BY ELIZABETH FIEND The first time I ate flowers, they were served to me by a man who just moments before had uttered the command: “Don’t smoke in this room, this is where we make our bombs.” He then pointed out the window, where on an overhanging roof rung with barbed wire I spied rows and rows of Molotov cocktails, finely crafted in Heineken bottles. The bombs were needed in case the police came a-knockin’. Or as I found out first hand, several hours later, when they don’t knock. The cops actually come a-bangin’, with a battering-ram. And they dress […]
BASKETBALL DIARY: Philadelphia 87, Chicago 88
THE AGONY OF DEFEAT: 76ers vs. Bulls, Wachovia Center, Last Night [FLICKR] UPI — PHILADELPHIA Kirk Hinrich sank a jump shot with 26.7 seconds left Wednesday night as the Chicago Bulls rallied to edge Philadelphia, 88-87. Philadelphia shot 72 percent from the floor to build a 28-18 lead after the first quarter, and continued to lead by 50-42 at the half. The lead was 72-62 after the third quarter, but Chicago finally forged ahead in the final 12 minutes to snap to Sixers seven-game home winning streak. [Photo by Jonathan Valania]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
RADIO TIMES Hour 1 (Rebroadcast tonight at 11) The UN estimates that over 2 million Iraqis have fled the country while nearly another million have left their homes in Iraq for safer areas within the country. We talk about the dire situation for Iraqis living in Syria and those who remain in Iraq as well as U.S. policy towards the refugee crisis with NPR reporter DEBORAH AMOS, Newsweek writer LORRAINE ALI, and KEN BACON of Refugees International. Hour 2 How food advertisers promoted the concept of the ideal wife and mother as a homemaker who made all the right choices to […]
EARLY WORD: A Steely Dan Is A Dildo
TOWER THEATER, May 24th and 25th [Tickets go on sale March 17]
Butt Plug Boy To Be Deported Back To Iraq
Fadhel Al-Maliki, a 35-year-old Iraqi national living in Atlantic City, N.J., had been flagged by security officials at LAX and was undergoing a secondary “selectee screening” when he set off a metal detector. As Al-Maliki was being detained, his two bags were loaded on to US Airways Flight 1422, which took off for Philadelphia with 143 passengers and six crew members on board, said Liz Landau, a spokeswoman for the airline. Al-Maliki, a former security guard, told screeners that he knew what had triggered the alarm and proceeded to remove items from his rectum, including a rock, chewing gum and […]
GAMBLOR: City Council To Consider Quaint Notion Of Actually Giving Philadelphians Say In Casino Schemes
City Council could soon vote on putting a question to voters this May, on the future of the city?s slots parlors. A super majority of 12 votes would be needed by City Council for this ballot question to go to voters in May. The question involves changes to city zoning that effectively would bar casinos from just about every part of town. The mayor opposes this, leaving Councilman Frank DiCicco perplexed: ?I would just wonder if the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decided to put a nuclear power plant down at Delaware and Reed, would the city?s position be the same? I […]
Inky & DN Join Phawker In The National Chorus Of Editorials Calling For Attorney General To Resign
INQUIRER: He should resign Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales should resign. If he ever does, the nation could take it as a clear sign that President Bush finally grasps the need to preserve core civil liberties while guarding against terrorism. It would also be a sign that the president grasps that the Justice Department is at least one part of the government that should be free from the all-politics-all-the-time approach of his Karl Rove-led White House team. Until the day Gonzales does the right thing — or it’s demanded of him — Americans must assume that their president doesn’t get […]
HOT DOCUMENT: I Shall Return
March 14, 2007 To: The staff From: Bill Marimow [Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer] I wanted to give you advance notice of an upcoming event in my life. Beginning tomorrow, I’ll be out of the office for several weeks because I’m having surgery for prostate cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The operation is being done by Dr. Patrick Walsh, the surgeon who pioneered the nerve-sparing prostate surgery. Based on the reading I’ve done, the prospects for full recovery are very good. Based on the experience of other colleagues who have had this surgery, I’m estimating that I’ll be out of […]
PW’s Steven Wells Rips Sweeney’s Shameless Shilling, But Fails To Disclose Status As Comcast’s Bitch
The living god-king of Philadelphia hipsters recently jumped the shark in the most embarrassing manner possible. You know who I mean. He needs no introduction. Yesterday he was the maharaja of Philly cool, the super-groovy gossip blogger, the dude who put the “pst” into hipster. Today he’s snot on a crack whore’s stocking. His crime against credibility? In a horrifically badly judged Philadelphia magazine advertorial, the god-king posed in the back of a “free” car — ridiculously resplendent in his trademark ironic girl’s coat and not-so-ironic no-sex specs — and gushed about his sponsors’ products (go to www.philadelphiawilldo.com for the […]
POP IN TAPE: Hot Wax In The 215
BY MICHAEL FICHMAN I’ve worked on and off in sports journalism (professional, then amateur) for about seven years now. Periodically, the small-mindedness of a niche-interested group becomes apparent. For example, when a talented football player like Barry Sanders retires before his time, sportswriters lose their fucking minds. “How could he do that? He’s just walking away?!” When Michael Jordan came back for the umpteenth time (or decided to play baseball for that matter), people whined that he was tarnishing his legacy, as if MJ himself hadn’t created it. Most sportswriters and hardcore sports fans were once aspiring athletes, moon-shooting idealistic […]
REVIEW: The Shins, Electric Factory, Last Night
EVA SAYS: So, you’d think after all these years of waiting to see The Shins, my first show would have been some meaningful notch on my concert bedpost or something. What a silly expectation that was. At best, maybe I got excited for the first ten seconds of each song. But then the initial thrill of recognition would fade and I would be back to underwhelmed. Mostly I blame myself. After all, my friends did try to warn me off: “The Shins suck, you loser Zach Braff fan!” (For the record: I do not like Zach Braff nor was I […]