PROUD MARY KEEP ON BURNIN’: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The Fillmore, Friday BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER There was a prevailing mood of giddiness in the air Friday night at the Fillmore, a palpable sense that we were lucky enough to attend a very auspicious occasion, one above and beyond the usual concert experience. A sense that we were all active participants in poetic justice, and by ponying up for a ticket and selling out the joint, a long-neglected talent was finally getting her turn in the sun. As Sharon Jones will be the first to tell […]
DUBIOUS ACHIEVEMENT: Local Dudes Go To Boston, Drink Beer & Run Around In Speedos and Santa Hats
So we were reading the Boston Globe’s endorsement of Obama — swear to God! — and then we got distracted by the Santa Speedo Parade because it looks coed in the teaser and, hey, we’re only human. Turns out it’s pretty much a sausage party, with Coors light. And it only served to confirm our old grad school thesis: When one man wears a Speedo, all men are made ashamed. So we were just about to turn away when we found this: Twelve Philly Boys made the journey from Pennsylvania for the run. All together, the group raised $3,300 for […]
SMILE, YOU’RE ON ‘PAY-TO-PLAY’ CAMERA: Inquirer Obtains Video From FBI City Hall Corruption Probe Showing Sharpton & Street Bagman Cutting A Deal
UPDATE: So this has gone national in a big way, Drudge has it upper left in flaming red. BY JOHN SHIFFMAN INQUIRER STAFF WRITER With a hidden FBI camera rolling inside a New York hotel suite in 2003, an unsuspecting Rev. Al Sharpton, Democratic candidate for president, spoke candidly. Sharpton offered to help Philadelphia fund-raiser Ronald A. White win a multimillion-dollar business deal, if White helped him raise $50,000 for politics. White offered $25,000. “If you bring my guys up on this hedge fund, and I have the right conversation,” White said, “I’ll give you what you need.” “Cool,” Sharpton […]
WHY LAWYERS MAKE THE BIG BUCKS: Attorney Says Student Had ‘Consentual’ Sex With 7 NJ Troopers
The lawyer representing one of seven New Jersey state troopers accused of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old college student said the student was not raped in a Ewing Township home last week. Attorney Charles Sciarra said he was confident that not only his client, but all the other troopers involved would be exonerated. “In no uncertain terms, the allegation that there was some nonconsentual activity is absolutely denied,” Sciarra said. “These are consenting adults engaging in consentual activities, and anything to the contrary at this point is just not going to bear out. These guys are mortified that these allegations were […]
POT CALLS KETTLE: Vento Lawyers Decry ‘Unfairness’
INQUIRER: This afternoon’s hearing was supposed to be about the fairness of a “speak English” sign at Geno’s Steaks, but the initial focus was the fairness of the hearing itself. Attorneys for Geno’s owner Joey Vento argued that the proceedings were unfair for two reasons and asked that the case be thrown out. Making most of the arguments for Vento’s team was Shannon Goessling of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, based in Atlanta. MORE WORTH REPEATING: EXCLUSIVE: JOEY VENTO IN BED WITH SOUTHERN AGENTS OF INTOLERANCE & INDECENCY? OH MY! So, as you may well have already heard, the running sore […]
WHY JOHNNY CAN’T READ: Amount Of Money The Philadelphia Parking Authority Has Generated For City Schools Since 2004…
Parents United, along with other parent groups, has been leading a call for the Parking Authority to keep its 2004 promise to turn over $20 million to the public schools. Since a first check for $4 million was handed over in 2004, the Parking Authority hasn’t sent a dollar to the public schools. MORE
WORTH REPEATING: Hello, Goodbye
Dan Rubin — Inquirer columnist/beta-blogger and all-around friend of Phawker — knocks one out of the park today. He takes all the real, quality-of-life issues that just float around in the abstract in all the casino controversy coverage — easily lost amidst news of this lawsuit and that counter-suit — and puts a human face on it. Two faces, to be exact, as well as an address — which will soon be deserted for the suburbs. Thank you, Ed Rendell: Bob and Maureen have been experiencing the sort of revisionist view of their relationship with their city that you see […]
HOT DOC: The Last Temptation Of Lenny Dykstra
From the Mitchell Report: Lenny Dykstra played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball with two clubs, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, from 1985 to 1996. As a player with the Phillies, Dykstra played in three All-Star games and finished second in Most Valuable Player balloting in 1993. Radomski first met Dykstra when he was playing for the Mets and became “very close with Lenny.” According to Radomski, when Dykstra reported to spring training in 1989, “his increased size was noticeable.” When Radomski asked him about his increased size, Dykstra admitted to taking steroids. Radomski also recalled that […]
SPORTS: The Mitchell Report
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY Former Senator George Mitchell has wrapped up his 21-month investigation into the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in baseball. Today at a press conference Mitchell will “name names” (reportedly 60-80 players). It should be fascinating theater. Will he just read the names, one after the other, like disaster victims? Or will there be music and highlights, with Mitchell intoning, “The next career going down in flames belongs to a small town kid…”. I can’t wait. Is today the day Alex Rodriguez loses his status as “Golden Boy/Future Rescuer of the Home Run Record”? Was Miguel […]
5 Things You Really Oughta Know Before You Go See Papertrigger At The Fire Tonight
1.) The five members of Papertrigger all live together in a house in Roxborough, “up on Ridge” as the locals say. This makes me imagine all of my nephews shacked up together, which in turn kind of makes me want to stop over with a tray of ziti and, like, fold their laundry or something. Actually, they all have day jobs and “it’s less like the Monkees crazy happy funtime house you imagine it to be and more like a really long, heavy episode of ‘Full House,’” says singer/drummer Brian Dwyer. 2.) Vital stats on Papertrigger: Guitarist/sax player Joshua Taylor, […]
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY TODAY I SAW two 16-ft. moving trucks parked back-to-back in front of Mantua Hall, their loading ramps extended so they almost touched each other. Every day is moving day now. The building is slated to be emptied by the end of the year, and while most families have already left there are still some stragglers waiting for the Philadelphia Housing Authority to approve their new scatter-site placements. PHA is paying for the families to relocate, so the moving trucks come in pairs and when one leaves another arrives. The process is orderly, and as efficient as […]
MEDIA: How Pigs Fly
Under the nascent ownership of Brian Tierney and Philadelphia Media Holdings, the Inquirer and Daily News have not only managed to stanch the chronic hemorrhage of readers, they’ve actually seen a modest, but no less substantive uptick in circulation. In this era of mass media ‘shrinkage,’ this is nothing short of a modern miracle. How did they do it? With prizes inside. That’s right, borrowing a page from the cereal-maker’s playbook, PMH has been giving away prizes like Bob Barker on ecstacy. To wit: Philadelphian Jennifer Barr is the grand-prize winner in the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movie contest, which […]
THE BUDOS BAND: Volcano Song
The Budos Band opens for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Friday at the Fillmore.