Sunny Side Up

            Philadelphia is known for many of its famous trademarks, Cheesesteaks, Tasty Kakes, Wawa, and soft pretzels. But most recently, Philadelphia is famed as the namesake to the popular show based right in the city: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

            Prevalent among the college/young adult generation, Always Sunny is the laugh-out-loud-till-your-sides-hurt, cross-every-boundary show that leaves no subject untouched and has native Philadelphians talking about each episode till the next one airs. Although more often than not the subject of each episode may prove to be completely un-politically correct, the half hour that it plays on FX never disappoints and usually provides a few phrases to be quoted all week, if not all year. (i.e. “I’LL EAT YOUR BABIES, BITCH!” and “WILDCARD, BITCHES!” not to mention the famous ‘DayMan’ song)

            So, how did the show get to be the best thing to happen to Philadelphia since the signing of the Declaration of Independence? I had the chance to talk to writer, producer, and actor Rob MacElhenney who plays Mac in the show, and ask him just how the show got on its feet.

            Born and raised in Philadelphia himself, MacElhenney attended Waldron Academy, occasionally referenced in the show, during grade school, and St Joseph’s Prep for high school. He met Glenn Howerton (Dennis Reynolds) and Charlie Day (Charlie Kelly) while living in New York. Lying in bed late one night, MacElhenney came up with an idea for a short film starring Howerton, Day and himself.

            The trio got together, wrote a script, and filmed their short movie using a handheld camcorder all for the cost of film. After filming a few more short films, MacElhenney and the gang thought it would be a good idea to take the tapes to MacElhenney’s manager, who showed it to an agent, and later turned their project into the half hour TV show that thousands have grown to love, with the addition of a fourth main character, Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson).

            The FX sitcom which airs once a week often includes touchy subjects such as racism, child molestation, alcoholism, and drug use among many others, and always includes one of the five main characters scheming some far-fetched plan to become either rich, or famous. While the average morally upstanding viewer may find the show to be too contentious for their taste, MacElhenney explains that ‘the gang’ does not feel bad for airing the episodes because one of the characters “always ends up screwing themselves over…They get what’s coming to them.”

            That being said, MacElhenney further explained that the future of Always Sunny (the show is signed for 50 more episodes, translating to about 3 more seasons) includes countless more witty, controversial laughs. When asked if he and the gang use their own experiences to fuel the script, MacElhenney replied that although people they know inspire the names used in the show, the content of the episodes are not something that the cast has actually gone through themselves. “None of us have actually found a water stain that resembled the Virgin Mary or danced around on TV strung out on ecstasy and wearing a diaper or pretended to be a cop, but its fun to play that on TV.” He also went on to say that he is nothing like his character. MacElhenney said that Mac’s character consists of all the bad personality traits that MacElhenney does not show in his own personality.

            The biggest step that Always Sunny has taken was the addition of Danny DeVito to the lineup in the show’s second season. DeVito, who’s kids are huge fans of the show as well as him, accepted the invitation to be on the cast immediately and has shared 3 seasons with the original 4 characters as Dennis and Sweet Dee’s dad and Charlie’s roommate.

            The show is set in Philadelphia, but actually only shoots there once a season. MacElhenney explained that it takes them 3 days to finish one episode, and they only take one trip across the country from their set in LA to film in Philly. Always Sunny airs on FX but gets a lot of its hits from the on demand TV website, hulu.com. “Hulu has been great for us because most of our fan base comes from college kids who might not get FX in their dorm rooms, and have to resort to watching the episodes online,” said MacElhenney.

            Always Sunny obviously has a huge following among the teens and young adults in Philadelphia, but is not limited to the city. Although the amount of loyal viewers is no where near as high as in Philly, fans from all over the country have shown support for the show and have come to love the characters just as much as native Philadephians. MacElhenney said that the best compliment he has heard thus far was when “someone told me that after watching the season 4 finale, they had never been more weirded out in their life. We think that’s fuckin’ awesome.”

