CLOSE UP by Brian Rudnick

Mount Chest Hairy wiffle ball at the Water Tower tennis courts

OK this is the wiffle ball league at the Water Tower tennis courts. I HAVEN’T SEEN WIFFLE BALL ON THE TENNIS COURTS BEFORE. FILL ME IN. INTRAMURAL OR YOU PLAY OTHER PLACES? We played Arthur Ashe tennis- we played Wimbledon- this has guilty written all over it – it’s just straight street….fax machine waffle ball- it’s a long story- He told his wife he was going -I told my wife I’m going to the fax machine and I’m playing wiffle ball..It’s Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill so we call it Mount Chest Hairy [Wiffle Ball].From left to right, Eric Fries, Jesse Bradley, Luke Williams, Bryan Brooks, Thomas Hendrie, John Spruance, Michael Longstreth, Daniel Dwyer. Water Tower Tennis Courts, Chestnut Hill. Watch video interview here.

First game ever for Philly Independence Women's Pro Soccer

“The team is new this year, it’s an expansion team. This is the first time they take the field officially against Atlanta who’s another expansion team. So the two expansion teams are playing each other. We’re just thrilled to have a great day, have a lot of fans out. It’s all about the fan experience , a great opportunity for families to come out in an affordable type of sports environment- great female soccer.” Linda Pajusi, Operations Support for the Philadelphia Independence, Women’s Professional Soccer, West Chester. Inaugural game resulted in 0-0 tie. Watch video interview here.

Tree wreck won't stop baseball season opening

Everyone should have a nipper. AND WHAT’S IT DO? You cut bolts, you can cut fence, you can cut electrical ties, you can cut almost anything. AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN USING IT FOR NOW? For repairing loose bits of fence that are sticking out that might puncture one of our kids, cutting electrical ties that were hanging up signs and backstops DOES IT LOOK LIKE YOU’LL BE READY FOR THE BIG DAY SATURDAY? We’ll always be ready for opening day. We might be crazy, crazy, crazy but we will be ready to go. The Phanatic will be there, he’s looking forward to it…it’s looking good other than that field.” Joe Pie’, Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Junior Baseball Commissioner. Watch video interview here

Tales of a hippie bus driver

In the 1996 Olympics, the Lithuanian basketball team arrived without uniforms because they were too poor to buy uniforms so the Grateful Dead offered to buy them uniforms and what they bought them had the Dead insignia, the skull, playing basketball and it was tie-died. I got this at the Olympics in 1999. A lot of Lithuanian social clubs sell this t-shirt. CAN YOU MODEL THE BACK? I don’t know what it says back there…For 8 years in California I worked for a hippie bus company. We did cross country trips, national parks, we went to Baha, Alaska, all through Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala. WHAT’S A HIPPIE BUS COMPANY? They take an old coach and pull out all the seats, set it up with bunk beds, tables that collapse down in to bunk beds. And the back, say two-thirds of the whole bus is all one big foam covered platform. You take off your shoes and leave them there and crawl back onto the platform. They called them camper tours. They had another name for them I can’t think of right now. AND THESE DAYS YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE CONVENTIONAL? Just a tiny bit. Anita Fackenthal. Watch video interview here.

Kids Learn Circus Arts at Philly Circus School

IS CIRCUS GOING TO BE PART OF YOUR 2010 NEW YEAR? Tasha: “Yeah,” Princeton: “My kids love circus stuff” Tasha: “He thinks he knows how to juggle.” HAVE THEY DONE IT BEFORE? Tasha: “No this is their first time.” WHAT AGE ARE THEY?” Both: “Three and Ten” WHAT KIND OF STUFF DO YOU DO AT HOME? Princeton: “Juggling, all kind of weird stuff.” Tasha: “We have a circus at home” Princeon: “They just like to do tumbling and all kind of stuff.” Princeton and Tasha Davis at Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, Germantown.

Watch video here.

Few Phillies Fans in Kalamazoo

ARE THERE MANY PHILLIES FANS OUT HERE IN KALAMAZOO? "Not too many, some. The head coach of Kalamazoo College's tennis team is from Philadelphia and he's a big Phillies fan."Jan Tobochnik, Kalamazoo, Michigan, formerly of Philadelphia.

Click here to watch video interview

Jaime Perez shoots Kyudo archer

"I'm a student at Antonelli School of Photography in Erdenheim and today I'm shooting the Japanese Cherry Blossom celebration. We have to do an event for a photojournalism class and I chose to do one outside, enjoy the spring weather a little bit, get to meet some nice people. So this is Emilio. He's been doing the archery for twenty years. I wanted to come here to get a little bit of action pictures and just learn a little about his meditation archery and see how he does it. He's pretty good. He's been shooting some bulls eyes and the arrows are really neat- they go all the way through the board." Jaime Perez, Antonelli School of Photography student at Morris Arboretum. See video here