A Million Stories

Last week, City Paper determined that a Twitter account bearing Gov. Ed Rendell's name was the work of an impostor. The messages had started innocently enough — "What a beautiful day in Pennsylvania!" — but soon began to reek of parody: "Creating jobs and stimulating the economy is not as easy as it seems," said one, "Sometimes I just want a hug."

City Paper contacted Rendell's press office, who said the governor had nothing to do with the account. No sooner had we solved this mystery, though, than another one sprang forth. Its name: twitter.com/mayor_nutter.

Twitter Nutter's posts have been exceedingly — calculatedly? —boring: "Working hard to get this budget passed," he wrote in his first post. The next was just a link to phila.gov. But he'd chosen to follow a surprisingly realistic pack of twitterers: Drexel News, The Wharton School, VisitPhilly. Could it be???

"It is not the mayor's account," wrote spokesman Doug Oliver in an e-mail, "and no one (that we are aware of) is doing it on his behalf."

- Isaiah Thompson

Frankly, we're pissed. Banners hanging from the Wachovia Center rafters proclaim that Bruce Springsteen has sold out 45 shows in Philly, while Billy Joel one-ups him at 46. Billy frickin' Joel. The good news: The Boss' sellouts this week at the Spectrum put him one ahead of Joel. The bad news: BJ's two concerts this summer with Elton John at Citizens Bank Park will count toward Joel's total, according to a Comcast-Spectacor rep. For now, though, E Street residents take the lead. Suck on it, Billy.

The long sunny day was slowly melting into late afternoon at the first-ever Fishtown Shad Fest. Local reggae band Iron had just finished a set, and the crowd clapped appreciatively. A gentle breeze came off the river. And then a voice came over the speakers:

"No casinos!" it said. No one cheered. No one booed. It just happened. A few minutes later, still grinning, bassist Greg Mungan said he was surprised at himself. He doesn't belong to any anti-casino groups. "I don't want to pretend to be an expert on the issue," he said.

He was, however, against riverfront casinos. Actually being there on such a lovely day stirred something deep in his soul. "I didn't plan it," he said. "I was just swept up in the moment."

"The Phils hit two grand slams at your very first baseball game!" is what we'll tell my nephew, Bruno. We'll probably leave out the part where he slept through Ryan Howard's rocket to center in the fifth Monday night, and was at home for Raúl Ibañez's shot in the eighth.

It had been tough getting the 4-month-old, up way past his bedtime, to shut his eyes. Joe, our incredibly kind usher in section 215, did the Phanatic "put-a-spell-on-you" routine, and quietly called him "out!" when the little guy gave in. Bruno's eyes did pop open when the crowd erupted at Howard's shot, but he left before Ibañez's. The chowderheads behind us were still there, however. "Burrell who?" they asked.