[As told to JONATHAN VALANIA] 1. Britt Daniel has never killed anyone. “Technically, no,” he says when asked. 2. “Don’t Make Me A Target” was originally titled “Don’t Blame Me I Voted For Nader.” 3. Spoon is named after the Can song of the same name. Britt first learned about Kraut Rock in the 11th grade from his obsessive study of every word uttered by Julian Cope. 4. Britt Daniel may have voted for Ralph Nader instead of Al Gore in 2000. “I think maybe I did,” he says when asked. 5. Britt Daniel is 38 years old and has […]
DEATH IN DUBAI: All Fingers Point To Israel As The Origin Of The Hamas Boss Assassination Squad
HUFFINGTON POST: The Bustan Rotana Hotel, until a month ago, was known among Dubai residents as a destination for good sushi and old fashioned entertainment. It was the quiet yet classy option; an old gem mingling with a plethora of newer glitzy caravanserais. Then, Mahmoud al Mabhouh [pictured, right], the senior Hamas military commander complicit in the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and instrumental in maintaining a flow of weapons to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, decided to use it as a stop-over. So did a team of assassins [pictured, above]who collaboratively pulled off perhaps the most clinical murder Dubai has […]
THIS JUST IN: Larry Magid Leaves Live Nation
THE INSIDER: Legendary concert promoter Larry Magid left Live Nation Philadelphia yesterday, addressing the troops at the promoter’s Bala Cynwyd offices that he was out — but not discussing the circumstances.Live Nation declined to talk about the departure. A report on Billboard.com said Geoff Gordon remains the local president. A source told The Inquirer that Magid’s employment contract was coming up. He was Live Nation Philadelphia’s chairman. MORE BILLBOARD: A pioneer in the concert industry and a fixture on the Philly concert scene for more than 40 years, Magid opened the Electric Factory club in 1968 and later formed Electric […]
TONITE: Have A Kit-Kat
This is the dawning of the age of sugarius! Imagine Happy Hour at the candy shop and all the different sweet snacks wanna show off some Broadway! Blow Pop could have danced all night! Butterfinger is just a girl who can’t say no! Bit-O-Honey’s life is a cabaret! See Almond Joy and Mounds in a tap dance extravaganza! Join the Dumpstas as we ride a sugar high down the Hershey Highway! Enjoy selections from “Hair”, “Spring Awakening”, “Grease”, and “West Side Story“!
CINEMA: New Doors Documentary, Narrated By Johnny Depp, Set For Theatrical Release April 9th
WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE uncovers historic and previously unseen footage of the illustrious rock quartet and provides new insight into the revolutionary impact of its music and legacy. Directed by award-winning writer/director Tom DiCillo and narrated by Johnny Depp, the film is a riveting account of the band’s history. Said Depp, “Watching the hypnotic, hitherto unreleased footage of Jim, John, Ray and Robby, I felt like I experienced it all through their eyes. As a rock n’ roll documentary, or any kind of documentary for that matter, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. What an honor to have been […]
ANNIVERSARY: The Stimulus Package Turns One
[Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics] POTUS: Millions of jobs had already been lost to the recession before I was sworn into office. Another 800,000 would be lost in the month of January. We’d later learn that our economy had shrunk by an astounding 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009, and economists from across the political spectrum warned that if dramatic action was not taken to break the back of the recession, the United States could spiral into another depression. MORE RELATED: Philadelphia and Camden will be sharing $23 million from a federal government to extend, connect and create […]
MOB RULES: Flash Mob Rampages At The Gallery
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: A flash mob of teens snowballed into violent brawlers in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Police suspect the 100 teens gathered at The Gallery on Market St. after organizing the incident on Facebook or Twitter. According to a Philadelphia TV station, the event began as a massive snowball fight. The crowd quickly became unruly, and spilled into a nearby Macy’s department store. Fights broke out, as the store was damaged and items stolen. MORE INQUIRER: Yesterday afternoon, police arrested 15 teenagers who went on a rampage through Macy’s department store and the surrounding streets. The teenagers, who came […]
BOOKS: Edward Gorey, The Godfather Of Goth
BY JONATHAN VALANIA Edward Gorey was a lot of things — illustrator, author, designer, screenwriter, animal lover, pop culture junkie, antiquarian aesthete — but above all else, he was, for better or worse, the post-modern godfather of goth, a lineage that stretches back to Edgar Allan Poe, the pre-modern godfather of goth. Absent Gorey’s meticulously cross-hatched pen-and-ink chiaroscuros — typically exquisitely gloomy drawing room interiors and the forlorn coal-eyed waifs that haunt them — there would be no Tim Burton. Though he illustrated and authored countless books from the 1950s through the 1990s, and continued re-packaging and publishing his work […]
SEASONS GREETINGS: Happy Happy Presidents Day
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Is it Presidents Day or President’s Day or Presidents’ Day? Life used to be simpler.George Washington, the father of our country, was celebrated on his birthday, Feb. 22. But society has all but erased the accomplishments of the most dynamic figure to ever walk on the American stage. Beginning in 1971, we spinelessly designated the third Monday in February as Presidents’ Day.One school of thought holds that Presidents’ Day now honors both Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Horsefeathers! It would seem the celebrations of our two greatest presidents are now dictated by auto dealers and department stores that […]
GNFH: The Phantom Plot To Blow Up The Liberty Bell
PREVIOUSLY: The ‘Plot’ To Blow Up The Liberty Bell BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY In the spring of 1969, four activists from the Philadelphia chapter of the Students For A Democratic Society (SDS) were arrested for plotting to blow up the Liberty Bell after the police found bomb-making materials in the refrigerator of their West Philly apartment. According to the police, the planned destruction of the Liberty Bell was part of a larger plot hatched by a network of student radicals to destroy national landmarks across the country. The shocking news spread quickly when footage of the police […]
Told She Wouldn’t Get Tenure, Star Bio Prof Goes Berserker, Shoots 6, Kills 3 At University Of Alabama
[Photo via HUNTSVILLE TIMES] WALL STREET JOURNAL: A biology professor at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus was charged with murder Friday in the shooting deaths of three fellow biology professors at the campus. Authorities say Amy Bishop, an instructor and researcher at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus, opened fire during an afternoon faculty meeting, killing the three and injuring three other school employees. Ms. Bishop has been charged with one count of capital murder, which means she could face the death penalty if convicted. Ms. Bishop was taken Friday night in handcuffs from a police precinct to the […]
BLOOD SPORT: Olympic Luger Killed In Practice Run
RELATED: BBC Winter Olympics Promotional Spot NEW YORK TIMES: A luge athlete from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a crash in training on the Olympic track at the Whistler Sliding Center on Friday, an Olympic luge official at the track confirmed, the worst-case scenario developing on a track that many competitors have said is too fast.Kumaritashvili, 21, lost control of his sled 48 seconds into his run, near the end of the track. According to the speed clock on the broadcast, he was going 143.3 kph — 88 mph — and was propelled over the track wall. He slammed […]