Finally, here are the last two lots. 318-324 N. 11th St. and 326-330 N. 11th St. Next to the Reading Viaduct and catercorner from the Dirty Truck Trailer Lot, these have been owned by the Philadelphia Reading Terminal Company (which for some reason runs out of a little office in Los Angeles), since Jan. 1, 1943. If you want to count the Viaduct itself as am empty lot, that would bring us up to 12, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. When the Reading Viaduct is turned into the coolest elevated park in the world (and it will be), these lots will be valuable as fuck.

(via PHILAPHILIA Empty Lot of the Week: North Chinatown Lotstravaganza | Philadelphia City Paper | 05/29/2012)

The hedge-fund masters instead arranged for us to move into what they swore would be spacious quarters on the third floor of a now-closed department-store building at 8th and Market, Strawbridge & Clothier’s, itself an iconic Philadelphia brand. We are moving from a building that symbolizes the Golden Era of Newspapers into a building that thrived during the Golden Age of Retailing (bricks-and-mortar division.)

(via Moving is moving for this old newshound, Stu Bykofsky, Daily News Columnist )

Philadelphia really screwed with David Lynch.

His surreal masterpiece Eraserhead is a “dream of dark and troubling things” that was directly inspired by the director’s time spent living at 13th and Wood Street while attending the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The cold industrial feel of his neighborhood coupled with the crime and decay that ran rampant through the area during his 1966-70 stay shaped not only his feature debut, but all of the works that came after it. (You can check out a detailed collection of quotes in which Lynch riffs about the City of Brotherly Love here).

These days Lynch’s old hood is experiencing a rebirth. Affectionately nicknamed “The Eraserhood,” the Callowhill area is home for businesses like the revived Trestle Inn and art hubs such as the Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Arts. The latter of which is currently planning on paying tribute to Lynch with its “art show of Lynchian proportions” Eraserhood Forever.

(via Eraserhood Forever: David Lynch-Themed Art Show Call for Entries | Geekadelphia)

Performance artist Robert Karimi, in character as chef Mero Cocinero Karimi, makes a claim as big as a half-pound bacon cheeseburger: He can teach people to improve their diets without ever uttering such unappetizing words as healthy or nutritious. During a cooking demonstration at Reading Terminal Market on Tuesday, he proved his point by persuading two 11-year-olds, waffle cones in hand, to put a dollop of his radish-greens, mint, onion, and lime dip on top of their ice cream.

(via Healthy helping of laughter and food in ‘The Cooking Show’ – Philly.com)

Remember when Saturday morning used to mean rising and shinning in your PJs, watching Doug swoon over Patty Mayonnaise while happily slurping your snap, crackle and pops?

The Trestle Inn continues to add a flavor of nostalgia to your “adult” weekend routines with their on-going weeklySaturday Morning Cartoon Brunch, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

(via The Trestle Inn Serves New Coffee Cocktails And Screens Vintage Cartoons With Saturday Brunch | Uwishunu – Philadelphia Blog About Things to Do, Events, Restaurants, Food, Nightlife and More)