The Great Return of Philaphilia

Philadelphia

NOW!

Near 56th/Market. I'd tell you more about this building but there isn't much to tell other than that IT KICKS ASS!!

               OK, you fucks, I, your favorite Philadelphian(and your mom's favorite boyfriend), GroJLart, is back. While I have kept this little blog going with my Hidden City jerns every couple of weeks, the time has come to bring Philaphilia back to full force.
               But why did I go away for awhile? Well, I started to feel like y'all didn't need me anymore. At the time Philaphilia started in April, 2011, there wasn't shit about Philadelphia architecture or development happening on the internet. Philly Skyline was gone and Brownstoner just called it quits. The industry itself was going to shit, as there was barely any construction going on, both big and small. It was the perfect time for my stinkin', shit-talking self to swoop down and give you my own low-integrity, totally credential-free opinions about the architecture, urban planning and history in Philadelphia, since really, nothing else was going on. A year and a half later, something happened. Development returned to Philadelphia, but not before about 7000 new blogs/publications dealing with Philadelphia-related shit came along that sopped up most of the subject matter I would talk about. I no longer felt the need to remind you about the greatness (and sadness) of Philadelphia-- these fine fuckers were doing it for me.
             The other thing is this: 2013 was a big year of change for me. For starters, I quit smoking cigarettes. So many people have told me for so many years how hard it would be... well, fuck 'em. I did it and it really wasn't that hard. I started with the e-cigs and by the time I was tired of dealing with those, I no longer had the urge to smoke. Maybe it wasn't hard for me to quit because I started as an adult-- oh well, who cares? Its over-- no more cigarettes for me (except at McGlinchey's, heh heh).
            The second thing I did was lose 67 pounds. Quitting cigarettes made me gain about 15-20 extras pounds-- the pounds that pushed me from the realm of "fat sweaty hairy over-eating bastard" to "fat sweaty hairy over-eating bastard that can barely move". When I got to that point, I knew that I had to either start losing weight or start constructing my rag-on-a-stick for when I became bed-ridden. All these months later, I am now less than 3/4ths of the weight I was on June 24th.
             So there you go-- for most of 2013, I was focused on myself and not as much as having to tell you about shit in this city. However, much has happened since I've been gone and there are still things that no one else seems to want to write about. Therefore, I'm here to tell you that Philaphilia is now BACK and will be filled with all new subjects and stories. Don't worry, fans of the old Philaphilia, I'll still be writing about Old-Ass Buildings and Butt-Fugly Buildings as well. New subjects include:

Fill This Front:

Calling out chronically empty storefronts in Center City in an attempt to get these places leased once and for all. Since the people who are responsible for them are unable to get it done, I will try. You're Welcome, lazy retail leasing agents.

99 Years Ago in Philadelphia

This when I will turn back the clock and show you the kind of shit that was going on in Philadelphia 99 years before a given week. The parallels to today's bullshit will surprise you. 

GroJLartitorial:

Once a month, I will give my own dangerously un-informed opinions regarding both current Philadelphia-related issues and other nonsense I think of to tell you. Enjoy!

Random Bullshit:

I'll also be writing about some other random bullshit that doesn't fit the other categories. This will include the occasional return of some of my old subjects, like Parking Garage of the Week or Butt Fugly Public Art of the Week.

WE'RE FUCKING BACK!!!!

Original pic by Brad Maule

 New posts will occur on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. BYE BYE!!!