We kick off Week 5 tonight, and our topic this week is Before and After. Lots of ways for us to take this, but most questions will be in the Jeopardy/Wheel of Fortune style, i.e. Q: Our third President who later became the head of the Confederacy. A: Thomas Jefferson Davis. Gonna be a fun quiz, this topic is always a favorite, as much of a riddle as trivia. See ya this week!
Where I’m Eating This Week: I’ve told you before that we ride or die with Xiandu Thai, but we decided to broaden our horizons this past week with JJ Thai on 20th and Chestnut. It was a damn good call. Delicious dumplings, rockin’ red curry, and poppin’ Pad Thai. Yeah “poppin” was a bit of a stretch to make the alliteraion work. I KNOW. But seriously, these guys are great. Highly recommend.
What I’m Watching This Week: The Challenger exploding was, for people my age, the end of our innocence. It was a horrifying episode where our worlds turned upside down. Challenger: The Final Flight gives us the backstory of that ill-fated voyage. How NASA had recently gotten much more diverse, how they added a teacher because they needed to improve their PR, and most consequently, how a late night phone call sealed the shuttle’s fate. It’s a heartbreaking look at an American tragedy the impact of which can only be compared, in my mind, to 9/11. Well worth a watch.
What I’m Listening To: I really can’t get enough of Griselda these days. The Buffalo group of Bennie the Butcher, Conway the Machine, and Westside Gunn brings a 1990s Wu-Tang griminess to hip-hop that’s been missing. Conway recently did an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. The second song has a few bars about George Floyd that are particularly poignant:
I just saw a video on the news I couldn’t believe
Another racist cop kill a n***a and get to leave
He’s screaming “I can’t breath!” cop ignoring all his pleas
Hands in his pocket leaning on his neck with his knees
Cracker invent the laws that’s why the system is flawed
Cops kill black people on camera and don’t get charged
We ain’t taking no more and we ain’t just pressing record
Can’t watch you kill my brother, you gonna have to kill us all
What I’m Reading This Week: Did you realize that two members of ZZ Topp more or less started as members of a fake Zombies band? In other words, promoters acted as if the band was the Zombies, a British prog rock band. In fact it was a bogus band, a few kids from Texas that learned to play Zombies songs and then pretended they were British. Quizzo player Tiffany alerted me to this one. It’s a bizarre story.
What Interesting Person I Met This Week: This week I had the opportunity to chat with author Yaron Weitzman, who recently wrote a book about the Sixers “Process” called Tanking to the Top. Really fun to talk about the Process, because as we’re living through it there’s all these crazy things happening, but it’s really not until now that I think we can look back and say, “Holy shit! That was INSANE!” From Hinkie to Markelle Fultz to Burnergate, Yaron got the inside scoop on all of it, and Reef and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him about it. Oh, and remember: shop Shibe, and take 15% off with checkout code “quizzo”.
Alright if you’ve got any suggestions for what I should eat, drink, listen to, or watch, shoot me a line on twitter (you can also see where I’ve been retweeting the funniest tweets like crazy after Trump got COVID). And be sure to join the JGT Quizzo page on Facebook as well. See ya soon!
I am REALLY psyched about this one. I think we’ve got an opportunity to really have some awesome Friday Happy Hours together. And the best part is, it’s all $40 per person…full stop. That covers quizzo, 2 hour open beer bar, an entree, a generous gratuity for your server AND a $4 donation to one of the best charities in Philadelphia, Beyond the Bars. I honestly don’t think you’ll find a deal this great anywhere.
And I’m psyched to work with Yards Brewery. I’m a big fan of Tom Kehoe. Legit good dude who literally built this business out of a garage. (You should listen to our interview with him from last year if you haven’t heard it yet). Three shows in October: the 2nd, 16th, and 30th. All outdoors under a tent, with social distancing, and max team size is 6. Hope to see ya there!
TO RESERVE A TABLE: Make your team’s payment ($40 each) to @jgtquizzo on venmo and put “Yards” in your note. It’s also possible to get a table night of if there are any available but this way you reserve one.
