DAN GROSS: The Onion, the popular news parody publication, is finally coming to Philadelphia. A print edition of the weekly paper, also online at TheOnion.com, is expected to launch here this spring. The paper is also looking for a Philadelphia city editor to oversee the local editorial operations though the bulk of the product will be the often hilarious news stories such as “Tip of Area Man’s Tongue Refuses to Relinquish Richard Crenna‘s Name,” and “Nation’s Porn Stars Demand to be F—ed Harder.” The paper started in Madison, Wis., in the late 1980s and also has print editions in Milwaukee, […]
LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER: Bigger Lovers Reunite, Re-Issue Their Debut, Play Rilly Big Show
EDITOR’S NOTE: Pat Berkery was Phawker’s first sports columnist. PATRICK BERKERY: Hey, Patrick Berkery here, drummer for The Bigger Lovers. Five seasons and change after closing up shop, The Bigger Lovers are reuniting to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our instantly out-of-print 2001 debut, “How I Learned to Stop Worrying” (originally issued on Black Dog Records on March 13, 2001) with a remastered vinyl and digital reissue coming March 8, 2011 on our own Miles Above imprint. It’s the first time the album has appeared in either format. The reissue – which includes two bonus tracks (available digitally) recorded during […]
PORTLANDIA: Where Young People Go To Retire
NEW YORK TIMES: It is always a risky proposition when anyone tries to codify the spirit of a proudly independent, nonconformist scene. (And in this case Mr. Armisen, a nine-season veteran of “Saturday Night Live” and resident of New York would seem to have less of a claim to it than Ms. Brownstein, a guitarist and singer from the Portland rock band Sleater-Kinney, which broke up in 2006.) But together Mr. Armisen and Ms. Brownstein, two guileless if unlikely collaborators, hope they possess enough street cred to serve as ambassadors of Portland’s counterculture and to present their version of it, […]
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Feelies To Release New Album On March 29th, Will Play World Cafe Live On May 17th
PITCHFORK: Back in October, we reported that jangle rock OGs the Feelies were working on their first full-length since 1991’s Time for a Witness. Well, their work is officially complete: Here Before, the first album from the Feelies in two decades, is set for release March 29 via Bar/None. MORE PREVIOUSLY: The Feelies are one of those inscrutable but beloved band’s bands whose influence far exceeds their royalty statements and, as a consequence, the period on the last sentence in their bio keeps turning into a comma. Borne of the suburban garages of North Haledon, New Jersey, they released Crazy […]
GRAND JURY REPORT: West Philly Abortion Clinic Was ‘House Of Horrors’; Doctor Charged With Murder
INQUIRER: An abortion doctor has been arrested and charged with the murder of a patient and seven live infants whose spines were severed with scissors at a West Philadelphia clinic that has been described as a house of horrors, officials said today. District Attorney Seth Williams said the doctor, Kermit P. Gosnell, was charged following a grand jury investigation. Gosnell, 69, lost his medical license last year after health officials determined his clinic posed “a clear danger to the public.” Gosnell was arrested this morning, officials said. He has maintained his innocence. The seven infants were born alive in the […]
WANDA JACKSON: Thunder On The Mountain
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Encouraged by one-time tourmate Elvis Presley to sing the tougher strain of rhythmic country music known as rockabilly, Wanda Jackson was peerless in her field from the start. Bob Dylan deemed her “an atomic bomb in lipstick.” Now, despite being nearly six decades removed from her raucous and feisty first sides (as well as a long detour into gospel music), Ms. Jackson remains the Queen. In 2003, she cut a comeback album with longtime devotees like Elvis Costello and the Cramps, and toured the revival circuit with other early rock ‘n’ rollers. But it’s her forthcoming album, […]
Antonio Rodriguez Confesses To Being The Strangler
INQUIRER: Antonio Rodriguez, the suspect in the murders of three women in Kensington, has confessed to the murders, police sources said today. Rodriguez, 22, gave a statement to police but has not been charged in the killings. Police arrested him Monday on outstanding bench warrants, hours after a DNA match in a database identified Rodriguez as the alleged strangler. MORE
Confessed Sabina Killer Donte Johnson Tells Judge He Can Afford New Six Figure Defense Attorney
PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: At last month’s pre-trial conference, Johnson surprised the court by revealing that he fired court-appointed attorney Lee Mandell and instead hired lawyer Douglas Dolfman. Dolfman’s first motion was to announce that his client will not accept a plea and instead wants a jury trial. It was revealed this morning that the state’s plea deal was life in prison plus 40-80 years. If convicted at trial, Johnson, who was 18 years old at the time of the murder, could face the death penalty. […] Judge Hughes told Johnson that the type of sophisticated defense that his case would require […]
CINEMA: A New Philly Repertory Film Blog Launches
CINEDELPHIA: Cinedelphia.com is a new online resource for repertory film screenings in the Philadelphia area. These types of screenings are often ignored by major showtime websites as well as the online counterparts of our city’s major publications. Adventurous movie-goers no longer need to visit multiple venue sites for listings as Cinedelphia provides a comprehensive overview with links directly to said sites’ event details. MORE
Would Casey Mahoney Still Be Alive If It Didn’t Take Eight Weeks To Enter DNA Into State Police Database?
INQUIRER: Rodriguez, a convicted felon, was required to submit his DNA when he was released from jail this summer. It had been waiting to be uploaded into the state police database since Oct. 25, because of a backlog that averages about eight weeks. Philadelphia police submitted DNA taken from the crime scenes on Nov. 23. Had his DNA been in the system then, he might have been identified about three weeks before the final victim was killed. MORE PREVIOUSLY: Police Have Strangler Suspect In Custody
Glenn Beck Declares ‘Philadelphia Sucks’; Says He Is Afraid To Walk Around Independence Mall After 6 PM
ATTYTOOD: “Philadelphia sucks,” Beck declares at the end of today’s rant, which is focused on his notion — and feel free to debate this, as I know you will — that it’s not safe to walk around the City of Brotherly Love at 6 p.m. (6 p.m.?) without getting robbed or shot. MORE PREVIOUSLY: Beck and his fellow right-wing gabber Sean Hannity got dumped today by the city’s top-ranked talk-radio outlet, WPHT 1210-The Big Talker, in a major shakeup aimed at keepin’ it local. While Hannity and Beck — nationally the No. 2 and No. 3 most-listened-to talk hosts behind […]
CLASS WARFARE: Ex-Swiss Bank Executive Turns Over Info On 2,000 Illegal Bank Accounts To Wikileaks
NEW YORK TIMES: A former senior Swiss bank executive said on Monday that he had given the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, details of more than 2,000 prominent individuals and companies that he contends engaged in tax evasion and other possible criminal activity, Ravi Somaiya and Julia Werdigier report in The New York Times. Rudolf M. Elmer, who ran the Caribbean operations of the Swiss bank Julius Baer for eight years until he was dismissed in 2002, refused to identify any of the individuals or companies, but he told reporters at a news conference that about 40 politicians and “pillars of […]