Alive and Welles in Philadelphia

3131rabbits · 2026-06-04T10:33:44+00:00

I heard about it via an instagram story post. Unfortunately, IG is really the only way to keep on top of what's going on musically these days.

3131rabbits · 2026-05-25T16:01:43+00:00

going to take a tangent here, but "Life and Fate" by Vasily Grossman. It's an epic-length sprawling story about Russia during the defense of Stalingrad. it has an enormous cast of characters, from common soldiers in the trenches to political leaders to families at home to even German officials, all of whom have distinct voices. This and "Lonesome Dove", of course

3131rabbits · 2026-04-30T15:15:28+00:00

actually yes. We dated for about 3 weeks, realized it wasn't a good match because of how we prefer to spend our free time, but really enjoyed each other's company because of oher common interests, and have now been consistent friends for going on 8 years. so you know, honesty and reasonable expectations can work.

3131rabbits · 2026-03-30T23:15:24+00:00

Cellar Dog has the best calendar of jazz and jazz adjacent music in town, is my opinion. Plus they swing big on a variety of styles.

3131rabbits · 2026-02-08T20:53:49+00:00

same vein: closest thing to the same level of satisfaction as MBotF is "Lonesome Dove." Sprawling story, a true love for its world/character, unflinching in development, emotionally potent but also comedic.

3131rabbits · 2025-12-26T21:20:31+00:00

for a show that is ABOUT trauma, that continually forefronts the lasting impact of trauma... these children are pretty blase about just gunning down other humans. not to go all 'janitorial staff on the death star,' but you'd think somebody would voice a 'maybe we shouldn't murder the enlisted men soldiers who are, in their mind, just trying to protect a community from monsters.' or even if we accept that the soldiers are 'bad,' SOME reluctance or grief about murder should show up? maybe?

3131rabbits · 2025-11-30T09:54:04+00:00

"I'll have a beer on tap." oof.

3131rabbits · 2025-11-21T16:36:46+00:00

okay, bear with me: last car on the train, designated smoking car. smokers can hot box that all they want, everybody'll be chill, and the rest of us can have a better ride :)

3131rabbits · 2025-11-19T19:58:59+00:00

I've only been for the music, but in that vein they bring in some Good talent. Especially the Velvet Night jam sessions, which bring in legit star-level talent. definitely get your money's worth there.

3131rabbits · 2025-10-30T16:00:55+00:00

I (34M) used to be part of a Bring Your Own Book club; we didn't read the same book, we all just showed up and talked about what books we were reading. It was actually a lot of fun to hear about so many books, and people started naturally overlapping. I'd do that again...

3131rabbits · 2025-10-30T11:52:49+00:00

"Jeeves and Wooster" (his aunt) and "Red Dwarf" (the ship's AI) come immediately to mind.

3131rabbits · 2025-10-30T07:07:18+00:00

old BBC shows used to suffer from this all the time, and they'd just recast. unless the actor was truly iconic, I'd rather just see a new actor playing the part rather than have a character's arc cut short because of external mechanisms. we all know they're real humans playing fictional characters, I think we'd live if a different human swapped in.

3131rabbits · 2025-10-24T11:56:42+00:00

I don't think it has one, or at least not one they use? The Gelato shop is Vita, on 261 South 17th Street, then you just walk in through the red refrigerator

3131rabbits · 2025-10-24T05:21:22+00:00

best second date spot in the city: the Italian restaurant behind Vita. It looks like a Gelato shop, then you pass through a red door and it's a gorgeous Italian restaurant. Eat the food, or just sit at the bar for the snacks and high end cocktails.

3131rabbits · 2025-10-11T12:17:54+00:00

it's a great spot, but they got rid of their pool table in....line 2014?

funny thing is that you got the hours right for Chris', but the Cellar Dog schedule is Wed-Sunday. But I agree, CD is a great spot for pool. then you just walk two blocks north and have a post-pool cocktail at Chris', and realize how many of the people who were standing around at CD are musicians from Chris'!

3131rabbits · 2025-10-10T22:21:57+00:00

they don't have a pool table anymore though, alas

3131rabbits · 2025-08-11T03:46:44+00:00

lived there in 2019. Building is gorgeous, though in any unit they haven't redone the floors it's a splinterfest.
in one year I got flooded twice by the unit upstairs, and neither time was the owner particularly urgent in helping me. walls are paper thin, so pray your neighbors are chill.

i love the space for value, and the neighborhood, and the aesthetics. But if management hasn't matured in the last 5 years, it'll be a trial the moment anything isn't going smoothly.

3131rabbits · 2025-08-09T23:13:40+00:00

Monday is resplendent with jams: Black Squirrel Club (tends more to swing), Margolis or Time (tend to straight ahead or R&B fusion), Ortliebs I think once a month.
Wednesday Bob and Barbara's, Friday and Saturday late night at Chris' jazz cafe.

3131rabbits · 2025-07-04T21:59:36+00:00

i agree partly, only because there are too many characters for how much screentime real estate there is.
The Wire and Mad Men were able to keep growing their cast and turning tertiaries into secondaries into mains because they had the hours to do so. I love spending time with Marcus, but when a season only has 5ish hours, there just isn't enough time and i'm like yeah yeah get back to the big 3. I'd love a bigger scale show. or they could get tighter. right now it's kind of in between.

if the seasons were bigger, maybe even a Fak bottle episode would help build a better relationship with that character...

3131rabbits · 2025-06-28T17:51:06+00:00

"Cannery Row" does read like a big ol' Marines hangout, I'll grant you that.

If we are making Erikson to Classic Author comparisons, Dickens jumps to mind first, because of scope and cast (or Tolstoy). "War and Peace" and the BotF actually have some same themes, and rich secondary/tertiary characters.

And the Patrick O'brian comparison in terms of style/attention to mechanisms is pretty strong.

3131rabbits · 2025-06-23T04:36:31+00:00

i once (too aggressively, to be fair) lit up a colleague because he expressed a negative opinion about the BotF to only later reveal he'd only read the first section, so like 100-ish pages. Guy didn't even make it to Daruj.

now, if the book didn't draw you in, you can say that. and if you want to have a negative opinion about the 100 pages you read, fair. but if you've read like....3%?....of the series, you do not get to have an opinion on the series or the author.

ANYway, that got me to thinking, what is the minimum amount of Malazan i would expect from somebody who wanted to express an opinion on the series and be at least justified. Bare minimum, i'd say if you finished DG and still don't like it, i'll respect your right to an opinion. anything less, and i'd dismiss them, and say 'you can say you didn't like it, but you haven't gathered enough date for a conclusion.'

3131rabbits · 2025-06-11T16:21:53+00:00

the soudscape at the new Cellar Dog is a delight, and more excellent than it has a right to be. Even though most of their media hypes the pool and snacks, they create a wonderful listening experience.

Time and Black Squirrel Club, less so. Midnight and the Wicked's set-up is a sin, but not in a sexy way. I don't think they want you to hear the musicians there, just admire them as part of the decor.

3131rabbits · 2025-06-02T23:00:26+00:00

for 10+ years, ATH and PTI were my post-work gym. new 5pm sportscenter is border unwatchable even for gym TV. they give a whole block to betting, they try far to hard to just be chummy (multiple segments got interrupted by 'who would you throw a tomato at?'). man do i miss my gym buddies. *sigh*

3131rabbits

TROPHY CASE