What I’m Watching: As I told my teams this week, I went deep down a Milli Vanilli wormhole recently, and the highlight of it was this interview that Fab Morvan did a couple of years ago with VladTV. I distinctly remember this as a kid, I mean this story was HUGE. I feel like it was the biggest story between the Challenger exploding and OJ going on the run, that’s how big it was. And Fab and Rob got completely dumped on, and were totally unfairly scapegoated, and the people behind the scenes got away scot free. Rob sadly never recovered. He spiraled into a full blown drug addict and died in 1998. Fab seems like a really chill dude. I’m damn impressed with how he overcame becoming a joke and emerged with his dignity intact. You can follow Fab on Instagram here.
What I’m Listening to: I started listening to some German pop this past week (why not?) and really ended up digging this German rapper/singer named Julian Philipp David, better known as JPD. Reminds me of a German Mac Miller. Check out his song Elena and his song Kapital. I have NO CLUE what he’s saying but that’s the magic of music: good tunes are good tunes. Period. And these sound great.
What Else I’m Listening To: We travel from Germany to Camden, and had the honor of chatting with local trumpeter Arnetta Johnson. She talked to us about going from Camden to Berklee, about performing at halftime of the Super Bowl with Beyonce (!), and how the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have influenced her playing. As for her music, she calls what she does “disruptive jazz”. You can hear some of it here. And if you’re reading this on Friday, you can see and her tonight at the Philly Music Festival.
Awesome Place I Apparently Helped “Burglarize” This Week: As you guys know, we’ve raised a lot of money for the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign since March. Cheri Honkala is an absolute boss, and she keeps hundreds of people from starving, and keeps a roof over the heads of so many of the city’s families. She’s also a royal pain in City Hall’s ass. This is from a 1997 article in City Limits:
After the city spent millions to build a new convention center next door to a soup kitchen, Cheri led a group of homeless welfare recipients who bedded down for the night on the center’s polished marble floors, Later, she and a gang of homeless people camped out a city housing official’s front lawn. That same year, Cheri issued an arrest warrant for the governor, saying he had committed crimes against the poor. And just recently Cheri had been seen chasing the mayor down a City Hall corridor, engaging him in a rousing shouting match as press photographers snapped away.
Needless to say, the Powers That Be hate her. They proved that once again last Sunday. A small gathering at St Edward’s Church, owned by a shell corp that owes over $89k in back taxes, resulted in Cheri being arrested and charged with two felonies, including “Burglary” which is of course laughable. It’s an abandoned church. What was she going to steal? Pews? You can read about this nonsense here. Great piece by Max Marin. Speaking of which, Billy Penn does a great daily newsletter that I highly suggest everyone read (unlike the pitiful joke that the Inky newsletter is).
Where I’m Shopping: Went for a run one day and stumbled across this amazing thrift/art store in Brewerytown, Search and Rescue Dry Goods. There are few things I like better than thrift stores that follow no rhyme or reason, just an owner who has an eye for…cool shit. And this is one of them. Highly recommend checking it out. 3101 West Glenwood.
Here they are, folks. A few interesting notes:
Defending champs Smells Like Quarantine Spirit seems to be picking up where they left off last season, with the third highest average in the game.
Our two leading scoring teams through two weeks are the Underground Bard and the Jawns. We may have seen the game of the year in Week 2, as UB edged the Cool Cats and Kittens, 50-49. Sucks when you score the 2nd most points out of 50 teams…and lose.
By far the biggest shock thus far this season is that after two weeks, the Tuesday Night Quarantine Club is leading their division! If they won their division, I think this would have to eclipse the Miracle on Ice as the greatest upset in sports history. They shocked the Synchronized Trampoline this past week.
The Gattaca Division is definitely our division of doom. Sofa Kingdom, the Jawns, the Covidiots, and Careless Fister are all capable of taking the division, and the Little Kwings certainly have the talent to play spoiler.
Nice to see an old rivalry in action this past week. Sofa Kingdom and Narcotyzing Dysfunction used to square off weekly at the Bards 15 years ago. They met again this past week. The Kingdom cruised to a 43-33 victory.
Boyz II Menehune and Kings of Leon were both in desperate need of a win in a tough Enterprise Division matchup this past week. And the winner was…we don’t know yet. They tied, then both were within one of the tie breaker. We’ll do a 2nd tiebreaker this week.
If anyone feels like venturing out this weekend, I will be hosting quizzo again at Frankford Hall. This is a totally different quiz than the one we do during the week. It’s all outdoors, each team gets their own table, up to 6 players per team. 7 pm Sunday.
