Urban Farming is the topic of the timely documentary film, Urban Roots, which explores the urban farming phenomenon in Detroit, Michigan. Food grown locally in community gardens and urban farms is starting to make a positive impact for families faced with food challenge issues in Philadelphia. Drexel University will host the Philadelphia theatrical premiere of Urban Roots tomorrow night (Tuesday, February 7th) at 7:30 PM in the Bossone Research Center (3140 Market St.). After the screening, members of Philadelphia’s urban farming community and the film’s director, Mark MacInnis, will focus on Philadelphia urban farming and how to get involved. Prior to Urban Roots, there will be a screening of Drexel School of Film & Video alum’s, Clay Hereth’s documentary short, West Philly Grown, at 6:30 PM.

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On the wall, Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR, 2/6/12 by JONATHAN VALANIA

FRESH AIR

Meryl Streep is known for completely enveloping herself in her characters, capturing their nuances, speech patterns and personalities. In her films, she’s transformed herself into such disparate people as the chef Julia Child, the writer Susan Orlean and plutonium-plant worker Karen Silkwood, winning countless honors and awards along the way. In her latest film, the biopic The Iron Lady, Streep once again fully inhabits a real-world figure — this time former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her performance has already won her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, and has earned rave reviews from critics, including Charles McGrath in The New York Times, who wrote that Streep “seems even more Thatcher-like than Mrs. Thatcher.” As with all of her roles, Streep conducted extensive research about Thatcher’s life before filming began. She learned that Thatcher carried around notecards with quotations from Lincoln and Shakespeare, and that she took voice lessons to sound more confident in her speech patterns. “I remember reading that Lawrence Olivier had something to do with arranging for her to have [voice lessons],” she tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “He said he wouldn’t care to do it himself, but he steered her in the direction of a good vocal coach. And she did go, and it did help her and and was part of the Pygmalion process.” MORE

HUFFINGTON POST: Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation’s leading anti-breast-cancer charity, has insisted that its since-reversed decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood arose from a routine change in criteria for grant eligibility that had nothing to do with abortion politics. But a Komen insider told HuffPost on Sunday that Karen Handel, Komen’s staunchly anti-abortion vice president for public policy, was the main force behind the decision to defund Planned Parenthood and the attempt to make that decision look nonpolitical. “Karen Handel was the prime instigator of this effort, and she herself personally came up with investigation criteria,” the source, who requested anonymity for professional reasons, told HuffPost. “She said, ‘If we just say it’s about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.’” Emails between Komen leadership on the day the Planned Parenthood decision was announced, which were reviewed by HuffPost under the condition they not be published, confirm the source’s description of Handel’s sole “authority” in crafting and implementing the Planned Parenthood policy. Handel’s strategy to cut off Planned Parenthood involved drafting new guidelines that would prevent Komen from funding any organization that was under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. Since Planned Parenthood is currently the target of a congressional inquiry prompted by House Republicans into the way it uses government funds, the family planning provider would have been immediately disqualified from receiving new Komen grants. MORE

COLOR LINES: Handel’s staunchly anti-gay comments are surfacing as a number of Komen employees leak information that she’s responsible for cutting ties with Planned Parenthood, a decision the pink-ribbon foundation reversed on Friday. Below is the video of Handel’s interview with WXIA in which details she’s against gay marriage, same sex partners getting benefits and anti gay adoption.

WXIA’s Doug Richards: You have said that you are — you’re against gay marriage, right?

Handel: Mm hm. Absolutely. Marriage is between one man and one woman. And I’ve been very very clear about that. And the record is clear about any of the other issues like domestic partner benefits or anything like that. In fact in Fulton, I voted no on domestic partner benefits.

Q: Are you against civil unions for gays?

A: Yes. I think that’s not an issue that has come forward in Georgia. We have the constitutional amendment against gay marriage, and I don’t want to see any taxpayer funding going toward benefits etcetera for a couple that is not married. In our state and for me, marriage is for one man and one woman.

Q: Why is that?

A: Why is marriage between one man and one woman? (Laughs). Are you serious?

Q: Yes. Well why — do you view committed gay relationships as being less legitimate than committed heterosexual relationships?

A: As a Christian, I view relationships and marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Q: But what about the legitimacy of the relationship? Do you have any gay friends? Do you know gay couples?

A: Of course I do. Are we going to spend our whole day talking on this issue?

Q: I want to know how you feel about this.

