Results tagged “911”

As tired as we might be of listening to politicians using September 11 to forward their agendas, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on where we were eight years ago today.

• Londonist explored the hidden basement levels of the British Library.
• Phillyist wondered whether AT&T was treating them just like everyone else.
• Bostonist got all worked up about grammar. A local man, member of the Typo Eradication Advancement League and apparent troublemaker, was busted (or is it got busted?) fixing/besmirching an historic sign at the Grand Canyon.

While Editor Jill has been out covering PLAF events and neglecting her regular posts, we've found that some of you have really missed "Monday Manners." With one PLAF diary left for Jill to write, it looked like Phillyist would once again be mannerless this week, until good ol' Bill Hayes stepped in and asked if he could write a post about something Jill's not qualified to cover anyhow. Please enjoy this column – Jill will be back next week!

For our parents, it was the assassination of JFK. Ask any of them and they can remember exactly what they were doing at the time they found out JFK had been killed. I never understood that until September 11, 2001. Our generation can remember it like it was yesterday. For us, that moment, frozen in time, is and will always be 9/11.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Tuesday post only collects the early announcements, so definitely check back on Thursday for the latest ticket news.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Tuesday post only collects the early announcements, so definitely check back on Thursday for the latest ticket news.

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend (and next week).

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.

PhillyGayCalendar and TLBTB present Gay Prom 2007 this Saturday. The theme this year is "Under The Sea," and it will take place at PURE nightclub. They're promising a great time; the description says, "Think your high school prom...only bigger, sexier, and this time, you don't have to sneak the booze in!" Pink drinks are $2, as are the Coors Lights, and there are $1 shots from 9-11 pm. Cheap booze is totally the way to get people to show up on time for an event. However, it also means that this is a 21+ evening.

Today is the anniversary of an awful event in recent American history (and the mainstream media is determined not to let us forget it). If you, unlike Phillyist, are not overwhelmed by what we are increasingly hearing referred to as "9/11 porn," you may be interested to know that there is a free screening of the film "Saint of 9/11" tonight at 7:30 PM at Penn's Landing.

Our weekly look into the odd, strange and bizarre at one .org.

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets.

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban.

The answer, of course, is applause. This week's quote comes from the musical . In this scene, a group of gypsies relate how difficult their lives are, but say the payoff is in the applause. We're sure the actors in the productions below would agree. Now, on with the listings!

stuck in our heads all week. The featured quote is from the gluttonous Little Red Riding Hood. Now, on with the listings!

by Sarah M. Granlund

When Ed Bacon planned Independence Mall, it was lauded as visionary. It was to be a green, open space in the middle of the city's historic district, providing an area for public gathering and a place to view the historic buildings of the area.

by Vin Varstin

“This is Shakespeare, not the Sopranos.” So says Diana (Glenn Close), at the beginning of Heights, critiquing a pair of Macbeth-modernizing acting students for replacing the traditional dagger with a revolver. The Scottish Play provides a leitmotif for the film, filled as it is with secret plots and pacts entered into by New Yorkers seeking power, opportunity, or pleasure. And while the story that follows features neither stabbing nor shooting, it is amply stocked with the emotional bloodlettings of three couples practicing or contemplating infidelity. Broadway diva Diana and her husband seethe under the restraints of their own “open relationship,” he seducing a new understudy while she appraises everyone who crosses her path with a predatory leer. Isabel (Elizabeth Banks) is approached by ex-boyfriends and new career opportunities while her jealous fiancée (James Marsden) worries that a new photography exhibition will dredge up his own past. The photographer (unseen, but looming spectrally over all the proceedings) has meanwhile sadistically deployed his current and choleric journalist boyfriend (John Light) to write a Vanity Fair profile about him by interviewing all his ex-boyfriends.

