Food trucks are a staple of Penn. As upperclassmen move off campus, they realize that a filling meal from a truck is cheaper and more satisfying than the slop they serve at Commons: thus, they ditch the meal plan and go wait in line for some economy-friendly eats.
While we all have our favorite truck, the undisputed king has to be Magic Carpet. The lines to get this vegetarian fare at 34th and Walnut are enormous, and the happy faces of customers as they eat are a testimony to how delicious everything is.
VendrTV agrees. That’s why they did a recent webisode profiling Magic Carpet and owner Dean Varvoutis (yes, the brains behind your Bella Donna). Personally, we’re loving the enthusiasm of the lady in the last testimonial. Kudos, Magic Carpet.
Winners for this year’s mashup contest, sponsered by Penn Libraries and the Penn Humanities Forum, among others, were recently announced. We highly recommend that you check out the winning entries, which include a really cool Jay-Z being a G sequence narrated by a W. H. Auden poem, the Muppets taking a different kind of Manhattan, Field of Dreams reinterpreted, and a Penn-style sequel to Slumdog Millionaire, complete with a gratuitous absurd dance finale (see image at right). Each video makes for excellent procrastination fodder, and once you finish watching the winners, you can check out the rest of the entries too, meaning whoops, you’ll never get anything done.
If you’re not a total zombie, chances are the last days of class and the run-up to finals are kicking your ass and making you feel like some evil higher power is holding you hostage with a fast forward button. Does that make any sense? We’re honestly not sure, but Street photo guru Thomas Jansen made this totally sweet time lapse video of the high rises, and you need to check it out.
In case you missed it, Penn alum David Fraga (C ‘07) was recently on Fox Business News promoting his not-for-profit microfinance internet platform, Lend For Peace, designed to provide economic opportunities for specific micro-entrepreneurs in the Palestinian Territories. According to their website, Lend For Peace was “founded by two Jews and two Palestinians (all current or former Penn students) … to enable people of all faiths and backgrounds to make a tangible difference in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Check out the heartwarming interview below:
*In addition to being a Penn alum, Fraga was also a Mask & Wigian, (cough, cough) just like Tae. -Ed.
American Idol fans at Penn tend to keep their fervor on the downlow, but it’s a safe bet that there are more than a few of you who secretly tune in every Tuesday and Wednesday. One such fan made his love public this week when Entertainment Weekly featured him in their Idolotry video series. His name is Zach Sergi, and you may recognize him from his Friars membership or perhaps his turn as a Streetcover boy. In this video, which sadly we cannot embed, Zach riffs on Adam Lambert, he of the bell bottoms and pompadour. And he represented Penn admirably, vocabulary-wise: he opined that Adam’s most recent performance “skewed towards detracting” from his fandom. Zach, you’ll always make our top 10.
Locust Walk is full of cheesy posters and you keep ignoring invitations to join “Re-Elect That Guy Who You Met That One Time” groups on Facebook: yes, children, student government election season is once again upon us. This year, our friends at the DP have done us the service of putting together video statements for many of the candidates, and we highly recommend that you check the ridiculousness out. Our favorite so far? That would be Rico Moorer, who begins his address with, “Hello cats and kittens of the School of Arts and Sciences…” And you can e-mail him at ricowehaveaproblem@gmail.com! Rico definitely gets our vote for Vice President of Corporate Smoothness.
To brighten up your Thursday, enjoy this thugged-out version of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. It kind of hangs Will Smith and West Philly out to dry, but we like it anyway.
In this age of text messages and Twitter, there’s no shortage of ways to contact that special someone this Valentine’s Day. But doesn’t a singing telegram say much more than a less-than sign and the number three (read: <3) ever could? Thank goodness the old-timey crooners of Penn’s Glee Club are offering Singing Valentines, deliverable both over the phone and during class. Yes, for $5, you can have a bunch of kids in blazers interrupt your lecture and sing to that girl or guy you’ve been crushing on. And proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity. Seriously, this is awesome. Check out the Facebook event here and place your orders here. Below, a preview.
Sadly, we heard that Dhamaka did not triumph at Saturday’s Phillyfest (they were beaten by–ugh–NYU). Lucky for us, videos of the competition have been uploaded to YouTube, so you can decide for yourself whether Dhamaka was robbed or got served. Here they are, and please note the fake Mu Alpha Kappa frat house behind them, because we totally love it.
A new Funny or Die video called “Prop 8 – The Musical” features celebrities like Jack Black (as Jesus Christ), Neil Patrick Harris, Maya Rudolph, John C. Reilly, Andy Richter, Margaret Cho, and others. Check it out below!
Street counts itself as a proud follower of the cult of James Bond. And how could we not? Long before The Office got the phrase “that’s what she said” stuck in our heads, Agent 007 was making ridiculous sexual innuendos. And in case you’re wondering exactly what he said, Maximhas compiled clips of the best Bond sex puns. Now hit that.
Possibly the truest statement to ever be made in the history of mankind was uttered by 30 Rock’s Kenneth this past Thursday. For those of you who don’t watch the show–-well, first of all, shame on you. But to fill you in on the background (and all you heroes who do watch can skip to the next paragraph), Kenneth is the over-eager, over-earnest, loveably hick-ish page working for NBC Studios. And he is (unintentionally) a genius. This week, he got to watch cable for the first time in his life.
Here’s the clip, from around 18 minutes into the episode:
“Is Spongebob Squarepants supposed to be terrifying?” My immediate reaction to this gem was to make it my status on gchat, facebook, BBM, and basically every other gadget that has tricked me into thinking that the rest of the world actually cares what I’m doing. But my obsession with this line didn’t stop there. After giving the concept inordinate amounts of thought over the weekend, I’ve decided that Spongebob is, in fact, supposed to be terrifying.
Winners for this year’s mashup contest, sponsered by Penn Libraries and the Penn Humanities Forum, among others, were recently 
American Idol fans at Penn tend to keep their fervor on the downlow, but it’s a safe bet that there are more than a few of you who secretly tune in every Tuesday and Wednesday. One such fan made his love public this week when Entertainment Weekly featured him in their Idolotry video series. His name is Zach Sergi, and you may recognize him from his Friars 
