BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC A follow-up to last August’s Carny/Girl on the Run double bill, tonight’s Andrew’s Video Vault is back in the sawdust and greasepaint for another double feature. First up is the rarely-seen 1981 film Side Show, produced for television by kids show pioneers Sid and Marty Krofft (of H.R. Pufnstuf fame.) Sid Krofft’s fascinating career began as a puppeteer for the Ringling Brothers circus, so the film has an air of autobiography in its nostalgia. The young puppeteer of the film is played by Lance Kerwin [PICTURED, ABOVE], who at the time of the filming […]
ELVIS IS BACK IN THE BUILDING: Costello Plays The Merriam 11/10, Tix Go On Sale Tomorrow
Elvis Costello embarks on SOLO East Coast U.S. Tour with Philadelphia Stop at Merriam Theater on Sunday, November 10 at 8 p.m. Costello’s performance includes new work from Wise Up Ghost (to be released September 17, Blue Note Records), the collaborative album of Costello and The Roots, produced by longtime Roots associate Steven Mandel along with Costello and ?uestlove. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 9th at 10 a.m.
VEGGING: @ Grindcore House
Photo by SHAWN BANNON LOCATION: 1515 S 4th St. (around 4th and Dickinson) CUISINE: Coffee, treats and café style sandwiches. MENU: Grindcore House is a combination coffee shop and vegan restaurant — and they do both pretty well. The beverage menu is full of fancy lattes and macchiatos and every flavoring option you could imagine and better yet, the drinks can be made with your “milk” of choice, whether it is rice, soy, almond or coconut milk. I got an iced mocha to-go that was a sweet, chocolaty good time that had me flying high for hours. However, for those […]
When Obama Told Jay Leno The NSA Isn’t Spying On Americans, He Was Lying Through His Teeth
NEW YORK TIMES: The National Security Agency is searching the contents of vast amounts of Americans’ e-mail and text communications into and out of the country, hunting for people who mention information about foreigners under surveillance, according to intelligence officials. The N.S.A. is not just intercepting the communications of Americans who are in direct contact with foreigners targeted overseas, a practice that government officials have openly acknowledged. It is also casting a far wider net for people who cite information linked to those foreigners, like a little used e-mail address, according to a senior intelligence official. While it has […]
CINEMA: Trailer For Dubious New Spike Jonze Film
Joaquin Phoenix with a NAMBLA mustache falls in love with SIRI, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Soundtrack by Arcade Fire. If this wasn’t directed by Spike Jonze, this would have lost us at ‘Joaquin Phoenix with a NAMBLA mustache.’
LADY GAGA: The Abramovic Method
This is pretty rad. It’s not a song, it’s performance art. If that term scares you, perhaps it should. This is challenging stuff. But any artist of Gaga’s stature that is challenging her audience instead of pandering to it has our vote. Warning to anyone offended by the human body, there is some mild nudity. Digging her new au naturel look — like she stepped off the label on a bottle of Chestnut Mare hair dye from the 70’s. HUFFINGTON POST: Lady Gaga is readying “ARTPOP,” her first album in two years, so it makes sense that she’d be in […]
MOBY: The Lonely Night (feat. Mark Lanegan)
SPIN: As previously reported, Moby’s 11th studio album will feature the Flaming Lips singer on a song called “The Perfect Life,” while the video will clearly feature a blissful array of fringe lifestyles. In a website update informatively titled “need extras in los angeles next week,” the electronica old-schooler detailed his and Coyne’s exact wish list, adding at the end, “p.s-these are real requests”: s&m gimp rhythmic gymnast: a rhythmic gymnast dressed in a leather s and m gimp costume complete with mask with a zipper mouth. someone who is good at the ribbon and stick thing. preferably a male […]
ARTSY: In Death Warhol Finally Realizes His Dream Of Making The Most Tedious Film Of All Time
THE GUARDIAN: “Death is like going to Bloomingdale’s,” Andy Warhol once proclaimed – as benign and enjoyable as a trip to New York’s most famous clothing emporium. The revered pop artist, who would have turned 85 on Tuesday, has long since left for the great department store in the sky. But fans can now look in on Andy from anywhere in the world – because a webcam has been installed overlooking his grave. It’s been set up by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, which oversees the artist’s archive and exhibits contemporary art. The new perpetual live feed is […]
THE MANNING BROS: Football On Your Phone
MASHABLE: Forget the three combined Super Bowl rings and the three combined Super Bowl MVP trophies. Forget the 15 total Pro Bowls. Forget the 90,000 total passing yards and 600-plus combined touchdown throws. This rap video may be the greatest thing the Manning brothers have ever done. MORE
MOBY: The Case For Shame (feat. Cold Specks)
From Innocents, due out October 1st.
WORTH REPEATING: How We Lost Yemen
NEW YORK TIMES: After days of alarms and embassy lockdowns, the United States and Britain on Tuesday stepped up security precautions in Yemen, with Washington ordering “nonemergency” government personnel to leave and the Foreign Office in London saying it has withdrawn its diplomatic staff in the capital of Sana “due to increased security concerns.” The United States also urged its citizens living in Yemen to depart immediately. Neither the American nor British authorities said how many employees were affected by the decision to withdraw personnel. MORE FOREIGN POLICY: For much of the past four years the United States has […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: O Captain, My Captain?
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Whatever happened to the man I voted for? Where did he go? Did he morph right before my ears? Or, has he simply been a sheep skinned Canus lupis all along? Damn, talk about your “quick change” artists. This guy has made Brachetti look like a full-body tattoo. From “equal” justice, to “open” government, to domestic spying, to whistleblowers, this “alchemistical” President of mine has got me to wondering if my rationale that “he’s probably better than the alternative” is anywhere near good enough. Here’s what I’m talking about: EQUAL JUSTICE: If my President is […]
Pocono Township Meeting Shooting Goes NMA
RELATED: A gunman blasted shots through the wall of a Pennsylvania municipal building during a meeting on Monday and then barged into the meeting room and killed three people before being tackled by a local official and possibly another person and shot with his own gun, a witness said. MORE RELATED: In one particularly eerie web posting, [the shooter] responded to a Mother Jones article about crime in Chicago. “I am a Liberal & I don’t mind violent criminals in jail its Pot smokers & non violent crimes such as prostitution, protesting that I don’t want to see people in […]