So what’s in store for the future of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia? While MacElhenney wouldn’t dish much, he did say that season 5 is going to be better than ever and somewhere along the course of the season, viewers will finally find out Mac’s full name. The show will go on for 3 more seasons, and MacElhenney, Howerton and Day are coming out with another FX series, Boldly Going Nowhere, in the near future.

Legalize it?

An article written by Temple University junior Tom Rowan in this week’s The Temple News, said that approximately 47% of college students and 57% of young adults, ages 19 to 28, have used marijuana for most of their lives, according to a study preformed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Many people today are using this easy-to-access drug to unwind from a stressful week or just as a means of social activity on the weekend. However, the repercussions of these actions can result in loss of a job, expulsion from school, and harsh legal action. But what if smoking marijuana was legal? Under reign of President-elect Barack Obama, this unspeakable vision may have some potential of becoming a reality.

In 2004, Obama said, during an appearance at Northwestern University, that he believes the “war on drugs has been a failure, and I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws.” Although he does not believe in the full legalization of the drug, he claimed that he does support using marijuana for medical reasons and lessening the legal action taken if one if found possessing it. The word decriminalize, in this case, means that the possession of a small amount of marijuana, an ounce or so, for personal use would not be grounds for arrest, but would be ticketable to the degree of the same fine you may expect for jay walking. However, possession of more than an ounce at a time, growing the plant in one’s home, or selling it still would remain crimes despite the decriminalization laws.

Along with his views on lessening the impact of the laws, Obama also said he believed that there was beneficial use in marijuana within medical use, stating that there is little difference between Marijuana and Morphine for relief of pain. NBC’s Aswini Anburajan quoted Obama in an article written in 2007 saying, “My attitude is if the science and the doctors suggest that the best palliative care and the way to relieve pain and suffering is medical marijuana then that's something I'm open to … when it comes to just giving people relief from pain,” Obama said. “But I want to do it under strict guidelines. I want it prescribed in the same way that other painkillers or palliative drugs are prescribed.” Obama’s main concern in marijuana use for medical assistance, however, was that the need for some weed would cause people to come up with absurd reasons for using the drug.

While it seemed that Obama was in favor of partial legalization of cannabis, a spokesperson for the then presidential candidate rejected the statement in 2008, saying that he was unsure of the meaning of the word decriminalization, but that it is true that he would like to lessen the laws for first-time offenders, keeping these people out of prison. Obama stated that his belief was that there were too many people in jail for this reason, and that the space used for holding these ‘criminals’ could be better put to use for harder drug offenders.  However, in another interview, Obama stated that he does not believe in taking legal action for the use of medical marijuana.

  Unbeknownst to many people, Barack Obama has also had his share in ‘smoking the reefer.’ According to Anburajan, Obama stated to a group of high school students that he himself had “experimented with drugs in high school.” During an interview with Jay Leno on his late night show, Leno asked if Obama ever inhaled marijuana. Obama, laughing, said that he in fact did. “The point was to inhale,” said Obama. He later admitted that he had made a mistake by smoking the drug, as many young adults and teens do.

  Although the statements were recently retracted, it is public knowledge that President-elect Barack Obama was, at one point, in full favor of partial legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. Whether this will ever happen is uncertain. We’ll just have to see how the next four years of his presidency pan out.

 

What do you think of the possible decriminalization of Marijuana? Do you agree/disagree with the policy? Post your comments and feedback to the blog and share your opinions.

Phillies Phrenzy: History in the Making

            It has always been rumored that Philadelphia is home to some of the most die-hard, sometimes a little insane, sports fans. I don’t know how many fans of other teams would agree, probably claiming that their city holds the most absurd fans, but there has been no lack of support for the Philadelphia Phillies from the city’s natives the past few weeks. Red Phillies shirts, hats, and banners hanging in windows are surely not in rare form on the streets lately, what with the team defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 4-1 series last week, becoming the 2008 National League champions. And now, after almost 30 years, the beloved Phils find themselves in the World Series, leading the Tampa Bay Rays three games to one.

            Although the Phillies are one of the most celebrated sports teams in Philadelphia, along with the Eagles, no one was expecting this time to come. The ‘Phillies Phever’ is spreading faster than ever, inviting long-time and bandwagon fans alike to share in the excitement. “It might as well be the game of the century,” said Philadelphian Jon Hernandez, who is currently a sophomore and residing at the University of Tampa.

