BY AARON STELLA Welcome my fellow hungry Americans to another edition of Truck Stop, where each week we’ll visit street vendors in different parts of Philadelphia to assist the common wayfarer in their travels and grub scavenging. Hey, don’t give me that look — if you ain’t too proud to get your news off the Internet, then you probably ain’t too proud to eat sushi off a truck. This week: the Center City theater and financial district. As I was zooming down 12th street on my way from Temple University to Center City, I fantasized about the fine cuisine Center […]
GOLIATH: How One Man Brought Comcast To Its Knees
INQUIRER: [T]he FCC, for the first time, will establish enforceable rules for how Comcast and other broadband companies can treat the Internet. The agency is calling the order a precedent-setting move that will provide some consumer protections. The agency’s five commissioners are expected to vote on it tomorrow at the agency headquarters in Washington. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, has found allies in Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein, who reportedly intend to vote for the punishment order. Republican Commissioners Robert M. McDowell and Deborah Taylor Tate are expected to oppose Martin’s order. Comcast and FCC have […]
KILLADELPHIA: 10 Year Old Takes Lead In Gun Battle
NBC10: PHILADELPHIA — Police said Wednesday a 10-year-old girl was caught in the middle of a frightening gun battle on the streets of West Philadelphia.Victoria Green, along with two men, were shot in the area of Ruby and Chestnut streets. Green was shot in the leg and rushed to Children’s Hospital. “Ten years old, out here playing, can’t even play in front of your door with violence going on. I mean it’s ridiculous,” David Smith, the victim’s uncle, said. Police said the shooting began with a cell phone call saying there was going to be a fight. Then, police said […]
LUDACRIS: Obama Is Was Here
ALL HIP-HOP: Presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama has condemned an endorsement song from Ludacris, in which the Atlanta MC criticizes rivals Hillary Clinton and John McCain. The song “Politics: Obama Is Here” contains celebratory bars on Obama’s success (“The first is destined and it’s meant to be”), but turns venomous when Obama’s rivals are addressed. Ludacris references the bitter Democratic primary battle by stating “Hillary hated on you/So that b**ch is irrelevant.” Regarding Republican nominee John McCain, the rapper rhymes: “McCain don’t belong in ANY chair unless he’s paralyzed/ Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped/ Ball […]
OVERHEARD: Sucking In The 70s
[From today’s edition of Fresh Air] TERRY GROSS: I happen to know you play bassoon. RAINN WILSON: Yeah, I do. TERRY GROSS: Which is great, it’s a great instrument, a lot of people don’t even know what it sounds like. RAINN WILSON: Sounds a little like this [makes bassoon sound]….I think. TERRY GROSS: It’s a hard instrument to play. RAINN WILSON: It’s very hard, it’s a double reed. It’s also a ‘girl repellent.’ TERRY GROSS: [laughs uproariously] RAINN WILSON: So all you aspiring bassoonists out there, thrown down the bassoon and pick up the electric guitar. TERRY GROSS: You have […]
THE EARLY WORD: The Mambo Kings
Details after the jump…
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR While his Office character may take himself seriously, actor Rainn Wilson seems to be all about the laughs. Wilson plays beet-farming, archery-loving middle-management kook Dwight Schrute on the NBC hit television series. Now, Wilson is trading his crossbow for a guitar in the new film The Rocker. In The Rocker, Wilson plays a failed hair metal musician. After he’s kicked out of his band, the group goes on to achieve great success. But when he joins his nephew’s garage band, he gets a second chance at fame. Wilson made his breakthrough as an actor playing an eccentric mortician […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
HEY, MR. SPACEMAN: Spiritualized, TLA, Last Night [Photos by JONATHAN VALANIA]
DAILY DOS: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Last night’s Colbert Report after the jump. Enjoy.
CONTEMPT: House Panel Votes To Cite Rove
ASSOCIATED PRESS: WASHINGTON — A House panel Wednesday voted to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to answer questions about the dismissals of several federal prosecutors as its Senate counterpart explored punishments for an array of alleged past and present Bush administration misdeeds. Voting 20-14 along party lines, the House Judiciary Committee said that Rove had broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats such as former Alabama Gov. […]
BACK IN THE USSR: Russians Eye Sunoco Purchase
FORBES: A private-equity company’s new stake in Sunoco could well herald an impending acquisition of the oil refiner and marketer – perhaps to one of Russia’s big energy companies. Late Friday, Harbinger Capital Partners revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had taken a 6.6% stake in Sunoco (nyse: SUN – news – people ), which has been struggling with unfavorable market conditions. Refiners in general have been squeezed by rising crude oil prices, which shot up so quickly this year that gasoline and other petroleum products could not be marked up quite as […]
WORTH REPEATING: Hey, Mr. Spaceman*
*First appeared in the December 2001 issue of Magnet. Spiritualized play at the TLA tonight. BY JONATHAN VALANIA Somewhere Over The North Atlantic, Sept . 25, 2001 Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space—35,000 feet above the Earth, to be exact. We’re on our way to Ireland to tag along on a Spiritualized tour. It’s gonna be fun, but there are some risks involved. As Americans, we’re traveling under the threat of death from Osama bin Laden, The Evil One, who lives in a cave. During the course of our trip, you might feel a little like Salman Rushdie […]
DEATH FROM ABOVE: CIA Kills Al Qaeda’s Dr. Evil
CBS NEWS: One of al Qaeda’s top chemical and biological weapons experts was killed in an air strike by a CIA pilotless drone in a remote Pakistani border region, senior Pakistani intelligence officials told CBS News Tuesday morning. Intelligence officials investigating the early Monday missile attack confirmed that Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri was one of six men killed and his remains had been positively identified. “We now have a positive ID on the body. I can confirm to you that Al-Masri has been killed,” a Pakistani intelligence official told CBS News on the condition […]