A: I’ve been very clear. And you know, as a Christian, marriage is between a man and a woman. I do not think that gay relationships are — they are not what God intended. And that’s just my viewpoint on it. Others might disagree with that. But I would also hope that if you look at what is happening in our state, we’ve got issues we need to be focused on in Georgia. We have a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. And it’s something that I supported wholeheartedly. We have that, and let’s get dealing with the other issues that we also need to deal with in Georgia. And the press can help with that. (Laughs).

Q: Frequently, folks in the legislature kind of threaten to — there are always rumblings in the legislature that they may outlaw gay adoptions. You’re against gay adoption.

A: I am against gay adoption. But remember — I mean, if there is legislation on that, certainly I will follow that and look at it. But in the end, ultimately courts are going to be the ones to have to make the decision on that and it’s always in the best interests of the child. Do I think that gay parents is in the best interest of the child? No. But we do have our court system that deals with many and most of those issues.

Q: Would you favor outlawing gay adoptions?

A: Yeah, I would consider that, absolutely. MORE

RELATED: “Everybody in the organization wishes she would do the right thing,” the Komen insider told HuffPost.

BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY So the Giants won. I hate them. At least the Patriots lost. Hate those cheaters too. Now let’s review the commercials. A true Super Bowl Ad can only air while the game is being played, so pregame and halftime ads are out. Forget the “straight” ones too…the car commercials, movie trailers, TV promos and others that just aren’t going for a laugh. The rest were trying to be funny or cool, and I’ve given them a ranking from 0-10. Anything that scored a six or higher I considered funny. The strategy now is to try to get publicity by releasing the ad early; I took pains to avoid seeing any of these commercials beforehand, so I could judge them in context. The last two years, Unfunny has had the edge, winning 27-21 last year and 28-21 the season before. Would 2012 be the year the laughs had the edge? Don’t hold your breath.

First Quarter:

Bud Light Platinum: This is our leadoff spot? Not funny or cool or relevant. And there’s no way to make Bud Light “Platinum”…swill labeled platinum is still swill. 2

Audi “Vampires”: Really going places until the tagline, “Daylight, now in a headlight”. Who out there is disappointed with their headlights? So stupid. 3

Pepsi “Elton John”: I liked the beginning and the end, when Flavor Flav showed up. My expectations are dropping, something’s got to pass. 6

Hyundai “Cheetah”: People mauled by animals=hilarious. Not. 2

Bud Light Platinum #2: People get paid to get shitfaced at work. Or they stay after hours and get shitfaced with their coworkers, all of whom are under 25 and attractive. I love America. 1

Naked M&M: Lets appeal to the Lowest Common Denominator…I see your underwear!! 3

Best Buy Phones: You can buy a phone there. 1

Coca-Cola Polar Bears: He won’t uncross his arms even though he loves coke. 2

Chevy Mayan Apocalypse: It’s hard to hand out good scores to such mediocrity, but if I don’t start getting generous, it’s going to be all 1s and 2s. 6

Bridgestone Tire-Football: Not funny, but not moronic 4

Go Daddy.co This campaign has been terrible for years. The Hooters of domain name registries. Sorry, Hooters. 0

Second Quarter:

Budweiser “Prohibition Over”: Then they tasted Budweiser, and voluntary prohibition resumed. 4

Doritos “Missing Cat”: I laughed. Dead cats are funny. 7

Camaro Graduation Gift: Sorta funny, not stupid or offensive. They still make commercials like this? 7

Tax Act Kid Pees in Pool: Cute kid. But the ad makes no sense. Still, messing with sisters is worth something. 6

Volkswagon “Fat Dog”: Cute spot, plus played on last year’s Darth Vader ad. 6

America’s Got Talent w/Howard Stern: A firehose? 4

H&M w/David Beckham: Been aching for a chance to see David Beckham shirtless with all his awful tattoos. They want $15 for those tighty whities? Fuck off. 1

Coca-Cola Polar Bears #2: Polar Bears don’t slip on ice, they are adapted to it. Get a zoological consultant. 1

Chevy Sonic “Stunts”: That looks like a good way to waste money. The stunts, not the ad. Actaully, the ad too. 3

Teleflora.com “Valentine’s Night”: “Give and you shall receive” she said. No matter what I give, all I’m going to receive is anecdotes about how much she hates work. 3

Sketchers “Dog Race”: In 2012 America, this moonwalking dog is highbrow. Why did we need Mark Cuban? 6

Cars.com “confidence”: Maybe I’m getting giddy already, but that singing head cracked me up. “Hey baby I really want that car.” Probably creeped a lot of you out. 6

Doritos baby snatch: Too dangerous for a baby. 2

ETrade Talking Baby: I swear that 30 seconds before this ad I said to my wife, “Hey, no talking babies this year.” If only. 1

Halftime: I love it when MIA talks dirty to America with her finger. I loved that Madonna was led on the field by 45 Trojans. That’s about how many rubbers I’d need before I’d stick it in Madonna. World Peace, yo.