The team’s true fans are not hesitant to display their loyalty, and that loyalty is in no way short of supply. “Philly fans up here constantly get bashed,” said Erica Matus, a freshman at the University of Scranton, “but that doesn’t stop everyone from wearing their red shirts and hats. The pride of the fans here is nuts. People actually get in physical fights over the Phils.”

            Aside from the sporadic fights that tend to break out over famed sports teams, this World Series is a way for people all over the city to unite. Old or young, male or female, black, white, brown or yellow, fans from every different environment have found common ground with one another, sharing their love for the game. Chris Weiseman, a senior at Holy Ghost Prep believes that the Phillies are “a legacy…and one of the only things that can unite an entire city usually divided by hate and violence. The Phils erase the hate in Philly and turn it back into the city of brotherly love.”

            Filled with brotherly love or not, It is no secret that the fans here can get a bit out of hand. Last night I had the possibly once in a lifetime chance to catch the subway down to the Citizen’s Bank Park and join the thousands of other people tailgating in both the stadium’s parking lot and the parking lot of Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles play, to watch game five of the series. Game five could have, ultimately, been the deciding factor for the outcome of the World Series, being that the Phillies only needed one more victory to win the series.

On the ride down to the game, the subway cars were packed with eager fans clad in any Phillies gear they could find, starting victory chants and becoming more and more energized about the game. Many passengers, clearly not over the age of 21 could be found with beer cans in hand, chugging a few ‘brews’ before they got to the stadium.

            Upon arriving at the parking lot, I ran into numerous tailgates filled with people huddled around television sets, bike cops breaking up fights and trying to pick out underage drinkers scrounging beers off of their older friends, and hoards of people jumping in front of TV cameras, trying to get their 15 seconds of fame. Anywhere I walked, people greeted me with cheers of delight and “GO PHILLIES!”

            Despite the freezing cold and the scattered rain showers, what seemed like half of the Philadelphia population showed up in the parking lot to cheer their team to a potential victory. However, those cheers were cut short at the bottom of the sixth inning when the game, tied at 2-2, was put on rain delay, and then later suspended, making this the first and only World Series game to have ever been postponed due to inclement weather. Many disappointed fans voiced their distaste about the postponement of the monumental game, some cursing Mother Nature, others cursing the officials who called the game.

            “They should have delayed the game when Rollins dropped the fly because the weather was so bad,” said Chris Weiseman about the timing of decision to postpone the game. “Instead they waited till the Rays scored. There was no way if the Rays hadn’t scored that the game would have been suspended.” Sharing Weiseman’s belief that the calling of the game was a mistake is Steve Stieffenhofer, a 20-year-old Philadelphian who stated that in waiting until the bottom of the sixth, pitcher Cole Hamels was robbed of a post-season record. “They took away something that meant so much to our beloved pitcher. He would have been the first pitcher ever to get 5 wins in the post-season and they decided to wait until the Rays tied the game. The choice of calls and no calls this series has been absolutely disgraceful on both sides.”

            Mike Miloradovich, a junior at Temple University, has his own theories as to why the game was called. “The baseball gods got mad at all the bandwagon Phillies fans and sent us a storm.” The wrath of the gods or not, the delay of crucial game five has been an upset for almost all Phillies fans. The game will pick up again tomorrow, Wednesday, October 29^th, and if the Rays come back to beat the Phillies, the series will move back to Tampa for game six.

            However, if the Phillies do reign victorious tomorrow night, it can be sure that no matter what the weather, havoc will be wreaked all through the streets of Philadelphia, just as it had when the Phils triumphed over the Dodgers in the NLCS. The streets at Cottman and Frankford, a popular area for sports fans to watch the game in the surrounding bars, will, without a doubt, be flooded with thousands of screaming fans, and cars driving down Broad Street will be honking their horns at pedestrians in celebration until the early hours of the morning. City Hall is also sure to be taken over by numerous Phillies enthusiasts if the team wins. There will also be a parade held in the streets of Philadelphia some few days after the winning game, much to the delight of fanatics everywhere.

