Hotel Association Protests New Issue of Philly Mag, Says Murder City Cover Story Will Scare Off Guests, Also Didn’t Like Low-Blow Valania Quote In Sweeney Hagiography

PHILADELPHIA — A regional hotel association is urging its members to think twice before putting the latest edition of Philadelphia magazine in guest rooms, saying the cover story on the city’s homicide rate could scare away visitors.The Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association represents 85 members in the Delaware Valley, including the operators of nearly all of Center City’s 10,200 hotel rooms. Ed Grose, the group’s executive director, said the article could end up hurting business.“I recommend that you review your position on what effect this article and cover will have on your guests who are staying in your guest rooms,” Grose […]

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Cover Wars: Whose Artfag Kung-Fu Is Stronger?

Alright, we’re finally catching up with the alt-weeklies’ breathless pace of publication and we’re actually doing this in almost ‘real time.’ Despite that bit of unpleasantness with the City Paper earlier this week, and our tenuous grasp on gainful employment with PW, we vow to remain objective. And this week, it’s a toss-up: Both papers have fairly killer covers, so hats off to all involved. PW rocks the Yankee Hotel vertigo shot for Steve Volk’s I-spent-a-night-there-last-week story on the creepy ol’ Parker. CP goes with a gorgeously retro cartoon recreation of that classic image of car show babia majora showing […]

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Inquirer and Daily News Staffers Vote To Authorize Strike: ‘It would be mutual suicide.’

At approximately 6:45 p.m. Thursday, the rank and file of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia voted almost unanimously to authorize an Inquirer/Daily News strike. Just to be clear, this does not mean a work stoppage has commenced, it merely means the Guild membership has given the negotiators what most inside 400 North Broad agree would be “the nuclear option.” The Guild’s contract expires October 31st. “I was just talking to one of the editors today and we both agreed that it would be mutual suicide,” says a Guild member who asked to remain anonymous. “Nobody on either side wants […]

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Oh Snap: PW Music Editor Calls U-Outfitter Music Picker On Conflict Of Interest

Jeebus! We take off one week from hearing no evil and the bossman comes into our cubicle, unzips his fly and pisses in the bowl of Cheerios: Dryw Scully is music promotions director for Urban Outfitters. That means he’s in control of the Urban Out [sic] jukebox, picking the tracks you hear while shopping for skinny jeans at the company’s stores. Not a bad gig. Dryw Scully also manages Favourite Sons. They’re currently on the Urban Outfitters playlist. This — according to your tolerance for such things — is either a glaring and shameful conflict of interest or just kinda […]

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Project S.M.E.R.C. or Wiping The Smirk Off Smerconish With The Dirty Rag Of Truth

Another regular feature here at Phawker will be truth squad-ing the wingnut memes and distortions of token DN red-stater/ Big Talker gasbag Michael Smerconish. Let us say up front that we have no reason to believe Smerconish is a bad person, per se. Nakedly ambitious, remarkably self-absorbed, a little clueless in the way all patricians are about what really happens beyond their manicured hedgerow? Sure. He’s also polite and well-spoken, especially when sending out invites to one of his this-will-get-me-on-O’Reilly-again verbal hammer parties where he smashes some easy-target liberal glass house with barely contained glee. Usually it’s some diluted-to-suit-local-taste variation […]

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Comcastic: Fresh Prince To Become The Chocolate Pat Croce?

Actor/rapper Will Smith could be the latest entertainer to hold a stake in a professional basketball team. The Philadelphian is among a set of investors interested in purchasing the Philadelphia 76ers from Comcast-Spectacor, according to The Philadelphia Daily News. The group, which was assembled by basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving, would like to have a meeting with officials from Comcast in the near future, a source told the newspaper. […] Recent speculation suggests that owners could ask for as much as $450 million for the Sixers, the Daily News reports, adding that the amount would represent the largest price […]

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Blowback: CP ‘Prophets Of Rage’ Say Hooray For Doree! Hip-Hip Hooray! And Phuck Phawker!

First it was the Metro, and now this gauntlet-throwdown from the City Paper’s painful example of why taking a badly under-resourced and, as a result, aggressively mediocre alt-weekly on-line only makes for a droopy-dog blog, a.k.a. The Clog. Really now, ‘Prophets of Rage’? Good grief. How high was Hickey when he thought that was funny or clever? Loathe though we are to share some of our precociously large and scandal-driven foot traffic with a cyber-doorstop like the Clog, this sucker-punch-wrapped-in-a-rimjob is just too nakedly jealous and syntactically-challenged to ignore: Rave for Doree Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 11:48 am posted […]

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Poll: How White People Are Ruining Philadelphia

From the Philadelphia Magazine web site: Previous poll results: 83 percent of you say you’re more likely to [sic] go city bars and restaurants now that the smoking ban is in place. Translation: Nobody will ever be allowed to smoke in a bar in this town again so that some Main Line duchess and her fellow yentas can go out for a wine spritzer after First Friday without getting icky Camel Light smoke all up in their Prada, before getting back in the Lexus and setting the controls for the heart of Gladwyne.

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