The Asteroid #4 play the Apollo Audio party with The Perfect Prescription DJs and VJ Nico tomorrow night at Silk City. There’s free beer at 9pm, some great giveaways, and more. Philebrity’s got a clutch of guest list spots as well, so if you want in, send an email to ihopeiwin[at]philebrity[dot]com with “APOLL-OMG!” in the subject header. Let’s do it, and enjoy the sounds: This new A4 record won’t be out until July.
CENTER CITY: Bicycles triumphed over other forms of transportation today during the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia’sCommuter Challenge. The Challenge pits a Septa bus, a PhillyCarShare car, and a bicycle enthusiast against each other — just like in real life! — to see who can make the best time from 45th and Spruce to the Municipal Services Building across from City Hall. Pat Cunnane, president of Fuji Bicycles, crossed the finish line in an impressive ten minutes and forty-five seconds. (Philebrity wants to know: Was he talking on the phone while he did it? ‘Cos that’s how we do.) The moral of this story is that two wheels can be faster and more environment friendly than four (or more) wheels. Too bad they didn’t include a unicycle, which would have been the greenest yet. [BCGP] CHINATOWN:A hundred and fifty tons of sand were dumped in Franklin Square earlier today to start the production of a large Philadelphia-themed sand sculpture. The sculpture will take about eleven days to create and is expected to be standing until the end of September. Independence Hall, The Franklin Institute, and the Phillies are just a couple pieces of Philadelphia included in the sculpture. [KYW] WEST FAIRMOUNT PARK:The Please Touch Museum will have a new home soon. The museum will be moving into Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park, which has been numerous things since its original construction, but lately has been desolate. The building is undergoing numerous renovations on the inside, as well as slight changes on the outside, such as remaining the street outside to the original name of “Avenue of the Republic”. The grand opening of the new museum is anticipated for October 18th [CBS3].
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters Life!) - Philadelphia’s gay community sought to dispel some sexual stereotypes when it held the city’s first gay rodeo.
About 50 contestants roped steers, cracked whips, and wrestled cattle to the ground during the weekend in an attempt to prove to themselves - and the rest of the world - that they are just as capable of tackling a traditionally macho sport as their straight counterparts.
“This proves that we are normal,” said Jen Vrana, president and founder of the Liberty Gay Rodeo Association, a 240-member group that was founded two years ago.
When we finally get around to organizing this place, remind me to put this in the file next to vegetarians who insist on eating fake meat, Jews For Jesus and graffiti artists who join the Anti-Graffiti Network. Oh, and Log Cabin Republicans. Can’t forget about them. Reuters: Wait ‘Til You Get To The Part About “Cow Dressing” Related:YTMND: Gay Stampede 2600
After the jump, Brian James Kirk looks down the social networking rabbit hole and finds an unbelievably annoying life that some of you are already living. Just hold on. It’s going to be OK.(more…)
After the jump, Dan Murphy’s shots from Friday night, including Thunderheist and Black Ghosts at the Barbary, and the Teenagers show at the North Star, plus an mp3 from The Teenagers. (more…)
You knew this day was coming. I mean, we told you it was coming. And today, the details of the aftermath of Earthlink’s massive public bedshitting have been revealed. Here’s what’s going down in short form:
· Current Earthlink Wifi customers in Philly will, um, enjoy a thirty-day transition period through June 12, 2008. Then the system is kaput.
· While all along, Earthlink had been saying that they’d leave the network in tact to either the City or a non-profit willing to take it all over, since no actual agreement has been reached, that ship has sailed: “Since we have exhausted our efforts to find a new owner of the network, our only responsible alternative now is to remove our network at our cost and assist our Wi-Fi customers with alternative ways to access the Internet.” That’s right, they’re pulling it all down. Every last node. Wireless Philadelphia, where in the sam hill are you during all this?
· And lastly, the paperwork: “EarthLink has also filed today a proceeding in federal court seeking a declaration that EarthLink may remove its equipment from the City’s street lights and that EarthLink’s total potential liability may not exceed $1 million.”
