BY INGA SAFFRON INQUIRER ARCHITECTURE CRITIC Bulldozers smashed the two 1830s buildings to dust last month, but the case is likely to reverberate a long time in City Hall. The matter is under investigation by Philadelphia’s inspector general, Seth Williams. Officials at three agencies — the Historical Commission, the Department of Licenses and Inspections, and the Law Department — are engaged in discussions about what went wrong and how to plug the loopholes. They need to do more than talk. What happened at Front and Chestnut Streets reveals deep structural weaknesses in the city’s preservation system. The demolished buildings occupied […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR David Chase, creator and executive producer of the HBO hit series The Sopranos, reflects on America’s favorite mob family. The final episode in the show’s seven-year run will air this Sunday night. PLUS, George Clooney and the gang return to Vegas and to the casino caper for this third installment in Steven Soderbergh’s hit franchise. David Edelstein has a review. RADIO TIMES Reporter Roundtable: National politics. A lot has happened this week, The Vice President’s former Chief of Staff Lewis Libby was sentenced to go to jail, Democrats and Republicans both held Presidential Debates, and a Louisiana Congressman who […]
CINEMA: ONCE/DAYWATCH
ONCE (2007, directed by Joe Carney, 85 minutes, Ireland) DAYWATCH (2006, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, 132 minutes, Russia) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC As a viewer who has successfully defended himself against many cloying romantic comedies, I was pleased and surprised that I found myself defenseless against the acclaimed Irish musical romance saddled with the forgettable title Once. It’s no shock that audiences have been swooning for this Sundance award-winner, as it evokes the experience of frustrated love with a dreamy directness while throwing in a bunch of heartfelt musical performances from an empathetic cast. Any film that hits this […]
CALIFONE: Spider’s House
Tonight at Johnny Brendas, with Bitter Tears and Buried Beds.
HOT DOC: Inky Editorial Page Ed. Steps Down
Colleagues — In Sunday’s Currents section, the attached column announces my decision to step down as editorial page editor of the paper. I’ll be taking on a new role as a twice-weekly columnist and director of civic engagement, running the Citizen Voices program. I also plan to challenge Dick Polman for the title of Wordiest Blogger on Philly.com. Brian Tierney plans to look at internal and external candidates; I’ll leave the job formally when my replacement is named and settles in, but my hope in the coming weeks is to turn more and more of the decision-making over to the board’s […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
WHAT THE MEN DON’T KNOW THE LITTLE GIRLS UNDERSTAND: Kings Of Leon, Electric Factory, Last Night [Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA]
PARIS: No Prison, Or Thong, Can Hold Her — NOT!
[Artwork courtesy of PRETTYONTHEOUTSIDE] LOS ANGELES — After only three days behind bars, Paris Hilton traded a 12-by-8-foot cell for her 2,700-square-foot Hollywood Hills home when she was released early Thursday because of an unspecified medical condition. Hilton was to be under home confinement, wearing an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, for the remaining 40 days of her sentence for violating probation in a reckless driving case. The celebrity inmate was sent home from the L.A. County jail’s Lynwood lockup shortly after 2 a.m. in a stunning reduction to her original 45-day sentence. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS] UPDATE: LOS ANGELES — Paris […]
THE SEA AND CAKE: Sound And Vision
Tomorrow at the Fillmore with The Zincs.
THE EARLY WORD: Ya Gotta Believe!
[Click image to activate Internet]
TODAY I SAW…
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 the local media, which tends […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Michael Hearst, a founder of the band One Ring Zero, put out his Songs for Ice Cream Trucks CD mostly for fun. But he’s been getting calls from ice-cream truck drivers who want to use them; the titles include “Where Do Ice Cream Trucks Go in the Winter,” “The Sprinkle Twinkle,” “Tones for Cones,” and “The Popsicle Parade.” Some of the instruments you’ll hear on the collection include glockenspiel, electronic chord organ, melodica and theremin. RADIO TIMES Gov. Rendell has suggested using revenue from the privatization of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to pay for the maintenance of the Commonwealth’s roads and bridges. […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
JESUS SHAVES: Entrance, First Unitarian, Last Night BY SIMONE SECCI FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT No way that you can’t recognize the members of the Entrance Band into a room, first because last night at the first Unitarian there weren’t that many people also because they are the only ones that are dressed like we are in the 1970. And what happens when they start playing? You feel like we are in the 1970. I have to say it’s not a bad thing at all because the incredible power of the guitar and voice of this really skinny, modern hippie — that I […]
KILLADELPHIA: One More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
At 10:38 last night, police on patrol in the Northeast heard gunfire and found a young man lying on the ground with wounds to his chest and a hand. Rakeem Bailey, 19, of the 200 block of West Tioga Street in North Philadelphia, was taken to Einstein Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:24 p.m., according to Officer Beth DiDonato. The shooting — the 172d murder this year — took place in the 1000 block of Van Kirk Street, she said. As of this morning, police had no witnesses or suspects and knew of no motive. INQUIRER: 172 Dead […]