FRESH AIR Writer and director Judd Apatow first became known for the cult TV series Freaks and Geeks, which gained a cult following when it aired on NBC from 1999 to 2000. Since then, the former stand-up comic has turned his attention to the big screen, directing Knocked Up and The 40-Year Old Virgin. Apatow’s latest film, Funny People, stars his former roommate Adam Sandler as a stand-up comedian with an incurable blood disorder. With one foot in the grave, Sandler’s character decides to mentor and befriend an amateur comic and deli employee played by Seth Rogen — a relationship […]
HACK ATTACK: Cabbies Question Parking Authority
[Photo by PYROSARCO] THE SOURCE: Taxi drivers drove through Center City today in a horn-honking, traffic-slowing lunchtime protest. The United Taxi Workers Alliance said the action was called to demand “fair” parking ticket practices, a reduction in new fees and the return of funds allegedly withheld from drivers from credit card transactions. MORE DAILY NEWS: Chanting “The PPA are robbers!” and honking their horns, dozens of cabbies stopped their taxis on Market Street near 30th, blocking three lanes and snarling traffic about 11 a.m. Later, they gathered outside a PPA facility in Center City, shutting down whole blocks of 9th, […]
Entertainment Center To Grow On Spectrum’s Grave
CHANGING SKYLINE: A plan to bring life to the vast asphalt desert at Philadelphia’s sports complex took another step forward today when a Baltimore developer released drawings for a $100 million entertainment center connecting the Wachovia Center to Citizens Bank Park. MORE
HALLELUJAH: Leonard Cohen Returns
Leonard Cohen, Academy of Music, May 12th [Photo by MICHAEL T. REGAN] To the delight of his legions of fans, Leonard Cohen will once again return to the U.S. this fall for the final leg of his critically acclaimed 2009 World Tour. Since taking the stage earlier this year at New York’s Beacon Theatre — his first stateside performance in more than fifteen years — Mr. Cohen has enchanted audiences, earning rave reviews and sold-out concerts across the globe. While the acclaimed singer/songwriter/poet is currently dazzling crowds across Europe, his fall return to the U.S. will mark the final engagements […]
WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: Meet Dick Scott, Health Care Reform’s Public Enemy Number One
BY JONATHAN VALANIA While recent polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans favor health care reform that included a so-called public option that would provide coverage for the estimated 45 millions Americans with no health insurance, one man is doing everything in his power to make sure this does not happen, going so far as to spend $5 million of his own money to bankroll TV ads designed to scare American public off the path of health care reform with visions of a socialized medicine hell where the right to choose is forcibly surrendered to Big Brother, government bureaucrats dictate […]
HAPPY ENDING: A Skate Park Grows In Fishtown
BY AARON STELLA On July 25th, Friends of Pop’s Playground, the NKCDC (New Kensington Community Development Corporation), The Department of Recreation, Exit Skate Shop and the Fishtown and New Kensington community will be holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of a new skate park, Pop’s Skate Park, in Pop’s Playground, located at Hazard and Collins Streets in Fishtown. Until 2007, the playground has remained closed to the public on account of the city revoking its funding and Edward Griffith’s, the playground’s last caretaker, retirement in 1996. But with the combined efforts of the aforementioned groups to restore […]
COMING ATTRACTION: This Could Be You
All this week we will be giving away pairs of tickets for all three days of All Points West. Sadly, the Beastie Boys have canceled their Day One headlining slot in the wake of Adam Yauch’s cancer diagnosis. A suitable replacement is expected to be announced soon. In the meantime, godspeed to Mr. Yauch.
Q&A With Carolyn Wyman, Spam Biographer And Author of The Great Philly Cheesesteak Book
BY SYDNEY SCOTT Junk foodie author Carolyn Wyman specializes in books that tell you everything you wanted to know (and then some) about foods of dubious edibility. Her previous books include Spam: A Biography and Jello: A Biography. Her latest book, The Great Philly Cheesesteak Book, tackles the Rocky Balboa of dead cow sammiches. She will be speaking tomorrow night at the Free Library. PHAWKER: First things first, Pat’s or Geno’s? CAROLYN WYMAN: My book is more of a celebration and comprehensive guidebook to the cheesesteak and cheesesteak stands. I do not rate them. So the question to me really […]
MAILBAG: Please Kill Him
“What about Gillian? Didn’t she write HALF THE FUCKING BOOK, you moron. Best, Legs” — Please Kill Me Co-Author Legs McNeil responding to Sydney Scott’s book review in COMMENTS [Legs, you are STILL the punkest! Keep biting the hand that feeds, somebody’s gotta stick it to The Hand. Best. — The Editor. P.S. Write? The whole book is quotes from other people!]
GOP: Gang Of Obstructionist Pricks
HUFFINGTON POST: A private memo distributed by the Republican National Committee calls for like-minded advocates to help defeat President Barack Obama’s health care proposals by delaying its consideration. The memo, which was obtained by the Huffington Post from a Democratic source, provides the clearest illustration to date of the political playbook being used to stop Democratic attempts at a health care overhaul. Much of the material mirrors the speeches and presentations made by conservatives both inside and out of elected office to date. Obama’s plan for health care is deemed an “experiment” and a “risk” that could bankrupt the country […]
BREAKING: Beastie Boy Adam Yauch Has Cancer
NEW YORK TIMES: Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys announced Monday, by way of a homemade video placed without fanfare on the band’s Web site, that he would be receiving treatment for cancer and that as a result the group would cancel some future shows and push back the release of a new album. He did not give specifics of the veteran hip-hop group’s plans in the 3 minute 23 second video. Its next scheduled appearance is at the All Points West Festival in Jersey City on July 31. MORE EDITOR’S NOTE: The following ran last summer on Phawker… ILL […]
RECONSIDER THIS: Please Kill Me
BY SYDNEY SCOTT So, there I am. It’s 2004, sophomore year of high school, and I’m wearing my black and pink Hot Topic t-shirt, studded belt, and ripped jeans. My favorite bands were Avenged Sevenfold and Good Charlotte and I was trying my best to appear all angst ridden and mad at the world. I pretended to like the Sex Pistols even though I couldn’t really get into them and feigned disinterest in school when in reality I enjoyed it. This is what punk is in the suburbs these days. Imagine how my whole world changed when I picked up […]