On behalf of this entire city: Earthlink, fuck you. You suck. Stockhouse: And Awayyyy We Go Previously:Dept. Of “Oooh, Scary” Threats: Earthlink Threatens To Shut Down WiFi That Doesn’t Work And Nobody Uses Anyway Technologicology Special Report: Like A Pussy Boyfriend, Earthlink Finally Breaks It Off With Wireless Philadelphia
>>> Jocelyn and Eddie’s plea bargain: Five years? Ooofa. In five years, they’re going to have, like, totally new kinds of breast implants and purple contact lenses and fiber optic hair extenstion. Ol’ Bonnie’s gonna be like Brendan Fraser in Blast From The Past! Pardon me, I have to jot this down, I just had the BEST SITCOM IDEA ever. [Inky]
>>> Brian Tierney on the shock of his life after taking over the Inky and the DN: It wasn’t the old editorial fuddy duddys that sucked, it was the suits. “There is a dearth of talent on the business side of this industry that is shocking to me,” he says. “No one goes to Wharton and says, ‘I want to run circulation at Knight-Ridder.’ ” In general, he adds, “the business side has let down the journalistic side of newspapers.” Ohhhhhh snap! BEWARE! [Portfolio]
>>> Nutter does battle with City Council and guess what? A lot of those promised tax cuts look like they’re about to get frittered away. Hey, somebody’s gotta pay for the batteries in Joan Krajewski’s voicebox. [KYW]
We’ll be honest with you: Ever since this whole NHL Playoffs trend of defacing the Rocky statue began, we’ve been pretty pumped. We’ve had it out for that piece of shit ever since John Street took whatever filthy lucre was necessary to get it out front of one of the great art museums of the world. It’s an embarassment, and it — the statue, and the people that put it there, for that matter — need to pay. And while we knew we couldn’t rely on a bunch of dirty French Canadians to get the job done, we at least thought that some Pittsburgh fans would go buck wild on the statue. You know, get all Hanson Brothers about it and shove some plastique explosive up its ass. But no: What we’re subjected to instead are videos like the one at right, where Pittsburgh fans merely drape Penguins gear on the Rock in the most dainty, gay way imaginable. It’s like they’re putting a fucking doily on the dude. And the LOVE sculpture? Half-assing that, too. All of which brings us to a little bit of a crisis of faith: Just what is the makeup of this team the Flyers are battling in the playoffs? Because we know this much: The Flyers can beat MEN. But doily-draping, tittering t-shirt hangers? We honestly have no idea. YahooSports: Attack Of The Doily Drapers
>>> Pete Best (pictured), original drummer in some band called OH MY GOD THE FUCKING BEATLES!!!!!!!!!, is playing at The M Room. What??? According to the note on the Village Green Productions website, expect “a 90 minute concert of the Beatles most famous songs from the Hamburg Period.” Translation: No “Yesterday,” which, while we love Paul (mostly Wings, weird as that sounds), you just can’t front on “Dizzy Miss Lizzy”-era Beatles style stuff. Ringo, you’re a punk. There. We’ve said it.
>>> Check Noontime Nuggetz for Michael Prince Rainbowbirthdayanthems at the Green Rock.
>>> Elsewhere, Sound of Kaleidoscope play at JB’s; and we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that the season finale of The Hills is on at 10. Saying.
· Not for nothing, is anybody else getting a heavy uwishunu vibe off of this thing? Fun fact: Both sites were NOT, in fact, designed by the same firm: Uwishunu was designed by Red Tettemer, and Philly.com was redesigned by Avenue A/Razorfish, which perhaps proves our longstanding theory that all ad agencies in Philly basically share a single, tired, bleeding brain that still listens to Moby and thinks silkscreened hoodies are really cool. And if you’re asking why Philly.com, who will need to redesign this site about once a year until God kills us all, have retained an outside firm when they really should have hired in-house developers, you probably work here! Hello, co-worker! Mind if I “borrow” this pen?
· Many have noted this already, but that scripty font for all the section headers? In certain countries, such flagrant violations of Good Taste In Typography will get you waterboarded or worse. Razorfish, you are a sham. This is a NEWS ORGANIZATION you’re working for. Must you so blithely exploit their vampiric desire for all things youthful in such a craven and admittedly hilarious way? But seriously: This new design sacrifices the old gravitas for the most hollow intimations of “fun” imaginable. Bad move.
· Finally: You can embed Philly.com videos. Bravo! Welcome to 2004!
