Rumor-mongering Idiots

There is no problem on this earth that can't be exacerbated by RUMOR-MONGERING IDIOTS.

In the 90s, when the terrible Rodney King riots were devastating Los Angeles, I worked in Center City, Philadelphia. I went out to lunch, as was my wont, and when I got back to the office, I heard people talking excitedly that a riot was breaking out at Broad and Walnut. I joined the conversation to say that I had just eaten lunch at 13th and Walnut (which, for non-locals, is a block away from Broad), and had to cross that intersection on my way there and back. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on at Broad and Walnut.

At the end of the day, I took the Broad Street Subway home, getting off at Snyder, and walked home.  When I got to my street, neighbors were excitedly talking about how a riot was breaking out at Broad and Snyder. I told them, "I just got off the subway there, and nothing was going on. So unless the problems broke out within the last five minutes, I am going to say that's not correct information."

It was a Friday, and my parents and I were going to a benefit dinner in NE Philly that night. While we were there, the chatter started. "Someone said there is a riot at Cottman Avenue." I responded, "I already heard two false rumors about Broad and Walnut, and Broad and Snyder. People said riots were going on over there, but it wasn't true. I will bet anything that this report about Cottman Avenue is baloney." Which it was.

OK, so fast-forward nearly 30 years to just now. I had an eye appointment this afternoon. Had, being the operative word. They called me to reschedule and said they are closing early, because of looting on Oregon Avenue. Well, the stores they mentioned are mere blocks from here. Mark got in the car to go look, and of course, nothing is out of the ordinary there. I called the eye doctor back and told them everything I just wrote.

But clearly, some smacked arse(s) decided to create fear and loathing by spreading outright lies. Poxes on these lying imbeciles who do this stuff.

If you hear any of these "OMG WOE HORROR DISASTER IN OUR BACKYARD" rumors, take it with a massive grain of salt unless you can verify it. Because there are some sick wretches out there who get their jollies by upsetting people needlessly.

Please REPORT any spam supposedly from me

I just got a message from a Facebook friend. Someone is using my name, but NOT my Yahoo address, to send out spams.

I changed some passwords, even though it doesn't appear that anything was sent out directly from MY account in any way.

I have reported the offending address to Yahoo. I do have a Yahoo email address, but it's not the one that sent the spam.

Long story short: DO NOT click on any spammy-looking links that are allegedly from me, even if the email bears my name. DO please forward the email to me, and report it to Yahoo.

Man, I really hate spammers. Fargin' bastages.

On leftover symptoms

The Phantoms left Philadelphia after the 2008-09 season. While I can *hardly* say I took their departure well -- far, far from it, to put it mildly -- I have been able to move forward from the grief of losing my team to a city 300 miles away. (Their alleged move to Allentown, two seasons from now, is small comfort, at best, as I still won't be able to attend every game anymore, as I did when they were where they belong: in the Philly area.)

However, to my surprise, in the past few weeks. I've been having some serious "I miss my team" spells. Again. I thought I'd processed the grief and moved forward, but here it was coming back again, and I wasn't sure why. When the grief is connected to a loss like that of a loved one, sometimes the sadness will make a resurgence at times like the anniversary of their birth or passing. But the Phantoms' departure anniversary isn't until the middle of April, so what was up with these feelings *now*?

Then I realized. It's because the impending opening of the Spectrum-killing abomination, Xf*n*ty L*ve, has been widely publicized in recent weeks. My normal reaction, on the sight of the logo or hearing of the name, has been to hiss at it. But unbeknownst to me, all those sightings of the logo, and all those hearings of the name, apparently were digging away at some remaining, buried remnants of sadness that I've been unwittingly carrying around for the past three years. And finally, in the past couple of weeks, they've finally reached the surface.

Today is the opening of the abomination. So it's *really* all over the freaking news. Ugh. Guess I'll have to dodge the local news channels for a day or two, until the hubbub dies down. They won't be seeing any of MY money, not in that location nor in any other location that's affiliated with the Spectrum-killing Cordish brothers (of which I've already boycotted the ones in Baltimore, Atlantic City, and Louisville).

I have to say... there is not ONE FREAKING THING that was in their original plan that's currently in place on their site. Luxury hotel? None. Not any kind of hotel, in fact. Boutiques? None. Outlet stores? Nada. Theater? Nope. The only thing that they did that was on the original plan was tear down the Spectrum. B@st@rds.

