BY PHILLY GRRL Wednesday morning. I stand in front of the Arch Methodist Church on Broad and Arch and wait in vain for the Temple shuttle bus to appear. It does not. So when the C bus rolls to a stop, I hesitate a moment, then join the throng of passengers boarding. I’m not sure if I have a token or even enough change to pay the fare, but it is cold outside and the bus driver has sympathetic eyes so I hurry in before she closes the door. There are a few empty seats towards the front, generally saved […]
SCRAPPLE TV NEWS: The Week That Was
With your host A. P. Ticker.
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 […]
WALK, DON’T RUN: Justice Depatment Sues Huntingdon Valley Swim Club For Discrimination
INQUIRER: The U.S. Justice Department has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Huntingdon Valley swim club that last summer asked a group of black and Latino children to leave. In the federal court complaint, the Justice Department asked that the Valley Club be ordered to stop all discrimination, including policies implemented after 56 children from the Creative Steps camp visited the pool June 29. MORE MOCKING BIRDS: The Shame Of A Wired Nation NEWS CLUES: Like A Private Swim Club Of The Truth JIM CROW SWIMS HERE: Valley Swim Club Discrimination Becomes National Embarrassment News Of Post-Racial Era Slow […]
RIP: Teddy Pendergrass Dead At 59
ABC NEWS: Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B’s reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and ’80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59. The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery,” his son said. “To all his fans who loved his music, thank you,” his son said. “He will live on through his music.” Pendergrass suffered […]
BREAKING: Jay Reatard RIP
SWEET OBLIVION: Jay Reatard, Pitchfork Fest 2008, photo by TIFFANY YOON UPDATE: According to the Fox Memphis, “Memphis Police are searching for a possible suspect in Wednesday’s death of Memphis musician Jay Reatard at his Cooper-Young home. Officers were called to the 900-block of Meda around 3:30am and found 29-year old Jimmy Lindsey, Jr., also known as Jay Reatard, dead on arrival. The Homicide Bureau is handling this as an ongoing investigation.” MORE MATADOR: We are devastated by the death of Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., aka Jay Reatard. Jay was as full of life as anyone we’ve ever met, and […]
TONITE: Take The Skinheads Bowling
This is what happens when you have too much time and pot on your hands. Emerging stoned and immaculate in the mid-’80s from the remote boho-hippie-grad-school outpost of Santa Cruz, Calif., CBV was the Pavement of its day: college radio darlings for the smug zine scenesters and heard-it-all-before record store clerks who thought R.E.M. was for tourists. Their debut, Telephone Free Landslide Victory, pushed ska, Tex-Mex, Slavic folk and ’60s psych through the looking glass of their absurdist proto-slacker filter — and the result was a pile of smiles. The toker jokes kept coming on II and III, hanging their […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR The singer, songwriter and producer T-Bone Burnett says his approach to making music is simple: “Just listen until it sounds right.” Burnett has been getting it right for a long time, and his latest project is the critically acclaimed film Crazy Heart, for which he wrote several songs for the main character — a broken-down musician played by Jeff Bridges. The film offered Burnett the chance to take audiences back to his Texas roots with a varied score. (Burnett’s collaborator was the late guitar-player and songwriter Stephen Bruton.) The movie recently picked up two Golden Globe nominations — […]
ARCADE FIRE: Haiti
ABC NEWS: The quake’s epicentre was only 16 kilometres from the capital Port-au-Prince. About 4 million people live in the city and surrounding area. The 7.0 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the US Geological Survey, toppled the presidential palace and hillside shanties alike and has left the Caribbean nation appealing for international help. The International Red Cross in Geneva has warned that with roads blocked and almost all communication lines down, it is extremely difficult to accurately assess the situation in Haiti. It believes up to 3 million people could […]
MEDIA: Conan Vs. The Barbarians
UPDATE: Hours after releasing a statement that he will not do “The Tonight Show” if his new airtime is 12:05 a.m., late night comedian Conan O’Brien took to the airwaves pulling no punches. After receiving more applause than usual, O’Brien urged his fans to settle down, quipping that “I may not have that much time.” His employer, NBC, had planned to unceremoniously oust the host from his 11:35 p.m. ET time slot come February to make room for a Jay Leno program. “My name is Conan O’Brien and I may soon be available for children’s parties,” he announced. He then […]
New York Times Editorial Questions Penn Study Questioning The Effectiveness Of Anti-Depressants
NEW YORK TIMES: Last week, The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study questioning the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs. The drugs are useful in cases of severe depression, it said. But for most patients, those with mild to moderate cases, the most commonly used antidepressants are generally no better than a placebo. […] And the real test of an antidepressant is not just whether it can lift someone out of depression; it is whether it can keep depression from returning. For a vast majority of people with depression, the illness is chronic. Relapses and low-level symptoms between episodes […]
CELEBUTARD: Cybil Shepherd’s Son Arrested For Robbing Fellow Passengers On Flight To Philly
STAR: Cybill Shepherd’s son [pictured above in his mother’s arms, circa 1987] was grounded at Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday after being accused of stealing from the carry-on bags of his fellow passengers. Cyrus “Zack” Shepherd-Oppenheim – the 22-year-old son of the Moonlighting star – rifled through the luggage of two sleeping travelers during a flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia on Monday night, two witnesses told authorities. In one case, he allegedly stole a Canon from a woman and dumped the rest of her things – including a makeup bag – in the trash can of a plane bathroom. From […]