From Stumper, one of Newsweek’s blog-type thingees, a Q&A with Dr. Sean Wilentz: You seem to be saying that only Hillary can take us beyond Baby Boomer politics because only she’s lived through it. But Obama’s argument is that he represents a post-Baby Boomer politics, and that he’s not bogged down, like Hillary, in those old conflicts. I think the whole idea of Baby Boomer politics is the problem. That concept. I’m very disappointed in that. There’s no such thing. You cannot enter this moment and make a new departure unless you understand what you’re departing from. And that’s what […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
PHILLY WI-FI NO-GO: Earthlink Cries ‘Uncle,’ Says Internet Just Too Damn Hard With municipal Wi-Fi networks fizzling across the nation, EarthLink will stop making major investments in such systems and is considering “strategic alternatives” for its municipal wireless business. That suggests that the company is open to selling the municipal unit, which is responsible for the pacesetting Wi-Fi deployment in Philadelphia and systems in other cities. At the same time, Philadelphia City Councilman Frank Rizzo is reported to have called for a hearing to discuss difficulties with the Wi-Fi rollout. The Philadelphia Wi-Fi deployment is EarthLink’s largest and, like many […]
KILLADELPHIA: 16 Year Old Boy Shot In The Head
INQUIRER: A 16-year-old male was shot to death late yesterday in the Connell Park area of Southwest Philadelphia, authorities said. The victim, whose name was not released, was shot in the head, chest and back about 7 p.m. in the 6500 block of Wheeler Street, police said. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, investigators said. An alleged gunman, described as about 5-foot-7 and wearing a skull cap, was seen fleeing the area on foot. No arrests were made. MORE UPDATE: A 16-year-old male was shot to death yesterday evening in the Connell […]
RUMOR & SIGH: Inquirer Building Sold To Drexel?
UPDATE: This just in from Philly.com Drexel University real estate people are among the potential buyers who have made repeat visits to the Inquirer and Daily News building at 400 North Broad Street and the parking garage and lot behind it on 15th Street in recent weeks. Agents for Drexel’s Center City medical campus, which includes the dorms, bookstore and classrooms surrounding Hahnemann University Hospital, have also been talking to property owners in the 300 block of North 15th Street, just south of the papers’ back door, according to real estate sources. No word on whether Drexel would share space […]
THE WAY WE WERE: Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign
The City of Philadelphia’s photo archive contains over 2 million images that date back as far as the late 1800s, i.e. the last time a Republican won in this town. In all seriousness, this is an INCREDIBLE visual record of the city’s evolution and a relatively new web site, PhillyHistory.org, is making it available for online consumption and purchase. To date, some 27,000 BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of images have been digitally scanned, at a rate of roughly 2,000 images a month. So, if you’ve been wondering why the line at Kinko’s is so goddamned SLOW, well, now you know. Phawker […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Writer-director Todd Haynes is responsible for an eclectic array of films, from the elegantly bio-paranoia drama Safe to the glam-rock celebration Velvet Goldmine and the Douglas Sirk homage Far From Heaven. His latest experiment: I’m Not There, a kind of fantasia on the public personas of Bob Dylan. Six different actors — including Cate Blanchett — play the famously protean singer. HONORABLE MENTION: The National Book Foundation presented Terry Gross, host of WHYY’s Fresh Air, with the 2007 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. The award recognizes important contributions Gross has made to the […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
STUDY: Kind Bud Is Even Kinder To Cancer Patients Very interesting research from the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. It’s work that’s been going on for several years, and according to researchers there, they believe a compound called CBD — that’s cannabidiol — could be the first non-toxic agent that could show possible help in treating metastatic forms of cancer. Metastasis is when cancer starts to spread throughout the body. Now, what’s interesting about this is that CBD is an ingredient found in marijuana. However, it has no psychoactive properties. The bottom line here is that it should […]
DVD: Back When Sesame Street Was Keepin’ It Real
NEW YORK TIMES: Sunny days! The earliest episodes of “Sesame Street” are available on digital video! Break out some Keebler products, fire up the DVD player and prepare for the exquisite pleasure-pain of top-shelf nostalgia. Just don’t bring the children. According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” Say what? At a recent all-ages home screening, a hush fell over the room. “What did they do to us?” asked one Gen-X mother of […]
FOR THE RECORD: Natalie Portman Is Happy With Wes Anderson Nude Scene And, Hey, We Are Too
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: You might have read about it in the recent Parade magazine cover story penned by the actress. Except – shocking – she didn’t actually write it, even though the words “By Natalie Portman” adorn the cover. “They do an interview with you then sort of write it for you,” she says by phone. “They claim that you wrote it, but that’s not really how it works. They interview you like you’re interviewing me, then they just write it in the first person.” OK, so nobody was thinking about nominating Parade for a Pulitzer anyway. But it seems […]
Hyski O’Rooney McVoutie O’Zoot Has Left The Building
Hy Lit, 73, one of Philadelphia’s pioneer disc jockeys, died yesterday at Paoli Memorial Hospital of what his son termed “bizarre complications” after a knee injury. Mr. Lit was on hand for much rock-and-roll history as it played out in Philadelphia. He played Rolling Stones music early on and accompanied the Beatles to the city in 1964. A dashing figure with a face for television, he also hosted dance shows on WKBS in Philadelphia and a New York station. Another longtime fixture in local radio, disc jockey Jerry Blavat, last night called Mr. Lit’s death “the end of the era […]
KILLADELPHIA: 4 Dead Since U Went To Bed
A deadly night across the city as four people were shot and killed. Four people died in three separate shootings that happened around 2am as bars were closing. Homicide detectives say those two shootings appeared to have started with arguments in bars or clubs. Two people were shot in a parking lot near Front and Chestnut Streets around 2am. A 23-year-old man died from a gunshot wound to the head, another man suffered non-life threatening injuries. At about the same time, several people were shot at Broad and Sommerset Streets where two men died; a 37-year-old and a 25-year-old. At […]
SAD: Kanye’s Mother Dies After Tummy Tuck; Kanye Breaks Down Onstage In Paris During “Hey Momma”
LOS ANGELES — A judge has quashed the arrest warrant for a plastic surgeon who operated on the mother of Kanye West. The warrant was issued Friday morning when Dr. Jan Adams did not show up for a hearing in a civil case unrelated to the death of West’s mother, Donda West. Courtroom assistant Becky Liu says Adams showed up later in the morning and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tracy Grant canceled the warrant. Adams has said little publicly since the death of Donda West. She died Nov. 10, a day after Adams performed a tummy tuck and breast […]