The South Street TLA Video is closing. 15th and Locust will stay open for "as long as the community supports it" but the writing is on the wall.

This is sad. I'd rediscovered the TLA in the past year or two, getting rid of my netflix subscription because I want a movie when I want it (or Eleanor wants it), not days later, and the "Netflix Now"streaming service almost never had what I wanted.

I'm told Netflix Now has improved, but this still suxx0rz.

Granted I don't rent a hell of a lot of movies, owing to the art form that has cheerfully taken over my life, but I'll have to make a pilgrimage or four to the 15th and Locust store while I still can.

Tags: film, movies, philly, tla

All "members," including folks like myself who recently ceased to be members, just received an email from phillycarshare. They took a slightly less patronizing tone and apologized for any confusion they may have caused with the recent changes. They continue to describe their changes as a "simplification" and still don't acknowledge the (perfectly reasonable) real economic reasons why the change was necessary, which is very puzzling to me.

It's too expensive to insure us occasional drivers. I get that. But lots of people don't get that— because you didn't tell them. Treat your customers like adults. Keep people in the dark and patronize them like two-year-olds and they will yell and cry and moan like, well, two-year-olds.

Their newsletter makes the point that "for-profit car sharing services" (i.e. zipcar) are much more expensive in cities other than Philadelphia (where there are no alternatives). This is true and it's cause for concern. But I'm not sure who they are making that point to, since they never actually address their former members in the newsletter. They just sent it along to us anyway, complete with links to check your April invoice which don't work if you quit two weeks ago.

Tags: philly, phillycarshare

Phillycarshare just dumped their "basic freedom" rate plan with a shady email at 6pm on a Friday night, giving only six days' notice to cancel your account or be charged a monthly fee on the 1st. And they cheerfully announced it as a "rate simplification."

The account cancellation form linked to in the email is a security nightmare, with no password required. Just your member number. Member numbers are consecutive. Which means you could readily cancel other members' accounts unless they are manually checking the names of users (they do prompt for names). In which case I feel bad for their employees.

Actually I DEFINITELY feel bad for their employees. Rumor has it they are facing bankruptcy.

(No, it's not a phishing scam as you might be wondering. It went only to legitimate members and the cancellation form is on the site mail.phillycarshare.org.)

The twitterverse went berzerk with the news tonight. Not one supportive or even tolerant email, due to the thoroughly unprofessional way the rate hike was implemented.

zipcar offers a $50/year "occasional driver" plan. I'll be going with that or just ditching car sharing completely. The only times I really need-need a car tend to be weekend commitments exceeding three hours, so it makes more sense to just rent one for the day and be done with it. I used phillycarshare for late-night salsa (I'll miss the night rates) and the occasional IKEA run. I can live without both. Though the IKEA people could increase their business by working out a better relationship with the local cabbies.

Here's the ever-so-special email for your amusement. Crazy emphasis theirs.

Rate Plan Change to Benefit You: Please read on...

PhillyCarShare is pleased to announce that we're simplifying car sharing in Philadelphia!

Starting May 1st, we will streamline our offerings into one plan, the Philadelphia Plan, which will give every residential member access to the lowest PhillyCarShare hourly rates. The monthly fee will be $15 and the hourly rates will range from $3.55 to $8.55, with the continued monthly 5 cent reduction in the hourly rate through July 2009. All current Basic Freedom members will be converted to this new membership plan on April 30th, when the first of your $15 monthly membership fees will be charged to your credit card.

With the significantly lower hourly rates available in your new plan, you will have access to the lowest hourly rates on the largest fleet with the most locations in Philadelphia.

If you have any questions, please call our Member Services folks at 215-730-0988, ext. 5. If you would prefer to pay all at once, we will provide a 30% discount on the monthly fees; you should mention "Coupon Philadelphia" to the Member Services associate, who will then charge you $125 for a 12 month membership.

If you have any concerns, please call Member Services at 215-730-0988, ext. 5. If this plan is not for you, then please use the link below by April 30th, 2009 to cancel your PhillyCarShare membership and avoid being charged the $15 May membership fee.

With rate simplification and the most extensive network of vehicles and neighborhoods, we are solidifying the fact that PhillyCarShare is the most convenient choice for those short trips around the city.

