The week that was in just five minutes, hosted by a stoned daisy with the obligatory voice of gawd. Funny. Sad. Good for you. GNHF is on hiatus this week, look for it next Friday.
CINEMA: Our Daily Film Fest Picks
KASSIM THE DREAM (2008, directed by Kief Davidson, 87 minutes, U.S.) Forrest Whitttaker produced this documentary about the unlikely journey of Ugandan born Junior Middleweight Champ Kassim “The Dream” Ouma. Kidnapped from his school at the age of six and forced to become a lethal soldier in the Ugandan army, Kassim eventually defected to the U.S. while on a military boxing tour. Kassim ended up wandering into a Virginia gym where his boxing talents gave him a recipe for The American Dream. Kassim gives us a triumphant tale yet peppers the success with the reality that a childhood this profoundly […]
PAPERBOY: Super Asstastic ‘Get Wells Soon’ Edition
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 […]
SOMEBODY ISN’T TELLING THE TRUTH: Eagles Say ‘Deal’ Was Struck With City; Street Says ‘No Deal’
INQUIRER: Former Mayor John F. Street said yesterday that he had struck no agreement with the Eagles to substantially reduce the team’s $8 million debt to the city during private negotiations years ago that led to the building of Lincoln Financial Field. “I didn’t cut a secret deal. There was no deal. We didn’t make a deal. . . . And if I had agreed to a deal, I would have put it in writing,” Street said last night during a rare City Hall appearance. “The one thing I did commit to,” he continued, “is we would absolutely make a […]
What Part Of ‘On The Record’ Don’t You Understand?
Temple J-schooler notes Philadelphia police officer’s racial slurs during a patrol car ridealong in the article she wrote about it. Sh*t hits fan. To wit: The stories of police brutality are easier to believe when Thrasher and his colleagues interact. “TNS” is the code they use for many of their cases. When Thrasher arrives at Arthur’s Dog House on Germantown Avenue in response to a midday call about an escalating argument; the cook greets him by saying the fighting couple has already left. “Nobody died,” he tells her dismissively. Thrasher’s lieutenant drives by as Thrashers slides back into the seat […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR “Pet fashion shows, Chihuahua social networking, veterinary antidepressants [and] ambulance-chasing animal lawyers” are just the tip of what Philadelphia-based journalist Michael Schaffer says is a kind of pet-obsession iceberg in the lives of the American middle class. In his new book One Nation Under Dog, Schaffer takes a close look at the $43 billion industry that’s grown to help enable that obsession, explaining how that booming market reflects our evolving ideas of consumerism, family, politics and domesticity. But One Nation Under Dog is no dry industry analysis: It’s a book, as Schaffer explains on his Web site, that’s […]
KILLADELPHIA: Teen Shot In Head Outside School
INQUIRER: A teenage boy was shot four times — twice in the head, once in the chest and once in the back — this afternoon outside one of the city’s disciplinary schools in Feltonville. Initial information was sketchy, but this much was known: The victim, described only as a 16-year-old male, was shot a by another male teenager — wearing a black hoodie — who escaped running through a nearby cemetery. The victim is described as being in “extremely critical condition,” by a police spokesperson. MORE
HELP WANTED: Reading Is Fundamental
Do you like to read books? Do you have an opinion of those books you read? Can you speak English? Do you secretly long to be a pompous-and-opiniated-but-always articulate-witty-and-absolutely-correct-about-everything book reviewer for the metroblog of record in the sixth largest metropolis in the United States of America? If so, drop us a line at feed@phawker.com. Because in these hard times, you need free books — and Phawker needs book reviews that taste great don’t suck. RELATED: The Sun-Times Media Group, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and dozens of suburban newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday, making it the fifth […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
KILLER WALES: Los Campesinos, TLA, Last Night BY MICHAEL DONOVAN You’ve got to hand it to Los Campesinos! — the little Welsh band that could —they sure know how to cater to an American audience. Fast songs with infectious hooks that anyone can dance too? Check. Attractive-yet-prickly bass player who rejects Joe Fraternity’s professions of love from the back of the venue? Check. References to robots? Check. Los Campesinos! have discovered the formula for across-the-pond success, and it doesn’t hurt that they’ve pumped out two stellar albums in the past year, either. After solid opening sets by Sky Larkin and […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Top Five Things You Should Know About Asobi Seksu At Johnny Brendas Last Night
LOOMER: Asobi Seksu, Johnny Brendas, Last Night 1. Studio magic be damned. Let it be known now that Asobi Seksu know how to create that beautiful wall of noisy fuzz live, and do we ever love them for it. You can tell we love them for it when the crowd will wait around for an encore even when James Hanna puts a guitar face down on an amp before leaving and let the fans cheer at the face-melting feedback solo. 2. I was wondering about this for quite some time, and yes, Asobi Seksu does have a rhythm section. 3. […]
HECKUVA JOB, TIERNEY: Inky/DN Big Wigs Were Paid $650,000 In Bonuses As Papers Went Bankrupt
THE DAILY EXAMINER: Though the company teetered on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, this past December Philadelphia Media Holdings awarded bonuses to CEO Brian P. Tierney, vice president of finance Richard Thayer and Daily News publisher Mark Frisby. PMH board chair Bruce Toll confirmed bonuses of $350,000 for Tierney and $150,000 each for Thayer and Frisby in a phone conversation on Friday. […] PMH filed for bankruptcy in February. Toll, of the homebuilding Toll Brothers company, confirmed that the PMH board knew the company¹s fiscal situation was dire. “The financial condition of the papers was obviously not good,” […]