PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022 by Philadelphia Weekly

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Michael Imperioli on culture, religion, and art

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The Death and Life of

Imperioli

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Looking Back at The Life and Crimes Of Ralph Natale

alph Natale, the boss of the Philadelphia-South Jersey Cosa Nostra organized crime family in the 1990s, died on January 24th. He was 87. He became the first Cosa Nostra boss to act as a government witness when he testified against his fellow criminals in 2001. He later wrote a book called “Last Don Standing: The Secret Life of Mob Boss Ralph Natale.” I interviewed him in 2017 and asked him if he had any regrets about his life of crime, as he didn’t appear to be particularly remorseful or repentant in the book. “I have regrets about one thing, I broke my marriage vows,” Natale replied. “That’s the only thing I regret in my life. When I was 12 years old, I was a hoodlum. I was a born killer, that’s what I did and why I rose to the top so easily.” Natale said he never harmed an innocent man, woman or child. He simply clipped the men who were supposed to be clipped. “It was a simple thing for me. To be a part of Cosa Nostra, when things meant something, you had to at least make a kill on your own. I think I pled to eight of them.” As Natale recalled in the book, he was paroled from prison just as then-Philly mob boss

FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

“He was the boss because Merlino wanted John Stanfa was sent to prison. Natale was him to be the front man,” Anastasia said. “I made the new boss with Joey Merlino as the don’t think Ralph ever realized that, or at least underboss. Natale said he and Merlino went would never admit it to himself.” back to making serious money with illegal Anastasia said Natale was not an effective gambling, loansharking, extortion, and drugs. witness against Merlino and othNatale was later arrested as one er mobsters. “This was because of of his capos, Ron Previte, a corrupt his pomposity, but more important cop before he became a mobster, because he didn’t have any direct was an FBI informant who secretly knowledge about the murders and recorded his dealings with Natale, attempted murders that were part Merlino and others. Facing life in of the case. Nevertheless, the feds prison, Natale flipped. touted his cooperation, as he was zHe testified against Camden, the first sitting mob boss to testiN.J. mayor, whom he bribed, and fy.” he testified against his underlings Natale claimed to have been in the mob. Although the mobsters “made” by Philly boss Angelo Bruwere acquitted of murder charges, no and New York boss Carlo Gamthey were convicted of a range of bino in New York. I asked Anastaother crimes. sia if he found that credible. I reached out to George Anas“His account of his making is tasia, a veteran organized crime laughed about in most underworld reporter and author of “The Last PAULDAVISONCRIME.COM circles,” Anastasia said. “And the Gangster: From Cop To Wiseguy To thing that strikes me is that when FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and he was on the witness stand and the Fall of the American Mob,” and testifying under oath, he told a different story. I asked him about Natale and Previte. Anastasia replied that Natale thought he He said he made himself. That was Ralph the blowhard. was Don Corleone from “The Godfather,” but The secret making ceremony that he talkhe really was Uncle Junior from “The Sopraed about in the book would have been an efnos.”

PAUL DAVIS

fective story from the witness stand. Ralph might have been a tough guy in his early days, but during the Merlino era he talked a better game than he played.” Anastasia said that Previte was able to move easily to the Natale-Merlino faction because he brought them envelopes full of cash, which, ironically, were supplied by the FBI. “Previte played on the greed and ego of both those guys, but especially Natale. I think Previte was one of the smartest and certainly shrewdest wiseguys on the streets at the time. I think he saw Natale as someone who was too full of himself to figure out what was really going on. He said Merlino was Merlino. His best line about Joey was ‘Joey’s agenda on Monday is to get to Tuesday.’” I recall asking Natale what he thought of Previte. “I have no ill feeling about anything or anybody. I look at him, and say, well, you know, he did what had he had to do to save his ass. I ain’t got time for hate. I intend to live to be a hundred, but if I die tomorrow, I don’t have any hate in my body for anybody that did anything against me.” Paul Davis’ Crime Beat column appears here each week. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.

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FROM THE EDITOR

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FOR THE COMMON WHY DOES CITY GOOD,STILL ABOLISH HALL LOVE GREAT CONTENT ‘LOCAL CONTROL’ BOBBY HENON? and help us make it.

