb. alligator star at Camden aquarium

“Mighty Mike,” Adventure Aquarium’s 14 ft. alligator, was the star of “Endangered Species Day” Friday. Mike is an example of the American alligators (and other species) the Endangered Species program has helped to spare.

Mighty Mike was hanging out behind glass, but kids at the Camden aquarium got a close look at Melvon, a baby alligator, as they talked about the Endangered Species Act and learned how to help with preservation.

Philly’s Mount Pleasant mansion gets yarnbombed Fiber...

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:00:34 -0400

Emma Lee/for NewsWorks

Emma Lee/for NewsWorks

Emma Lee/for NewsWorks

Philly’s Mount Pleasant mansion gets yarnbombed

Fiber artist Melissa Maddonni Haims leaned precariously over the railing of the widow’s walk atop historic Mount Pleasant mansion. She was checking her work, a yarn-bombing job commissioned by Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.

“You know, usually this takes place in the middle of the night,” Haims quipped, as she returned to safer ground.

A fiber artist since 2006, Haims once saw yarn bombing as a way to keep busy between projects. She didn’t even bother to take pictures of her work, never thinking she would one day have the opportunity to bomb a historic house.

Therapy dog Stella at St. Christopher’s Hospital Stella is...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:15:00 -0400

Therapy dog Stella at St. Christopher’s Hospital

Stella is getting ready for her big day. As Joanne Dhody brushes Stella’s teeth, a pink tongue searches for a random smear of beef-flavored toothpaste. Stella is Dhody’s 13-year-old Jack Russell terrier, a registered therapy dog. The two have visited St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children every week for the past 9 years.

“There isn’t a staff member or doctor at St. Chris who doesn’t know Stella,” says Dhody, as she packs her 16 lb. companion into the back seat of her Honda CR-V. Stella’s hind legs are shaking in anticipation of the weekly field trip. She knows where they’re headed as soon as Dhody attaches Stella’s plastic photo ID to her dog collar.

As soon as Dhody and Stella arrive at the hospital’s visitors’ desk, the receptionist gives them an enthusiastic greeting. “Stella!” MORE

I keep missing the boat on same-sex marriage On Tuesday, with...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:00 -0400

I keep missing the boat on same-sex marriage

On Tuesday, with his signature, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton made the Land of 10,000 Lakes the 12th state in the union to legally recognize same-sex marriage — and the first Midwestern state to do so through legislative means.

And I couldn’t be more annoyed.

This business in Minnesota means that my partner of 15 years and I have now lived in two states that adopted same-sex marriage after we left. While same-sex marriage advocates have been chasing their goals for years state by state, I feel like marriage equality has been chasing me. And it has not yet caught up. MORE

Tracing Philadelphia’s past through fading ads There is a...

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:00:44 -0400

Lawrence O'Toole

Lawrence O'Toole

Lawrence O'Toole

Lawrence O'Toole

Tracing Philadelphia’s past through fading ads

There is a ghost economy at work in Old City. Hand-painted advertisements from a different era, faded to the point of hardly being there at all, emerge like apparitions during building renovations.

“The signs have been buried behind a brick wall, or a building, or stucco for however many decades, and all of a sudden it’s there again,” said Lawrence O’Toole, author of the photography book “Fading Ads of Philadelphia.” Sometimes it gets covered right back up and it’s only there for a couple weeks, or less.”

O’Toole started taking photos of old advertisements painted on brick buildings as a thesis project 20 years ago, when he was a student at Drexel.

He was fascinated by the lettering and layout of the old signs, and how time had its way with them. That project turned into a blog, The Ghost Sign Project, and later, the book.

New priests answer the call to help heal scandal-weary...

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:43:35 -0400

New priests answer the call to help heal scandal-weary Catholics

Three young priests — John Stokely, 26; Thomas Viviano, 28; and Sean Loomis, 28 — will be ordained to the Catholic priesthood this weekend.

The young men will be the first seminarians to be ordained in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since the conviction of Monsignor William Lynn last summer. Lynn was sentenced to three to six years in prison for covering up sex abuses by priests under his supervision and endangering children.

Behind the iron gates at St. Charles Borromeo, the seminarians have not turned a blind eye to the landmark conviction or the scandal.

Stokely said last summer they spoke about the scandal nearly every day.

“The scandal caused a real sad awakening for many of us,” said Stokely. “We realize that evil is real and even priests aren’t impervious to its influences.”

Despite the hurt and betrayal that Catholics have felt over the scandal, Viviano and Stokely see their role as being a part of the healing process for the church.

WEEKDAYS MORNINGS: if only we were this cute then.

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:27 -0400

WEEKDAYS MORNINGS: if only we were this cute then.

Google’s new Timelapse shows how parts of the earth have...

