Essays
1093 results
Page 96
Steak sandwiches B.C. (before cheese)
The way it was (c. 1958): Philly before the cheese steak
Enough, already, about the venerable Philadelphia cheese steak. Is there no one else still living who recalls, as I do, a time when Philadelphians relished steak sandwiches without cheese?
FDR's Hundred Days: Two books
FDR's Hundred Days, vs. Obama's
As we near the completion of President Obama's first hundred days in office, I've just read two books about Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous hundred. Of the many volumes written about FDR, only these two focus on those first days. One is worth reading; the other is infuriating.
Essays
5 minute read
Pro athletes: Warriors, or jerks?
Stupido: The code of the phony sports warrior
Somewhere along the line, sports in general and pro basketball in particular blurred the distinction between athletes and entertainers. Today's phony “warrior culture” is a part of that fuzzy showbiz landscape.
Essays
4 minute read
Searching for meaning in "March Madness'
Missing Billy Packer: In search of meaning at the NCAA tourney
College basketball has changed exponentially since the 1990s, thanks to increased speed, athleticism and three-point shooting. Many fans today think the game began in 1979, when Magic Johnson matched up against Larry Bird. Amid such flux, who can define tradition, if not a TV commentator?
Essays
13 minute read
Proposal: A pavilion for the Parkway
New life for the Parkway: A modest proposal
Museums are all well and good, but how can we pump more diverse cultural life onto the Parkway? What about an open-air pavilion for dance, theater and film, at a fraction of the cost of you-know-what?
Essays
2 minute read
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In search of great bread
Waiting for good dough: Can we talk about Philadelphia bread?
Vie de France is gone from the local scene, leaving Philadelphians no French bread quite so sublime. Whole Foods' version of a baton is primitive— a poor bread on any level. If anyone can give us an authentic French loaf, it ought to be the folks at Metropolitan, and I wonder why they don't. But a few others come close.
Essays
4 minute read
Venice: Nice place to visit, but"¦.
A room with a phew: Venice without the Venetian blinders
There's no place like Venice to jump-start your romantic gene. But before you move there, remember: The plumbing stinks. And try schlepping groceries, or hauling a suitcase, or finding a doctor or a decent restaurant or a neighbor who's under 50.
Essays
6 minute read
Casinos and the Barnes: Perfect together
Gambling with the city's future
Philadelphia is about to get something it doesn't want or need: a giant push toward municipal failure in the form of casino gambling and slots parlors. This heavy-handed movement shares much in common with another potential disaster: the effort to move the Barnes Foundation from Lower Merion to the Parkway.
Essays
3 minute read
Shooting Three Mile Island
My big story: I survived Three Mile Island (unfortunately)
The ominous towers appeared on the horizon emitting deadly-looking steam. All the traffic was heading in the opposite direction. I felt noble and brave. Should I perish in an atomic inferno, my name would be immortalized as the gutsiest free-lance photographer in history.
Essays
6 minute read
The arts in crisis: Whose fault?
Who's to blame for the arts crisis? (Hint: It isn't the recession)
The president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recently predicted that the recession could kill off at least 10,000 arts organizations this year. Many of them might have avoided this doomsday scenario had they developed different working cultures. In my experience, not-for-profit enterprises are simply more resistant to self-scrutiny.
Essays
5 minute read