#philly elmo

[thegoodmorningman]

life is all about finding creative solutions

[go-bwah]

waiting for a philly drumline to be on agt

[regallibellbright]

Watching baseball, my brother: Why is there Elmo there?

Me: Because Muppet Monsters and whatever creatures Gritty and the Philadelphia Fanatic are share a last common ancestor?

This prompted a discussion of what Muppets are considered monsters and which are considered unique species. It was agreed that Gritty is actually a closer cousin to Grouches than Monsters but that all three share a genus. Maybe a family.

Bro: Is Gonzo a monster? Me: No, Gonzo's a weirdo.

Mom: *Laughs*

Me, Actual Muppet Scholar: No, that's canonical, that's also his gender. *Checks the Muppet wiki for a good example of Muppet Monster Clearly Related to Gritty and checks on Gonzo as well* Wait, actually, his species and gender are "Whatever", "Weirdo" is a newer thing.

Bro: Same principle.

Me, later: Wait, actually, I think the Philly Fanatic is related to like, Gonzo and the Snowths from Mahna Mahna. None of which are likely to descend from Earth.

Bro: Yes, but I think Muppet eyes are an example of carcinization.

Me: Yeah I'll buy that. For Gonzo and the Fanatic it's not the eyes, they just share like. Indescribable vibes.

Bro: *Agrees*

[lotus-flower-writes-history]

Masterlist

🚧 Under Construction🚧

The Unofficial Black History Book

Author's Note

Phillis Wheatley

The 16th Street Baptist Bombing

Janet Collins

Juneteenth

Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner

The Tulsa Race Massacre

The Eulogy of Malcolm X

Clara Hale

Maya Angelou

Ruby Bridges

Huey P. Newton

Henry "Box" Brown

Bessie Coleman

The Jim Crow Laws

The 1866 Memphis Massacre

Jessie Owens

Bayard Rustin

Freedom Summer

Fred Hampton

Ella Baker

Colfax Massacre

Della Reese

St. Elmo Brandy

Elbert Frank Cox

Dr. Wade Nobles

Fern Hunt

Henrietta Lacks

Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry

Hattie McDaniel

Red Summer

[tony-the-tigers-juicy-armpit]

Im on the train platform with Philly Elmo ??? 😭😭

[dietraumerei]

I don’t really miss Philly ever, except right now I would be okay with being in Philly bc OH MY GOD Philly Elmo and people are trying to climb the streetlights and look I just love the way we love our city

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

fun question time: if you could create a local hero for your hometown/profession/local activism/etc. who would they be and what would they look like? i'm having a blast imagining different local heroes and i think you might too!

Oh, that is a fun question. Currently I live in the Philadelphia suburbs, so my first thought is that we've already got Gritty, but he's a mascot of course, not a local hero--same with the Phanatic, Philly Elmo, the guy who dresses as Hulk Hogan, all of those guys. Tons of mascots, this city. (Side note, I think DelCo deserves its own mascot. Could be a chain-smoking, coffee-addicted goose in a Phillies hat.)

I feel like a local hero for Philadelphia would be someone who wants you to unionize your workplace, and his arch nemesis would be a big rat. They could do a stage show in Clark Park, maybe. I can't think of how either one would look, unfortunately, but that feels like a good baseline.

A local hero for my hometown is a totally different animal, of course--my hometown is most known for being the location of Macdowell, the artists' retreat (and thus also the basis for the Thornton Wilder play Our Town, which I hate with a passion). To be honest, I'm not sure if a better local hero would be someone who is an artist, or someone who supports artists, but either way they'd have to be art-related.

Visuals I don't know that I can figure out for any of these hypothetical guys, but there are some concepts! ^_^