Outrage

Color me OUTRAGED.

My mom has shingles. It was diagnosed this afternoon. She got two prescriptions from her doctor: a small (5g) tube of ointment, and 21 pills.

Thank God, she has insurance. She had to pay $60 for the ointment and $10 for the pills. But if you get sticker shock from either of those numbers, then I invite you to drop your jaw in astonishment at what those meds would've cost a person WITHOUT medical insurance:

The full price of 5g of ointment is $871.89.
The full price of the 21 pills is $256.59.

Are the pharmaceutical companies INSANE? WTF is in those meds that could possibly justify their costing so much? I flat-out can't believe that there's any justification, other than blind greed, that could possibly explain those prices.

A person who has no medical insurance would have had to leave their shingles untreated. In the 21st Century in the United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, people have to go without medical treatment. Why is the preceding sentence not a contradiction of terms? There's a scripture passage that says the crimes against widows and orphans cry out to God for justice... well, if pricing people who need care out of medical treatment doesn't fit that description, I have no idea what does.

Pharmaceutical companies should be ashamed of themselves. Greedy farging bastages.

There will be a Last Stroll at the Spectrum, open to the public and free of charge, on October 24 from 10 AM to 1 PM.

They'll be selling memorabilia there. No suprise.

They'll also be taking orders for Spectrum chairs. I have to see how to go about getting my season ticket seat. I sat there for over 10 years, so IMO they owe me and other former STHs first crack at our seats.

Oh, look! The Foxwoods Casino can't figure out where they're going to build! CLICK HERE for the article.

It's the guessing game of the summer: What is happening with Foxwoods Casino?

Is it headed for the old Strawbridge & Clothier department store in Center City, or back to the South Philadelphia waterfront? Is it going anywhere at all?

In other words, we have a casino that we THOUGHT had its location all settled, only now its potential location is up in the air again.

Oh, and here is a fascinating detail which I hadn't realized until I saw this article:

Rendell said one of the Foxwoods investors - entrepreneur Lewis Katz, whose family charitable trust is a partner - indicated to him that a relocation petition would be submitted "in a month or so." Other investors include family trusts for developer Ron Rubin and Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider.

OK, we have a proposed South Philly waterfront location that has a good 50 civic and religious associations opposed to the idea and combating it tooth and nail. We have a proposed location in a former department store building, which is on hold because a tenant in that building is opposed to having a casino move in. Neighborhood civic associations nearby are also in opposition to having a casino in the old Strawbridge and Clothier flagship building.

Aaaaaand we have a major investor in this Foxwoods venture who JUST so happens to be involved with a big development project, which will allegedly include a luxury hotel, down at Broad and Pattison... a project which has been rumored to be having trouble lining up things like tenants, investors, and/or financing.

How many times have I predicted, aloud and in print, that I expect someone to make a play to put a casino in that Limb-of-Satan Cordish development? If Foxwoods can't get its act together for either of its previously proposed locations, I expect Broad and Pattison to magically emerge as a proposed Plan C.

Well, I have found two things that are useful as mood-boosters. One is to MAKE myself have activities that involve leaving the house during daylight hours. Sunlight is good, and in particular it's good for getting serotonin levels regulated. This is one suggestion that the doc made a while back, and it is right on target.

The other tool is related to the first idea, but it never occurred to me to actually TRY it: OPEN THE BLINDS during daylight hours. It helps. Aunt Rita said once that we'll be in the dark long enough after we're gone, so let the sunlight in now. She has a good point.

Morale levels still aren't perfect. I'm not surprised about that in the least. But I'm trying to turn even some of my symptoms, like near-complete loss of appetite some days, into a blessing where I make myself eat Just Enough not to get sick. I don't prefer, and certainly don't recommend, having one's appetite suppressed in quite this manner, but I figure if this is how things are, I might as well use the situation to my benefit.

On a related note, the Adirondack Phantoms will be starting next season in Glens Falls, NY, 280 miles away. At least we HAVE a location for the team; it's better than seeing the franchise go dormant for lack of an arena. The prospective Allentown arena's construction is on hold after state funding fell through completely. So the original plan of moving them into the Lehigh Valley, upon completion of a new arena, might be on hold at best, rendered unfeasible at worst. They might have to fulfill their contraqcual obligation to eventually get within a 200-mile radius of Philly some other way, one that doesn't involve constructing a brand-new rink. Stay tuned.