            It can be said that this World Series is a huge step in Philadelphia’s history. The Phillies are off to a good start, and are less than half a game away from taking the title of World Series Champions. “Do it for Steve, beat the Rays!” said Alexandra Strockyj, a Temple freshman and die-hard Philadelphia fan, agreeing with the popular saying that the Phillies should avenge the death of Steve Irwin and beat the Rays. This surely will be a World Series for the books!

Into The Wild

            What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘hobo’? A dirty bum lying on the side of the street? A crazy toothless lady talking to herself as she roots through trashcans? An old man in torn clothes pestering you for spare change in the subway station? How about a teenage boy or girl hitching their way halfway across the country, living off the excessiveness of our culture, and having the time of their life?

            If you look up the word hobo on Wikipedia, you won’t find a description of some North Philly scumbag, but instead you’ll find information about a whole subculture of people, men and women, old and young, who choose to live their lives free of material dependency. Hobos, often referred to as ‘tramps’, differ from bums on the street in that they travel around, sometimes working odd jobs or playing an instrument to make a few quick bucks for food, a train ticket, or some green, whichever is most important at that moment.

            Many of these travelers have some sort of education, a family, and a place to go if they ever have to return home. So, why would anyone want to leave all of that to fend for themselves on the streets? For many, it’s a way to escape the commodity culture that has engulfed our society. For others, it is an open door to escape family problems or difficulties in their homes. Some simply just want to start fresh and prove their independency or fulfill some dream of being out on their own. One boy took fulfilling that dream of independency and made it a reality, taking busses and hitching rides all the way to Madison, WI within a week’s time.

            Tim Czarnecki, an 18-year-old boy from Roslyn, PA, decided it was time for some change in his life. He decided one Sunday night that he wanted to go to Milwaukee for an anarchist conversion, and arrived there on a Greyhound bus the following Wednesday, armed with nothing more than a backpack containing a sleeping bag, some socks and underwear, a notebook and a few extra layers of clothing. Four days later, in true tramping style, it was time to move on. Tim then hitched a few rides into Madison where he stayed for the next two months.

             Transportation, however, is sometimes difficult to come by for hobos. While on his way to Madison, Tim found himself stuck in Brookfield Wisconsin for two days straight, unable to catch a ride out of town. More often than not, the drivers of passing cars would display distaste for Tim’s grungy attire and shake their head or even counteract Tim’s hitchhiking thumbs up with a thumbs down of their own. Some older people would smile at the hopeful tramp, obviously reminiscing about their own carefree days of tramping, but would not stop to give Tim a lift.

            There are many other factors of tramping that one must consider besides getting from A to B, such as food and shelter. Food is often acquired by hobos by dumpstering or asking people who walk out of restaurants for their leftovers. “White boxes are magic,” said Tim, referring to the white Styrofoam containers that leftovers are carried in. Dumpstering is one of the more popular methods of getting food. According to Tim, he sometimes finds fresh produce and other kinds of food in “better condition than I would have in a fridge.”

Aside from finding freshly thrown away food in dumpsters, hobos sometimes find other things as well, such as shoes, electronics or furniture. ‘Hippie Christmas’ is a term widely known and celebrated by hobos. It is the time when the leases of the apartments in the area go up, and residents empty their apartments, sometimes throwing away most of their possessions. Tim said that some of his fellow tramps have found iPods, laptops, furniture sets, and a surplus of clothing.

Finding shelter is a whole separate, often challenging, process. There are three conditions that anyone seeking shelter outside must consider, those three things being bugs, wind, and rain. Sleeping under a tree takes care of the rain and cuts down the wind, but there is often many bugs around, and while there are usually no bugs on the roof of a building, there is little protection from wind and rain. Therefore, finding a good place to sleep can be very difficult.

Luckily for Tim, he was fortunate enough to meet some people who welcomed him into their homes. He stayed with a guy named Joey for a few days, a girl for a week, and three college girls who let him sneak into their dorm for the last two weeks he was in Madison. Between attempts to fight the wind and light his half-lit cigarette, Tim said that living in the dorm was beneficial to him because he finally had a shower and a couch to sleep on.

