We have to go up NYC to interview Norah Jones (more on that later), and we shant be posting today. We cordially invite you to enjoy the many, badass-if-we-do-say-so-ourselves Q&As that have gone up on the site in recent weeks, including: Anne Rice, undisputed doyenne of high Goth; ex-Philadelphia Police Captain turned OccupyWallStreet protester Ray Lewis; spectral Portlandian indie-folkie Laura Gibson; Man Man’s main man Honus Honus; Delocated‘s Jon Glaser; online privacy expert Lori Andrews; Caustic comedienne, fearless actress, incisive social critic, enemy of narrow minds and all-around envelope-pushing cultural provocateur, Sandra Bernhard; Pere Ubu/Rocket From The Tombs frrontman/main Brain […]
BREAKING: Rendell Spokesperson Denies His Investor Group Is Pulling Out Of Inquirer/DN Sale
This morning Naked Philadelphian blogger Laura Goldman posted the following to her blog and Business Insider: “Just ran into former Governor Ed Rendell on Locust St near 15th. He said, “I don’t think that we will buying.” His thin skinned buyers group probably could not take the negative publicity on their bid from Buzz Bissinger, the New York Times, and others. Bissinger, who compared Rendell to Randolph Hearst, worried about the journalistic conflicts of interest with such an investor group. The New York highlighted a censored a blog post about rival bids on Philly.com.” MORE We asked Rendell spokesperson […]
JAZZER: Meet Amir ElSaffar
BY ZIVIT SHLANK In Arabic, an ‘amir’ is a commander or chieftain, in other words a person who leads with authority. Trumpeter, composer and singer Amir ElSaffar lives up to his namesake. Born into an Iraqi-American family, his parents and sisters encouraged a love of music early on. He’s had a love-loathe relationship with the trumpet since age nine, intrigued by its power and potential, but discouraged by forced lessons and initial limitations. Despite that, Amir immersed himself in the intimate study of both classical and jazz trumpet and he was drawn to the emotional honesty of jazz. Couple that […]
SWING SET: Q&A With The Delco Nightingale
BY MEREDITH KLEIBER If you’ve felt yourself being transported back in time while at a Delco Nightingale show, you are exactly where they want you. The four-piece band — composed of singer Erin Berry, guitarist Greg Phoenix, upright bassist Brendan Skwire, and drummer Eddie Everett — evokes a 1940s-era sound combining elements of swing, rockabilly, and jazz fusion that they top off with a bit of punk-rock grit. If you haven’t yet had the privilege of witnessing the fierce energy delivered by the band during one of their live performances, coif your hair into your best pompadour and get your […]
NPR FOR THE DEF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR This interview was originally broadcast on April 14, 2011. Michelle Williams just received a Best Actress nomination for her performance in My Week With Marilyn. Kelly Reichardt’s frontier drama Meek’s Cutoff opens in the year 1845, on the wide-open plains of Oregon, where a wagon team of three families has set out on a journey along the Oregon Trail. After their guide, a suspicious man named Stephen Meek, tells them about a shortcut across the Oregon desert, the settlers, led by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano, become lost. Williams joins Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross for a discussion about […]
CINEMA: The Lord Of War
CORIOLANUS (2011, directed By Ralph Fiennes, 122 minutes, U.K.) THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY (2010, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 94 minutes, Japan) BY DAN BUSKIRK British thespian Ralph Fiennes has joined together with Gladiator screenwriter John Logan for an energetic adaptation of Coriolanus, one of Shakespeare’s decidedly second-tier tragedies. This is the first English language big screen version of the tale of the titular warrior/statesman who falls from favor with his people, and while Fiennes plunders the play for modern relevance he never solves the problem inherent in Shakespeare’s original work: Coriolanus is just too despicable to rouse the sympathies […]
INTERVIEW: Q&A With The Mayor Of Portlandia
[Artwork by DAOGREER EARTH WORKS] BY JONATHAN VALANIA No, not Kyle MacLachlan on a Pilates ball working on his ‘core’ — the REAL mayor of Portland Sam Adams (who actually plays MacLachlan’s assistant on Portlandia). He followed us on Twitter, we followed him back. Told him we were gonna be out in Portland working on a cover story about The Shins for a for a national indie-rock magazine and could we get an interview? Sure, he says, he actually has all the Shins albums on his iPhone! How cool is that? At least as cool as our mayor doing “Rapper’s […]
HOT DOC: PMN Journalists Issue Signed Public Statement Condemning CEO’s Chicanery
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following statement was circulated last night to Newspaper Guild employees of the Inquirer/Daily News/Philly.com inviting them to sign it before it was made public today. Public statement from journalists at Philadelphia Media Network As the only business mentioned in the Bill of Rights, newspapers serve more than private ends. The news we publish is crucial to civic life, to holding the powerful accountable, to democracy itself. That information must be gathered and printed without fear or favor. As The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com have gone up for sale once again, we watched with dismay […]
RAWK TAWK: Five Tough Questions For The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society
The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society is: Charlie Hall, a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who has played with Jens Lekman, The War on Drugs, Windsor for the Derby, Tommy Guerrero, and others; drummer Patrick Berkery, who has played with Danielson, Pernice Brothers, Bigger Lovers, Photon Band, Mazarin, and others over the years; Birdie Busch, a Philadelphia-based singer and songwriter with several wonderful solo albums to her credit; bassist Dave Wayne Daniels of The Capitol Years; and vocalist/keyboardist Eliza Hardy Jones and vocalist/guitarist Brandon Beaver, both members of the highly regarded band Buried Beds. Reprising their standing room only performance of Fleetwood Mac’s […]
Philly.com Unveils The Express, For Those Who Like A Little News With Their Advertising — Very Little
Dear Philadelphia Media Network, There is no nice way to say this: you suck at the newspaper business. Please sell off all your Philadelphia media properties as soon as humanly possible and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out. Sincerely, The People Of Philadelphia PREVIOUSLY: NEW YORK TIMES ASKS: WTF Is Up With The People Running The Inquirer/Daily News? PREVIOUSLY: Who’s Trying To Buy The Inquirer/Daily News & Why Can’t We Read About It On Philly.com? PERVIOUSLY: When The Cover-Up Is Worse Than The Crime
Comparing GOP Candidates To Hitler Is Way Over The Line — Unless We’re Talking About Santorum
CROOKS AND LIARS: Two bloggers from Gay U.S.A. attended a rally for Rick Santorum in Tacoma on Monday evening to see what the GOP presidential contender had to say about the same-sex marriage bill signed into law by Washington state’s governor earlier in the day. Three protesters were arrested at the event, including the two bloggers, and another protester who was arrested later in the evening for glitter-bombing Santorum. Other reports tie the protesters to the Occupy Tacoma group. Here is a snippet of their account of the evening: . About four police officers approached the group. Nathan left the […]
NEW YORK TIMES ASKS: WTF Is Up With The People Running The Inquirer/Daily News?
NEW YORK TIMES: The new owners installed Mr. Osberg, who had been the president and publisher of Newsweek magazine, but the financial picture has continued to decline. According to sales documents obtained by The New York Times — marked as “highly confidential” — the company had a 13.9 percent drop in advertising revenues last year and earnings were less than $5 million. On Wednesday, the company announced a round of buyouts and potential layoffs that will eliminate 37 positions. MORE MEDIAWIRE: Philadelphia Media Network executives announced at a meeting with Guild leaders today that they will reduce the newsrooms of […]