Third Quarter:

xfinity “House-on-Wheels”: I guess this was a good metaphor for internet speed. But I hate Comcast. 0

Progressive.com “Flo”: This campaign can’t go away quickly enough. I swear to never use Progressive. 1

Fiat Abarth: My first car was a Fiat. Sadly, a hot chick alone does not make a good commercial. 5

Pepsi Max for life: maybe they were only given 15 seconds to come up with an idea. Otherwise, inexcusable. 3

Camry reinvented: passable. 6

Coca-Cola Polar Bears #3: Get back in the cave, you’re missing the game. And that’s, like, your fourth Coke. Ease up. 1

Oikos yogurt: Misandrous and cruel. He was just being playful. And the yogurt looks crappy. My least favorite non-talking-baby ad of the Super Bowl. So far. 0

Century 21 “Smarter Bolder Faster”. I just didn’t get it. If she was “smarter”, she wouldn’t have told Donald Trump that he had overpaid. Any businessman who feels he’s been had will be less likely to make future deals. In Deion’s house, I feel that the unicorn, rhythmic gymnasts and especially the DJ would only distract from the house showing and possibly lead to unnecessary questions about what was included with the home. Deion’s cookies were a much simpler and more personal idea. A very stupid ad. 2

Acura NSX: Jerry Seinfeld with the Soup Nazi, aliens, ziplines and Leno. Quality. 8

Budweiser “War is Over”. Way too distracted by what they had done to that Cult song to follow this bizarre ad. Didn’t hate it, so we’ll say innocent until proven guilty. 6

Bridgestone Tire Basketball: I don’t know. OK I guess. That tire basketball sure was quiet. Ultimitely failed for overpaying for Tim Duncan and Steve Nash when they were completely unnecessary. 5

NFL Million Dollar Giveaway: Super-short but funny. 6

NFL Evolution: That was CGI wasn’t it? It looked real, but I don’t like fakery. 3

Acura NSX with Seinfeld: Again? Funnier the first time. If you’re going to buy two slots and pay for Seinfeld, make two commercials you lazy bums. You don’t pay writers? 4 (half of original score)

4^th Quarter:

Honda CRV: With Ferris Broderick. Not quite a home run but I was smiling through the whole thing. 7

Metlife Cartoons: Lots of great cartoon characters that had absolutely no connection to anything, especially the product. 4

Hyundai Passenger Faints: I know it’s hard to be funny and advertise a car simultaneously. 4

Bud Light “Here Weego”: I pretty much always hate the Bud Light commercials just slightly less than I hate Bud Light. This one was better than usual, in an “SNL Sketch” way…one joke told 38 times. I’m feeling generous. 6

Kia Optima Sandman: Awesome. They had me from the point the Sandman slipped and dumped all that fairy dust on our protagonist. Motley Crue blows but this ad kicked ass. 9 [Really? Old Motley Crew is old.–The Ed.]

Careerbuiler.com Monkeys in office: monkeys=always funny. 7

NBC Thursday lineup: I know I said promos were out, but this was more like a commercial. And kinda funny. Couldn’t they just take turns cranking the wheel? 5

Samsung Galaxy Note: Was that really the guy from The Darkness singing “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”? I’ve never liked parades, and I care even less for wild overreaction to technology that will be obsolete by summer. This commercial bugged me.1

Go Daddy “Dream”. Ugh. There isn’t even any camp value. +1 for scantily clad babes. 1

Final Score: Unfunny 32, Funny 16. It’s a drubbing, much worse than the previous two years. Thank the Polar Bears and goDaddy. The winner is Kia Optima “Sandman”, which would have been perfect with a better band. At least Motley Crue was probably dirt cheap.

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Perhaps most outraged is the Parents Television Council. PTC President Tim Winter released a statement taking NBC to task for the slipped finger. “NBC fumbled and the NFL lied because a performer known as M.I.A. felt it necessary to flip off millions of families,” Winter said. “It is unfortunate that a spectacular sporting event was overshadowed once again by broadcasting the selfish acts of a desperate performer.” Sunday night, a source close to M.I.A. said the performer had been struck with “a case of adrenaline.” “She wasn’t thinking,” the source said. “It wasn’t any kind of statement. She was caught in the moment and she’s incredibly sorry.” MORE

PHAWKER: Not sure which is lamer, him whining about it or her apologizing for it. But this much is clear if it weren’t for Puritanical prudes like the Parents Television Council re-enforcing outdated notions of obscenity and decency that gives taboo its power to offend, the middle finger would be regarded as no more or less ‘dirty’ than the other nine.

BY MIKE WALSH If you enjoy Weegee’s famous crime and disaster scene photos from the 1930s and 1940s (as who doesn’t?), get yourself to the International Center of Photography (ICP) in Manhattan where Murder is My Business, an exhibition of Weegee’s most famous photos recently opened. Weegee’s photos are fun, trashy, insensitive, and full or suffering and blood. What’s not to like?

The great thing about this exhibition is that it includes wall plaques of information about the specific car crashes, tenement fires, suicide, and gangland murders depicted in the photos. It does not leave you speculating about why the people pictured at the scene of these lurid scenes are behaving in such strange ways.

The exhibit also includes police photos of the same scenes along side Weegee’s photos, so you can compare a plain, utilitarian photo with one composed by Weegee. This comparison shows that Weegee almost always included spectator reaction. In fact, many shots in the exhibit are nothing but crowd reaction, either spectators in shock, amused, goofing off, or crumbling emotionally from the loss of a loved one. Weegee’s photos of fires were almost never of the actual fire, but usually of people emerging from the burning building or watching the building burn. His ability to incorporate the human impact of tragedies into his photos at least partially explains Weegee’s success. It puts the viewer at the scene. The emotion is more immediate.

Many displays in Murder is My Business also contain actual newspaper or magazine spreads in which Weegee’s photos appeared. So you get not only the museum perspective of a raw Weegee print, but you see how his dramatic, lurid photos were presented to the public. The photos frequently appeared above the fold on the front page with a screaming headline and a caption reeking of indignation at the moral turpitude of Gotham’s citizenry.

During those most famous and productive years of Weegee’s long career, he lived in a Spartan room next to a police station, and that famous room is partially recreated in the exhibit. When Weegee would hear reports of a shooting or fire, he would hi-tail it in his car to the scene, usually arriving within minutes and often before other press and the police.

Amazingly, he had photo processing gear setup in the trunk of his Chevy, so he would shoot the scene, print photos, and sell them to reporters from other newspapers and magazines within minutes. One photo in the exhibit shows him sitting at the open trunk of his car at the scene of a disaster typing copy to appear with one of his sensationalistic photos. Another shows Weegee proudly displaying a check stub from Life magazine for $35 for photos from two murder scenes. The one with the bullets earned him slightly more, he explained at the time.

Weegee, whose real name was Arthur Fellig, grew up in a poor immigrant family, so he knew the value of a dollar and learned to hustle at an early age. One of his first jobs was as a photo developer. He soon took up photography, and realized that he could earn a living taking photos of car crashes, mob hits, fires, drownings, etc.

With just the right set of skills, proximity to urban violence, a portable police-band shortwave radio, a willingness to hustle, and no sensitivity for the privacy or misfortune of others, Weegee became the country’s first freelance photographer, even though he had no formal training in photography. Such a profession did not exist before Weegee. No disaster was too bloody or the suffering too great or too private for Weegee’s camera. We can assume the subjects front and center in his photos weren’t asked to sign releases and weren’t given royalties either.

He also became an expert at self-promotion, and the exhibit shows many of his staged self-portraits–Weegee at a crime scene with the corpse, Weegee examining evidence in a police station, Weegee interviewing a suspect, and even Weegee behind bars. He signed many of his photos “Weegee the Famous.”

The exhibition also recreates Weegee’s first public exhibit of his photography in New York in 1941, also titled Murder is My Business. A photo shows Weegee preparing for the exhibit by painting red fingernail polish on a black and white photo, so no one would miss the blood.

Weegee credited much of his good fortune to Murder Inc., a nickname given to the hit men who gunned down thousands of people in the tough New York City neighborhoods during those years. He claimed to have photographed over 5,000 murder victims, referred to himself as the “official photographer of Murder Inc.,” and was friendly with mobsters like Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, and Legs Diamond.

Weegee usually worked at night and most of his shots were taken with a flash, which produced flat, harsh photos, a style that became synonymous with Weegee and tabloid photography. These are not photos of detail or subtlety; they are of raw emotion and loss, which the style heightens.

And if that’s not enough Weegee for you, head to the Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea (521 W. 23rd St.). Naked City displays another hundred of so examples of Weegee’s photography and shows that Weegee was about more than urban violence and mayhem. It includes photos of celebrities at night clubs, partygoers, young women swooning at a Frank Sinatra concert, a midget in a diaper at a bar, hefty cabaret performers laughing, and more. Weegee captured Manhattan at night in the 30s and 40s like no other.

