Somewhere along Route 6, Bradford County, Pennsyltucky by JEFF FUSCO
Q&A With Judah Friedlander, World Champion
In advance of his appearances tonight and Saturday at the Helium Comedy Club, we got Judah on the horn and solicited some very useful advice, such as: How to beat up a cyclops and a one-armed man; how to rock the trucker hat (and Run DMC spectacles) with no real truck driving experience to speak of; how to have an illicit affair with your junior high school teacher; and how to land movie roles as wrestling fan, action figure dude, drunk man, ice cream man, maintenance man, pawn shop patron, and cafeteria guy. You know you want to know. *** […]
CINEMA: Cracked Actors & Headbangers Bawl
CRACKS (2009, directed by Jordan Scott, 104 minutes, U.K.) HESHER (2010, directed by Spencer Susser, 100 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Society’s expectations of women has led to their condescendingly being referred to as “the gentler sex,” but isn’t this diminished expectation why it is so fun to watch women on-screen when they go stark raving mad? From Sissy Spacek in Carrie, to Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, and Faye Dunaway in Mommy Dearest, it is a special kind of thrill to watch women when they lose all composure and let their psyches run wild. […]
WEASELS IN THE HENHOUSE: FCC Chairman Quits To Lobby For Comcast, Her Reward For Fastracking The Mega Merger With NBC With Minimal Restrictions
WASHINGTON POST: Federal Communications commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker defended her decision to join Comcast NBC Universal just months after voting in favor of the company’s joint venture. Under heavy criticism this week for her decision to leave the FCC to join Comcast, Baker issued a statement on Friday saying she was not approached by either Comcast or NBC Universal about a potential job during the review of their transaction. Baker stood out among the FCC’s five commissioners for criticizing the merger review process for taking too long. She said the agency attached too many conditions to the deal. Among them, […]
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 […]
AMERICA, F*CK YEAH: Huckabee Huckstering Cartoonish History Lessons That Blame America Last
[Illustation by DONKEY HOTEY] TALKING POINTS MEMO: Don’t worry, American youth: Mike Huckabee has fixed American history. No longer will you suffer under what Huckabee calls “the ‘blame America first’ attitude prevalent in today’s teaching.” Late Wednesday, Huckabee announced LearnOurHistory.com, a sort of BMG Music Club for what he calls “unbiased” historical lessons for kids. For around $15 each, the company will send you a new animated tale of American history each month, told through the eyes of a gang of time traveling kids. What’s the goal? To tell the history Huckabee says American schools are afraid to tell. “What […]
PHUNNY PAPERS: Phillies Comic Book Launches
WARNING: This comic features stories about the Philadelphia Phillies players. If you are NOT familiar with the Phillies 2011 roster than you might not appreciate the humor. Content is suitable for all ages. Mild cartoon violence. Dugout Phunnies is the work of Philadelphia artist, David Jablow, and comedian, Jon Goff. David Jablow recently garnered positive press for the opening of his “do it yourself Doodler” at Bambi Gallery in Northern Liberties. More details about that project can be found here. Jon Goff performs in and hosts comedy shows throughout Philadelphia, including Bedtime Stories, Welcome to the Terrordome, Ministry of Secret […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
Misstallica, Johnny Brendas, 10:32 PM last night BY JONATHAN VALANIA
‘I ALMOST DIED A HUNDRED TIMES’: Q&A With Marwan Riyadh, Drummer For Acrassicauda
BY JONATHAN VALANIA Baghdad metallurgists ACRASSICAUDA have survived Saddam’s thugs, al Qaeda goon squads and assorted jihadist jerks — all of whom tried to silence them, under threat of death or imprisonment — but can they survive Fish Town? Find out tonight when they rock Johnny Brendas, along with all-girl Metallica tribute band Misstallica. On the eve of a U.S. tour, we got Acrassicauda drummer Marwan Riyadh on the line to talk about life in a war zone when you’re young, Iraqi and just wanna rock the fuck out — which is easier said than done, because if American bombs […]
THE AUDACITY OF DOPES: Rove Calls Common ‘A Thug’; Palin Outraged, Though Not Anti-Rap, Mind You, She Knows The Words To ‘Rapper’s Delight’!
ROLLING STONE: The right wing shows no signs of letting the manufactured controversy over Common’s White House invitation die. Even though last night’s Evening of Poetry went off without a hitch, Fox News and other right-wing outlets continue to devote ever more attention to the issue. At the event, Common didn’t address the firestorm surrounding his 2007 poem “Letters To The Law” – which conservative pundits have seized upon as evidence of his anti-Americanism. Instead, he read a work that referenced both Martin Luther King Jr. and President Obama, who hugged the Chicago rapper at the end of the evening. […]
Yes Men Launch Phony ‘Coal Cares’ Social Media Campaign For Kids, Offering ‘My Little Pony’ Inhalers
POYNTER: On Tuesday, the largest private coal company in the world, Peabody Energy, launched a campaign to provide free My Little Pony and Justin Bieber-themed “Puff-Puff” inhalers to kids 18 and under. As part of this humanitarian campaign, Peabody pledged to donate $500 towards a lung-replacement procedure for every 1,000 inhalers ordered through the “Coal Cares” initiative. Peabody, which launched a “Coal Cares” website to advertise the campaign, hoped to tackle the stigma associated with asthma by giving away a variety of colorful and hip inhalers to dignify the use of asthma medication. “For kids who have no choice but […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Wandering Eye Of Newt
[Illustation by DONKEY HOTEY] “Newt will always love America. Unless it gets cancer.” — Jane Wiedlin [via TWITTER] ESQUIRE: She was married to Newt Gingrich for eighteen years, all through his spectacular rise and fall, and here she is in a pair of blue jeans and a paisley shirt, with warm eyes and a big laugh and the kind of chain-smoking habit where the cigarettes burn right down to the filter — but she’s quitting, she swears, any day now. We’re having breakfast in a seaside restaurant in a Florida beach town, a place where people line up in sandals […]
SIDEWALKING: Love Shack
Somewhere on Route 5, 11:32 AM by JEFF FUSCO