(AP) PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia police say officers shot and killed a knife-wielding man who yelled “Kill me” and lunged at them early Sunday morning. The killing is the second this year by city police. Police say it happened about 2 a.m. as the officers were responding to a report of a broken window at a federal building across the street from The Gallery, the downtown mall. Police Captain Benjamin Naish says the officers tried several times to use a stun gun, but couldn’t disarm the man. Naish won’t say how many officers fired or how many shots were fired at the […]
GAYBO: HIPSTERS, TRAMPS AND SLEAZE, MORRISSEY DOES EUROVISION? NO FUMAR y NO ESTACIONAR & THREESOME OF THE WEEK
BY TOMMY ZANE Aging Granddaddy of all hipsters and ambivalent sex-God Morrissey is rumored to have jumped in the race to write and/or perform this year’s U.K. entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, to be held May 12 in Helsinki, Finland. The 52 year-old contest counts ABBA and Olivia Newton-John among its discoveries (the Aussie warbler lost out to the ABBA’s “Waterloo” in the 1974 go-round) but Eurovision is mostly known for its high camp and lousy pop songs with flashy Solid Gold-esque choreography. If Morrissey does indeed sign up to represent the U.K., I can only imagine a domino […]
ARTSY: Grand Dame Of 60s Op-Art Still Hip at 90
BY AMY S. ROSENBERG INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In the ’60s, she was making art that was part of the psychedelic fabric of its day, mind-blowing optical trickery, paintings that vibrated and moved, art that anticipated a digital medium few had imagined. But Edna Andrade was no hippie, no part of the like-wow drug culture that embraced the op art movement of the 1960s. She was middle-aged, living on her own on Carlisle Street in Center City, her architect husband having left her, isolated from the New York or European art scene, no starving waitress thing for her, no East Village […]
PBR: FOOKIN’ PUNTERS!
BY PATRICK BERKERY Down in the Big Easy, where the Eagles’ unexpected playoff push came to a screeching halt Saturday night, there’s a colloquialism called lagniappe. It means ?a little something extra.? And what Jeff Garcia, Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, Marty Mornhinweg et al gave us after Donovan went down was a totally unforeseen little something extra. Well done, boys. Well done. That said, the way it ended stings. Badly. Lagniappe, schmaniappe, I say. The defense might?ve been sucking wind late in the fourth quarter, but Garcia was still cocked and loaded (insert rumors of Garcia being homosexual-related punch line […]
SMELLS LIKE JOURNALISM: Inky Editorial Board Descends From Ivory Tower To Hear Vox Populi
Talking to Philadelphians about their city is like talking to a woman about the guy she’s been married to for 30 years. She has his quirks and habits down cold. If you ask nicely, she’ll recite them all for you, in rueful, sarcastic detail. But don’t you go criticizing him, or she’ll knock your block off as soon as she looks at you. She’ll never pretend he looks like Pierce Brosnan or George Clooney, but then again, she never cared that much about that kind of thing. Anyway, for a guy his age, who’s been through what he’s been through, […]
GAMBLOR: Will Philly Slot Shacks Have ‘Timeout Room’ For Sore Losers With Hunting Knives?
ATLANTIC CITY ? A Philadelphia man was arrested after allegedly stabbing a woman multiple times late Friday night outside the Tropicana Casino and Resort. A Tropicana doorman and a valet driver witnessed Christopher Barnes, 54, stabbing an unidentified female in the property’s South Tower drive-through shortly after 11 p.m, police said. The two men managed to pull Barnes off the victim and hand him off to casino security officers, who detained Barnes until police officers William Pollack and Keith Bennett arrived to take him into custody, police said. Police found a hunting-style knife on the scene, which they believe was […]
ROCKIST FROM THE CRYPT: JOHN REIS On Da Iggles, R.O.C.K. In The 215 And Killing HOT SNAKES Dead
BY DAVID R. STAMPONE WEST COAST CORRESPONDENT Many folks here in the 215 have closely followed the career of one John Reis, even if said guy is as essentially San Diegan as voted-in-Tuesday Baseball Hall of Famer Tony “Mr. Padre” Gwynn. His groups have always been well-received in the Delaware Valley (as is his weekly free-form radio show “The Swami Sound System,” heard online at www.fm949sd.com starting 1 am every Sunday). And, actually, two of his biggest bands each had a Philadelphia story. NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! Hot Snakes began as an SD/Philly two-dudes-in-two-cities project, with Reis rocking guitar/bass […]
PBR: Playoff Foreplay, How Much Do YOU Need?
BY PATRICK BERKERY Love these Nerf-ish Eagles profiles the local news roll outs during the playoffs. Dunno know about you, but nothing gets me ready for game day more than a reporter who knows nothing about football hanging with player X and his trophy wife at some atrocity of a Toll Brothers home in south Jersey, while the rugrats zip around in toy Hummers in the background. Are you ready for some playoff football? This “On the Sidelines” report from Fox 29’s Michelle Williams is a little different. Watch as she “ooohs” and “aaahs” at long snapper/magician Jon Dorenbos’s card […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Stephen A. Smith Speaks Out ‘Quite Frankly’ On ESPN2 Cancellation, Buzz Dissinger, And Will He Or Won’t He Take One For The Team
From: stephenaREDACTED Subject: Re: Request For Comment Date: January 12, 2007 4:55:17 PM EST To: PHAWKER Yes, it’s true, and I support ESPN’s decision. Doing a brand new show on ESPN2 was a tremendous challenge to begin with. I did my best, helped along by a tremendous staff, and I’m proud of what we accomplished. I’ve learned a great deal. I’ve also learned there’s limits to what I can withstand in regards to my schedule. Now I move on to future challenges — while enthusiastically embracing old ones like writing for the Inquirer on a more frequent basis I’m still […]
ASK MOTHER PHAWKER: I Am NOT Italian, But I Am Willing To Learn
Yo-Yo Ma, I recently started dating this way hot Italian goddess from around the way, who just invited me over to her families’ Eagles-watching gathering this coming Saturday. Being as white as the driven snow, and perhaps not up to passing muster as the manliest of men (sorry, no blue collar callouses on these hands), I’m stressing the whole first impression thing. What do you suggest in regards to making that perfect first impression to Mamma Italiano and the boys? P.S. I also know nothing about football. Help! Signed, Whitey Dear ‘medigan, Kudos to you for thinking about this beforehand […]
REVIEW: ALPHA DOG (Directed by Nick Cassavetes, 117 minutes)
BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Now that he’s brought sexy back, snagged Scarlett Johansson and popularized the gift-wrapped penis, you have to ask, what can’t Justin Timberlake do? Sorry Haters, but you won’t find the chink in this pop phenom’s armor watching his big screen debut in Alpha Dog, a surprisingly effective freewheeling crime drama from director Nick Cassavetes that opens today. Based on true events (bah, whatever) Alpha Dog tells the story of the pot-dealing gangster-wannabe Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) and his posse of hard-partying buddies. With the rap videos constantly playing on their big screen TV, these who […]