When I was a fresh college graduate, interviewing for my first full-time job, I thought about my mother’s interview do’s and don’ts. Don’t wear anything that could reveal tattoos. Don’t start with asking questions about salary. And always — she stressed this above all else — mail a physical thank-you note the next day.
In the years since I entered the job market, interview etiquette norms have changed dramatically. While each sector, field, and company may have its own rules, former no-nos like tattoos and dyed hair often aren’t deal-breakers. And many interviews take place over Zoom, which introduces a whole new slate of do’s and don’ts.
But not everyone agrees on which rules to keep and which to toss out.
In a video posted on TikTok last week, recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen introduced a new one: Don’t carry an iced coffee into an interview. Walking in to shake hands while juggling a drink can make a big moment seem like just “another stop on your list of errands for the day,” she said.
The comments section under her original video exploded. One recruiter agreed that bringing an iced coffee into a meeting can be distracting; one poster asked, “Are you expecting my whole day to revolve around a 30 min meeting?” Satires and skits have spoofed both Gen Z jobseekers and corporate overlords.
Wehniainen has since posted a follow-up video, saying she wasn’t trying to stoke the flames for the sake of likes and reposts.
“When you really want a job offer, you need to know certain ways of going about the process and that helps you build confidence, when you know what to expect going in the door,” she said.
The video and the ensuing debate have exposed a greater challenge: How do you navigate ever-changing interview etiquette when the job hunt can already be so confusing, discouraging, and exhausting?
“Norms are constantly changing to the ways we do business and technology,” said Keva Dine, a recruiter and founder of the Keva Dine Agency. “There’s a desperation, and everyone is applying to everything. They’re throwing darts in the dark.”
In Dine’s view, anything you can do to stick out in a good way is a plus. Wearing business attire to an interview or sending a thank-you note the next day may not be the standard in every workplace, but often they can help. When people rely on AI-generated cover letters or apply to jobs without researching the company, they’re much more likely to get lost in the shuffle.
If you’re interviewing on a video call, keeping the camera on during a video and tidying up the Zoom background are non-negotiables, said Juliet Murphy, an executive career coach based in Irvine, Calif.
“Put in a bit of extra effort,” she said. “You need to let the other person know how seriously you’re taking the role.”
In her 15 years working in corporate human resources and recruitment, Vicki Salemi never clocked the beverage in a candidate’s hand. But Salemi, now a career expert at the job site Monster, said she did notice seemingly small things, like how they greeted the reception desk and how they behaved in the lobby waiting area. Those things matter when you’re bringing someone into a workplace, she said.
“Your behavior and your etiquette are part of the package,” she said.
And if a candidate doesn’t like a company’s stance on these norms — the iced coffee included — the in-person interview is an opportunity to evaluate that up close.
“The interview has always been a place to assess fit, both for the applicant and for the company,” said Sara McCord, a former career columnist and founder and CEO of Sara McCord Communications. “If there’s an immediate, visceral reaction on either end — a company doesn’t want a candidate who brings an iced latte, a candidate doesn’t want somewhere where the company cares — that’s actually specifically, exactly how the interview is supposed to work.”
Bucks County Republican State Sen. Frank Farry’s campaign this week demanded his Democratic challenger take down an advertisement attacking Farry for his position on data centers and air an apology instead, calling the commercial “defamatory” and “demonstrably false.”
Shohin H. Vance, an attorney representing Farry’s campaign, called for Democrat Eileen Hartnett Albillar to remove the ad and issue a 30-second retraction advertisement, according to an eight-page letter sent Wednesday and reviewed by The Inquirer.
Harnett Albillar’s ad calls Farry a “data senator” and says he is “the data center industry’s number one fan.” The ad also accuses the Republican lawmaker of voting for data center tax breaks in Harrisburg and notes that Farry’s law firm represents NorthPoint, a real estate company which redeveloped the Keystone Trade Center in Falls Township — the soon to be home of an Amazon data center.
“The Advertisement, which accuses my client of abusing his public office for his own pecuniary interest, is not only misleading — it is demonstrably false,” Vance wrote in the letter.
The dispute signifies how AI data centers have become a politically toxic issue as candidates from both parties distance themselves from supporting their development.
Farry’s 6th State Senate District is one of a handful of competitive seats being targeted by Pennsylvania Democrats in hopes of flipping the state Senate and delivering a Democratic trifecta in Harrisburg.
Hartnett Albillar’s campaign said Fridayit has no plans to stop running the ad.
“His temper tantrum won’t silence this campaign or stop Eileen from fighting to make Bucks County more affordable,” campaign manager Leigh Stafford said in a statement.
The Farry campaign, in the letter, rejected the notion that Farry or any clients at his law firm — including NorthPoint — benefitted or profited from Farry’s vote in 2021 to support Act 25. The legislation allows computer data center equipment to be exempt from Pennsylvania’s sales and use tax if it’s being used or sold to a certified data center by a valid owner, operator, or tenant.
