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THE PIXIES: Bone Machine
Live at the Minotaur release party in London, June 15. RELATED: How To Grow Up To Be A Debaser RELATED: Burying The Hatchet With Black Francis
BOOKS: Scream, Dracula, Scream!
BY SYDNEY SCOTT Our obsession with vampires seems to be as deathless as the undead. Images of pasty-faced bloodsucking sophisticates with miles and miles of style epitomize our notions of the vampires thanks to the lurid prose of Bram Stoker and Ann Rice. But with the sudden and, arguably, undeserved success of her ‘tween hit Twilight, Stephanie Meyer has flipped the script for a new generation. I managed to avoid reading the book for a while, but eventually I succumbed to the hype when my old roommate kept urging me to read it. It took me two months to finish […]
UNEXPECTED: PPA Kills Meter Rate Hike
INQUIRER: Another proposed hike in parking meter rates in downtown Philadelphia has been canceled because the first increase worked better than expected. A day before rates were to increase to $3 per hour, Philadelphia Parking Authority officials said Wednesday that rates will stay at $2 , and some will even be reduced by 50 cents. The parking authority already doubled the downtown rate from $1 to $2 on Jan. 1 to discourage all-day parking. The plan worked. The parking space vacancy rate went from 2 percent to 17 percent, making it easier to find a spot. MORE
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
NO NEVERLAND: Fam Pulls Plug On Ranch Memorial
[Click to enlarge] UPDATE: Police sources tell KTLA that they’re making preparations for a massive public memorial for Michael Jackson Tuesday morning at Staples Center. CNN: Many of his fans had hoped they’d get a chance to pay last respects at Neverland Ranch, which Jackson purchased in 1987, filled with animals and amusement rides, and named after the fictional world in J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.” Gregory Son, a 31-year-old musician, was among many fans who had planned to ride to the ranch to say goodbye to Jackson. “I think he was a modern-day prophet,” Son said outside Grauman’s. “We kind […]
COMING ATTRACTION: Q&A With Tom Moon
Former Inquirer Pop Music Critic & Rolling Stone contributor, current NPR commentator and author of 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die. We talk about the death of the music industry, the death of newspapers, the death of criticism and how he picked the songs you simply must hear before your own death. More fun than it sounds. Look for it Friday.
BREAKING: Cop Beatdown Victims Acquitted
INQUIRER: Three men who were filmed being beaten and kicked by Philadelphia police last year were found not guilty today on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and conspiracy. Dwayne Dyches, 26; Brian Hall, 24; and Pete Hopkins, 20, were charged in a May 5, 2008, shoot-out in the city’s Feltonville section in which three people were wounded. The three men allegedly led police on a 21/2-mile chase that ended when police yanked them from Hall’s Mercury Grand Marquis near Second and Pike Streets, then beat and kicked them as a Fox29 helicopter captured the scene on tape. MORE
CINEMA: Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009, directed by Michael Mann, 140 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC It should have been a natural: action director Michael Mann and the Dillinger legend. Tommy guns, fedoras, prison breaks and the final gundown in the streets of Chicago; it is easy to imagine the tough-minded Mann making one of his most compelling films out of these elements. Such a film may be easy for Mann fans to imagine it but somehow the possibilities have completely escaped Mann himself, who has against all odds served up a joyless and unmoving portrait of the final year of […]
TIME CAPSULE: Jacksons Sign To Philly International
Standing L-R: Tito Jackson, Randy Jackson, Michael Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackson. Seated L-R: Joe Jackson, Leon Huff, Kenneth Gamble. Photo taken in 1976 in Mr. Gamble’s office at Philadelphia International Records. WIKIPEDIA: In 1975, Joseph negotiated a new recording contract with CBS Records, who offered a royalty rate of 20% per record, compared to Motown’s standard 2.8%; and would allow the Jackson brothers to write and produce their own records and play their own instruments. After unsuccessfully attempting to talk the group into staying on the label, Motown sued for breach of contract. Although Motown eventually let the group […]
MAILBAG: California Dreamin’
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was posted in the COMMENTS section last night by Bdogg. I have been living in the 215 for a stretch now & you know what I rep…i’m a L.a nigga & all that hateing add up to nothing. I had some run ins wit philly niggaz since I been here & i’m still standing, had 2 put a lil work in but let me stop becausa a nigga aint fin ta snitch on himself & no disrespect but philadelphia is a playground compared to L.a even tho philly was the murder capitol for a couple of […]
PAINFUL: FDA Advisory Panel Votes To Ban Vicodin
NEW YORK TIMES: A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver. The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect. Acetaminophen is combined with different narcotics in at least […]