Comedian Bill Cosby took to the streets of his native Philadelphia yesterday to rally residents against gun violence, and delivered a defiant challenge to those who believe the solution would be heaven-sent. “Stop waiting for Jesus to come,” he told a crowd of about 300 people from the steps of Bible Way Baptist Church at 52d and Master Streets, and urged the adults to be better parents and guides to children. “The revolution is in your neighborhood . . . in your streets . . . in your apartment . . . in your mind,” he said, telling parents to […]
COPS: ‘Boy In The Bag’ Killed By Dick In A Box
The mother of a little boy whose 1994 murder was so unremarkable that his anonymous corpse lay unclaimed in the Philadelphia morgue for more than a decade pleaded guilty today in his death and agreed to testify against her husband, who she says battered the boy to death. Alicia Willis Robinson, 34, who gave birth to the child who forever will be known as Boy in the Bag, pleaded guilty to a charge of hindering apprehension in exchange for an agreement to serve five years in prison. As part of the plea deal, she will testify against Lawrence Robinson, 38, […]
KILLADELPHIA: One More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
Philadelphia homicide detectives are looking for a gunman in connection with a mid-afternoon homicide in Logan. It happened just before 3pm outside the Rite-Aid at Broad St. and Wyoming Ave. Police say the man was shot in the thigh and was rushed to Temple University Hospital where he died about 15 minutes later. There is no suspect and no motive in the case at this time. KYW: That Makes 169 Dead In 155 Days
PINK FLOYD: Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Pretty remarkable, really.
NPR FOR THE DEF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Husband-and-wife team Win Butler and Regine Chassagne lead the band Arcade Fire [PICTURED], an art-rock outfit that hails from Montreal. The seven-member band, which deploys everything from piano, sax and violin to dobro, harpsichord and hurdy-gurdy, has two albums to its credit: Neon Bible and 2004’s Funeral. PLUS, Steven Bach‘s biography Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl examines the filmmaker who celebrated the Nazi ideal and created the Third Reich’s iconic images in Triumph of the Will and Olympiad. Bach details Riefenstahl’s ruthless, opportunistic ambition, analyzes her “self-righteous entitlement,” and explores her relationships with Hitler, Goebbels and […]
GAYBO: Gee Your ‘Hair’ Smells Terrific!
BY TOMMY ZANE GAYDAR EDITOR When “Hair” debuted on Broadway in April, 1968, it changed the face of the world forever. The self-proclaimed “American tribal love-rock musical” was an ever-growing cacophony of rebellious noise representing race relations, anti-war sentiment and the sexual revolution. America was in the midst of a major cultural rift between the status quo and the non-conformist, and progressive thinking of a younger generation. “Hair” was heard loud and clear, not just on Broadway, but all over the radio with Galt MacDermot’s instantly classic compositions “Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine,” “Good Morning, Starshine” and the emotionally evocative ballad, […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
SET THE CONTROLS FOR THE HEART OF THE SUN: Roger Waters On The Dark Side, Wachovia Center, Friday Night [PHOTOBUCKET] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER It was pretty much 40 years ago today that Sgt. Pepper taught the other bands to play like they were Picassos with guitars, and after that songs were replaced by statements — grandiose, interconnected, deeply ruminative — and albums were no longer mere collections, but high concepts. Arguably, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon is the highwater mark of rock’s evolution from low pop to high art. Some 34 years after its immaculate […]
VIET NOW: Porno For Pyros
In this insurgent propaganda film, three men throw Russian-made thermal armor-piercing grenades at passing Coalition vehicles. Astonishing not just for its raw brutality, but for how effectively the attacks are captured on film — looks like a three camera shoot — and turned into Jihadist porn. ASSOCIATED PRESS: BAGHDAD – The U.S. military said yesterday that 14 American soldiers were killed over the last three days, including four in a single roadside bombing and another who was struck by a suicide bomber while on a foot patrol.
KILLADELPHIA: One More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
A man was killed early Saturday in a shooting a few blocks from Temple University’s campus, police said. The shooting took place just before 12:30 a.m. on the 1700 block of Sydenham Street. Police said the victim was not a Temple student, but were only describing him as being in his 20s. Police did not report any arrests. The fatal shooting was Philadelphia’s 168th homicide of 2007, a pace of more than one a day. NBC10: #168 Is A Done Deal KYW: Protesters Hold Die-In At Independence Mall DAILY NEWS: Death Of A ‘Hood Prince’
THE NEW PANIC: Reading Between The Lines Of JFK Terror Plot Indictment
At a certain point, something will go wrong. You may have trouble recruiting other people to collaborate with your very own terrorist, who is, as you yourself know, just an ordinary guy in a really bad mood. Or, alternatively, the terrorist cell you have carefully cobbled together may malfunction and fail to move forward — probably as a result of sheer incompetence or of simply not having been genuinely serious about the acts of terrorism you were urging it to commit. At this point, you may worry that the FBI is going to realize that there isn’t much of a terrorist […]
CINEMA: SPEED KILLS DEAD
BUG (2006, directed by William Friedkin, 102 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC With monster sequels from blockbuster franchises gobbling up the majority of megaplex screens at the kick-off of the summer season, Lionsgate is doing some crazy counter-programming by attempting to pass off William Friedkin’s adaption of the Tracy Lett’s stage hit Bug as a Saw-like horror film for the blood-drunk masses. While this slow-building, claustrophobic psychological thriller ultimately ascends to a climax as gruesomely horrific as Requiem For A Dream’s, Bug would have likely found a more accepting audience in the art-house circuit rather than being booked […]
IT WAS 40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Macca In Twilight
This week’s New Yorker has a gorgeous piece on Paul McCartney, a Macca-in-twillight kind of thing, in consideration of his upcoming 65th birthday. It stretches across 10 pages but can’t escape the Beatles, of course. Then again, it seems like Sir Paul is at the point in his oldish-man life where he’s enjoying telling the stories again — which girlfriend he was riding in the car with when he wrote this song, the flush of pride he felt upon being complimented by John Lennon, a genuine sense of amazement at his own life’s events. My favorite part is this: McCartney […]