Category Archives: life in the big city

Message in a bottle to literary agents

Posted on August 26, 2014 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit broke the seal on the bottle of Wild Turkey I’d just given him. This was his reward, in advance, for his advice today. It’s a tradition here at my shack in Tinicum. I told the rabbit I’ve been around … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, fiction, life in the big city, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Porn flick about Comcast would be called ‘Insatiable’

Posted on February 14, 2014 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit and I were reading that Comcast, the nation’s No. 1 cable services provider, has bought out Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 provider. I wondered aloud what’s become of the Federal Communications Commission, the outfit that is supposed … Continue reading →

Posted in campaign finance reform, City Paper, humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, Philadelphia | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The ill logic of the lower classes

Posted on December 29, 2013 by oddmanout215

It’s the Eighth Day After the Solstice, and I’m back at the shack after checking up on my old house, which stopped feeling homey after a tree fell on it last year. Some of my old neighbors are doing OK, … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, down and out, economic collapse, fiction, globalization, humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘I’m Waiting for the Man’

Posted on November 5, 2013 by oddmanout215

I’m waiting for my man/Twenty-six dollars in my hand… — Velvet Underground “Twenty-six dollars!” Swamp Rabbit yelled. “That’ll git ya one Oxy from the ice cream man on Staten Island. Maybe two mixed drinks at Death & Co.” He was … Continue reading →

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Power broker vs. broken newspaper

Posted on October 16, 2013 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit chugged his hangover remedy, a carrot juice and swamp grass mix, as I complained to him about the sorry state of the mainstream news media — in this case, The Philadelphia Inquirer, which is owned by the same … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, movies, New York Times | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yo, Daily News! Bike theft more than ‘pesky’

Posted on September 5, 2013 by oddmanout215

From Tuesday’s Philadelphia Daily News: Cops in Center City are trying an unusual approach to thwarting bike thieves: They’re letting them steal bikes. Undercover cops… set up stings – like the one Aug. 15 observed by the Daily News – … Continue reading →

Posted in bicycling, life in the big city, mainstream media, Philadelphia | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bagel bomber busted at Vital Records

Posted on August 31, 2013 by oddmanout215

My plan was to hitchhike from Tinicum swamp past the junkyards and into Philly through the backdoor. My friend Swamp Rabbit tried to discourage me, but I had no choice, a temp agency was insisting on proof that I really … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, Philadelphia, police state | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

American exceptionalism, in a nutshell

Posted on April 27, 2013 by oddmanout215

Spokespersons for the U.S. military often refer to anti-American combatants as “bad guys,” as if opposition to U.S. foreign policy is the same as immorality. As if killing on behalf of the U.S. government makes you exempt from bad-guy status. … Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq war, life in the big city, mainstream media, Obama, terrorism | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

When life feels like ‘Groundhog Day’

Posted on April 7, 2013 by oddmanout215

I was biking through a school-free drug zone, on my way to a temp job, cultivating bad habits. Not overtly bad habits — Marlboros and meth, and so on — but rather those drab little habits meant to ensure the … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, humor, Iraq war, life in the big city, mainstream media, movies, Philadelphia, pop music | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are perfect storms the wave of the future?

Posted on March 17, 2013 by oddmanout215

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) has a cheesy script, but the spectacle of New York City immersed except for the upper floors of its tallest buildings is worth the DVD rental fee and doesn’t seem silly in our post-Hurricane Sandy … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, environmentalism, humor, life in the big city | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment