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 […]
TIPPING POINT: Are We There Yet?
THE HILL’S CONGRESS BLOG: American’s support for marijuana law reform is fast approaching a tipping point — a scenario made all that more remarkable when one considers that the federal government has spent nearly seven decades propagandizing against it. Mainstream America is coming to terms with marijuana, and growing more and more dissatisfied with our nation’s failing pot policies. […] In the past days, leading commentators like David Sirota, Kathleen Parker, Paul Jacob, Hendrik Hertzberg, Andrew Sullivan, Glenn Greenwald , Debra Saunders (San Francisco Chronicle), Leonard Pitts (Miami Herald), John Richardson (Esquire), and Margery Eagan (Boston Herald), have all opined […]
GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE: Foreign Cyberspies Have Hacked And Booby Trapped The U.S. Electrical Grid
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials. The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven’t sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war. The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn’t target a particular company or region, said a […]
GAMBLOR: Foxwoods Execs Run Off By Angry Mob
PHILLY CLOUT: Foxwoods, a casino originally approved for the Delaware riverfront in South Philly, told the state Gaming Control Board this morning that it will seek approval to relocate to the former Strawbridge & Clothier department store at 8th and Market Street. The board, which had called a meeting to hear updates on plans for Foxwoods and SugarHouse, a casino approved for the Delaware riverfront in Fishtown, nearly lost control of the meeting as a crowd of about 50 angry protesters heckled and berated casino investors. Foxwoods officials were forced to leave through a back door…MORE
Stalking A Culkin At The Film Fest Closing Night Party
BY EGINA MANACHOVA Much like March, this year’s Cinefest came in like a lion and went out like a lamb — at the slaughterhouse. Quiet, doomed and resigned to its uncertain fate. Phawker’s resident Cinephile went to the lamb’s last scream at the G Lounge Monday night. The opening night of the festival found yours truly hobnobbing with the not-so-rich and not-so-famous. Well, that all changed Monday night. The evening started slowly with a five deep bar line. By the end of a twenty minute wait I found myself double-fisting complimentary Stellas and making my way to a group of […]
PHANATICISM: Being There
BY CHRIS ZAKORCHEMNY As I was biking down Broad in my Phillies-red pinstripes last night, someone pointed at me and smiled. It took me at least 10 seconds to realize that it was a gesture of familial pride, probably a commonplace happening had I been here for the World Series run last year. Just my luck, after 10 years of diehard Phillies fandom, I was studying abroad in London when they finally went all the way. More specifically, I was at a Sigur Ros concert for the first half of game five and celebrated Brad Lidge’s incredible third strike in […]
MAN MAN: Rabbit Hands
Featuring the always-funny and indie-rock-friendly Fred Armisen.
LETTER FROM ROME: Apocalypto Now
[Photo via THE BIG PICTURE] BY SIMONE SECCI FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT ROME — The noises that people used to hear in the streets of L’Aquila, one of the main cities in central Italy, were those that you can hear in every other place in the world: People talking, traffic, kids playing. Now L’Aquila is a ghost town ruled by a terrible empty silence, a silence of death. The numbers that corresponds to the terrible earthquake, that hit L’Aquila last Monday are those of a catastrophe: 228 people founded dead, hundreds injured and more than 70.000 homeless, so far. Unfortunately L’Aquila wasn’t […]
YARRRR: Somali Pirates Seize 21 American Sailors
ABC NEWS: Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 21 crew members aboard, a diplomat and a U.S. Navy spokesman said. The Kenya-based diplomat identified the vessel as the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama and said all the crew members are American. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The U.S. Navy confirmed that a U.S. flagged ship with 21 members of crew was hijacked early Wednesday off the eastern coast of Somalia. MORE UPDATE: American crew members aboard a U.S.-flagged ship hijacked by Somali pirates Wednesday were able […]
HOT DOCUMENT: The Trouble With Facebook
Lily sent you a message.——————– Subject: Just like a buzzin’ fly, I come into your life, now I float away Dear Jon, I’m going to de-friend you. It’s nothing personal, which is the whole point. We’re not personal people, with each other. We don’t talk on the phone or send Christmas cards. We don’t mass email urban legends to each other. We’re just not close. Even when we were close, back in the early 90’s, we weren’t close. Right before I left Philly, I saw you at a party and you thought my name was Missy. And it didn’t bother […]
ARTSY: Detritus
“Icarus Ascending” by Jose Gamalinda, part of Detritus, now showing at T-bar BY AARON STELLA The long awaited debut of Jose Gamalinda, emergent artist and veteran bartender at Woody’s for over 18 years, has finally arrived. Now his pieces, which have hitherto remained unexposed to the public, are on display at T-bar (located at 12th and Sansom streets) in a show aptly titled “Detritus.” Gamalinda specializes in collages and reproductions in Bic pen. Most of Gamalinda’s friends, co-workers and fellow art enthusiasts were already familiar with his work. For years, they’ve prodded him to invest the time needed to actualize […]
iTunes Raises Its Prices Introduces ‘Variable Pricing’
ENGADGET: As promised, variable pricing has now been implemented at the iTunes music store. Already, we’re seeing most of the top 10 singles and 33 of the top 100 hitting the top price-point of $1.29 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps AAC). Interesting as Amazon’s uncomfortably similar top 10 list has all these tracks priced at $0.99 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps VBR MP3). A handful of tracks (nine in the top 100) do hit the higher $1.29 price further down Amazon’s list. MORE PREVIOUSLY: Looks like iTunes might be getting a big catalog overhaul, with most major labels finally offering up DRM […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR British actor and comedian Russell Brand is known for his outspokenness, his outlandish appearance and his wit — not to mention a series of raunchy on-air prank calls that ended his tenure as host of a BBC radio show. But he’s best known in the U.S. for his role as a caddish rocker in the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and for hosting the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Recently, he’s put his over-the-top persona on the page with his memoir My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs, and Stand-up. My Booky Wook chronicles Brand’s struggle with addictions […]