AltWeeklies Wire
Onstage, the Demure Sallie Ford Becomes a Brassy, Magnetic Sirennew

Before and after a song, Sallie Ford is just a 22-year-old girl from North Carolina who likes music. The person Sallie Ford becomes in between -- in the full speed and inertia of a song -- is remarkable.
The Inlander |
Leah Sottile |
10-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Cartoon: Gitmo High Schoolnew

The Obama Administration is refusing to release detainees it knows are innocent -- because they are innocent.
While Their Peers Rake in Reunion Tour Cash, The Jesus Lizard Says It'll Be One and Outnew
While the rekindled friendships and passions have been something the entire band has thrived on, frontman David Yow warns that those hoping for more shouldn't expect a prolonged presence.
San Diego CityBeat |
Paul Saitowitz |
10-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
How One Runner's Obsession Left Him Missing in the Wildernessnew
John Mintz was lost in the Snow Mountain Wilderness, which straddles three counties and includes 37,000 acres within the larger Mendocino National Forest, with no supplies for an entire week. How did that happen?
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
10-07-2009 |
Culture
The Coen Brothers Make Their Most Personal, Most Maddening Film Yetnew
The Coens have never made a movie like A Serious Man before, combining the screwball sensibilities of O Brother with the larger issues of No Country. But this isn’t an existential film -- far from it.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
10-07-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: A Serious Man, The Coen Brothers
Andrew Bird Has Many Talents, but Have You Heard Him Whistle?new
Bird's whistling is the shining diamond embedded in the gold band of song he's been developing since he played a sideman's role for the Squirrel Nut Zippers in the '90s.
Charleston City Paper |
Bryan Reed |
10-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
David P. Murphy Gives Advice for Soon-to-be-Zombies in 'Zombies for Zombies'new
A spoof of the ... for Dummies series, Zombies for Zombies: Advice and Etiquette for the Living Dead explains how to be a zombie (because, hey, you've got no choice) while retaining a semblance of style.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
10-07-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Are Sea Lions Too Cute to Shoot?new
As the number of sea lions in San Francisco explodes, the creatures have bitten and bumped swimmers, poached fishermen's catches, sunk boats, and damaged docks. Many would like to see the nuisance creatures banished, but the potential for a public relations disaster is high.
SF Weekly |
Ashley Harrell |
10-07-2009 |
Animal Issues
How Today's Pot Debate is Like the Fall of Prohibitionnew

Law-enforcement maverick Norm Stamper noted "striking" parallels between Prohibition of a bygone era and today's drug debate. "Major difference? It took us only 13 years to end the former" over "essentially identical" reasons: violence, overdose deaths on bad "bathtub gin," public health and revenue.
San Diego CityBeat |
John R. Lamb |
10-07-2009 |
Drugs
Survivor of Ohio's Latest Botched Execution Reveals Breathtaking Incompetencenew

Romell Broom achieved a macabre notoriety this past month when he became the first man to survive his date with the needle. The eyes of the world are on Ohio now, and many are questioning our death-penalty apparatus.
Cleveland Scene |
Damian Guevara |
10-07-2009 |
Crime & Justice
A Race is on to Record the Untold Stories of Aging Holocaust Survivorsnew
Until the Iron Curtain parted, the Holocaust stories like Lupyan's and others' from the former Soviet republics went largely untold on the world stage. But now, there is an urgency to record survivors' stories while a dwindling number still are alive to tell them.
Metro Times |
Sandra Svoboda |
10-06-2009 |
History
Is Kurt Vile a Lo-Fi Schizo Prodigy or the Most Important Man in American Music Today?new

When Gerard Cosloy signed Kurt Vile to Matador Records, he issued a press release declaring the Lansdowne native "one of the more important figures in American music circa 2009."
Philadelphia City Paper |
A.D. Amorosi |
10-06-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Tony Manero' Shows Us That the Flipside of Pop Culture Escapism is Soul-Sucking Insanitynew
Shot on Super 16mm film, employing a handheld camera that purposely loses focus, and creating a seedy, claustrophobic atmosphere of despair, Tony Manero is the kind of edgy, angering work cinephiles flock to because it seems so much more uncompromising than it is.
Metro Times |
Jeff Meyers |
10-06-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Pablo Larrain, Tony Manero
Obama is More Hoover than FDR

It's 1933. This time, however, Hoover got reelected. Can we hold out until 1937 for a president who understands that we need 10 million new jobs, and that we need them yesterday?
An Inside Look at the G20 Summit and the Police State That Surrounded Itnew
The phrase "lockdown" doesn't quite get to the core of how militarized and contained Pittsburgh really was throughout the two-day G20 Sept. 24 and 25.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Matt Stroud |
10-06-2009 |
Civil Liberties