Community building.

(Photo taken by CCC @ Broad & Vine)

Sundown. I learned a totally new meaning to this word today after spending time with some dear friends celebrating Yom Kippur over the past 24+ hours. Yom Kippur, which is observed from sundown Sunday evening until sundown Monday evening, consists of a lot of personal reflection and taking life back to complete basics for a while (amongst many other important things that I will let my friends describe). Fasting, substaining from work, writing, use of electricity, creating things (music included) - are all a part of the holiday. The time I spent with my friends was a nice reminder of how simple human interaction can be all you really need. No phones, no computers, no television...nothing but good company and card games. And no, I didn't participate in the full sundown to sundown stretch but the time I did spend without contact with the communication vehicles and entertainment we rely on so heavily on was all the reminder I needed.

I learned today about culture. About language. About perspective. And I saw it all right in front of me - it's so exciting to know we can still build community the old school way.

While we're on the subject of food.

(Photo taken by CCC @ Sketch, Girard Ave)

It's hard for me to say what my favorite veggie burger is. I mean, I've had them all. At least all of the ones that you can find packaged in the grocery store. And most of the ones you can find in restaurants in our city here.

But THIS. I have had it twice now. This is the best veggie burger I have ever had. You can find it at Sketch...a burger spot down in Fishtown on Girard between Earl & Columbia. Not only is it HUGE, it is fresh and delicious. You can get it with practically any sauce you can think of...I will strongly recommend the tahini. Also. Belgium fries are homemade and perfect with their aioli sauce.

For the meat heads, I've heard their regular burgers are worth the trip as well.

I couldn't resist.

(Photo taken by CCC)

If anyone is curious what a 28 inch pizza looks like...this is it. This picture doesn't actually give it the justice it deserves. You can see for yourself at Allegro Pizza located at 40th & Spruce. This bad boy came in a box that is practically larger than my kitchen table. It took two of us to carry it up the stairs.

And yes...it was absolutely delicious.

Abandoned

(Photo taken by CCC @ 35th & Fairmount)

There is a major epidemic in the city of Philadelphia - the increasing number of abandoned buildings in our neighborhoods. These particular abandoned buildings are located directly across the street from McMichael Middle School. You can find this one a few feet to the right of the first set:


Anywhere you go, you see these lots and abandoned homes. They attract crime - drugs, violence...an anonymous place you can take care of business...and they sit so closely to our schools. To our own homes...and it is hard to blame the city because when these buildings are turned over to it, it just means it's one on a list of thousands to be demolished or reconstructed or whatever the plan may be.

I have spoken to community residents about this issue and have decided to do a documentary/PSA project that discusses what we as community members can do about this problem. I would also like to take a look at what current neighborhood transformation projects are in place and whether or not these efforts are making an impact. If not - how can we combine the efforts of programs, organizations and individuals to help lower the amount of vacant lots/properties in our city.

The City of Philadelphia FY2009 breaks down city spending on neighborhood transformation, past spending and past results...you can read it here yourself:
http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/5346.pdf

Here is an interesting clip from the objective:
One half of the houses in Philadelphia are owned by people over 55. Data shows that 45 percent of older people have made no plans to either sell or transfer titles in their homes. Thus over the next 15 — 20 years, nearly half of the houses in the City are at risk of abandonment as no plans have been made for their maintenance or ultimate disposition.

Freakin' scary.

More to come.

Our Beautiful Skyline

(Photo taken by CCC @ Citizens Bank Park)

I love the Philly skyline. Especially seeing it from different locations. Here, you can see the row homes of South Philly, our skyscrapers, the beautiful clouds...and of course, Phillies sign popping out in the corner from the edge of CBP.

In Phillies news, you can catch the game tonight at 7:30 PM. Phils are playing the Braves in Atlanta...and J.A. Happ (a likely contender for rookie of the year) is back on the mound after suffering from a strained intercostal muscle in the rib cage. He hasn't pitched since September 2nd.

Back to Basics

[Photo taken by CCC @ South Philadelphia High School -
Broad & Snyder)

I guess the teachers at South Philadelphia High School are going back to basics with their lesson planning.

Sell Phone

(Photo taken by CCC @ 42nd & Chester)

I look at this broken pay phone every morning as I wait for the trolley. I've been talking with a lot of people lately about cellphones and what they have done to us as a society. Can you imagine Seinfeld with cellphones? It would be a completely different show. That alone is an indication that they have changed the way we go about doing things.

A few things they have changed:

• Our conversations. It is now acceptable to breakaway from ANY conversation to answer the phone - regardless of who is calling, regardless of whether or not it is truly an emergency. And yes, I suppose our reasoning is that it might be an emergency. What did we used to do in emergencies?
  
• Our liability. Now with cellphones, we can cancel plans an hour beforehand. Many times via text message! Before cellphones, you simply did what you said you were going to do because if you didn't - someone would be waiting for you, and waiting for you, and waiting for you.
• Our attention spans. With the constantly rising technology of cellphones, there are unlimited games and music and other entertainment that accompany the basic dialing feature of a cellphone. Instead of reading or heck, just focusing on ONE TASK for more than 30 minutes - we now turn to our cellphones.
  

There are many other ways in which cellphones have socially changed us all. And to think, I was trucking along with my old LG with missing keys and a broken screen for the past 2 years until recently upgrading to the coveted iPhone. I'm a victim too - it's hard to escape cellphone culture as easy as it is to bash it.

I'm going to try to learn a lesson from the "sell phone" reminder every morning. Everything changes, and soon our iPhones will be retro - hanging in our faces with a witty graffiti caption.

For all of you college students out there, I have found an amazing resource for you. Maybe some of you already know about this - but in the case that you don't - there are a couple of legitimate websites that allow you to rent textbooks. For prices a heck of a lot lower than you'll find in most campus bookstores. Many of my friends have used this - I am going to be using it in the future. The best part is - there is no cost to ship the book back.

This will save you the hassle of trying to convince the used book store employees that your used books are worth more to them than they are willing to pay or from the pain of having to sell back the books online.

Check it out!

http://www.campusbookrentals.com/

http://www.chegg.com/

First!

(Photo taken by CCC @ Penn Treaty Park)

I finally started a blog. Hopefully you will find useful information here at Philly Tap Water that pertains to how you live your life in our wonderful City of Brotherly Love. Stay tuned.