A manicured hand holding a cheesesteak, a hoagie, or an iron skillet filled with scrapple. Now imagine that on a hoodie or T-shirt. Add to that the beloved moniker “Philly Jawn” printed on the back in Philadelphia Phillies-style print and I’m hooked.

I may be a born and bred New Yorker, but after living here for 23 years, I’m a total Philly Jawn.

This latest sartorial homage to Philly food is a collaboration between interior designer Sheila Bridges and food writer, producer, and media entrepreneur Stephen Satterfield.

Earlier this year Bridges partnered with Walmart on a Philly-centric collection of tableware featuring her iconic Harlem Toille de Juoy print. Satterfield is best known for Netflix’s Peabody and NAACP award-winning series High on the Hog. Its first season featured Philadelphia food and Black catering families including Robert Bogle.

The Sheila Bridges X COMOCO T-shirts and hoodies are available in six foodie styles. In addition to the cheesesteak, hoagie, and scrapple designs are a soft pretzel, a rainbow water ice, and a hot dog.

Black tees feature hands raising hoagies, cheesesteaks, and hot dogs to a clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds. To me, it depicts the heavenly experience of biting into a yummy hoagie, cheesesteak, or hotdog.

“Because of the 250th, I was in this very Philly mindset,” said Bridges, Bill Clinton and author Tom Clancy’s interior decorator, who is calling Philly home these days.

“I love Philly food,” she said. “Every time I’m in town, I’m always looking for a soft pretzel with mustard or a cheesesteak.”

One of Bridges’ in-house artists nailed the illustrations. The shirts were produced by COMOCO Cotton, Satterfield’s apparel brand that uses cotton grown by Black-owned family farms in the South.

“I love how all of the cotton in our products is fully traceable from seed to garment,” Bridges said.

So do I.

Sheila Bridges X COMOCO Cotton’s limited-edition Philly-centric shirts are available online at SheilaBridges.com. Hoodies are $100. T-shirts are $85. Sizes: S, M, L, XL, and 2XL

— Elizabeth Wellington

Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988) is one of my favorite films ever. I watched a grainy pirated copy of it from an USB drive a friend lent me on my laptop screen and was spellbound by the hand-drawn animated frames. The film, based on the manga of the same name, is set in the dystopian faraway year of 2019 where Tokyo is in ruins following sudden destruction in 1988. It is plagued with protests, unemployment, corruption, and an overwhelming sense of decay and anger.

The action of the film unfolds when Shōtarō Kaneda’s bike gang, the Capsules, races against a rival gang in the midst of a rally that quickly escalates and becomes disruptive. In the middle of the action, Kaneda’s best friend Tetsuo Shima clashes with an otherworldly esper and gains supernatural powers, the same powers possessed by Akira who caused 1988’s wreckage. What follows is a tale of Shima developing superhuman strength and a destructive rage that consumes much of the city. The army and the police fail to manipulate Shima into submission.

It is a cyberpunk action film; so yes, there’s blood, death, several crashes, splintering glass, and never-ending dystopic vistas. The excellent score draws heavily from traditional Japanese and Indonesian styles and is composed by Shōji Yamashiro.

Imagine experiencing all of that on a grainy .mov file on a laptop screen. But you don’t have to! A new 4K and IMAX restoration, distributed by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment, has been released with English subtitles and English dub. Watching it felt like I was watching the film for the first time.

The glass shimmers, the blood glows redder, and everything looks grander on the big screen. It is an epic for our times, and for any era where too many people suffer under the reckless might of men drunk on their own power.

The 4K restoration of “Akira” is playing in theaters across the region, including AMC Broadstreet 7, AMC Cherry Hill 24, and AMC Voorhees 16.

— Bedatri D. Choudhury

Twelve color-soaked murals, filled with silhouettes entranced in dance, music, and community, adorn the entrance gates at the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

As visitors walk along the gravel-covered trail on Georges Hill Drive, they see a series of 10-foot-long panels that are a part of Echoes Beyond the Stage. The new installation was developed by artists Nile Livingston and De’von Downes to commemorate 50 years since the Mann moved to its current West Fairmount Park location.

Livingston and Downes collaborated with Streets Dept founder Conrad Benner and Mural Arts Philadelphia to create artwork that reflects the amphitheater’s history, while illuminating the people, historic blocks, and other institutions that surround its borders.

One mural references one of Aretha Franklin’s final performances at the Mann. Another highlights the century-old rowhouses that line the outside blocks, and others reflect the energy of past block parties, barbecues, and other activities brought to the community. Musical notes float from one panel to the next, showcasing the musical influences and memorable performances that have passed through time. Dancers, vocalists, DJs, and instrumentalists perform under purple, green, and amber-covered skies, while spectators watch from their amphitheater seats or windowsills.

While each panel differs in focus, they are bound by visual harmony. These works show Mann is not just a performance venue; it’s an essential part of the community and an integral piece of the city’s broader music history. And the best part? Visitors get a glimpse of it before stepping foot inside through the entrance gates.

The Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts is at 5201 Parkside Ave., Phila.

— Earl Hopkins

What do Alex G., Will Yip, and Elton John have in common?

The Havertown indie songwriter, Grammy-winning Philly producer and studio owner, and “Philadelphia Freedom” British rock legend all have a hand in Never Enough: Versions, the new album that reimagines Never Enough, the 2025 album by Baltimore pop hardcore band Turnstile.

Never Enough was already one of the most-acclaimed rock albums of the decade. At this year’s Grammys, the Brendan Yates-fronted band’s “Birds” won for best metal performance. And Turnstile and Yip, the owner of South Philly’s Memory Music Studios, who engineered the album and assisted Yates in producing it, won prestigious best rock album trophies.

Now, the 14-song album has been expanded with 22 new tracks, with the original songs remixed, rearranged, and reinterpreted by a dazzling array of artists.

The most mind-blowing presence is John, who turns “Seein’ Stars” into a proper song, and whose fame exponential outreaches that of his fellow Turnstile fans.

Those fans include Paramour singer Hayley Williams, who interprets “Ceilings”; boygenius’ Julien Baker, who teams with Sudanese Canadian poet Mustafa on an absolutely gorgeous “Time Is Happening”; jazz trumpeter Brandon Woody, who turns in a lovely instrumental “Dreaming”; and breakout electro-pop star Slayyyter, who soars on a high-flying “Birds.”

Both Baltimore club party MC Rod Lee and New York synth-pop songwriter Porches take on the Never Enough title track. Alex G. — whose full name is Alex Giannascoli and is also in music news for his score to Jane Schoenbrun’s movie Teenage Sex and Death and Camp Miasma — delivers an atmospheric, cinematic spin on “Magic Man,” which is also interpreted by Panda Bear of Animal Collective.

All in all, it’s a thoroughly impressive project that makes Turnstile seem like they might possibly be the coolest band in the world.

“Never Enough: Versions” is available to stream and purchase on music stores and platforms.

— Dan DeLuca