“Living and survival are two different things,” explained Tim. He said that once you find shelter and food, you have all the time you want to do whatever you want to do. Tim usually spent his days playing guitar either by himself or accompanied by another hobo that he met. Sometimes he would put out a hat for change, but he mostly played for his own enjoyment, to better himself as a musician and songwriter.

Tim said that, overall, the best experience of his travels was meeting all the people that he did. He said that he “met everyone from a six year old black girl playing my guitar, to a 70 year old alcoholic man.” He met tramps that traveled alone, with pets, family and even spouses. Tim went on to say that meeting these people was the most positive experience of his trip, sharing stories, laughs and bits of wisdom.

            Many people believe that the word ‘hobo’ only applies to the homeless bums on the street, but these people are severely mistaken. The hobo culture is completely different from anything most of our society has experienced. Call it a smart way to live life, or call it narrow-minded, but whatever you call it, the hobo lifestyle has been around for many, many years, and will continue to grow for years to come. So, next time you see a stray on the side of the road with his or her thumb stuck proudly in the air, don’t be afraid to pull over and help them out in their journey, I guarantee that they will appreciate it more than you know. Hell, you could even learn a thing or two from a hobo.

Choke on This

What do you get when you throw a sex addict support group, a man who forces himself to choke in restaurants, a psychopathic kidnapper, a pathological liar, a stripper, and a colonial tourist attraction together in one story? You get a major motion picture based on the book Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Choke is the story of one man’s journey from sex addiction to erectile dysfunction to falling in love, interlaced with many quirky, often raunchy, twists and turns along the way.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a screening of the movie at The Bridge theatre in Philadelphia before it came out. Even before the crowd was seated in the theatre, proclamations of love for the book and for the author could be heard from the mouths of almost every person waiting in line. As everyone eagerly filed into the theatre and frantically looked for seats, everyone there could feel the excited tension hanging in the air. Shouts of joy emitted from a few in the audience as the lights dimmed and the opening credits started to roll.

The movie starts off in a sex addicts anonymous support group where the main character, Victor, ironically ends up having sex with the girl he is supposed to be “sponsoring.” All throughout the movie, the viewer can see countless reasons of why Victor belongs in SAA.

Also throughout the movie, it is discovered that Victor’s mother resides in a mental hospital, which leads to his sleeping with the entire nursing staff, until, that is, he meets the one nurse that he can’t seem to view as just a one night stand. In its own twisted way, the movie enfolds to be a love story, following the relationships between a few of the characters and their significant others.

Palahniuk, being the controversial writer that he is, found a way to incorporate religion, although not in a religious way at all, into his novel and thus the movie as well. More than once, the main character is depicted having sex in a church, and as the story goes on, is given evidence to believe that he is the half-clone of Jesus Christ Himself.

In this movie, Victor is not only portrayed as a sex fiend, but also as a conman. He carries the genius theory that choking in a restaurant will give whoever chances to “save” him the air of being an important hero. While this is true, Victor’s real motive was to con the good Samaritans into paying his fake medical bills. And by medical bills, Victor means his own pocket.

All in all, the movie did not disappoint, that is, if you have a strong stomach for promiscuity. It was full of sarcasm, wit, and many laugh out loud moments, making it a great time, and of course, being that the movie is based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, the ending was shocking yet highly entertaining.

After the movie was done, the audience was invited to stay for a question and answer period with Mr. Chuck Palahniuk himself. Chuck started off the Q&A by proclaiming, much to the audience’s delight, that his first fan was a Philadelphia native. A reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer then began asking Palahniuk her own questions and after she was finished, questions were opened up to those seated in the audience.

Within the interrogation, Chuck explained that when he writes a book, he spends such a great deal of time working on it, getting it through the copy editor, and having to promote both the paperback and the hardback that once it’s over and done with, he never wants to look at that book again. He went on to explain that when he writes a novel, he believes that the reader is isolated from the world and in the world of his book, and therefore tries to include a sense of people coming together, so as to include the reader in his writing. He also said that a lot of the inspiration for his books and stories comes from updated versions of legends that he hears from friends or family. Palahniuk said that upon hearing one of these legends, it “takes very little work to turn that into a [story].”

