FROM THE EDITOR: Today I saw the future — and it looked at me like a dog shown a card trick. I was invited to speak to the kids in George Miller’s journalism class at Temple about New Media. I said yes, of course, because I believe the children are our future, and that the future’s uncertain and the end is always near. I told the kids that majoring in journalism was their first mistake. They laughed. I’m not kidding, I said, you can learn everything you need in a single Journalism 101 course and six months of interning at […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR In July 2003, newspaper columnist Robert Novak published the name of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame — shortly after Plame’s husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote an op-ed piece contradicting President Bush’s contention that Saddam Hussein had tried to procure yellowcake uranium from the West African nation of Niger. A special prosecutor was appointed to investigate the leak, and eventually I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby — chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney — was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with the inquiry. Upon his conviction, Libby was sentenced to 30 months in jail, […]
WORTH REPEATING: Black Sunday For Killadelphia
BY ANNETTE JOHN-HALL INQUIRER COLUMNIST In Philadelphia, half of last year’s 406 homicide victims were black males 15 to 29, and overwhelmingly they were killed by other black males. That’s a staggering number when you consider that black men make up only 4 percent of the population. This year, the numbers are no better. And all of this crisis has been met by apathy. A black problem. Let them solve it. We can argue about whether it really is just a black problem created by black people, but that’s a waste of time. The 10,000 men who showed up Sunday […]
MAILBAG: The Devil And Thom Yorke
Hey Jonathan, My mom (bless her) sends me all the articles she sees in the inquirer regarding radiohead. I’m a member of a small community devoted to archiving high quality (non-mp3) radiohead concert audio and video. As such, I’ve known most of the songs on in rainbows for quite some time (with the exception of faust arp). Anyhow, great review, but you got the points of some of the songs wrong, notably videotape. Thom’s at the pearly gates. Mephistopheles is just beneath, reaching up to grab him (The name is associated with the Faust legend of a scholar who wagered […]
COMING ATTRACTION: I Survived The ’80s One Time Already, And I Don’t Recall It All That Fondly
Tune in late-night tonight for INSTA-REVIEW: Five Things You Should Know About Art Brut vs. The Hold Steady @ The Fillmore/TLA, plus pics.
INSTA-REVIEW: Ween La Cucaracha
HEAR YE: NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! Fiesta: aka Herb Albert & His Tijuana Grass Play Cheez Whiz and Other Delights Blue Balloon: Take the Cyrkle’s “Red Rubber Ball” fill with nitrous oxide, huff liberally. Friends: Sounds like the theme song for some really grating ’80s sitcom where the entire cast wears too much mousse in their hair and many wind up with felony records after cancellation.* Object: Possibly their prettiest song and cruelest lyric. Learnin’ To Love: Corn pone singalong wherein, for reasons of which I remain blissfully unaware, the Solid Gold dancers show up in the middle eight […]
KILLADELPHIA: 10,000 Vow To Stop The Madness
INQUIRER: Declaring a new day in the struggle to reduce crime and violence in the black communities of Philadelphia, civic, community, government and religious leaders yesterday urged thousands of black men to step forward to help patrol streets. At an event billed as “A Call to Action: 10,000 Men” at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia, nearly 10,000 men — most of them dressed in black — gathered to volunteer to be “peacekeepers” in their communities. Many were lined up at tables with sign-up forms. A number already had registered online, organizers said. Looking out at the large audience, Police […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Biggest Brother
FROM AMEN: I’m sure the breaking news that Philly is about to sprinkle our fair city with an armada of security cameras (250, to be exact) will have all types of panties bunched by 3PM – but fear not, oh Big Brother player haters; this venture is being brought to you by the city AND Unisys, which can only mean the project will be completely fucked by December. Posted on October 22, 2007 at 02:06 PM in Philadelphia | Permalink TrackBack COMMENTS: Before the crack-dealer guild gets all up in arms, let’s keep in mind this is the same firm […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Power 99’s Powerhouse 2007
THE ONE: Ne-Yo all up in the matrix, Powerhouse 2007, Wachovia Center. BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER ‘Nothing succeeds like success’ may well be a cliche but that doesn’t make it any less true, especially in the hip-hop world where sales is artistry. And that’s pretty much how things went down Friday night at the Wachovia Center when radio station Power 99 hosted Powerhouse 2007, a nearly six-hour revue-style parade of major hip-hop artists — some on their way up, others on their way back down. Kanye West, currently the king of the hip-hop hill, headlined with great artistic […]
WORTH REPEATING: Question The Parking Authority
SIX YEARS after Republicans took control of the Philadelphia Parking Authority in a political coup d’etat, the number of people on its payroll has doubled and top salaries have soared, making the patronage haven one of the best-paid addresses in municipal government. In 2001, when House Republican leader John Perzel engineered the takeover, the Parking Authority had 512 full-time employees. Only two of them were making six-figure salaries. Six years later, the full-time payroll has grown to 1,051 people, including 20 who are making more than $100,000 a year. The authority’s top job now belongs to Vincent J. Fenerty Jr., […]
TODAY I SAW: Mantua Hall II
BY JEFF DEENEY TODAY I SAW new black magic marker tags scrawled on the sidewalk outside Mantua Hall. “Tre Six Gangstas,” read one, “36th Street Mafia” read another. There’s a ledge outside the front doors to the housing project tall enough to sit on, and there were seven or eight Tre Six boys kicking back on the ledge and mobbed on the steps leading to the front door. It was early Friday evening, so I assumed they were getting ready to serve the payday party crowd that would start rolling through at any minute. One of the boys had shoulder […]
BREAKING: Don’t Call It A Comeback
Roc-A-Fella Records’ CEO and Def Jam President Jay-Z will leave the office in November to embark on the “American Gangster Live” tour, a five-date outing in support of his upcoming album, American Gangster. Jay-Z will treat fans to exclusive shows in mid-sized, intimate venues in Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia, where he will perform songs from his American Gangster album, which is the rapper’s interpretation of the upcoming American Gangster movie. The rapper will kick off the tour at the House of Blues in Los Angeles on November 6, the same day the American Gangster album lands […]