April Fool's ... Or Badly Timed Comeback?

This has got to be a joke. According to Boston.com, these guys are making a comeback on the twentieth anniversary of this:



Thing is, the counting down to launch NKOTB website looks more legit and sophisticated than the sort of pranksterism Boston.com's capable of. Maybe Boston.com's been persuaded or duped into playing along with someone else's joke. In which case Boston definitely will win a round in Bostodelphia's Boston vs. Philadelphia Battle of '08 for best prank. If this is legit, Boston may well lose every point it's earned to date, and possible every other point it's capable of winning over the year, as consequence for its shameful resurrection of this musical monstrosity.

Boston vs. Philadelphia 2008 Round 5: On Easter Sunday...

Easter '08 brings to the Philadelphia basket and its basket-cases the third annual Philly Zombie Crawl! In honor of civilization's ur-zombie, Jesus Christ, Philadelphians made up and attired in Sunday best Zombie couture converge upon Tattooed Mom before stalking South Street in a shambling bacchanalian celebration of the (and their) resurrection.

What's Boston got on this? Sad to say the city founded by Puritans has no shamble, just a pedestrian observation of Christendom's highest holiday. Zzzzzzz without suffixed "ombies" bores me to the grave. Philly takes the Thriller crown on this one.

The Happening is Happening

SciFi Wire writes that M. Knight Shyamalan's new film is slated for a Friday the 13th, June 2008 release. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, and shot in around Philly, last summer, looks to my eyes to be giving another take at what Shyamalan would likely call the metaphysical, theological or philosophical underpinnings of Signs. After Lady in the Water, let's hope he's got producers or editors willing to give him a frank assessment of his recently faltering, if not outright bloviating craft. The fact that the script went through one total rewrite after Shyamalan shopped it around as the The Green Effect may hint that Shyamalan may not have as free a reign as he had been rewarded with after the success of The Sixth Sense and Signs (and maybe the Hollywood powers that be are with me on liking Unbreakable). I think that may be a good thing in his case.

More to our concern, with this and Invincible, it's sure looking like Philly's stealing Mr. Wahlberg from his him hometown. Probably not worth a full round of points in our ongoing Boston vs. Philadelphia bragging rights battle, but like the Damon-Silverman Hollywood Affair, this poaching may garner something akin to a field goal or safety points.

Everybody's 'Effin Matt Damon

This was on Jimmy Kimmel earlier in the week. Bostodelphia got clued into it via a post by Wesley Morris on boston.com's Movie Nation:

While Sarah Silverman's confessional vid is the first time Matt Damon has been directly named in the media as a party to infidelity, Wes may remember that this is not the first time the actor's been implicated in such a role. While it never made mention in Wes's own review of Eurotrip, to my mind one of the most memorable scenes in that flick is another musical confession on the part or Mr. Damon:


Coddy may want me to mention that both Mr. Damon and Ms. Silverman are Boston area hometown heroes. That may be, but since neither of them mention their roots in the vid, I don't think this qualifies as one of our "rounds" in the ongoing Boston vs. Philadelphia 2008 bout. I say that despite Boston's need to pull ahead on the bragging rights front. Really, the only thing Coddy's been able to dish out is a Mayor who can get elected?

Still, in the spirit of the pending Super Bowl floor wiping the Pats are about to perform with the Giants, perhaps we can rule that the "rounds" of the 2008 contest will be scored as "touchdowns" points wise, and local kids done good will warrant something akin to a field goal or maybe a safety.

Boston vs. Philadelphia 2008 Round 4: We got WING BOWL, Boston's got .... beans.

Warning, nudity, debauchery, and vomiting below:



FRIDAY. WIP's Wing Bowl 16 goes down with door's opening at 5 a.m. It may look like bedlam in the vid, but there are rules, for spectators and participants. Most of you reading probably slept through all this. Fortunately for those of us who missed out, Philly.com covered the qualifying stunts and will be keeping some feeds from the frenzy.

Really, what's Boston got on this? A hockey tourney called the Beanpot, that finks out on incorporating actual baked beans into the event? The Scooperbowl? Please. It's childsplay, a noncompetitive event. No way peace love and ice cream is going to beat out strippers, early a.m. beer chuggin, and extreme competition eating. Sorry. Boston gets hosed here. In Philly, we can do all this and still make it to work by 9 or catch our Friday a.m. classes. Wait, uhhh, yeah, we'll be in, just a couple of minutes late. Really.

Boston vs. Philadelphia 2008 Round 3: Mayoral Invincibility

Boston's mayor, Thomas Menino, may lack the hip-hop singing talent of Philadelphia's Michael, Nutter. However, he more than makes up for it in his utter demolishing of electoral competition and is now in his 4th term.

