Comcast Center, 1701 JFK Blvd., 3:46 PM Tuesday BY RAY SKWIRE RELATED: DEAR COMCAST, Why Can’t I Watch The Flyers? RELATED: Free speech online has come under withering attack from the astroturf lobby — corporate front groups that are determined to hand control of the Internet to companies like AT&T and Comcast. They’ve joined the forces of the Tea Party with pro-corporate attack groups like Americans for Prosperity to urge weak members of Congress to betray the public interest by voting to strip the Federal Communications Commission of its ability to protect our basic freedom to access an open Internet. […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See The Submarines At JBs
[Photo by Autumn De Wilde] We have a pair of tickets to see everyone’s favorite boy-meets-girl-they-start-a-band-together-fall-in-love-break-up-write-catchy-songs-about-how-much-they-miss-each-other-get-back-together-get-married-live-happily-ever-after-on-their-Apple-commercial-money indie-pop band from LA. Well, almost everyone — some people like the Ting Tings better. The Submarines are currently on a tour in support of their third album, Love Notes/Letter Bombs, which brings them to Johnny Brendas tomorrow night. First Phawker reader to email us at FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the correct answer to the following question wins: What Submarines song was used in Apple’s commercial for the iPhone 3G? Note, we are NOT talking about the Submarines song that was used for Apple’s commercial for […]
THE DEENEY BEAST: PCP, Not Just For Kicking Out The Back Windows Of Cop Cars Anymore
THE DAILY BEAST: During its heyday in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, PCP was associated with biker gangs and horror stories in the press detailing catastrophically bad trips resulting in mental breakdown and bodily injury. But today, the drug’s spread more closely resembles that of crack-cocaine: poor, inner-city kids looking for an initially affordable, easy-to-obtain high. Philadelphia’s notorious Badlands, primarily a Latin barrio comprised of narrow streets lined with ailing two-story brick row homes, has been the epicenter of the city’s drug trade for decades. Today, the neighborhood is drenched in wet, and the corners where wet sells are some […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
HIGH BEAM: Iron & Wine, Electric Factory, last night by JONATHAN VALANIA
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN 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 steer […]
For All The F*cked Up Children Of This World, We Give You A Q&A With Sonic Boom/Peter Kember
BY JONATHAN VALANIA In the beginning, before there was Spiritualized or Spectrum, there was Spacemen 3. If you came of age in 80s, in the dreary grey flannel age of Reagan/Thatcher, when drug war hysteria was reaching a feverish pitch, Spacemen 3 was hands down the most persuasive and rewarding argument for the ingestion of mind-expanding substances since Pink met Floyd. In August of 1984, Jason Pierce (a.k.a. Jason Spaceman) received a government grant to attend Rugby Art College — which he promptly misused to purchase an electric guitar and amplifier. It was at Rugby Art College that Pierce […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See GBV At Penn’s Landing
Guided By Voices perform Friday June 17th at Penns Landing w/ Wavves. Tickets go sale Saturday (April 16th) at noon. We have a pair of tickets to give away to the first Phawker reader that can answer the following trivia question: In the mid-90s, Guided By Voices played a secret show Khyber Pass under what name? Email your answer to FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the phrase ‘GB Fucking V’ in subject line. Please include a day time phone number for confirmation. Good luck and Godspeed! UPDATE: We have a winner! Thanks all for playing and stay tuned for more groovy concert ticket […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN 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 steer […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN 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 steer […]
ARTSY: Our First Friday Picks
BY CAROLINE SCHMIDT Friday April first we can celebrate the birthday of Milan Kundera, Otto von Bismarck, Method Man and Edgar Wallace. We can shed a tear for Marvin Gaye, who died, a day before his birthday. Here are our top five places to do this, in no particular order. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be romantically involved with Charles M. Shulz (okay, I hadn’t, until I heard about this show) look no farther. Space 1026‘s April event This is a Love Letter is a collection of nearly one hundred letters written by Shulz over […]
Study Finds Pennsylvania Has The Highest Percentage Of Structurally Deficient Bridges In The Nation
A just-released study by Transportation for America says 26.5% percent of Pennsylvania’s bridges – or roughly 6,000 – have critical structural problems, earning the Keystone State the distinction of being The Most Dangerous State In The Union To Drive Across A Bridge. Don’t expect that to change any time soon. “Are we trying to … find the funds for it? Yes. But I will go back, and you’ve heard me say it repeatedly: we inherited a $4.3 billion deficit that we have to resolve,” Governor Tom Corbett told Newswork’s Scott Detrow. In the meantime, we might want to start equipping […]
TONITE: Dead Men DO Tell Tales
Phawker Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Valania will be on News Radio 77WABC in NYC tonight from 9 PM — 11 PM to discuss his Duffy’s Cut PW cover story with host John Batchelor. UPDATE: The interview was recorded moments ago, but will not air until Friday, some time between 9 PM — 11 PM. We will add a download link to this post as soon as it becomes available. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH: Exhuming The Old-Timey Mass Murder Mystery At Duffy’s Cut “The past is never dead. It isn’t even past.” —William Faulkner BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA […]