BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE CITY PAPER Forty years ago, South Street was doomed, left for dead by city planners who had scheduled the street for demolition to make way for a proposed Crosstown Expressway that would connect I-95 to I-76. South Street then was nothing like South Street now — a funky post-hippie/post-punk/post-cool amalgam of shops, bars and fooderies, aka Philly’s Haight-Ashbury, a land-locked asphalt boardwalk where teenagers from across the tri-state area flock to see and be seen (and stage the occasional flash mob). Back then, South Street was hardly a jewel in the city’s crown; in fact, […]
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 […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Social D @ The Electric Factory
BY ARTHUR SHKOLNIK Friday night I arrived at the Electric Factory and saw gray-haired grandpas, hawked and studded teens, and everyone in between standing side by side; three generations of concert-goers with one thing in common – an abiding faith in Social Distortion — a legendary band that, for over 30 years, has both defined and transcended the rebellion and attitude of punk rock while remaining fearlessly unabated in the face of its own evolution. This is undoubtedly due to the hardships a now 48-year-old Mike Ness has faced on his long and arduous path through love, loss, and drugs, […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See Brat Productions’ Carrie
After playwright Erik Jackson wrote an impassioned 6-page letter asking Stephen King to entrust him with one of his great bestsellers, the world-renowned novelist agreed to allow Jackson and Theatre Couture (creators of the off-Broadway hits Charlie! and Tell-Tale) to mine Carrie for humor, developing it into a dark comedy for 2006’s sold-out off-Broadway run at PS122 in New York, featuring the internationally-recognized drag queen Sherry Vine (aka Keith Levy) as Carrie White. Carrie – which has also been a 1976 feature film directed by Brian De Palma, a 1988 Broadway musical, a 1999 feature film sequel, and a 2002 television […]
Corbett Tells Supporters To Suppress Philly Vote
INQUIRER: Seizing on an issue that could galvanize their base, some of the state’s top Democrats on Friday accused Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett of encouraging his followers to suppress voter turnout in Philadelphia. The Democrats pointed to remarks Corbett made Thursday to a Republican audience in Delaware County. Noting that Gov. Rendell was calling for a 50 percent turnout in Philadelphia, Corbett said, “We want to make sure they don’t get 50 percent. Keep that down.” The issue exploded after campaign aides to Corbett’s opponent, Dan Onorato, posted video of the remarks on YouTube. Rendell called the comments “almost […]
White House Statement On Philly Terror Threat
THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 29, 2010 Statement of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Last night, intelligence and law enforcement agencies discovered potential suspicious packages on two planes in transit to the United States. Based on close cooperation among U.S. government agencies and with our foreign allies and partners, authorities were able to identify and examine two suspicious packages, one in East Midlands, United Kingdom and one in Dubai. Both of these packages originated from Yemen. As a result of security precautions triggered by this threat, the additional measures were […]
Full Body Scanner Operational At Philly INTL
FOX 29: The first full body scanner are now in operation at Philadelphia International Airport. 450 scanners will be installed in 65 airports nationwide by the close of 2010. So, what does this new technology mean for you? Is it too revealing? It is an invasion of privacy? Some say that these images go too far in the name of safety. Others have no problem with this safety measure. Fox 29’s Chris O’Connell reports that when you walk thru Terminal F at the airport, you actually have a choice. You can go thru the whole body scanner or take the […]
LADY BUGGING: Philly Dude Tells (Almost) All About His One Night Stand With Christine O’Donnell
GAWKER: Things got physical on the couch pretty quickly. It wasn’t long before we’d moved from the living room to my bed. I won’t get into the nitty gritty details of what happened between the sheets that evening. But I will say that it wasn’t half as exciting as I’d been hoping it would be. Christine was a decent kisser, but as soon as soon as her clothes came off and she was naked in my bed, Christine informed me that she was a virgin. “You’ve got to be kidding,” I said. She didn’t explain at the time that she […]
Iverson Signs $4 Million Deal To Play Ball In Turkey
NBC PHILADELPHIA: Longtime 76er Allen Iverson has agreed on a two-year, $4-million contract with the Turkish team Besiktas, reports the Associated Press. He’s expected to officially sign with Turkey this week, according to the AP. The 35-year-old, 11-time all star struggled to remain in the NBA but with no team wooing him, he’s found himself ready to suit up for the Turks. The Besiktas are considered third among the three most powerful franchises in the Turkish first division and start league play over the weekend. Besiktas have a strong following in Turkey, and team officials believe Iverson could be an […]
SPORTO: It’s Not Easy Being Green
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY Sometimes you’ve got to envy the bandwagon fans, the ones that come along in the playoffs and manage to feel (or at least display) almost as much joy from success as the diehards. Their great advantage is that they really don’t care as much about the losses, since they aren’t that emotionally invested in the first place. These kinds of fans were able to look at the TV schedule this weekend, take a look at the weather outside and decide to enjoy one of the last quality weekends of the year. The diehards holed […]
STILL: It Was A Very Good Year
“‘TIS BETTER TO HAVE LOVED AND LOST, THAN NEVER TO HAVE LOVED AT ALL.” –Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850 RELATED: Not to kick Phillies fans while they are down or anything, but shortly after last night’s season-ending loss to the Giants, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweeted that teammates don’t expect Jayson Werth to return next season. Of course, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Werth is poised to make big money in free agency, especially after hiring Scott Boras as his agent earlier this year. By the way, Boras has already likened his new client to Matt Holliday, another one […]
REVIEW: Cut Chemist The Sound Of The Police
BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD Making music with turntables quite honestly scares the shit out of me. I understand MPC drum programming, vinyl scratching, chopping loops and synth programming. However, mixing a live performance in front of an audience, regardless how rehearsed it may be, is an impossibly difficult task. One small slip-up can ruin an entire set; it’s not like missing a snare drum or hitting the wrong note on the tuba. Musicians with turntable expertise are like circus performers— stellar freaks of nature that leave us staring agape at their wacky hijinks. One such freak of nature is Cut Chemist, […]
IMMIGRANT SONG: From Russia With Love
BY ARTHUR SHKOLNIK My father works harder than anyone else I know. He immigrated to America from Moldova while he was still in his early thirties. He came to this country with nothing more than the clothes on his back, the brain in his head, and the lint in his pockets. His propensity for math and science took him down the career path of an engineer; however the company paying his way through school went belly-up. He never finished his degree, but continued with his craft and became a private contractor and electrician. He never had the option to finish […]