EVA SAYS: Overall, the show was relatively mediocre. And this is coming from someone who’s a pretty big TV On The Radio fan. In general, I really dig the whole Fela Kuti + The Roots + The Killers thing they’ve got going on. To me, they’re the epitome of what integrated urban culture sounds like. It’s not white and it’s not black and it’s not rock and it’s not rap. And it’s not exactly electro or world music either, though it does combine all of those things. Early on, it seemed like they were off to a good start. Lead […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
LONE STARS: Norah Jones & M. Ward, Tower Theater, Last Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Judging by Friday’s night’s performance at the Tower, every drop of the gallons of ink spilled extolling the virtues of Norah Jones is justified. She is a poised and classy young lady with a Natalie Portman-esque bearing, blessed with enormous talent and a voice that is wise and soulful beyond her relatively tender years. And it will be our pleasure to hear her grow into that voice in the coming years. However, a Grammy-winner like Jones doesn’t need the Inquirer’s megaphone to alert […]
‘ROSA PARKS Of GIRARD COLLEGE’ Dead At 83
BY GAYLE RONAN SIMS INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Marie Hicks [pictured, below], who in 1965-66 led thousands of pickets, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., around the wall that stood between two of her sons and entry into Girard College because they were black, died Thursday of complications of Parkinson’s disease at Willow Terrace in Germantown. She was 83 and lived in Germantown. The 10-foot wall and what it symbolized at Girard College inspired one of the most dramatic civil rights confrontations in Philadelphia history. The journey to Girard began in 1965, when Mrs. Hicks wanted two of her […]
EARLY WORD: Remember What The Dormouse Said…
Patti Smith performs at 5:45 tomorrow in front of the Philadelphia Free Library — for FREE! You lucky ducks!
KILLADELPHIA: Gunfight Erupts Outside Anti-Violence Meeting — With Cops In Attendance
Philadelphia police at a community meeting Wednesday evening on Germantown Avenue, suddenly found themselves on the scene of a shootout just outside the building in Nicetown. It was just after 6:30 when shots rang out outside the meeting hall. Some attendees fell to the floor. But Captain John McCloskey and officer Vince Laspina rushed outside, virtually into the middle of the gun battle on a busy Germantown Avenue: “Bullets that hit close to a car that was parked near where I was at. You could hear one of the bullets kind of like ‘ping’ off the wall where we were […]
Allen Ginsberg Is Blowing Our Frickin’ Mind!
From 1967. Acid much? Rare footage of Allen Ginsberg taken in London 1967 at the dialectics of liberation conference by Iain Sinclair.
SHOOTING THE MESSENGER: DN Offers Dueling Mea Culpas & Self-Serving Justifications For Cho Cover
“We’d also like to think [NBC] had a profound reason to give this murderer just what he wanted, some sick moment of glory after his death. He knew he’d get it. He knew how our world of 24-hour news works. Could any news organization resist such temptation? The answer was on your TV and computer screens. And on the front page of yesterday’s Daily News. The photo of the man pointing his gun in the reader’s face was meant by the killer to elicit fear, and the depraved hope that those who saw it would have to contemplate what it […]
Drudge Pimping Smerconish As Imus Replacement
This has Smerconish’s fingerprints all over it: A semi-blind item on Drudge with NOTHING to substantiate it but a link to the WPHT site, where there is NO mention of the Imus tryout. Thank god the Supreme Court legalized sodomy, because otherwise all the mutual analingus that goes on in the right-wing echo chamber could land these guys in the pokey. Either way, it would appear we called it first: Does the Inquirer pay you by the word? Because if I was your editor I would tell you that re-printing your resume is NOT […]
SUCKADELPHIA: Phillies Off To Truly Shitastic Start
The Phillies are 3-10 on the season — worst record in the majors, a full game behind a Nationals team that many pundits predicted might challenge baseball’s all-time records for futility. And while Rollins (.305, 6 HR, 11 RBI) has played well… he’s one of very few Phils who can make that claim. –Defending MVP Ryan Howard has been struggling badly, and now may miss time with a knee injury. –Starter Brett Myers and his 9.39 ERA have been banished to the bullpen. –Veteran starter Jon Lieber, the guy everyone thought would be moved for bullpen help now re-joins the […]
Philadelphia Manufacturers Report NO Growth
Activity in the Philadelphia region’s manufacturing sector [NOT pictured] was basically unchanged again this month, according to firms polled for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Business Outlook Survey. The index for general activity was near zero, and indicators for new orders, shipments and employment were only slightly positive, suggesting little change from March. Regarding future activity, the region’s manufacturing executives were somewhat more optimistic this month than they were in March. Demand for manufactured goods, as represented by the survey’s new orders index, reflects virtually no growth again this month. RELIABLE PLANT: Same As It Ever Was, Same As […]
MILLION DOLLAR BABY: Smokin’ Joe Drops Lawsuit Against Daughter
PHILADELPHIA — Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier told his lawyer on Thursday to drop a lawsuit against his daughter after she pledged to help him locate his missing business records. The files at the center of the legal dispute never left “Smokin’ Joe’s” North Philadelphia gym, a lawyer for Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde said Thursday. “I talked to my father today and he asked me how I was doing and I told him that I loved him,” Frazier-Lyde said at a press conference that focused on her campaign for city judge. Frazier’s lawyer said he reluctantly agreed to drop the suit at […]
BOOKS: Reading Is FUNdamental
No, this isn’t another one of Chaka Fattah’s highbrow schemes for ending gridlock. A picture of people floating across the city on giant tomes can only mean one thing: It’s time for Philadelphia’s annual book burning fest! Standby for for our Philadelphia Book Festival preview, including a Q&A with Absurdistan author Gary Shteygnart and more…