BY AMY Z. QUINN Somewhere, Kevin Spacey is smiling. And I need to do someone a big favor — stat. See, while Team Phawker waited in the will-call line at the Tower Theater to pick up our tickets for the Jon Stewart show Friday night, a friendly couple approached — desperate to give away an extra pair of tix. A quick glance at the freebies showed they were probably pretty good, so we took them with the couple’s admonishment to “Pay it forward.” As it turned out, the seats were front row — several rows closer, even, than where the […]
HIZZONER ’07: Brady’s Shark Attacked; Keel Cuts Fish Open To Reveal Union Goon In The Belly Of The Beast
BY DAVE DAVIES OF THE DAILY NEWS An Appearance by Tommy the Loan Shark, the heckling mascot who dogs mayoral candidate Tom Knox, got ugly yesterday when publicist Frank Keel broke into Tommy’s news conference and insisted that rival Bob Brady was funding the fish and his sidekick, Jim Nixon. How did Keel claim to know Brady was behind the Shark attacks on Knox’s history with high-interest payday lending? “I know the truth, because they approached me first and foremost to run this shadow operation,” Keel said. “I find this disgusting, deplorable.” Keel told reporters that on Feb. 9, Brady […]
THE EARLY WORD: There Ain’t No Cover In Heaven
RELATED: The Rick D. Memorial Project
COPYCAT: Email Threats Shut Down Delco College
A credible e-mail threat to the two Delaware County Community College campuses in Chester County has prompted school officials to shut down the remaining three locations at least until Monday. About a dozen e-mails were received about 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Exton and Downingtown campuses threatening “violence against numerous persons,” Sgt. Martin Malloy of the West Whiteland police said yesterday.
Saving Private Lynch
This is pretty fascinating — not just for the rescue but for how completely and, given the circumstances, cinematically it was documented. Where Psy-Ops ends and P.R. begins, or vice versa. Either way, she was just a broken pawn in a shady game. And lucky for her, all the king’s horsemen and all the king’s men could put Private Lynch back together again.
HOT DOCUMENT: Tossing Bricks In A Glass House
NOTE: The following post was brought to you by the swell folks at…* As expected, the Inquirer is experiencing some blowback from its decision to let Citizens Bank sponsor the the front page of the business section. Some of that blowback is coming from within: From: Lavin, Carl [Inquirer Deputy Managing Editor For News] Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 1:57 PM To: Inquirer Subject: Newsroom ethics To the staff A version of this is on the Romenesko blog, but I wanted to be sure you have a copy. Please note that all the examples cited here are very recent. There […]
Nico: Femme Fatale
With Lou Reed and John Cale, Paris, 1972
NPR FOR DA DEF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t, Yo
THE WORLD CAFE Filtering classic rock and pop hooks through a willfully lo-fi aesthetic a la Pavement or Guided by Voices, Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog sounds both timeless and immediate. Formed in 1999 as a recording project for two members of the more traditional indie-rock band Raccoon, Dr. Dog became a full-time gig when Raccoon folded in the early ’00s. Dr. Dog’s first two records, 2001’s Psychedelic Swamp and 2002’s Toothbrush, were both self-released but failed to make an impact outside of the Philadelphia area. Still, the band’s fortunes changed when My Morning Jacket’s Jim James handpicked Dr. Dog to open […]
MONOPOLY: Comcast Reports $837 Million In 1st Quarter Earnings; Contribution To City’s Tax Base = $0
PHILADELPHIA — Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable television operator, said Thursday its first-quarter profits surged 80 percent, helped by a one-time gain from the dissolution of a joint venture with Time Warner Cable. Comcast posted net income of $837 million, or 26 cents per share, in the quarter compared with $466 million, or 15 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hey, Aren’t They Headquartered Here In Philadelphia? In Fact, Aren’t They Building The TALLEST Goddamn Skyscraper In The City? So What’s Philadelphia’s Fair Share? ZERO For The Next 10 Years Because Of A […]
ZOOPHILIA: Elephants Leaving Town Very, Very Slowly
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Three female African elephants from the Philadelphia Zoo will be packing their trunks to move to Western Pennsylvania sometime in the fall, Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium officials announced yesterday. PREVIOUSLY ON PHAWKER: Alas, The Great Philly-Pachyderm Assimilation Experiment Fails, Elephants Refuse To Play Ball, Still Shit Where They Like And Refuse To Order In English At Geno’s Or Offer No-Bid Contracts To Corporate Weasels
HIZZONER ’07: New Poll Has Nutter Tied With Knox For Lead
A new poll on the mayor’s race shows Michael Nutter (center) surging, and front-runner Tom Knox stalling. The survey of 450 registered Philadelphia Democrats shows Tom Knox dropping slightly from the previous poll to 20 percent, with Michael Nutter surging to 18 percent. David Patti is with Pennsylvanians for Effective Government, which commissioned the survey: “The election now comes down to a statistical dead heat between Michael Nutter and Tom Knox.” The others are having a tough time: “Congressman Chaka Fattah has fallen to third. And Congressman Brady and Dwight Evans are a distance distant fourth and fifth.” KYW: Breaker […]
HIZZONER ’07: Street Still Campaigning Against Katz
This week brought word that Sam Katz has dropped his GOP party affiliation, a move that opens the door to a possible run in the general election as an independent. Mayor Street believes an independent could be viable this year, just not Sam Katz: “I think he’s fooling himself if he thinks lots of Democrats are going to go flocking to him, running away from the Democratic nominee. I think that’s a little pie-in-the-skyish. It’s not going to happen.” The Mayor goes on to suggest that Katz should give up his dream of running City Hall: “Sam ran a couple […]