Normally, you’d think this was a good thing, right? But in the case the disbanding of Wolf Block, one of the city’s oldest law firms, it’s a very clear indicator that this recession shit is more real than even the doomiest doomsayers might have predicted a few months ago. Formed in 1903 and a longstanding [...]

I mean, hey, we could have told you that when we were undergrads at St. Joe’s! HIYO! No, but really: Historians digging around near Immaculata University believe they’ve found the storied mass grave site of 57 Irish workers who died near the site in the mid-1800s: In June, 1832, a group of 57 Irish immigrants [...]

It looks like PA State Rep. Mark Cohen may have spoken too soon: After letting it slip last week that he’d like to get a medical marijuana bill introduced in front of the PA House ASAP, other state pols are treating the prospect as you might expect — either deferring altogether, or standing on a [...]

Things have been eerily quiet lately from the camp of one Former Mayor John Street who, since the transfer of his office, has receded into memory faster than an episode of How I Met Your Mother. But His Shamefulness did pop up in a little item in yesterday’s Inky, who spotted him grumbling and shuffling [...]

Some of you may have wondered what ever happened to Redlasso, that awesome online video service that we (and loads of other blogs) were using a year or so ago. Redlasso, based in King Of Prussia, operated as a kind of streaming feed of all the major TV networks — right up until said networks [...]

Finally.

Come on Brett, I know you think you are famous and part of an “elite” social network, but being a friend of Arthur Kade and GN Kang doesn’t make you a celebrity. I don’t care if they think of you as “Studio 54,” you a not. [sic] You and your crew are just a group [...]

Well, Popped may be on the ropes, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have some sweet summer festival vibes, Philadelphia. News just broke that The PEX Summer Festival is scheduled for July 3-5 and whoa, we are already getting a heavy, heavy paint-yourself-gold-and-take-loads-of-GHB vibe offa this one. Organized by true-school underground house music heads The [...]

>>> At right: Not Michael Cera in a promo still for his new Tears For Fears cover band but in fact, a young Arthur Kade! Just one of the weird thrills provided by this interview with Arthur over at NEast Magazine. And yes, Northeast Philly has its own magazine now, which we will gladly take [...]

NYC’s Lissy Trullie is one of the freshest voices we’ve heard in a while. Her debut EP, Self-Taught Learner, has been on heavy rotation here in the office since the moment it appeared in our inbox. Check her out, and stay with Philebs — as the show draws nearer, we’ll have mp3s, videos and ticket [...]

Little featurette by Laughing Head Productions on the making of Mark Webber‘s directorial debut, Explicit Ills.

None other than Phils manager Charlie Manuel gets namechecked — as does the Phillies/Obama axis of awesomeness that so charged this region in the fall — in this piece on rethinking the American Dream in the new issue of Vanity Fair: Last year, I heard commentators say that Barack Obama achieved the American Dream by [...]

Pretty damned big, it would seem. Says our reader: “Eating lunch right now couldnt help but notice a larsen trap next to the trash can inside the library WTF?!” Seeing something around town of note? Cameraphone it to: tips[at]philebrity[dot]com.

File this one under decidedly Good News: The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance has just released the results of its first-ever Cultural Engagement Index, and it reveals Philly to be a vibrant, creative, culturally engaged city, despite, you know, everything else we know about Philadelphia. But the CEI is definitive evidence of our better nature: Based [...]

For years now, we’ve been hoping that someone, anyone, would purchase the SS United States in its lonely dock on the Delaware, and transform it into the historical attraction it has every right to be. Though it’s difficult to imagine as you stare at it from the window of Ikea, the SS-US was once the [...]

· For one, Morrissey would seem to be in the finest voice of his late career: We’ve seen a handful of Mozzer shows over the last few years, and last night found the man loose as a goose. He hit higher notes than we thought he could at this late date, he improvised, and we’re [...]

FRIDAY: >>> We caught Raphael Saadiq‘s “Live At Noon” concert on WXPN today and we have to say, it was probably the best “Live At Noon” they’ve ever done. Some tickets are left for his show at TLA tonight, so if phrases like “Funk Brothers,” “old school soul,” and “Sam Cooke” get you excited, get [...]

Tuesday night house show @ Branch Dividian House: Vivian Girls Herbie Shellenberger plays guitar in the band Brown Recluse Sings, and like a sizable portion of Philly’s indie rock scene, he’s made the trek down to Austin, TX for the 2009 SXSW fest/conference/clusterfuck/nonstopparty. He was kind enough to send us some snaps of some of [...]

So, Strongbox is this new bottle-service club opening this weekend at 2029 Walnut, where the old Monkey Bar space used to be. Helmed by the striped-shirt geniuses who brought you such no-fly zones as Pearl and Denim, that “bottle-service” tag should have been the first tip-off that here was a new nightspot by douchebags, for [...]

For we hear that The Sons & Heirs are the greatest Smiths cover band in the land.