When we last cast our eyes in the general direction of Alexis Rosenzweig‘s Popped Festival, things were looking pretty grim. But news finally broke this morning that the Fest has a new lease on life, as part of a massive Second Street Festival in Northern Liberties on Saturday, June 20th. That fest in NoLibs will [...]

Like you, we spent much of yesterday on a deed of double decadence: Lying around in the air conditionings — IN APRIL, MIND YOU — and learning all about Swine Flu so that we could better fantasize about our own very romantic, consumption-esque, too-beautiful-too-soon inevitable Swine Flu deaths, for which all we can do, at [...]

FRIDAY: >>> After we killed Sweeney off in last week’s Weekend Picks, we were faced with a terrible, terrible notion: Now we, the living, would have to write Weekend Picks, and eventually know the same fiery hell each Friday that he did, you know, when he was alive. So we did what any good soap [...]

RECOMMENDED: We can make no claim to you that The Informers, directed by Gregor Jordan and adapted from the Bret Easton Ellis book of the same name will be, in any way, shape or form, quantifiably good. But will say this: The Informers is one of Ellis’ darkest, weirdest books, a loose hodge-podge of short [...]

Remember Johnny Doc? Johnny is this seriously old school dude who is a top Philly union creep who’s been using his influence (and considerable lunchpail muscle) for years in Philly, trying to affect Philly politics as adversely as possible, often for his own gain, but lots of times, just to fuck with people, because that’s [...]

Now, the news just broke that everybody’s favorite Officer Friendly was just unceremoniously shitcanned from the Philly Police Department — bravo, Commisioner Chuck! — but we figured we’d get crackin’ (GET IT, CRACK? LIKE THE STUFF THOSE ANIMALS IN THE GHETTO SMOKE, BILL? LULZ) on some career alternatives for the guy. Now, let’s see: Going [...]

Let’s begin today with a simple question: When Brian Tierney and his wolfpack of investors bought the Inquirer and Daily News a few years back — “They will greet us as liberators!,” many on the team were heard to say — they did know that these papers were in trouble, right? So, the fact that [...]

>>> Now might be a good time to blow off the crushing piles of work that still surround you even though it’s Thursday night. Spring fever that shit up, son! Broadzilla is at the Barbary, and Foreign Service is back at 700. >>> And, as noted below, Spectrum at Kung Fu Necktie.

1. The Fishtown Shad Fest, to be held this Saturday, celebrates, of all things, the Shad, a small, bony fish that some folks like even better than salmon. Shad used to be all kinds of up in the Delaware, until our grandparents went about the task of killing everything that could ever live in that [...]

Governor Ed Rendell has a Twitter account now. And the colored girls go, do-do-do-do-do-do…

There’s no real reason that this quick round-up of new Philly ad agency clients on the Philadelphia Business Journal‘s website should really raise an eyebrow until you get to this bit, about Brownstein Group‘s newest clients: Ikea USA, to create and manage a Facebook page Confidential to IKEA: You can do that with a computer [...]

Peter Kember aka Sonic Boom has been making totally far out head music since 1985, first as half of the legendary group Spacemen 3, and then as Spectrum. And there has never been a time when the music he has made has not been relevant. Kember’s droning guitars, trance figures and blissed-out vibe have an [...]

Demetri Martin, as you may know, is like Fabio for girls who worship Amelie and The Decemberists. But did you also know that he is a very funny comedian, and not just a placeholder icon for that girl down the hall so desperate for a long-term relationship that she molts Robert Doisneau posters? Just take [...]

It is our great intergalactic pleasure to let you know that “Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn & Chicago’s Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-1968″ opens tomorrow at the ICA. The exhibit includes manuscripts, film footage and other evidence that Sun Ra just might have been the greatest space alien to ever inhabit this city we [...]

Those Psychedelic Recycling Trucks we told you about the other day were unveiled by The Dude yesterday at Love Park, and a bunch of you were nice enough to send us images like the one above. Thank you! And now, an urban challenge: Send us pics of the trucks in the field, doin’ their thing. [...]

>>> Oh, Magical God Of Layoffs, please tell me how WHYY just laid off 17 people and not one of them was Dr. Dan, who plagues this office with that “Voices In The Family” show more often than we can admit. [KYW] >>> Follow-up: Those TLA Video cuts we mentioned the other day weren’t as [...]

Here at Philebs, we’re on the receiving end of no less than two new listicles per week that mention Philadelphia — often infuriatingly so. But Budget Travel‘s “25 Reasons We Love Philadelphia” gives the bird’s eye view of why your friends should come and visit you in Philadelphia so neatly that we just might bookmark [...]

Here we go again. We thought we’d sorted this out before, but apparently not, so listen up, as we’d really like to never have to speak on this subject again: In 2009, there is no such thing as a hipster. “Hipsters” as we know them today are a psychological construct created by breeders and cubicle [...]

Ed Forchion aka NJ Weedman must have a very, very slow-acting Google alert set up for himself. It was just yesterday, after all, that Ed saw fit to comment on this Philebs post from last month regarding the maybe-possibly-but-not-really likelihood of marijuana being legalized in New Jersey. But if it happens, says NJWM, he’s got [...]

>>> So, we suppose you should do something Earth-lovin’ for Earth Day, which could really include anything from actually hugging a tree on down to, oh, I dunno, not drinking out of a styrofoam cup. You’ll think of something, including Lord Whimsy‘s (pictured) mini-terrarium demo at Random Tea Room in NoLibs at 6pm. >>> Otherwise, [...]