BY ELIZABETH FIEND Spring is in the air, and peoples’ attention will be turning to romance and in turn lookin’ good for the summer months when you get to show off a lot more skin. If you’re considering going on a diet to look great to attract that special someone, I can help you because I know THE definitive way to lose weight. Send me a check and I’ll spill it. Oh hell, I’ll just tell you right now. The way, and this is the only way to lose weight — drum roll please….. eat less and/or exercise more. Or […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Don’t Blinq, You’ll Miss It
From: Gordon, Anne Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 5:13 PM To: Inquirer Subject: metro column news Staff, I am pleased to announce that Dan Rubin [pictured, left] will become a full-time Metro columnist, effective immediately. His column will appear on Wednesdays. He eventually will move to twice a week. Meanwhile, Annette John-Hall will debut her column this Friday. Annette delayed the start of her try out so that she might tend to some personal issues. She is back now and ready to write. Please welcome her new column, focusing on local issues, people and places, when it appears tomorrow. Anne […]
MAILBAG: Behind Blue Eyes II
Phawker, Come on, “sad man” Why is that necessary? Why not something more positive and uplifting, and respectful of his spirit? I’m not the only one irked by your choice of words. I don’t pretend to try to “dictate” anything you do. But you have comments and an editorial e-mail listed as plain as day on your site – what do you expect? Even Joey Sweeney – your nemesis – got it right. Would a better choice of words been so hard? Laura Koepfler ************* Phawker, Your reference to “Behind Blue Eyes” was not at all clear…in these situations it’s […]
MAILBAG: Behind Blue Eyes
DEAR PHAWKER, “Singer, songwriter, sad man”? [Actually, it said ROCKER, WRITER, SAD MAN–Ed.] We could try and contemplate what kind of a fool takes a cheap crack a such a decent, inventive and beloved man, but we can’t be bothered at this moment. We’re mourning someone we loved. Whatever emotional deficiency, envy, pathetic need or lack of soul brought you to react to someone’s death in this way, you should know that Bruce cast a wide net and touched more than his share of people. We remember his wit, kindness, talent and humanity. Attributes you apparently lack. We will be […]
THE EARLY WORD: By The Way, Which One’s Pink?
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OBIT: Bruce Langfeld, Rocker, Writer, Sad Man
BY GAYLE RONAN SIMS INQUIRER STAFF Bruce Langfeld, 45, singer-songwriter and guitarist for roots-rock band Bag of Hammers and others in the 1990s, was found dead on Sunday in his Center City apartment. Jeff Moran, spokesman for the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office, said the cause of death is pending lab tests. “He was last seen alive 10 days prior to his body being found, but the report does not indicate he was dead that long,” Moran said. “No one has told me that foul play is suspected.” “My brother struggled with depression most of his life,” said his sister, Nancy […]
SPANK THE MONKEY: Philly Judge Strikes Down Fed Porn Law
Writing that he “may not turn a blind eye to the law in order to attempt to satisfy my urge to protect this nation’s youth by upholding a flawed statute,” a federal judge in Philadelphia this morning struck down another of Congress’ attempts to restrict pornography on the Internet.U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed Jr. ruled that the 1998 Children’s Online Protection Act was ineffective, overly broad and violated First Amendment’s free-speech clause because it was not the “least restrictive” way Congress could have tackled the thorny problem of children’s access to pornography on a personal computer. The law, known […]
DVD REVIEW: IDIOCRACY
(2006, directed by Mike Judge, 84 min., U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Can Big Business take a joke? Maybe not, as Mike Judge appears to have found out with his latest film Idiocracy, which quietly slipped out on DVD a few weeks ago. Although wildly uneven, Idiocracy is one of the most eccentric Hollywood comedies ever produced, and further solidifies the creator of “Beavis and Butthead” and “King of the Hill” as one of the truly subversive voices in mass entertainment. So why did 20th Century Fox, which surely would like to keep a talent as successful as Judge […]
MEDIA: INQUIRER KILLS SHISTER COLUMN
LONGTIME Inqwaster television columnist Gail Shister (pictured, below right) has been stripped of her assignment, in a move that’s been met with surprise and disapproval by many at that paper and at the Daily News. On Tuesday, Shister was told she would no longer be writing her widely read column, and would instead be asked to do more pop-culture television features, she confirmed yesterday. “We’re all part of a new world here, and I never thought I’d be immune, but I’m not ready to uncork the champagne yet,” Shister said of her disappointment. “There are better ways to utilize my […]
THAT CAT’S SOMETHING I CAN’T EXPLAIN: Syd Barrett Love Letter Sketches Surface 40 Years Later
[Via THE FIRST POST] As everyone should know by now, the late Roger “Syd” Barrett started Pink Floyd in 1965 and left the group in 1968, eventually finding a reclusive peace in his native Cambridge. But while he will be remembered as the founder of the British psychedelic sound, who foundered on the rocks of mental illness, he would probably have preferred to be known as a visual artist. From entering polytechnic at 16, to leaving Camberwell Art School after his foundation course, he painted big, abstract oils – a vocation he resumed in his forties, when he became a […]
HIZZONER ’07: Mayor Duh?
BY JILL PORTER “I’M NOT A dumb candidate. I just play one on the witness stand.” At least you’d hope that’s what Bob Brady would say after his disturbingly unimpressive court appearance yesterday Tuesday. The congressman was evasive and combative, and seemed clueless about simple financial concepts. He proclaimed more than once that he didn’t understand questions he was being asked. Brady testified in a hearing to decide whether he should be ousted from the mayor’s race, based on allegations that he omitted required information from the financial-disclosure forms he filed with his nominating petitions. And you have to wonder […]