This has very little to do with Philadelphia, but we always loved kicking back to Meet the Press on Sunday mornings when it was too cold or too hot to brave leaving the apartment to go to brunch. So it's in great sadness that we pass on to you the very, very sad news that Tim Russert, beloved television host and author, died this afternoon at the NBC News Washington bureau of an apparent......

Looking back on a week's worth of local Craigslist hijinks. Someone please take this guy's shit and give him a car. He must really need one to be offering up his nerdhood like that. A South Philly man was (and still is!) taking bids on his nerdhood... err, uh, sweet Death Star Painting. ...While another, ahem, "man" (who will NEVER be confused with Cat Stevens), begins the hunt for a "sexy time specialist" Sexy time......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: The Well Read Frugal: Author and activist Ewuare Osayande reads from his new book Misogyny & the Emcee: Sex, Race & Hip Hop at Robin’s Bookstore (108 S. 13th), 6PM. Free Author Michael Pollan reads from his new book, In Defense of Food at the Free Library of Philadelphia (1901 Vine), 7PM. Free Bring a Cozy: An Evening with Big Tea Party, part of the Yummy exhibition, at......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. The Movie Blog has a pic from the new Death Race movie, and it's actually pretty cool. Some details on the casting and plot of Underworld 3: The Rise of the Lycans, in case you want them for some reason. According to Variety, the writers' strike has reached an interesting milestone: it's now cost writers more money than they were hoping......

CBS 3 anchor Alycia Lane was arrested at 2:04 AM yesterday at the corner of W. 17th Street and 9th Avenue in NYC for allegedly punching a female police officer in the face. She was locked up in a New York jail cell as of yesterday afternoon. More on this story later. (Via Jason) TV star Bam Margera of West Chester, along with business partner and bar owner Don Moore, plans "to open a theater,......

"Federal highway officials have declined to approve the state's application to make I-80 a toll road," which will obviously make it harder for the state to collect the money from said tolls with which it planned to fund statewide highway and bridge repairs. The New Jersey state legislature gave final approval to a bill today that would abolish the state's death penalty; now all that's needed is for Governor Corzine to sign it, which he's......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. Amuse yourself at work this afternoon by reading the weirdest work stories of the year, and definitely let us know if you have a story you think belongs on the list. Maybe we could do a top ten weird Philly work stories? (Via Jill) We usually try to avoid linking to our -ist compatriots here at the Whiz,......

The French call it La Petite Mort. Literally translated, it means the little death. The phrase refers to the orgasm. I like the idea of a larger definition, one that transcends those explosive moments of bliss. I want you to talk to me about the little deaths, good ones and bad ones, that come before, after, and during the act of sex. Starting today, La Petite Mort is also the title of Phillyist's new sex......

As Phillyist Sarah pointed out yesterday in a comment on Philly in the News, Mark O'Donnell was arrested yesterday in the murder of Ebony Nicole Dorsey, the daughter of his girlfriend. He's been charged this morning with beating, strangling and sexually assaulting the 14-year-old. Dorsey's mother says the attack came after O'Donnell had been smoking crack all night, but O'Donnell says that's not true and that he caught the girl molesting his daughter. About 100......

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......

Yesterday morning, we caught the Today Show interview with Maureen Faulkner, the widow of slain Philadelphia Police officer Daniel Faulkner. She was being interviewed along with Philadelphia conservative radio talk show host Michael Smerconish about Murdered By Mumia, the book they wrote together chronicling her struggle after the death of her husband. Most people probably have never heard of Officer Faulkner, but most likely they have heard of the man convicted of his 1981......

Take a cursory look at the release history of Blade Runner (which originally came out in 1982) and you might begin to think that Ridley Scott has caught a George Lucas-sized case of Special Edition-itis - you know, that terrible disease that afflicts some directors and causes them to keep tweaking and re-editing and re-releasing their films in different versions, over and over and over. Wikipedia lists seven different versions of Blade Runner, for......

The Inquirer takes a closer look at the Philadelphia policeman who was shot the day before the shooting of Chuck Cassidy, by a gunman who then fled and ultimately drowned in the Schuylkill. They also put the incident in the larger context of criminals in Philadelphia getting released from jail only to commit more crimes and be arrested again, over and over. Meanwhile, another Philadelphia police officer was injured this weekend, this time by......

The Pennsylvania Turnpike has been closed in both directions between the Philadelphia and Willow Grove interchanges, and is likely to stay closed most of the morning, due to a fiery five-car accident earlier today involving a tractor trailer and a pickup truck. Thankfully, as of this writing, no fatalities have been reported. The Fort Dix suspects are asking to be moved Special Housing Unit at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia due to the fact......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this holiday weekend (all of these movies open today). Most Likely to Rule: I'm Not There - An "unconventional" biopic of Bob Dylan wherein six different actors play him at various stages in his career. Said actors include Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, and Heath Ledger. Also in the cast (but not playing Bob) are David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, and Julianne Moore. We could see how this......

