BY JONATHAN VALANIA Michael Smerconish looks just like Mr. Clean, or, as he is known to Russian housewives, Mr. Proper. Michael Smerconish is also a country club Republican, a talk-radio host and, as of late, a regular fixture of the Inquirer’s Sunday Op-Ed page. Bully for him, we’re all for equal time and open debate even if we think he has his shiny head up his ass most of the time. Sadly, because of guys like Smerconish — Machiavellian media climbers that will say ANYTHING to ensure their butt space in the game of musical chairs that is the talking […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
DOPE, GUNS & FUCKING IN THE STREETS: Birds Of Maya, Closing Night Of Popped!, Fireman’s Lounge, Last Night BY SARA SHERR The most thankless job in the world is to be the band that plays the last night of a weeklong festival. Especially one on a Sunday night in the middle of a Nor’easter. But like fungus, the best rock n roll thrives in dank, dark places. Pissed Jeans, Total Fucking Destruction, and Birds of Maya basically gave both the weather and rocked-out indifference the middle finger and brought the beautiful noise. It also helps that the show was in […]
HIZZONER ’07: Ferrick Has It Down To Knox Vs. Fattah = Mayor Fattah
The Democratic campaign for mayor is now a race between two candidates: Chaka Fattah and Tom Knox. We predict one of these guys is going to win the May 15 Democratic primary, which means one of these guys is going to be the next mayor. That’s not to say the three other candidates – Bob Brady, Michael Nutter and Dwight Evans – are irrelevant. Indeed, they are tres relevant, but mostly in their effect on the top two candidates. INQUIRER: It’s a Black Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand RELATED: Nutter Surging In His Own Poll; Brady Hunting Elephants In […]
HIZZONER ’07: Judge Says Brady Stays On The Ballot, Blames Vague Filing Instructions That, Curiously, No Other Candidate Had Difficulty Following
Yesterday, rather than pointing a finger of blame at Brady, Commonwealth Court blamed the state Ethics Commission, arguing that it produced a flawed set of instructions. In the opinion, Pellegrini acknowledged that pension contributions are the type of “thing of value” that ought to be reported under the Ethics Act. But he said the instructions got in the way by limiting “what is to be included in income.” The judge noted that cases such as this, in which the issue is exactly what must be disclosed by a candidate, are becoming increasingly common. He asked for someone — presumably the Supreme […]
TAX RELIEF: Declare The Pennies On Your Eyes
This event is completely last minute but then so is filing your taxes next Monday. Help is available for all of you last minute tax filers. Stop by Space 1026 on Monday April 16th to file your taxes online with a counselor from The Benefit Bank. Space is limited! RSVP to aryon@space1026.com as soon as possible. More information about The Benefit Bank available here.
GAMBLOR RISING: Democracy Craps Out As Supreme Court Injunctions Casino Referendum
BY JEFF SHIELDS INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday issued a preliminary injunction forbidding Philadelphia from placing an anti-casino referendum question on the May 15 ballot. In a strong, but not fatal, blow to the activists and neighbors opposed to slots casinos planned for Fishtown and South Philadelphia, the court granted the Gaming Control Board’s request to halt a vote on the proposal to bar casinos from most city neighborhoods. In a 15-line order that contained no explanation or rationale, the court also said it wanted lawyers for both sides to file legal briefs in an expedited fashion […]
POPPED! FEST BAND LIBS: Birds Of Maya; Total Fuckin’ Destruction; Drums Like Machine Guns
1. We are called Birds of Maya because we thought that was a good name. 2. No, that is not a stupid name for a band and it is what? of you to say that. 3. We are a band because we’re 3 dudes who like hanging out and playing music. 4. If we were not a band, we would be 3 dudes who like hanging out. 5. People say we sound like Stoner Rock. 6. But really we sound like 9th graders covering ZZ Top songs. 7. If the cops searched our van, they would find… we don’t have […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
WHERE R U GOING, CRAZY? Dr. Dog, Popped! Fest, Starlight Ballroom, Friday [FLICKR] BY AMY Z. QUINN If the question at hand during the Popped! Festival’s headlining night was, “Where are you going crazy, in your mind or in every inch of your body?” the answer was YES. Here’s the kind of scene it was at the Starlight Ballroom on Friday night: By the time I arrived at the show, during the second act of the four-band bill, all but one of the stalls in the women’s bathroom were already clogged and the bass was heavy enough to make your […]
POPPED! FEST BAND LIBS: KMASS, PONY PANTS
[Photo by Paul Castoral] Kmass * 1. We are called Kenneth Masters & Cramske (The Premium Underground) because we’re under the radar, make niche music for no one in particular, and don’t really take ourselves as serious as those statements imply. 2. No, that is not a stupid name for a band and it is generously awesome, slightly rad, although a little presumptuous of you to say that. 3. We are a band because we had “gasoline dreams” and delusions of making music, getting rich, and wasting our days as we saw fit. But reality sank in and we just […]
Cover Wars: Who Bum Rushed The Show?
As you may have noticed, Cover Wars have been on hiatus for the last coupla weeks. We have been waiting for the other shoe to drop in the PW Sale story because, hey, we feel that people fearing for their jobs don’t need our shit-talking, unless their name is Imus. But that’s just us. While we are waiting to see where PW owner Anthony Clifton’s gold-plated loafer will drop, we’d like to take a minute here to ponder what all this means: First and foremost, the golden age of the alternative weekly is OVER, and the industry is moving from […]
FILM FEST PICKS & PANS: Dante’s Inferno; Wicked Flowers; Book Of The Dead; Severance
BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Heading into its last weekend, the 2007 Philadelphia Film Festival unleashes the big celebrity guns, giving us this year’s American Independent Award winner, Dermot Mulroney. I spent a few minutes this week trying to stoke a friend’s memory on exactly who the very recognizable Mulroney is, and finally had to give up. His specialty in nearly 20 years of film acting has been in supporting roles, often playing ingratiating nice guys who are romance-bait for the female lead. He’s worked with Altman on Kansas City, with Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding and most […]
POP IN TAPE: Open A Can Of ‘Shh’ & Keep It On The DL
BY MICHAEL FICHMAN Props to the Popped Festival — a massive undertaking that has gone reasonably well thus far. To see the back-porch house show cats making moves and slinging in-kind donated energy drink, it makes you feel proud. We’ve crawled from the mud-caked basements and now we are basking in the light for all to see in our hirsute, road biking glory. Shit, even though there’s a one-to-one musician/promoter/DJ/photographer/blogger to fan ratio, it still feels like a bona-fide event rather than a rearrangement of furniture. But in an ironic twist, as the Popped Festival protrudes its proud, puffed-out chest and […]