Those of you that have been to the Blogs With Balls events have probably thought, “Yeah, these panels are great, but I wish I could just get silly without having to pay attention to all of these panels.” Well, guess what, sucka. Fellow podcaster Dan Levy is throwing a party for his 500th show, and you can consider yourself invited. It’s happening December 18th at Northbowl Philly on N. 2nd St., and I’m going to be there at 9 PM sharp. It’ll have all of the social ineptitude of a blogger meetup, with none of that pesky note-taking.

And Levy has told me that transportation is being organized from The District, so if you’re in the DC area without families or concerns about travel the week before Christmas, you definitely need to make the trip. Admission is free and I understand that it is open bar since Bulleit Bourbon and Captain Morgan are sponsoring this whole thing. And you can introduce Wharf to your family! Or not.

You won’t pay to get in, but you need to get a ticket here. For more details as they come in, you can email the blog at WithLeather@Gmail.com with the subject “Philly” or follow the #DL2DC hastag on Twitter. There will be no better precursor to you getting drunk with your parents, so get on it.

L to R: Josh Zerkle ("PUNTE"), Jonah Keri (Bloomberg Sports, et al.), Alana G (Yardbarker), Dr. Nicole LaVoi (University of Minnesota), Moderator Jason McIntyre (The Big Lead).

If you ever need proof of how wonderful the internet really is, just stop and take a look at real life for comparison. The internet caters to one’s every inquiry, curiosity, fetish or need. The world of actual people, places and things? Less so. And so it was with a bit of trepidation that I attempted to explain my success as a writer in the former realm in that of the latter in my first appearance as a panelist at the well-known Blogs With Balls conference in Chicago last weekend.

I understand that this event comes off as a low-end circle jerk to a lot of you. For those more interested in my day at the event, you can continue with me after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Pole dancing may not become an Olympic event anytime soon, but even if it did, that probably wouldn’t satisfy the jockniks who weigh so carefully the activities that they consider to be “sports.” I had the chance to spend some time with a few of these athletes at a US Pole Dancing Federation event last fall. Yeah, I guess these things are all federated now. But these girls have a lot of requirements to meet, and I’m not just referring to the 5-inch heels that all competitors are required to wear. After speaking to some of the women involved, I came away impressed with the effort and the discipline involved in their craft. It’s more than you’d ever see in the NBA, which, granted, isn’t saying much. Read the rest of this entry »