Over the years, I've built up a reputation among family and friends of being upbeat, silly, and having an active sense of humor.

There have been times when I have felt terribly out-of-sorts, to put it mildly, when I have deliberately coasted on that reputation... as in, even when I wasn't really being silly, humorous, or upbeat, family and friends interacted with me as if I was because that's what they expected me to be. It has allowed me to kind of slide through some spells of feeling-awful and let the bad spell fly under everyone's radar.

The next round of coasting-on-my-reputation has been howling at the door for a while. Tonight, it may well have arrived in conjunction with the end of my one failsafe, NEVER-too-downcast-to-enjoy-it diversion for the past 13 years.

My team is gone. There goes the sole activity that, no matter how out-of-sorts (and coasting on my reputation) I was, I never lost enthusiasm for. Ever.

This is not good. That's as level as I know how to be. And without the best tool I've had in over a decade to help my mood bounce back, there's a risk that my reputation for good humor WON'T be enough to camoflage that I'm feeling down in the mouth.

Shoot.

Lately, I feel like it's midnight no matter what time of day it actually is.

I hate grief. I hate it even worse because it's kicking in prematurely. I want to enjoy the much-vaunted Last Six Home Games, but it's impossible to enjoy anything when I feel like this.

Argh.

Wow. It's kind of affirming, in a "We're all being kicked in the figurative gut" sort of way, to see the status messages of my fellow Phans on facebook over the past 24 hours.

I mean, I knew from the word "go" that I am far from alone in my opinion that the ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or organ-eye-zation is screwing the fan base royally, plus they're screwing the Flyers into the bargin, with the way they're handling the future of the farm club.

But MY GOSH. I thought *I* was angry, until I saw some of those status messages. Understand, I'm furious to the point where it's a battle to avoid using profanity, and my Facebook friends' posts are making me look indifferent by comparison.

When all this "raze the Spectrum/move the team" news started breaking a year ago, I wished on ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or and the ¢ordi$h ¢ompany that they would get back every last particle of angst that they caused the Phantoms fanbase. I figured that way, if they weren't hurting anybody in their decision-making, they' be fine. And if they WERE hurting people, then they'd be running up quite the karmic debt.

An Old Testament parable springs to mind. It's the one that the Prophet Nathan used to rebuke King David. It's the story of a rich man and a poor man: The rich man had many sheep, while the poor man had only one little ewe, whom he cared for greatly. A traveler approached the rich man for food, whereby the man took the poor man's ewe and dressed it to give to the traveler. Hearing this story, David grew angry and replied: "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." It's at this point that the prophet Nathan tells King David that HE has behaved exactly like the rich man, by sending a man to die in battle so he could marry the newly-widowed woman the man left behind, and the prophet enumerates the list of ways that David will answer for this sin.

Times change, but human nature doesn't. Corporations, and the people who run them, do the same thing all the time. They love the Almighty Dollar to the point where they don't care about the PEOPLE whose almighty dollars fill their coffers. In this case, ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or and the ¢ordi$h ¢ompany are going to slaughter the lamb and sell its meat to pay for a business venture that has lost financial backers in the year since it was first publicly proposed. Does this surprise me? No. I've reached a point where almost nothing surprises me.

But one thing does surprise me. And that's the level of vehemence of the reactions of my fellow Phans on Facebook. If this reflects the level of pain that ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or and the ¢ordi$h ¢ompany are bringing about, by killing the lamb that lots of Regular People love for that marginal amount of profit they're likely to gain, OBOY is that karmic debt ever piling up. Wow. Just... wow.

The Cash Cow's death warrant has been officially signed by ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or, and the warrant will be executed upon the conclusion of the Phantoms' offseason.

Prepare for the constant trumpeting from The Organ-Eye-Zation announcing a barbecue in celebration of the esteemed Cash Cow's life, where hamburgers made FROM the Cash Cow will be served. Step right up, get your burgers, there are only a limited number of them, and once they're gone, they're GONE. Don't miss your chance.

I posted at length about it already, and I'm not up to doing it again. So hit this link if you're interested in seeing my relatively unvarnished opinion. And when I say "relatively unvarnished", I mean "I intentionally kept my vocabulary choices family-friendly, despite feeling the intense temptation to do otherwise".