Naked City at Steven Kasher Gallery runs until Feb. 25. Murder is My Business at the International Center for Photography runs until Sept. 2. The entry fee is $12.

[Click to enlarge]

In theaters May 25th, just in time for camp.

[Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA]]

We’re out in Portland for a few days to interview The Shins and the Mayor Sam Adams. More on this later. We’ll be back in action Monday!

BY MIKE WALSH One complaint about Andy Reid and the Eagles during the Donovan McNabb era was that Reid never provided McNabb with the quality wide receivers needed to win a Super Bowl. That’s a legitimate complaint as Eagles fans and McNabb suffered through season after season with sub par receivers like Charles Johnson, Torrance Small, Todd Pinkston, James Thrash, Greg Lewis, L J Smith, Kevin Curtis, Freddie Mitchell, and Reggie Brown.

Of course, 2004 was the exception when the Eagles signed Terrell Owens. Owens went on to have one of the best years for a wide receiver in Eagles history. Not coincidentally, McNabb had his best year, and the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, during the next year Owens realized the Eagles had given him a poor contract, the Eagles wouldn’t re-negotiate, so the Eagles and Owens self-destructed in 2005.

It was odd that a team who finally had a good WR wouldn’t pay him like one, while the team continued to pay a player like Jevon Kearse, a defensive end they had signed in 2004 to an exorbitant contract, even though Kearse’s performance was pedestrian at best. A team that does not pay good players and overpays average ones is one that does not win Super Bowls, especially in the age of a salary cap, as we’ve seen with the Eagles and Reid. And the Eagles have continued to make mistakes with WRs, most recently with DeSean Jackson.

Consider Donte Stallworth. He came to the Eagles in 2006, had a good year (even though he missed four games with an injury), but the Eagles chose to not re-sign him. Instead, the Eagles signed a WR by the name of Kevin Curtis to a $32 million six-year contract. Curtis actually had fewer receiving yards and fewer touchdowns than Stallworth in 2006, but the Eagles went with a lesser player and paid him a ton of money. Curtis subsequently had one decent season, 2007, got hurt the following year, and has hardly played since.

Later in 2006, the Eagles signed Reggie Brown to a five-year $27 million contract extension. In 2007, Brown had a very good year and his future looked bright. But in 2008 and 2009, Brown’s productivity inexplicably lapsed, and he is now out of the game.

In 2008, the Eagles luck with wide receivers started to change. In the 2nd round they drafted DeSean Jackson. In the four years since, Jackson has amassed over 4,000 receiving yards, 1,200 punt return yards, 25 touchdowns, and been selected for a couple Pro Bowls. You’d think that the Eagles would recognize that they have a gifted player who helps them win games and would want to keep him. Instead, the Eagles have played hard ball with Jackson on his contract. Rather than sign him to a contract extension commiserate with those stats, the Eagles have made Jackson play out the very inexpensive 2nd round rookie contract he signed in 2008 — four years for $3 million.

Now you might point out that the Eagles are simply being prudent for not paying any more to Jackson than his rookie contract stipulates. Other teams have done the same with star players, including Tennessee with Chris Johnson and Chicago with Matt Forte. I would argue that the prudent thing is to pay the most productive WR they’ve had since Reid has been in Philadelphia to a contract that is equitable with his production. Otherwise, they risk pissing him off and losing him to free agency. In fact, it’s obvious that they’ve already pissed him off. It’s just a matter of whether they’ll lose Jackson over it.

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[via ABC NEWS]

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PUBLIC INTELLIGENCE: A flyer designed by the FBI and the Department of Justice to promote suspicious activity reporting in internet cafes lists basic tools used for online privacy as potential signs of terrorist activity.  The document, part of a program called “Communities Against Terrorism”, lists the use of “anonymizers, portals, or other means to shield IP address” as a sign that a person could be engaged in or supporting terrorist activity.  The use of encryption is also listed as a suspicious activity along with steganography, the practice of using “software to hide encrypted data in digital photos” or other media.  In fact, the flyer recommends that anyone “overly concerned about privacy” or attempting to “shield the screen from view of others” should be considered suspicious and potentially engaged in terrorist activities. Logging into an account associated with a residential internet service provider (such as Comcast or AOL), an activity that could simply indicate that you are on a trip, is also considered a suspicious activity.  Viewing any content related to “military tactics” including manuals or “revolutionary literature” is also considered a potential indicator of terrorist activity.  This would mean that viewing a number of websites, including the one you are on right now, could be construed by a hapless employee as an highly suspicious activity potentially linking you to terrorism. MORE