[Click image to activate Internets] BY BRENDAN SKWIRE How the hell did an old school hardcore punk kid like me get into old timey music? That’s a pretty short story. Even back in the day, I always loved older hardcore better than newer stuff. Youth of Today was fine, but Minor Threat was better (someday i will tell the story of how I made Ian Mackaye lose his temper), and the Sex Pistols was even better than that and so on and so on. The fact is, I’ve always loved old shit, so when I got a little older and […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Pure Pop For Now People
[Photo by PAVLA KOPECNA] BY DIANCA POTTS & KYLEE MESSNER New Yorkers Za Za took the stage of a sold out Barbary Wednesday night with the intention to hypnotize the crowd with marching band drumbeats and eerie pop vocals. Deeming their current tour “awesome,” the band started off their set with “Sooner or Later,” a tune overpowered by lead guitar distortion and a carefree bassist. Echoing from one song to the next, the band’s message was clear—play loud, look aloof, and make sure the crowd knows you are the best at what you do. (It doesn’t hurt when the much-anticipated […]
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 […]
HOUSE CLEANING: Mayor To Reform BRT, Slowly
UPDATE: Mayor Nutter called on all seven members of the Board of Revision of Taxes to resign this morning, and sent two bills to City Council that would eliminate the $70,000-plus salaries of future board members and bring a large portion of the agency’s funding under the mayor’s direct control. MORE INQUIRER: Mayor Nutter and City Council President Anna C. Verna declared yesterday that they intend to “reform, restructure or dissolve” the city’s independent Board of Revision of Taxes, which sets property values in Philadelphia. Citing Inquirer reports that have raised questions about the quality of the agency’s work and […]
SIXTH BOROUGH JUSTICE: City Paper Bags Hipster Grifter; Blogs Set Up & Takedown; Deeney Not Amused
CP: Kari Ferrell lies. She has lied about having cancer. She has lied about booking for Golden Voice. It’s been reported that she called the Philadelphia Police Department to turn herself in. I don’t know where that story originated, but that’s a lie, too. How do I know? I’ve been setting her up for the last few weeks. I had her arrested. Here’s how…MORE DEENEY: My name is Jeff Deeney, I’m also occasionally a contributor to the CP. I think the tone of this article is smug and self-congratulatory. I think this is a completely sensational story printed solely to […]
WORTH REPEATING: Tale Of Two Mikes
PHILLY MAG: On Inauguration Day, thousands of Philadelphians had lined up around City Hall just to shake his hand. Our expectations were overinflated. But the Nutter campaign had furiously worked the air pump, posing him as a bold reformer in a city that desperately needed change. In one commercial, Nutter literally tore the top off City Hall, throwing out the “bums … who have been ripping us off for years.” Our savior. But less than a year into office, he lost his brand. Pick an issue: Libraries. Union negotiations. Transparency in government. The budget. Casinos. Nutter either flipped positions or […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Hipster Grifter Docket
To be honest, we couldn’t give a shit about haven’t had the time to keep up with the the wacky exploits of the The Hipster Grifter, whose obligatory 15 minutes of Internet infamy came to an end Sunday with her arrest here in Philadelphia. But judging by your cards and letters, we can tell this is just the kind of meaningless story that brings meaning to your lives. And so we give you the arrest docket. May it serve you well. [Hat tip to JEFF DEENEY]
ACCURACY IN MEDIA: Why Is This Man Lying About How Long It Took Him To Finish The Broad Street Run
UPDATE: We have heard from a number of readers in COMMENTS that the finish time numbers were incorrectly reported. There is further discussion of this over at LETSRUN.COM. Looking into this now, but if true this would amount to the ‘very good explanation’ we referred to in the post. DEVELOPING… Who, you ask, is this handsome young buck with the impressive finish time in Sunday’s Broad Street Run? Why that’s Christopher Wink, aka The Future Of Journalism. We are not kidding about the ‘Future of Journalism’ thing, those are his words not ours — he says so right HERE. And […]
BOOKS: Q&A With FOUND Magazine’s Davy Rothbart
BY ADAM BONANNI Davy Rothbart’s first window into the lives of others came in a note mistakenly stuck to his car from a pissed off girl to her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend Mario. The excitement of his find sparked Davy to create FOUND magazine, which he dubs a public art project where people submit objects they found that tell a story of their owners. Notes, photographs, drawings, and other forms of personal memorabilia are collected between the covers of FOUND, forming a kind of bread crumb trail to the quiet desperation of hidden lives. Some are funny, some are inspirational, and others are […]
STOP THE PRESSES: NY Times To Close Boston Globe
UPDATE: After reaching tentative agreement early Monday with several unions at The Boston Globe, The New York Times Company has postponed its threat to start the process of closing the paper in 60 days, although talks with the biggest union are continuing. In negotiations that went past the midnight deadline set by the company, deals were struck with three unions representing more than 500 mailers, drivers and press operators. More than ever, the fate of the paper appears to turn on talks with the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents more than 600 newsroom, advertising and business office workers. The company […]
OFFICIAL: It’s Here — Now What?
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Health officials confirmed Pennsylvania’s first case of swine flu Sunday in a 31-year-old man in suburban Philadelphia’s Montgomery County. Gov. Ed Rendell told reporters at a late afternoon news conference that the man had recently arrived from Mexico but had recovered. State health officials said they are investigating seven more probable cases of the illness, including the first outside of the Philadelphia area , two cases in Philadelphia, two cases in Montgomery County and one each in Bucks County, Lycoming and Luzerne counties. Pennsylvania Health Secretary Everette James urged residents to remain calm and said officials are taking […]
LIVE REVIEW: Philadanco’s Movers & Shakers
BY AARON STELLA There are some works of art, so exquisite and unique, that they warrant a review fitted to their specific abstraction. Such was the case April 30th of my viewing of Philadanco’s 39th annual round of spring performances, “Movers and Shakers”, which consisted of three world premieres and one company premiere performance. And so, I give you something a little different: Red Envelope (World Premiere) The faded beige curtains ascended and the house lights dimmed to total blackness. I glanced at my program before all sources of light were extinguished, catching that the first dance was entitled Red […]
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #19 The week that was in just five minutes! Prepare to smile. You know you wanna.