Palahniuk’s stories, however, often prove to be very controversial and offensive to some people. He said that he knows not everyone will like his books, but he would rather write for himself than to make everyone else happy. After being asked whether or not he cares if the editors reject his work, he says that “they are going to hate this, but they won’t forget it. They are going to hate this, but they will never ever forget that they read it.” He even said that his novel Fight Club was a big ‘fuck you!’ to everyone that didn’t buy his first book, Invisible Monsters.

After telling a few stories such as his experience of working in a movie theatre and watching the movies late at night with his friends after smoking “mass amounts of marijuana,” Palahniuk admitted that most of the things he writes about are based on things that happened to his friends. He went on to say that writers should “choose their friends poorly” to have something good to write about. With that goes the fact that Palahniuk’s biggest inspirations for his characters are the “enlightened idiots” of the world.

Palahniuk said, when asked about the chance of his other novels becoming movies as well, that all of his novels, as of right now, are optioned to become movies besides his newest book Snuff, and Invisible Monsters, whose option expired already. He said that Lullaby will most likely be the next of his books to hit the big screen, casted with an unnamed Academy Award winner as the main character. Palahniuk said that the screenplay for Diary is ready, and that Survivor is on its way.

In conclusion, the night was just as good as I had expected it to be. The movie was great, and Chuck Palahniuk, a seemingly down to earth, genuine guy, gave some great insight onto his side of the writing process and where it all comes from. Kudos to Chuck and hopefully he will keep pumping out more novels.

The Beginning

For every great trend there's an inspiring force that started it all, and for that inspiring force to start that great trend, someone needs to recognize it. Thats why I'm here. I'll be slaving away at all hours of the night after I'm done with all my school crap to bring you stories and information about the things that the average college student actually cares about. And hell, even if you don't care about it, hopefully I'll be able to keep your attention long enough to learn a little more about what I write about. 

So, straying from all that introduction bull-shit, I'll let you know a little bit about myself. My name is Theresa and I'm a freshman at Temple University (where I'll be basing most of my stories from.) I'm majoring in Photojournalism, so obviously I love photography and writing. I currently work for The Temple News as one of their many photographers. I'm pretty much the average college kid; I go out at night, sleep whenever given the slightest chance, and eat things that will probably lead me to go into cardiac arrest at way too young of an age, but I love it here and wouldn't change that for anything. I graduated from an all girls school called St Basils (yes, it sucked) and I'm a lifeguard in the summer. You can probably find me kickin it around my dorm, walking the campus or sitting in Starbucks working on my latest assignments. I'm quiet but not shy, don't be fooled. Someday I want to work for National Geographic, so, hey, why not get started writing now?

Alright, thats enough about me (I give you credit if you're still reading this) now onto my plans for this blog. I hope to, as soon as I get my crap together, start blogging every week. I plan to have updates every Sunday on things that you won't find in your normal corner newspaper vendors. Thats what online blogs are all about, right? Stories to come include coverage of the new movie Choke (based on a novel by my favorite writer, Chuck Palahniuk), an inside look at the Temple football team, the campus' best food carts, an interview with hot local band Crossing At Red Lights, a look into the ROTC program at Temple (its some intense stuff, believe me), some behind-the-scenes action with a local radio station, and much more. So, if you're bored between classes, can't sleep at night, or looking for a distraction from writing that billion-page paper, come check out The Grit, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for giving me that few minutes out of your life, and I hope you come back soon. Also, if you have anything you would like to see on here, or any feedback at all, good, bad, pointless, anything...shoot me an e-mail any time: theresa.regan@temple.edu .

Adios! 

-Theresa

Ps. Here's an inspiring message that I read on my coffee cup today. Just a little something to get your brain pumping. (Journalism majors will do that to you more often than not.)

"The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" -- They may not be smart enough to say "yes"."

--Keith Olbermann