NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR  Michael Caine‘s memoir, The Elephant to Hollywood, recounts the highs and lows of a career that has now spanned more than five decades. (The title refers to the part of London — called Elephant and Castle — where Caine grew up.) In it, he candidly talks about his journey from South London to the screen, detailing his battles with stage fright and his jaunts around the world once the films Zulu and Alfie catapulted him onto the international stage. He also details how early in his career, he worked hard to make audiences realize that he and Alfie, […]

SIDEWALKING: When The Music’s Over

Gov. Ed Rendell, Moving America Forward Rally, U of Penn, 6:45 PM JEFF FUSCO RELATED: Gov. Ed Rendell approached two men eating in the food court at One Liberty Place in Center City Philadelphia during the lunch hour rush Monday. After obliging them with talk about the Philadelphia Eagles (Rendell predicted a 10-6 season and trip to the playoffs for the Birds) he said, “But tomorrow. Tomorrow. Vote.” Then he leaned in and said, “You know they’re trying to screw the president, right?” MORE

ELECTION FORECAST: A Perfect Shitstorm

MOTHER JONES: The day before the election, pollsters are predicting that the Democratic wipeout could be even bigger than expected. There’s no question that the GOP will take the House, but Gallup suggests that Republican net gains could give their party a bigger House majority than any party has achieved before. […] The GOP needs to win just 39 Democratic seats to take the House, but projections are now up to 60 seats or more, with over 100 seats in play. And if Republicans end up on with an overwhelmingly majority, they will feel even more emboldened to find every conceivable […]

TONITE: First Lady In University City

What: Organizing Rally with First Lady Michelle Obama Where: University of Pennsylvania The Perelman Quadrangle 3417 Spruce St. Philadelphia, PA 19104 When: Monday, November 1st Doors open: 5:30 p.m. Program begins: 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Enter from College Green on the West side of College Hall.

CRIME: Meet The Dude That Probably Took Your GPS

INQUIRER: The GPS had been stolen three weeks earlier. That Friday in March, after working 12 hours, Horowitz returned to a Center City garage to find the passenger-side window of his car shattered, Garmin GPS gone, and weekend travel plans dashed. Records indicate the GPS was sold to the pawnshop by a Julio Steven Jackson for $35, three hours after Horowitz parked his car. It wasn’t Jackson’s first sale there, and it would not be his last. Over two weeks, receipts show, Jackson sold seven Garmin GPS devices, all to the same pawnshop. “Are you kidding me?” Horowitz remembered telling […]

EARLY WORD: Meet The New Boss

  On the night he was named to lead region’s largest news organization, Greg Osberg told the Philadelphia Daily News that one of his three main goals will be “to encourage and reward innovation throughout the company, with an emphasis on digital innovation,” and that he plans to steer the company toward a heavy emphasis on digital content that will be delivered on the latest mobile devices. As president and worldwide publisher of Newsweek and Newsweek.com from 2000 through 2008, Osberg’s top priority was growing the company’s online traffic and revenue. Previously, he had been the president of CNET, and most recently served […]

HOORAY: The Second Coming Of Pee Wee Herman

[Illustration by nastynoser] NEW YORK TIMES: THE Pied Piper was nowhere to be heard, and Santa Claus wouldn’t be coming to town for a few more weeks, but something irresistible had drawn a small crowd to the West Fourth Street basketball courts in Greenwich Village on a recent Thursday morning. Huddled in groups of two and three, a few dozen men and women in their 20s and 30s glanced at one another and at their smartphones, rereading the Twitter and Foursquare messages that directed them here, waiting for something to happen. Without fanfare a white van sailed up to the […]

STUDY: Alcohol More Harmful Than Crack And Heroin

CNN: Alcohol ranks “most harmful” among a list of 20 drugs — beating out crack and heroin — according to study results released by a British medical journal. A panel of experts weighed the physical, psychological, and social problems caused by the drugs and determined that alcohol was the most harmful overall, according to an article on the study released by The Lancet Sunday. Using a new scale to evaluate harms to individual users and others, alcohol received a score of 72 on a scale of 1 to 100, the study says. That makes it almost three times as harmful […]