MelissaInPhilly

Aw, please make nice. With the loss yesterday and the Phillies' meltdown on Friday, there's a huge dark cloud hanging over the city. At least the "Occupy Philly" people at city hall are having a nice time, but I'm still not sure what they're protesting. I suggest that the Eagles QB officially change his name to Michael PICK!

Hopefully their winning streak lasts -- I'm looking forward to seeing them on October 9th. I like the Eagles, I have to admit, but with all their problems (lousy D, lousy coach, and Michael "the Pick" Vick out for a long time) there's a good chance that those Birds will get their wings clipped again. Guess who I will be rooting for?

I "lurk" on these political boards and it seems like most of you are Obama supporters (personally I am not crazy about either candidate) but I wonder why no one is mentioning the elephant in the room - RACE. Obama presents himself as a "post racial" candidate, but I still believe that are a significant number of whites who will not vote for a black man as president, and not just in the mean ol' South. I am fifty years old and grew up in WNY. Some of you are going to get upset, angry and defensive when I say this, but my family and I faced a great deal of racism there. I literally can't count the number of times I was called "!@#$" there. Oh, don't forget being spit upon, nearly run off the road, the racist telephone calls, etc. I left WNY when I was 18. Things may have changed since then, but I could never bring myself to go back to the WNY area -- the memories are just too painful. I've lived in Philadelphia for 20 years, and there is also plenty of racism in the "City of Brotherly Love." I've been called !@#$, had people point to me and say "there's your cousin" and suffered other slights. And I am not a 'welfare mom," a drug user, a criminal, or any of the stereotypes often applied to black people. I've been working since I was sixteen. I am an articulate middle-aged woman with an Ivy League degree and a professional job, but to many of my fellow Americans, I'm still just a !@#$, and so is Obama. I'm not saying that all whites are racist, of course, but I think that are still quite a few who are. The polls say that Obama is ahead, but what people do in the privacy of the voting booth -- that's a different story. If you don't believe me, check out this article that shows bigotry even among younger voters: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/us/politics/15youth.html I wish I was wrong about race playing a big factor in the elections, but I don't think I am.

SD, I don't get it either. I'm not crazy about any of the candidates, but this is ridiculous. I work in an office that is mostly African American and although most don't like McCain, they ABSOLUTELY HATE this woman. I have not only heard her called a be-atch, but a "prostitute," "trailer trash," "accused" of being a Playboy bunny, , etc. I don't say anything about politics at work, I don't think it's appropriate, especially since I'm not 100 percent enamoured of Obama, but the last comment was so stupid I had to say "i think she was actually a Miss Alaska, not a Playboy bunny." And these are people they go to church, or say they do. There are also rumors that Palin was in the Ku Klux Klan -- do they even have the Klan up in Alaska? On the flip side, someone is sending letters to people with McCain signs on their lawns and calling them "white racists" and also writing if they vote for McCain they are "losers" and "sinners." WTF is going on here?

I only spend about $5.00 a month on lottery tickets and during the summer I won $500.00 so I guess I'm doing pretty well!

You say that I only come here when I have bad news to post. Well, I won $50.00 in the lottery yesterday!

I went to see it yesterday. Most of you probably know this, but it is about Ernie Davis, "The Elmira Express," who played for the Orangemen at Syracuse and became the first African American to win the Heisman trophy. Like most sports movies, it was a bit formulaic and a bit long, but I enjoyed it. The ending was so sad, I cried (and I usually don't do that in movies). I would recommend it for kids over twelve because there's some violence and racial slurs that may make some people uncomfortable. I was looking at reviews of it on other boards and some people said it was another "left wing film to make white people feel bad," etc. and other stupid things. Hmm . . . there were white people in the audience and everyone clapped in the end, so I didn't get that impression. There is a nice little street in Philadelphia called Ernie Davis Circle and I wonder if it is named after the football player. That would be strange, since he really didn't have any ties to the city. Well, John Heisman did go to the University of Pennsylvania many many years ago when the Ivy League teams were actually good . . . We missed the first part of the movie so while we were waiting for it to start again we sneaked in to see a bit of "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." It was cute but stupid, much like the dogs themselves -- looks like a good family movie.