Since we launched in 2002, Philadelphians have embraced car sharing because we're convenient, we make good sense for your wallet, and we're green. As the nonprofit car sharing company dedicated wholly to serving Philadelphia now and in the long-run, PhillyCarShare is, in fact, a plan for Philadelphia, creating a more sustainable future for this great city and playing a fun and convenient role in your life.

Tags: cars, environment, green, philly, phillycarshare, politics

Approximately as taught by Sebastian at Estilo Dance Studio on Thursday night. Rueda varies from place to place, some of these differ from Mike's calls which differ from Darlin's calls which differ from yours. These are my personal notes... if you really want to learn, show up!

Enchufle double con something-double con abooya-double. Enchufle double. Then rock into the circle on one-two-three, setting her up for an outside turn that carries her in and out of the circle on five-six-seven, yelling "heeeey-ya" on the one-two-three. She echoes on five-six-seven. Do that twice. Dile que no.

Dedo. Break back on one-two-three, as for an enchufle. On three take her right wrist with your right hand and let go with your left. Outside turn her as she comes across and you turn right. Keeping that one hand, do an enchufle con muerte (enchufle with a hook turn for you), then a regular enchufle. Ends like the previous move with the rock into the circle, but no abooya and you only do it once.

Sombrero. Break back on one-two-three. Change hands and outside turn her as she comes across. Sombrero (arms over your respective heads) by seven. Dile que no.

Sombrero con bachanga step. Begin with a somebrero; stay that way. Tap forward on one, return your left foot to its usual place right away on two; same for the right foot on three-four. Keep that going through five-six-seven-eight. She does the same on the opposite foot (but still forward, not back). Dile que no.

Sombrero double. I'm surprisingly good at this, I think I've been messing with it on the social dance floor or something. Begin with a sombrero. Now, lift up the arms again and inside turn her as she comes across, settling into somebrero again by seven. Now lead her back across in a simple reverse cross body lead.

Chico derecho. Not really a move that requires any explanation, I'm just amused because for the first time in maybe eighteen years I heard a command in Spanish and immediately understood and carried it out without explanation or repetition. If only all calls were as simple... okay, that'd be pretty boring. Oh yeah, the move: guys step into the circle on one, step around their partner to the right, claim their next partner on five-six-seven.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly

Next month, SEPTA rail may finally be on Google Transit, with buses to follow "by the end of the year."

Meanwhile, indie screenscraper-driven sites like iSEPTA and septime will likely remain useful for quite some time to come. For rail travelers iSEPTA is vastly more pleasant to use on an iPhone or similar device. And my septime site, which includes buses, trains, trolleys and subways, is still the way to go if you want to quickly find the next departure of a particular route from a particular stop. septime, which looks awfully basic on conventional desktop computers and even iPhones, is built for simpler cell phone web browsers and works very well indeed on a Blackberry.

Will SEPTA ever release the feeds they are giving to Google as public data feeds that other organizations can use to create better SEPTA-related services for the public? No sign of that yet. But other major transit agencies have done so. So there's always hope.

Thanks to R. for pointing out the Metro story. (Since when is Metro more on the ball than the Inky? Sigh.)

Tags: geek, philly, septa, transit, web

Katie Henry is THE front-page featured seller on Etsy as of this writing! Holycrap! Her original sewn art is on my wall yo.

I better start keeping "Party Party Party" in a friggin specimen jar! Protected by alien laser beams!

Here's a permalink to her featured seller interview.



I am super proud of my neighbor.

Tags: art, benna's, katie henry, philly, south philly

Setente siete as taught by Sebastien at Estilo Dance Studio, and as misremembered by me. Don't just read about it, come join the rueda class!

Begin the setente as usual: Break back and come forward, making a wing with her; break back again and turn to the right, bringing her into a hammerlock.

Enchufle on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, DO NOT turn right, resist temptation! She's behind you now, that's a GOOD thing. On five-six-seven do a hand shuffle: your right to your left shoulder on five, your left joins it by seven.

On one-two-three bring the hands out in front of you, bringing her around you. On five-six-seven right turn her.

Enchufle (yes, you do turn this time); let go of the arms to undo the knot on five-six-seven.

Dile que no.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly

Estilo Dance Studio is in the Fitness Works at 7th and Reed Streets in South Philly. Don't just read about it, come take classes!

There is an additional rueda instructor at Estilo now: Sebastien. Sebastien has taught rueda in France. He's awesome. French-accented Spanish rueda calls are your best entertainment value.

