🐯 Who’s got the eye of the tiger?

🐅 Queue “Eye of the Tiger”

Yo, Adrian! The inaugural RockyFest, Nov. 30 to Dec. 8, celebrates our most beloved fictional fighter. Join the Rocky Philadelphia Bus Tour, bring your Butkus to a doggie happy hour, and watch a marathon of six Rocky movies. [RockyFest]

• Related: There’s so much more to RockyFest. City Cast Philly host Trenae Nuri spoke with Kathryn Ott Lovell, CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation, to get the story behind Philly’s very first RockyFest. [🎧City Cast Philly]

😞🦅 Eagle Down & Maybe Done

Despite a great Eagles win on Sunday night – and a historic performance from Saquon Barkley – there’s some bad news for the Birds: Brandon Graham, the longest-tenured Eagle best known for his SuperBowl strip sack of a guy named Tom Brady, is out for the rest of the season with a torn tricep. There’s speculation that this may also mean the end of his career with the Eagles. [🔒The Inquirer]

❤️ Philly’s Own Love Story

Tis’ the season for classic — yet undeniably corny — Hallmark movies, and Philly has added one to the canon. “Christmas on Call” follows two first responders who meet around the holiday season. There are various references to Philly, including a cameo by none other than Momma Donna Kelce. [🔒The Inquirer]

🏛️ What’s a “Mini City Hall”?

Mayor Cherelle Parker has created “mini city halls” in 11 neighborhoods, giving residents a direct way to talk to communicate with (and complain to) local government. These community action centers will allow people to request services such as graffiti removal or traffic calming. [🔒The Inquirer]

Charlie Hall, drummer for Philly’s own The War on Drugs, is the producer behind some of the hottest Christmas music in the country over the last three years. “A Philly Special Christmas Party” is his latest (and last) album from the group known as The Philly Specials, which stars Eagles greats Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, and the recently retired Jason Kelce (plus his brother, Travis, and wife, Kelcie) alongside musical legends like Boyz II Men and Stevie Nicks.

In an interview with City Cast Philly host Trenae Nuri, Hall talked about why Philly is the perfect inspiration for Christmas music and how a song about a stoned Santa driving down Broad and Pattison is both climbing the holiday charts and raising money for Philly kids. You can listen to the full conversation in the podcast linked below. After the interview, Hall answered Hey Philly’s “3 Questions”:

What’s your favorite Christmas song?

“Last Christmas,” George Michael — I think that's a masterpiece. Ron Sexsmith, “Maybe This Christmas” -- that's one that I really was hoping would resonate with the guys. That's the Stevie [Nicks]-Jason [Kelce] duet.

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” — we always listened to the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas record when I was little. The way John Denver sings that song is one of the greatest recorded vocals of all time in my opinion. I also love a Christmas song by a band called Low – “Just Like Christmas.” It's another favorite of mine. We always put that on when we start decorating the tree every year.

What are some of your holiday traditions?

I have an older brother and an older sister. The tradition used to be that I'd sleep in my brother's room on Christmas Eve, but I think that was kind of so that he could contain me from, you know, running downstairs and tearing open presents.

Other traditions … Lobster chowder that my wife makes, and biscuits. We always do that on Christmas Eve. I mean, Lobster Chowder, John Denver. What else is there, you know?

Would War on Drugs ever make a Christmas song or album?

That is unlikely!