Results tagged “countdownto2008”

Our first Asshole(s) of the Week are the Michael-Vick-wanna-be douchebags who beat, stoned and hanged a pit bull from a railing at an abandoned school in North Philadelphia. It's fitting that Vick was the lead in Bill Maher's aforementioned writeup and these scumbags are our first Phillyist Assholes of the Week. We're going to give honorary Asshole of the Week awards to everyone like the wastes of life responsible for this latest animal brutality incident, because it's not like this is an uncommon occurrence. There were also two live pit bull puppies found dumped in a duffel bag elsewhere in North Philly. We fully believe in Mahatma Gandhi's observation that "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated," and Charles Doran's logical follow-up that "A man's soul can be judged by the way he treats his dog." We hesitate to call animal cruelists (yes, we made up the word, but we like it) "men" at all. Instead, we'll call them Assholes of the Week.

2007 was without a doubt a year of challenge for hip-hop. Reports of its demise were on the tip of just about everybody's tongue. Crunk had come and gone, Jay-Z was in retirement, those that came up in the mid-nineties hip-hop hey day rewinding big verses over and over didn't listen to the radio anymore. The dirty party rhymes of the past now nothing but misogynistic trash; yesterday's raw statements on American life in the ghetto became needlessly violent, potentially dangerous minstrel music. After being hailed as the American culture movement of a generation, the bling had lost its luster.

You know those songs that take over your headphones for weeks at a time? Well, the youngest alternative-rocker on the Phillyist staff decided to put all those infectious tunes into a list of 10 - and then 10 more, just because. And for your listening pleasure, yours truly linked to the album versions of those songs (thanks YouTube, for your comprehensiveness) - just click on the song names! I think you'll enjoy this medley of happy, somber, honest, and beautiful songs. And if you don't find three songs that you like, well, you can tell me that I don't know anything about music.

At this point, I guess most of you readers out there know that I don't eat to live – I live to eat. So it stands to reason that I've had a few dining experiences this year that have been especially memorable. Some of them appeared on Phillyist, and others did not. But gourmets and gourmands alike rejoice: they're all here, in all their mouth drooling glory.

I'm a music guy. I listen to a ton of music, and because of Phillyist, I've been able to hear a lot of great stuff I never would have heard otherwise. But, no matter how much of a music fan you are, there are always some great albums that slip through the cracks and you don't manage to hear, even though you really should. So here are ten albums from 2007 I really should have heard by now, but for some reason haven't. Some are on this list because of critical buzz, while others are based on my own thoughts about the artists. And I pose the question to you, dear readers: Which two or three of these albums should I use my lovely Amazon gift card to buy?

This was the one show of the year I went to strictly on a friend's recommendation, having never heard of the band. It was worth it. Bradford Cox's creepy demeanor only adds to the show. The droning guitars and heavy drums created a melancholy, fugue-like state that I'd gladly return to next time Deerhunter is in town. There's nothing like going to a concert and leaving feeling like you've just been mindfucked.

'kay thanks, bye!

Y'all have a Merry Christmas? Good. I'm glad. Mine was nice, too.

Wherever you stand on the “Putting Christ Back in Christmas” issue, the simple fact of the matter is that I’m a Jew who loves Christmas. I can easily chalk that up to the fact that I’ve got a [lapsed] Catholic father, but in truth, my mom probably loves Christmas more than my father does. She’s the one who taught me all the Christmas carols.

You guys picked the items in this list - which made this post a lot easier to write! And we thank you for that, because we're really kind of burning out on this whole "a list every weekday of December" thing. Why did we decide to do this again?

Raise your hand if you don't love YouTube/Viddler/Google Video/etc. Okay, that one guy raising your hand? You probably just want to scroll past this post, because it probably won't interest you in the slightest. To the rest of you, here are the fifteen videos we've posted in 2007 that I'm still entirely too proud of myself for finding. (The video embedded here didn't make it to the list, but deserves honorable mention if only because it's a locally-produced response to one of the best SNL musical numbers in a decade.)

With apologies to those readers who don't celebrate Christmas, I'm going to indulge myself a bit here. I love just about everything about Christmas. I actually enjoy Christmas shopping, stressful though it may be. (Which reminds me of the one thing I really don't love about Christmas: my January credit card bill.) I love all kinds of Christmas music, classical, the Bing Crosby standards, and Christmas rock. I also (Amazon).

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know!

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know!

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know!

My favorite part about about being a Phillyist writer is the late-night orgies checking out all sorts of music I never would have heard albums of the year. There are some selections on this list (okay, one in particular) that are indefensible. But read on, and watch my credibility melt away before your very eyes...

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know!

6. Pony, Celebration. Video here. Katrina Ford's crazy breathless stacatto chirping "I just want to be with you" over a sick bassline kicks this party into overdrive. Or maybe I just have a thing for anti-hero type female lead singers. Either way. It works.

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! As I've mentioned once or twice before on Phillyist, this year I went from being distantly fascinated by comic books to being a seriously obsessive weekly comic book collector. So here are my...

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! Twelve months and ten epochal collapses later, we're nearing 2008 and a fresh calendar year for career (or structural) decimation. Let's count 'em down from 10: 10. Pete Doherty (again) 2007 hasn’t been...

Keep in mind that despite the "top ten" designation, these are in no particular order. Also, most of these bands have been around for a few years, but I only discovered them this year. And just a quick warning: I use some NSFW language in this post. So sue me.

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! Phillyist likes a good excuse to shop, and the holidays provide that in spades. This year we wanted to stay closer to home with our gift choices, and give things that were more...

5. After kidnapping her two children, Britney Spears goes on the lam before being finally caught in Old City, Philadelphia, attempting to stuff her sons into the Liberty Bell. Seems she thought it was a ride of some sort.

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! 10. Cross – Justice While this debut album by French duo Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay leans heavily on the discography of fellow Parisians, Daft Punk, it breaks out on its own...