Still... there are some figli di puttana whose names have been inscribed, in indelible ink, on my Excrement Roster. I'll not forget this action today, nor will I forget the agents who are behind it. Read: ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or brass not named Ed Snider and not an integral part of the Flyers front office. In particular, Mr. Luukko is cordially (or not) invited to go Fuukko himself, as are the people from the limb-of-Satan Cordish Company that proposed this abomination of a business decision in the first place.

When I think about it, though, patronizing the new affiliate, wherever it is located, will now be an EASIER decision to justify. Why? Because ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or will not own it and therefore my money won't be going to ¢om¢a$t-$p€¢ta¢or. There's most definitely something to be said in favor of that prospect.

I just posted a very detailed update on the latest news articles concerning the Phantoms' future.

I haven't got the energy to expound at length on the subject on two separate blogs, and I know that not everyone who reads this blog reads my Phantoms blog as well. So, for those who are interested in exploring the topic further, please visit this link and read the post on my Phantoms blog.

And that's all I have to say about THAT, since it's Christmas Eve and I want to enjoy my holiday.

Wow

Wow. I can't believe the number of hits that my Phantoms blog is getting. (Click here or click "The Final Countdown" link on the sidebar.)

It figures. I finally find a niche, a topic to write about that's In Demand, so to speak... and it's only got one hockey season left to live. GRRR.

Depending on where the Phantoms land after this season ends and the Spectrum is shuttered (GRRR), I'll probably start another blog and put a link to it on here, and on the Final Countdown blog as well. The Final Countdown is about the Phantoms' final season in the Spectrum prior to the building's closing, and I'm going to restrict its content to that.

However, future years' blogs will possibly contain more game reports from my having watched games online, rather than attending all 40 home games in person (plus playoffs, if any). If the team moves too far from Philadelphia, getting to the games on a regular basis could be cost- and time-prohibitive. We'll have to see what pans out after this season, as there STILL has been no announcement made regarding what the team's going to do from 2009 onward.

Spectrum: emotional overflow

The Final NHL Game at the Spectrum: emotional overflow

---

Excuse this...

IT'S MY HOCKEY HOME, DAMMIT! MY EARLIEST MEMORY IN LIFE WAS AS A 2-YEAR-OLD LOOKING AT THE IRON GIRDERS FORMING THE FRAMEWORK OF THE SPECTRUM WHILE IT WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

AND THESE GREEDY SOBs WANT TO KILL IT! IT HURTS TO THINK THE HOME OF MY EARLIEST MEMORY *AND* EARLIEST HOCKEY MEMORIES WILL BE GONE SOON!

OK. Now that I've gotten *that* out of my system for the time being, I'll be able to watch the game.

It gives me a painful pang in the heart, every time I hear or see "final year of the Spectrum". I'm going to spend this season feeling a lot of pangs of pain.

So don't be the least bit surprised to see additional overflows of rant-mode from me as the season progresses. There are going to be times when I just can't hold it in anymore.

The unforgivable decision was officialy announced this morning.

Managgia the greedy vermin and their minor-league-sports-killing project.

I feel sick. The greedy M[aternal]F[ornicat]ing b@st@rds are definitely killing the Spectrum. The paperwork is done. They were granted the legal right to develop the land any way they saw fit, back in 1996, and it's taken them 12 years, but they're deciding to cash in on it.

Or at least, they THINK they're cashing in. Click the "Fargin' Bastages" label to see my past posts on the topic, and my opinions of their project, because I'm not up to revisiting it this morning.

I wish them to feel all the emotions that they're causing in the people who oppose the project.

BTW, I couldn't even get my mind entirely off this limb-of-Satan "Philly Live!" project even when I was in Louisville for a week. Why? Because the same developers who are preparing to F up Broad and Pattison already F'ed up a perfectly good mall in Louisville that was four blocks from our hotel. Six years ago, I shopped in that mall and it had a bunch of non-chain stores mixed in with the big-name chain establishments. I loved it.

Now the little mom-and-pop places and the mall are gone, and in their place is a bunch of big name eateries like TGI Fridays. The only remnants that I could see of the former mall area were the CVS and the US Post Office. I know it's the same developers because they called their new thing "4th Street Live!" -- the same naming convention they have for all their projects. I looked it up on the internet, just to be certain, and sure enough, the developers' name that I've come to loathe was attached to the project. I closed the browser window. That was all that I needed to see. They took a locale that had a unique charm, and stores I couldn't have found anywhere else, and they put in a bunch of chain restaurants that I can eat in no matter what city I'm visiting. This is what we have to look forward to here. Whoop-de-do.

