ON FRESH AIR Actor Alec Baldwin has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for his role in the TV sitcom 30 Rock. He recently appeared in the films The Good Shepard, Running with Scissors, The Departed and The Aviator. Actress Helen Mirren has been nominated for three Golden Globes this year. For her roles in the TV mini-series Prime Suspect and Elizabeth I, and for her work in the film The Queen. ON THE WORLD CAFE This Friday listen to Kiefer Sutherland’s Top 5 on World Cafe! The season premiere of 24 airs Sunday, 1/14. Listen to Kiefer discuss […]
Cover Wars: Whose Artfag Kung-Fu Is Stronger?
Whenever we would see sisters around town rockin’ a black burqa in the August swelter, we would wonder aloud: Why would a modern Western black woman become a Muslim? It just seemed to us like trading one form of slavery for another, especially for women. And then we heard an NPR interview with a Muslim sister that asked this very question and her answer, transcribed from memory, had a sad but compelling logic: In a world where I walk around unveiled and get called ‘bitch’ & ‘ho’ routinely, Islam offers less freedom but more respect. Word, that. However, it depresses […]
GUNCRAZY: Two Damn Fools Shoot Each Other Over How Tall James Brown Was, Not Was
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) – A man shot a friend when the two got into an argument over James Brown’s height, police said. Dan Gulley Jr. was charged with assault in the shooting of David James Brooks Jr., police said. Officers said the men were at a friend’s home on Monday when, according to witnesses, the argument over the height of the late “Godfather of Soul” escalated, with Gulley, 70, shooting Brooks, 62, twice in the abdomen. Brooks went to his car, got a gun and shot at Gulley but missed, then went to the police station, officers said. Gulley also […]
HOLLA: An Open Letter To Martha Raddatz
BY JAMES DOOLITTLE You weren’t fooling me none, sweetheart. A few Sundays ago while you were jib-jabbing away with Stephanopoulos, I looked deep, beyond that educated stare, and saw the fire, the heat, the undeniable glow that made me think you might show love to a street thug from Philly. And now . . . we all know, courtesy of the mighty Keith Olbermann: “But first, it would not be COUNTDOWN without the top three newsmakers of this day, politically stylized for your protection. . . . And number one, my old colleague from Channel 5 in Boston, Martha Raddatz, […]
PBR: Burrell Trade To Red Sox In The Offing? Shhhh…
BY PATRICK BERKERY Name-dropping: it isn’t just for sycophant promo-sexuals anymore. (I’m not naming names, but if you’re feeling a little hot in your complimentary My Morning Jacket fleece pullover, as your Shins advance plays in the background and you’re meeting Irv Fucknut from Suck My Dick records for dinner at the Tin Angel tonight before some emerging singer-songwriter’s 7:30 set, then, yeah, I’m looking right at you.) So humor me, and my little brush with baseball genius. I participated in the annual Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concerts in Boston last weekend. Lots of baseball dignitaries like ESPN’s Peter […]
SINS OF THE FATHER: Dad Of Greatest Constitutional Violator In Modern Memory Is Elected Chairman Of The Board Of Constitution Center — Apparently Nixon’s Ghost Was Unavailable
January 11, 2007 Dear Friend: I am delighted to write and share with you some very exciting news about the future leadership of the National Constitution Center. It is with great pride that I announce that former President George H.W. Bush has been elected Chairman of the Center?s Board of Trustees for the year 2007. This is the only Chairmanship he holds currently, so we are especially touched that he has agreed to serve in this capacity. President Bush occupies a special and beloved place in American life that reflects many of this institution?s core values, especially the ethic of […]
THIS JUST IN: Fumo Sent THE LETTER Last Summer From Federal Prosecutors, And No It was Not A ‘Come Spend A Week At Our Beach House’ Invite
Typically, prosecutors send target letters to people who are likely to be charged, as a warning and as an invitation to testify before the grand jury. It’s an offer that the targets usually refuse. “It is the rare case, in my experience, that you can talk a prosecutor out of charges once a target letter is issued,” said Lawrence S. Lustberg, a Newark lawyer who defended one of the Commerce Bank executives convicted in the 2005 City Hall corruption trial. However, the delivery of a target letter, part of a secret grand jury process, is no guarantee that charges will […]
Those Who Avoid Vietnam Are Doomed To Repeat It
FROM ATTYTOOD: Lyndon B. Johnson, Jan. 10, 1967: I wish I could report to you that the conflict is almost over. This I cannot do. We face more cost, more loss, and more agony. For the end is not yet. I cannot promise you that it will come this year–or come next year. Our adversary still believes, I think, tonight, that he can go on fighting longer than we can, and longer than we and our allies will be prepared to stand up and resist. We have chosen to fight a limited war in Vietnam in an attempt to prevent […]
Yvonne De Carlo, AKA LILY MUNSTER, Dead At 84
FROM WIKIPEDIA In 1947 she played her first leading role in Slave Girl and then in 1949 had her biggest success. As the female lead opposite Burt Lancaster in Criss Cross, she played a femme fatale, and her career began to ascend. The 1957 film Band of Angels featured her opposite Clark Gable in an American Civil War story, along with Sidney Poitier and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. For the next several years, she was constantly working although many of the films failed to advance her career. Cast in The Ten Commandments (1956) in a leading role (as Zipporah, Moses’ wife), […]
HOLLA: THE WIRE, It’s Better Than Television
BY JAMES DOOLITTLE For all you bitchasses who still refuse to believe that the greatest thing since the marriage of McNugget and Honey Mustard Sauce is actually found on television, excuse time is OVER! No longer can you complain about not having HBO, or having to shell out mad money for a slew of Blockbuster rentals. Starting tonight, the first season of “The Wire” begins airing on BET, and as I said — NO EXCUSES! Even if you don’t have basic cable, you at least know someone who’s stealing it. Mind you, this isn’t a bandwagon you can jump on […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Clint Eastwood has examined the Battle of Iwo Jima in two recent films. His latest movie, Letters from Iwo Jima, explores the perspective of the Japanese soldiers who fought it. RADIO TIMES HOUR 1 Last month, JONATHAN NEWMAN resigned as chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Marty talks with him about his work and experiences in Harrisburg overseeing the $1.7 billion state store system. HOUR 2 Should NJ abolish its death penalty? A recent report by the New Jersey Death Penalty Commission recommends that lawmakers vote to end capitol punishment. NJ re-instated the death penalty in 1982, […]
Radio Ratings Go Paper-Less, Assessing The Shittiness Of Commercial Radio Will No Longer Kill Trees
On January 11, Arbitron will release the very last radio ratings for Philadelphia that will be produced by paper-and-pencil diaries. The new electronic Portable People Meter (PPM) ratings service will be initiated in Philly on January 11. The Fall 2006 book is being designated the ?currency? in the market until the release of the March 2007 PPM ratings report. The January 2007 and February 2007 PPM ratings are to be released as demonstration data…Instead of Winter Phase 1 and 2 Arbitrends reports, subscribing stations will receive monthly PPM-based audience estimates using the installed PPM sample, which is planned to be […]