Philly graffiti interviews

Legends of Philly Graffiti

"Sub," aka "RX," and Notorious BIK talk about the golden age of Philly graffiti.

Cornbread, the Godfather of Graffiti

Ultimate fighting, Philly style

I had to take down this video and revise its content. This is the Philadelphia Fight Factory, a mixed martial arts gym in Fishtown. Dymanic MMA star Eddie Alvarez trains here. If you want to see him in action, check out my Delivery Device blog, which I plan to update more frequently now that I have sworn obligations out of the way. And I'll be posting more video here, too. Yay! Boo!

Philly Iraq vet, hard time adjusting to being home

I did this for work a few months ago, but I felt like posting it here. This is Vietnam all over again. I had a World War 2 vet complain that all this post-traumatic stress was bogus and the new vets should suck it up. But when I asked him what life was like after after he returned home, he admitted to sleeping with a gun under his pillow for a year thinking the "Japs" would get him.

Iraq car bomb aftermath

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Live poultry shop - edited family version

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Raw video - live poultry market in Philly

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Caution: If your only interaction with chicken is the sanitized package of meat you buy at the supermarket, you might not want to watch this. But this is reality, albeit on a smaller scale than a farm or farm factory. I am working on a shorter, more polished version of this for wider distribution.

My Iraq visit, 2004, Pt. 3, Tikrit

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My Iraq visit, 2004, Pt. 2, driving in Baghdad

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My Iraq visit, 2004, Pt. 1

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Are you on Facebook?

I'm experimenting with Facebook and would like any kind of comment about the kind of videos you want to see. I'm a newspaper reporter and some of the videos I do get on the newspaper web site. Some don't. Not because they've been rejected, but that I don't offer them because...well, for different reasons. But what kind of video would you like to see on a newspaper web site? Something that is slick and looks like it could play on TV? Something that is different than what you can't get on TV? Something that is raw and rough, but first before the 11 o'clock news? Or just anything that is interesting, like on YouTube? Let me know. Thanks.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=677216653

Car fire, 12th and Market, Philly, June 30

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Aftermath of 7-alarm fire in Kensington

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Bob Brady puts the Par-Tay in Democratic Party!

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Bob Brady puts the Par-Tay in Democratic Party!

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Murder epidemic in Philadelphia - 2007

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Over the weekend, at least nine people were murdered in Philadelphia, raising the city's homicide total to 125 as of late Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, family and friends of Leon Blackwell gathered at Kingsessing Recreation Center in Southwest Philadelphia to hold a memorial for the 19-year-old, who was shot at the center nine days earlier. He was shot twice in the head and once in the neck by a 16-year-old over what police say was an argument about a small amount of marijuana. The shooting occurred at 4:30 p.m. on April 12. He died two days later in the hospital.

What up with this lame vlog?

Yes, I've deviated from my original intent with the most recent videos. I hope to return to the 'hoodz. I love the subject matter. But I'm about to take a month-long trip to Asia. Call it Asian Hoodz. China, Korea and Japan. I will blog, post photos and videos. I'm leaving Mar. 4, but I'm starting to post to let folks know how my trip prep is going. In between being a tourist, sometimes doing something crazy, and getting drunk, I will do my best to keep the Asia video-blog fresh and lively. Check it out.

http://phillytoasia.blogspot.com/

Freakshow comes to Philly (No, not the Mayor's Race)

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I was headed to my weekly Young Republicans meeting on Saturday when I made an extreme left turn and wound up at the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention at the Sheraton, Franklin Plaza, at 17th and Race Streets in Center City. The gathering of tattoo and body-modification enthusiasts started on Friday and continues through Sunday, Feb. 4. If you make it today, check out Mike Shrapnel's band, Only Flesh. Mike and his fellow musicians play their songs while suspended by hooks embedded in their backs. Good times.

Helping the homeless in Philly

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On a recent Friday night, with temperatures hovering around the mid-20s, and the windchill even worse, the city and social-service agencies participated in a "Code Blue" outreach to the homeless. I tagged along with anti-crime activists Greg Bucceroni and C.B. Kimmins as they tried to help out with the effort. The "official" goal was to get the homeless in shelters, but the reality was that most street people don't want to be in shelters. Watch the video and they'll explain why. We started in Frankford and moved our way to Center City in the subway concourses. As the people above enjoyed the city nightlife, the people below struggled to live another night.