T I

he Commonwealth relies too Philadelphia needs to engage local resit’s much finallyonover. getting condefending localAfter decision making. dents, butit.the way that is done now favors victed in federal court in November, Katherine Gilmore RichWhile the decentralization of theCouncilmember already-comfortable. Especially for issues now-former Councilman ardson, example, sent and a media advisory power is good, its trackBobby recordHein like bikefor lanes, bus lanes, housing, these non has resignedhas from City that she joined local union representatives on Pennsylvania been lessCounthan decisions must be made by the city, not by the cil,edifying after collecting a few extra January 19 to Ifannounce her resist secondthe annual in its large cities. It’spaynot neighborhood. the city can’t siren checks courtesy of reasons: the public. That Apprenticeship Guidebook, givesstaginpractical for two song of neighborhood groupswhich to choose particular saga, aside fromthe theart quesformation to workers interested in the skilled 1) Rather than teaching citizens of nation over dynamism, the Commonwealth tion of and whether willhyper-lokeep or trades.to A step handful of unions werethe there, along needs in and pre-empt policy of self-government civic Henon duty, the lose his pension, has boroughs ended. with State Representative Joemore Hohenstein, urban suicide. By preventing housing cal approach—from small that A biggertoproblem, Council President Clarke—and Bobby being built Darrell in the city, local decision should be combined land use however, decisions rein from Henon. Never miss a photo supposes. mains: The unbothered attitude local pol- makers make the city more op, carone reliant and put the cities—gets abused by a few that well-connectIt doesn’t seemburden exactly approiticians have cavorting with a heavier housing on subured people. It’s aabout way for the minority priate, for nearby. city and state disgraced Before ban andthough, rural areas That’s a to frustratecouncilmembers. the majority. officials to share a stage with HeHenon from City Council, negative externality and the Gener2) resigned Hyper-localization is not non. It doesn’t muchinterof a most other councilmembers al Assembly hasexpress a legitimate self-government in this case,didn’t but concern for local corruption. Nor mind keepingIt’s hima around. Nor did est in tamping it down. bureaucracy. way to override does it show governance. How, Mayor Kenney. This local wise struggle isn’t unique the common good by adding more inquiring minds might do Thefor mayor’s statement after to Philadelphia. Every wonder, large city ways a few disgruntled typesHeto Richardson, and Some Hohenstein non’s resignation was like he wanthas similar Clarke, problems. placstop anything from changing. Even justify appearing Did ed say theproject right gets things es, however, havewith doneHenon? something if ato housing its without permits they raise upsetting “AsinI’ve saidway, beabout it. any concerns about Heand wants Henon. to use land a legal non being there? fore, always that CounRaleigh, North Carolina abollocal I’ve groups can believed put the kibosh on. That’s hard toAdvisory say. Not Councils because cilmember Henon do Washwhat ished its Citizen As the battle overwould repaving no 2020, one asked, because Richhe feels Avenue is right for constituents, in its citybut council realizing ington hashisshown, “local ardson, Clarke, andtoHohenstein all for the people of Philadelphia, that they needed engage with control” often isn’t local control.and It’s declined to to anPhiladelinquiry for the aentire Kenney said. residents in respond better ways. simply cover city,” for a few people to from can Philadelphia Weekly. pub“While now the conphia learn from their The example overridehe themust desires of face the majority, @ANTHONYHENNEN lic doesn’t deserveto aa response, and sequences his of past decisions, it is and stop catering few cantanor to keep of parts the city dangerprobably shouldn’t askeasy such impoimportant to help evaluate the entirety kerous souls who see parking ous. We can’t but blame a fecklite questions. of person’s contributions to public to service speeding through the city as a God-given lessacity government that is unwilling make and So let thisif be a lesson, and onepedestrians to bear in throughout their career.” it means more dead decisions. Yet, wewhole also can’t ignore the malign right—even mindhigher as Councilman Kenyatta Johnson’s fedContra of Kenney, a federally convicted poliand rents. influence many neighborhood associations eral trial Kenney starts next month. A not-so-powertician does not deserve the privilege of doing Mayor seems wholly absent from in Philadelphia. less duties contingent in City Hall isn’thebothered by “what heattacking feels is right” the city Philadelthe of governing the city leads. PerFrom bikefor lanes, busoflanes, and federal convictions. They are content conphia. utter nonsense. should’ve though, with his remaining time to left, he trafficWhat calming measures to Henon preventing more haps, tinue as see fit.toDon’t push for been thrown of City the day assoafter could do they something rein expect in the agrassroots housing fromout being built,Council neighborhood clean governance. his conviction. That he’sover been to stay on tyranny of “local control.” ciations run roughshod theable future of this Don’t expect transformative action on the Council reminds us that status quo in local So long city. Much good work is the done by these groups murder crisis,note: carjackings, or my thelast indignities politics sees the public as acleaning nuisanceup to be tolOne minor this will be editor’s in nurturing civic feeling, parks, of petty crime. Don’t expect of an effort erated rather a citizenry to be respected. column; when this issue hitsmuch newsstands, my etc., but it’s than impossible to ignore how they to expand it means a few Let’s not single out Kenney, though. That tenure as housing executiveif editor at losing Philadelphia privilege what wealthier residents want above parking isspaces. City Hallofhas priorities. would be rude. Other elected officials haven’t Weekly over. My vision the its paper divergthe common good of Philadelphia. Andfrom it’s the not new terribly concerned you that’s don’t been about joining the convicted neighborHenon in es owner’s vision,if and It’sshy time to consider abolishing like it. public, though they enthusiastic about that. Farewell, all; it was fun while it lasted. hood associations, oraren’t curtailing their power.

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STATE OF OUR CITY

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THE CHANGING LANDSCAPES OF FISHTOWN AND KENSINGTON

John Schlesinger, CEVA’s 2020 visual artist fellow, will have his art installation “If you lived here…you’d be home now” in the ArtBox at Lincoln Square. Constructed from almost entirely recycled materials; demolition torqued rebar, flashing or failing neon and vintage laboratory equipment acts as a postapocalyptic structure for the artist’s intentionally broken photographs. The installation invites visitors and those simply passing by to question the lifespan and ultimate destruction of even the most impressive architecture. Located in the Broad street windows of the Lincoln Square Apartments, this project will grow and mutate over the course of its run until July 8.

Renowned photographers Jamie Alvarez and Sheldon Omar Abba capture the dramatically changing landscape of Kensington and Fishtown. Alvarez and Abba have been methodically documenting how the landscapes and communities of Fishtown and Kensington have altered over the past several years, while hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to redevelop these neighborhoods in an attempt to redefine the city’s residential appeal and attract growth. Both artists’ bodies of work question whether it is possible to capture a city in the act of transformation. Opening at Commonweal Gallery on Feb. 11, 6 pm, 1607 Latimer Street.

The current number of homicide victims year-to-date under Mayor Jim Kenney and District Attorney Larry Krasner’s leadership. This represents a 15 percent decrease over the same time last year and is higher than the annual number of homicides that took place in 2007 through 2019. The city ended 2021 with a horrific 562 murders.

