SEMPER FI: Marine at Rage Against The Machine concert, Denver, 2:49 PM. [Photo by NICK POWELL] BY NICK POWELL DNC CORRESPONDENT My knees are throbbing, my shirt is drenched in mile-high perspiration, and I’m a little cranky after spending the afternoon with the iron-fisted leaders of the Iraq Veterans Against The War and following their attempt at an anti-war protest through the streets of Denver. The IVAW, who sponsored this afternoon’s concert with Rage Against The Machine, The Flobots, and others, sucked all of the protesting spirit out of the march by refusing media access to some of the vets […]
THE EARLY WORD: Return To Forever
TOON TIME: City Suckers, starring BoyCatBird The iconic BoyCatBird characters, created by Michael Segal for Ghostly International, appear in their very first animated short. This short was originally made to accompany the free Ghostly Swim compilation from Ghostly International and Adult Swim. [Hat tip to TIFFANY YOON]
RECONSIDER THIS: Don DeLillo’s Underworld
BY DAVE ALLEN Not long after Don DeLillo’s Underworld was published in 1997, it was canonized by critics and readers alike as the Next Great American Novel, and a 2006 survey in the New York Times cemented its cornerstone status among modern American letters. The praise, whether long-passed or more recent, is justified: DeLillo unseals nearly 50 years of American history from the stifling amber of nostalgia, while the narrative spans both coasts and the vast spaces between them without leeching the intimacies that connect them. In short, it contains multitudes. Many of the characters, after dissipating their energies through […]
TONITE: F*ck And Run
Exile in Guyville, 15th Anniversary Edition! Now playing on Phawker Radio!* DEAR DIARY, It’s been 15 years, but nothing’s really changed. It’s hopeless. I loved her then and I love her now for all the same wrong reasons: Because she’s a cunt in spring. Because I was a hero in a long line of heroes looking for something attractive to save. Because she gets away, almost every day with what the girls call, what the girls call, what the girls call murder. Because she writes with a number two pencil, she lives up to her potential and she’s clean as […]
HEY BIG SPENDER: We Are The Biggest Tipper
INQUIRER: “Philadelphians are the most generous tippers in the nation,” according to a news release from Zagat, announcing the official publication today of its 2009 guide to Philadelphia area restaurants. According to Zagat — or at least the 5,507 local diners who reported on their preferences and habits to Zagat — people in the Philadelphia area leave an average tip of 19.6 percent. New Yorkers leave 19 percent — the national average — while folks in L.A. leave 18.4. MORE
INSTA-REVIEW: Parsing Hillary’s Speech In IM
Can a Clinton put party and country before raw ego and naked ambition, just this once? Let’s find out shall we? Our analysts tonight will be Amy Z. Quinn, aka Citizen Mom, recently converted Obama supporter/longtime Hillarycrat dead-ender, and Jonathan Valania, who was right about Obama, and most other things, all along. We join the action with Governor Brian Schweitzer at the podium… JV: The Guv of Montana is a trip AZQ: Oh god, not the bolo tie 10:21 PM JV: neck too fat to close top button stay classy, Montana! AZQ: the hardest button to button JV: this is […]
LIVE FROM DENVER: Me And Spike Lee
BY NICK POWELL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES DENVER — Black activists and celebrities alike gathered this morning at the Movies With A Message Brunch at Earl’s Restaurant in downtown Denver to celebrate the progress made by Senator Barack Obama in his quest for the White House. But while the theme of the party was celebrating the past, Oscar-nominated director and producer Spike Lee focused on the present, particularly the sometimes-tenuous relationship between the hip-hop community and the Obama campaign. Mr. Lee, who has often uses hip-hop music and casts hip-hop stars in his films, said that rappers should, well, […]
MILE HIGH: Live And Direct From Denver
BY NICK POWELL DNC CORRESPONDENT On an otherwise slow day here at the DNC, I had my first official “Convention-celebrity experience” at the Movies With A Message brunch at Earl’s Restaurant in downtown Denver. While shadowing a reporter at the party, I mingled with the smiling Dems, took in the music of a small R&B band, and munched on the semi-mediocre breakfast spread. All was quiet, until suddenly … there’s Civil Rights Activist Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) … and Anne Hathaway … and Pras … and Al Sharpton. The celebrities came pouring in, and for a second I was completely […]
VALLEY OF THE SHADOW: A Town Without Pity
[Photos by JEFF DEENEY] BY JEFF DEENEY For the next few weeks, the focus of Valley of the Shadow will shift to Chester, Delaware County. In 2008, Philadelphia experienced a significant reduction in homicides. That has not been the case in Chester. In fact, this month Chester saw six homicides in a single week, which for a city of only 35,000 is a staggering number. Before starting in on a series about Chester I sat down with someone acquainted with the city’s underworld, a former junkie and mid-level Delco drug runner called Cupcake. Cupcake spent the better part of 10 […]
JOHN MCCAIN: Is Having A Senior Moment
[Talking Points Memo TV (TPMtv) Daily Video Blog: Dazed and Confused] Again and again and again. Somebody please tell us why this election is even remotely close without using the word R-A-C-E — you can’t, can you?
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Though John McCain and Barack Obama agree that America’s health care system needs reform, the candidates differ markedly in their vision of the remedy. Political scientist Jonathan Oberlander offers an in-depth comparison of the Obama and McCain health proposals. Oberlander compared the candidates in his report, “The Partisan Divide — The McCain and Obama Plans for U.S. Health Care Reform,” which was published Aug. 21, 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Oberlander is an associate professor of social medicine and health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. RADIO TIMES Lowering […]
MILE HIGH: Live And Direct From Denver
BY NICK POWELL CONVENTION CORRESPONDENT Yesterday was a good day. Inspired speeches, iconic moments, and wacky delegates make for quite an interesting first day at the Democratic Convention. Most of it was spent running various errands for reporters in my section, but I found time to do a little reporting of my own along the way. I was sent to a cocktail party for the Pennsylvania Delegation in downtown Denver, a spot called Osteria Panini. Unfortunately, I encountered the same problem I did with getting into the Pepsi Center. The hostess of the party informed me that there was no […]
THE LINCOLN BITE: Fine Dining For Around $5
[Photo by SWEETIE PIE PRESS] BY COLLEEN REESE Almost every time I pass a cafe, it’s like there’s a magnet in there and my pockets are full of heavy metal. Usually I’m curious about brewing methods or about whether or not they bake their own pastries. I look for things that are memorable and exclusive. Seldom do I walk away surprised or intrigued. Too often they settle for corporate mediocrity, offering Pepsi products at their independent businesses, re-evaluating their menus to better appeal to the same people who drink Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee with extra cream and sugar. When I […]