Eddie Griffin (May 30, 1982 — August 17, 2007) was an American professional basketball player. The Harris County Medical Examiner’s office has identified former Rockets power forward Eddie Griffin as the man who died when the SUV he was driving plowed into a moving train in southeast Houston last week. Officials said Griffin, 25, drove his Nissan SUV through a railroad crossing barrier, past flashing warning lights and into a moving train in the 5300 block of Lawndale about 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 17. The accident remains under investigation by Houston police. Griffin’s vehicle burst into flames on impact with […]
VIET NOW: 14 U.S. Soldiers Killed In Copter Crash
The Associated Press Wednesday, August 22, 2007; 5:08 AM BAGHDAD — A helicopter went down in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing all 14 U.S. soldiers aboard, the military said, the deadliest crash since January 2005. The military said initial indications showed the aircraft experienced a mechanical problem and was not brought down by hostile fire, but the cause of the crash was still under investigation. A U.S. military helicopter blasts dust as it lands near the site of a suicide truck bombing in the village of Qahtaniya, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007. More […]
EXCLUSIVE: Stephen A. Smith Stripped Of Column
UPDATE: The Philadelphia Inquirer confirms our story. * Inquirer sports columnist Stephen A. Smith has been stripped of his column and has been offered a job as a general assignment reporter in the Inquirer’s sports department, according to sources inside both the Inquirer and the Daily News. Things reportedly came to a head during a meeting last Friday, when Smith was told of his re-assignment. Smith reportedly told his bosses he would give them an answer when he gets back from vacation in two weeks. In the wake of painful lay-offs and general belt-tightening, Inquirer Editor-in-Chief Bill Marimow has been […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I COCK N’ ROLLED: Velvet Revolver, Camden, Last Night [CLICK FOR SLIDE SHOW] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Velvet Revolver is where rock stars go to die. It’s not quite heaven, and it’s not quite hell, but it will do. Perched halfway between artistic rehab and commercial purgatory, and hard rock in a hard place, Velvet Revolver is where empty-nester rockers — people like Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and pretty much everyone in Guns N Roses not named Axl Rose — go to detox from a life of chemical sin and await […]
CONFIRMED: Amy Winehouse’s U.S. Tour Cancelled
“Due to the rigors involved in touring, Amy Winehouse has been advised to postpone her upcoming September U.S. and Canadian tour dates,” Winehouse‘s publicist Tracy Miller said in a statement. “Amy’s European and U.K. tour dates in October and November remain in place. Plans are being made to reschedule her U.S. tour for early 2008. Until then, Amy has been ordered to rest and is working with medical professionals to address her health.” [NME] PREVIOUSLY: The Daisy Dukes Of Hazard PREVIOUSLY: God Save The Queen CONSOLATION PRIZE: Slide Show From May 4th, 2007 At The Electric Factory [photos by JONATHAN […]
MEDIA: VERY GROOVY BUILDING FOR SALE
Brian Tierney, chief executive officer of Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., said today that the company would sell the Inquirer Building*, which also houses the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, and downtown property to reduce debt and reinvest into the company’s media businesses. The company will offer the 18-story building for sale to real estate developers in an offering memorandum mailed nationwide in September. The company also is soliciting in the memorandum ideas for where to put the 950 journalists, ad people, executives, computer technicians, clerks and others who now work in the building, company officials said. The property entails the […]
POLITICS: Congressman Pat Murphy Endorses Obama
WASHINGTON – Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Bucks County Democrat, today endorsed the presidential bid of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. “I believe that Barack Obama is the best chance to change the direction of our country,” Murphy said in a telephone interview. “I’m inspired by his call to action to change how business is done in Washington.” “He is our most inspiring candidate,” said Murphy. As the only Iraq War veteran serving in Congress, Murphy might help to identify Obama as the favorite of voters opposing the war. The freshman senator has attempted to contrast his position against the war with […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
LABAN UNMASKED AND UN-ANONYMOUS, AGAIN Larry Platt on the unmasking of Craig LaBan and why his mag is running his photo in the September issue: In his editor’s letter, Philadelphia magazine’s Larry Platt writes that LaBan’s photo has already appeared in the Chestnut Hill Local and Ted Beitchman‘s Real Philly magazine. Platt says Philly mag has always protected LaBan’s identity, but “this whole debate of his anonymity just smacks of so much self-importance. Listen, the guy eats meals and writes about them. He’s not Valerie Plame, okay?” [via Gross] * BLOG WARS, THOSE CRAZY BLOG WARS From Attytood, the latest […]
HOLLA: Once Upon A Time, I WAS Superbad
BY JAMES ‘WOOK’ DOOLITTLE During the monotony that was my youth, the Granite Run Mall was a weekly destination of choice for the geeks I hung with, due in large part to the proximity of the new AMC multiplex (8 screens!), the mall’s two arcades, and the fact that there was — by popular misconception — a school of thought that the girls of western Delaware County were a notch or two above the girls of eastern Delaware County in the looks department. Not that we ever progressed past gawking at members of the opposite sex. We were, after all, […]
BREAKING: Michael Vick Pleads Guilty
RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 20 — Michael Vick, the star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, has accepted a plea offer from federal prosecutors in a criminal case stemming from a dog-fighting ring that was run from a property Mr. Vick owned. Michael Vick’s plea deal likely calls for prosecutors to recommend a lighter sentence as long as Vick cooperates with the government’s investigation. Mr. Vick will probably face a sentence of at least a year in prison under the deal. His future in the National Football League appears bleak. [NEW YORK TIMES]
DING-DONG: ‘Queen Of Mean’ Dead At 87
NEW YORK — Leona Helmsley, the hotelier who went to prison as a tax cheat and was reviled as the “queen of mean,” died Monday at age 87. Already experienced in real estate before her marriage, Helmsley helped her husband run a $5 billion empire that included managing the Empire State Building. For the better part of a decade, a glamorous Leona Helmsley smiled out of magazine ads dressed in luxurious gowns and tiara, advertising that the Palace was the only hotel in the world “where the Queen stands guard.” She became a household name in 1989 when she was […]
FUTURE TREND: Nude Beach Glaciers
BETTMERALP, Switzerland — Hundreds of naked people formed a “living sculpture” on Switzerland’s Aletsch glacier Saturday, hoping to raise awareness about climate change. The photo shoot by Spencer Tunick, the New York artist famous for his pictures of nude gatherings in public settings worldwide, was designed to draw attention to the effects of global warming on Switzerland’s shrinking glaciers. “The melting of the glaciers is an indisputable sign of global climate change,” said the environmental group Greenpeace, which co-organized the event. It said most Swiss glaciers will disappear by 2080 if global warming continues at its current pace.
PSA: Where Do Computers Go When They Die?
Local residents are being encouraged to donate unwanted computers, monitors, printers, scanners and other electronics to any of Goodwill’s 18 donation centers in the region. Any brand is accepted and donors are responsible for removing any personal data from hard drives and other storage media before donating. President and CEO Mark Boyd says Goodwill is joining with Dell computers in the Reconnect program: “Dell estimates that in the first year of our program just in the Philadelphia area, we’re probably going to generate about 4 million pounds of used computer equipment and no one wants to see that end up […]