BY SHAUN BRADY/CITY PAPER Negativland is best known as the prankster collage band whose sample-heavy cut-ups both indulge in and comment upon copyright infringement as a critique of corporate control (most notably the infamous U2 EP which got them sued by Island Records and not at all liked by Casey Kasem). They’ve also garnered attention with media hoaxes such as the one documented on 1989’s Helter Stupid, when the band claimed that their song “Christianity Is Stupid” had been implicated in an actual axe murder in Minnesota, which was then reported as fact by several media outlets. “Our work continues […]
NEGATIVLAND: Gimme The Mermaid
Hysterical.
THE EARLY WORD: All Things Must Pass
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THUG LIFE: Hustle And Flow
I was young then, and at the time, everyone around me saw jobs as, “That’s for the older people.” But whatever was going on that was quick money, I was involved in it. And being used to that planted me stiff to the point where this is what I wanted to do, and I ain’t wanna do nothing different.–Hareem BY JEFF DEENEY Once a hustler, always a hustler? It’s a crucial question: can ex-offenders change their stripes? Can a habitual criminal be rehabilitated? There are passionate arguments from both sides; social service providers who work with at risk […]
SOUTH STREET BRIDGE: Can’t Happen Here?
After Wednesday’s horrific collapse of the arched truss bridge over the Mississippi, it was natural for Philadelphians to wonder if their decrepit South Street Bridge is safe. The converted railroad bridge, built over the Schuylkill for the Centennial celebrations of 1876, has been shedding its concrete skin like someone with a bad sunburn. Trucks and buses weighing six tons or more were banned in January. And like the Interstate 35W bridge in Minnesota, the South Street Bridge has been tagged with the ominous federal designation “structurally deficient.” You can almost hear nervous officials bleating in unison for the long-planned $50 […]
SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER: “We Need To Find A Way To End The Tenure Of Attorney General Gonzales”
WASHINGTON — Senators in both parties concede they don’t have enough evidence to make a perjury charge stick against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to quit trying to pry him from office. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is considering asking the Justice Department’s inspector general to examine whether Gonzales’ answers to questions from lawmakers amount to misconduct. “I am deeply concerned about the seriousness of his misleading testimony and the pattern that has developed with regards to the attorney general’s testimony over the years,” Leahy said Thursday. “At the very least, I am […]
REAL TIME: Minnesota Bridge Collapsing
USA TODAY: Against the shock of a mighty span’s inexplicable fall — at rush hour, into the nation’s greatest river — bridge experts offer this reassurance: The same federally mandated inspections that show one-quarter of U.S. bridges to be “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete” also indicate they’re in very little danger of collapsing. Of course, that’s what the same experts would have said about the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis before it crashed down Wednesday. As rescue crews searched the Mississippi River on Thursday for what could be up to 30 more victims beyond the four confirmed dead, it was […]
SHOCKER: Aquafina Is People Tap Water!
The soft drink giant Pepsi has been forced to make an embarrassing admission — its best-selling Aquafina bottled water is nothing more than tap water. Last week Pepsi agreed to change the labels of Aquafina to indicate that the water comes from a public water source. Pepsi agreed to change its label under pressure from the advocacy group Corporate Accountability International which has been leading an increasingly successful campaign against bottled water.The environmental impact of the country’s obsession with bottled water has been staggering. Each day an estimated 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away. Most are not recycled. The […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
NO SLEEP ‘TIL BROOKLYN: Beastie Boys, Festival Pier, Last Night [SLIDE SHOW] BY JONATHAN VALANIA So as promised, here’s a rough transcript of the Q&A at the Beasties press conference. The assembled press included Dan DeLuca from the Inquirer, Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone, some dude and dudette from Wonkavision, and dude from Gloucester County Times. (Note: We all sat around waiting about an hour for a.d. amorosi to show up — and when he finally did, he sat down for two minutes, checked his cell phone messages and then he left before the press conference even started! Now that […]
PAPERBOY: White Punks On Dope Guns Edition
BY AMY Z. QUINN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right — these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. Hey, we know how it is — so many words to read, so little time to surf for free porn. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you, freeing up […]
THE EARLY WORD: Monty Python Cyberpunk
Upcoming Author Events Summer 2007 William Gibson – Spook Country Thursday, August 16 (7:00 p.m.) FREE Few authors can be credited with birthing a genre, but with his science fiction novel Neuromancer, William Gibson created “cyberpunk.” Gibson says his new novel “is set ‘in the same universe,’ as Pattern Recognition… It takes place during the spring of 2006. One of the viewpoint characters is a young Cuban-Chinese immigrant, Russian-speaking, whose relatives comprise one of the smallest, tightest organized-crime families in the United States. Michael Palin Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years Thursday, September 6 (7:00 p.m.) FREE Michael Palin is known […]
ELTON JOHN: Shut Down The Internet!
POP legend Sir Elton John wants the internet CLOSED DOWN. He claims it is destroying good music, saying: “The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision.” … “We’re talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that’s not going to happen with people blogging on the internet. I mean, get out there, communicate. Hopefully the next movement in music […]
GAYBO EXTRA: For Queer Eyes Only*
Jonny McGovern The Gay Pimp makes a real messy queen. Can you find The Holland Boys in this video?? xo, Tommy * Seriously, just watching this could turn you gay. You have been warned.