[Photos by JAMES G. MUNDIE] PR NEWSWIRE: AOL City Guide has ranked Terror Behind the Walls as the No. 1 Haunted House in America. “To be chosen by America Online as the number one haunted attraction in the country is the pinnacle achievement for a haunted attraction,” said Timothy Gavinski, President of the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHAWEB.com). “The AOL list represents the best of the best and this top honor is rightly deserved by Eastern State Penitentiary’s Terror Behind the Walls.” Eastern State Penitentiary, located at 22nd Street and Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia, has scheduled a Pumpkin Champagne […]
ARTSY: Vlad The Impaler Was A Pain In The Neck
Vlad The Impaler [courtesy of the ROSENBACH MUSEUM] ‘Tis the season of the macabre, what with Halloween right around the corner and John McCain trying to scare as many white people as possible, and nobody was more macabre than Vlad The Impaler, the historic template for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. As governor of a region of what is modern-day Romania, Vlad was one of those guys that today we would refer to euphemistically as a ‘strong leader.’ A real hardcore ‘law and order’ kinda guy, Vlad ruled with an iron fist, or, more accurately, a sharp stick. According to Wikipedia: His […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Lee Atwater, the political operative who ran George H.W. Bush’s 1988 campaign — and introduced the nation to Willie Horton — was a man with a knack for bare-knuckle campaigning and a voracious appetite for life. A “guitar-picking rascal from South Carolina,” in the words of documentary filmmaker Stefan Forbes, Atwater could seem like a conundrum: He could share a nightclub stage with legendary bluesman B.B. King on the one hand while masterminding “vile and racist” political dirty tricks on the other. But these are the well-known things about Atwater: For his film Boogie Man: The Lee […]
HOT DOCUMENT: The Revolution Will Be Digitized
RADIOHEAD: IN RAINBOWS SALES DATA REVEALED Little more than a year since Radiohead’s October 10, 2007 pay-what-you-like self-release of its seventh album, In Rainbows, some conclusive statistics were made available at the recent “You Are In Control” conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.For those who missed coverage of the conference while engrossed in something as trivial as the Presidential Debates or the world economic collapse, the following is a summation of key answers to FAQs:* In Rainbows has sold three million copies thus far, a figure that includes downloads from Radiohead.com, physical CDs, a deluxe 2-CD/vinyl box set, as well as […]
Inquirer Editorial Page Editor Responds To Our Questions About The Paper’s Split Endorsement
HAROLD JACKSON: To answer your questions: Like most, if not all, editorial boards, we do not divulge our votes. Besides, in most cases, as it was in this one, we reach consensus rather than taking a formal vote. Secondly, like most editorial boards, we do not identify the writers of editorials, because the editorials represent a consensus opinion and not necessarily the opinion of any specific writer. Thirdly, almost every decision the board reaches on any topic is a split decision in that different points of view are expressed before consensus is reached. The Obama endorsement was no different. The […]
THE DUPLICITY OF NOPE: Vetting The Inquirer’s Cruel And Unusual McCain Sub-Endorsement
Today the Inquirer editorial board endorsed Senator Barack Obama, sort of. For reasons that remain unclear, the editorial board saw fit to issue a dissenting opinion, as if it were the Supreme Court. What the Inquirer editorial board is supposed to be is the conscience of a newspaper — in this case, a newspaper that is struggling to maintain relevance in a city that is overwhelmingly pro-Obama. On the day that lifelong Republican Colin Powell put country over party, reached across the aisle and endorsed the Democratic candidate for president, the Inquirer couldn’t even throw a bone to the dogs […]
THE POWELL ENDORSEMENT: Yes He Can
NEW YORK TIMES: Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president on Sunday morning as a candidate who was reaching out in a “more diverse and inclusive way across our society” and offering a “calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach” to the nation’s problems. The endorsement, on the NBC public affairs program “Meet the Press,” was a major blow to Senator John McCain, who has been a good friend of Mr. Powell for decades. Mr. Powell, a Republican, has advised Mr. McCain in the past on foreign policy. MORE POLITICO: Once considered a potential running mate […]
GAYDAR EXTRA: A ‘Big Time’ At Valanni
BY AARON STELLA GAYDAR EDITOR Never would I have thought that Valanni with its skinny little waist could birth such a heifer of an event as “Big Time” fashion show, but such was the case Thursday night. Designers from around Philadelphia showcased their reinventions of chestnut fashions from the ’80s, from the big hot pink hair, to the clunky jewelry, right down to the pastel spandex. Emceeing the event was interior-design debutante Brini Maxwell, bringing yet another lustrous layer of chic to the homage to retro. Well-wishers, admirers and fashion enthusiasts arrived in droves, dressed to the nines and pack […]
POWER TO THE PEOPLE: 175,000 Rally For Change
[via FLICKR] MSNBC: ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Obama rallied 100,000 people underneath St. Louis’ Gateway Arch on Saturday, according to St. Louis police — his biggest event in America to date — and laid out the differences between himself and his rival on taxes and other issues. Speaking underneath the landmark near the banks of the Mississippi River, Obama called taxes a values issue and said McCain’s proposals valued wealth more than the work that creates it. He refuted McCain’s criticism that his plan to provide tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans would amount to “welfare” for the 40 percent the […]
CABARET REVIEW: Dumpster Playin’
[Photos by THOMAS SHEEDER] BY AARON STELLA GAYDAR EDITOR The Dumpsta Players have done it again; this time, with their teaser-Halloween extravaganza. And how utterly timely of them to provide such gritty, yet sophisticated follow-up to an explosive night in Philly: Obama trouncing McCain once again, and the Phillies making a glorious comeback, rousing the city to pitched fever. I just clicked off the final presidential debates myself: McCain, looking like a rotten turnip with passion fruit plumper smeared across his lips, and anthropomorphizing into Darth Sidious whenever he flashed a smile; and Obama, thankfully, remained classy and unflappable to […]
THE BIG LIE: Obama Campaign Demands Special Prosecutor To Look Into ACORN Persecution
NEW YORK TIMES: Seeking law enforcement investigations into reports of fraudulent voter registrations in several states as an extension of the controversial firings of United States attorneys, the Obama campaign on Friday called for a review by a special prosecutor. Bob Bauer, general counsel for the Obama campaign, sent a letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and Special Prosecutor Nora R. Dannehy, who is investigating the attorney firings, requesting that Ms. Dannehy also look into the whether F.B.I. investigations of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, were politically motivated. In a conference call with reporters […]
EXHUMING McCARTHY: Assclown Congresswoman Calls The Obamas ‘Anti-American’, Demands All Of Congress Be Investigated For Anti-Americanism
HUFFINGTON POST: In a television appearance that outraged Democrats are already describing as Joseph McCarthy politics, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann claimed on Friday that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle held anti-American views and couldn’t be trusted in the White House. She even called for the major newspapers of the country to investigate other members of Congress to “find out if they are pro-America or anti-America.” MORE [The Young Turks: Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on MSNBC’s Hardball, October 17, 2008] HUFFPO: What makes the incident even more bizarre is that Bachmann is in a close congressional race and just this […]
SITAR HERO: Phawker Tawks With Anoushka Shankar
WIKIPEDIA: Anoushka Shankar (Hindi: ??????? ????), b. June 9, 1981, is a sitar player and composer in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, and Sukanya Shankar. Through her father, she is the half-sister of Grammy Award winner Norah Jones. Anoushka was born in London. When she was eight years old, her father began training her in the sitar. She gave a public performance at the age of thirteen; since then she has become a world famous sitar artist. The Indian Television Academy, Asmi, and India Times chose her as one of four Women […]