DEAR PHAWKER, Brian Abernathy* is dead right, about one thing at least. I desperately want to represent the voters of Philadelphia in Harrisburg. Not because I need the job, but because it’s time that first district voters had someone working for them in Harrisburg. Like most people, I learned the value of self sacrifice and public service at home. My parents were devoutly Catholic and throughout my childhood we worked hard to extend a helping hand to those less fortunate than ourselves. At the age of eight, I helped my mother bake hundreds of pies to benefit our church, St. […]
VIVA LA BAM: Uncle Vito Convicted Of Groping Minors
ASSOCIATED PRESS: GOLDEN, Colo. — The man known as “Don Vito” on MTV’s show “Viva La Bam” was convicted Wednesday of two counts of sexual assault on a child. Vincent Margera, 51, of West Chester, Pa., was accused of groping three girls ages 12 to 14 during an autograph signing event last year at mall skate park in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. After he was convicted, he fell to the floor cursing and yelled, “Just kill me now.” He was acquitted of a third count of sex assault on a child. He faces a sentence of probation to six […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
SUICIDE NOT PAINLESS NOW: Accidental Attempted Murder-Suicide Girl TOKYO – A woman leaped from an 11-story Tokyo apartment Wednesday in an apparent suicide, striking and seriously injuring a passer-by, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday. The unidentified woman, who appeared to be in her 30s or 40s, appeared to have jumped from the building onto a busy Tokyo street and was declared dead at the scene. She hit a 47-year-old male pedestrian who suffered a brain injury. Japan has one of the industrial world’s highest suicide rates, with more than 32,000 people taking their own lives in 2006. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS] […]
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS: Day Of The Dead
…is today. So cheer up! On the 31st of October, families create an ofrenda in their homes. Essentially an altar, the ofrenda is anoffering of love and respect for the souls of loved ones. Various traditions include placement of photos of the deceased, bread known as Pan de Muerte (Bread of the Dead), water, and other food items they might have enjoyed in life. Ofrenda have also been known to include clothing, and personal grooming items for the souls to freshen up with following their journey from the afterlife. There is always an abundance of flowers, known as cempasúchil, valued […]
APOCALYPSE NOW: You’re Soaking In It
Collateral News 23: And the Prize Goes To… * News you can use, assuming you A.) Currently live on planet Earth, and B.) expect to do so for the foreseeable future. Your call.
BAD MOON RISING: Calling All Monsters
KILLADELPHIA: Cop Shot In Face, Given Last Rites, Schools On Lockdown, Shooter Still On The Loose UPDATE: Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy has died from the wounds he suffered in a shooting during a robbery Wednesday at a Dunkin’ Donuts in West Oak Lane. Cassidy was pronounced dead at 9:40 a.m. this morning at Albert Einstein Medical Center. RELATED: Police believe the body pulled from the Schuylkill River Wednesday morning is the man wanted in a shooting Tuesday night that left four people — including a Philadelphia cop — wounded. The body was identified as 29-year-old Jerome Whitaker of the […]
MAILBAG: A House Is Not A Hotel
DEAR PHAWKER, Anne Dicker couldn’t qualify for a mortgage to buy fumo’s house because she’s never held a job. That’s why she’s running for state senate. She finally want sto work after being in Philadlephia for 4 years. And why is she making a stink about Fumo’s property taxes? How much does Anne pay in property taxes? Wait, do you mean to tell me she has never paid the city wage tax and bnever paid the property tax here and STILL she thinks she is qualified to be a state senator? She actually thinks she knows what people who WORK […]
CINEMA: She’s Lost Control Again
CONTROL (2007, directed by Anton Corbijn, 121 minutes, U.K.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC An ultimate music geek movie Control allows Joy Division über fan, their one-time photographer Anton Corbijn, to reconstruct the dreary world of mid-seventies Manchester for this new biopic of band singer/lyricist Ian Curtis [pictured, right]. It’s a dazzling resurrection, in overblown black & whiteCorbijn gets every detail right in his obsession to summon the stark landscape that gave birth to Joy Division desolate vision. Once we get used to Control‘s austere beauty, we find a film hung up by the same problems that have always afflicted […]
SEASONS GREETINGS: It’s Halloween!
“Why even Dracula will be there!” — The Shaggs, “It’s Halloween”
LIVE & DIRECT: The Democratic Presidential Debate
MONSTER M*A*S*H: Demonstrators act up at 34th & Chestnut, 7:55 PM BY JONATHAN VALANIA PHILADELPHIA — We are live and direct from the press filing room of the Democratic Presidential Debate at Drexel. All media poohbahs great and small are here: CNN, Philly Gay News, Newsweek, Phawker. I just saw the Daily News’ Dan Gross being led away by security yelling something about “Don’t Tase me, bro” — whatever that means. Maybe I should help. Fuck it. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Besides, I don’t wanna lose my spot in line for the snack table. They have pretzels. I like […]