PHAWKER: Let’s start with some basic bio info: where are you from, where did you go to school, how did you wind up in Philly, and what was the aha moment that made you want to become a photographer? E.C. ADAMS: I was born in Louisville, Kentucky. My parents died (at different times) when I was a small child; I then moved in with relatives in Lancaster, PA. I attended a small private school in Lancaster. After that, several “prodigal son” episodes were intermingled with stints at a few different universities, the last being Temple, where I was a French major. But the […]
LIFE LESSONS: The Meaning Of Life
With your guru, A.P. Ticker.
SIDEWALKING: The Sheltering Sky
Kimmel Center, Sunday 3:04 PM by JEFF FUSCO
Federal Judge Rules In Favor Of Local Ownership
NEW YORK TIMES: The chief executive of the bankrupt Philadelphia newspapers won a major court victory on Monday, keeping alive his bid to maintain local control of the papers and keep a group of banks and private equity funds from taking control. The financial institutions, who are owed close to $300 million by the company that publishes The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, had sought to make an auction bid that did not include a big cash component, relying instead on the debt they hold to determine the value of their offer – an action known as a credit bid. […]
iCATCHING: Apple Store Architect To Design Philly
INGA SAFFRON: Barely four years after Apple opened the store in the basement of the General Motors tower, Bohlin’s ethereal one-story structure – a glorified vestibule, really – has become a must-see attraction as well as Apple’s highest-grossing location. According to Cornell University scientists who analyzed 35 million Flickr images, the Cube is the fifth-most-photographed building in New York, the 28th worldwide. MORE
QUIET RIOT: Flash Mob Takes South Street
INQUIRER: At about 11 p.m. [Saturday night], as a group of about 50 teens approached 10th and South, trying to head back east, Ball called for assistance. “You need to get me five or six more officers,” he said, “so we don’t lose the ground we just gained.” One youth who declined to give his name explained why he was on South Street. “Some people call,” he said. “They tell you to come down, so you come down.” Sgt. Ray Evers said early Sunday morning police had made three arrests – two for disorderly conduct and one for aggravated assault. […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Actor Ben Stiller has starred in a wide range of movies, from big comedy hits like Meet the Parents and its sequel, Meet the Fockers, to indie films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Your Friends and Neighbors. In Noah Baumbach’s new film, Greenberg, Stiller takes a darker turn, playing Roger Greenberg, a 40-year-old ex-musician who’s just had a mental breakdown. After recovering in a hospital for several weeks, Greenberg agrees to house-sit at his brother’s place in Los Angeles. Alone in L.A. while his brother’s family is on a long vacation in Vietnam, he tries to reconnect with […]
THIS JUST IN: Passion Pit At The Mann
Sunday June 27th, with Tokyo Police Club. Tickets on sale Friday at 10 AM.
HOLY GOOF: How Cary Grant Passed The Acid Test
[Artwork by KURT KAUPER] WFMU: It was 1943. Cary Grant was starring in the motion picture Destination Tokyo; an action-filled wartime drama co-starring John Garfield and a deluge of racial slurs. While America was embroiled in the intense fighting of World War Two, Axis powers had surrounded the neutral country of Switzerland. Deep within Nazi surrounded boundaries, Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman was busy toiling away in a dimly lit laboratory, about to study the properties of a synthesis he had abandoned five years earlier. Hoffman was trying to devise a chemical agent that could act as a circulatory and respiratory […]
TRIBUTE: The Man Who Wasn’t There
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: For many who attended South by Southwest 2010, the final day of the conference was all about power-pop great Alex Chilton, who died at age 59 on Wednesday. It only made sense: As has often been said of the Velvet Underground, Chilton’s beloved band Big Star never sold a lot of records, but it often seems as if everyone who bought one started a band–or became a rock critic. And the largest gathering anywhere in the world of people who loved his music took place over the last five days in Austin. MORE ROLLING STONE: Just as everyone […]
ENDGAME: Got Waterloo?
NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON — Congress gave final approval on Sunday to legislation that would provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and remake the nation’s health care system along the lines proposed by President Obama. By a vote of 219 to 212, the House passed the bill after a day of tumultuous debate that echoed the epic struggle of the last year. The action sent the bill to President Obama, whose crusade for such legislation has been a hallmark of his presidency. Democrats hailed the vote as historic, comparable to the establishment of Medicare and Social […]
CINEMA: Cherry Bomb
THE RUNAWAYS (2010, directed by Floria Sigsmondi, 109 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Thirty-five years after their formation, The Runaways moment has finally arrived. Widely mocked, derided as puppets and mostly ignored during their musical run between 1975 and 1979, the band’s story is now mythologized for the big screen, starring two of the most popular actresses in Hollywood. There seems to be an authentic buzz at the possibilities of a Runaways bio and I’ll admit a critical desire to see them knock this hard rockin’ story out of the park. It gives me no pleasure to instead […]
Herb Denenberg, Consumer Watchdog, Dead At 81
INQUIRER: Herb Denenberg – the maverick television consumer advocate, newspaper columnist, and former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner – died last night at his home in Wayne of an apparant heart attack. Mr. Denenberg, 81, was probably best known for his 24-year run on WCAU-TV (Channel 10) where he served as an investigative consumer reporter from 1975 to 1998. As host of “Denenberg’s Dump,” he skewered the makers of hundreds of products. “The consumer has been screwed long enough,” was his battle cry and Denenberg speared his foes with an in-your-face approach and nasal whine. MORE PREVIOUSLY: Herb Denenberg is — as […]