Crotch Rocketeer Robbie Knievel breaks his late father’s record, jumping his motorcycle 200 feet, over 24 delivery trucks. Ah, youth. There was a time when I wanted nothing more than to be jumped by a daredevil in a tight, white, stars-and-stripes naugahyde jumpsuit… True story: Many years ago, I spent a crazy weekend in Ventor/Margate with a friend who was dating a minor-league wiseguy type. It was an interesting couple of days to say the least, the highlights of which were dancing at the Geator’s place in a large group of women that included Rita Merlino, and a scene which […]
VALLEY OF THE SHADOW: Second & Glenwood
[Photos by JUSTIN ROMAN] BY JEFF DEENEY I was standing on the corner of 2nd Street and Glenwood Avenue, looking over the stuffed animals tacked to a telephone pole, when a haggard white addict wearing deeply dirty construction boots, a holey T-shirt and a greasy ponytail walked past. He looked heavily opiated and all around pretty worse for wear. He jerked his thumb at the memorial saying simply, “Dead baby,” and kept walking. “Dead baby, huh?” I asked, hoping he would slow down long enough to say a few more words, but he kept trucking down the slope running alongside the […]
Gov. Whitman Photo-Op Friskee Killed In Camden
WIKIPEDIA: Sherron Rolax (born June 3, 1979, died May 24, 2008 in Camden, New Jersey) of Camden, New Jersey, United States, first achieved public fame after an incident involving then New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman in 1996. Governor Whitman was riding along in a police patrol car when officers stopped Rolax for suspicious activity in Camden, New Jersey; they frisked him, but found nothing. Whitman then also frisked Rolax while a state trooper photographed her. The picture was later published in newspapers statewide, drawing criticism from civil rights leaders who saw this as a violation of Rolax’s civil rights […]
PPA Finds More City Money In Old Pair Of Pants
INQUIRER: The Philadelphia Parking Authority will formally announce today that it has transferred $6.6 million more to the city’s general fund and the School District of Philadelphia then it did last fiscal year, thanks to cost-cutting spurred in part by Inquirer and Daily News reports that documented wasteful spending at the state-run agency. The authority has sent $25 million to the city’s general fund, $2.2 million to the cash-strapped School District and $33.1 million earned from airport parking lots to the aviation fund. Federal law requires airport parking profits be used to help defray the expense of running the airport. […]
WORTH REPEATING: A Little ‘Taps’ & Sympathy
BY JONATHAN VALANIA If you are the parent or spouse of a U.S. serviceman, Sgt. Anthony Dekanich is the last person you want knocking on your door. When Sgt. Dekanich pays a visit, it means only one thing: Your son or daughter or husband or wife is dead. Vested with the unenviable duty of notifying next of kin–or NOK–that their son or daughter has been killed in action and arranging their burial with full military honors, Sgt. Dekanich is responsible for seeing that spouses or parents get a properly folded American flag and that the dead get a little “Taps” […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
LOVE IS THE DRUG: The Flaming Lips, Jam On The River, 10:05 [by PAUL PUGLIESE]
KILLADELPHIA: 4 Killed Since U Busted Out The Grill
INQUIRER: The four deaths in Philadelphia brought the city’s homicide toll through yesterday to 122. There were 163 murders as of May 25 last year. The first of the four Philadelphia homicides was discovered at 10:31 p.m. Friday, when police found Oanh Na Lieu shot multiple times inside a BMW parked on the 2600 block of South Seventh Street in South Philadelphia. Lieu, 22, of West Philadelphia, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:45 p.m. * Three Philadelphia men were shot dead in separate incidents in the city in the early today. According to Homicide Sgt. William Gallagher police […]
THE PEARLY GATES: The Moon Is Waiting
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is my new old band, for those keeping score at home. [Hat tip to YANIM STUDIOS for loaning us this beautiful piece of animation & THE WOOKIFIED CREW for the assemblage]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
THINKING FELLERS UNION: Thinking Machines, Khyber, Last Night [by JUSTIN ROMANO]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Home Before Dark, the 46th album from singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, is No. 1 on the pop charts. It’s the first time Diamond has had a No. 1 debut in a career that’s spanned nearly five decades. For the new album, he enlisted producer Rick Rubin, who also worked on Diamond’s 2005 album 12 Songs — but who’s known more for his work with groundbreaking rap acts. Diamond’s guilty-pleasure hits include “Sweet Caroline,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” and “Cherry Cherry.” Writer Michael Chabon won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for his novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier […]
NEWS CLUES: Like A Plural Marriage To The Truth
Booker Fired From Q-102, Phawker Trying To Give A Damn…Still Trying Chris Booker is out as morning host at Q102 as the Clear Channel station moves to a show that’s more music-intensive. The station also confirmed that producer Blaire Galaton and sidekick Angi Taylor also were let go. Sidekick Diego Ramos will remain at the station, but the show will not carry his name. Booker this morning said he was “surprised. Very, very surprised. It’s very successful show. I’ve been fired before for low ratings, but never for being No. 1.” It’s been a weird year for Booker, who was […]
KILLADELPHIA: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
INQUIRER: Leaning up against the counter in his second-floor gun shop in South Philadelphia, Gregory J. Isabella just sighed. On Tuesday, his business, Firing Line Inc., and the business of a competitor, Colosimo’s Inc. in Center City, found themselves in the crosshairs of Mayor Nutter, who referred to them as “gun traffickers.” Isabella’s been in the gun business nearly a quarter of a century, and it’s always the same. Politicians are constantly squawking about guns. Lots of squawk, not a lot of real action. “You look at all these politicos and all these bureaucrats,” Isabella said. “They are hypocrites. They […]