DAILY TELEGRAPH: It is probably the most famous greeting in the universe. But the simple Vulcan salute left makers of the new Star Trek film with a galactic-sized headache – because Mr Spock just couldn’t do it. After much head-scratching, experts on the $150 million blockbuster – which boasts stunning high-tech effects – hit upon a low-tech but logical solution – gluing actor Zachary Quinto’s fingers together, The Mail on Sunday newspaper in the UK reports. Quinto, 31, admitted he found it impossible to form his fingers into the distinctive V-shaped gesture, saying: “It’s much harder than it looks. Seriously.” […]
HECKUVA JOB TIERNEY: Why Is THIS Man Bloviating About Supreme Court Replacements In The Inquirer?
[Illustration by KENT BARRET] JOHN YOO IN THE INQUIRER: Obama’s nominee will keep the liberal pack intact. But liberals want more. They want a progressive thinker who can challenge Scalia and Thomas and their revolutionary ideas for modern constitutional law. While a witty man and elegant writer, Souter did not pen any landmark opinions that will be remembered in the decades to come. The liberal wing of the court has yet to produce a worthy heir to the mantle of Chief Justice Earl Warren or Justice William Brennan. Obama promises something different. In 2007, candidate Obama declared that his judges […]
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #20 This week: The last pig in Afghanistan, shit blowing up in Pakistan, anal torture in the UAE, face transplants in the USA, and Joe the Plumber is an assclown. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll come as you are. Promise.
TONITE: Give Up The Ghost
BY DAVE ALLEN Tonight, Philadelphia is privileged to host a tour date by Ghost, a Japanese band making its return from a self-imposed American exile. They vowed not to return until after George W. Bush was no longer in office, and, true to its name, Ghost disappeared. We have indeed been deprived of something elegantly nutso. Though polystylistic in the extreme, Ghost’s music has an overall scuzzy and metallic vibe, with head-spinning reverb and lingering, hard-bitten distortion. Many tracks feature tightly coiled repetitions, like some of the finest moments of Tool and Radiohead, but tempered by a broken-down and dusty […]
CINEMA: Beam Me Up, Hottie
STAR TREK, (2009, directed by J.J. Abrams, 126 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC No doubt about it, audiences are going to be purring like Tribbles as they step aboard this refitted Enterprise to go boldly back to the future to witness the formation of Captain Kirk’s legendary crew. Blessed with that rarest of qualities, CGI effects that actually dazzle, Star Trek‘s rebooted new voyage zips around with the giddy energy you wish had enlivened the last Star Wars trilogy. Amid all this energy (and surprisingly, scads of slapstick shtick) one can’t help but mourn the passing of the […]
FORECAST: Terrible Blog-Reading Weather
1. Turn off Internets. 2. Go outside. 3. Learn how to be human again. 4. Rinse and repeat as necessary. 5. Come back in and watch The Good News Flower Hour. Laugh. Cry. Come as you are.
NUTTER VS. BRT: Showdown At The Party Hack Corral
INQUIRER: The seven members of Philadelphia’s Board of Revision of Taxes yesterday flatly refused Mayor Nutter’s request that they resign, saying they saw no reason to do so despite news reports that detailed chronic mismanagement and ethical lapses at the agency. Standing six abreast – Joseph A. Russo was absent – they said they would fight for their jobs, which pay $70,000 to $75,000 a year for part-time work. “I take it as a personal affront, quite frankly,” said member Russell Nigro, a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice. Though jointly funded by the city and the School District of Philadelphia, […]
BEING THERE: The Good News Flower Hour
This week: The last pig in Afghanistan, shit blowing up in Pakistan, anal torture in the UAE, face transplants in the USA, and Joe the Plumber is an assclown. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll come and go. Episode 20 coming later today.
EARLY WORD: Get Yerself In A Pickle
[Click image to activate Internets] BY BRENDAN SKWIRE How the hell did an old school hardcore punk kid like me get into old timey music? That’s a pretty short story. Even back in the day, I always loved older hardcore better than newer stuff. Youth of Today was fine, but Minor Threat was better (someday i will tell the story of how I made Ian Mackaye lose his temper), and the Sex Pistols was even better than that and so on and so on. The fact is, I’ve always loved old shit, so when I got a little older and […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Pure Pop For Now People
[Photo by PAVLA KOPECNA] BY DIANCA POTTS & KYLEE MESSNER New Yorkers Za Za took the stage of a sold out Barbary Wednesday night with the intention to hypnotize the crowd with marching band drumbeats and eerie pop vocals. Deeming their current tour “awesome,” the band started off their set with “Sooner or Later,” a tune overpowered by lead guitar distortion and a carefree bassist. Echoing from one song to the next, the band’s message was clear—play loud, look aloof, and make sure the crowd knows you are the best at what you do. (It doesn’t hurt when the much-anticipated […]
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 […]
HOUSE CLEANING: Mayor To Reform BRT, Slowly
UPDATE: Mayor Nutter called on all seven members of the Board of Revision of Taxes to resign this morning, and sent two bills to City Council that would eliminate the $70,000-plus salaries of future board members and bring a large portion of the agency’s funding under the mayor’s direct control. MORE INQUIRER: Mayor Nutter and City Council President Anna C. Verna declared yesterday that they intend to “reform, restructure or dissolve” the city’s independent Board of Revision of Taxes, which sets property values in Philadelphia. Citing Inquirer reports that have raised questions about the quality of the agency’s work and […]
WORTH REPEATING: The End Of The Internet
HUFFINGTON POST: Last month, the nation’s No.2 cable company Time Warner Cable announced plans to test a new billing system known as “metering” that charges Internet customers depending on how much they download. Customers who exceed their limit–say, by viewing online videos–would face steep penalties on top of their subscription rate. Time Warner Cable’s usage penalty would take the unlimited service we enjoy today (albeit slow compared to other nations), and make Internet more like cell phones, where you get overcharged by companies making record profits. It is the latest version of the Net Neutrality debate: should the companies that […]