WARNING: Some ‘dirty’ words included. [via COMIC VS AUDIENCE]
DEVOLUTION FOR DUMMIES: Q&A With Mark Mothersbaugh, Composer, Painter, DEVO-lutionist
[As told to JONATHAN VALANIA/Illustration by Alex Fine] Phawker: Let’s start with ancient history, I want to know about the evolution of the Devo idea, I’ve read conflicting things — that it was started sort of as a joke in the late 60s and then the shootings at Kent State radicalized you guys, tell me about that whole time. Mark Mothersbaugh: OK, I don’t know what you read, but I’m sure there’s plenty of people putting false information out there and this is the true story: The band happened, when I met Gerald Casale at Kent State, we were both […]
AD BUST: City Cracks Down On Malt ‘Murketing’
NBC10: Philadelphia is famous for its mural arts program. But some groups said that some specific murals need to be scrubbed out. Philly’s “Mural Arts Program” has painted 2,700 murals. But while most of the murals are about life, energy and color, some murals in Fishtown are all about malt liquor, Colt 45. Pabst Beer paid local businesses for some of their wall space. But the city said the quasi-murals are illegal because a permit is needed. NBC 10 called Pabst and they are not commenting on the issue. The city is still trying to see if any local advertising […]
END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: No Polar Ice
THE INDEPENDENT: It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year. The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer. “From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but […]
Married Couples Are Now The Minority In Britain
DAILY MAIL: Married people have become a minority for the first time, it emerged yesterday. Most over-16s are now single, divorced or widowed, figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate. In 2006, the last year for which details are available, there were 236,980 weddings in England and Wales – the lowest number since 1895. It was also the lowest proportion of marriages compared to the population since counting began in the mid-Victorian era.
CINEMA: It Was A Dark and Stormy Knight
ROLLING STONE: The Joker represents the last completed role for Ledger, who died in January at 28 before finishing work on Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It’s typical of Ledger’s total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I’m Not There that he does nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked. If there’s a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976’s Network, sign me up. Ledger’s Joker has no gray areas — he’s all rampaging id. Watch him crash a party and circle Rachel, a woman […]
LISTEN LIKE THIEVES: New Beck Teaser
ON THE DOWNLOAD: Three Tracks From Modern Guilt [Now playing on Phawker Radio!]
Supremes Affirm Individual Right To Bear Arms
NEW YORK TIMES: The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history. The court’s 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact. The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: ”A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free […]
OH NOES: Madonna And Guy To D-I-V-O-R-C-E?
TIMES OF LONDON: She did it for Macca — now can she do it for Madonna? Fiona Shackleton, the divorce lawyer who ensured that Sir Paul McCartney retained all but £24.3 million of his £825 million fortune, has been lined up by the pop star. Madonna, whose fortune is estimated to be worth £300 million, is understood to be seeking legal advice on a possible divorce from her husband of seven years, the film director Guy Ritchie. Ms Shackleton, 52, is the lawyer of choice for the rich and famous after what was regarded as the spectacularly well-handled split of […]
KILLADELPHIA: Cop Shooter Gets Hard Time
INQUIRER: Earlier in court, Common Pleas Judge Glenn Bronson sentenced Antonio Coulter to 36 to 72 years in state prison for the shooting and for his attempt to escape afterward. Officer Decoatsworth told reporters he was “very pleased with the decision the judge made. That young man’s life is over now. He’s going to have to find some way to get used to his new home. I’m sure the guys up there [in state prison] can’t wait to meet him. So we’re all excited about that.” Last month, Coulter pleaded guilty to attempted murder, aggravated assault, burglary, weapons charges and […]
POWERPOINT: Obama’s 50-State Strategy
HUFFPO: Journalists in Washington, D.C. got a chance to take a crack at Chief Obama Campaign Strategist David Plouffe Wednesday during a briefing he delivered at the DNC on the state of the general election race. The overriding theme of his address was confidence. Outlining the campaign’s top priorities, Plouffe told reporters that, in addition to feeling good about their chances to hold onto the 252 electoral votes won by John Kerry in 2004, the campaign believes it has the financial resources, organizing strength, and candidate appeal that will help them contest over a dozen battleground states that together boast […]
HEAR YE: Dr. Dog Fate
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Because WE let the Dog out!