• 1st term, 1993: 64-36 for Menino over state rep James Brett, making an Italian-American the first to break the 63-year stranglehold on the mayor's office by Irish-Americans.
• 2nd term, 1997: ran unopposed
• 3rd term, 2001: 76-24 over city councilor Peggy Davis-Mullen. Menino gained in popularity in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
• 4th term: 67.5-32 over city councilor Maura Hennigan, making Menino the longest-serving mayor in Boston's history (a history which is 52 years longer than Phillie's, incidentally).

Will Nutter match this record? Who knows? This round clearly goes to Beantown.

Boston vs. Philadelphia 2008 Round 2: We pwn teh Pong

So Bostodelphia's 2008 bragging rights fight is supposed to be dragged out over the year; but like our new Mayor, the Philly Phaction in this is hitting the ground running and leaving Beantown all gas-bloated in our wake.

Check it. 2008 U.S. Olympic National Team Trials and Qualifying Tournament. Right here. In Philadelphia. Table Tennis, called Ping Pong by us civilians.

Boston vs. Philadelphia 2008 Round 1: Philly's Mayor Could Battle Beantown's Mayor to the Ground

So last year, Coddy hit Philly with a bunch of bare boned Almanac facts to prove home city superiority. This year there's a new game, and the crown ain't going to be won in some little skirmish like the one he pretended to win last year. Uh-uh. 2008 is going to be a year-long struggle, and we're going to knock it back and forth, round by round, till the calender's done gone. This is round one.

It's almost too cruel to bring this up, because the guy Coddy's gotta back in this fight, Mumbles and Stumbles Menino, just can't lay down hope for a city's future like this:



Yes, things are a little clunky in the first mintue, but give the guy a break. It's his first night in office. Plus, word has it all them technical difficulties were ?uestlove's slipping up on the DJ magic and getting in the way of Nutter who was rearing to go from his first step on stage.

Good luck, Mr. Mayor. I know you got a lot more in ya. Coddy and Boston ... SERVED!

Boston vs. Philadelphia!

In the spirit of the Bostodelphia name, I think it's high time to compare our beloved cities. Boston v. Philadelphia. The Cradle of Liberty vs. The Birthplace of America. Who will come out on top?

First some stats via Wikipedia...

	B	P
population	590,763	1,448,394
density	12,327/sq mi	10,882.8/sq mi
area	89.6 sq mi	142.6 sq mi

Ok, Phillie is bigger but Boston is denser and has a nice harbor. Let's call it a wash.

Next up, sports. This one isn't even fair. Boston has the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Revolution. Philadelphia has the Eagles, the Flyers, the Phillies, and the 76ers. The last team in Philadelphia to win a national championship was the 76ers in 1983, and their major teams have 12 championship titles. Boston: last one in 2007 (duh), and a mere 32 championships. Oh, and the Boston Marathon is run here too. Suck it, Phillie.

Colleges...Boston and its immediate area has 42 4-year colleges and universities, including such internationally known heavyweights as MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, BC, and BU, and totals 100 in the surrounding area. Philadelphia has 80 nearby and in the city and actually has more students. None of them standout in international circles. Oh, and as for co-op schools, Boston's got Northeastern University, founded in 1898 and now with 15,195 undergrads, and had co-op from the get-go. Drexel is a little older, founded in 1891, but didn't get around to co-op until 1919. Drexel also enrolls a mere 12,906 undergrads. And might I add that both Cheesesteak the Impaler and myself are NU alumni. Advantage: Boston, natch.

Food: Phillie has the cheesesteak, Boston has baked beans and clam chowder. Pick your poison. As for beer...Boston used to have a FREE BEER tap at the now-defunct Haffenreffer brewery in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, frequented by such luminaries as Babe Ruth. Winner: Boston, on account of free beer.

History: Ok, both played a very prominent role in the founding of the United States, with the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution being written in Phillie, and of course Boston's got the Shot Heard Round the World. Although might I point out that Ben Franklin was born in Boston. Tie.

Famous music acts: Philadelphia has Hall and Oates. Boston has Aerosmith, Boston, The Cars, The Pixies, Throwing Muses, Mission of Burma, The Lemonheads, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Chick Corea, and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. 'Nuff said.

Motto: The City of Brotherly Love vs. The Hub of the Universe. Ha! Point for Boston.

Movies: Many famous movies have been filmed in each. Rocky of course is set in Philadelphia, but that unfortunately spawned the entire Rocky franchise. Famous movie makes from Philadelphia: M. Night Shyamalan. Boston: lots, including Matt Damon, the Affleck brothers, and Adam Green, but M. Night Shyamalan automatically makes Philadelphia forfeit.

Famous people: There's plenty from each. Tie.

Enough! This is looking like a massacre. Final tally: 3 ties, Boston wins 5, Philadelphia 0. Conclusion...Boston rocks, and Philadelphia sucks donkey balls.