INQUIRER: On the stand, Fumo was somber yet personable and expansive, his voice an alto scratch. He would take frequent verbal peregrinations on any number of subjects, going off-question, offering a five-minute answer when five words would do. Many were the times that lawyers, on both sides, asked him to return to the task at hand. “I can go into depth,” Fumo said. “No, don’t do that,” Cogan admonished. Fumo described an approach where “everything in my life was intertwined,” he said. “I don’t know how to run an organization without that familial methodology,” he said. He referred to staff […]
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: Being Shepard Fairey
FAST COMPANY: Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the famous Obama poster image, and who was accused by the AP last week of copyright violation, has now counter-sued the AP claiming his use of the image was fair use. Arguing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Fairey’s lawyers acknowledged that he had used the photo, which was taken by Mannie Garcia for the AP, but said he had transformed the literal depiction into a “stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that creates powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message.” Fairey’s getting some powerful help in his fight. The […]
LISTEN LIKE THIEVES: Songs The Cramps Taught Us
WFMU BLOG: Ok, I got kind of sick of repeating this story 1000 times. So figured I’d include this in the latest volume. I’m the guy who compiles the Lux and Ivy’s Favorites Compilations. It started as a way to keep track of some of the songs Lux, and or Ivy, mentioned in THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC BOOK. It was never really intended as anything but a way for a friend of mine and me to have 2 really kick ass compilations. So we went about the arduous process of finding all the songs mentioned in that interview. It took […]
LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD: Jazz Critic (And Hubbo Of Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross) Francis Davis Wins Grammy
CREATIVE LOAFING: The tunes essentially start with short, riffy (and catchy) melodies that give way to a round of extended solos by Miles, Cannonball, Trane and Evans (or Kelly); the band then restates the theme and the song ends. That’s pretty much a pro forma jazz approach. Each of those soloists, though, makes a profound impression in each and every song. Jazz critic Francis Davis, one of the annotators on the new box, makes an intriguing point that I had never considered. Because improvising over scales, or modes, was effectively new to these players, and because they entered the studio […]
STIMULUS PACKAGE: Just Do It, Gallup Poll Says
ABC NEWS: Sixty-seven percent of the American people approve of how President Obama’s handling his efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill, as opposed to 48% for Democrats in Congress and 31% for congressional Republicans. Congressional Republicans actually have a staggeringly high 58% DISapproval rating for how they’re handling the stimulus debate, compared to 42% for Hill Democrats and only 25% for President Obama. Gallup says that 51% of those polled believe that passing the economic stimulus plan is “critically important” for the economy, with 29% saying it’s important. Only 16% say it is “not that important.” MORE GALLUP POLL: […]
WORKING ON A SCHEME: Lawmakers Ask Fed Trade Commission To Probe Alleged Springsteen Ticket Scam
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Two New York-area lawmakers called Sunday for a federal investigation into Ticketmaster for sending fans who wanted Bruce Springsteen tickets to its own ticket reselling Web site where the tickets cost much more. “It was a classic bait-and-switch,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “We don’t have the tickets at $75, but maybe this site has them at $200.” Tickets for Springsteen’s upcoming tour went on sale at 10 a.m. last Monday, and many fans who went online to buy tickets were immediately directed to Ticketmaster’s reselling site, TicketsNow. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., said TicketsNow was selling the tickets […]
OLD SCHOOL: The Internet Circa 1901
[click map to enlarge] Eastern Telegraph’s undersea cable network circa 1901. RADIOHEAD (Feat. USC Marching Band): 15 Steps From last night’s Grammys broadcast.
ROBERT PLANT/ALISON KRAUSS: Killin’ The Blues
PREVIOUSLY ON PHAWKER: Officially OUR FAVORITE SONG OF 2007. Written by Rowland Salley, this version from Raising Sand just fucking slays us every time. And speaking as former teenage Zepheads, it does our heart good to hear Robert Plant doing something we can both be proud of at our advanced age. Seriously, this is as timelessly classic as anything Led Zeppelin ever did. And Alison Krauss is a force of nature. Mark Ribot’s guitar sounds like underwater moonlight piercing the spectral murk of T-Bone Burnett’s elegantly antiqued production. Like butter, it is. Because there was no official video for this […]
200 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF DARWIN: You Still Gotta Fight To Live On The Planet Of The Apes
DAILY MAIL: On the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, professors at Southern Oregon University will devote the week to emphasizing that evolution is more than a theory — it’s hard science.”It’s theory and it’s fact. You can say it’s ‘just a theory’ like the theory that the earth goes around the sun,” says biology professor Charles Weldon, lead speaker of Darwin Week. “In science, a theory is not speculation. It’s supported by mountains of evidence. It’s one of the best supported theories in science.” A century and a half after publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of […]
WEEKEND UPDATE: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #8 Just do it, people.
ARTSY: Street Fighting Man
BY ELIZABETH FLYNN Dear anti-snob art nerds: Get your streetwise (but intellectual) ass to the coolest First Friday party in town, Cut Copy – a Stencil Show, tonight at South Philly’s favorite gallery T&P Fine Art! Jon Halperin has curated another amazing group show, consisting entirely of stencil graffiti art. He’s included pieces from some of the biggest names in the genre, two of which, Papermonster and Pure Evil, I talked to about their work and the history of the medium. Halperin says that “Stencil art is my art drug of choice. I’ve been following this scene since […]
OBAMALICIOUS: Reason # 647 Why Obama Is The Best Thing To Happen To The White House Since Lincoln Dreamed Up The Emancipation Proclamation
BOSTON PHOENIX: In his bestselling autobiography, Dreams From My Father, President Obama introduces us to his high school friend, “Ray,” who, like him, is bi-racial. Who, also like him, is casting about to find his place in the world. But, who, unlike him, has a potty mouth that would make a sailor blush. Best of all? When reading the audiobook version of his bio, Obama does impressions of Ray’s manner of speech. Swear words and all. It’s fucking awesome. And it’s a way of talking we probably won’t be hearing from him now that he’s POTUS. Or will we? MORE […]
OH BROTHER, WHERE AM I: Or How An Old School Hardcore Punk Like Me Got Into Old Timey Music
BY BRENDAN SKWIRE How the hell did an old school hardcore punk kid like me get into old timey music?That’s a pretty short story. Even back in the day, I always loved older hardcore better than newer stuff. Youth of Today was fine, but Minor Threat was better (someday i will tell the story of how I made Ian Mackaye lose his temper), and the Sex Pistols was even better than that and so on and so on. The fact is, I’ve always loved old shit, so when I got a little older and my tastes in music began to […]