On the morning of Monday, March 8, 2010 President Obama will visit the Philadelphia area and deliver remarks on health insurance reform at Arcadia University. This event is free and open to the public, however, tickets are required. Tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis on Saturday, March 6 at 3:30 PM in the Hospitality Room of the Kuch Recreation and Athletic Center at Arcadia University. EXHUMING MCCARTHY: Lynn Cheney’s Farenheit 9/11 HUFFINGTON POST: Back in January 2007, Ted Olson — then a lawyer in private practice but previously a lead counsel in Bush v. Gore […]
CINEMA: Steal This Movie
THE ART OF THE STEAL (2009, directed by Don Argott, 101 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC The Art of the Steal is nothing if not bold; it calls out Governor Ed Rendell, The Annenbergs and The Pew Charitable Trusts on charges of greed, conspiracy and vulgarism. EvenInky reviewer Carrie Rickey has been sited with charges of conflict of interest since the film opened. Passions run high when discussing the Barnes Foundation and its treasure trove of Impressionist and Modern Art and it gives the film a sense of urgency similar to those newsy documentaries about he folly of […]
SCRAPPLE TV NEWS: Piggie Of The Week
This week A.P. shames the predatory Pennsyltucky capitalists that own and operate private prisons and paid judges kickbacks for sentencing children who had committed minor crimes at best to jail time in their facilities.
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
THE NEWEST DEAL: Nutter Proposes Soda Tax And $300 Garbage Collection Fee To Cover Budget Gap
KYW: Saying “nothing worth having in life is free,” Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter on Thursday morning delivered a nearly $4-billion budget to City Council. And he asked for the lawmakers’ support for two firsts: a tax on soda and a fee for trash collection. Nutter proposed a flat $300 per year, per property trash fee (see previous story) and a two-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks (see related story). He said these will bring in an extra $184 million per year to save city services. MORE RELATED: William Dietz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CDC chief Thomas Frieden […]
THE EARLY WORD: Now It Can Be Told — ‘Benny & The Bums’ Is Actually Ben Vaughn In Disguise!
Now it can be told. Others have been sworn to secrecy, but not us, baby. That’s not the kind of swearing we do around here. We have it on good authority that this so-called ‘Benny & The Bums’ that is allegedly playing the M Room on Sunday is none other than Ben Vaughn in disguise! Not sure the reason for the secrecy, but if true — and we are 99.9% on this — then Sunday night at the M Room is a no-brainer. The grown-ups know what we’re talking about. Kids, school yourselves down below and plan accordingly. Yes, it […]
HOT DOC: The Yardley Playboy Mansion Party
Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and Yardley Borough Police DepartmentPress Release – March 4, 2010 Re: Incidents occurring in Yardley Borough on February 20, 2010, related to the Sixx-Pak Entertainment’s “Playboy Mansion Dance Party” Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler and Yardley Borough Police Chief James O’Neill issued the following statement today concerning the events which took place in Yardley Borough on the night of February 20, 2010. The investigation by the Yardley Borough Police in consultation with the Bucks County District Attorney’s office has to date not yielded evidence which would support criminal charges against the organizers of the […]
EXCLUSIVE: Animal Collective Flick Coming To Philly
The four-years-in-the-making Animal Collective film, Oddsac, will screen at International House on April 16th. The band is scheduled to attend for a post-screening Q&A. The film premiered at Sundance and screened at NYC’s School of The Visual Arts last night. We were in attendance and boy are our synapses tired! Dense, non-linear, lo-fi and head-fuckingly psychedelic, the 60-minute film is eminently reflective of the scary-beautiful soul of their music. As you read this, Animal Collective is in the middle of two three-hour performances at the Whitney as part of an art installation. Local angle: Oddsac was directed by Philly homeboy […]
CRACKDOWN: Cops Get Medieval On Flash Mob’s Ass
INQUIRER: Police arrested 18 juveniles for disorderly conduct this afternoon after a large group of teens became unruly in Center City, police said. Store owners on the 1400 block of Chestnut Street called police about 4:15 p.m. after a large fight broke out near a CVS drug store, said Lt. Frank Vanore, police spokesman. “The stores called us right away, and we moved in,” Vanore said. Police arrived on the scene minutes after receiving the call, and made the arrests as the mob of about 40 scattered. “We believe they may have been en route to the Gallery but never […]
TIM AND ERIC: Still Not Ready For Primetime?
Tim & Eric kicked off “Season Cinco” of their Adult Swim show Tim And Eric Awesome Show Nice Job! with this dead-on parody SNL’s opening credits circa the early 90s. Nice. PREVIOUSLY: PHAWKER TAWK: Q&A With Tim and Eric
U BETCHA: Sarah Palin Is Shopping A Reality Show
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] REUTERS: The former Alaska governor is teaming with uber-producer Mark Burnett (“Survivor”) to shop a reality series about her home state, network sources confirm. Palin and Burnett made the rounds at least three of the major broadcasters (NBC, ABC and Fox) while in Los Angeles for her taping of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” this week. Palin and her family would be on-camera in the show, which one executive described as “‘Planet Earth’ meets Alaska meets her family,” referring to Discovery’s high-definition nature hit. MORE ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The former candidate for the vice presidency was seen leaving […]
LA TIMES: Alice In OKland
KENNETH TURNAN: One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small, and the pills Tim Burton gives you don’t do very much at all. With apologies to Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” that more or less sums up “Alice in Wonderland,” the director’s middling new version of the Lewis Carroll tale. It has its successful moments but it’s surprisingly inert overall, more like a Burton derivative than something he actually did himself. […] Given the strength of Burton’s imagination, it’s not surprising that many of these creatures are engaging, especially if, like that rabbit, they are voiced by top […]