Photos | Drew Lazor

… remind them about this morning in Old City, when I watched a Philadelphia Fire Department engine scream down Chestnut Street in response to a call, only to find a PHILADELPHIA PARKING AUTHORITY VAN blocking the hydrant just before the intersection of Second Street. (Thankfully, the call appeared to be a false alarm.)

The visibly perturbed firefighters politely asked the PPA agent — who sprinted back to her vehicle with the quickness once she realized how terrible she was about to look — to move the van, to which she responded something along the lines of, “I was only there for a second, I’ll move it right away!” Strange, I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before.

CP editorial interns always go on to do great things, but I’m pretty sure Jimmy Viola is the first to land on foreign TV. Temple student Jimmy, currently studying abroad in the Land of the Rising Sun, did some good work for CP last year. Here he is on a Tokyo MX network program, pitching himself as a potential beau to the ladies of Japan. (“Super gaijin” basically translates to “ridiculous foreigner.”)

Is that Jeremy Sisto in the beginning?

Jimmy’s blogging about his trip here.

Right now, City Paper news editor Jeffrey Billman and editor in chief Brian Howard are sitting in on the Committee of Seventy’s Annual Breakfast, featuring remarks from vice president/friend of Philly Joe Biden. We’re sure they’ll have full report once the whole event wraps up, but for right now check out their live tweets of the veep’s speech, marked with the hash tag #bidenbreakfast. Billman and Howard’s Twitter accounts you can peep HERE and HERE.

Photo | Drew Lazor (click to enlarge)

This was near 23rd and Catharine. Address all reward checks to The Clog.

I saw this note getting passed around on Twitter earlier: “MontCo Animal Shelter is closing today. Having free adoption from 12-4p! Sadly, all remaining animals will be euthanized.”

Naturally, I re-tweeted it.

Turns out, though, that this was all a misunderstanding — the Montgomery County animal shelter in question is located in TEXAS, not Pennsylvania, but somehow this news got twisted around and applied to our home state. I called both Last Chance Ranch Animal Rescue in Quakertown and the Montgomery County SPCA in Conshohocken, and both confirmed that they will not be closing their doors.

We’re very glad all this is not true — but it’s still as good an opportunity as any to get more info on pet adoption. Please check out both shelters’ Web sites for more.

Thanks to our friend Kibby for grabbing this video of elderly (probably Italian) women dancing to a cover band rendition of Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” during this weekend’s St. Padre Pio Festival. SOUTH PHILLY Y’ALL

NFL.com has the video.

The ever-prescient Adam Riff makes this amazing and slightly worrisome observation about the upcoming MLB postseason:

If the Yankees and Phillies meet in the World Series, game four will be played on the same day as Giants vs. Eagles — both in Philadelphia, back-to-back on Fox.

Dear God, can you imagine?

Photo | Drew Lazor

Saw these dope stencils near the corner of 16th and South. Anyone know who is responsible? The segmented face thing reminds me a little of David Flores.

Skip ahead to 3:30. He also calls out DelCo, his home, as the best county in the Commonwealth.

Photo | John Vettese

Head over to our A&E blog Critical Mass to take in John Vettese’s damage report on this weekend’s muddy, rain-soaked All Points West festival in North Jersey. More reporting and photos are on the way.

Travel & Leisure is currently accepting data for its 2009 “America’s Favorite Cities” survey, and Philly is in the running. Drop by the T&L Web site and it’ll ask you to assess Philly (or any other city) through the lens of criteria like cleanliness, nightlife, shopping options, public transportation, environmental friendliness, food and drink and much more. Be honest.

(h/t phillydesign)

Got old tools you’re not using? West Philly’s Neighborhood Bike Works wants them, to continue all the good work they’re doing. Via their blog:

If you’re feeling moved to help, we encourage you to make a donation online at JustGive.org, or to give us your old tools. We’re in special need of 10-millimeter or 15-millimeter wrenches, allen keys, and screwdrivers, but we can use any bike-related tools. If you have some to donate, call 215-386-0316, email timothy@neighborhoodbikeworks.org, or just drop them off at 3916 Locust Walk during our open hours.

RELATED:

- Training Wheels Off: For 10 years, a West Philly nonprofit has used bikes to promote youth development; now it struggles to shift fiscal gears

- Our Favorite Philadelphians: Andy Dyson

We’ve got a pass for two Harryheads to see a screening of the hugely anticipated Half-Blood Prince this coming Monday, July 13, at 11 a.m. at the Ritz Five (214 Walnut St.). Want it? All you have to do is e-mail drew.lazor@citypaper.net and explain why you deserve it — in one sentence. I’ll pick the winner and post the sentence here.

Get to e-mailing me!

UPDATE: We have a winner. Congratulations to Clog reader Amanda, who submitted this sentence explaining why she deserves the tix: “I have recently birthed Rupert Grint’s first child and I need to take the litle ginger to see dad’s big day.” You win for claiming you did it to Ron Weasley. Congratulations, Amanda!