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

Google’s new Timelapse shows how parts of the earth have changed in the past 28 years. MORE

The Pitch Drop Experiment The first Professor of Physics at The...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:38:16 -0400

The Pitch Drop Experiment

The first Professor of Physics at The University of Queensland, Professor Thomas Parnell, began an experiment in 1927 to illustrate that everyday materials can exhibit quite surprising properties. The experiment demonstrates the fluidity and high viscosity of pitch, a derivative of tar once used for waterproofing boats. At room temperature pitch feels solid - even brittle - and can easily be shattered with a blow from a hammer. It’s quite amazing then, to see that pitch at room temperature is actually fluid!

In 1927 Professor Parnell heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a glass funnel with a sealed stem. Three years were allowed for the pitch to settle, and in 1930 the sealed stem was cut. From that date on the pitch has slowly dripped out of the funnel - so slowly that now, 83 years later, the ninth drop is only just forming. MORE

Celebrating Grandmas and their Cuisine From Around the World If...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:01:36 -0400

Celebrating Grandmas and their Cuisine From Around the World

If grandmothers around the world had a rallying cry, it would probably sound something like “You need to eat!”

Photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s grandmother said something similar to him before one of his many globetrotting work trips. To ensure he had at least one good meal, she prepared for him a dish of ravioli before he departed on one of his adventures. MORE

Looking for visual poetry in everyday life “If...

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:00:35 -0400

Looking for visual poetry in everyday life

“If you’re not out there, you’re only going to hear about it,” has been a mantra for Philadelphia photojournalist Peter Tobia.

For 25 years, Tobia has documented the human condition in everyday moments. As a staff photographer for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1993 to 2008, Tobia traveled to Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, among other countries to cover international conflicts. MORE

East Coast entrepreneurs brave ‘Shark Tank’ to pitch...

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:00:30 -0400

East Coast entrepreneurs brave ‘Shark Tank’ to pitch ideas in Philly

ABC’s “Shark Tank” is kind of like “American Idol” — except instead of wannabe pop stars, it features entrepreneurs pitching their million-dollar ideas to a panel of big-name investors.

On Saturday, Philadelphia’s NextFab Studio will host the show’s only open casting call on the East Coast.

NextFab’s Itsuki Ogihara says it’s been a crazy week.

“We’re getting a huge amount of phone calls every day. People are asking me if they can camp out outside days in advance,” Ogihara said with a laugh. (The answer is no, she says. But she admits she can’t do much to prevent it.) “It’s a pretty exciting time.”

Ogihara is expecting more than 500 people to show up. MORE

Born without forearms and calves, Mt. Kilimanjaro climber...

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:44 -0400

Born without forearms and calves, Mt. Kilimanjaro climber inspires Camden students

Kyle Maynard, a 27-year-old author and athlete, gave a motivational talk on Tuesday to students at Sacred Heart Grade School in South Camden.

Maynard spoke about getting his start in wrestling as an 11-year-old, his ability to lift 420 pounds and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2012.

That last item was of particular interest since he became the first man to reach the summit on all fours, as Maynard was born without forearms and calves. MORE

Photo

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:37:29 -0400

Photo

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:36:10 -0400

A little bird in a big city Walking through the glass canyons...

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:59:00 -0400

A little bird in a big city

Walking through the glass canyons of Center City, Philadelphia one morning in April, I found this strange little bird lying still on the sidewalk.

I’d become accustomed to finding dead birds at the bases of glass buildings, but this one was still breathing.

What to do? I sat down beside it on the pavement and documented its recovery.

Essay: McGlinchey’s doesn’t love you back Abandon...

Sat, 04 May 2013 00:30:36 -0400

Essay: McGlinchey’s doesn’t love you back

Abandon desires for gentility or small talk, questions about your day or how you’ve been. A server will walk up to you and look at you — not ask what you want to drink — just look, unmoving, usually with bagged eyes and almost never, except on the rarest of occasions, with a smile. And in the 100 or so times I’ve come here, I’ve never said anything in response to that hollow look but “Just a lager.”

I love this bar more than any other place I’ve ever spent money.

This essay drew some very negative comments. Does the writer love or hate the bar? We think it’s pretty clear. You decide for yourself. And if you disagree with him, we leave it to you as to whether you should personally attack him or just go on about your day.

READ THE FULL ESSAY

Bucks aerospace center helps travelers prepare for...

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:13:29 -0400

Bucks aerospace center helps travelers prepare for out-of-this-world experience

I kind of blacked out for a second there. My vision fuzzed up like TV static, and then blinked off.

It was the first stage of G-lock, reaction to the unearthly forces that set upon a body when that body is trying to break the Earth’s orbit.

I never left the Earth. I was sitting on the business end of a powerful centrifuge at the National Aerospace Training and Research Center in Southampton, Pa., in Bucks County. It’s getting ready for the next frontier in tourism: outer space.