INQUIRER: The seven members of Philadelphia’s Board of Revision of Taxes yesterday flatly refused Mayor Nutter’s request that they resign, saying they saw no reason to do so despite news reports that detailed chronic mismanagement and ethical lapses at the agency. Standing six abreast – Joseph A. Russo was absent – they said they would fight for their jobs, which pay $70,000 to $75,000 a year for part-time work. “I take it as a personal affront, quite frankly,” said member Russell Nigro, a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice. Though jointly funded by the city and the School District of Philadelphia, […]
BEING THERE: The Good News Flower Hour
This week: The last pig in Afghanistan, shit blowing up in Pakistan, anal torture in the UAE, face transplants in the USA, and Joe the Plumber is an assclown. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll come and go. Episode 20 coming later today.
EARLY WORD: Get Yerself In A Pickle
[Click image to activate Internets] BY BRENDAN SKWIRE How the hell did an old school hardcore punk kid like me get into old timey music? That’s a pretty short story. Even back in the day, I always loved older hardcore better than newer stuff. Youth of Today was fine, but Minor Threat was better (someday i will tell the story of how I made Ian Mackaye lose his temper), and the Sex Pistols was even better than that and so on and so on. The fact is, I’ve always loved old shit, so when I got a little older and […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Pure Pop For Now People
[Photo by PAVLA KOPECNA] BY DIANCA POTTS & KYLEE MESSNER New Yorkers Za Za took the stage of a sold out Barbary Wednesday night with the intention to hypnotize the crowd with marching band drumbeats and eerie pop vocals. Deeming their current tour “awesome,” the band started off their set with “Sooner or Later,” a tune overpowered by lead guitar distortion and a carefree bassist. Echoing from one song to the next, the band’s message was clear—play loud, look aloof, and make sure the crowd knows you are the best at what you do. (It doesn’t hurt when the much-anticipated […]
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 […]
HOUSE CLEANING: Mayor To Reform BRT, Slowly
UPDATE: Mayor Nutter called on all seven members of the Board of Revision of Taxes to resign this morning, and sent two bills to City Council that would eliminate the $70,000-plus salaries of future board members and bring a large portion of the agency’s funding under the mayor’s direct control. MORE INQUIRER: Mayor Nutter and City Council President Anna C. Verna declared yesterday that they intend to “reform, restructure or dissolve” the city’s independent Board of Revision of Taxes, which sets property values in Philadelphia. Citing Inquirer reports that have raised questions about the quality of the agency’s work and […]
WORTH REPEATING: The End Of The Internet
HUFFINGTON POST: Last month, the nation’s No.2 cable company Time Warner Cable announced plans to test a new billing system known as “metering” that charges Internet customers depending on how much they download. Customers who exceed their limit–say, by viewing online videos–would face steep penalties on top of their subscription rate. Time Warner Cable’s usage penalty would take the unlimited service we enjoy today (albeit slow compared to other nations), and make Internet more like cell phones, where you get overcharged by companies making record profits. It is the latest version of the Net Neutrality debate: should the companies that […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR In his new film Outrage, Academy Award-nominated director Kirby Dick (This Film Is Not Yet Rated) turns his camera on some of the nation’s most powerful policymakers — politicians, in both legislatures and executive suites, who live what some say are closeted gay lives while chalking up what activists describe as deplorably anti-gay voting records. Dick says he wants to “highlight the hypocrisy” by consulting openly gay politicians and journalists for their insights while talking to insiders about what they know. Dicks previous documentary films include This Film is Not Yet Rated, which looks at the byzantine world […]
SIXTH BOROUGH JUSTICE: City Paper Bags Hipster Grifter; Blogs Set Up & Takedown; Deeney Not Amused
CP: Kari Ferrell lies. She has lied about having cancer. She has lied about booking for Golden Voice. It’s been reported that she called the Philadelphia Police Department to turn herself in. I don’t know where that story originated, but that’s a lie, too. How do I know? I’ve been setting her up for the last few weeks. I had her arrested. Here’s how…MORE DEENEY: My name is Jeff Deeney, I’m also occasionally a contributor to the CP. I think the tone of this article is smug and self-congratulatory. I think this is a completely sensational story printed solely to […]
WORTH REPEATING: Tale Of Two Mikes
PHILLY MAG: On Inauguration Day, thousands of Philadelphians had lined up around City Hall just to shake his hand. Our expectations were overinflated. But the Nutter campaign had furiously worked the air pump, posing him as a bold reformer in a city that desperately needed change. In one commercial, Nutter literally tore the top off City Hall, throwing out the “bums … who have been ripping us off for years.” Our savior. But less than a year into office, he lost his brand. Pick an issue: Libraries. Union negotiations. Transparency in government. The budget. Casinos. Nutter either flipped positions or […]
EXIT THE FATMAN: Dom Deluise Dead At 75
WASHINGTON POST: Dom DeLuise, 75, the rotund comic actor whose frequent television appearances in the 1960s and 1970s helped propel a career in films in which he often teamed with director Mel Brooks and actor Burt Reynolds, died May 4 at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He had high blood pressure and diabetes, a family spokesman said. Mr. DeLuise had a broad, slapstick style of physical humor that was derived largely from his idol, Jackie Gleason. He was a master improviser of throwaway lines, gestures and bug-eyed looks of surprise delivered with casually perfect timing. He often played outlandish […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Hipster Grifter Docket
To be honest, we couldn’t give a shit about haven’t had the time to keep up with the the wacky exploits of the The Hipster Grifter, whose obligatory 15 minutes of Internet infamy came to an end Sunday with her arrest here in Philadelphia. But judging by your cards and letters, we can tell this is just the kind of meaningless story that brings meaning to your lives. And so we give you the arrest docket. May it serve you well. [Hat tip to JEFF DEENEY]
ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL: Historians Insist Gaugin Cut Off Van Gogh’s Ear, Not Van Gogh
THE GUARDIAN: Vincent van Gogh’s fame may owe as much to a legendary act of self-harm, as it does to his self-portraits. But, 119 years after his death, the tortured post-Impressionist’s bloody ear is at the centre of a new controversy, after two historians suggested that the painter did not hack off his own lobe but was attacked by his friend, the French artist Paul Gauguin. According to official versions, the disturbed Dutch painter cut off his ear with a razor after a row with Gauguin in 1888. Bleeding heavily, Van Gogh then walked to a brothel and presented the […]