Archive: Philadelphia

August 24, 2007

For the Love of a Cheesesteak

I’m starting to experiment with eating meat again. I had stopped eating meat nearly five years ago, not for ethical or political reasons, but for personal health reasons. (Without going into too much detail, I would eat meat and would subsequently end up in the bathroom for a long time.) This was not something I was fond of, so it… more »

February 20, 2007

Comhaltas Redesign

This is just a brief note to help announce the Happy Cog redesign of the website for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, an organization promoting traditional Irish music and culture around the world. I’ve written before about our two wonderful trips to Ireland to meet and work face-to-face with the people of Comhaltas, specifically our astute contact Breandán Knowlton. I’m not responsible… more »

February 7, 2007

Happy Cog Redesign

After the announcement of the new Happy Cog Philadelphia office we knew we needed to go back and spruce up the Happy Cog site a bit. Well, we managed to steal some time here and there to put one together, and it’s now my pleasure to present the new Happy Cog website! The design is very much one of… more »

December 15, 2006

Return to Letterpress

This past summer I took a Letterpress class at the University of the Arts here in Philadelphia. I ended up enjoying it so much I decided to take it again (though this time as a 10 week course instead of 5). I felt so good to jump back into doing this again. And now that I had one class… more »

October 23, 2006

Dress-up

Halloween, the most sacred of all holidays, is fast approaching. This year will be a bit different for me: for the first time in my life, I will be on the giving end of the candy. I’m now a homeowner and I see it as my duty to keep tradition alive by welcoming all the ghosts and ghouls to my… more »

October 3, 2006

Happy Cog Philadelphia

Just as Jeffrey says: it’s official, Happy Cog now has a Philadelphia office! Right now, the Philadelphia gang is composed of me, Greg Hoy, Rob Weychert, Dan Mall, Jon Aldinger, Mark Huot, Heather Shaw, and Robert Roberts-Jolly, all of whom I’ve worked with in the past and have found to be some of the most creative and talented people I… more »

June 25, 2006

Letterpress Adventure

I just completed a letterpress course at the University of the Arts, and all I can think about is how I wish it was longer. I first found out about the class while speaking to a group of about-to-graduate students. I signed up straight away, and so did Rob, Kevin, Dan, Sutter, and April. Since this was just a… more »

May 24, 2006

Our House is a Home

Well, we’ve been in our house almost three months now and things are going great. save a few mishaps. The day before we moved in, the hot water heater broke and flooded the basement with it’s musty contents. A couple weeks later, the basement once again filled with water, this time due to a drainage backup; it turns out… more »

April 10, 2006

The Descent

I only got to see one film in this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival, and luckily it was damn good. The film is a UK horror movie called The Descent—from Dog Soldiers director and scribe, Neil Marshall—and screened as part of the Danger After Dark showings. On the surface it bears a similar direction to last year’s snore-fest The Cave,… more »

February 20, 2006

Do, Doing, Done

A few random bits, facts, meanderings, and other delusions from the sleep-deprived. This past Friday we went to settlement on our house, and 101 signatures or initialings later, it was ours. The weekend was spent tearing up carpets and ripping up thousands upon thousands of staples. My hands are still twitching as I type this. We managed to funnel… more »

December 7, 2005

Philly AEA, Come and Gone

Well, the An Event Apart train has run through Philadelphia, home of the glorious cheesesteak and land of brotherly love, and now passed on to find the next town. Because it was the first in this series of events, it was not without its fantastic hiccups; the Franklin Institute’s spotty Wi-Fi, the polar-like room temperature, and the frustrating uptime/downtime of… more »

November 29, 2005

AIGA Podcasts for An Event Apart

An Event Apart kicks off in Philadelphia in just under one week! As one of the event’s sponsors, AIGA has taken it upon themselves to podcast some interviews with AEA’s speakers and mine just went up on the site. For more insight on AEA check out the other interviews: Jeffrey Zeldman part 1 and part 2, and Eric Meyer part… more »

October 5, 2005

Mayhem

Because I have such a deep, deep affection for you all and this most blessed holiday season, I have collected a heap of bloody good links to get you in the mood. Feel free to add your own in the comments. Around the Web Friends: A few friends are dressing their sites up to celebrate this most festive season, Sutter… more »

September 6, 2005

An Event Apart

After many threats over the years, An Event Apart is now live. What is An Event Apart? Well, it’s essentially a live conference version of A List Apart. Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman will travel from city to city, holding intense, one-day learning sessions on the how and why of web design and web standards. What’s most interesting is that… more »

July 8, 2005

Philadelphia Standards Meetup

Last night was the first monthly meeting of The (reinstituted) Philadelphia Standards Organization. The group was originally organized on Meetup.com, but nearly disbanded once Meetup started charging monthly fees. Friend and ex-coworker Jeff Louella picked up the torch and decided to keep it alive. Philadelphia companies are way behind when it comes to web standards, as evidenced by this scorecard,… more »

January 18, 2005

Accounting 101

Hello Philadelphians, this post is for you. Not that the rest of the world can’t read it, but I request the help of my fellow Philadelphians in particular. Now that I am self-employed I am in need of an accountant; someone who knows numbers and can help me out with filing taxes quarterly, any sort of Philadelphia or Pennsylvania-related business… more »

December 8, 2004

Christmas in Rittenhouse Park

Tuesday night was beautiful. A little rain, a lot of fog, and the perfect backdrop to take pictures in the park. Every year in December, the trees in Rittenhouse Park, now stripped of their colorful leaves, get decked out with a colorful assortment of gigantic Christmas balls. Some are the size of a fist, some the size of a basketball.… more »

