Good Good Things – Issue 22
Philly is mourning the passing of a local legend, Dan McQuade. His life should serve as a reminder of how much goodness, heart, and joy one person can bring to a city through words, actions, and an elite sense of humor. We begin this issue of Good Good Things by remembering Dan.
We Miss You Already, Dan
I’m really going to miss Dan McQuade. I loved the guy. Dan was sweet, funny, whip smart, insanely curious, and brought so much good energy to every story, whether in print or in person. In our last text exchange (which were usually about dumb t-shirt ideas and running), he was asking me for more details about runners getting attacked by wasps during an international trail race. A story that was smack dab in Dan’s wheelhouse.
Dan was the go-to for any Philly question. The weirder, the better. When I was putting the Fraud Street Run together a few years ago, he was the first guy I texted about the course and an area of Philly I was not familiar with. He texted back right away, telling me where to avoid, which underpass was sketchy, better route suggestions, and where to get good pizza in the area.
Dan was so beloved, and it was so well-earned. The city won’t be the same without him. We love you, buddy.
More about Dan:
- Dan McQuade Got Philly Like No One Else
- Dan McQuade, award-winning writer, tireless community activist, and ‘Philadelphia institution,’ has died at 43
- The Relentless Joy and Genius of Dan McQuade
- In Memory of Dan McQuade
“The Menswear Guy can be tedious, but he knows his stuff—he had some really nice things to say about Jimmy Sweatpants last week,” I say to my wife as she quickly puts on headphones
— Dan McQuade (@dhm.bsky.social) December 1, 2025 at 11:23 AM
McQuade personally used the power of the press to get the Jon Bon Jovi Rest Stop to take down the “Acting is like scoring a touchdown” quote erroneously attributed to Ed Harris. What have you ever done?
defector.com/the-garden-s…— Rob Wesley (@eastwes.bsky.social) January 28, 2026 at 9:07 PM
We’re going to be featuring a lot of Dan’s work the rest of this week, but this is one I especially enjoyed and which no one else could have written. He had a lot of those. defector.com/one-last-tri…
— David_j_roth (@davidjroth.bsky.social) January 28, 2026 at 7:58 PM
Rest in Peace, Catherine O’Hara
Allow me to quote my friend Michael, when I say, “Thank you, Catherine O’Hara, for showing us a way.”
- Catherine O’Hara managed to make difficult characters utterly delightful
- My Lunch With Catherine O’Hara: On Creating Moira Rose and Making Us All Laugh About ‘Schitt’s Creek’
- Catherine O’Hara – a life in pictures
- What’s your favorite Catherine O’Hara performance?
Left Hanging Moments but They Get Increasingly More Awkward
Up top! No… okay… never mind.
The #1 Deep Dish Pizza In Chicago Sells Out In 45 Minutes
As East Coast pizza snobs, is it time to give deep dish another chance? Alvin Zhou, a very good filmmaker, makes a great case for it, highlighting Milly’s Pizza in Chicago.
Milly’s Pizza In The Pan isn’t your typical pizzeria. Robert Maleski, the owner, carefully crafts each pizza by hand with his team, using high-quality ingredients on an extremely limited, day-to-day basis. While many pizzerias in the city typically sell hundreds of pizzas a day, Robert only makes around 70. The reason is simple – quality over quantity. Customers must pre-order their pizza beforehand, selecting a timeslot for pickup to get their hands on one of his signature, caramelized cheese crust pies.
Berkeley Students Make 300,000 Wikipedia Edits to Preserve Queer History
Keep fighting back every way possible, each effort makes a big difference.
Amid the Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to erase queer and trans history, a University of California Berkeley professor’s students are working to right these wrongs — through Wikipedia edits.
The 10 Best Book Covers of January
Please do judge a book by its cover.
Another month of books, another month of book covers. In January, it was all about the text treatments. And also, for some reason, teal. Here are my favorites from the start of the new year. – Emily Temple
Ski Mountaineering is a New Winter Olympic Sport, Here’s How it Works
If you follow trail running you’re probably aware that many Europeans who run up and down mountains, especially the French, do a lot of Skimo in the winter and excel at it. Elites runner in the U.S., like Cam Smith, Jeff Mogavero, and David Sinclair, also come from a ski mountaineering background and still participate in the multi-faceted sport in the off-season. Cam is going to Milano Cortina to compete with partner Anna Gibson starting February 19th. He gives us a great tutorial on the exciting new Olympic event.
Cameron Smith, U.S. Olympic qualifier, Ski mountaineering: “So, the roots of ski mountaineering, or skimo for short, comes from backcountry skiing. So this is people going out and skiing in the mountains outside of the ski resort. They’re making their own trail, climbing up the mountain, and then skiing back down, and doing it all human-powered, uphill and downhill.”
Top Figure Skating Moves in the 1908 Olympics
- The Half-a-Spin
- The Figure One
- The Lady Curtsey
- The Butter Churn
- The Dandy Dipper
- The Hop & Clap
Very Good Music Facts – Vol. 4
It’s not that difficult to find and share fun facts about music if you don’t have a lot going on like me, but the value I add with my collections is tying some of these gems together. I really enjoy it and keeps the gears in my aging brain spinning.
Here’s a this little thread and a bunch more:
- “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M. was considered for the theme song for the sitcom “Friends,” but the band rejected the offer. The song was inspired by a Chinese propaganda poster that read, “Shiny Happy People Holding Hands.”
- “Stand” by R.E.M. was used as the theme song for Chris Elliott sitcom “Get a Life.”
