1. Vampire Weekend have not let the hype get to them. Even after hoards of Internet accolades, including the incredibly rare handjob from Pitchfork, the band humbly took the stage, played their songs, smiled a lot, and called it a night before 10:30. Classy fellows, they are. 2. Vampire Weekend, despite their tender age, have already achieved live perfection — each song off of their debut record was recreated with note-for-note flawlessness. Standouts included the opener “Mansard Roof,” the crazy-danceable “A-Punk,” and the sing-a-long “One (Blake’s Got a New Face).” 3. Vampire Weekend’s drummer, Chris Tomson, is a Unitarian! You […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
OXFORD COLLAR: Vampire Weekend, First Unitarian, Last Night [Photo by MICHAEL DONOVAN]
MAILBAG: Question The Parking Authority
DEAR PHAWKER, I just received a parking ticket from Philly [even thought I have] never been there. I live in Fayette County PA. The ticket I received [says that] I never replied to the first one so the fine nearly tripled. I took it to my local state rep. He said he is over run with bogus philly tickets and will do his best to help. After asking around, I have come across several people with the same complaint. [Seems] like Philly is being run by Boss Hog and Rosco. Rich From Pennsyltucky
TONITE: Vampire Can Mating Oven
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! WHY? BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Vampire Weekend play a sold out show at First Unitarian Church tonight. If you can’t get in you’re not alone. Your parents were probably shut out too. The band’s debut album and style of music, which they cheekily refer to as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “Upper West Side Soweto,” “Campus,” and “Oxford Comma Riddim,” goes down easy, so easy that I’m sometimes reminded of “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” I’m sure they get more questions about raiding their parents’ Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel record […]
THIS JUST IN: We Are The Decider Now
POLITICO: Hillary Clinton survived a Super Tuesday scare. But there are five big reasons the former first lady should be spooked by the current trajectory of the campaign. Although the friends did not have details, they believe she may go ahead with the campaign shake-up she had been planning just before her surprise victory in New Hampshire. Her team is girding for trench warfare, telling reporters that the nomination will not be decided until at least the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, if then. MORE
THE EARLY WORD: Here Comes The Goon Squad
Before Monty Python invaded television, The Goon Show – famed not only for its surreal humor, puns, and catchphrases but also for its groundbreaking sound effects – made an entire nation laugh week after week. The Goons met in the 1940s, and like many of the post war entertainers, they all began performing while serving in World War II. Running from 1951 – 1960, the show changed the face of British comedy and greatly influenced Python, the Beatles, and many others. Monty Python star Michael Palin has said, “For me, the Goons were to comedy what Elvis was to music.” […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
HOLD THE PHONE: Obama Claims Delegate Lead Over Clinton In a surprise twist after a chaotic Super Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) passed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in network tallies of the number of delegates the candidates racked up last night. The Obama camp now projects topping Clinton by 13 delegates, 847 to 834. NBC News, which is projecting delegates based on the Democratic Party’s complex formula, figures Obama will wind up with 840 to 849 delegates, versus 829 to 838 for Clinton. Clinton was portrayed in many news accounts as the night’s big winner, but Obama’s campaign says […]
WINGBOWL ’08: Heavy Metal Barfing Lot
VIDEO: ScrappleTV at Wingbowl 2008
NEWS CLUES: Like A Nightstick At A Pinata Party
GAMBLE & HUD: City Claims Feds Forced Discount Land Deal For Kenny Gamble President Bush’s housing czar pressured the Philadelphia housing agency to transfer land worth $2 million to Kenny Gamble, the music producer turned developer, and retaliated when the agency would not knuckle under, a lawsuit says. The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) says the top federal housing official, Alphonso Jackson, improperly sought to steer the land to Gamble at a big discount. In court filings, Carl Greene, PHA’s executive director, says Jackson, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called Mayor John Street twice to lobby on Gamble’s […]
FOLLOW THE MONEY: Yes Virginia, There Is More To Arlen Specter’s Patriot Acts Than Meets The Eye
ATTYTOOD: When Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter went more public last week with his increasingly strange and quixotic battle against the National Football League — supposedly over the New England “Spygate” scandal — some politically savvy wags raised an interesting point. They noted that the longtime GOP stalwart’s No. 2 source of campaign funds in recent years has been none other than employees of Comcast Corp. and their families, linked to at least $153,600 in donations going back to 1989. That’s significant because Philadelphia-based Comcast has been engaged in a protracted war with the NFL over an issue that has nothing […]
PAPERBOY EXTRA: The Audacity Of Change
BY AMY Z. QUINN OK, so you didn’t hear it here first — Dan Gross broke the news this afternoon that City Paper editor Duane Swierczynski resigned today. We heard this Friday afternoon, when the Swiercz spilled his plans for a full-time leap into noir fiction (The Blonde‘s in paperback, there’s very preliminary talk of a movie) and Marvel Comics and over noodles and tea, then promptly swore me to secrecy. Never let it be said your Paperboy doesn’t know the meaning of “off the record.” For the record. Anyway, dude certainly seemed like a guy who’d made up his […]
KILLADELPHIA: 2 More Dead Since U Went To Bed
INQUIRER: A 43-year old man was shot and killed this morning in Philadelphia, police said. The unidentified man was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the 2500 block of South 66th Street at about 7:23 a.m. He was pronounced on the scene by medics. Yesterday, police responded to the 3800 block of Parrish Street at 3:13 a.m. and found Anthony Saunders, 39, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Saunders, of 4600 block of Apple Lane in Deptford, had been shot in the face and body, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:26 a.m. No […]
LAWYERED UP: Stephen A. Smith Gets Mad Even
“I put my life and all that I have into the Philadelphia Inquirer first as a reporter and then as a general columnist. I was raised to work hard and play by the rules. That is what I have done. I’ve worked hard and earned every single promotion and accolade that I received while at the Inquirer.No one did me any favors or gave me anything, nor did I expect them to. What’s fair is fair and what’s right is right. What they have done to me is malicious, intentional and vindictive. They want to ruin my reputation and all […]