PHILADELPHIA – Kevin Bacon has joined a group fighting to keep Thomas Eakins’ 1875 masterpiece, “The Gross Clinic,” in its hometown. The Committee to Keep Eakins’ Masterpiece in Philadelphia will work to raise awareness about the social and artistic importance of the work, which was painted in Philadelphia and hangs in Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Bacon, 48, is a Philadelphia native. He has starred in films including “Mystic River,” “Apollo 13” and “Footloose.” “This masterpiece and this artist are so intertwined and connected to this city that it should and must remain where it was created,” Bacon said in a […]
SPORTZ: The ANSWER Raising Lotsa QUESTIONS, Internets Buzzing With Fan-Tastic Exit Strategies
Celtics — Jeff Clark from CelticsBlog.com: Offer Wally, Telfair, and West for Iverson. I know it is a low ball offer, but the salaries work and you have to start somewhere. When they reject that offer, sweeten it with a lottery protected draft pick. They might find that they can’t do better than that deal and just pull the trigger. Bulls — Stephen A. Smith from Philadelphia Inquirer: Chicago could send the expiring contracts of forwards P.J. Brown and Michael Sweetney, with guard Ben Gordon and a first-round pick to Philly for Iverson. Their brass will meet today but appear […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: They Might Be Giants, World Cafe Live, December 9, 2006 MA PHAWKER REPORTS: For a minute there toward the end, during “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” when the shorties were tired out and the gin and tonics were kickin’ in, it almost felt like we grownups had gotten one over on the kids we had squired to the show.See, one of the many chapters missing from the parenting books is the one discussing the wretched entertainment you’re doomed to sit through — the animated movies that don’t make any sense, the cheesy kid-friendly musicians, the unconvincing birthday […]
The Question Isn’t ‘Why Did This Happen?’ But ‘Why Doesn’t This Happen ALL THE TIME?’ And Therein Lies The Silver Lining
At Cherry Hill High School East – where news got out last week that five students may have paid a hacker to doctor their computerized grade transcripts – classmates say the burden to excel at a fast-track school may have led to the cheating scandal. According to a new study, that’s a reasonable theory. More than 40 percent of teens feel intense pressure to succeed academically at any cost, according to a national teen ethics poll released last week by Junior Achievement and Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, a financial advisory firm. And 22 percent of the 787 students surveyed […]
GAMBLOR: Sunlight Still The Best Disinfectant And TOTALLY Worth Going To Jail For
Anti-casino rally in Harrisburg; 14 arrested Fourteen anti-casino protestors were arrested today at the Gaming Control Board offices in Harrisburg when they demanded to see documents about proposed casinos that they say are being withheld from the public. The group was among 50 demonstrators who travelled in two buses from Philadelphia in a bid to delay the scheduled announcement of two casino sites in the city on Dec. 20. The protestors rallied in a park outside the Statehouse before marching to the Gaming Control Offices in a building located across the street. Those arrested included two women in wheelchairs. Police […]
DEATH OF A SALESPERSON: My Final Daze Inside The Leaning TOWER Of Song
SARA SHERR REPORTS: We got the news on that fateful Friday, but that was only the half of it. Most of us went home thinking we were going to be working for mall record store behemoth Trans World Entertainment, and inexplicably, one of the last music retailers standing. Would we still have a good selection? Would we have to wear those dreadful polos? About an hour or two later, the Internet would reveal that Trans World would lose the auction by $500,000 to liquidator Great American, and we’d be out of work sometime in December. Ironically, the latest news is […]
GAYBO: Grammys Go Gay; Korporate Karaoke; Threesome Of The Week
TOMMY ZANE REPORTS: The 49th Annual Grammy Awards nominations were announced late last week; time to peruse the list for standout Extra Gay Choices! Let’s start with Miss Mary J. Blige. Ramon calls her the dark-skinned Judy Garland who got off the junk and pulled herself together before the shit killed her. Nominated for eight Grammys, this girl definitely ranks high with queens through every note of pain that comes from her mouth. All the pain she must have inside her shines right through in her singing. Yeah, that’s what I meant. The Dixie Chicks? Start with the name. Sounds […]
ROGUE TRADERS: Voodoo Child
Elvis Costello never sounded quite like THIS. [Hat tip to Tommy Zane]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
THE WORKING GIRLS ARE FINE: The Pernice Brothers, Johnny Brenda’s, December 7th EVA SAYS: Once again I am the youngest person in the crowd, but like with the Bob Pollard or Randy Newman concerts, I take it as a sign of good things come to those who grow old. And Johnny Brenda’s has already won me over as a patron, so all odds are working in favor of the Pernice Brothers. In fact, it seems almost automatic- when Joe Pernice opens the set with his wonderful whine, I sway and shuffle in sync with each song like every one is […]
GUNCRAZY: Baghdad-Like Body Count Marks New LOW, Could Set Record If We All Try REAL Hard
With three weeks left in the year, the homicide tally could top 400 for the first time since 1997. There were 418 killings that year, the last of eight years in the 1990s when there were 400 or more.The total, however, remains far from the record of 500 set in 1990 during the city’s crack epidemic, according to the police department’s public affairs division. The department previously had reported that year’s total as 525.While the high murder rate in the 1990s was widely attributed to the crack epidemic, police, city officials and victims advocates say this year’s shootings don’t follow […]
SPORTZ: When THE ANSWER Is The Question
December 8, 2006 — THE Allen Iverson Period in Philadelphia is rapidly dragging to an undignified conclusion.According to two agents whose clients play for the 76ers, Iverson went to team president Billy King this past Tuesday and demanded to be traded, something he professed repeatedly over the years he’d never do. According to two general managers King contacted yesterday, the 76ers are aggressively attempting to accommodate their forlorn franchise player, whose prohibitive salary (currently $17.1 million with $19M and $20.8M remaining) makes him a difficult sell despite a 31-point average — at least if the Sixers hope to harvest relatively […]
GEE, THIS EVIAN SMELLS TERRIFIC: Philly Man Convicted For Smuggling Buttload Of Calexico Kind, AKA Marijuana, The Weed With Its Roots In HELL
PHOENIX — A Philadelphia man who ran a smuggling ring that shipped marijuana from Phoenix to the East Coast has been convicted of conspiracy and possessing 12-hundred pounds of marijuana. Arizona prosecutors say 36-year-old Stelios Maltepes faces up to 12 and a half years in prison when he’s sentenced in January. Maltepes was arrested last year following an investigation by the Phoenix Police Department.Three others were arrested in Phoenix and have made plea agreements with prosecutors. Police in Philadelphia also made three arrests and prosecutions are ongoing there. The ring smuggled loads of marijuana to Philadelphia in cases of bottled […]