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Showing posts with label Kendra Wilkinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kendra Wilkinson. Show all posts
My experience at this year's Outfest was different from last year in some ways. For one, I didn't see Kendra Wilkinson or any other "reality" TV "stars," which also meant that I didn't make it to national television. That didn't bother me. What did bother me a little is that the protestors who always show up at these things, while still small in number, were louder.
At least three of them, on different streets, had portable PA systems and were going on almost non-stop harassing passersby with their hatemongering. I say "almost" because there was one brief moment when someone yanked the microphone cord out, silencing the bigot. The guy who did this was immediately pounced upon by the waiting police.
I realize that these religious freaks have their rights, since the festival was out on the public streets, and I know that police have to do their jobs to keep the peace. But this sight really sickened me. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion really sucks sometimes. (Programming note: I still need to write about those "Occupy ____" people soon.) I wish there were a way to discourage these people from showing up at all. I use this analogy often: they're dinosaurs, stuck in tar pits, and soon to be extinct. I just wish the process could speed up a little. And I still think the rest of us ought to show up at their events now and then and enjoy our same freedoms.
Remember how I was walking along and suddenly found TV cameras in front of me?
Remember how I learned that the cameras were there to record Kendra Wilkinson for her "reality" TV show on the E! Network? Remember how I took a couple of pictures of her?
Turns out, the episode aired recently, and I DVR'd a repeat of it last night. The whole thing revolved around her personal assistant, Eddie (pictured with Kendra), who hadn't yet come out to his parents. Naturally, he and Kendra talked about the subject. Naturally, the concierge in the building where Kendra, hubby Hank Baskett and their infant son lived (before Hank was cut by the Eagles early in the 2010 season) was gay. Naturally, Eddie and the concierge talked about the subject. Naturally, Outfest was about to take place. Naturally, the concierge suggested Eddie attend. Naturally, Kendra wanted to tag along. Naturally, the three of them wandered the streets that day. (I say "naturally" all these times because only in "reality" TV can such a confluence of events occur.)
Before I discuss Outfest itself, here are a couple of pictures I took on Wednesday when the Rainbow Flag was raised at City Hall in honor of LGBT History Month. I hadn't realized that the flagpoles in question were sitting at ground level and didn't go extremely far up. Still, it's a nice honor. I did read that the flag was only raised temporarily, and then taken down until the 15th because they had to put back up the Puerto Rican flag that was raised in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (mid-September to mid-October). That seems to be a slight to both, in a way. Perhaps they'll work things out differently next year.
The Rainbow Flag after being raised
Mayor Michael Nutter speaking
As for Sunday, when I got downtown and walked down 13th Street towards the festival, the first thing I saw was the protesters. There's a small group of religious nuts that shows up every year at the Pride festival in June, as well as at Outfest. The reactions to these protesters ranges from trying to reason with them (complete waste of time) to heckling to making jokes to angry yelling. There's always a police presence to keep the peace, which is a good thing because if there weren't, I know there'd be trouble.
This year, in addition to the small group standing near the barricade with the loudspeaker blaring their message of hate, there were a few people walking around the festival with t-shirts saying "God hates you" and "God hates sinners" -- sort of like what the Westboro Baptist creeps wear, but none of them actually said "God hates fags," as the Phelps nuts wear. Also, their sayings were either written in pen or painted. They were quite crudely written. I guess those people were too poor to afford anything better.
Meanwhile, I almost literally walked into a film crew walking backwards. I had no idea who they were filming until I looked at one of their credentials.
If you've ever wanted to hear a professional football player proclaim, "Let's buy some shoes!" this is your lucky day!
Eagles linebacker (and 2009 Philadelphia Daily News Sexy Single) Stewart Bradley posted a link on his Twitter feed to something he posted on YouTube. It's an audio recording of his interview on a local radio station's morning show. On the show Bradley debuted an a capella rendition of the "Sex and the City" theme as performed by himself and teammates Brent Celek, Todd Herremans (a Sexy Single from 2008), Hank Baskett (co-star with his wife Kendra Wilkinson in a "reality" TV series) and new starting quarterback Kevin Kolb.
Bradley is the one who recites the "shoes" line, and possibly the one that follows (which is even more fun; you'll have to listen -- I won't spoil it). The pertinent portion begins at about the 0:50 mark:
Finally! I don't know why I haven't really blogged about the local teams much recently, but I promised I would do so this weekend. As I begin to write this, there's an hour before Daylight Saving Time takes effect. If you don't believe me, it says so at philly.com:
See? The Associated Press confirms it. I suppose that makes for something of a deadline, like professional writers have to deal with. So let's get to work, shall we? And hey, I've got a mention of a brand new team! In order of best to worst...
The Phillies are in the midst of spring training, and even so they're in the best shape of our local teams. They're a pretty solid favorite to win their third straight National League championship. I have some concerns (the bullpen, the bench) but if their key players are in good health, I don't see why they won't be in the World Series once again. Thus far in the spring, their starting pitchers have been excellent. Roy Halladay, of course, is the main focus, and in his first two starts he hasn't allowed a run in 5 innings while striking out 8 batters. With the offensive support he should get, with the switch to the NL meaning he'll face lineups that include opposing pitchers instead of designated hitters, with the fact that he's now in the same division as the Nationals and Marlins instead of the Yankees and Red Sox, he ought to rack up a lot of wins.
The Flyers need to rack up a lot of wins to secure a playoff spot, but they're still too inconsistent. The Olympic break, as I feared, dented their momentum. They've gone 4-2-1 over the last two weeks, but have been rather subpar defensively, capped off by an embarrassing 5-1 loss at home to Boston on Thursday night. But they followed that up with a 3-2 win over the tough Chicago Blackhawks today, coming from behind to tie the game with 2:04 left, and winning on a Chris Pronger goal with 2.1 seconds left. Besides the inconsistency, their goaltending has to be considered a question mark. Ray Emery is out for the season (and may never play again), and even though Michael Leighton has played very well, this is the first time he's had such a stretch of success. There's no guarantee it will last, or that he can step it up for a playoff run, and after Leighton there's Brian Boucher, who has been poor in very little playing time.
The Eagles need a great draft to shore up their weaknesses because they haven't done it through free agency. It's a weird situation because clauses in the collective bargaining agreement that's going to expire in a year or so have led to there being no salary cap, but also to most of the quality free agents being restricted instead of unrestricted (meaning if you want to sign one, the player's current team can either match the offer or receive draft picks as compensation). Still, all the Eagles have done is sign a guy coming off injuries (we saw how well that worked out with Stacy Andrews in 2009) and bring back Hank Baskett, who is now known for his fumble of the onside kick that jump-started the Saints' comeback to win the Super Bowl, but is still best known as Mr. Kendra Wilkinson. Also, they still haven't traded any of their quarterbacks, so the endless Donovan McNabb debate continue to pollute the airwaves.
And now for the new team: the Philadelphia Union, a new expansion franchise of Major League Soccer. There are three things wrong with this. One, it's soccer. Two, their stadium is in Chester. Three, the team may be shut down before it plays a game because the league's players are threatening a strike.
Still, they rank ahead of the pathetic 76ers. One of the worst teams in the NBA but probably not pitiful enough to really improve their draft lottery odds. A building that's half-empty almost every game. A coach who seems to be a moron, even to a non-basketball expert such as myself. And Allen Iverson's season was ended because of some combination of his daughter's illness, his wife's filing for divorce, his alleged gambling problem and his alleged alcoholism. Sorry, Sixers. Thanks for playing...
