—–Original Message—– From: Roger LaMay [mailto:REDACTED@xpn.org] Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 10:38 AM To: xpn-staffREDACTED Subject: XPN Welcomes……Everybody We would like all visitors to XPN events to feel comfortable and as part of a community. WXPN staff and volunteers should not wear partisan political shirts or buttons when working an XPN event. Thank you! * WASHINGTON POST: Obama’s August total easily outpaced Republican John McCain, who raised $47 million during that month, a personal best. Obama broke the record $55 million he raised in February and has taken in nearly half a billion dollars since he launched his presidential bid […]
KILLADELPHIA: Two More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
INQUIRER: Two men were shot and killed early yesterday, police said. Dwayne Davis, 30, was gunned down in a residence on Memphis Street near Allegheny Avenue, in Port Richmond, shortly after 12:30 a.m., said Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl. Davis was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 1:20 a.m. Riehl said the motive was robbery. * Police this morning identified a 33-year North Philadelphia man who was killed in a shooting late last night. Shortly after 11 p.m., police responded to a report of a person with a gun at the intersection of 20th Street and Susquehanna Avenue and found […]
INFINITE JEST: David Foster Wallace Kills Self
NEW YORK TIMES: David Foster Wallace, whose darkly ironic novels, essays and short stories garnered him a large following and made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, was found dead in his California home on Friday, after apparently committing suicide, the authorities said. Mr. Wallace, 46, best known for his sprawling 1,079-page novel “Infinite Jest,” was discovered by his wife, Karen Green, who returned home to find that he had hanged himself, a spokesman for the Claremont, Calif., police said Saturday evening. MORE NEW YORK TIMES: David Foster Wallace used his prodigious gifts as a writer […]
FRINGE REVIEW: Louder Is Very
BY AARON STELLA FRINGE CORRESPONDENT My plus one described Louder as post-apocalyptic primal therapy. Perhaps “therapy” is the wrong choice of words: I think “punishment” is more like it. Louder is not for the weak of heart, and very much for the hard of hearing. If you go, do yourself a favor and TAKE the complementary pair of earplugs offered at the ticket desk. As you settle yourself into the humid warehouse of the Blackbox Theater, take note of the phalanxes of antiquated Soviet Union megaphone horns staring you in the face. Also, you may notice that there are about […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
AMERICAN ROUTES Get Rhythm: A Tribute to Johnny Cash It’s a two-hour tribute in song and story to the Man in Black. We’ll hear from his family, friends and associates on the contradictions–preacher, outlaw, loving family man, rockabilly rebel–that made the man. Voices include Rosanne Cash; son John Carter Cash; sister Joanne Yates; bassist and original member of the Tennessee Two Marshall Grant; guitarist Johnny Western; producer Rick Rubin; long time manager Lou Robin; writer and critic Michael Streissguth; and of course Johnny Cash. THE WORLD CAFE Formed in 2002 as a trio of singer-songwriters (it eventually grew into a […]
DEENEY: Let Us Now Praise Jill Porter
BY JEFF DEENEY Jill Porter deserves to be spotlighted for her column about Thomas Scatling, which is a refreshingly even handed and well informed take on the man behind the Broad Street subway hammer attack. Porter focuses on the question of whyScantling was on the streets as opposed to under long term care at a mental health facility despite the fact that he was 302ed, or involuntarily committed, just weeks before the incident. Scantling had a history of violent behavior and was no stranger to the mental health system and the criminal courts. So why was he on the Broad Street […]
TRADING SPACES: 30 Year Old Poe House Exhibit To Be Upgraded To State Of The Tell-Tale Art
KYW: Just in time of the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth, his Philadelphia home is getting a new look. The house is just a few blocks from downtown Philadelphia. Edgar Allan Poe lived there for about 18 months in the early 1840s. The current exhibits are 30 years old — and interpretive program specialist Mary Jenkins says it’s time for a change. Jenkins says visitors will see Poe’s influence on world literature and on popular culture. Poe penned classics including “The Telltale Heart” and “The Black Cat” while living in the Philadelphia house. It closes December 1 and reopen […]
FRINGE REVIEW: Show Must Go On Is Must See
BY AARON STELLA FRINGE CORRESPONDENT The stage is dark. Two soundtracks have played their course, and still no sign of the dancers. Finally, in the middle of the third song, the lights flicker on, and the dancers, who look quite pedestrian, saunter on stage and are met with thunderous applause. What!?! They haven’t even done anything—wait, I’m applauding too—and now they’re just staring at us. What’s going on? Why is the audience having such a grand old time? Hmm. Now the fourth song has switched on: it’s “I like to move it. Move it.” After the first “Move it!” the […]
FRINGE PICK: One Louder
louder Verdensteatret Norwegian collaborative Verdensteatret presents the U.S. Premiere of louder, a highly experimental audiovisual installation that incorporates video art, sculptural scenery, puppetry, and live music at The Festival Bar’s black box theater (626 North 5th Street) located in Northern Liberties. (Word is, it’s visually stunning and damn loud, but you’ll get ear plugs.) Last winter, Verdensteatret sailed Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the same river that plays the veins and arteries around the heart of darkness in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Inspired by their journey, louder is a symphonic collage of music and visual art: massive video projections of the […]
KILLADELPHIA: 2 Dead In Playground Massacre
INQUIRER: A “vicious and cowardly attack” at a West Philadelphia playground last night left two men dead and three others in critical condition, Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross said at a morning news conference. At about 10:30 p.m., two men in hoodies started firing as trophies were being presented after the championship game of a youth basketball league at McAlpin Playground, 36th and Aspen Streets, in the city’s Mantua section. At least 15 shots were fired. The organizer of the league – Miles Mack, 42, of the 3400 block of Spring Garden Street – was taken to the Hospital of the […]
THE EARLY WORD: Time For Action, Jackson
[Click image to activate Internets] Sarah Palin Is Definitely NOT F*cking Matt Damon
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When Bush Can’t
FRESH AIR Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of history and international relations at Boston University and a retired Army colonel, discusses his new book, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. He argues that pragmatic realism has always been the core of American foreign policy, and current politicians would do well to remember that. Excerpt: ‘The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism’ by Andrew J. Bacevich Chapter One The Crisis of Profligacy Today, no less than in 1776, a passion for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness remains at the center of America’s civic theology. […]
FRINGE REVIEW: Another Sleepy Dusty Delta Day
BY AARON STELLA FRINGE CORRESPONDENT Caged live canaries hang from the ceiling above an ominously lit stage; on the floor miniature electric trains thread through scattered piles of coal, winding and encircling and passing through tunnels. To the right side of the stage is Ivana Jozic, performer and partner choreographer to the interdisciplinary art-lion Jan Fabre. Clothed in a yellow sundress and cap, Jozic sits in a rocking chair and moves between kissing a suicide note and pressing it endearingly to her bosom. All this, and the performance hasn’t even started. As the performance begins, Jozic recites the suicide note, […]