FRESH AIR The team behind Step Brothers has an enviable life. Director Adam McKay and actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly get to hang out together, make jokes and get paid for it. The three first worked together on the film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and they enjoyed collaborating on the film so much that they thought another film was in order. Leaving behind the world of car-racing, Step Brothers centers around two grown men who never managed to leave their respective parents’ houses. Drama ensues when their single parents marry and the two adults become […]
OFFICIAL: Comcast-Spectacor To Put Spectrum On Ice
INQUIRER: “This will be the final year of the Spectrum,” Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider announced this morning. “This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he said. “The Spectrum is my baby. It’s one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me, but after a lot of thinking and discussions, we all feel it is in our best interest to close the Spectrum at the conclusion of the upcoming 2008-09 Philadelphia Phantoms and Kixx seasons.” That means the last game could come next spring. In its place Comcast-Spectactor is expected to build a […]
Chutley Chokes, Drops F-Bomb, Sweeney Easily Amused
ASSOCIATED PRESS: NEW YORK — Josh Hamilton has hit a record 28 homers in the first round of the All-Star Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. The Texas Rangers’ slugger, back from drug and alcohol addiction that derailed his career, broke Bobby Abreu’s mark for one round with a dazzling display of power Monday night. MORE INQUIRER: Chase Utley is not much of a fan of the limelight. But Utley inadvertently put himself into the type of situation he loathes when he uttered an obscenity as he was introduced before the Home Run Derby tonight at Yankee Stadium. As Utley […]
Vai Sikahema Kicks Jose Canseco’s Ass
And then adopts FIVE children. What a mensch!
NPR 4 THE DOPE: This Is Your Public Radio On Drugs
RADIO TIMES Hour 1 A conversation about politics and the Olympics with speed skating gold medallist JOEY CHEEK, co-founder of Team Darfur, a coalition of athletes trying to raise awareness about the Darfur crisis. Also, 45-year-old Olympic swimming hopeful W. HODDING CARTER talks about chasing his dream and his new book, Off the Deep End. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3 Hour 2 Alex Gibney’s new film Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson opened this weekend. He was the winner of the 2008 Academy Award for best documentary for Taxi to the Dark […]
KILLADELPHIA: Aaron McKie Faces Gun Charges
INQUIRER: Former Philadelphia 76er Aaron F. McKie was arrested this morning on charges he lied while trying to buy two pistols despite a restraining order banning weapons possession. McKie, 35, is to be arraigned this afternoon in Montgomery County Magisterial District Court on one felony and one misdemeanor count stemming from his April 8 trip to Abington Gun Sports in Upper Moreland Township. While filling out paperwork to buy a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson and a 9 mm Ruger, McKie denied that he was subject to a court order restraining him from harassing his “child or an intimate partner or […]
SPORTO: Eagles Unveil Secret Weapon
Sources tell Phawker that the Eagles plan to literally shoot DeSean Jackson out of a cannon and into the end zone [see above]. The source went on to point out that the Eagles’ legal department insists there is a loophole in the NFL rulebook in as much as it does not explicitly forbid the shooting of man out of a cannon. “This will be tied up in the courts for years, and by that time we’ll be getting sized-up for Superbowl rings,” said the source. [Photo by BEN LIEBENBERG/NFL.com via PHILLY.COM]
MANSCAPE: Papa Cries, Sinatra Licks, O’Reilly Cusses
Philly sports fans know plenty about anguished tears, but on last night’s 6 p.m. Action News broadcast, Gary Papa shed tough guy tears while reading a report about Eagles coach Andy Reid visiting sick kids at CHoP. So verklempt was ol’ Gary — a cancer survivor and father of two — that he actually couldn’t go on and had to throw it back to Jim Gardner, who made it all better with a joke about how Papa’s breakdown would surely be on YouTube within minutes. Sure enough, DMac comes through with the clip…. The Francis Albert Sinatra commemorative 42-cent stamp […]
NEWS CLUES: Like A Swinging Nightstick Of Truth
Feds Clarify Status Of Johnny Doc Investigation; Deny Immunity From Prosecution Federal prosecutors said in a court filing yesterday that they are “pursuing an ongoing investigation” of electricians-union honcho John Dougherty, who they said is a “subject” of a criminal investigation. As a result, they said, a federal judge should not grant him immunity to testify in the upcoming trial of electrical contractor Donald “Gus” Dougherty Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Gray said yesterday that granting John Dougherty immunity to testify in the case could jeopardize any future investigation and prosecution of the union leader. The feds claim that Gus […]
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS: Nefarious Rocky Statue Plot Afoot; WIP Promises 24-7 Goon Squad Protection
[Photo by iirraa via FLICKR] CRAIGSLIST: Need to recruit someone who is a Pittsburgh native, living in Philly. I want you to put a Penguins jersey on the Rocky statue and take pictures. I am going to send it in to the Post-Gazette and other media outlets to show some pride. If you are interested please reply to this ad ASAP. INQUIRER: This morning on WIP (610 AM), host Angelo Cataldi was on the case, appealing for a thug lookalike — a big guy with “menacing facial hair” — to “guard” the statue from 8 a.m. through noon, when a […]
Eight Belles Euthanized After 2nd Place Derby Finish
ASSOCIATED PRESS: LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Eight Belles was euthanized after breaking both front ankles following a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. WASHINGTON POST: The camera cut away from her, but it should have stayed on her. Eight Belles had run herself half to death yesterday, and now the vets were finishing the job as she lay on her side, her beautiful figure a black hump on the track. Horses don’t just fall down like that, you thought, as NBC flitted away, cowardlike, from the sickening picture to the more appealing image of the Kentucky Derby victor, Big Brown. There […]
WORTH REPEATING: As It Was Written…
The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved by Hunter S. Thompson The following essay was originally published in Scanlan’s Monthly, vol. 1, no. 4, June 1970. The text of this essay was taken from the book The Great Shark Hunt, Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1, Strange Tales from a Strange Time by Hunter S. Thompson (New York: Ballantine Books, 1979). I got off the plane around midnight and no one spoke as I crossed the dark runway to the terminal. The air was thick and hot, like wandering into a steam bath. Inside, people hugged each other and shook hands…big grins […]
MEGADICK 2: Stay Classy Flyerdelphia
To The Editor, My son and I drove from Montreal to catch Monday night’s Flyers-Canadiens playoff game at the Wachovia Center. Your fans have many reasons to be proud of their city and team, but how they treat their guests at a sporting event is not one of them. As the game progressed, the level of threats and abuse heaped on us grew at an alarming rate. At one point, an unfortunate Habs fan had a glass of beer poured on her head, and her boyfriend thought it best for them to leave the arena. By the end of the […]