Dan Gross: Friends, fans pay respects to Jack Rose

T

HURSTON MOORE

, leader of veteran New York noise rockers

Sonic Youth

, was among the friends and fans of

Jack Rose

who attended the guitar extraordinaire's Saturday memorial services at Bringhurst Funeral Home, in Bala Cynwyd.

Rose, who was 38, died of a heart attack on Dec. 5. He was buried Saturday at West Laurel Hill Cemetery.

The Virginia native moved to Philadelphia in 1998, and made Kensington his home in recent years, while showcasing his masterful work on the six-string, twelve-string and lap steel guitars on such releases as 2005's "Kensington Blues" and live recordings "I Do Play Rock N' Roll" and "The Black Dirt Sessions," earlier this year.

Rose's final album, "Luck in The Valley," is due out Feb. 23 on the Thrill Jockey label.

Allen Iverson and Thaddeus Young picked up Godfather hoagies and sweet potato fries to go from Donnie Mac's Deli on 4th (326 Fayette St.) in Conshohocken on Saturday, signing autographs in the deli before they left. Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel ordered "The McNabb," the chicken cheesesteak with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mayo favored by Donovan McNabb at Talk of the Town (3020 S. Broad) the other day. Actress Alexis Dziena, who played E's jealous girlfriend on HBO's "Entourage," was among guests at a Saturday night wedding reception at Paradiso (1627 E. Passyunk) of a gay couple who were wed in Connecticut.

No rest for 'Top Chef' finalist

"Top Chef" finalist Jennifer Carroll thought we were joking when we asked if she had any time off around the holidays. We figured that Carroll, who fans of the Bravo hit have watched since last summer, might take a vacation after the several month whirlwind of attention, but she is not. Carroll, chef at 10 Arts by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton, says that the only time she's taking off are Sundays, her regular day off, which even tends to get interrupted, as she had to work yesterday. The chef briefly addressed media at a Thursday night party by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. which toasted a successful year for city tourism and the New Year's Eve fireworks on Penn's Landing, which this year will be held at 6 p.m. - a first - and again at midnight. The night before, Carroll cooked for the finale party of "Top Chef," which 10 Arts has hosted all season long.

Reality shows run in this family

Local attorney Erin Elmore, 31, was a castmate on "The Apprentice," several years ago and now her sister Ashley Elmore, an MBA studying for a Ph.D, who lives in Northern Virginia, will be a contestant on ABC's "The Bachelor," which premieres on Jan. 4. Erin, as we told you last week, just tried out for two days on 94 WYSP's Danny Bonaduce show, to fill the vacant female spot.

Other women-in-radio news . . .

Wired 96.5's G-N Kang is Miss November in photographer Christopher Gabello's 2010 calendar for Varga Bar (10th & Spruce). It features photos of 12 models made up to look like "Vargas girls," painted by artist Alberto Vargas, after whom George Anni named Varga Bar.

The calendar is available at the restaurant for $15. Meanwhile, Kang and the Philadelphia Passion Lingerie Football League team defeated the Tampa Breeze Friday and travel this week to the Windy City to play the Chicago Bliss.

Christmas miracle for Nativity

After the federal funds to guard a Nativity scene dried up, it could no longer be displayed at Independence National Historical Park, where it had been for 12 years.

The Creche Committee, led by John Kelly, Bob Stanton and publisher Jim Tayoun, found a new location, the plaza of the Municipal Services Building, and philanthropist Kal Rudman stepped up to provide the city a fee, plus a $1 million insurance policy indemnifying the city and employees. The new display will be dedicated in a ceremony at 4 p.m. tomorrow at the MSB which Rudman, the Creche Committee officials, and civic and religious leaders such as Monsignor Michael McCulken of the Cathedral Basilica Ss. Peter and Paul, will attend.

Hungry Hungry Hebrew happy

Just in time for Hanukkah, the Hungry Hungry Hebrew qualified for 610 WIP's Wing Bowl 18 Friday morning. HHH, aka attorney Adam Taxin, ate 30 potato latkes in 10 minutes to the amazement of Wing Bowl creators Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti.

Taxin last competed in Wing Bowl 14 for which he qualified by eating two pounds of gefilte fish in 5 1/2 minutes. Taxin tried again, but failed to qualify for Wing Bowl 16 when the dog Zeus, a Newfoundland, out-ate him in Kosher ground beef.

Taxin, 38, a former "Jeopardy" champ, just joined the Center City law firm Sigman & Rochlin.

Visit PhillyGossip.com for Dan's latest updates or follow PhillyGossip on Twitter. Have a tip? Call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com. For recent columns, visit go.philly.com/dangross.