For going on two decades, these artful dodgers have been getting their shit together somewhere in the outer limits of the noise-rock fringe, with conceptual song cycles about desperate milkmen pied-pipering children into pastures of cellophane flowers and marmalade skies, or cuddly pandas wandering through the valley of the shadow of death. The personnel have shifted over the course of 11 albums, but these days Deerhoof are anchored by drummer/singer Greg Saunier’s deep kick and light voice, the twin-guitar abstract expressionism of John Deiterich and Ed Rodriguez, and the naif anime vocals of bassist Satomi Matsuzaki, whose helium-pitched pipes have […]
MY TECH: A Hands-On Review Of PhillyCom’s Tablet
ARNOVA: I’m probably the ideal customer for this tablet – my train commute giving me ample reading time – and I’m a news junkie to boot. I just don’t see this being a long-term viable winning strategy for them. I think they are concerned that not enough people have access to tablets in order to get the e-edition of the paper. As we’ve seen tablet prices drop, I think if someone wants a tablet, they are going to buy one and this isn’t going to be a barrier to adoption of an e-newspaper. The barrier to adoption is that reading […]
THIS JUST IN: The British Are Coming!
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] Ray Davies will perform live with the Dessoff Choir at Temple Performing Arts Center, Saturday November 19th @ 8PM. Tickets for the show are available 10am Saturday at www.comcasttix.com, 800-298-4200, and The Liacouras Center Box Office located at 1776 N. Broad St Mon – Fri 10AM-5PM and Sat 10AM -4PM. PREVIEW: WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD TIMES GONE: Ray Davies Cancels U.S. Tour Dates Citing Health Reasons
THE SOFT TYRANNY OF AMERICAN LIFE: Yahoo Censoring Emails Referring To #OccupyWallStreet
Ordinarily you have to go to China for this kind of repression. THINK PROGRESS: Thinking about e-mailing your friends and neighbors about the protests against Wall Street happening right now? If you have a Yahoo e-mail account, think again. ThinkProgress has reviewed claims that Yahoo is censoring e-mails relating to the protest and found that after several attempts on multiple accounts, we too were prevented from sending messages about the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations. MORE CBS NEWS: Yahoo apologized Monday after people using its email service were prevented from sending messages about anti-Wall Street demonstrations over the weekend. The company […]
TONIGHT: The New Three Stooges
In case you bitches don’t know, Workaholics is FUCKING funny — our highest rating, by the way — and the second season premiers tonight at 10:30 on Comedy Central. WARNING: DO NOT WATCH IF YOU DON’T LIKE TO LAUGH SO HARD YOU FART A LITTLE. Hey, some people don’t. And they are to be avoided at all costs. For every college boy stoner who did one keg stand too many and woke up four years later a cubicle slave in the drop ceiling-ed prisons of the American Dream, who will raise a beer bong tonight in misplaced defiance and misguided […]
THE ‘LONG WAR’ JUST GOT LONGER: Taliban Blows Up Chief Afghan Peace Negotiator With Turban Bomb
REUTERS: A Taliban suicide bomber on Tuesday killed former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani and head of a council tasked with trying to negotiate a political end to the war, in what analysts called a blow to peace efforts. The killing underscored doubts over the ability of fledgling Afghan security forces to protect even the most prominent politicians as U.S.-led forces ready to pull out by 2014. “A Taliban member who went to Rabbani’s house (in the heavily guarded diplomatic enclave) for peace talks detonated a bomb hidden in his turban,” a statement by the Kabul police chief’s office said. President […]
HOT DOC: Carl Greene Sues Inky/DN, Claims Newspapers Ruined His Rep, Not His Jackass Behavior
That’s like blaming the camera for the porno movie. He claims the Inky/DN ginned up dozens of defamatory stories about him to boost circulation. Please. Message to Carl: most people don’t give a fuck, sad to say, and the papers were merely doing the largely thankless job of public interest journalism. Here’s some advice his lawyer should have given him: If you don’t want your rep ruined, don’t be an asshole. Of course, billing for hours and hours of work on a frivolous lawsuit pays better than free advice. Shame on Haines & Associates, and man the fuck up, Carl. […]
PAGING UPTON SINCLAIR: Workers Say Amazon Is Running A (Literal) Sweatshop In The Lehigh Valley
THE MORNING CALL: Elmer Goris spent a year working in Amazon.com‘s Lehigh Valley warehouse, where books, CDs and various other products are packed and shipped to customers who order from the world’s largest online retailer. The 34-year-old Allentown resident, who has worked in warehouses for more than 10 years, said he quit in July because he was frustrated with the heat and demands that he work mandatory overtime. Working conditions at the warehouse got worse earlier this year, especially during summer heat waves when heat in the warehouse soared above 100 degrees, he said. He got light-headed, he said, and […]
IDIOCRACY: They Don’t Call It Jackass For Nothing
Steve O the morning after deliberately running into Mike Tyson’s fist for Charlie’s Sheen’s Comedy Central Roast. Best line goes to William Shatner: “Who’s the warlock now, BITCH?!?” But hands down the award for Most Vicious And Hilarious goes to Amy Schumer.
The Real Death Panels Are In The House Of Rep.
WENDELL POTTER: Because of my nearly 20 years of experience as an executive of two large insurance firms, I was asked to provide my perspective on the legislation at a hearing today of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. One of the bills would eliminate a provision of the reform law that requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of what we pay in premiums on actual medical care. The insurance industry tried without success to keep that provision out of the final bill, so they are solidly behind the effort to do away with it. As […]
WILCO: Born Alone
TIME: In 2002, Wilco was a reasonably successful and well-known alt-country band—formed by frontman Jeff Tweedy after the dissolution of his previous group, Uncle Tupelo—that had put out three solid albums. But then it released Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, a genre-hopping gem of musical perfection that is inarguably one of the best albums of the past decade. After one listen of “I’m the Man Who Loves You,” people who didn’t normally like alt-country found themselves wondering if maybe they liked alt-country. College kids liked it. People in their 30s and 40s—people with kids, people who’d stopped caring about new music and […]
PATRICK MURPHY: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Or Die
THE ADVOCATE: Patrick Murphy, the Iraq War veteran and two-term congressman from Pennsylvania who “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal activist Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach recently called “the right man at the right time to take on this battle,” has not given up politics despite a narrow loss in the 2010 election. (He was one of 63 House Democrats to lose their seats.) The former West Point constitutional law professor and current partner in the Philadelphia law firm Fox Rothschild is vying to become the first Democratic attorney general in the state in three decades. Murphy is one of several key […]
EARLY WORD: OMG Radiohead Is Coming! Run!
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] Radiohead has confirmed two shows at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom to take place September 28 and 29. Tickets will go on sale at 10:00 AM on September 26 at www.ticketmaster.com. There is a 2 ticket limit per household. All tickets will be available for pick up at will call the evening of the event beginning at 6:30 PM and entry into the venue is required immediately upon receipt. No tickets shall be distributed prior to the event. In addition, Radiohead will appear on a very special one-hour episode of The Colbert Report featuring multiple songs and […]