Comments for Letters From Alphabet City

Comment on Squirrels In Trees by Phoebe

Phoebe — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:40:42 +0000

Hurrah. What an excellent thing for me to read right now. My brain hurts real bad and I still have mountains of things to do before this semester closes, but let me just say that I really loved this post and will come back to it more than once and I’m so glad to know you.

Love and delirium,
P

Comment on A Town Chained To Itself by scheity

scheity — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:38:53 +0000

Darce, I don’t think you understand the point of this.

I’m clearly not talking about the artistic culture of Philadelphia, because an artistic movement is always — and has always been — a small-scale, alternative one. Nor am I saying that Philadelphia is a bad place. I’m saying that Philadelphia is a town that’s been held back by this mentality.

You and I, we skim off the good and, sadly, overlook the bad, by and large. This story wasn’t about the art and music collectives springing up in loft apartments. It’s about the people who can’t overlook the bad, because it’s their lives, people who never had a choice.

And as for the vision of Philadelphia…what is that? The same vision that did absolutely nothing as its economic and cultural vitality was stripped from it?

Comment on A Town Chained To Itself by Darcey

Darcey — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:18:38 +0000

I think you’ve included some pretty hefty judgments for the entire city of Philadelphia, formed around this simple allegory of the Rocky character and its relative underdog status of its sports teams (and the mistrust of its fans that has stemmed out of it). This seems to count out the progress made from optimistic people and institutions within the city. Do some artists/musicians/characters of Philly birth come out of the city with chips on their shoulders? Sure. Are there real figures of the city, like Street, who have been characterized as corrupt and generally slimy? Unfortunately, yes. But he is followed up by a character like Nutter, who is avuncular and do-gooding, simple but optimistic–parallel to the wavering, but generally well-intentioned spirit of the city. Perhaps I’m not bitter from the lack of extreme hardships in my Philadelphian life, but I do see the suffering and I do see the comparisons drawn to other East Coast cities. Philadelphia is not Boston and it is not New York, but I don’t think it strives to be either. Without vision there is no progress? I think you’re missing the vision of the city. Philadelphia isn’t a mere backdrop to the journey of a Sylvester Stalone character, nor is it the pre-Batman Gotham that is illustrated in your post. And the most famous sculpture of the city is outside the museum? I’m not even going to go there.

Comment on A Town Chained To Itself by Magnus

Magnus — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:11:55 +0000

You referenced Dostoyevsky, I therefore automatically love it.

Your post is an allegory to the vast majority of American society anymore. The middle class has thrown in the towel and accepted that they are never going to make it, spare a miraculous stroke of luck. High school students are afraid to spend even modest amounts of money on college because of the lack of jobs for bachelor degrees caused partially due to an increasing lack of respect for the accomplishment, by both employers and students. Many do not become nurses, emts, or paramedics because wages have fallen well below the cost of living. Even doctors are increasingly jaded by the drastic increase of malpractice insurance.

It’s not just that the underdogs are being kept down, more and more people are becoming underdogs. Good people, especially those in positions that better the health and safety of others, are being shunned because they do not mystically make money appear through means that question the integrity of humanity. The bank will shake your hand as you leave in tears and tell you, “it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.”

Philadelphia is the birth place of this country, something that is oft forgotten, perhaps it is also the United States’ barometer. Let us be strong and stop being underdogs. It does not matter who wins the election if the people can not recognize their own plight and fight for something better.

If we do not, if we allow the middle class to crumble, if democracy fails, the comparisons to Dostoyevsky will become increasingly profound. Perhaps it is time for the American machine to fail, and for us to start anew. What would the Founding Fathers do today?

Comment on Homecoming by Tay

Tay — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:16:45 +0000

Oh yeah, it really was that good, wasn’t it?

Welcome back.

Comment on The Fall Classic by Frank the Tank

Frank the Tank — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:25:25 +0000

I can’t remember which writer said this, but he essentially stated that the qualities that make baseball such a laid-back game to the average fan in the summertime – the pause of the pitcher between pitches, the idiosyncratic routine of the batter, etc. – are exactly what make the game so tense and put you on the edge-of-your-seat in the fall. I love basketball and football as much as anyone, but it’s interesting to note how drastically the character and feel of the game changes in baseball from the regular season to the postseason with the anticipation on every pitch. I’d agree that the Super Bowl itself is often anti-climactic (notwithstanding games such as last year’s) – usually, the playoff games leading up the Super Bowl provide much more drama with actual home crowds and fans attending those games as opposed to the neutral parties, sponsors, and celebrities you’ll see in the stands at end.

Comment on The Fall Classic by Nick

Nick — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:18:53 +0000

well done, Sir. I completely agree.

However, I do have to admit, when you wrote, ‘who did Bart Starr throw too?’ I immediately thought Max McGee and Boyd Dowler.

Then I realized I think I have spent perhaps a little too much time reading about sports.

Comment on Homecoming by Magnus

Magnus — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:31:51 +0000

Hoooray for blogging! Thanks for coming back.

Comment on Homecoming by Jon Goldberg

Jon Goldberg — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:31:42 +0000

…or how going to friends’ apartments to watch appointment television quickly devolves into a glorified playdate

…or how when you live in new york city among people you love summer can start in april and end in october

Comment on Homecoming by Nick

Nick — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:00:25 +0000

Nice to have you back, brother.

Also, next time I’m down in NYC, you gotta bring me to Dave’s Quality Meats. Not like I need more, but the prospect of some more AF1s or Dunks…yeah, too good to pass up.