October 25, 2004

For Entertainment Purposes Only

Your guide to my tastes! This is how I like to get in the mood for Halloween. These are not best-of lists, these are just some of my personal favorites, so don’t yell at me if you favorite movie sucks and didn’t make the cut. Also, I don’t claim to be well read (or listened), so if you think me… more »

October 19, 2004

Rustlin’ Up Respect

Well, we did it again. The National Film Challenge rolled around two weeks ago, so we got the gang together and made another film during a sleepless weekend. It was the usual deal, at 7pm on Friday your team is given a genre, character, line of dialogue, and a prop, all of which must be represented in a 4-8 minute… more »

June 23, 2004

Entering Your 27th Year

You may have noticed some strangeness this morning, people shuffling down the street with armfuls of streamers, drivers honking their horns in unison. There is a purpose to their behavior. Today marks the end of my 26th year of life and the beginning of my 27th. Today is my birthday. This past weekend also marked our third Camp Naked Terror… more »

June 2, 2004

Summer-esque Slothdom

Isn’t it amazing how productivity comes to a grinding halt once the first hint of warm weather rolls around? The most puzzling part about it is that I hate the summer (I know its not summer yet, so lets call it summer-esque). Well, in a manner befitting of summer-esque slothdom, here is a loosely joined collection of miscellanea. To help… more »

May 17, 2004

Spring Upkeep

I managed to get around to some long overdue site updates and maintenance this weekend, and now have some treats for your viewing pleasure. A new set of photos called Procession of Saints which were taken this weekend in Bella Vista (in South Philadelphia) during the Bella Vista Festa. The Procession of Saints is a parade of sorts where a… more »

May 13, 2004

Jukebox Zeros, let there be rock

In perfect Bill & Ted style, my brother’s band, the Jukebox Zeros, were invited to compete in Little Steven’s Underground Garage Battle of the Bands. That’s Little Steven as in E Street Band and Sopranos fame, and the Battle of the Bands as in last band standing conquers all and takes away the most tail (oh, and the winning band… more »

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April 12, 2004

Philadelphia Film Festival 2004: Part 1

Last night our short film Lunch Break screened as part of the Philadelphia Film Festival in the “Best of the 48 Hour Film Project” (which also included nine other films from the competition). The film went over very well, and we even picked up an award for “Best Editing”, though the thumbs-up for that really goes to Josh Meyers and… more »

March 26, 2004

Lunch Break

This past weekend, some friends and I took part in another weekend film competition, the 48 hour Film Project. It’s basically set up the same way as the National Film Challenge that we entered in October, which brought forth our first short film, Dial-a-Spy. At 7pm on Friday we were given a genre, character, line of dialogue, and a prop,… more »

February 2, 2004

A Throwback of Sorts

Saturday I saw The Dillinger Escape Plan and The Locust at the Troc, marking the first show I have been to in months. I hadn’t seen any of the bands live before, luckily it did not disappoint. Unfortunately, I only caught the last song from the show opener Orthrelm, but they left a very good first impression. Next up was… more »

December 8, 2003

A Splendid Day Off

Today I had off. Today my car got towed. Rob was nice enough to drive me to the impound lot. Rob was nicer still to wait with me amidst the lines, yelling people, and inane process of car retrieval. It costs $100 to spring your car from the joint, and an extra $25 for your parking ticket. If you would… more »

November 9, 2003

Eddie Izzard is Sexie

I had been waiting for this past weekend for months. That’s because this was the weekend of the Eddie Izzard show (on the current Sexie tour). For those who don’t know, Eddie Izzard is a piss-your-pants-kind-of-funny transvestite comedian from England. You may remember him from such films as Shadow of the Vampire and The Cat’s Meow (as Charlie Chaplin), which… more »

November 3, 2003

All Hallow’s Eve

Halloween, the culmination of my favorite month. This year it was spent in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, the country’s second oldest Victorian Garden Cemetery. Which basically means it’s design was thoroughly planned out with areas for walkways, trees, and manicured environments. The first person was laid to rest on (in) its grounds in 1836. Since then its 96 acres… more »

October 2, 2003

A Brush with Stardom

The CBS show Hack” (which is a show about some crime-solving taxi driver, to my understanding) was filming on my block earlier this week. Trucks, trailers and other assorted important-looking-stuff lined the curb. While walking home from the train Tuesday, I took it upon myself to go investigate. I walked out to the street corner where a few important-looking people… more »

October 1, 2003

A Splash of October

Egads! Orange! Yeah, that’s right, orange. Though some of you have accused me in the past of often reverting to orange in my designs, this time I have an excuse…it’s October! In recognition of October being the best month of the year (and consequently occupying the best time of year), I have decided to throw together a quick color scheme… more »

August 12, 2003

The Big Move: Part 2

Well, we are finally in the new apartment. The move was marked this past Saturday with a whole lotta lifting, sweating, swearing and whining from all invloved parties. But its done! Four flights down, four flights back up makes for an awful way to spend your time. Everything went almost perfectly…until the battery in the moving truck died just before… more »

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April 6, 2003

A Re-Animated Weekend

This past Saturday afternoon I had the extreme pleasure of seeing the third installment in the Re-Animator series, Beyond Re-Animator. It was showing at my new favorite Philly theater, the Bridge, as part of this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival. By far the best part of the screening was the appearance of the series’ star, Jeffrey Combs. Also, being that I… more »

March 17, 2003

Fire Hazard

Word on the street has it that Philadelphia’s club the Khyber is closed, quite possibly for good. Apparently the crackdown on fire codes after the recent Great White concert tragedy has caused many cities to reevaluate their clubs for possible violations. Granted, in the event of a fire, the Khyber would be a death trap, but the part that really… more »