BY JEFF DEENEY A recent study indicates that some 200,000 American war veterans are currently homeless. Some 1,500 of those are Iraq War vets. The homeless services field has been anticipating the arrival of Iraq War vets in shelters and drop in centers across the nation since the war started. When I worked for the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness we regularly discussed how to handle the impending surge of vets that were bound to show up in the day center at 802 N. Broad. As of my departure from that agency a couple months ago we still hadn’t […]
EARLY WORD: Oh No, It’s The Popo!
The Popo wins Best Band Name Ever. This week anyway…
THE SURVEILLANCE STATE: 1984 Already Happened
1984 Has Been Brought To You By The Fine Folks At AT&T! BY ELLEN NAKASHIMA WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER His first inkling that something was amiss came in summer 2002 when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San Francisco.”What the heck is the NSA doing here?” Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, said he asked himself. A year or so later, he stumbled upon documents that, he said, nearly caused him to fall out of his chair. The documents, he said, show that the NSA gained access […]
PEACE BOMB: Ron “I Will End The Iraq War” Paul’s $10 Million ‘Tea’ Party Comes To Town Saturday
BY AMY Z. QUINN Supporters of Texas Congressman and longshot GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul raised $4.2 million in 24 hours in a loosely-organized fund-raising push they’re calling a “money bomb.” Speculate, theorize, stereotype. Only one thing is clear: the Paulites, the loyal, organized, Web-savvy supporters of Rep. Ron Paul, know how to raise money online, and 37,000 Paulites set a record [Monday] by hauling in more than $4.2 million in 24 hours. That’s the most money raised online by a candidate in a single day. A Paulite came up with the fundraising idea, a few more Paulites joined in […]
ARTSY: Ra, Ra, Ra Your Boat
BY DAN “ARTSY” BUSKIRK A truly successful artist wisely figures out how to incorporate their art organically into his life. If Irish installation artist Brian Kennedy is going to keep his insane schedule, traveling the five continents to mount his installations, why shouldn’t his subject be travel itself? Most recently his travels have brought him to Philadelphia, where his piece “Passage” had its unveiling tonight at the Icebox Gallery at the Crane Art Building. Kennedy is known for his large-scale installations specifically designed for their presentation spaces, but with The Icebox’s massive size — we’re talking 5,000 square ft. — […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Five Things You Need To Know About Menomena At First Unitarian Last Night
1. They have great taste in opening acts. Bucks County’s Illinois singing catchy, clever pop songs to the banjo over multiple bottles of Sailor Jerry really puts you in the mood for more music. Either that or a sock-hop. But that’s cool too. 2. Menomena is just as organic and fresh as anything else coming out of Portland. The band is comprised of three really tall musicians who produce the instrumentation of a 10-piece orchestra. It’s impressive to hear so much sound coming from such a small group of people. Like a puzzle, these sounds fit perfectly together, only it’s […]
MAILBAG: How Interns Get Hired
DEAR PHAWKER, You’ve created quite a ruckus here at Temple. Although I don’t necessarily agree with your idea of the usefulness of Journalism, I appreciate what you said (that is, after I really thought about it). It’s revolutionary and spirited in a way that many journalists were supposed to be since day one and no longer are. Journalists and media lovers alike are supposed to have the anti-establishment burned into them at day one, but it seems that newspapers are just as bad as the government is now. We had talked briefly (after your presentation at Temple) about indie rock […]
LIVE & DIRECT FROM THE 4 SEASONS: Todd Haynes
PHAWKER: How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? TODD HAYNES: Seven. PHAWKER: Good to know. Philebrity has video and audio of this afternoon’s presser with I’m Not There director Todd Haynes. If you are interested in Dylan or this film, we urge you head over there and check it out. Mr. Haynes’ film is utterly brilliant — slightly flawed, perhaps, but visionary nonetheless — and this afternoon he spoke eloquently and passionately about the methods to his storytelling madness. We will have much more on this film closer to the Philly release date. […]
PAPERBOY: Travails Of The City Edition
BY AMY Z. QUINN 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 valuable nanoseconds that can now be better spent ‘roughing up the suspect’ over at Suicide Girls or what have you. Every Thursday we pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer you towards the gooey caramel center of each edition. Why? Because we like you. ON THE COVERS CITY PAPER: […]
PLEASE STANDBY: For A Special Report
Live and direct from the Todd Haynes press conference at the Four Seasons…
KILLADELPHIA: One More Man Gone
THE LAST MILE: Funeral procession for Officer Chuck Cassidy. R.I.P. [photo by VIC SUEDE]
THE NEXT MAYOR: A Prayer For The City
Late last night we got word that Mayor-elect Nutter had a special message for Phawker readers. But in order to get this message, we would have to show up with a film crew at 6 AM today outside the Government Services Building, across the street from City Hall. Which we did. Seems he wanted to talk about his top priorities in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, we seemed to have used an old tape…because it gets a little ‘funny’ about midway through. UPDATE: We have since determined that there was nothing wrong with our camera equipment and that the only reasonable […]
THE EARLY WORD: 13 THINGS YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT TOM BROSSEAU
Tom Brosseau performs Thursday, November 8, 2007 at the Fillmore at the TLA 334 South Street Philadelphia, Doors: 7:00 pm | Show: 8:00 pm 1) When I was younger, I met author Louise Erdrich (Love Medicine, Beat Queen, Bingo Palace). Louise is from where I’m from- Minnesota/North Dakota, and came to my hometown, Grand Forks, for the University of North Dakota Writer’s Conference, 1987. I grew up going to the conference, reluctantly, at first, then joyfully, willingly, excited to hear the words, to see the author(s). There was a house gathering after the reading, and Louise was standing in the kitchen. […]