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

News/Announcements: Shoutouts to Patreon Patrons, Creatives Rebuild New York and Asian Art Initiative Philly 2023 was one of more embittering, infuriating and maddening years in recent memory for me. And it doesn’t help that with this line of work, it’s all too easy to battle and endure feelings of loneliness, despair and failure; to feel and believe that you’re an imposter. I’ve personally found it to be a brutal, unforgiving and wildly interesting life and career path that can’t — and will never — compare to most other jobs I’ve ever previously had. And I’ve had quite a few of them in my life!  The Joy of Violent Movement turns 14 in June. 14 years of doing anything is a very long time. It’s close to a quarter of my life. And for the blogosphere, that’s roughly somewhere between 10-139 lifetimes. Now, it hasn’t always been easy. There have been moments, where it felt impossible to manage this thing and to keep it going. To be frank, as the kids say “the math ain’t matching.” But for the most part, I can say this: I’ve felt and believed with every fiber of my being that I needed to be brave and bold, and go out on my own, because I didn’t believe that I’d really get a fair shot to do this work for anyone else.  I’ve said this for many years: I’ve long felt strong desire — and need — to create something similar to the wildly eclectic, dynamic and global sort of environment I grew up immersed in as a young Black boy in Corona, Queens. Unsurprisingly, whenever I remember I read my favorite music magazines and sites, I never saw the world I grew up in being covered or represented in any significant or meaningful way.  From my own experiences working in book publishing and as a music journalist, I’ve learn that as much as you can demand fairness, diversity and inclusion, it’s still ultimately up to the powers in control to see it, hear it, understand it, take it to heart and actually do something about it. So what do you do when those in power don’t get it — or don’t want to get it? Well, then it might be time to grit your teeth and try to do it your own damn self.  When I started this site back in 2020, I din’t — and just couldn’t have — imagine the majority of the things I’ve experienced, seen and covered throughout its history to have ever happened.  I’ve covered roughly 1,500 shows in NYC, with a handful of shows in Chicago, Baltimore and Philadelphia.  I’ve covered a dozen or more festivals, including traveling to Montreal for M for Montreal twice — in 2019 and 2022.  I’ve been a panelist at Mondo.NYC Festival, New Colossus Festival, and for a Music Managers Forum Canada Webinar speaking about PR, promotion and press for indie artists, giving my perspective as a indie blogger and journalist.  I made a cameo in a JOVM mainstay’s music video. It’s a very noticeable spot towards the end of the video.  I’ve photographed George Clinton, Patti LaBelle, Buddy Guy, Snoop Dogg, Blondie, Nile Rodgers, Roky Erickson, Philip Bailey, Blind Boys of Alabama, Big Bird, Elmo and a growing list of legendary and beloved artists and personalities, as well as this site’s growing list of mainstays.  What will JOVM’s 14th year hold? Generally speaking my hope is always for bigger and better for the site for y’all as readers. Earlier this month, I announced on this site that I was selected to be in the inaugural cohort for Asian Arts Initiative’s (AAI) Sound Type Music Writers Workshop in Philadelphia. So some explanation: Sound Type is AAI’s music festival designed to support and uplift new, courage music from the Asian Diaspora and beyond. The Music Writers Workshop will provide journalists and critics a series of workshops, gatherings and mentorships meant to help held build a sustainable ecosystem of BIPOC musicians and writers of criticism. The writers will attend and write about the concerts and other music programs at the festival — and it’ll be published after AAI’s 2024 season. I said this t...

[jellybeanium124]

In case you're curious, the current performer for Elmo is a guy from Philly named Matt Dillon, which is cool. Not as cool as the fact that Matt Vogel, who plays Big Bird, his last name, loosely translates to bird in German. Matt Vogel actually apprenticed under Carroll Spinney, who originated the role who passed away a few years ago. Matt Vogel also is the voice of Kermit the frog which is a bit unpopular in the fandom but in my opinion, Steve Whitmire got fired for good reason he didn't wanna work with new performers and if the Muppets are going to continue to go on you need to start bringing in fresh blood as a lot of the original performers no longer perform or even passed away at this point.

cool!

[go-bwah]

waiting for philly elmo to turn up on agt

[moshpitgirlfriend]

shoutout philly elmo

[tvintedspvrkarc]

few things are as important to me about philly as the tiny drum line that follows a dude dressed as elmo around the city no matter what the weather is like

[fuchsiaswingsong]

Elmo Hope Ensemble - "A Night In Tunisia"

Elmo Hope - piano Lawrence Jackson - trumpet Freddie Douglas - soprano saxophone John Gilmore - tenor saxophone Ronnie Boykins - bass Philly Joe Jones - drums

[becauseiamnotanelephant]

doing something. finally.

It can feel like pulling teeth to get Graham to commit to doing things, which is moderately driving me crazy - either I come up with things to do that are "too boring" or "too adventurous" and it's impossible to find the happy medium, but today, I got it, but barely. Graham took the day off so we had a weekday free and I convinced him that we should go to Philly for the day. He wouldn't commit until about 9:30 AM, so I was mentally preparing myself to spend the day at home, per usual, but he agreed on an adventure and we did it! Leaving after rush hour was great; we got there in under 2 hours. We parked for free on the street in Fairmount Park and spent the morning at the Please Touch museum. It was fun and Hannah had a good time but the bar has been set really high by the children's museum in Santa Rosa that was so full of fun and educational things that nothing can come close.

We brought our bikes with us so we were able to go to Center City for lunch at the Reading Terminal Market, which I wish existed in some form in NYC (everything here is to upscale) and then we took Hannah to see the Liberty Bell. Unfortunately it was too gross and sticky out so we were all cranky and just decided it was time for ice cream and a drive home. It was fun to bike around Philly - there are some really cute streets once you get off the main drags (which also have really nice architecture). We saw the Penn and Drexel campuses and a few blocks with brownstones just like in Manhattan or Brooklyn. I said to Hannah, doesn't this look like NYC and she said it looks like where Elmo lives. This kid is too smart!

[ciabatta-babe]

You already know I’m thinking about the Philly Elmo stepping with a drumline next to the great Philly trash fire of 2018