BY ADAM FRUCCI/GIZIMODO In case you missed it, last Friday we declared the month of March Boycott the RIAA Month. We’ve gotten sick and tired of always seeing the RIAA pulling deplorable moves and decided it was time for us to do something about it. We’re kicking the month off with this, our manifesto. We want to be absolutely clear about what this fight is about and why it’s so important. This is an overview of what the RIAA does, why it’s damaging, and what we need to do to stop it. Consider this our planted flag. Who We’re Up […]
THE EARLY WORD: Fate Up Against Your Will
Got an event that needs some luv? Well, you better have a badass flyer or ain’t nobody goin’ no how. Seriously. And send it to FEED@PHAWKER.COM. Like, early and shit. We’ll let you know if it sux or not. Because, really, you should know.
THE YARDBIRDS: Train Kept A Rollin’
From Blow-Up.
GUNCRAZY: Three More Dead Since You Went To Bed
Philadelphia police are investigating a double homicide that happened overnight in the city’s Mantua section. The victims, a man and a woman both appearing to be in their 50s, were found in a car near 32nd Street and Mantua Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. Both were shot once in the head, police said. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Names were not released this morning. The deaths raise the city’s 2007 homicide total to 65. INQUIRER: Dead & Deader ALSO: Philadelphia police were investigating yesterday morning’s murder of a man in the 4900 block of Master Street in the […]
GAMBLOR: The Empire Strikes Back!
BY JEFF SHIELDS INQUIRER STAFF WRITER — The fight over development of two casinos on the Philadelphia waterfront turned nasty yesterday, as SugarHouse Casino claimed “widespread and pervasive fraud” in the petition drive to ban slots parlors from Delaware Avenue.The allegations are contained in a complaint that casino lawyers said will be filed today in court. A copy was provided in advance to The Inquirer. SugarHouse lawyers, led by two attorneys who are investors in the project, Richard Sprague and William Lamb, accuse activists of forging signatures and circulating petitions with two different versions of a proposed ballot question. John […]
THE EL Celebrates 100 Years Of Being Mostly On Time
The Market Street subway-elevated line turns 100 years old on Sunday, and riders get the birthday gift: free trips for the afternoon. The birth of the Market Street Line, which allowed passengers to travel easily from 69th Street to the Delaware River, linked Center City to burgeoning new development in West Philadelphia. And it helped spawn more growth west of the Schuylkill, as 69th Street Terminal sprouted in the midst of cow pastures. Philadelphia’s oldest high-speed line — which has since grown into the Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated — emerged at the dawn of intra-urban rail travel, coming just a decade after […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
SWEATLOAF: Plastic Little/Sweatheart, ICA, Last Night FROM: Eva Liao TO: Me RE: “sex = babies = poverty” says Sweatheart 11:24 pm (23 minutes ago) yo boss. pictures are up! the show was dry as a desert. had there been booze involved a show at the ICA would have been off the hook (i know… i say that about everything). but after a while the crowd filtered out, along with their attention spans. Either way, P. Little was more boring than meh… but SWEAT HEART is where its it’s at! They’re the shirtless, striped tights, wig wearing, prom dress group shown […]
JUSTICE: Inventor Of Freedom Fries Goes To Jail
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, expresses remorse and quotes singer/songwriter Garth Brooks in an e-mail sent to friends Wednesday, a day before he is to enter federal prison after pleading guilty to corruption charges. Ney will report Thursday to a minimum security prison in Morgantown, W.Va., to begin serving his 30-month sentence after his guilty plea in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. In the all-lowercase e-mail note to friends, Ney thanks them “for all you have done for me and my family. your kind words, thoughts, and prayers throughout the last six months have helped us quite a […]
SLO-MO: Cuidado
WARNING: F-bombs. Also, this is fucking excellent! Muy bien!
Write A Clever Caption, Win JANEANE GAROFALO Tix!
[Photo Courtesy of PhillyHistory.org] The City of Philadelphia’s photo archive contains over 2 million images that date back as far as the late 1800s, i.e. the last time a Republican won in this town. In all seriousness, this is an INCREDIBLE visual record of the city’s evolution and a relatively new web site, PhillyHistory.org, is making it available for online consumption and purchase. To date, some 22,000 images have been digitally scanned, at a rate of roughly 2,000 images a month. So, if you’ve been wondering why the line at Kinko’s is so goddamned SLOW, well, now you know. Phawker […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR ABC news correspondent and former anchor Bob Woodruff was nearly killed by a roadside bomb on Jan. 29, 2006 in Iraq. He suffered a severe brain injury and was in a coma for over a month. He and his wife Lee have written a new memoir about his recovery, In An Instant: A Family’s Journey Of Love And Healing. Here’s an excerpt of the first chapter: Orlando, Florida, January 28, 2006 The Sunday morning phone call pierced the quiet and I jolted awake to a bedspread of floral and chintz in a totally unfamiliar room. It took me […]
VIET NOW: Walter Reed Mess Hall Now Serving Up Big Steaming Bowls of SHUT THE FUCK UP
Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media. “Some soldiers believe this is a form of punishment for the trouble soldiers caused by talking to the media,” one Medical Hold Unit soldier said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. It is unusual for soldiers to have daily inspections after Basic Training. Soldiers say their sergeant major gathered troops at 6 p.m. Monday to tell them […]
THE EARLY WORD: Sam I Am
WHO: Kindergarten through Grade 4 students from Thomas M. Peirce School WHAT: Will enjoy a reading of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham by National Constitution Center staff, as part of Read Across Philadelphia Day, which is in line with the nationwide event, Read Across America Day, celebrates the birthday and legacy of Theodore Guisel, better know as Dr. Seuss. March 2, 2007 will mark the author’s 103rd birthday. WHEN: Thursday, March 1, 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. WHERE: Thomas M. Peirce School 2300 W. Cambria Street Philadelphia, PA 19132