There Ain’t No Starving Artists In The Afterlife: JEFF SELLS EAKINS PAINTING TO WAL-MART FOR $68 MILLION CLAMS; Natives Grow Restless And Unimpressed, Say Deal Shoulda Been Done With Legal Tender, Not Shellfish

At least twice in the 1970s and 1980s, deep-pocketed buyers came knocking on the doors of Thomas Jefferson University seeking to purchase Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic. On both occasions, administrators consulted the alumni organization – which gave the world-renowned painting to the medical school in 1878 – about what to do. And in both cases, the alumni said no to millions of dollars, according to several members of the university community. Absolutely not. No sale. The painting, a monumental portrayal of renowned Jefferson surgeon Samuel D. Gross demonstrating a bloody leg operation, is considered inextricably bound to the university […]

215 , Art , Culture , NewsPosted on:

MAILBAG: Reader Rejoices That Phawker Freed Killed PW Column From The Dustbin Of History; Also, Well-Earned Shit-Talk About The Sweenster

DEAR PHAWKER, “As the head big-shot in charge of asking for cash at XPN, thank you so much!” –DEB ASHMORE, WXPN No worries, just doin’ our job, stickin’ it to The Man –Ed. HEY PHAWKER, So, did you like, make [Sweeney] bleed from his anus when you left? This shit is like one of those psychotic ex-girlfriends who spray-paints your car and tells all your friends you have a micropenis. Whatta l’il bitchface. UNSIGNED IN SOUTH PHILLY Sure feels like it. Tho, let the record show that we never had sex, as neither of us is gay like that. –Ed. […]

215 , Media , NewsPosted on:

With Philadelphia Judge About To Decide Future of Internet Porn, A Nation of Monkey Spankers Casts Its Lonely Eyes On The 215

U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed Jr. is hearing the case without a jury and will decide whether the law aimed at keeping children from accessing Internet porn should stand, be modified or fall. And with no dirty pictures – Reed has ruled against their display — the trial has become something of a wonk’s drama, a battle of experts, including a university philosopher, talking about Internet filters and online commerce. The ACLU, whose witnesses have included artists and online writers, argues that the law is overreaching and that parents have access to filters and other measures — such as […]

215 , NewsPosted on:

GAYBO: Election Blues For The Reds; Dulliah, Queen of the Dumb Down; Che Target Losing Its Mojo?

Amazing how seven days can change the world’ Nothing could ever replace the sated feeling I had watching those pathetic Santorum children crying as Daddy conceded the election. Boo fucking hoo! Now, back to Virginia where you really fucking live. I’m sure Santorum will end up on some Republican’t committee or something. I’m just happy to have him out of PA’s hair. There’s absolutely nothing Philly about him. He probably thinks the Rocky statue belongs on the Art Museum steps. Fucking loser. And as for “Fast Eddie” Rendell, Nancy Pelosi and all the winning Democrats, I say, congratulations — let’s […]

215 , NewsPosted on:

GUNCRAZY: Whatever Happens In North Philly No Longer Staying In North Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – November 12, 2006 – A man is wounded from gunfire in downtown Philadelphia, rounding out a deadly weekend with several unrelated fatal shootings around the city.The downtown shooting happened in the afternoon, as people were crowded onto the Broad Street Subway to return from an Eagles game. Police say a gunman shot a man in the back, then escaped onto the Market-Frankford Line. The victim was hospitalized. Three people were shot dead on Saturday night in unrelated incidents. Philadelphia had 380 homicides last year and is on target to exceed that number this year. 6ABC: Is That […]

215 , NewsPosted on:

The Money $hot: YOU CAN’T PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND A MEMORY

Independence Mall, Veterans Day, November 11th, 2006 [Flickr] On Saturday, a coalition of groups are meeting met near Independence Hall in Philadelphia to announce plans to mobilize a national movement to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Groups backing the effort include Progressive Democrats of America, CodePink, Gold Star Families for Peace and Veterans for Peace. While the pro-impeachment movement has received little media attention, polls show growing numbers support for Congress to take such action. A recent Newsweek poll found 51 percent of all Americans – including 20 percent of Republicans – feel impeachment should be on […]

215 , NewsPosted on:

TRIBUTE: Jack Palance, Up From The Mines Of Pennsyltucky To Best of The Bad Guys Oscar Immortality, RIP ‘Curly’

When reporters asked him what he thought about most of his films, he tended to dismiss them as “garbage.” Still, his part as a homicidal husband stalking Joan Crawford in “Sudden Fear” (1952) also won him an Oscar nomination, and his role as a robber with a heart in “I Died a Thousand Times” (1955), a remake of Humphrey Bogart’s “High Sierra,” earned Mr. Palance better reviews than the movie received. Walter Jack Palance was born Feb. 18, 1920 or 1918, in Lattimer Mines, Pa., the third child of Vladimir Palahnuik, a coal miner, and the former Anna Gramiak, both […]

Cinema , NewsPosted on:

We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It

Twilight’s Last Gleaming: Broken Social Scene, Electric Factory, November 9th, 2006 [Flickr] EVA SAYS: Canadians are nice people. Nice people with good bacon, good whiskey, and yes, even better bands. Which is how I’d describe a Broken Social Scene show: nice n’ good, but no more and no less. Like Canada, their songs are pleasant and familiar enough, but live, they lack anything particularly unique. Sure, Kevin Drew was nice, endlessly thanking Philadelphia as if he truly believed we were largely responsible for the band’s success. He then graciously thanked the sound guy, all nine of the other band members, […]

215 , Music , NewsPosted on:

TRIBUTE: Ed Bradley, 215 Homeboy & GREAT AMERICAN JOURNALIST, Good Night And Good Luck, Sir!

Larry Mendte reports for Phawker CBS: (CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA Over the years, Ed Bradley has won almost every major award in journalism, many, more than once. He began his award winning career right here in Philadelphia. Ed Bradley went from our hometown to all over the world; Russia, Cambodia, Washington. He grew up here in West Philadelphia. He started a teaching career, but also interned at WDAS radio. “I hung around the station and if Georgie Woods wanted sandwiches, I went to fetch them. I got albums for Del Shields and I just sat and watched and listened,” said the […]

215 , Media , NewsPosted on: