GUY NOIR: Feds Reveal Details Of Fumo’s Snooping On Political Friends & Foes Prosecutors yesterday filed a 93-page document in federal court identifying more than 2,000 potential exhibits in their prosecution of state Sen. Vince Fumo. Fumo, who announced last month that he would not seek re-election, is set for trial in September. The disclosure of the evidence by prosecutors — ordered by the federal judge presiding over the case — relates to many of the charges against Fumo. Among the more interesting items on the evidence list: A Sept. 22, 2002, fax from Frank Wallace, a private investigator hired […]
CHINESE DEMOCRACY: Just Do It
Boy on his father’s shoulders, Paris, earlier today. [Photo by VESPA RIDING GRANNY] NPR: Police in the French capital said Monday that the last part of the Olympic torch relay in the city had been cancelled after they were forced to douse the symbolic flame several times and carry it in a bus to avoid anti-China protesters. The announcement followed a day in which the police were forced to play a game of cat-and-mouse with protesters in an effort to keep them at bay as the relay took place. Security officials in Paris extinguished the Olympic torch five separate times […]
HEARY YE: Matmos Supreme Balloon
Now playing on Phawker Radio! More details after the jump…
ROB LOWE: Blackmail Is My Life
[portrait by ROB MUNRO] BY ROB LOWE FOR THE HUFFINGTON POST Harassment in the workplace, sexual or otherwise, is something I take very seriously. In my home and on the set, I have been surrounded for years by hardworking women (and men) whom I respect and whose rights are to be protected. But when people make false claims of harassment particularly for financial gain, it must be defended vigorously and openly, for it weakens the claims of legitimate victims. A former employee is demanding my wife Sheryl and I pay her 1.5 million dollars by the end of the week […]
THIS JUST IN: Radiohead Announces Philly Date
Dates and venues have been confirmed for the second leg of Radiohead’s upcoming North American tour. They are: August 1 – Lollapalooza – Chicago, IL August 3 – Verizon Wireless Music Center – Indianapolis, IN August 4 – Blossom Music Center – Cleveland, OH August 6 – Parc Jean Drapeau – Montreal, QC August 8 – All Points West Music & Arts Festival/Liberty State Park – Jersey City, NJ August 9 – All Points West Music & Arts Festival/Liberty State Park – Jersey City, NJ August 12 – Susquehanna Bank Center – Camden, NJ August 13 – Tweeter Center For […]
PAYA THE ELEPHANT: Self-Portrait
I know we said that Olympic torch vid was INSANE, but this is blowing our frickin’ mind: An elephant painting his self-portrait! We shit you not. You can see the real-time version here, minus the pumping house music. We had our doubts up until we saw this. Is this the end of art as we now know it? What about First Friday? It seems so pointless now.
WORTH REPEATING: The Inanity Of Evil
SALON: Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that various topics have been mentioned in the media over the past thirty days: “Yoo and torture” – 102 “Mukasey and 9/11” — 73 “Yoo and Fourth Amendment” — 16 “Obama and bowling” — 1,043 “Obama and Wright” — More than 3,000 (too many to be counted) “Obama and patriotism” — 1,607 “Clinton and Lewinsky” — 1,079 [MORE]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
WELL-RESPECTED MAN: Ray Davies, Tower Theater, Saturday [by TIFFANY YOON] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER For anyone under 30, the best way to hear the music of the Kinks is by watching the films of Wes Anderson — pretty much any one will do, as they are all generously larded with choice Kinks cuts indelibly wedded to strikingly precious visual tableaux. Anyone over 30 should have gone to the Tower Theatre Saturday night to see Ray Davies, the man who wrote, strummed and sang all those classic, quintessentially English pop songs. Anderson’s films lend the Kinks’ music the kind […]
RAW FOOTAGE: Snuffing The Torch Of Tyranny
Or trying to, anyway. This is INSANE. Can’t believe the Chinese government thought this torch thing was gonna work out for them. Touring across the globe, the torch is like the world’s greatest car chase, and it shines a light on Tibet from now to the lighting ceremony. Burn, baby, burn. VIDEO: Olympic torch relay flame attack, Ladbroke Grove, london (2008)
BERSERKER: Man Loses His Shit Near Reading
READING EAGLE: A Reading man climbed atop [his] moving minivan Friday on the West Shore Bypass, stood on the roof and rode the vehicle until it crashed and catapulted him into the woods, West Reading police reported. Witnesses told police that the man then climbed up an embankment, stripped naked and ran several hundred yards down the busy highway bleeding from a foot-long gash in his side. Police responding to calls from frantic motorists used three separate jolts from a Taser and pepper spray to subdue the nude man. The Taser had no effect, and police eventually tackled the 38-year-old […]
FEST PICKS: Afghan Strongmen & The Matrix Redux
BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC AFGHAN MUSCLES (2007, directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, 58 minutes, Denmark) Usually when I’m talking to Festival goers right after the schedule is announced, they proclaim to be unimpressed. Sure they recognize a few titles to get excited about but who’s ever heard about the rest of these films anyway? But what was that song Bo Diddley sang about books and their covers? I certainly had no clue by looking at the blurb for Afghan Muscles that it would be one of the most memorable Festival films I’ve seen so far. I’m not sure what even […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
I AM OMEGA MAN: Les Savy Fav, The Fillmore, Last Night First-a-fuckin-all, The Dodos, French Kiss labelmates of Les Savy Fav, put on a killer opening set — in no way were they intimidated by the indie-rock juggernaut they were setting the stage for. Though they only played to a fraction of the crowd LSF would draw, The Dodos banged out every song of their short set as though they were the headliners. Smoke a pack less this week and buy their latest, Visiter, instead. Both your ears and your lungs will thank you. After opening with the filthy garage-esque […]