NO RAIN NO GAIN: Senator Barack Obama, Widener University, Chester, Tuesday Morning [Photos by AP & GETTY IMAGES] NEW YORK TIMES: Despite a cold, steady rain and driving winds, Senator Barack Obama addressed a crowd of about 9,000 at Widener University in Chester, just outside Philadelphia, praising their dedication and promising tax cuts and solutions for the country’s economic woes. The punishing weather forced Senator John McCain and his vice presidential running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, to cancel a rally in Quakertown, about 80 miles to the north. MORE PLUMBING THE DEPTHS: No Show Joe (The Plumber) [Joe […]
HEAR YE: The Pixies Doolittle Remastered
Now playing on Phawker Radio! ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Pixies — Formed in Boston in 1986 under the credo “Husker Dü meets Peter, Paul and Mary,” the Pixies would, in a very real sense, end music as we then knew it. Principal songwriter Black Francis’ lulling verses/volcanic choruses formula would become the overworked template for ’90s alternative rock songwriting (see Nirvana). But dynamics was only part of the Pixies’ charm. Pet themes about God, death, sex, violence and flying saucers were bathed in eerie guitar sonics, shrieking vocals and inexplicable forays into the Spanish language, then driven home with a […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Print Is Undead?
PHILADELPHIA, October 30, 2008 – In response to the Phillies World Series win last night, Philadelphia Media Holdings Chief Executive Officer Brian Tierney announced this morning that last night’s over-run of almost 350,000 copies of The Inquirer and Daily News are completely sold out. And, in an unprecedented move, the printing presses are running again this morning so that an additional 350,000 copies can be printed and available by early afternoon today. “People are buying these souvenir editions of The Inquirer and Daily News in massive quantities and we are responding by firing up our printing presses for another run […]
TONITE: Why Whitey Can’t Vote Live
Tonight I’ll be on The Big Talker (1210 AM) with Dom Giordano at 8:30 PM, to discuss my White People Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Vote editorial in Sunday’s Inquirer. I am told Dom is a teacher, so here’s hoping his reading comprehension skills are superior to the folks at the The David Boze Show in Seattle, who were DEEPLY disappointed to learn that I was not LITERALLY advocating that white people not be allowed to vote and thus rescinded their offer to have me come on their show. Sometimes I think we are just too damn stupid to be the […]
THE PHOTON BAND: Ka-Blammo
[Dir. by SCOTT COLAN]
PAPERBOY: ‘Never Mind The Ballots’ Edition
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
YA GOTTA BELIEVE: Us Are The Champions
YES US CAN: The Fans, Citizen’s Park, 10:25 PM Last Night [Photo by TIFFANY YOON] BY JOE WARMINSKY During the Atlanta Braves’ ridiculously long run of division titles, it was said that a savvy baseball franchise doesn’t just want to “beat the Braves,” it wants to “be the Braves.” At face value, it meant, “do what it takes to win every year.” But it really was a call to operate with consistency and intelligence — play well in the short term, while never ignoring the long-term consequences of personnel decisions. Well, in Philly, the Eagles got there first, at least […]
AFTERMATH: William Penn Curse Exorcism
THERE’S A RIOT GOIN’ ON: Mayhem on Broad St., Last Night [Photos by TIFFANY YOON] KYW: The cost of police overtime for game five of the World Series (parts one and two) was approaching $800,000 as of Wednesday night. But despite the city’s cash crunch, Mayor Nutter says he is not concerned. Philadelphia police officials say the cost of overtime for officers on Monday night was about $478,000, and would be about $300,000 for the resumption of game five. It’ll be even higher should a parade be scheduled. Mayor Nutter says this can’t be avoided: “We’re always concerned about overtime, […]
WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN!
YES US CAN: Broad St., 11:42 by CASHION via Twitter Phils take World Series with 4-3 win over the Rays! UPDATE: On the ground reports indicate that the mooks have overtaken the CBS NEWS truck at Citizens Park…DEVELOPING QUEEN: We Will Rock You
HEAR YE: Pixies Surfer Rosa Remastered
Still playing on Phawker Radio! All Good Monkeys Go To Heaven BY JONATHAN VALANIA A word of warning: This is gonna be one of those columns where I go on and on about my little monkey shines with famous alt-rock personalities. Millions of people love it when I do that, but others seem to get very, very angry about it, stomp their feet and write mean letters that hurt my feelings. If that sounds like you, stop reading right now. I’m serious. I don’t want to even see you in the second paragraph.
SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOHN: McCain Spreading False Story That Obama Infomercial Will Delay Start Of The Game
MCCLATCHY: Throw the flag against: John McCain. Call: Unsportsmanlike conduct. What happened: “No one will delay the World Series game with an infomercial when I’m president,” the Republican presidential nominee told a crowd Tuesday in Hershey, Pa. Democratic rival Barack Obama bought the 8-8:30 p.m. slot on Fox and other major networks Wednesday night to air a campaign pitch. The first pitch of the World Series game, the resumption of rain-delayed Game 5, was set for approximately 8:37 p.m. EDT, about nine minutes later than usual. Why that’s wrong: It’s not unusual for World Series games to start after 8:30 […]
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Flipping Cars After Your Team Wins World Series Diminishes Us All
Flipping cars is hard work! And best left to the semi-pros, like our man Rick ‘Grizzly’ Brown. Let’s keep it in the realm of competitive he-man sports, OK? Also, please resist the urge to discharge your firearms into the air. Basic law of science: What goes up, must come down. Often into someone’s head. Thank you for your time. Go Phils!
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
“By the end of the week, he’ll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten.” — Senator Barack Obama, North Carolina, Today FRESH AIR The McCain campaign’s charge that Barack Obama has socialist leanings has put the spotlight on a word relatively uncommon to modern American elections. Linguist Geoff Nunberg explains how the “S” word was used in the past — and why it’s come up now. ALSO, Saturday Night Live‘s Seth Meyers is making waves with a broader TV audience this election season as the show expands its political parodies to Thursday […]