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The Seeker Actor-writer-musician Michael Imperioli continues his journey BY: A.D. AMOROSI

efore he was cast in cinema’s two most iconic, unromantic representations of Italio-American machismo – its familial traditions, crimes, psychologies and pathologies – with Goodfellas and The Sopranos, Michael Imperioli was a participant in New York City’s intersecting underground scenes. The DIY worlds of ultra-independent theater, film, performance art, and music in the wee 1980s were his oyster, mantle, and shell, a pearl that would lead to early work of mainstream renown (Lean on Me, Goodfellas) and lesser-known musical discoveries, like picking up on punk’s vibe with a cheap acoustic guitar and starting a No Wave band, Black Angus. Many additional acting roles – the most acclaimed being Tony Soprano’s protégé, Christopher Moltisanti, in The Sopranos, a gig recently revisited in The Many Saints of Newark – and musical entities (such as Wild Carnations) happened before Imperioli hooked up with friends (bassist Elijah Amitin and drummer Olmo Tighe) in the early aughts for improvisational studio sessions. First as La Dolce Vita, and now as ZOPA, this Galaxie 500/Lou Reed-inspired trio takes from Imperioli’s Buddhist-holistic spirit and Reed’s rough-edged yet poetic storytelling for a sound as boldly unique as it is comfortably and punkish-ly familiar.

SEE IMPERIOLI, PAGE 6 Image credit: Olivia McCausland

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IMPERIOLI, FROM PAGE 5 With the release of ZOPA’s independently released new album, La Dolce Vita (confusing, but keep reading) and a Philly show at Kung Fu Necktie (February 18), Imperioli proves that he is insistent on maintaining a career of offbeat, personal projects (2018’s novel The Perfume Burned His Eyes, penning his directorial debut with 2009’s Hungry Ghosts) as he is branded-big mainstream projects such as HBO Max’s filming-soon (“the day after the Philly show I leave for Sicily”) second season of The White Lotus, and his Talking Sopranos podcast. A.D.: Whether looking at your personal growth or that which guides the diverse choices of your career, or aesthetic, you always look beyond your roots. And yet, there are tropes that you play into – continued work within The Sopranos universe – that touch on the “quintessential Italian male” code, of which I hold close as well. What does it mean to maintain the traditions while looking forward?

FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

Michael Imperioli: I’m New York-born to an Italian-American family. That’s part of who I am. To tell you the truth, though, I couldn’t wait to get to the city from the boroughs and move away from all that and people rhapsodizing about the old neighborhood. By the time I hit 17, I was spending all of my time in Manhattan. I wanted to be around art and artists. I didn’t have any foot in the nostalgia and outgrew all that very quickly. So, I was breaking from that tradition very early in my life. Choosing to be an artist does that to you. I have friends from the old neighborhood who stayed there, and continue to choose to do mob roles. And that’s great if it makes you happy. You have to do what calls out to you. I’ve been lucky to be associated with two of the greats in quintessential Italian-Americans film and television, Goodfellas and The Sopranos. Both of which transcend ethnicity while allowing themselves to be defined as such, as you transcend. Yeah. So, I don’t know if it is about maintaining or going beyond that tradition. You’re

who you are and you bring everything that you are – roots included – along for the ride. You are simply fortunate that your ride has many forks…Go all the way back to the early 80s. New York. No Wave. Basquiat and Keith Haring are exploding Off Off Broadway. As you wound up being part of several scenes, how did you make these divisions if you made them at all? Instead of going to college after high school, I enrolled in acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Some of the people who wound up on The Sopranos, I first met there. One of my filmmaking friends there, Tom Gilroy, turned me onto the punk scene in NYC because he had come from Boston where he was a DJ. He was steeped in the whole punk and post-punk scene and turned me onto how it was manifesting itself in New York, and in other forms such as performance art, underground theater, and film. So this is guys like Jim Jarmusch, Amos Poe, John Lurie. Basquiat and Vincent Gallo had a band. Remember it as if it was yesterday. It was a time for real cross-pollination.

It was a heady mix. We had our own little theater company and did performance art. We started our own No Wave band, Black Angus, in 1986 that didn’t do much beyond practice and write songs. Did a couple of shows. To be honest, I didn’t know a lot about anything post punk until I met Tom. I wasn’t a musician. I bought a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar because it was the cheapest one in the store and would put a microphone on it to run it through the PA system. That sucked. So I bought a pick-up that I glued onto the guitar, so I could plug into an amp so I could make whatever sounds I thought were cool. I didn’t even know what No Wave was. I was just playing to the best of my limited ability and participating in a very primitive way. And that’s No Wave in a nutshell. Let me ask, though, you might be doing underground theater and primitive noise then, but by 1988, you’re getting cast by Scorsese (Goodfellas), Avildsen (Lean on Me), Spike Lee, Mary Harron, and more at a nice clip. Where was music as you moved along cinema’s trajectory?