The "10,000 men: A Call to Action" campaign will get started in earnest on Saturday when they put the first 200 men on the streets. It'll be a field exercise for squad leaders, and apparently they'll also be doing a door-to-door campaign to alert neighbors of the effort. Then they'll be patrolling in South Philadelphia next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening. John Lewis, the suspect in the murder of police officer Chuck Cassidy, was......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Finishing the Game - We posted the preview for this one a ways back. It's a mockumentary about director Robert Clouse's attempt to finish the film Game of Death after the untimely death of its star, Bruce Lee. In Finishing the Game, Clouse starts a frantic search for an impersonator to replace Lee, and much wackiness and Hollywood satire ensue. Sounds like fun, but keep in......

No matter how much your musical tastes evolve over time, sometimes you can't help but go back to what you liked during your teenage years. When this Phillyist was in junior high, there was one type of music, and only one type of music, emanating from my bedroom stereo: Metal. Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead... you get the idea. Even though the Death CDs have lately collected dust on the shelf in favor......

Disclaimer: This post relates to an event put on by First Person Arts, of whom Editor Jill is an employee. However, Editor Jill did not have a hand in writing or editing this post. (With the Festival going on this week, she wouldn't have time to, even if she wanted to.) A little while back, we told you about the First Person Story Tour and its colorful "mascot," the Story Tour Van. The Story Tour......

The Inquirer discusses the Pennsylvania Supreme Court race and the possible repercussions on the Philadelphia area. The police now have a suspect in the death of police officer Chuck Cassidy - 21-year-old John Lewis of North Philadelphia - and have issued an arrest warrant for him. The search for him has intensified, and police and his relatives are asking him to turn himself in. Lewis is armed and dangerous; click through for a description......

The Daily News has more on what's happening in the city in the aftermath of the death of Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy. The reward for information has been increased, the manhunt has been stepped up, and later today "detectives expect to have a video of the murder that was enhanced at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va." In a lengthy hearing yesterday, more sordid information came out about Andy Reid's sons Garrett and Britt......

Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Lisa Aversa Richette - a controversial advocate of society's disadvantaged - died of lung cancer this past Friday. She was 79. Here's an article about the complex planning going into tonight's Democratic presidential debates at Drexel. The Inquirer has the details on two local child-sex cases; a 52-year-old former scoutmaster from Mont Clare is looking at 16 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with a......

An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf is not a perfect play. But the Arden's production of it is damned near perfect. Empty Plate, which made its debut at the Arden in 1994, was local playwright Michael Hollinger's first play, and it has some of the signs of an early work by a young writer: a little bit of pretense and an ending that you can see from a mile away. And......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

75-year-old Maximo Jurado escaped from a New Jersey prison in 1979 and has been on the run ever since - until he was captured by police last night in Philadelphia at the home of an ex-girlfriend, who had known him for a over a year but had never discovered the truth about his past. The Daily News story we linked to the other day about the bloated Parking Authority pay roll has caused Ed Rendell......

Country is usually a musical genre we studiously ignore, but Castanets do country that's something else. It's a strange, eerie, sad, atmospheric alt-country, with singer-songwriter and central member Raymond Raposa contributing intriguing, froggy vocals reminiscent of Bob Dylan's, and music that's deep and slow and thoughtful. In the Vines, the latest album from Castanets, is what we're basing these comments on, and it's a pretty interesting album, as it's partially "based on a Hindu......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Holy crap, people! Stephen Colbert is running for president! He announced his candidacy on his show last night. Colbert has said he'll run as both a Republican and a Democrat, so he can lose twice, and that he will run in South Carolina, and South Carolina alone (that being his home state - and the home to one of the key,......

Philadelphia area native Alice Sebold's books tackle some pretty hefty topics. Her memoir, Lucky, confronts the rape she experienced as a freshman in college. Her first novel, The Lovely Bones, is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered. She narrates the story from heaven, watching as her family deals with her death. Sebold's novel may have been a hit at a time when chick lit ruled the shelves, but......

UPDATE: A water main broke at about 5AM in front of the University of Pennsylvania's new Life Science Building, flooding the streets in three-foot deep rapids. The flow was stopped and the water has since subsided, but as of 7:30AM, University Avenue between 38th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue was closed while repair continued on the broken water main. Woodland Avenue is an alternate route. Ramps on and off I-76 at University Ave. were......

The Daily News takes a look at the high rate of shootings by Philadelphia cops in connection with the recent shooting of 15-year-old Ronald Timbers. The police version of that incident is told in detail here, while in this article the Inquirer talks about the investigation into which version of the story is true. In a vaguely related story, an American Bar Association report released yesterday says that the Pennsylvania death penalty system is......