DAILY NEWS: Clifford Branch, 31, was lying in the passenger’s seat of his 2004 Dodge minivan in the parking lot at 8th and Race streets about 2 a.m. Saturday, when he was approached by two officers who told him he had to leave, police said. Instead of complying, Branch allegedly threatened the cops and told them he had a gun. The officers called for backup, and a patrol car parked behind Branch’s vehicle, police said. Branch then threw his van into reverse and hit the cop car before putting the van into drive, jumping the sidewalk and intentionally striking Officer […]
THE EARLY WORD: Hello Kitten
Emceed by Kitten-in-Chief Anna Goldfarb, the pageant will feature dudes from different Philly neighborhoods competing against each other for the enviable title of Shmitten Kitten’s Mister America as well as a slew of awesome prizes. All major Philadelphia neighborhoods will be represented: Mr. South Philly, Mr. Fishtown, Mr. Northern Liberties, Mr. West Philly, Mr. Rittenhouse, Mr. Fairmount, and a wildcard slot for any outliers. The boys will have to prove themselves the best in the city based on their choice of first date attire, their most inspirational hidden talents, and their ability to wow everyone with their wit while answering […]
LATE BREAKING: Phanatic Cold-Cocked By Ump
The Phanatic was doing his Lady Gaga homage, aka Lady Pha Pha. Apparently the ump is not a fan.
RIP: Lena Horne Dead At 94
[Photo by JAZZ IN PHOTO] NEW YORK TIMES: Lena Horne, who was the first black performer to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio and who went on to achieve international fame as a singer, died on Sunday night at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. She was 92 and lived in Manhattan. Ms. Horne might have become a major movie star, but she was born 50 years too early, and languished at MGM in the 1940s because of the color of her skin, although she was so light-skinned that, when she was a […]
BREAKING: Obama To Nominate Kagan For SCOTUS
NEW YORK TIMES: President Obama will nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the nation’s 112th justice, choosing his own chief advocate before the Supreme Court to join it in ruling on cases critical to his view of the country’s future, Democrats close to the White House said Sunday. After a monthlong search, Mr. Obama informed Ms. Kagan and his advisers on Sunday of his choice to succeed the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. He plans to announce the nomination at 10 a.m. Monday in the East Room of the White House with Ms. Kagan by his side, said the Democrats, […]
GENERATION X: At The Middle Of The Road
A.O. SCOTT: “Maybe not the glory of rushing a Nazi foxhole, or braving municipal billy bats to stop a war in Indochina,” he notes, trying to get a fix on what exactly he and his ilk achieved in their heroic youth, “but the privileged of our generation did what they could, like the rest of us.” We did what we could: the slogan of the underachiever, the excuse maker, the loser. What they did, at least on the evidence of Milo’s testimony, was smoke weed, argue about Theory, sleep with one another’s girlfriends and boyfriends and wonder what was going […]
MUST SEE TV: Bronte Sister Action Figures
You don’t have to be a chick or an English major to enjoy this, but it probably helps.
CINEMA: Heavy Meddle
IRON MAN 2 (2010, directed by Jon Favreau, 124 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Much of the thrill that greeted the arrival of Jon Favreau’s Iron Man two years ago stemmed from the surprise that it wasn’t another Marvel disaster like Ghost Rider or Daredevil, two wannabe blockbusters that seemed to signal a creeping exhaustion in the unstoppable super hero genre. There’s nothing in Iron Man 2 to replace the surprise of Robert Downey’s smarmy charm finding a perfect fit in that gleaming red and gold suit, but if this sequel is distressingly short on imagination it still […]
TEA BAGGERY: When Patriotism Goes Hollyweird
PHAWKER: If Leni Riefenstahl directed a Tea Party candidate ad, it would look and sound a lot like this. FINANCIAL TIMES: Mr Burns, a 42-year-old self-made millionaire and Tea Party organiser, is harnessing the widespread public dissatisfaction with Congress even as he tries to join it. “I’m someone who has never been political but I’ve created a lot of jobs and know what it means to create a payroll,” he told the Financial Times after the gathering. His message is striking a chord with voters, and Democrats are facing the prospect of losing the May 18 special election to replace […]
MAJOR LAZOR: Pon De Flor
Major Lazer “Pon De Floor” from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo. Directed by Eric Wareheim of Tim & Eric fame. It’s gettin’ hot in herre…
NEW CLUES: Like 8 Inches Of Truth (Uncut)
ANTI-GAY CHRISTIAN RIGHT CRUSADER CAUGHT WITH ‘RENTBOY’ The pictures on the Rentboy.com profile show a shirtless young man with delicate features, guileless eyes, and sun-kissed, hairless skin. The profile touts his “smooth, sweet, tight ass” and “perfectly built 8 inch cock (uncut)” and explains he is “sensual,” “wild,” and “up for anything” — as long you ask first. And as long as you pay. On April 13, the “rent boy” (whom we’ll call Lucien) arrived at Miami International Airport on Iberian Airlines Flight 6123, after a ten-day, fully subsidized trip to Europe. He was soon followed out of customs by […]
BISSINGER VS. SWEENEY: A Prayer For The Shitty
PHILLY MAG: THE LAST TIME Buzz Bissinger was a newspaper writer, Ronald Reagan was president, Wilson Goode was mayor, nobody in the world had ever blogged, and the Philadelphia Inquirer had a circulation of close to 500 large. Under legendary editor Gene Roberts, the city’s newspaper of record was in the midst of a Pulitzer blitzkrieg that would snag 17 of the coveted prizes in a decade and a half. Buzz, in fact, had just won one, along with two colleagues, for a series of articles on corruption in the city’s courts. The year was 1988. Ed Rendell had recently […]
METAPHYSCIAL GRAFFITI: I Tag, Therefore I Am
[Photos by JONATHAN VALANIA] BY JEFF DEENEY It’s been a while since I took a look at what’s going on with the many graffiti walls around town, so here’s a quick update. The most recent addition to the graffiti wall scene in North Philly is on the lower edge of the Badlands at 4th and Susquehanna; the center piece of this small collection of modest mural pieces is a portrait of Mumia Abu-Jamal just psychedelic enough to be confused for George Clinton from a distance. As recent as last summer these walls were bare so it’s nice to see some […]