AVATAR (2009, directed by James Cameron, 162 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Avatar has been unleashed! Aided by ever-faster microchip technology James Cameron has given us a future world we’ve never seen with such clarity. With his audience goggled up for 3-D like motocross racers, Cameron’s long-gestating sci-fi fantasy zooms you through foreign jungles with hitherto unseen big-screen spectacle. For people looking to sit in a theme park ride two hours and forty-some minutes, your moment has arrived. People love roller coasters, I love roller coasters, but I don’t receive the emotional jolt from those four-story drops that […]
GAYDAR: Dumpstas Vs. Octomom
BY AARON STELLA GAYDAR EDITOR The Dumpsta Players, that raucous band of merry drags, pulled out all the stops last Wednesday night at Bob and Barbara’s with they’re Christmas tabloid scalping of Jon and Kate +Hate in Outerspace! B&B’s tight quarters were especially packed that night; those present, making as much of a scene as would be expected from a crowd jiving with the DP’s prescription of dissolute theater. Kicking off the show was the bellicose but buoyant Mr. and Mrs. Ponzio (Mr. Ponzio played by the Jackal Jester himself, Ricky Paul), belting out a reel of “Jingle Bells” as […]
ORAL ROBERTS: The Last Of The Tycoons
THE GUARDIAN: His message was a simple promise of health, wealth and salvation: Jesus wants you to be saved, healed and prosperous. It was a message that struck a natural chord with Americans, appealing to the desire for both material and spiritual success. His preaching gained traction far beyond Pentecostal circles. His message and his manner gained traction with me, too. As a Pentecostal teen, “on fire for the Lord”, I went through a period of devouring his writings and his broadcasts. It was the 1990s, when the UK received its first Christian satellite station, and footage from the old […]
BE VERY AFRAID: Winter Storm Warning In Effect
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: … WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM SATURDAY TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING… WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM SATURDAY TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA FROM SOUTH TO NORTH LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING. THE SNOW MAY FALL HEAVY AT TIMES AS THE STORM MAKES ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO THE NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE COASTS. WARMER AIR MAY PUSH IN FROM THE OCEAN AND CAUSE A MIX OR CHANGE TO PLAIN RAIN ALONG THE […]
NOPENHAGEN: Obama Brings Nothing To The Table
ASSOCIATED PRESS: “We are running short on time,” he said. “We are ready to get this done today. But there has to be movement on all sides.” And yet Obama arrived in snow-covered Copenhagen with no new proposal from the U.S. side. Some had hoped he might increase Washington’s emissons-cut pledge, now only a fraction of those from other developed countries, or put a specific dollar amount on America’s expected contributions to short- or long-term aid funds to help poorer nations deal with the effects of climate change. Obama planned to spend only about nine hours at the summit. He […]
WORTH REPEATING: Bring Back Barkley, Too
GONZO: The Sixers need something to keep the fans interested while simultaneously distracting them from a team that has just six sad wins and the fourth-worst attendance in the NBA. They need a big personality to get the city talking about pro hoops again. They need to make a bold move. They need to hire Charles Barkley. A few months ago, Barkley told the Boston Globe he’d like to become a general manager. It’s Charles, so you have to wonder how sincere he was when he made that statement. In the past, he has said he’d like to become a […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
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 […]
STYLE COUNCIL: Planet-Friendly Panache
ARCADIA BOUTIQUE 819 N. 2nd Street Philadelphia, PA 19123 P: 215.667.8099 BY ASHLEY MYERS Arcadia is an exclusively eco-friendly boutique located in the middle of Northern Liberties. The boutique has been providing Philadelphia with a variety clothing and accessories, vintage designs, and showcasing local artists and designers since September 2007. Arcadia came to Philadelphia after owner AliMcCloud saw a need for eco-friendly fashion in Philadelphia. Before opening the boutique, McCloud lived in New York, attended FIT, and did a thesis focusing Green fashion. The boutique offers mainly women fashions with a small selections of men and children clothing as […]
REPORT: Phila. Drinking Water Contains Contaminants At Levels Above The Legal Limit
[Click image to enlarge] FRESH AIR: In part because of overwhelmed sewer systems, human excrement and dangerous chemicals are making their way into our waterways and drinking water. New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg returns to Fresh Air to talk about chemicals in our drinking water, and how the nation’s sewer systems are desperately in need of infrastructure repairs — even if the fix is not exactly politically attractive. An estimated one out of ten Americans is exposed to this unsafe drinking water. Duhigg reports on the “worsening pollution in American waters” — and regulators’ responses to the problem — […]
MILESTONE: It Was 20 Years Ago Today…
[Click image to enlarge] RELATED: To cap its 20th anniversary, Fox will air a documentary special on “The Simpsons” produced and directed by Morgan Spurlock. Titled “The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice,” the outing will air Jan. 14. According to the announcement, Spurlock “will examine the cultural phenomenon of ‘The Simpsons’ in his distinctive and innovative style. The special will document how the world sees ‘The Simpsons’ and how the Simpson family has seen the world for two decades.” Huh. “When they first called me about this, I thought it was a prank and I hung up,” […]
CHINA: Earth Not Too Big To Fail
NEW YORK TIMES: COPENHAGEN — With just two days remaining in historic and contentious climate talks here, China signaled overnight that it sees virtually no possibility that the nearly 200 nations gathered would find agreement by Friday. An official in the American delegation said that China would agree only to a brief political declaration that left unresolved virtually all the major issues. The conference has deadlocked over emissions cuts by, and financing for, developing nations, including China, who say they will bear the brunt of a planetary problem they did little to create. Leaders had hoped to conclude an interim […]
SEX4TICKETS TRIAL: Like A Bad Romance Novel
INQUIRER: She arrived at Manny Brown’s at 7:30 that night and walked up to a man sitting at the bar. Officer Michael Brady was in plain clothes and wearing the Penn State jacket. She asked if his name was Bob. He said “yes.” Three more undercover officers, including Bugsch, sat at a table about 15 feet away, Brady said. Brady testified that Finkelstein said she was married but in a very open relationship and that her husband knew she was a prostitute but didn’t care. Finkelstein continued, Brady said, telling him, “I’m a whore. I love sex. I just can’t […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR There’s an abundance of journalist coverage of U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, but Jeremy Scahill has found a niche investigating Blackwater, a military contractor with a long involvement in the war. He’s broken many stories in The Nation, and his latest, published Nov. 23, uncovers the contractor’s involvement in a covert program run by the U.S. Joint Special Command (JSOC). Scahill says that even though tax payers are funding this shadow army, their operations are shrouded in secrecy. In his article, Scahill reports that Blackwater (which has officially changed its name to Xe Services LLC) is operating […]