Dan Gross: Bucks native to head Rock Hall of Fame
CONGRATULATIONS to Bucks County native Greg Harris, who was just named the next chief executive officer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland.
CONGRATULATIONS to Bucks County native Greg Harris, who was just named the next chief executive officer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland.
Harris, 47, a Temple graduate, has been the hall's vice president of development since 1998 and takes over for longtime CEO Terry Stewart on Jan. 1.
Philly record collectors may remember Harris as a co-founder and former owner of Philadelphia Record Exchange (618 S. 5th).
Harris previously worked for 14 years at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., where he started out curating its library and broadcast collection, and ended up the vice president of development.
"As a musician and historian I'm thrilled to see a friend, Greg Harris, named as President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," said Roots' leader, ?uestlove, in a Rock Hall release.
"Philadelphia Record Exchange was my home away from home, and most of my 70,000 plus vinyl records came from there," ?uestlove said.
Patrick Murphy mix-up
Whenever we heard the name Patrick Murphy, who recently won a congressional seat in Florida, we thought of Patrick Murphy, the Iraq war vet who represented Northeast/Bucks County in Congress for two terms.
Apparently, so does MSNBC.
On Chris Jansing's show Monday morning, MSNBC flashed head shots of a handful of new members of Congress and displayed the local Murphy when mentioning Florida's Murphy.
More amusing is that the local Murphy sorta works for MSNBC, writing columns for its website.
It happens all the time, says the former pol, now working at the Fox Rothschild law firm, after a losing campaign last spring for the Democratic state attorney general nomination.
"It happened on election night when I was in Chicago. Congressman Brad Sherman, who I served with, called me to congratulate me on my win," he said.
He calls Florida's Murphy "Patrick Murphy 2.0" and says he's, "a great young leader."
"As long as my wife, Jenni, doesn't get us two confused," Murphy says he doesn't mind.
Hunger campout again succe$$ful
Filmmaker Judd Apatow made the largest individual donation to 93.3 WMMR's Preston and Steve's annual Campout for Hunger during a stop there last week while in town promoting "This is 40," which opens Dec. 21.
Apatow pledged $10,001 to outdo Food Network host Robert Irvine, who had donated $10,000.
WMMR announced that more than 300 tons of food and more than $105,000 was donated to Philabundance. It's the annual beneficiary of the Campout for Hunger during which Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison live in a trailer at the Metroplex Shopping Center in Plymouth Meeting.
Other donors included Gov. Corbett, Ed Rendell, comedian Hal Sparks, former Sixers president Pat Croce, 'Nova hoops coach Jay Wright, Sixer Spencer Hawes, Flyer Scott Hartnell, Flyers great Bernie Parent and Gaslight Anthem singer Brian Fallon.
Food and television
Doylestown's Jason Long, the general manager of the Melting Pot (751 Easton Rd.) in Warrington, will be seen at 10 p.m. Sunday on the new A&E series "Be the Boss." The new show pits two franchise employees in a series of challenges against each other to win their own location.
* Destination America's "United States of Bacon" shoots from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday at Jake's Sandwich Board (122 S. 12th). The show, which as you may have guessed highlights bacon dishes, will be covering Jake's Turbacon sandwich with turkey, cranberry-apple spread, grilled bacon, brown gravy and potato pancakes. The restaurant is hoping fans will show up to talk about the sandwich, which comes with free fries or drink during the taping.
* "Top Chef" alum Spike Mendelsohn had drinks at McGillin's (1310 Drury) over the weekend.
The chef, who posed for photos with fans and a few staffers, can be seen alongside Somerton native Jennifer Carroll on Bravo's "Life After Top Chef."