In the last ten months there have been three police officers killed in the line of duty here. Officer Isabel Nazario was the last one. I didn't know her at all, but I went to the viewing to pay my respects (I once went to a Catholic funeral many years ago and didn't know what the heck was going on. When the priest said something about the "presentation of the gifts," I said to myself "isn't it a bit too early for Christmas")? Anyway, even though I didn't know her or the family at all, I felt tears come to my eyes. The officer has a young daughter and was about to be married. She was only forty. So sad. It just reminded me of how fleeting and precious life is. Thank you and God bless to all our first responders. Here's a link to the story: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking...en_officer.html

I heard that starving to death is painful. I just want to die peacefully in my bed!

Not too long ago a strange-looking "dog' was wandering by the (Delaware) riverfront and when animal control officers were called, it turned out to be a wolf! Then the next day the idiot "owner" showed up to claim the wolf, which had been sent to a sanctuary. Not smart. Wolves are beautiful, but once again, they're not pets! Is is true that they howl at the moon?

Has anyone been watching "Grizzly Man" on the Animal Planet channel? It's the story of Timothy Treadwell, who filmed his adventures with grizzly bears in Alaska until he and his girlfriend were killed and devoured by one and possibly two of them in 2003, I believe. The footage is amazing, but i think Treadwell had some serious issues. He had been warned repeatedly by park rangers to leave the bears alone, but he didn't listen. I guess he felt that was the bears' protector, but isn't that what the park rangers are there for? I'm a city girl, but I know enough to leave wild animals alone. Treadwell died a horrible death, and I'm not saying he deserved it, but he should have listened to the park rangers. I don't know why people feel that they can "tame" wild animals. They are unpredictable and can't be trusted. I understand that when that Australian guy (I'm sorry, I forget his name right now) was killed by a stingray, some people went around killing stingrays in revenge, which was crazy. As an animal lover, I also hate when people keep wild animals (especially big cats) as pets. They're cute and cuddly when they're little, but when they start to get too hard to handle, these same owners abandon these animals and even try to have them euthanized. There was a show on television about people "adopting" capuchin monkeys and keeping them as pets, treating them like children. Monkeys make lousy pets. They have sharp canine teeth and are highly excitable, and when excited, they may urinate and defecate. They also like to masturbate alot (nothing wrong with that, but who wants to see it)? Once again, many of these monkey 'children' end up in sanctuaries. Treadwell's tale reminds me of the story of Christopher Candless, who died of starvation after going to "live off the land" in Alaska. He's the subject of the book and movie "Into the Wild." I haven't read the book or seen the movie, but it sounds to me like Candless was a disturbed young man. I wouldn't dream of going into the Alaskan bush and trying to survive on my own. I would last maybe one day. Once again, he died a horrible death, but people romanticize him. Both stories should serve as cautionary tales. P.S.: Has anyone read "Into the Wild" or seen the movie? People seem to either love the book/movie or hate them.

We lost our old Chihuahua mix, "Poppy" today. Not only was he older, he had an enlarged heart (many Chihuashuas do) and he passed away in his sleep. He was a good little guy -- despite his size he had the heart of a lion -- and he will be missed. Rest in peace, dear little friend.

I like dogs, but I am never at home so I have a cat. When I was growing up we had a miniature schaunzer. Wonderful little dogs, very smart, feisty, and make great watchdogs.

Well,my husband and I are almost done paying restitution for my son's "tagging" of a local shopping mall. He's still in placement but will likely get out around late 2006/early 2007. Hopefully my son has learned his lesson. He was complaining about people "always stealing his ****" and I said "well, now you know how I felt when you stole money from me." He just didn't say anything.

No offense Bill, but I would rather stay out of NY completely -- it's not my favorite place. Philly is annoying enough. I'm glad my daughter decided not to apply to NYU!