If you haven’t heard already, 1979 Penn alum Matthew White was tragically stabbed to death by his wife on Monday. The 6’11” White played on the Quakers’ Final Four men’s basketball team, because that was a thing that occurred.

Our friends at the DP have reported new details on the shocking act of violence, including that White was asleep when he was fatally stabbed in the neck by Maria Rey Garcia-Pellon, and that the homicide was not quick and painless. The horrific story has already been picked up by outlets like The Daily Mail and The Huffington Post.

The kicker: his murderous spouse’s explanation is that White was looking at child pornography (unverified) and claimed she “had to do it” because she loves kids. We don’t think that one’s going to hold up in court.

In other news, one of the featured obituaries in this past Sunday’s New York Times was that of Penn alum James DePriest, a legendary orchestral conductor. DePriest, who died on Friday at 76 (of natural causes) Read the rest of this entry »

Philly Diner, deceased since October, is now gone from campus for good, and you can tell that we’re upset and/or nostalgic about it because we Instagrammed this photo. Our sources inform us that the building went down not with a bang, but a whimper, and SDTs everywhere collectively shed a single tear over the loss of their last horcrux second home.

We totally called PhiDi’s downfall when it started serving steak, but hey! We’re still pretty shocked. “Where were you when the PhiDied?” future generations will ask.

It’s not really all that surprising, considering that the place looked like it was straight out of Cold War-era Russia, but COME ON! It was so convenient! In the past year, the gods/goddesses have taken away the Pronto and the liquor store. What’s next? Our lives, liberties and collective pursuits of happiness? Spring Fling? In the meantime, you’ll have to trek out to 19th and Chestnut or 24th and South to get your booze fix.

Following last month’s report that Korean taco vendor Tyson Bee’s would be taking an indefinite hiatus, the incongruously-named food truck has finally called it quits. According to its Facebook page, the “company is going through a transition” and the truck has ceased operations, but they are “working on future plans” and hope to serve again soon. We hope they do, too! But until then, let us have a moment of silence and give thanks for the delicious Korean barbeque-y goodness they provided and pray that another Korean taco truck will immediately swoop in and fill the void.

Update: One of our readers points out that it may be saved after all! City Paper reports that two of the founding partners, responsible for the actual in-truck operations, have left due to disagreements with the other founders. It is still open under the helm of a different crew but it’s unclear whether the truck will keep the name or menu. If you have any info, let us know!

For the unlucky patrons of Wegmans supermarkets, at least. The grocery store chain is pulling the plug on the wine kiosks in its 10 locations across Pennsylvania. Apparently customers haven’t been too happy with them and they don’t work, or something, so the automated vendors are getting the axe. What does this mean for our own beloved spirit supplier in FroGro? Will they follow suit and get rid of the wonky vendor, forcing lazy winos to make the trek to 41st and Market to get their fix? The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board says it will focus on improving the remaining 22 kiosks still in operation (that means ours!). Happy FroGro-goers were spotted using the machine Monday afternoon, and considering customer satisfaction and efficiency are on the bottom of FroGro’s priority list, we remain hopeful that the problematic Pronto is here to stay.

Ed Note: This post was updated to reflect the more accurate information that Wegmans is not responsible for all 32 PA kiosks and only closing ten of them.

While the New Year brings good cheer, it is once again time to take a moment to remember what we’ve lost this year; an ode to things at Penn that have run their course.

Strikes
Deceased: June 2010
Cause of Death: Rowdy kids and being sketchy
Survived By: Quieter Locust housing, flash mobs, people trying to come up with better things to do for birthday parties
In Memoriam: We’re still not sure we ever had fun here, but it made for great people watching.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s true: Douglas will soon be no more. All US Douglas locations are in the process of getting turned into BlueMercury stores, so in conclusion: great! You’ll still be able to get the same cosmetics, just without the indignity of getting stuck with one of those ugly light blue bags covered in doofy script. Let’s hope they continue to employ that terrifying dancing man after the switch. RIP.

Proving that nothing is sacred (or recession-proof), it seems our beloved Transit has closed. We have crushed on our favorite Spring Garden haunt time and again, and never did we think this could happen. We were a little suspicious when Milkman was moved from Transit to Palmer Social Club (its ugly stepsister across the street), but our biggest fear was confirmed this week. According to Citypaper:

Looks like Transit, the Sixth and Spring Garden dance hall owned by the Weiss Bros (Pure, Woody’s, Bump) is no more. Yet, their neighboring Palmer Social Club flourishes. Go figure. I hear that a Weiss management team took out all equipment from the towering venue once known as The Bank (under Stephen Starr’s reign). Though the venue hasn’t operated as a regular-hours club, it has opened its doors to Making Time and Paperstreet events. Not enough ducats for the brothers Weiss, apparently, as rumor has ’em not renewing their lease.

We can’t imagine someone else won’t snatch up the awesome space, but for now we are in mourning.