Still need team logos for Dobby’s Sock, Cark in a Whig, Drunk Parents, REO Quizzwagon, OK Molly Bloomers, Cerebral Assassins, Alternative Fax Machines, Hydroxychlroquine Latifah, and the Covidiots. I recommend canva. Send them to johnny at johnnygoodtimes dot com. See ya this week!
Excited about this week’s topic: Germany. No, this will not be the quizzo equivalent of a History Channel show called “Panzers of WWII” or the like. There’s a whole lot more to Germany history and culture. We’ll explore it this week. Gonna be a fun quiz.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: We interviewed Greg Seltzer for the Philly Blunt this week. Great interview, super interesting dude. In addition to being a lawyer at Ballard Spahr, he and his wife run the Philly Music Fest. Needless to say, this year it will be virtual.
Greg’s an audiophile, so he refused to do the event if it wasn’t going to sound first class. The guys over at Ardmore Music Hall agreed. And the lineup is great. I had heard of a few (Mt. Joy, Clap Your Hands, The Districts) but I had never heard Langhorne Slim. Man, was I missing out. Hailing from Bucks County, this dude is FANTASTIC. Been listening to songs like this nonstop for the last 24 hours. Just bought one of his albums off of Bandcamp (which as I told you guys before does much better by the artists than streaming platforms). Looking forward to checking out more of his music, and really excited to tune into the Music Fest next week. Now more than ever, folks, support local artists!
WHAT I’M WATCHING: Watched two documentaries this week on Netflix, and I definitely recommend both. One is Capital in the 21st Century, based on a book by Thomas Piketty. It basically argues that if we don’t revamp our version of capitalism to one that aids more people than just the top 1%, we’re headed for a period of non-stop strife and revolution. Heavy stuff. It also dovetailed nicely with the other doc I watched, the Social Dilemma. Holy shit, it’s amazing how terrible Facebook, Google, and Twitter are for our society. I kind of knew that in an abstract sense but this really points out exactly why. It’s another example of simply not being able to afford to continue on our current course.
WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK AT QUIZZO: That a member of one of our quizzo teams has a Hanson tattoo. We will not be divulging any more information about the team or player, but we do ask that you keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK: Jimi Hendrix died 50 years ago today, and this Daily mail article from last month is worth a read. Somewhat sensationalistic, but it really sounds like Jimi’s friends were more worried about being caught with drugs than they were about him dying. But on this anniversary of his death, let’s celebrate his life too. Here’s a funky jam on the Dick Cavett Show. One of our foremost geniuses of the 20th century. Just sucks that we lost him so young.
WHERE I’M EATING THIS WEEK: Chip Chantry turned me on to this Indonesian restaurant, Jembatan 5, near the Italian Market. Two things you GOTTA get: the coconut shrimp and the stir fried flat noodle. Absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend. And the prices are extremely reasonable. Owned by a family that moved here from Jakarta over 20 years ago. Now more than ever, folks: support local restaurants.
Where should I eat, drink, read and listen to in the coming week? Let me know on twitter.
We’ve started doing quizzes each week at Frankford Hall (outdoors, socially distant, quiz is on your phone, teams of up to 6) and it’s been awesome. It’s a beautiful venue, they’ve got great beers on tap, and it’s been really nice to get back in the swing of things. Action starts on Sunday at 7 pm. It’s part of their Oktoberfest Celebration, so I’d expect to get a few questions about Germany, and beer. See ya there!
Philadelphia’s oldest environmental non-profit, the Clean Air Council, puts on the Philly Greenfest every year. This year it’s gone virtual, and that’s where quizzo comes in. Gonna be hosting a “Green” quiz on Sunday, September 27th at 7 PM (we moved it back a couple of days). It’s free to play, and 50% of the tips go to the Clean Air Council. If you want to join in the fun and help raise money for a terrific organization, just sign up here. On the morning of the 27th, I’ll send a Zoom invite to you which you can then share with your teammates and you’ll meet with Carl on Zoom at 7 pm.
Hope to see ya Sunday!
An interesting quiz this week. We’re not just honoring teen idols, but teenagers in all fields who have become famous, invented things, and gone to war. Good luck this week!