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I sang with a band in the early 90s that became Wild Carnations, which had come out of another band, Speed the Plow, at the time. One of The Feelies was in there as well. Even though I had done Goodfellas, I was still working odd jobs to make a living. I did know that I couldn’t give that band the time that was needed, and didn’t want to hitch them to my fucking schedule. So I didn’t play with anyone for quite a long time – I did write and do my own material – until like 2005 when, after missing collaborating with people musically I hooked up with Elijah and Olmo. Who you knew from acting together in Postcards from America. You mentioned you were writing during the downtime from not playing music. Any tracks or vibes stick with you? One of the tracks on La Dolce Vita, “Roll It Off Your Skin” was written then. All of the verses save for the last one was written in my 20s. That time I was away from music was more about absorbing sounds than playing Galaxie 500 was a big inspiration to ZOPA, how to make it work as a trio. What I liked about them, rather than one singer-songwriter, is that there were three distinct musicians with their own individual style. Elijah and Olmo have that, they do more than serve the lyrics and song structure. That works for a lot of bands but that’s not what we wanted to do with ZOPA. Each component is as important and distinct as the other. Dinosaur Jr. does this too, but in a much heavier way. I don’t have musical literacy enough to create solos so it has to come out of what we’re doing, the looseness of improvisation. Plus, I think it is easier to get three people together to practice than if we had four. That sounds funny, but trust me, it’s easier to navigate this way. We’re also really great friends. Olmo married my cousin, and now they have two children. Elijah is his own singer-songwriter, own littlecomposed much of the original scoring for mance art.much of the movie I wrote and directed in Black An-2008 (The Hungry Ghost); he’s played with me yond prac-live while I read from my novel (The Perfume of shows.Burned His Eyes), as well as doing the music bout any-for Steve (Schrippa) and my podcast, Talking I wasn’t aSopranos. d acoustic I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the one in thedistinct inspiration of Lou Reed – Velvets n it to runLou, Robert Quine-era Lou, latter-day Lou. cked. So I Lou was a hero of mine. As a songwriter, the guitar,lyricist and storyteller, he did something very ould makespecific and very unique and very literary. ol. I didn’tThat was very New York. Plus, he became a just play-friend of mine in the last 10 years of his life. and partic-I related to the stories he told. I was more influenced by Lou than the Velvet Underground, shell. Letto tell you the truth. And Quine was a virtuong under-so beyond my abilities. I just loved his guitar oise then,work. y Scorsese So many guitar players are great, but they Me), Spikesound like each other. He really brought somenice clip.thing distinct and individual to punk. Just in long cine-the same way Richard Lloyd from Television did. I actually took lessons from Lloyd at one

point, He taught me how to practice. Considering how you write – lyrically, as an author and scriptwriter, even for episodes of The Sopranos you scripted – what is the through line? The struggle of the individual. All of the things that oppose that, be it government, religion, intolerance, hatred. Somehow the individual must survive and thrive with their good hearts intact. Battered and bruised, but with their innocence still in play. Changing the band name from La Dolce Vita to ZOPA. How did that happen? We had that name for a minute and just got sick of it. It’s a good name. My wife, Victoria’s nickname is “Vita.” And there’s Fellini, of course. We found out, though, that there were several bands with that name. Not indie bands. Wedding bands. Plus, I came up with the idea of Zopa, because it means “patience” in Tibetan and it’s actually my Buddhist’s middle name. Calling the album La Dolce Vita was about connecting our music to the beginning of the band. Born Italian-Catholic as am I, was yours a connection from the religion you were raised in, or rather a connection to Buddhism? I disconnected from Catholicism a long time ago. In a lot of ways, being Catholic was a cultural thing. The sacraments. The ritual. The holidays. When I started thinking of it all in my late teens, those things didn’t add up for me. So, I was a spiritual seeker for a time – especially in my 30s. Many paths before landing on Buddhism: Christian Science, Christian Mysticism. Russian Mysticism. Shamanism. Occultism. A lot of it was interesting in the reading but didn’t make sense for me in the practice or connected me to the teaching until Tibetan Buddhism. You brought up The Sopranos, so I’m guessing it’s fair game. Can you tell me what that story – the HBO series, the film, the podcast – means to you in the present, as well as to those young fans you play to in ZOPA? What happened during 2020 and the pandemic was that I had just gotten on social media. We weren’t going to do the Talking Sopranos podcast because of having to go into a studio and Covid, but we heard from countless people that they were at home binge-watching The Sopranos. I noticed too that it was mostly young people who weren’t around when the series was originally on the air. I started posting stuff about my Buddhism, my interest in music, the band, literature, all this stuff on Instagram, and suddenly these kids in the 20s and 30s, so many indie rock fans, wanted to know more. We released the ZOPA album on Bandcamp into all that – it had sat on the shelf for 8 years – and suddenly it’s a thing. The Sopranos’ legacy has allowed us to reach, as a band, an audience of younger people now that I might not have had access to, normally, in such a direct way.

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PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022

SPORTS

The Disc Sport Beyond Campus

The Philadelphia Phoenix and the Growth of Ultimate

the women’s professional team, and the ltimate is a popular disc game Drexel University men’s team. Chu has unon many college campuses, til the end of April to develop and prepare and its popularity flies beyond the Phoenix for the start of the season. the college green: there’s a For interested fans or the curious specfledgling professional Ultimate tator, they can see the Phoenix play at the league as well. The PhiladelSouth Philadelphia Super Site, near the phia Phoenix, founded in 2012, play in the American Ultimate Phillies’ stadium. Nor has the doom-and-gloom of the Disc League, a professional league with 22 plague kept the Phoenix, or the AUDL in teams in the U.S. and Canada. general, down. “I think the league is actuSome people are attracted to Ultimate ally stronger than ever,” Chu said. “That as a non-contact sport that poses less risk one-year hiatus — of course it than football. Others find a sucked, everything kind of shut group of friends during college down [in 2020]. But folks spent a and stick with it for good exerBY: ANTHONY lot of that time at the league level cise. What keeps casual players HENNEN figuring out partnerships and the coming back, and turns casual 2021 season was a success. From players into serious ones, is the my view, the league is growing community and sport’s ethos. It’s and stronger than ever.” competitive, but not cut-throat, Like many others, Chu noted that the and sportsmanship is valued above win2020 pause helped people re-prioritize their ning. lives to figure out what they wanted. The “integrity rule” in Ultimate, for ex“I’ve seen the players when they come ample, means that games are self-officiated up to the pro level. Players call their own back re-energized, excited, ready to help this sport grow and take this sport to anfouls, can reject called fouls when they other level—and to compete at the highest think it’s an unfair advantage, and discuss level,” Chu said. the calls with their opponents. It’s more One of those players, the Phoenix’s Marc collaborative and shuns ruthlessness as a Sands, was wooed into Ultimate by friends. matter of course. “This is, I think, part of the reason why Now, he’s in on the ground floor for a sport this culture around Ultimate is attractive trying to grow by leaps and bounds. “It makes me think back to pioneering a to a lot of players,” said Roger Chu, the sport,” Sands said. “It’s kind of like basenew head coach of the Philadelphia Phoeball back before they threw offspeed pitchnix. “This built-in need for respect for your es or curveballs. There’s so much to this opponents and need to discuss and undersport that we don’t even know is going to be stand each other’s perspectives.” developed and that’s what makes it so excitChu was brought on in January, along ing for me.” with assistant coach Thomas Glass. PreviThe athletes aren’t driven by their egos ously, Chu coached the New York Gridlock,

