AP TICKER: Hello Young Lovers! Valentines day is coming up, so I thought I’d tell you a love story…. I remember the first time I met my wife, it was back in high school, we shared lockers across from one another at Our Lady of Perpetual Misery. She was stunning, as pretty as a prayerbook and as sweet as an apple on Christmas day. I was a shy, jug-eared youth who would follow her around like a puppy. She invited me to a party at her house. Her parents were gone.The entire school was there. She made snacks, tuna fish […]

Sorry to have to fool you like that. This is actually an interview with Bob Marley the 44-year old white guy stand up comedian with the from Portland, Maine, not the iconic dread locked reggae artist. But know this: Portland, Maine Bob Marley — who is one night into a three night stand at Helium Comedy Club — is a fuck of a lot funnier than Kingston Jamaica Bob Marley, no disrespect. But it’s a little known fact that Marley only got into to reggae when his stand-up comedy career went nowhere. Sure he became a global reggae superstar but […]

BY ZIVIT SHLANK Philadelphia-based guitarist and composer Mike Lorenz is a man of unwavering musical ambition. Following college in 2007, Mike’s been forging his path on the Philly and NYC jazz scenes, playing with groups such as The Hoppin’ John Jazz Orchestra and the Tony Gairo Big Band. In addition, he quickly established himself as one of the most in-demand and solid musicians having performed alongside local legends like trumpeter John Swana and pianist Skip Wilkins, among others. Since moving to Philly in 2009, Lorenz has wasted little time reaching his ultimate goal: to lead and record his own original […]

Insane. They play the Troc tonight. The show is completely sold out.

BY ZIVIT SHLANK Composer, vocalist and songwriter Samantha Rise possesses a style, grace and complexity. Her musical gifts can be heard in the groups Ellipsis Trio, Erroneous Krunk, The Fractals and In One Wind, among others.  Be it an interpretation of jazz standards, classic rock repertoire a la The Beatles, or her own soulful poetic folk, Rise’s unique voice crosses musical worlds and interweaves them rather seamlessly. Her original music marries her love of jazz with shades of folksier, funkier hues. From Billie to Bjork, Rise is unafraid to explore it all. You can check her out at 8 PM […]

NATIONAL INTEREST: The car ad is a classic Rorschach test. The average person likely sees it as a nonpartisan paean to resilient American greatness – and, at the very worst, an overly slick attempt to sell new cars. But anti-Obama ideologues are so hooked on their hatred that they see the ad as leftist trickery. They hear Eastwood say “it’s half time in America” (the ad ran at half time), and they think it’s an endorsement for a second Obama term. Most importantly, they’re totally invested in pessimism; they abhor any suggestion that things might actually be getting better. Teamwork, […]

From Gomez + Gonzalez, Presented By Philagrafika, Galleries At Moore, Moore College Of Art & Design, 1/27/12 by JONATHAN VALANIA RELATED: Spanish artists María Jesús González and Patricia Gómez have created large-scale prints, photographs and related videos during their artist residency at the now decommissioned Holmesburg Prison in Northeast Philadelphia. The artists, neither of whom  has exhibited previously in the U.S., have a collaborative practice grounded in art conservation; utilizing a modified version of a technique known as strappo, they work primarily to preserve the surfaces of buildings—the veritable “skin of architecture”—by detaching  a wall’s paint with glues and fabric […]

The MakingTime VALENTIME Project from MTTV on Vimeo. For every valentine card filled out and placed in a Making Time VALENTIME box, Making Time will donate $1 to Musicopia (musicopia.net/), a nonprofit organization that works to restore and improve in-school music instruction throughout the Greater Philadelphia area.  The Making Time VALENTIME boxes will be located at: MORE

Westmont, New Jersey, 4PM by JEFF FUSCO

This is all very inside baseball,  but we were all taken out to the ballpark some time ago, we’ve all got skin in the game now so it’s too late to say you don’t care who wins. If you have been paying attention in the last day or two, you know the following: The Philadelphia Media Network — the company that owns the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com — is looking to sell. There are two primary investor groups that have expressed interest. One group is led by ex-Guv Ed Rendell, and the other led by developer Bart Blatstein, the […]

NEWSWORKS: Are the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News muzzling their own journalists to protect their financial interests? It sure looked that way if you followed the Daily News‘ PhillyClout blog Tuesday. Here’s what happened: Around mid-day reporter David Gambacorta wrote a post about a group of investors, headed by developer Bart Blatstein, who are interested in buying Philadelphia Media Network, the owners of both papers and Philly.com. That report listed the investors in the group, called Philly Hometown Media, LLC. (Last week it emerged that a different group of investors associated with former Gov. Ed Rendell has […]