PENN STATE 31 TEMPLE 0 [Photo by AMY Z. QUINN]
REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT: Norman Mailer RIP
BY LOUIS MENAND OF THE NEW YORKER No one would say of Norman Mailer, who died on November 10th, at the age of eighty-four, that he hoarded his gift. He was a slugger. He swung at everything, and when he missed he missed by a mile and sometimes ended up on his tush, but when he connected he usually knocked it out of the park. He was immodest about his failures and modest about his successes, which is a healthy trait for a writer and probably a healthy trait for life. He left a huge footprint on American letters. Mailer […]
CINEMA: Let Us Now Praise The Brothers Coen
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007, directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, 122 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Midway through the Coen Brothers’ masterful new adaptation of Cormac McCarthy‘s No Country For Old Men, the aging sheriff Ed Tom Bell is asked by another oldster what might be the origin of the wave of murder and violence sweeping across East Texas. “I always thought once you stopped hearing ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’ that the rest just follows” he says with resignation. That is as good an explanation as the film offers for the near Biblical hellfire and retribution that […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Five Things You Really Need To Know About Tom Brosseau At The Fillmore Last Night
IN MY AUTUMN SWEATER: Tom Brosseau, The Fillmore, Last Night 1. Mr. Brosseau looks like a Swiss ski instructor or Owen Wilson without the bandages, but he sings like naked woman who died in a great flood a long, long time ago. 2. Mr. Brosseau wore what is quite possibly the gayest most radical sweater ever seen on a live folk performer whose name wasn’t Joan Baez. 3. The girl next to me leaning against the lip of the stage was teaching herself Icelandic from a textbook while waiting for Mr. Brosseau to appear. She plans to move there one […]
EARLY WORD: FIVE THINGS YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT NORMAL LOVE
1. At one point the band was considering calling themselves Severe Confection, which then ended up being the title of a piece they play, written by Dustin Hurt, who originally titled it “Fried Jello.” “We changed the title cause that name is dumb” said Eli. 2. Normal Love’s got two 1/2 Puerto Ricans, one half Jew, and two full Jews. “That makes us decidedly more Jew then Rican”, says Evan, “but we’re still fully down to represent as ‘Jew Rican‘: all respects to Julio Lugo.” 3. Eli likes to play the drums with his shirt off and has been told […]
CURRENTLY HOMELESS: A Few Good Men
BY JEFF DEENEY A recent study indicates that some 200,000 American war veterans are currently homeless. Some 1,500 of those are Iraq War vets. The homeless services field has been anticipating the arrival of Iraq War vets in shelters and drop in centers across the nation since the war started. When I worked for the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness we regularly discussed how to handle the impending surge of vets that were bound to show up in the day center at 802 N. Broad. As of my departure from that agency a couple months ago we still hadn’t […]
EARLY WORD: Oh No, It’s The Popo!
The Popo wins Best Band Name Ever. This week anyway…
THE SURVEILLANCE STATE: 1984 Already Happened
1984 Has Been Brought To You By The Fine Folks At AT&T! BY ELLEN NAKASHIMA WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER His first inkling that something was amiss came in summer 2002 when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San Francisco.”What the heck is the NSA doing here?” Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, said he asked himself. A year or so later, he stumbled upon documents that, he said, nearly caused him to fall out of his chair. The documents, he said, show that the NSA gained access […]
PEACE BOMB: Ron “I Will End The Iraq War” Paul’s $10 Million ‘Tea’ Party Comes To Town Saturday
BY AMY Z. QUINN Supporters of Texas Congressman and longshot GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul raised $4.2 million in 24 hours in a loosely-organized fund-raising push they’re calling a “money bomb.” Speculate, theorize, stereotype. Only one thing is clear: the Paulites, the loyal, organized, Web-savvy supporters of Rep. Ron Paul, know how to raise money online, and 37,000 Paulites set a record [Monday] by hauling in more than $4.2 million in 24 hours. That’s the most money raised online by a candidate in a single day. A Paulite came up with the fundraising idea, a few more Paulites joined in […]
ARTSY: Ra, Ra, Ra Your Boat
BY DAN “ARTSY” BUSKIRK A truly successful artist wisely figures out how to incorporate their art organically into his life. If Irish installation artist Brian Kennedy is going to keep his insane schedule, traveling the five continents to mount his installations, why shouldn’t his subject be travel itself? Most recently his travels have brought him to Philadelphia, where his piece “Passage” had its unveiling tonight at the Icebox Gallery at the Crane Art Building. Kennedy is known for his large-scale installations specifically designed for their presentation spaces, but with The Icebox’s massive size — we’re talking 5,000 square ft. — […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Five Things You Need To Know About Menomena At First Unitarian Last Night
1. They have great taste in opening acts. Bucks County’s Illinois singing catchy, clever pop songs to the banjo over multiple bottles of Sailor Jerry really puts you in the mood for more music. Either that or a sock-hop. But that’s cool too. 2. Menomena is just as organic and fresh as anything else coming out of Portland. The band is comprised of three really tall musicians who produce the instrumentation of a 10-piece orchestra. It’s impressive to hear so much sound coming from such a small group of people. Like a puzzle, these sounds fit perfectly together, only it’s […]
MAILBAG: How Interns Get Hired
DEAR PHAWKER, You’ve created quite a ruckus here at Temple. Although I don’t necessarily agree with your idea of the usefulness of Journalism, I appreciate what you said (that is, after I really thought about it). It’s revolutionary and spirited in a way that many journalists were supposed to be since day one and no longer are. Journalists and media lovers alike are supposed to have the anti-establishment burned into them at day one, but it seems that newspapers are just as bad as the government is now. We had talked briefly (after your presentation at Temple) about indie rock […]