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in a search for glory, extolled by a post-modern Pindar. They’re attracted by the physical challenge and the chance to lay a foundation. “I feel like being out there and playing as hard as you can, it’s going to yield good things for the future,” Sands said. “I’m out there to set that up for the next generation of people coming in.” To that effect, the Phoenix involve kids as part of the fan experience at their games, and have established youth programs in Philadelphia and its suburbs to introduce Ultimate to a younger audience before college. The involvement in Ultimate is its own reward. Professional Ultimate players don’t make much — Sands pegged it at less than $1,000 per year — but the non-financial benefits are more. “Ultimate has done amazing things for me in my life, so I always give back to it, I always pour everything I can and make extra time for Ultimate,” Sands said. The Phoenix are now asking the public to make some time in the spring for them. “It’s a highlight-packed sport and it’s just fun,” Sands said. “Once the crowd gets involved, it really becomes an awesome experience.”

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GOSSIP

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THE LINGERING CHAOS Center City vandalism continues apace

ICEPACK

FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

OF COVID Y

Jeopardy! ou know how you wake up during a dream and you expect the thing Congratulations to university students in your head to have happened, from Philly getting the chance, this month, or be happening as you rise? Like to win the title of “Jeopardy!” collegiate nano more discussions of a five-lane tional champion and $250,000. U of P’s Mehek Washington Avenue at the Italian Boparai and Villanova’s Mitch Macek: come Market or John Fetterman already on down. I don’t know who hosts this show having won his Pennsylvania state Senate anymore, and what you’ll need to cram to get seat? ahead (and don’t trust the Adderall to keep That’s how I feel toward the Sixers PLEASE you up), but enjoy the ride. being able to get rid of Ben Simmons (to any Meek Mill team for any other player, like I would take a You know who is not enjoying his ride, all hat and a pint for strawberries for Simmons) of a sudden? Philly rapper, prison activist and this week while acquiring James Harden billionaire basketball buddy Meek Mill, who despite the Nets’ head coach, Steve Nash, dehas been tweeting how unhappy he is with his nying Harden’s trade availability, all during record label, Atlantic Records, accusing them trade deadlines. I’m going back to sleep until of holding any of his upcoming new music these dueling dreams come true. Zzzz. And hostage while blaming Atlantic for the poor P.S. Even Shaq thinks Simmons is a sales and streams performance of cry baby. And Shaq likes everything. his last album (I don’t even rememOh. And are we that bored during ber it at this point – whose fault IS BY: A.D whatever this continued C-19-Omithat?). Millie is also stating that AtAMOROSI cron slowdown is that a tumbling lantic drove a wedge between himarray of pricey cheeses splayed self and “The Box” rapper Roddy across a busted shelving unit at a Rich. local Acme makes viral headline news? Has Mom’s Soul Food that happened two years in? Is this the lame After making the most of a successful winfissure in those night sweat-filled dreams I ter’s pop-up for his homemade dishes, The just talked about? Fuuuuuuuuuck. This might Dutch’s Chef Kevin Watters will return for not seem quite as frivol-filled as the Philly Black History Month with Mom Mom’s Soul author (Catherine Price, I’m looking at you) Food starting Feb. 10 and again on Feb. 11. who believes that we need a “funtervention” West Philly Chef Watters’ take out pop-up and is hosting a dare to have/be fun challenge will pop its top at 1527 S. 4th Street, and this throughout February, but the month is young Mom Mom’s will benefit the local BIPOC chefand the height of boredom is at some sort of led charity, Everybody Eats. Then, on Feb. 28, Dr. Who-like crack in the time continuum Watters will shift gears from take-out to sitthreshold, so…. down for a multi-course menu at The Dutch’s Narcan Tower new spot on 1537 S. 11th Street. Are you as excited as I am? Philly’s DepartWatters, a longtime Executive Chef of The ment of Public Health opened a Narcan Near Dutch (the popular breakfast and lunch eatMe tower last week at the Lucien E. Blackwell ery with a focus on reinventing the PennsylWest Philadelphia Regional Library - the first vania Dutch classics,) is originally from West of two towers to be installed in the city, and Philadelphia. As a release states, on the heels the first in any major metropolis in the United of the successful soul food pop up last winter, States. We’re number one. We’re number one. Watters is reviving the culinary event for a I can’t wait to see if my neighborhood gets a second year in a row as a nod to Black Histoshot at yet another place where 24 hours a day, ry Month, named in remembrance of his late seven days a week, quality things can come grandmother Lillian Lewis, who was known alive. in her community as “everybody’s Mom-