He threw in some silly variations on the enchufle. Principe bueno is an enchufle ending with a kiss on the hand as you sweep by to the next girl. Principe malo ends with a turn away and a stomp. Principe... heckiforget ends with mussing the girl's hair wildly. DO NOT TRY THIS WITH STRANGERS IN CLUBS IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO TASTE SPIKE HEEL. In a way you won't like.

I worked on the candela, a not-too-fancy move that I've nevertheless had persistent trouble with, and seem to have it down:

Break back and cuddle her in, then push her out again.

Repeat that.

On the third repetition, cuddle her in as usual on 1-2-3. On 5-6-7, keep both hands high, and turn left away from her. On 5, bring your right hand to your left shoulder (which is what kept biting me in the ass before). Now on 6-7 you'll settle the left hand to the right shoulder.

Now march in place in the direction you're now facing. When "paribe" (I think) is called, turn left to face your partner again, but keep marching in place.

When "dorito" is called, raise your left arm and walk under it to the next girl.

When "daiquiri" is called, reach over your partner's arm to the arm of the next girl, but don't go anywhere yet! When "zefir" is called, complete the move by raising your arm and passing your current partner under it and behind you, welcoming your new partner in front of you.

When "dile que no" is called, cross-body lead your partner and you're back to normal.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly

Baillala: dile que no, tap your left on eight, her right in your left. Give her a free spin inside turn. Chill out and wait for her to finish. Dile que no.

Baillala dos: dile que no, tap your left on eight. Give her a free spin inside turn. Turn left yourself.

Adios medio: like a regular adios, then step into the middle of the circle, then step out five-six seven. Repeat that bit.

Siete coca-cola: dile que no, tap your left on eight. Roll her in, push her out again, continue into a 360. Don't let her get away from you, keep her close, keep it tight and continuous, don't let her step back and away.

We spent a lot of time on the setenta complicado again, which is good because, we'll, it's complicado but it's nice to have it falling into place and not completely beyond me anymore. Rock.

We need more people in the rueda! Philly has a zillion salsa dancers, we need more rueda visibility. Any salsa dancer can pick it up quickly...

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly, tom's life

The Thursday night salsa rueda class at Estilo needs more people! Jump in! Mike and Darlin are open to starting a beginner's catch-up class at the same time if there's call for it (so to speak). You should have at least a few months of social or classroom salsa dancing experience under your belt going in.

I rueda really a lot. But I've been trying to learn the setenta call for months. The dam finally broke tonight.

I have goofy explanations for my triumph: my brain is full of gourmet theobromine thanks to solestria! Rapid progress is only possible with $20 chocolate bars!

But it's really because I took the parts of the move I did have down and incorporated them on the social dance floor... a lot... building my vocabulary of basic moves so that I can better understand complete sentences. This is almost always the real reason why you "just can't" learn a pattern: you don't know the pieces yet. Break 'em down.

Setenta. Break back on one, then bounce back, coming side to side with her on three; the two of you are like a wing at this point, with you on the left. On five-six-seven, as she comes across, right turn her into a hammerlock; turn right to face her.

Enchufle on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, chaqueta: tuck your right elbow outside her arm.

Dile que no (cross-body lead), bringing your elbow in again on one-two-three.

Setenta complicado. The first set of eight is the same.

Enchufle on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, make a window with your right arm; as you step back on five and return on six, pull her through it; on seven turn left to face her, letting go with the right hand. Reclaim her left in your right; you have a normal hold again.

Enchufle on one-two-three, stopping her with your right hand on her hip so she winds up facing the same direction as you. On five-six-seven, glide her back.

Dile que no.

Siete. Easy-peasy one. Dile que no, tapping on eight. On one-two-three, break back and roll her in; on five-six-seven roll her out again.

Dame por... something: cross-body lead opening on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, inside turn her into a hammerlock with your left hand, letting go on seven; she comes across but you remain facing your new partner, and go straight into guapea (basic). This means your next partner is clockwise rather than counterclockwise. That also happens in other calls when pariba is added to them.

Darlin and Mike said something to the effect that they need to add more calls soon, so I expect to be back in kindergarten very shortly. But it was a very nice feeling to be Right There With It.

I like the feel of rueda moves and I'm noticing that they are very leadable on the social floor in Philly, since we dance on one here anyway.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly