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 […]
ROCKSNOB: Kill Yr. Idols
By Jonathan Valania For The Inquirer Somewhere in rock-and-roll’s journey from revolution to rite of passage, this much has become inevitable: One day your kids will turn on you. It’s impossible to say exactly what will set them off – lingering resentments over the great Santa Hoax, the sudden realization that we’re all bound to die, that good guys don’t always wear white, and that most of us won’t live happily ever after. It may seem like a phase to you, but it feels like the end of the world to them. And then they will turn to a band […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR ON WHYY Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh‘s latest article is about the administration’s efforts to undermine Iran. The article appears in The New Yorker magazine’s March 5th edition and is titled “The Redirection: Is the Administration’s New Policy Benefiting our Enemies in the War on Terror?” Hersh exposed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in a series of articles published in the magazine early in 2005. He has been the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, five George Polk Awards, two National Magazine Awards and a dozen other prizes. He is also the author of eight books, including Chain of Command […]
REVIEW: The Good, The Bad & The Queen
BY SARA SHERR For a critic, the hardest thing to review is something that’s just sort of “eh,” instead of moving you towards joy or repulsion. I didn’t think I’d have a blah attack from The Good, The Bad & The Queen, the latest project for Blur/Gorillaz man Damon Albarn. It certainly sounds good on paper, a gaggle of (mostly) white punks on dope: Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Africa ’70s drummer/musical director Tony Allen, who’s the real star here. Albarn uses reggae rhythms and thick dub soundscapes to explore life during wartime in London when […]
ADVICE: ASK MOTHER PHAWKER
DEAR MOTHER PHAWKER, Ok, here’s the setup: Back in 1989, I was in a band and playing a show in Nuremberg, Germany, with three other bands. I was the only woman, hanging out in the dressing room, which was in a basement down a LONG hall, far away from anything. A dude from one of the other bands held forth with a long, rambling, liquor- and heroin-induced diatribe about how women didn’t belong in rock. OK, whatever, asshole. But then he threatened to rape me. There were eight other people in that room, all men, and not one of them […]
CARTOON: Words Have Consequences
[Courtesy of Married To The Sea]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
I AND I: The Skatalites, Trocadero, February 22nd, 2007 EVA SAYS: I wasn’t at all surprised to find a lot of empty space between patrons at the Skatalites show. On a night like this, all the hip, trendy kids were probably well on their way to catch the new electro-ipod/turntable-avant-garde-sample whatever somewhere along the borders of NoLibs. Their loss. Though a little aged and worn around the edges, the Skatalites still delivered one of the most fun shows of the past year. And sure, the musical aspect was important. There was no forgetting that I was in the presence of […]
GUNCRAZY: Learn To Love, MOTHERFUCKERS!
A weekend of gun violence in Philadelphia left four dead and at least six people injured. One flare-up involved a shoot-out near an all-night Center City pharmacy early yesterday. Shortly after 2 a.m., two men were wounded when a disturbance in a nightclub apparently spilled out into the streets of Center City near a CVS Pharmacy, police said. Police identified them as New Jersey residents, ages 25 and 26. Police said the altercation may have resulted from an earlier dispute in the Tragos nightclub near 19th and Chestnut Streets. Police said that they weren’t sure if the incidents were connected, […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
BY JONATHAN VALANIA For nearly half a century television has had to bear the “barren wasteland” rap. But even a cursory, static-smeared twist of the radio dial reveals a largely fallow garden. Corporate consolidation and play-it-safe programmers have conspired to increase the emphasis on the obvious, the ordinary and the lowest common denominator. It doesn’t have to be like this. “When correctly harnessed, radio can be as emotional, as funny and as satisfying as the best motion pictures and television shows,” says Ira Glass, host of public radio’s This American Life. “But sadly, few radio programmers even shoot for that.” […]
BUMMER: Buckets Of Buds Beached At Boutique, Bogarted By Boys In Blue, Well Oh My And A Boo Hoo
Employees at a popular South Street store were scratching their heads over a special delivery Saturday morning. Police were called to the Fusion jeans boutique, on South Street near 4th, after employees received not one but two packages of marijuana, with a total of 20 pounds of weed. “Officers received a call that the manager of the store had received a package from FedEx and when he opened it there was a five-gallon bucket inside,” said Capt. Chris Werner of Narcotics Field Unit 2. “We don’t usually get Saturday deliveries, so right away we thought something was up,” said another […]