GOSSIP

PHILADELPHIAWEEKLY.COM @PHILLYWEEKLY Mom.” More vandalism in Center City I know that police don’t care about smash and grabs or break-ins, especially with businesses, because all shoplifters very much need what they steal, and the businesses themselves are insured to the max, right? No and no, but work with me here. Because surely no one AT ALL cares about richy-rich luxury good salons on Walnut Street such as Tiffany & Co. getting vandalized and having their windows smashed the other day. But, just like Walgreens and Wonderland and all the recently shuttered Wawas all gone, one day you’re going to wake up and Center City will be nothing but a Lululemon and that weird multi-international dining mall across from the old Daffy’s. Not to mention, it’s ValentIne’s Day week. Where are you going to get your gems, your bongs, and your morning-after pill – between say 20th and Market and 12th and Chestnut – if all of these places are gone? My guess is that Tiffany’s will soon head for King of Prussia, a grand duchy with its own private ecosystem and security rather than tough it out downtown. Masked Philly: Ozzie Jones In Icepack’s way too-long, way overly complex and continuing saga of asking mask-donning local celebrities what they’ve been up to, beyond their day jobs, during C-19 – from lock down to the current re-opening, present-day un-masking and re-masking, worrying about Delta variants, freaking out about Fauci’s call for a potential third round of vax shots mere five months after the last, new mask and vax card mandates, ignored or not ignored (I mean why did I wait in line at the Convention Center if you’re not asking to see my card?), the possibility of mix-and-matching vaccines, which is frankly weird, AND NOW, YEAH OF COURSE, the whole worldwide B.1.1.529 Omicron variant scare, so welcome to ROUND THREE, I reached out this week to Ozzie Jones. West Philly’s Jones is renowned for his funky but chic, and way longtime, work as a writer, director, composer, and producer

for self-created film and theater projects, as well as being a force for educational good in this town. This week, that work as a director brings its action to Kensington and can be viewed at South Philly’s Theatre Exile (see for yourself how those two areas merge) with The Motherf **cker with the Hat. Before we get to the Motherf **cking Hat, there is the little matter of the pandemic and its break from theatrically lived reality. What Jones did with himself that was so different than his usual was force himself to communicate better using technology. “I am a relatively anti-tech person, so the slowdown has allowed me to see the computer and something other than the gateway to the end of the world. And that’s good, I guess.” I guess. Plus, Jones is recovering from major surgery. So that’s a thing to consider when looking to the mask and the vax. Pragmatically, Jones is pretty linear when it comes to the topic. “I don’t ‘feel’ anything about wearing the mask,” he says. “I wear a mask because I am around a lot of people, many of which are elderly. Throughout the history of society there have been health crises. You listen to professionals, follow instructions, and hope and pray for the best. None of this is magic…. And I don’t ‘feel’ Image | Courtesy of Ozzie Jones anything about the vax. I work with children and I work with the elderly, often. The vax has been suggested by professionals, so I took it.” With that, directing, writing, and teaching is crucial for Jones while recovering from a major surgery at the moment. “Highest on the list. Life is precious,” he says. All that and The Motherf **cker with the Hat which opens at S 13th Street’s Theatre Exile and runs until February 27, a smart, sharp blackly comic farce about the algebra of need and all addictive forces. “Everybody wants to be seen and heard,” says Ozzie Jones regarding the heart of The Motherf **er with The Hat. “And horrors abound when they are not.”

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MUSIC

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Squirrel Flower’s Progress BY: ANTHONY HENNEN

Planet (i) faces the fear of disaster

quirrel Flower makes music powered by emotion, by sound as much as silence, by what lurks ahead in the future. Her label describes her second album, Planet (i), as “a singular planet, a world entirely of artist Ella Williams’ making.” On Williams’ planet, disaster is in the distance, and it doesn’t look like one can avert it. Yet the world continues. Throughout her music, Squirrel Flower shows an admirable range—and control—of her emotions. They swell, they waver, they’re calmed, but they remain. Never too literal, never too abstract, the lyrics pair with the instruments to ensconce the listener in a dreamscape of…indie pop? Folk? What’s a genre anymore, anyway? Squirrel Flower grew up in Massachusetts, headed to Iowa for college, and now lives in Chicago when she’s not touring across America. She’ll play at PhilaMOCA on Feb. 12 and chatted with Philly Weekly beforehand. Is progress fleeting? Are we doomed to destroy what we love? Progress is a myth and idk but I’d never destroy anything I love. You had more time to write and record since Covid hit; did that influence the themes and ideas you used, or did it open space for what you already focused on? The main influence the pandemic had on my music was the money I got from the government.

FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

I could just focus on my craft without worrying about working other jobs/paying back loans, etc. For me, having the time to devote to my craft was the main difference. It was eerie because the themes of the songs I’d written before Covid hit were sort of about disaster, isolation, struggle, and solitude. So working those songs out during the pandemic was funny. How is Planet (i) different from your previous album, I Was Born Swimming? I wrote the songs on I Was Born Swimming when I was 19 and 20. I was a kid. Those IWBS songs were part of me running around making art and having fun, writing songs just because I wanted to. Planet (i) shifted into something that I poured over for months, editing and creating visual elements, allowing my life to follow the trajectory of where the music was leading me as opposed to music following me wherever I went. It seems that, at the heart of this record, there’s an insistence on connection and healing in the face of catastrophe. Is there hope here, or is there something about accepting life and the past, and living with it? Both, I’d say.

You’re going cross-country in February and March to play 29 shows; any places you’re looking forward to going in particular? California, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, mainly the West Coast because I’ve been there the least. You went to college in Iowa; what is the rest of America overlooking about the Hawkeye State? Everything!!!! Iowa taught me how to place my center of gravity in myself. How rooted do you feel? Has touring taken a toll on your sense of home, did the pandemic change your view of place? Right now I have roots in Chicago, where I’ve lived for almost a year, and with my parents in Massachusetts. Home is really wherever my loved ones are, where my musical practice can flourish, and I find loved ones wherever I go. How autobiographical is your music? It’s a mix of autobiographical and not at all. What’s your writing process like? Lots of time off from writing, lots of incubating, then capturing a song when it presents itself to me. I record a ton of voice memos. I improvise a lot and then go back after with an editing mind, picking the pieces and bits that stand out. What themes are you drawn to? It really depends on where I am in my mind and life. Planet (i) was about facing deep fears, embracing the darkness, and overcoming disaster. Lately I’ve been writing only about dreams and love.

