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The First Time I Got High…
BY AARON STELLA My sheltered, cloistered-in-Christianity upbringing left many teenage temptations unbeknownst to me, particularly the culture of ganja. Had I not seen an episode Ghost Writer, I doubt I would have ever been able to recognize a joint. That is, until I smoked one. Needless to say, my lack of worldly exposure left me with no narcotic outlets (although in retrospect, those cathartic pubescent jerk-off sessions were so intense at times that they easily rivaled the sedation concomitant with the mightiest of bong rips. So life without marijuana was still peaceful—even with a chafed dick). Fast forward to the […]
CINEMA: I Love My Bicycle
I Love My Bicycle: The Story of FBM Bikes Trailer from Joe Stakun on Vimeo. I Love My Bicycle: The Story of FBM Bikes Trailer from BAD BREAKS on Vimeo. BY KYLEE MESSNER It’s hard to pinpoint just when BMX riding began, though there are stories of southern California teens riding their bikes on dirt roads in the early 1970s. It wasn’t until 1981 that the International BMX Federation was formed. Following the evolution of most industries, BMX companies began very hands on and mom-and-pop, only to become more corporate in the pursuit of a wider audiences. FBM is one […]
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MEDIA: The Year Of Dying Famously
[Via STEREOTYPIST/Click HERE To Enlarge] BBC: The internet suffered a number of slowdowns as people the world over rushed to verify accounts of Michael Jackson’s death. Search giant Google confirmed to the BBC that when the news first broke it feared it was under attack. Millions of people who Googled the star’s name were greeted with an error page rather than a list of results. It warned users “your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application.” Google was not the only company overwhelmed by the public’s clamour for information. MORE
RAWK TAWK: Q&A With Brooklyn’s Telepathe
Telepathe perform Friday at JBs in support of their debut, Dance Mother “Floating between crystalline electronica, misty shoegaze and ass-shaking club-rap, ‘Dance Mother’ is disorientating by design; like being set down on some unfamiliar street corner where the drone of synth from a nearby window meets the boom of bass from a passing car, and snippets of overheard conversation hang in the air like cryptic incantations. More than any other outfit since TV On The Radio, Telepathe illustrate the modern hipster condition: why choose between Lil Wayne, Animal Collective, Madonna and My Bloody Valentine, when you can have all of […]
RIP: Michael Jackson Dead At 50
ROLLING STONE: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that law enforcement and city officials have confirmed that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, died today after suffering what has been reported as cardiac arrest. Jackson was 50. According to reports, Jackson was not breathing when paramedics were called to his Los Angeles home this afternoon, June 25th. Paramedics at the scene performed CPR on the singer, who was then transported to the UCLA Medical Center. Jackson arrived at the hospital in a deep coma, and attempts to resuscitate Jackson failed as he was completely unresponsive. MORE NEW YORK TIMES: As […]
RIP: Farrah Fawcett Dead At 62
WASHINGTON POST: Farrah Fawcett, 62, golden-haired sex symbol of the late 1970s most remembered for her appearance on bedroom posters and the detective series “Charlie’s Angels” and who later found a niche portraying troubled women in made-for-television dramas, died today from cancer. Ms. Fawcett was a Texas-born college dropout who parlayed success as a model for toiletries such as Ultra Brite toothpaste and Wella Balsam shampoo into a viable acting career. Still a relative unknown, she achieved two iconic roles at the same time in 1976. On Wednesday nights, she was Jill Munroe, the blond Angel on the ABC detective […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR According to the National Cancer Institute, the number of people who have developed melanoma has more than doubled over the past 30 years. Dermatologist Darrell Rigel joins Fresh Air to explain the sun’s effects on the skin, what “SPF” means and why skin cancer rates are going up. A clinical professor at New York University Medical Center, Rigel has tested sunscreen efficacy for Johnson & Johnson and the Procter & Gamble Company. He is the lead editor of Cancer of the Skin, the major textbook in his field. Rigel maintains a private practice in Manhattan. ALSO, journalist Bradley […]
Q&A: Novelist & Ex-NPR Host Farai Chideya
BY DIANCA POTTS Who says there are no second acts in American Life? (OK, F. Scott Fitzgerald said it, but that doesn’t mean it’s true) Scratch an NPR host and find a budding novelist. In advance of her appearance tonight at the Free Library, we called up former News And Notes host Farai Chideya to discuss just about everything under the sun: Obama, NPR, blogging, goth rock, the state of race relations in America, the Smiths, mixtapes and, most importantly her new book. Chideya is currently on the road in support of her debut novel, Kiss the Sky, which captures […]
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 […]
GOODNIGHT MR. WELLS: PW Writer Extraordinaire Steven Wells Loses Long, Public Battle With Cancer
Damn. Steven Wells was THE funniest, ballsiest, take-no-prisoners writer to grace the pages of Philadelphia print media in recent memory. His long, tragic battle with cancer was no secret, he wrote about it with the same unflinching honesty, hair-on-fire rage, savage wit and gallows humor he wrote about everything. Sir, it was a privilege and an honor. You will be sorely missed. Good night Mr. Wells, wherever you are. PW: Steven Wells Farewell Column WIKIPEDIA: Steven Wells is was a British journalist and author currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Born in Swindon, England in 1960, Wells moved to the […]
Cop Testifies About Pre-Beatdown Shooting
INQUIRER: “I saw the muzzle flash . . . and heard 8 to 10 shots in rapid succession,” Buitrago said. Despite the late hour, the undercover officer said he could clearly see the gunman and his friends, lit by a streetlamp. “I could see their faces and the whites of their eyes and their lips moving,” he said. Dyches, Hall, and Hopkins ran back to the parked Marquis as two other men darted into a nearby alleyway, he said. Buitrago said he immediately sent out a radio “flash” alerting nearby officers to the shooting and the descriptions of the men. […]