· We must, for a moment, ponder the color scheme… OK. It’s been pondered: It’s dumb. Lose it.
· Anything we’re saying here has been said at great length in the comments here. Ouch.
· But for as much of a mess as this is — the blogs are still buried, most of them rightfully so, and the front page nav doesn’t give you that much that wasn’t there before — it shows that at least they’re trying. However, wishing (and throwing what we are guessing are unspeakable dollars to Razorfish) won’t make it so. Our advice to Philly.com is this: Wean yourself from the teat of outside agencies. Hire your own tech and design. Because you’re going to need them for all of time. We don’t wanna sound like harpies, but this thing is a mess, and you deserve better. And if you want something done right, you’re going to have to do it yourself.
>>> The day had been going along productively enough, right up until someone sent us Moe Tkacik’s horrifying (yet adventurous and weirdly, grossly fun) tale of that time she got a tampon stuck up inside her for a week. After that, we gotta say, we need a stiff drink and a walk around the park. It’s going to be that kind of week again, isn’t it? [Jezebel]
>>> But on the plus side, it did finally give me an appropos comparison point: Since I have no vagina, I can only imagine that having a tampon stuck inside of me, reeking and spewing vaginal regret every chance it gets, would basically be the female equivalent of a dude having to watch DMac and Johnny Goodtimesmake their insides burst by sporting inverted boners up into their n’esticles so as not to, well, sport boners in front of Kerri-Lee Halkett. (Video at right.) At which point, toxic shock syndrome would be a frickin’ godsend. [WillDo]
>>> And finally, Liz Spikol: “Mad Pride” poster girl? Hey, at least it’s better than having a tampon lodged in your hoo-hah or wearing whatever that shirt is that Goodtimes has on. [NYT]
You must pit the drawing of your heartstrings against a variety of dickbag personalities that could never have loved this band the way you did in 1988. The crowd was so cheesy that it was like hearing a grossly nauseating story at a dinner party. My eyes got a little heavy with the weight of memory during “Pictures of You,” and some girl the row behind me grabbed me and told me it was “okay to cry.” When I went to get beer, some chick grabbed my ass. When I tried to return, I caught an angry elbow from a douchebag that nearly knocked me over. There were fucking meatballs in the front row pointing around like they were cheering on a fight at a hockey game. The place was just like that.
After the jump, our boy Christopher Tucker survives The Cure show on Saturday night in much the same way that The Cure themselves survived it: Old school, and wearing big sneakers.(more…)
Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday night to The 4th Annual Philebrity Belle & Sebastian Dance Party — it’s safe to say this was the biggest one ever, as well as the drunkest. Special thanks to the staff at National Mechanics for making it all go so smoothly, and of course, to the pop group Belle & Sebastian for saving our lives. We’ll see you all next year! YapSnaps: There’s Too Much Love
Earlier today, we noted how Commisioner Charles A. Ramsey (God that takes a long time to type, we really need to get on the case with finding this guy a nickname like “The Frickinator” or “Don’t-Say-Fuck Chuck” or something) went on a soundbyte-producing tear on Friday, prompted by a reporter’s quibbling about Wikipedia’s definition of what an assault weapon technically is. While the life lesson here is NEVER TALK TO A COP ABOUT SOMETHING YOU READ ON WIKIPEDIA, Inky staffer Sam Wood says he had his reasons, and upon reflection, they’re actually pretty good. Mostly, he’s mad as hell, after being ” raked over the coals by every gunlubber between here and Pittsburgh” after he wrote about the SKS carbine, the weapon which killed Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. But that’s not really the half of it. After the jump, Wood pleads his case. (more…)
Philebrity is a cityblog covering the arts, gossip and media in Philadelphia. We've been here since October 2004, and we'll be here long after you move back to New York. Got a tip? Send it to tips[at]philebrity.com.
NOTICE:Interns wanted.
CENTER CITY: Bicycles triumphed over other forms of transportation today during the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia’s 
You knew this day was coming. I mean, we told you it was coming. And today, the details of the aftermath of Earthlink’s massive public bedshitting have been revealed. Here’s what’s going down in short form:
>>> 
>>> 
· Not for nothing, is anybody else getting a heavy 
Earlier today, 