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MUSIC

Image Credit: Squirrel Flower

Do you have a favorite song from the new album? Why/why not? Definitely not. That’s like having a favorite child. What do you want listeners to take away from your songs? Really whatever they take away. At this point in my music making I don’t spend time thinking about others’ interpretations and expectations. Everything I have is said through the music, so if people listen, they’ll take away the right stuff. Interpretation is a beautiful thing. You've also covered Björk’s “unravel;” why? What attracts you to her music? Ali chant, the producer I worked with on Planet (i), introduced me to Björk’s music. Obviously I knew of her and had heard her music before then, but he really showed it to me. The only music I listened to when I wasn’t recording or mixing my own music was Björk (and Aphex Twin lol). I love music made by women that isn’t easy. It’s not obvious. It doesn’t give the listener exactly what they want. That’s what makes it groundbreaking. It’s easy to make nice, good pop music that will get onto the easy listening playlist or whatever the hell. It's less easy to make something beautiful with sharp edges.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022

THE RUNDOWN

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THE RUNDOWN Image | Nathan Ansell

FOOD & DRINK

Craftsman Row Saloon

Craftsman Row Saloon announces the opening of Philadelphia’s only Mardi Gras Pop-up Bar Experience through Fat Tuesday on Tuesday, March 1. The sights, sounds, and tastes of The Big Easy come to Philly with a special limited-time pop-up experience that includes everything from an over-the-top King of Bourbon Street Milkshake, King Cake glittering gold, green and purple sweet potato fries, dirty rice, and Bourbon Street inspired cocktails. Cocktails come with beads, masks and/or other souvenirs pending the specific beverage. For music, listen for a mix of Mardi Gras and New Orleans classics and staples, festive jazz and even some Mummers’ favorite tunes.

Square 1682

Square 1682 boasts a three-course prix fixe meal for Valentine’s Day weekend, available Friday, February 11, Saturday, February 12, and Monday, February 14 for dine-in. Chef Mackenson Horebe has prepared a plethora of decadent dishes to elevate date night for $65/person including crab dip, red snapper filet served alongside grilled broccolini and romesco sauce, jerk half chicken with pikliz, basmati rice, and sauce pwa, and for dessert choice of chocolate-raspberry bomb or Ameretti cookie sorbet. Reservations on OpenTable.

FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

Patchwork

Patchwork in Rittenhouse Square recently opened to the public and is celebrating with a deluxe prix fixe dinner available for dine-in on Friday, February 11 through Sunday, February 13. Helmed by Executive Chef Jonathan Dearden, the Valentine’s-themed menu is priced at $60/person and features caviar kiss composed of crispy pierogi, whipped crème fraîche, and chives; dayboat scallop a la plancha with endive marmalade, blood orange, and pistachios; dry aged strip steak prepared with a pomme purée and whiskey au poivre; and butternut squash risotto served with sautéed Swiss chard and brown butter nage. For dessert, guests can choose between panna cotta with passion fruit and mango sorbet or chocolate bourbon caramel tart with smoked Maldon sea salt. Reservations on patchworkphilly.com.

Oloroso

Oloroso and revered Executive Chef Jason Peabody have crafted an elaborate five-course menu in honor of Valentine’s Day featuring new and returning tapas-style dishes. From Friday, February 11 through Monday, February 14, guests can opt for the exclusive Valentine’s Day Tasting Menu for $85/person. Offerings include East Coast oysters with cidra mignonette, bunuelos de bacalao composed of cod fritters and citrus aioli, gambas al ajillo with chickpea and Fresno chili, grilled octopus with muhumara, and black olive, paella Oloroso with shellfish, chicken, and chorizo, and white chocolate budino with raspberry and sable. Reservations on Resy.

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THE RUNDOWN

Franky Bradley’s

Franky Bradley’s, the effervescent fun- and kitsch-filled nostalgic restaurant, bar, and nightclub in the heart of Center City’s Midtown Village, is celebrating Valentine’s Day by hosting three scintillating and over-the-top burlesque performances and live entertainment with Velvet Valentine, VDay, and “La Petite Mort: A Dark Burlesque Experience,” from Friday, February 11 through Sunday, February 13. Friday will feature Velvet Valentine, an evening of decadent dining, spirited cocktails, and sensual entertainment courtesy of Philadelphia-based vocalist and composer V. Shayne Frederick. Attendees can expect to be captivated by a breathtaking burlesque ensemble from local starlets Victoria Reno, HoneyTree EvilEye, and Josie Soul Star, followed by an after party led by local DJ spinning vinyl. On Saturday, Franky Bradley’s presents V’Day, a Valentine’s-themed riff on Beyoncé’s B’Day album rife with burlesque performances from Mz Peaches and Daught Ladell, hosted by Philadelphia-based Drag Queen Vinchelle. Closing out the weekend-long series of spirited events is “Le Petite Mort: A Dark Burlesque Experience” on Sunday. Hosted by the sensational Sophie Sucre, attendees can celebrate Galentine’s Day or a pre-Valentine’s Day with a night of sultry and elaborate burlesque from a bevy of Philadelphia’s finest performers including Lelu Lenore, Foxworth Vorn, Miss V., Nirvana Noire and more. Details at https://frankybradleys.com/.

CHINESE NEW YEAR Dim Sum House by Jane G’s

Jane Guo and Jackson Fu present a special Chinese New Year celebration at both Dim Sum House by Jane G’s location in Rittenhouse Square and in University City. Look for a special menu from January 30 to February 13. On Saturday, February 5, look for special Chinese New Year events highlighted by firecrackers and the traditional lion dance. Festivities will be at 7 pm at Rittenhouse and 8 pm in University City that day. Reservations on Resy.

