DAILY NEWS: INSIDE the locker of a narcotics cop, Philadelphia police officials recently made a shocking discovery: A cartoon [NOT PICTURED] of a man, half as an officer in uniform and half as a Klansman with the words: “Blue By Day — White By Night. White Power,” according to police officials. The officer, Scott Schweizer, who has arrested countless drug suspects in predominantly African-American neighborhoods, was removed from his undercover police duties and given a desk job earlier this month, authorities said. The disturbing find triggered an internal probe that widened yesterday as investigators began to explore whether the scope […]
EARLY WORD: I Am Teenager Of The Year
[Click image to activate Internets]
LUPE FIASCO: Conflict Diamonds
His Fillmore show is WAY sold out. Excellent. Long may he rise.
THE EARLY WORD: Here The Wild Things Are
PHILADELPHIA — The Rosenbach Museum & Library will present There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak from May 6, 2008 through April 30, 2009. This major retrospective of over 130 pieces pulled from the museum’s vast Maurice Sendak collection – the largest collection of “Sendakiana” in the world – will feature original artwork, rare sketches, never-before seen working materials and interview footage. The exhibition will draw on a total of over 300 objects, with new works on display every four months, providing a unique experience with each set of illustrations. Sendak, famed author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things […]
HOORAY FOR PHILLYWOOD: Tom Quinn’s Mummer Double Bummer Takes Top Prize At Slamdance Festival
VARIETY: Slamdance has bestowed its top film awards on Tom Quinn’s family drama “The New Year Parade” and to Greg Kohs’ doc “Song Sung Blue.” MORE …Philadelphia’s colorful Mummers’ Parade bookends an unsentimentalized portrait of 21st-century divorce in “The New Year Parade.” Winner of the Slamdance grand jury prize, Tom Quinn’s first feature combines non-professional actors with hundreds of actual marching band participants to yield an almost documentary-like look at a family left reeling after the parents separate. Quinn, who hails from the emerging “Phillywood” independent scene, possesses a strong artistic sensibility and the confidence to build his story around […]
THE TEENAGERS: Starlett Johansson
They are from France, so it’s OK. Besides, they play Making Time on Friday.
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
[Photos by TIFFANY YOON/CLICK TO ENLARGE]
WE KNOW IT’S ONLY ROCK N’ ROLL BUT WE LIKE IT
WHIP IT: Holy Fuck gettin crazy wit the Cheez Wiz, Starlight Ballroom, Last Night Five Things You Should Know About Holy Fuck 1. Holy Fuck is a hi-tech electronica band that relies solely on low-tech means, purposely eschewing any digital looping, splicing and/or programming. You won’t find a Macbook onstage with these guys. 2. Holy Fuck’s live show is completely improvised and last night they introduced Philadelphia to at least two new songs last night that in all likelihood were made up on the spot. They hope to record some new tracks soon. 3. Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh (both […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
45 REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE: DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Fillmore, Last Night 5 Things You Should Know About ‘The Hard Sell’ 1. The rules are: two scratch DJs (Shadow and Cut Chemist), using eight turntables, playing nothing but 45s like they were musical instruments. Everything’s live, all the scratching and looping are done in real time. The only effects allowed is a single echo peddle and a guitar peddle for capturing the infinitely repeating loops. 2. You would not think that a sold out crowd could stand and watch two DJs for more than an hour without dancing, but you […]
EARLY WORD: Pennsyltucky Indie Boys Make Good
THE SHACKELTONS GET 4/5 STARS IN A REVIEW IN THE FEBRUARY EDITION OF SPIN “Scruffy, emotional indie boys you can actually believe in. Palpable desperation is one of rock -n- rolls most valuable commodities, because it’s impossible to fake. What makes bands like Pixies, Fugazi, and Les Savy Fav so exciting — and what makes the Shackeltons, from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, similarly thrilling — is a breathlessness, a creeping sense that crouched behind the towering melodies and heard-‘em before razor guitars (think Television, in addition to the aforementioned bands), there’s complete breakdown. A half-dozen times on their debut, the Shackeltons sound […]
REVEALED: The Babyface Of Evil?
OK, if you haven’t been following this story, start here: Philadelphia police continue to look for two men (in surveillance footage above and below) accused of attacking a Geno’s Steaks employee. The owner of the business is offering a reward. Police say it was around 6:30am December 27th when two males started to argue with a female employee at Geno’s Steaks about the now notorious sign there “this is America, when ordering please speak English”. A male employee, Tony Chestnut, was power-washing the sidewalk when he went to his co-workers aide. Chestnut, who is recovering at his south Philadelphia home, […]
NEWS CLUES: ‘So Local It Hurts’ Edition
A WHITER SHADE OF TRASH: Judge Rules Family Not Safe On At Any Speed A judge in Camden County said yesterday that the 5-week-old baby abandoned last weekend in Cherry Hill could not be returned to her family. The baby’s mother, Felicia Mikels, 17, was beaten to death Friday night and dumped into Pennsauken Creek, authorities said. Prosecutors have charged two men in the teenager’s death — her uncle, Christopher Mikels, 26, and Douglas Mandichak, 25. Christopher Mikels told police he may also be the father of Felicia’s baby, Miciana Ramos. Both lived in Pennsauken, in a home shared by […]
PAPERBOY: ‘Take This Job & Love It’ Edition
BY AMY Z. QUINN 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 […]