As each pursues one thread of the story, their paths jaggedly converge on the night of Diana’s birthday party. And while some of the secrets and lies are predictable, they are delivered with an excruciating malice that lends resonance to the film’s sour take on relationships. Others pass through their lives, mostly the collateral damage of the principals’ failed romances. While the primary mood is grim and elegiac, director Chris Terrio and writer Amy Fox have leavened the script with a sly wit, particularly from George Segal as the Rabbi counseling the interfaith couple of Isabel and Jonathan. Aside from a few trite observations about the passionate artistic temperament, embodied by a Welsh conceptual artist (Andrew Howard), Heights is a movie of many virtues. It is cleanly constructed, well acted and subtly evokes themes of voyeurism and violence of all kinds: emotional, physical and political. It also features the most elegant tribute to the post-9/11 New York skyline I have yet seen on film, during a quiet conversation on a lower Manhattan rooftop. Directed by Chris Terrio and produced by the late Ismail Merchant (of Merchant-Ivory fame), Heights is a thoughtful and occasionally wrenching essay on modern relationships. No, it isn’t The Sopranos and it isn’t Shakespeare either, but it’s well worth seeing for anyone who enjoys their summer movie violence delivered verbally, as well as by Batarang and Martian disintegrator ray. Heights is playing at the Ritz at the Bourse (400 Ranstead Street). This week's showtimes: 12:45 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm, 7:40 pm, 9:55 pm.

We spread ourselves across the Ben Franklin Parkway on Saturday, all for you. Well, we kind of wanted to be there, but we also wanted to give you the scoop on what we saw at and what we thought of Philly's big cultural event. Live 8 went off without a hitch, seemingly, but it wasn't perfect. We give you the good, the bad, and the SEPTA. Below are 8 key questions on Live 8 with responses from Phillyist staffers and contributors. We'll update this post as more of us check in with our experiences. 1. Security and personal safety: did you feel that health services and police officers were plentiful? Did you feel safe at Live 8?

John Carroll, Editor: The big red balloons for health tents were a nice touch. There could have been a few more, maybe, since they seemed like a hike at times (especially if you're hurt). Fortunately, I was fine throughout the day. The police were in groups along the perimeters, which wasn't ideal, but aside from being trapped in a crush of people early on in the concert, I was safe for most of the day.

Jessica Haralson, Love and Sex:My post-9/11 spidey sense tingled as I sashayed onto the Parkway at 7 AM with only a sparse sighting of police officers and no security checks; although the no-fly zone was comforting, I couldn't help but feel that a bomb could have gone off with little ado during the whole she-bang. The alcohol-fueled brawls that popped up around me during the day did little to mitigate my fears either. The police were there - but at the perimeter. What could they have done?

Jeff Siti, Arts and Entertainment:There were alot of police but they didn't have much to do though. No one was causing any problems.

Maria Tessa Sciarrino, Contributor:I was surprised at how safe i felt at Live 8, especially when a fight broke out right in front of me at the Easkins Oval South Fountain. I'm not quite sure what caused the incident but everything's fine one moment and the next, fists are flyin'. Cops who had been placed atop the fountain to monitor the area were there within seconds to clear up the situation. 2. How were the crowds? Did you have enough space to feel comfortable throughout the day?

John: As I mentioned previously, I got caught in a crush of pushing, angry people. I think the blankets and chairs really made movement difficult at spots along the Parkway, but aside from a few jammed areas (and a little lake behind the first video screen) I had an adequate amount of space throughout the day.

Jessica:The crowds were oppressive, as was to be expected. The complete lack of crowd organization, however, was not. Without a multitude of barricades, security, or logistical planning, the battle for space was an unregulated free-for-all that resulted in rolled eyes and ruffled feathers. When Al Sharpton heralded John Street's "incredible organization" during the evening fireworks, it was only the kindest that didn't boo.

Jeff:I didn't try to get too close the stage. The further back you got the more room you had. It was much better a few hundred yards down the Parkway.

Maria: Space was fine, it was everyone who felt it was OK to bring along a lawn chair that bothered me. Considering how crowded it was, especially up towards the front, the furniture caused more problems. I tripped over several of them.