The Fin

The Fin is one of Philadelphia’s newest and largest Chinese-owned businesses — and they will host their first-ever celebration for Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival. On Monday, February 14, celebrate Valentine’s Day itself with a special Asian twist with a special Chinese-inspired fixed price menu with specialty cocktails and a chance for prizes with a golden ticket cocktail. On this evening, enjoy cocktails a la carte and pair with a special three course feast for $65 per person. The Fin will be decked out with Chinese lanterns, custom art and other themed decorations. The Fin will also pour an exclusive and limited edition Johnny Blue Lunar New Year edition. Reservations on OpenTable.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022

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FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

The cliché about Valentine’s Day is that it was carried out on February 14th. was invented to sell candy, flowers, and greetThe church then chose this as his feast day. ing cards. Some scoff at the holiday that has Nearly two centuries later, we celebrate by come to celebrate romantic love due to the having a really hard time making a dinner associated crass commercialism. In fairness, reservation, which is inarguably better than crass commercialism would likely the whole death-by-clubs thing. exist in February regardless. CVS But you know that’s not the true sells chocolate and stuffed animals beginning of the holiday. Like most year-round. of the big holidays on the Christian Other, more boring people think calendar, there was originally a pathe holiday is just about men buygan festival that happened at the ing things for women. They created same time each year. an unofficial Steak and BlowJob Far earlier in Roman history, paDay a month later as a counterbalgans celebrated the fertility ritual ance. Advertising the transactional of Lupercalia each year on Februnature of your sexual relationships ary 15th. THAT was a real party. sure is an option. It kicked off with naked priests enThere are even those who focus gaging in animal sacrifice. Their DR. TIMAREE blood was smeared with a knife on on the Christian connection to the date. It is SAINT Valentine we’re the foreheads of young people. The referencing after all. But, like most @TIMAREE_LEIGH skin of slaughtered goats was cut commercial and Christian holidays, into strips, which was then used to there is a way more metal origin. make girdles and thongs…and also There is some debate over the identity of to slap naked women. I envision a very early the man known as St. Valentine. The Catholic flogging kink. church recognizes three different guys with It remains a bit of a mystery about how nathe name, all of whom died brutally. ked people got, about how voluntary the goat One particularly popular legend has it that skin slappings were, and whether the event in 270 AD, there was a Roman emperor so viwas more PG-13 or fully X rated. cious that he earned the It’s also not entirely nickname Claudius the clear if there is a connecCruel. He loooooved wagtion between Lupercalia ing war but believed that and Valentine’s Day. Reayoung men’s silly attachsons to suspect that they ments to their lovers and are include: the festival’s families kept them from focus on fertility and legbeing adequately willing ends of an intriguing Luto die for him. His solupercalia practice where tion? Banning marriage in Rome. the names of the city’s young maidens were A true romantic and old-school social jusplaced in an urn. Bachelors would draw a tice warrior, Valentine continued to preside name and the couple would be paired for a over weddings in secret, in spite of the decree. year, potentially to be married. That’s someWhen he was discovered, he was sentenced to where between a key party and speed dating death by the stunning combination of being with real stakes. beaten to death by clubs and then beheaded. Though it survived Christianity for a good To add a romantic ripple to the story, some long while, Lupercalia was outlawed at the say that he wrote love letters to the jailer’s end of the 5th century by some real party daughter while he sat imprisoned, awaiting pooper of a Pope named Gelasius. He was also his death. According to the tale, he signed the one who declared February 14th to be the them “from your Valentine.” The execution feast of St. Valentine — yet another argument

SCHMIT

Like most commercial and Christian holidays, there is a way more metal origin.

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istory, pality ritual on Februeal party. priests enfice. Their a knife on eople. The s was cut en used to …and also very early

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t entirely a connecLupercaliain favor of their connection. Day. Rea- It wasn’t until the Middle Ages, though, that theythat the date became associated with romane festival’stic love. Supposedly the first recorded written y and leg-Valentine was sent by a guing Lu-15th-century prince to ce wherehis wife while he was imdens wereprisoned in the Tower of ld draw aLondon, but that’s probaired for ably not true. It’s also imat’s some-portant to note that folks eed datingweren’t getting married for love back then, but for a goodthat it was common for romances to spark wed at thebetween members of the court — folks who real partycould usually not be together officially. e was also This ancient idea of courtly love — a roh to be themance between a knight and a married aristoargument

Testing? COVID19? Safety? Voting? Stimulus Check? Rent? Food? cratic lady whom he cannot have — resonates even today. We still use tales of pining for an unreachable lover as the basis of our romantic fiction. So now we have modern Valentine’s Day, a holiday associated with romance, sending love notes…and a chubby, cherubic Roman baby god. Cupid, after all, was the child of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. However you choose to celebrate, whether it’s with a romantic dinner, passive-aggressive candy hearts, or whipping your boo with the skin of a slaughtered goat: I hope you have a great Valentine’s Day.

It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the date became associated with romantic love.

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AT&T Mobility, LLC is proposing to modify the existing building wireless telecommunications facility located at 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania 19103 (N39° 59' 44.4" and W75° 10' 5.7"). AT&T Mobility, LLC invites comments from any interested party on the impact the proposed undertaking may have on any districts, sites, buildings, structures, or objects significant in American history, archaeology, engineering, or culture that are listed or determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under National Historic Preservation Action Section 106. Parties interested in commenting on this Federal undertaking or with questions on the proposed facility should contact Impact7G, Inc. at 9550 Hickman Road, Suite 105, Clive, IA 50325 or call 515-473-6256 and reference project #NE 892/CR. Comments must be received within 30 days of the date of this notice.

classifieds@philadelphiaweekly.com PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | FEBRUARY 10 - 17, 2022

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