Lightning struck a 14-year-old Cherry Hill boy [NOT pictured] yesterday afternoon, stopping his heart, setting his shirt on fire, and eventually landing him at the Temple University Hospital’s Burn Center, where he was in critical but stable condition this morning. Just after 5:30 p.m., as thunderstorms moved through, a resident in 300 block of Monroe Avenue heard the loud boom of a lightning strike and looked out the window to see a boy lying on the ground with his shirt on fire, according to Lt. Bill Kushina of Cherry Hill police. The resident called 911, ran outside and used his […]
HEAR YE: Now Playing On Phawker Radio
“Somehow the fake-brother-and-sister/ex-husband-and-wife duo of John Anthony Gillis and Megan Martha White, aka Jack and Meg White, has managed to transmute gimmick into mystique, to create a shimmering garage mirage out of little more than trashcan drums, greasy geetar and a natty tricolor fashion palette, and sell it to 4 million people. Having proven time and again that less is more, the White Stripes remain adamantly reductionist about everything, from their music to the truth about their lives. They are masters of illusion via subtraction. And the less they give us, the more we want.” — Jonathan Valania, A Long […]
BART WHITE: The Hardest Button To Button
In Jazzy and the Pussycats, Bart learns drums and in a parody of The White Stripes’ video of “The Hardest Button to Button”, every time Bart hits the bass drum, he “creates” a new identical drum kit next to the other drum kit, but leaves the old kit behind, therefore creating a trail of drumkits. Bart goes around Springfield, through the Springfield Elementary School with Principal Skinner chasing him in time with the music, and soon goes onto a footpath. MORE
TODAY I SAW…
[Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA] BY JEFF DEENEY “Today I saw…” is a series of nonfiction shorts based on my experiences as a caseworker serving formerly homeless families now living in North and West Philadelphia. I decided not long after starting the job that I was seeing so many fascinating and disturbing things in the city’s poorest neighborhoods that I needed to start cataloging them. I hope this bi-weekly column serves as a record of a side of the city that many Philadelphians don’t come in contact with on a daily basis. I want to capture moments not frequently covered by […]
SPORTO: The Hating Is The Hardest Part
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY I’d never been to Citizens Bank Park. I’m not even a Phillies fan — all Astros all the time. My favorite color is orange, and growing up in the late ’70s those rainbow uniforms spoke to me. The last three years I’ve been working as a minor league baseball announcer in South Jersey, and haven’t had a chance to see the Fightins in their new home. But the Giants were in town and I wanted to see good ol’ Barry, so last Monday I packed up the toddler and made the trip. I wore my […]
DARFUR: Local Sudanese Settle The ‘Genocide/Not Genocide’ Debate With An Old Fashioned Chair Toss
PHILADELPHIA — The Darfurian audience at the forum took their turns to lash out the Sudanese ambassador. Dr. Ali Dinar, president of the Darfur Alert Coalition, reminded Ukec of the article he wrote three years ago in Iowa in which described the situation in Darfur as genocide. Ukec laughed sarcastically asking Dinar whether he is “asking a question or chatting with him.” Then the situation in the hall started turning ugly. Sara Mansour, a woman from Darfur, addressing Ukec told him to “stop lying” before leaving without waiting for his response. Ukec gestured with a big smile “come back young […]
BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT: Everybody Daylight
Yes, this is what you think it is.
King Britt, Need New Body Dude Score Pew Grants
Ki CUT CHEMIST: King Britt spins the crowd before Obama’s arrival at the Electric Factory, last month. Twelve fellows were awarded $50,000 each to spend any way they wish. The Pew program, in its 16th year, aims to identify Philadelphia-area artists at critical career junctures and give them the freedom to advance their artistic ambitions. “One of the things [recipients] say to us is that now when people ask them what they do, they say first and foremost, ‘I am an artist.’ There is something about the validation that these grants bring,” program director Melissa Franklin says. Validation, yes, and […]
KILLADELPHIA: One More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
Showing no signs of slowing down, Philadelphia’s homicide tally has jumped by four since Sunday, bringing the latest count to 181. Yesterday at about 1:30 p.m. police found a 19-year-old man with a single gunshot wound to the neck when they were called to 61st Street near Elmwood Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at about 2 p.m. Cops yesterday also said a 42-year-old woman. Terry Bassey, who was shot last Wednesday has died. Bassey was found on 41st Street near Lancaster Avenue, unconscious and bleeding from a […]
LOCAL RAWK: NY Times Gives The Teeth Big Ups
“The Teeth’s first full-length album, ‘You’re My Lover Now’ (Park the Van), is a population explosion. Songs fling shards of narrative about dozens of characters: lovers, friends, schoolkids, parents, depressives, liars, strivers, even partygoers tootling kazoos. The bits of stories arrive in an even more manic outpouring of tunes: honky-tonk, garage-rock, music-hall Merseybeat, frantic new wave and a final tinkly philosophical ballad with an apt self-diagnosis: ‘You got too many ideas building up inside of you.’ It’s an overload, but an exhilarating one; these songs are worth decompressing.” — John Pareles NEW YORK TIMES: And That’s Just The First Song!
SMELLS LIKE JOURNALISM: Inky’s Sam Wood Ends When Strippers Attack Piece With Sneaker Zinger
Giberson accused two dancers of stealing a pair of sneakers from her locker over the weekend, Saymon said. The argument grew heated. Giberson [NOT pictured] drew a folding knife. As her companion, Jennie Santos, 23, grappled with the dancers, Giberson slashed repeatedly at their shoulders, backs, buttocks and thighs, Saymon said. Leaving the dancers bleeding in the dressing room, Giberson and Santos fled and drove home to Collingswood. Shortly after, they were arrested by Collingswood police, Saymon said. The dancers were rushed to Cooper University Hospital, where they were treated for deep cuts. The sneakers have not been found. INQUIRER: In […]
NO JOKE: Pentagon Spent $7.5 Million On Gay Bomb
The proposal came from the Air Force’s Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, which requested $7.5 million to develop a so-called “gay-bomb.” Using the Freedom of Information Act, Edward Hammond, director of the U.S. office of the Sunshine Project, obtained a copy which was “part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons.” If completed, the bomb would release a chemical aphrodisiac “and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical… soldiers would become gay.” This would cause their units to break down as the troops “became irresistibly attractive to one another.” WASHINGTON POST: Rather Astonishing […]
ABU GONZALES: Next Stop, Impeachment?
CANCELED DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA: The Senate could hold a no-confidence vote as early as today.The resolution is non-binding and symbolic, but it will put Senators on record and send a strong message to President Bush. Make sure your Senators know you want them to support the no-confidence vote: Senator Bob Casey (202) 224-6324 Senator Arlen Specter (202) 224-4254 RELATED: ImpeachGonzales.org PREVIOUSLY: Bring Me The Head Of Abu Gonzales THANK YOU JOE LIEBERMAN*: “My vote against going ahead with more debate on this no confidence resolution is not an expression of confidence in Attorney General Gonzales. It is an expression of […]