BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR MAGNET Teenage symphonies to God. That’s the phrase Beach Boys auteur Brian Wilson used to describe the a heartbreaking works of staggering genius he was creating in the mid-’60s, when his compositional powers were achieving miraculous states of beauty and innovation even as his fevered faculties skirted the fringes of madness. With the 1966 release of Pet Sounds, The Beach Boy’s orchestral-pop opus of ocean-blue melancholia, Brian clinched his status as teen America’s Mozart-on-the-beach in the cosmology of modern pop music. Less than a year later, he would fall off the edge of his mind, abandoning […]
MUST SEE: Alec Baldwin Apologizes To…
…Alec Baldwin.
TONIGHT: Grand Slam
Appreciate a good story well-told? First Person Arts will host a series of holiday-themed Story Slams this month in a continuation of its campaign to cultivate Philly’s narrative talent. Attendees may choose to participate or sit back and listen to the foibles of others. The more critically inclined may join the panel of judges who will rate performers on delivery and story content. For these events, you may want to procrastinate on your nightly viewing of X-Factor, as digital recordings will not be issued for these events. The evening starts off with a guest storyteller chosen from previous StorySlam winners […]
SANDUSKY AGONISTES: Speak No Evil
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Penn State has long cast itself as embodying the highest standards of personal conduct coupled with academic excellence, as captured in its school song: “May no act of ours bring shame to one heart that loves thy name.” And few bled the school’s blue and white colors more than Sandusky, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees there and began his Nittany Lions coaching career in 1969. In retirement, Penn State football continued to play a big role in Sandusky’s life; he just wasn’t pacing the sidelines at games. He received celebrity treatment from adoring fans and football […]
MUST SEE TV: John Hodgman’s That Is All
THAT IS ALL from John Hodgman
WORTH REPEATING: Let Us Prey
The American people, at least the great majority who constitute the middle class, are no longer perceived as the wholesome backbone of America; the middle class is now perceived simply as prey; the domestic source of revenue for corporations to exploit with impunity. In the past, Americans have relied on the institution of Congress as a social backstop to protect the interests of the people from organized exploitation. But now, that institution has failed miserably as a protector of the public. This failure is further exacerbated by the practice of allowing private money to finance Congressional candidates who in turn […]
INCOMING: Q&A With Ray Lewis, Retired Philadelphia Police Captain & OWS Protester
Look for it Monday on a Phawker near you! RELATED: A retired Philadelphia police captain arrested in uniform during Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City has received written warnings from police and union officials. Philadelphia police Commissioner Charles Ramsey sent a cease and desist letter to retired Capt. Raymond Lewis, saying the police department supports his First Amendment rights but “those rights do not extend to the improper and/or illegal use of the official uniform.” “It could give the mistaken opinion that somehow this is a statement being made by a member of the police department, and it’s […]
20 YEARS LATER: Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend
BY MIKE WALSH Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend was released in late 1991, just four weeks after Nevermind, but it took another six or eight months of word-of-mouth recommendations before it became a hit. That was probably because very few people had heard of Sweet prior to Girlfriend. He grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and moved to Athens, GA, in the early 80s to attend college at the University of Georgia and quickly became part of the vaunted music scene there. Sweet played in bands such as Oh-OK and Buzz of Delight, got married, and made a few recordings with people like […]
AP TICKER: “It’s Christmas & Everything’s OK”
A Christmas carol for the modern age, with Brendan Skwire on upright bass.
Not Sure Who We Like Less, Cain Or His Mistress
DAILY BEAST: White confessed that Cain wasn’t the only man who helped her financially; her work history and her sex life have long been intermingled in complex and contradictory ways, she said. […] “There are good men in corporate America, and there are bad men in corporate America, and those bad men take advantage of women in fragile situations—women who are struggling,” White said. “I’ve supported my kids, and I never wanted to let my kids go without. When I was having trouble making a payment on something, there was this powerful man saying, ‘I’ll help you out.’ I remember […]
Rick Perry Bashes Gays To Save Christmas; Says He’s Totally Unashamed Of His Personal Relationship With 33-Year-Old Jewish Male From Nazareth*
RICK PERRY: I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. As President, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again. I’m Rick Perry and I approve this message. MORE RELATED: It was clearly intended to elicit a strong reaction, and don’t think that […]
Those Who Forget History Are Doomed To Repeat It
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Virginia Tech officials said a police officer and another person were shot and killed on the school’s campus Thursday and the university locked down the campus, where 33 people died in 2007 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The gunman remained on the loose. A news release from the school said the police officer had pulled someone over for a traffic stop and was shot and killed. Witnesses told police the shooter ran toward a parking lot on campus. A second person was found dead in that parking lot. A police officer secures the scene […]