Is ripping off the name of a neighborhood a petty crime?

Opinion May 17, 2013 1 Comment

by Jim Harris I was driving home from Glenside the other night, and just as we crossed over Cheltenham Avenue into Philadelphia, my wife said, “Oh, that’s a nice sign, ‘Welcome to Mount Airy.’” “Mmmm,” I replied, as I often do when I’m pretending to listen. About two blocks later, it hit me. “What? Mount [...]
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La femme mystérieuse, Part 1: A man got on a train

Opinion May 16, 2013 0 Comments

by Hugh Gilmore This is a story about how haste made waste of a literary dream and how a mysterious shadow slipped into my life, rescued me, stirred my mind, and then disappeared. As you might expect, the story involves a woman. Or so I believe. I’m still not a hundred-percent sure, but I do [...]
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For the Flyers, it’s about time for consistency

Opinion May 16, 2013 0 Comments

by Clark Groome When Ralph Waldo Emerson made his comment that “Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” he clearly wasn’t referring to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers, for only the second time in the last 18 seasons, failed to make the playoffs. While the season was maddening in its inconsistency, there are reasons, but [...]
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Hail to the Chiefs: Reflections on Presidents

Opinion May 15, 2013 0 Comments

by Harold I. Gullan We are not likely to see all five together again – our four former presidents and the incumbent. Even George W. Bush, surrounded by the others, got a bit emotional in reflecting on the occasion: the dedication of his presidential library. A symmetrical edifice, it encourages visitors to make up their [...]
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Local school, ‘Learning Bush,’ now offering useless courses

Opinion May 10, 2013 0 Comments

by Jim Harris Well, I’m out of rehab (again), and my rash has cleared up, so I think it’s time for another semester of my acclaimed adult education program, The Learning Bush. This time, to ensure quality and keep costs down, I’m teaching all the courses myself. Here’s the list. • Minimalist dancing: For the [...]
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Where’s the will to fix schools?

Opinion May 8, 2013 6 Comments

by Pete Mazzaccaro As the school year enters its final six weeks, the future of Philadelphia’s public schools looks as grim as ever. Short more than $300 million and having no interested parties willing to act to close the financing hole, the School District of Philadelphia has proposed a brutally austere budget that would limit [...]
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Heart-shaped beds and cars that go boom

Opinion May 8, 2013 0 Comments

by Hugh Gilmore Years ago my mother-in-law kindly agreed to take our 6-year-old son Andrew for the weekend, so Janet and I could go on retreat for the first time. Not the kind you’re thinking, but the kind where the hotel has heart-shaped beds and bathtubs. Going to one of those corny Poconos places seemed [...]
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