When Mark was looking through the local newspaper for a place to eat on Friday night, the only stipulation I had was, "I'm not patronizing 4th Street Live. I'll eat anywhere else." Fortunately, there were plenty of alternatives to choose from that were completely unconnected to that... thing.

F[iretr]uck.

This morning in church, my prayer was simple. "Lord, keep my anger in check." Because there is no doubt that I am going to be angry (again) about what those greedy corporate scum are about to do to the Spectrum.

This time, it's bound to be even worse, because where January's article was at least partly speculation, this time it's apparently all over but the paperwork.

So you can all expect me to loathe the decision, which I do. Expect me to loathe the project that's going to cost us the Spectrum AND our minor-league hockey team, because I *surely* do.

And expect me to wish on said project every imaginable form of red tape, cost overruns, delays, missed deadlines, labor issues, and the sort of luck that accompanies a person who has simultaneously walked under a ladder, broken a mirror and spilled salt. Because frankly, that's precisely what I wish on this project that these greedy corporate vermin are shoving down our throats.

It's just what we need, in the midst of a recession and rising unemployment, while gas prices are at record highs and expected to go substantially higher: a LUXURY hotel surrounded by boutique chain stores and chain restaurants. Yeah, right. Give the area a hotel nobody can afford to stay in, surrounded by expensive stores no one can afford to shop in, and chain restaurants that they can eat in anywhere, any time. I'm sure people will fall all over each other for the chance to pay a $3 bridge toll (from NJ) and use gas to drive down here to spend a ton of money in expensive stores, when they could simply shop closer to home and save money and gas.

BTW, we can't even fill the bleeping hotel that we have in the area NOW, the one at 10th and Packer. We need another hotel, an expensive one yet, WHY? We have multiple shopping centers in South Philly already: Quartermaster Plaza and the group of stores immediately to its north (not sure of the name of that particular shopping area, if it even has one), Whitman Plaza, Snyder Plaza, and the bunch of chain stores and restaurants opening along the waterfront. We already have a zillion-screen jumbo theater at the Riverview, surrounded by a bunch of locations that SHOULD have restaurants and arcades in them... but most of those can't keep a tenant to save their lives. All of these centers of commerce have some prime empty spaces in them. We need another shopping center down here, one with exclusive stores yet, WHY?

Why is it that every average-joe and average-jane that I've spoken to about this Philly Live! travesty thinks it's going to go bust, but the zillionaires all want it? Oh, that's right, because the zillionaires are blinded by dollar signs and think they're about to fill their pockets with our money. They don't live here, don't know what it's LIKE to live here, don't know the people who live here, and can't imagine why we wouldn't be interested in their shiny new brainchild.

I'm sorry, but you can gild and polish BS all you want -- under the veneer, it's still going to be BS when all is said and done.

A hint to regular readers, particularly the ones I see face-to-face... any time there's a post labeled "Fargin' Bastages", if it contains a link, click it and read the article. The loss of the Spectrum and the Phantoms is an indescribably sore subject with me, and if I'm using a link to get my point across, it's because I can't abide writing directly about the topic any more than is absolutely necessary. But given the level of morale-buster that this is, on a personal level, there will be no frivolous posts, nor parts of posts, with this label.

I'm going to hit "post" and go back to feeling sick now. The more the reality of yesterday's article sinks in, that says there's no turning back this time, the worse it feels.

Never in my life have I wished the mal occhio on someone else's project.

This article details the one thing that could break that 44-year streak.

Greedy, maternal-fornicating bunch of male offspring of female dogs.

I first saw this article about the Spectrum's possible future a day or two ago. I know that the official party line is, "no decision has been made'.

Still...

This article demonstrates that there are greedy, Oedipal-tending male offspring of deity-accursed fornicating female dogs among the people involved in the decision-making process. If greed wins out, the good guys lose.

The attempt to steel myself for bad news has been causing medical issues. I can see the way the symptoms are tending, and I fear what those issues will turn into, should bad news actually arrive.

The article I've been waiting for, the one interviewing Phantoms season ticket holders about their feelings regarding the Spectrum's potential demise, has appeared.

Emotions Swirl in Philly

As a matter of policy, I avoid combining people's first and last names in posts in this blog. However, regular readers here will recognize at least two of the individuals who shared their perspective in this article.