It’s taking a little time to get some traction under our feet but the year is off to… a start, and Philly People will be Philly People.
Despite this being January 20, we’re still off to a slow start to the year what with everyone moving dates due to Omicron – reportedly at its peak as of this week, but c’mon man, really – and just being generally lazy about getting into the groove of 2022, the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac.
No matter what goes on, or doesn’t go on for the rest of this month, Philadelphia in January has not lacked for its own brand of hero, its favored faces doing great Philly things or passing on great Philly knowledge or Philly people generally being Philly weird.
Jalen Hurts
No one is happy that the Eagles’ still fresh QB couldn’t get us to the Big Game in 2022. But the Super Bowl doesn’t even seem like a big deal this year. Am I right? Somehow, Hurts has come out of the botched playoff attempts smelling like a rose – and good on him. He’s audacious, you can tell he gave it his all, and he will remain the Eagles quarterback in 2022 when training day hits the green.
The British team behind The Cauldron
So maybe it won’t hit Philly’s Midtown Village (1305 Locust Street) until May, but good on the London-based operation with other wizard world locations in New York City, and Edinburgh for even thinking of us in a Harry Potter fantasy fueled boozy concoction fashion. Here’s betting that Hogwart’s butterbeer is a thing at The Cauldron.
Tori Yorgey
Sure, Yorgey is currently located in Dunbar, West Virginia as a breaking news reporter for WSAZ TV, and what does she – the on-air journo who got struck by a car, live – have to do with Philly? The same woman who got dinged and kept on going reporting the news as it happened (“We’re all good. I’m ok. That’s live TV for you”) went to Penn State, and grew up right outside of Philly. Dag.
Moe Brooker
Let’s raise a glass to the late great Philadelphia abstract artist, painter and fabric designer who passed away last week without a ton of fanfare. Known for his marvelously and brightly colored abstract canvases and zig-zagging juxtaposed patterns, Brooker was, and is, an influence to those who knew him and those who’ll never realize how crucial his innovations were to their work as bourgeoning artists.
Jon Stewart
Technically, this is a Jersey thing, but since he was probably your bartender at City Gardens during punk rock’s early days, we’ll take it. The beloved Daily Show host (former) and current Apple TV+ showman Stewart just got the wave to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, comedy’s top honor.
Amos Lee & Michelle Zauner
No. No. I don’t spend much time watching Kelly Clarkson’s daytime, syndicated talk show. No offense. I love her. But hate I daytime chat. That said, Philly’s most formidable longtime hit cosmopolitan soul-folkie Lee played his emotional new single, “Worry No More,” in a special stripped-down version on the Clarkson show in anticipation of his upcoming new album Dreamland (February 11 on Dualtone Records) “atop a picturesque bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.” Nice.
Also, in her quest for Grammy gold, Philly’s Michelle Zauner – the front person of Japanese Breakfast – did her television bit on Tuesday on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” where she brought up her time here as Union Transfer’s coat check person.
“While I was working in the coat check, I took a fake $100 bill and I gave someone like $99 of change,” said Zauner during her Corden interview, before referring to her sold-out five-night stand at the Spring Garden Street live music salon.
“The management was like, ‘You’re going to have to pay for that.’ My boss, Sean Agnew, stepped up and was like, ‘I’ll cover it. You don’t have any money. I’ll take care of it.’ So, on the last night of the shows, I was like, ‘Sean, come up. I have $100 for you. I can afford to pay it back now.’ And then at the end of the show, they took me out and they hand-painted a sign that read, ‘Michelle Zauner’s Coat Check.’ And on the plaque it reads, ‘May everyone who works here go on to sell out five nights at Union Transfer.'”
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