“Yesterday, a coalition of major city unions, clergymembers, library users, and community leaders stood together to announce a class action lawsuit to halt the shutdown. But to insure that the courts hear lawsuit effective, we need members of City Council join us as plaintiffs. So click here to ask your district and at-large city council members to join in the suit. Under a law that requires council approval for closing city-owned facilities, the Mayor’s unilateral action to close the libraries is illegal.So click here to tell your council members to stand up for their own rights, and for our libraries, […]
WEEKEND UPDATE: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #4 Folks, here’s the latest installment of The Good News Flower Hour, wherein I provide the voice for a flower that reads the news. The debut is HERE and the last couple episodes are HERE and HERE. We are still tweaking the concept and streamlining the production schedule on these — it takes a LONG-ass time to make these little three-minute suckers — but we hope to make this a weekly feature in the very near future. Enjoy.
GAYDAR: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells
[Photos by THOMAS SHEEDER] BY AARON STELLA Some people just get more Christmas than others this year. While the Scrooges of Wall Street help themselves to the bailout buffet, us Cratchets must fight to make ends meat, much less a “Merry Christmas” (and it’s ‘Happy Holidays’ now, by the way). Even the shrewd, business-savvy Jews are barely scraping by; at least that’s the case in the Dumpsta Players’ destitute portrait of the Lipshitz family. This year for Christmas, trash-glitz drag troupe the Dumpsta Players showed their sympathy to the millions going without this Christmas in “A Very Lipshitz Christmas” on December 18th […]
EARLY WORD: CocaineSexJams For The Broke
DAVE P: YES!!! CSS has decided to move their show from the TLA this Friday so that they can play the Making Time $2 Bill Holiday Freakout.This Holiday party will surely be a total RAGER!!! And YES!!! It’s still just $2!!! RELATED: MillerCoors LLC will stop producing and marketing caffeinated alcoholic drinks, including the current formulation of its top-selling Sparks brand, under a settlement with more than a dozen state attorneys general. The beer giant had come under fire from attorneys general and consumer-advocacy groups for allegedly targeting underage drinkers through its marketing of Sparks. “Attorneys general from around the […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Composer Erran Baron Cohen‘s latest CD Songs in the Key of Hanukkah offers a new take on traditional sounds. He talks about the album — and about collaborating with his brother Sacha Baron Cohen on the movie Borat. Recorded in London, Berlin and Tel Aviv, the compilation of songs combines klezmer, reggae, electronica and hip hop as it reinterprets classics. The album even features New York rapper Y-Love rhyming in Yiddish. Erran is a founding member of ZOHAR Sound System and DJ’s internationally and in London clubs. ALSO, you have to be pretty dedicated to your work to set […]
GAMBLOR: The Donald Sues For Second Chance
PHILLY CLOUT: Donald Trump sued the state Gaming Control Board in federal court this afternoon for rejecting in 2006 his bid to build a casino on the site of the former Budd Co. plant in Nicetown with a group of investors*. Trump is asking a federal judge to overturn the state-awarded gaming licenses for SugarHouse in Fishtown and Foxwoods, which was approved for a South Philly site but is now considering relocation to the Gallery at 11th and Market streets. The lawsuit says Trump and his investors spent more than $10 million in planning for their Nicetown location and were rewarded […]
PAPERBOY: ‘Assorted Inconvenient Truths’ 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 […]
WORTH REPEATING: Man Bites Blog
BY KELLIE C. MURPHY Rebelling against the machine comes naturally to Skwire. Born in Newport, R.I., he grew up during the Reagan years and became an early frequenter of the local punk rock music scene, learning how to rage with political groups like the Dead Kennedys and MDC. He moved to Philly in 1999 to pursue his musical ambitions and settled in Kingsessing, one of the oldest settlements in the city. He says the area was the perfect fit, because he wanted homeownership and a yard—without going broke. Skwire realizes how out of place he looks in his predominately black […]
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS: Whatever Happens In Room 315 Stays In Room 315, Part 6
BY JEFF DEENEY The students’ first taste of freedom from room 315 doesn’t come until well after noon when they are escorted by the teacher’s aid Miss Patterson and the behavioral health worker Mr. Thompson to the lunch room. When finally given the opportunity to leave the room with legitimate cause the children explode into the hallway, running, jumping and kicking lockers. They draw the ire of the school security officers who scream at them to settle down. They duck into classrooms, giving loud, disruptive shout outs to their friends, causing teachers to holler and slam doors in their faces. […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Working
BIG KRIMPIN’: Giant Tastykake dude celebrates Philadelphia Magazine’s 100th Anniversary at Shops at Liberty Place, lunch time, today [Photo by TIFFANY YOON]
GAYDAR EXTRA: A Very Dumpsta Christmas
JINGLE BELLS, BATMAN SMELLS: Sara Sherr and Jimmy Divine get their Dumpsta on. BY AARON STELLA Christmas is here. Yeah, the economy sucks, and you’ve pawned your whole re-gift stash. Well, at least you can treat yourself to a little Christmas cheer. For only $1.99, you can revel in some holiday havoc with one of Philly’s premier trash-glitz drag troupes: you guessed it, the one and only Dumpsta Players are showcasing their Christmas extravaganza “A Very Lipshitz Christmas.” The Lipshitz’s, an orthodox Jewish family, find themselves flat broke (thanks to the Wall Street meltdown) this Christmas, a tragedy which eventually brings […]
THAT’S NOT FUNNY, IT’S SICK: National Lampoon CEO Nailed By Philly Feds For Stock Fixing Scheme
MARKET WATCH: PHILADELPHIA — Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid today announced the unsealing of three indictments and an information charging seven individuals with conspiracy and securities fraud. The charges pertain to four separate schemes designed to artificially inflate the prices of publicly traded stocks. Among those charged is Daniel Laikin, CEO of National Lampoon, Inc. which owns interests in the film “Animal House” and the “Vacation” series. These cases were the result of a long-term investigation, conducted in coordination with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), that detected ongoing stock manipulation schemes in the national securities […]
BREAKING: Sweet Little Baby Jesus Stolen
INQUIRER: The National Park Service is investigating the theft of a nearly life-sized statuette of a baby Jesus that was stolen from a crèche at Fifth and Market Streets near Independence Hall. According to Jane Cowley of the Park Service, the theft was discovered over the weekend by a member of the maintenance staff. The statuette was due to be replaced by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus. Cowley said this was the first time in memory that such a theft had occurred. The statuette had been bolted to the floor of the display. No other […]