Zucotti Park, NYC, Monday afternoon by MATTHEW SEPTIMUS

Costas: “Mr. Sandusky, there’s a 40-count indictment. The Grand Jury report contains specific detail. There are multiple accusers, multiple eyewitnesses to various aspects of the abuse. A reasonable person says, ‘Where there’s this much smoke, there must be plenty of fire.’ What do you say?” Sandusky: “I say that I am innocent of those charges.” Costas: “Innocent? Completely innocent and falsely accused in every aspect?” Sandusky: “Well I could say that, you know, I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them and I have touched their […]

NEW YORK TIMES: Hundreds of New York City police officers began clearing Zuccotti Park of the Occupy Wall Street protesters early Tuesday, telling the people there that the nearly two-month-old camp would be “cleared and restored” before the morning and that any demonstrator who did not leave would be arrested. The protesters, about 200 of whom have been staying in the park overnight, resisted with chants of “Whose park? Our park!” as officers began moving in and tearing down tents. The protesters rallied around an area known as the kitchen, near the middle of the park and began building barricades […]

R5: We sold out in 35 seconds. No not because of scalpers or some weird hack or secondary market seller. It’s because lots of people wanted to goto the show (obviously). There was no crash or error. Literally thousands of people attempted to purchase tickets right at 12pm. We apologize to those who didnt get tickets and congratulate those who did. No promises but we are working on a potential second show and will keep everyone updated. We’ll try our best ! RELATED: I felt fortunate to be one of the 100-or-so people to see Jeff Mangum play his intimate set […]

[Photo by ROBIN ODLAND] ASSOCIATED PRESS: Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said Sunday “intolerable” conditions at the Occupy Philadelphia camp and a lack of cooperation among protesters has forced him to beef up police presence at the tent city outside City Hall. The mayor said posting more uniformed officers in the Dilworth Plaza area has become necessary because of growing health and safety concerns and a fractured leadership at the camp that has left the city still pressing the protesters to move to make way for a $50 million construction project. “We are reevaluating our entire engagement and relationship with Occupy […]

Jerry Sandusky, LaGuardia Airport, this morning via TMZ PHAWKER: How is this guy allowed to get on an airplane? Is he not flight risk incarnate? Hang on, this just in… NEW YORK POST: The judge who freed alleged Penn State kid-sex fiend Jerry Sandusky on bail — with no strings attached — is a volunteer with the charity Sandusky mined for victims, it was reported last night. The explosive news came as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett warned that there are likely more young men out there who were allegedly abused as children by the ex-assistant coach. Pennsylvania district Judge Leslie […]

[Artwork by BAXTER ORR] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Noel and Liam Gallagher always understood the importance of being obvious – fist-pumping guitar chords, bass lines that go bump-and-grind in the night, bobblehead drumbeats, “moon in June” rhymes bleated through the clenched teeth of Liam’s gloriously Lennon-esque whine – which is why Oasis ruled Britannia in the ’90s. In 2009, Noel Gallagher finally quit the champagne supernova of post-fame Oasis when the sibling rivalry with Liam escalated to total warfare, and he has just embarked on a solo career marked by the release of Noel Gallagher’s High Flyin’ Birds […]

He’ll be doing a four night run Club Helium starting next Wednesday. We talked to him about Chappelle, Rick James, BJs, LSD, pimps, cancer, Norbit, his wife’s death and who was funnier when they were kids — him or Eddie? Look for it tomorrow on a Phawker near you. UPDATE: Eddie Murphy is dropping out as the host of the Oscars telecast, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences said Wednesday, just one day after the show’s producer, Brett Ratner, stepped aside amid a storm of criticism over his use of an anti-gay slur. The hasty departures represented an […]

[Photo by WAYNE COYNE] “Society is my friend: he makes me lie down in a cool bloodbath” — KURT VILE BY TONY ABRAHAM Listening to Fishtown indie hero Kurt Vile’s new So Outta Reach EP is like walking through the Smithsonian Institute of American Music For People Who Wear Classic Pumas. Vile has alchemized the wizardly fretboard musings of John Fahey and the quasi-whispered lethargy of Townes Van Zandt and the whole thing is shot through with a lull-inducing slow train energy that is is positively mesmerizing. Having gradually abandoned the thin-skinned lo-fi textures that were the hallmarks of his […]

Phawker got a chance to speak with Beirut bassist Paul Collins [pictured, below right] while the band is on tour promoting their third studio album, The Rip Tide. The new record marks a transition in Beirut’s music from Eastern European and World Music musings towards a sound more reminiscent of Western pop. Paul talks to us about the strange instruments that show up on Beirut records, the band’s history, the new album, and even Grover Norquist. The band will be playing at the Electric Factory on November 13th. PHAWKER: Forgive me if you’ve been asked this a million times, but […]