DWIGHT OTT: “I see you called the superintendent at home,” she said. I told her that I had no other option. Then she asked, “What’s this I hear about threats on the superintendent’s life?” I said, “No, no. She must have misunderstood. I asked her about vandalism of her car and tried to verify the story with her.” I shook my head and went back to tinkering with my notes. The phone rang again. It was the Philadelphia Police Department. They wanted to know whether and why I had called the superintendent at home. I explained. Then they wanted to […]
SWINDLE: There Is A Class War On And We Are Losing
BOB HERBERT: As the Economic Policy Institute has reported, the richest 10 percent of Americans received an unconscionable 100 percent of the average income growth in the years 2000 to 2007, the most recent extended period of economic expansion. Americans behave as if this is somehow normal or acceptable. It shouldn’t be, and didn’t used to be. Through much of the post-World War II era, income distribution was far more equitable, with the top 10 percent of families accounting for just a third of average income growth, and the bottom 90 percent receiving two-thirds. That seems like ancient history now. […]
TONITE: Dead Men DO Tell Tales
Phawker Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Valania will be on News Radio 77WABC in NYC tonight from 9 PM — 11 PM to discuss his Duffy’s Cut PW cover story with host John Batchelor. UPDATE: The interview was recorded moments ago, but will not air until Friday, some time between 9 PM — 11 PM. We will add a download link to this post as soon as it becomes available. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH: Exhuming The Old-Timey Mass Murder Mystery At Duffy’s Cut “The past is never dead. It isn’t even past.” —William Faulkner BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA […]
GOING ROGUE: The Thrill Kill Cult Of Bravo Company
ROLLING STONE: The poppy plants were still low to the ground at that time of year. The two soldiers, Cpl. Jeremy Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes, saw a young farmer who was working by himself among the spiky shoots. Off in the distance, a few other soldiers stood sentry. But the farmer was the only Afghan in sight. With no one around to witness, the timing was right. And just like that, they picked him for execution. He was a smooth-faced kid, about 15 years old. Not much younger than they were: Morlock was 21, Holmes was 19. His name, […]
REVIEW: Reks’ Rhythmic Eternal King Supreme
BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD Nas’ Illmatic established the original archetype for blockbuster hip-hop success. The process— simply create a short album (no more than 15 tracks) and grab beats from an onslaught of top-notch producers for a hootenany-style album that features a focused variety of hip-hop’s soundscapes. Hey, it worked once for Nas and the formula did its job creating rappers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and other household names. However, the formula became trite and got dropped in favor for single-producer albums in the mid-‘00s. Thanks Kanye! Massachusetts-based boom-bapper Reks borrows Nas’ formula with his newest effort, Rhythmic Eternal King Supreme, […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Ellie Goulding At WCL
BY PELLE GUNTHER An ocean away from our dear Lady Gaga and “T-Swift” another pop storm is brewing in the form of England’s Ellie Goulding. She’s a killer combination of cute, charming, and unbelievably talented. Small wonder she won the BBC’s “Breakthrough Act” award as well as “Critics Choice” at the BRIT Awards (a feat only achieved once before — by Adele in 2008.) With two releases to date, Lights and Bright Lights, she has already had several songs in the UK top 40, and just embarked on her first American tour. Upon listening to her albums the pretentious hipster […]
LIFE LESSIONS: With Your Life Coach, AP Ticker
A.P. confesses to some of the humiliating and degrading things he’s had to do to put food on the table for his family. Not for the easily offended or people who don’t like to laugh.
RIP: Gerladine Ferraro, First Woman To Break The Glass Ceiling Of Presidential Politics, Dead At 75
NEW YORK TIMES: “If we can do this, we can do anything,” Ms. Ferraro declared on a July evening to a cheering Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. And for a moment, for the Democratic Party and for an untold number of American women, anything seemed possible: a woman occupying the second-highest office in the land, a derailing of the Republican juggernaut led by President Ronald Reagan, a President Walter F. Mondale. It did not turn out that way — not by a long shot. After the roars in the Moscone Center had subsided and a fitful general election campaign […]
RAWK TAWK: Q&A With Smithereens Drum Major & Pop Historian Extraordinaire Dennis Diken
BY JONATHAN VALANIA For going on 35 years, Dennis Diken has been pounding the skins for The Smithereens, arguably one of the finest bar bands to crawl out of the teenage jungleland of nowhere New Jersey. All the Smithereens’ best songs carried a hint of desperation: the unspoken understanding that these Jersey sons were always one bar gig away from the factory grind that claimed the hope of their fathers. They were literally playing rock ‘n’ roll as if their lives depended on it. The new Smithereens 2011 finds the band in fine form all these years later, still bashing […]
CINEMA: Calling All Monsters
GARGOYLES (1972, directed by Bill L. Norton, 72 minutes, U.S) THE INCUBUS (1982, directed by John Hough, 93 minutes, Canada) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Philly film buffs often note that the most intriguing films only stay in local theaters for a week, but some of the most curious offerings will only play one show. Tonight is likely your only chance to see one of the most daring bookings the Exhumed Films collective has ever presented. Loosely connected by the ancient myth of The Incubus, a demon who rapes humans as they sleep, Exhumed Film will be presenting a double-bill […]
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 […]
PARTS AND LABOR: Our Imperfect Unions
PW: It doesn’t take long fireside chats with local business owners and contractors to hear horror stories about the ramifications of hiring nonunion workers in Philadelphia: picketing campaigns that stretch endlessly through the seasons; physical intimidation; glue finding its way into door locks, electrical wiring neatly uninstalled just in time for opening day. […] Dealing with union aggression has become an occupational hazard of opening up a restaurant in Center City. Off the top, Brauhaus Schmitz, Marc Vetri’s Amis, Devil’s Alley, Smokin’ Betty’s and Barbuzzo are just a few recent examples of restaurants that drew protests for not hiring all […]