[Photo by KzAkabueze – ONEin12] CHRIS HEDGES: What was played out in the weeks after the attacks was the old, familiar battle between force and human imagination, between the crude instruments of violence and the capacity for empathy and understanding. Human imagination lost. Coldblooded reason, which does not speak the language of the imagination, won. We began to speak and think in the empty, mindless nationalist clichés about terror that the state handed to us. We became what we abhorred. The deaths were used to justify pre-emptive war, invasion, Shock and Awe, prolonged occupation, targeted assassinations, torture, offshore penal colonies, […]
IN A BETTER WORLD: Bill Murray Would Be Han Solo
POP CHART LAB: This shirt envisions what could have been had Bill Murray landed the role of Han Solo. The first in a series of The Lost Roles of Bill Murray shirts. These light grey shirts are constructed from a blend of 10% polyester and 90% ringspun cotton, which is the softest, smoothest, most awesomely infographical cotton available. MORE
EARLY WORD: Beggars Banquet
Anyone who dares call his/herself a foodie in this city already knows that Philadelphia’s second annual Feastival will take place tomorrow evening from 6-9 pm at Pier 9. Live entertainment, some of which has been appropriated from the Live Arts Festival, will accompany one of the most distinguished repasts on Earth that night: 75 of Philadelphia’s top restaurants and bars will be offering tastings, including names as illustrious as Buddakan, Capogiro, Lotus Farm to Table, Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Fish, Tria, and Xochitl. For entertainment, Montreal’s 7 Fingers, whose show Traces has toured the United States for years, innovative […]
GABBA: Kids Have All The Best Stoner-Friendly Shows
Hilariously trippy preview for SNL’s Fred Armisen’s appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba! PREVIOUSLY: I hadn’t been to the Mann since the mid-80s. I was in high school back then and as I recall they had a sweet system going to promote underage drinking. Any time there was a show, somebody would set up kegs in the semi-wooded areas just beyond the fences. How many? Twenty, fifty, a thousand, who knew? But it was beer paradise for thirsty 16 year-olds who otherwise had to take their chances and trek to that “special” distributor in Springfield that (almost) never carded. Outside of […]
FEUDALIST TARTS: Corporations No Longer Trying To Sell To The Vanishing The Middle Class
HUFFINGTON POST: As the wealthy continue to accrue capital — helped by policies like a low tax on profits from stock and real estate sales — and the less well-off classes try to make do in a pitiless economic climate, corporations appear to be finally recognizing the reality of the prosperity gap, and tailoring their product lines accordingly. Manufacturers like Procter & Gamble, the household-goods giant responsible for everything from Charmin and Old Spice to Tide, are concentrating their efforts on luxury and bargain items, putting less emphasis on products aimed at the middle class, the Wall Street Journal reports. […]
BEIRUT: Santa Fe
Beirut plays the Electric Factory on November 13th.
SIDEWALKING: Super Bad
Third & Fairmount, Sunday 12:34 PM by JONATHAN VALANIA RELATED: The T.A.M.I. Show was all about showcasing the new. James Brown arrived at the Civic Center and was promptly informed of what the Stones already knew. “I remember James coming up and saying ‘Of course I’m the last act on the bill, right?’ ” says Steve Binder, director of the T. A. M. I. Show. “I told him, ‘No, actually you’re going to be followed by the Rolling Stones.’ James looked at me and smiled and said, ‘Nobody follows James Brown.’ ” Backstage the five Rolling Stones, weary from endless […]
FRINGE REVIEW: Wars & Whores
BY BRANDON LAFVING FRINGE CORRESPONDENT I have always wanted to rip that stiff-necked Victorian collar right from under Bill Shakespeare’s chin, you know, just to let the man breathe, let loose and have a bit of fun. These sentiments seem to be shared by the Underground Shakespeare Company, which presented its own new and improved adaptation of Henry IV in the Philly Fringe this year with musical interludes, cheap sex, and bloody brawls that punctuate the original script with bawdy home-on-the-range, goodness. This is not the first production of the Underground Shakespeare Company, which was founded in 2001 by Akiva […]
WELCOME TO THE TERRORDOME: A Conversation With Dana Priest Of The Washington Post
BY JONATHAN VALANIA Last December, The Washington Post published a multi-part investigative series by Dana Priest and William Arkin that attempted to quantify the astonishing growth of the security-industrial complex in the wake of 9/11 and found that the exact parameters of that massive expansion are effectively unknowable. The series, which has been expanded into book form and recently published as Top Secret America: The Rise Of The New American Security State, boils down to this: The national security state “has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many […]
GOING POSTAL: How The Republicans Are Bankrupting The Postal Service For Fun And Profit
OP-ED NEWS: The root cause of the financial distress that the Postal Service is going through is overwhelmingly caused by Congressional mandates that were imposed upon the Postal Service. Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), which was signed into law by President G.W. Bush on December 20, 2006. Under the guise of modernizing the Postal Service for the 21st Century, it actually doomed the Postal Service. If not for the PAEA, the Postal Service would be functioning fine even with the impact of email and the financial collapse of 2008. One of the provisions of the […]
SIDEWALKING: Bolt Thrower
Sky over Philadelphia, last night, by RAY SKWIRE
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: No More Pussyfooting, Barry
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY One of the biggest gripes I’ve had lately (like for the past three years) with this administration is its seeming total lack of an offense — the foresightful OR the reactive variety. As a matter of fact, at times it’s been enough to make this card-carrying progressive wonder just who’s side they’re on. Now, I know that a damn good defense can, and more often than not, does, win football games but unfortunately for us Democrats, history continues to prove that even an outstanding defense seldom if EVER wins in the political arena. To put it […]
IGGLES: The Week That Was
[Photo by SUNNYDAYZ87] BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY Today’s Eagles game got really boring in the 2nd half. The good kind of boring. As in no drama, no uncertainty, complete control. An Eagles win seemed so secure, but then you’d look at the scoreboard and see 24-13 and realize that the Rams were still within reach, even though it felt like it was over. This game reminded me of last year’s Week 2 contest at Detroit (Vick’s first start). On the road, in a dome, against a poor but improving team. If you remember that game from last year, you’ll […]