- Handsome Boy Modeling School (Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and Prince Paul) took their name from an episode of “Get a Life” where Chris attempts to become a model.
So Many More Very Good Music Facts >
Saving The Snowy Owls of Logan Airport
(raises beer glass) Norm!
Norman Smith has dedicated his life to protecting and relocating the snowy owls from Boston’s busiest airport runways. Called “the Owl Man of Logan Airport,” Smith has single-handedly relocated more than 900 snowy owls, creating the blueprint for how airports across the US and Canada can manage wildlife conflict.
Quick Hits
- Rockhopper Penguins’ Athleticism Makes Them the Daredevils of the Animal World
- Sydnie Jimenez’s Striking Ceramic Sculptures Celebrate Individual Expression and Diverse Communities
- Turtle Talk with The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
- Ali Velshi On Boycotting The Corporations Enabling ICE
- Released Squirrel Comes Back Every Day to Play With the Dog Who Helped Raise Him
- Bruce Springsteen Won’t Back Down: Performs “Streets of Minneapolis” Live in Minneapolis
- I spent 3 hours on a puffin island
- Watch Full Classic Episodes of Sesame Street for Free (via Kottke)
- Broken Social Scene And Metric Announce New Albums, Joint Tour With Stars
The Font That Keeps Catching Out Forgeries
Type nerds battling crime? Yes, please.
From a Reddit post, to the Pakistani government and a liquidated Canadian telecommunications company. This font keeps catching out forgeries.
Snow Days
If the snow wasn’t bad enough, some prankster went around our neighborhood and put everyone’s windshield wipers straight up in the air (they won’t work that way!). Don’t worry, I put them all down.
My job as a dad on a snow day is to look out the window every half hour and and say “it’s still coming down” and get no response from any family member.
Just found two snowflakes that are exactly alike. My neighbor is a snow scientist and he’s over here losing his mind.
Good Songs with Good Videos
“White Horses” (The Clearing Tour Video) by Wolf Alice
“Scared of Loving Wild Again” by Lucy Rose
“Liars Tale” by Kneecap
“Designed to Lose” by The Twilight Sad
“Deface The Currency” by The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis
“Let It Ride” by A Wilhelm Scream
“Blue Jade” by GUV
Podcast: Talking “The Day My Kid Went Punk”
Chip and Jeff are kicking off their tenth year of podcasting with a very (Afterschool) special episode! They chat about “The Day My Kid Went Punk” with their buddy, Johnny Goodtimes. They also discuss The Pixies, Smartless podcast, ABC Afterschool Specials, punk, new wave, Strangers with Candy, Chesapeake Bay Bridge, late 80s wrestlers and hip-hop, quaaludes, “Afterschool Specials That Were a Little Late to The Game,” Quiz: “Real or Not Real Afterschool Specials,” Pac-man Fever, Catered Quiz, and much more!
E-Bikes Are Basically Motorcycles? What You Need To Know
Seth knows bikes and he does a great job breaking down the difference between e-bikes and e-motos (electric motorcycles) and the very bad law that lumps them together.
Birthday Pizza
I celebrated a birthday this past weekend and enjoyed some coal-fired pizza with my family at Anthony’s in Wayne, PA.
View this post on Instagram
Bluesky
My main hobbies
— House of 1000 Fionas (@cogentanalysis.bsky.social) October 22, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Death could use a PR win, and I have a suggestion.
— Brian McFadden (@mcfadden.bsky.social) January 30, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale
Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don’t Create The Torment Nexus
— Alex Blechman (@alexblechman.bsky.social) May 16, 2023 at 6:51 PM
— Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) February 1, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Robert Plant met a girl so fair in the darkest depths of Mordor, and you can’t meet anyone in New York City .
— Justin Bryant (@justinwriter.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 10:59 AM
i think about Benito Mussolini’s death like 6-9 times per day
— Brian Box Brown (@boxbrown.bsky.social) February 3, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Sir or Madam, I’ve put up with the lack of italics around here for long enough.
— Michael Jay McClure (@mjmimages.bsky.social) February 3, 2026 at 11:06 AM
I’m the only person in this elevator who isn’t afraid to talk about the real issues
— donni saphire (@donni.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 10:19 PM
18 days til the 3rd anniversary of my being completely over her.
— Kip Conlon (@kipconlon.bsky.social) February 1, 2026 at 2:22 PM
I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work.
I don’t let bullies win.
Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.
— Ilhan Omar (@ilhanmn.bsky.social) January 27, 2026 at 9:26 PM
The great thing about having pet insurance is that while our labrador is at the vets, they’ve given us a courtesy poodle to hang out with.
— Glennyrodge (@glennyrodge.bsky.social) January 24, 2026 at 5:50 AM
Wrote in my Gratitude Journal this morning, like I do every day, that I’m particularly thankful for my Spite Journal, which now comprises several handsome volumes.
— RM (@dorsalstream.bsky.social) November 25, 2024 at 8:03 AM
[while sipping a honey vanilla chamomile tea and eating a lovely banana bread] i hope they burn in hell
— Ygrene (@ygrene.bsky.social) January 27, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Take care of each other
FDT forever. See you soon with more goodness…
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I enjoy being outside and running on trails and sometimes I enjoy being online. More >
I never met Dan but I feel like I knew him from 15 years of Philly-area bylines. My heart breaks over and over again. I’m glad you did know him and hey, I’m glad you’re around Jeff. I love your writing and your online presence! Happy belated birthday!
Aww, thanks, Kim! Much appreciated.