“The vote did not, and could not, benefit the client, and none of it put a dollar in Senator Farry’s pocket,” Vance wrote.
Farry was serving in the state House at the time and did not raise a conflict of interest on the floor. When asked about this, he said in a statement: “I didn’t raise a conflict on the House floor in 2021 BECAUSE I DO NOT REPRESENT DATA CENTERS.”
The campaign emphasized in its letter that Farry’s law firm, Begley, Carlin & Mandio, has not represented a data center operator in at least 20 years.
“To be sure, the Keystone Trade Center is now also the site of a data center, and its developer, NorthPoint, is a client of Begley Carlin. But NorthPoint is not a data center, and the fact that it leases a portion of its 1,800-acre site to a data center operator does not make it one,” Vance wrote.Begley Carlin has represented NorthPoint since July 2020.
Farry has been with Begley Carlin since 2011, but he said in a statement that he has “not done much work at all” for the firm “as my time is filled with being a State Senator, our local volunteer fire chief, a dad to two young kids, and a husband who among other things recently supported my wife through a two year battle with breast cancer.”
Adam C. Bonin, an attorney representing Hartnett Albillar’s campaign, wrote in a response to Vance Friday that: “We will neither cease nor desist from engaging in this truthful, accurate speech.”
Bonin highlighted NorthPoint’s close proximity to the Bucks County data center project, including mentions of the company in Falls Township press releases and in news articles. Bonin also argued that the 2021 state House bill, which Farry supported “made this an attractive deal for NorthPoint and Amazon to make. Without them, perhaps Amazon would have stayed out of Bucks County altogether.”
“While Senator Farry might not like seeing the truth displayed in such an unflattering way, the advertisement’s statements are amply supported by Farry’s legislative record, his law firm’s own website, official Falls Township records and copious news reporting,” Bonin wrote.
This is not the first legal dustup to happen in a Bucks County race this election cycle. Last month, Democrat Bob Harvie, a county commissioner challenging GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the 1st Congressional District, filed a defamation lawsuit against a super PAC supporting the Republican. The suit argued that the PAC falsely claimed Harvie was under FBI investigation.
A Monday Night Football showdown against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field is on the horizon for the Eagles.
The Bears will likely be without starting quarterback Caleb Williams, who hasn’t practiced this week after injuring his hamstring late in Chicago’s 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Williams’ backup, Tyson Bagent, is in concussion protocol and also has not practiced this week.
That means the next man up would be 38-year-old Case Keenum, who lost to the Eagles in the 2017 NFC Championship game en route to their first Super Bowl win.
Despite the quarterback uncertainty for Chicago, the Eagles are just slightly favored. Here’s what the Bears have said this week about the matchup:
Video: unCovering the Birds: A version of Jalen Hurts ‘we’ve never seen’
Defensive line has ‘special players’
A big talking point this week for the Bears has been Eagles defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
“Up front, those are some of the best two guys up front that are playing the game right now,” Keenum said Wednesday. “I think all over the board you look at playmakers that they have on the defense. So we got our work cut out for us.”
Carter was limited at practice Thursday with a wrist injury he’s been dealing with since the Eagles’ Week 1 win over the Washington Commanders. But if last week was any indication, he should be good to go for Monday.
Bears offensive lineman Jonah Jackson knows it will take work to rebound from a disappointing offensive performance against the Vikings.
“They got a heck of a group, man,” Jackson said Monday of the Eagles. “They got special players. They got a lot of star power. They also got another [defensive tackle] named Moro Ojomo. They got a lot of good guys up front, and it’s another challenge each week. Every team has their warheads.”
Case Keenum, then with the Vikings, lost to Brandon Graham and the Eagles in the 2017 NFC Championship game.DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer
Facing Fangio
A week after putting up just three points against Brian Flores’ elite Vikings defense, the Bears have another challenge ahead in Vic Fangio’s defense, which ranks 10th in yards allowed per game. Fangio served as defensive coordinator in Chicago from 2015-18.
“Coach Fangio is one of the best in the business for a reason,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said Wednesday. “They make it really difficult for you, and it’s sound.”
Keenum hasn’t faced an NFL defense in the regular season since he started for the Houston Texans on Christmas Eve in 2023, but he doesn’t expect to have any rust if he starts on Monday night.
“They play tricks on your eyes,” Keenum said Wednesday. “They do a really good job pre- and post-snap, and there’s not a lot of just tells to tell you what coverage it’s going to be in beforehand. So you have to be on your P’s and Q’s because they’ll mix up the pressure and simulate some pressure.”
The Eagles have three sacks and eight tackles for loss this season, and they’ll look to take advantage of an offensive line that’s coming off a poor performance against the Vikings. Former Eagle D’Andre Swift averaged just 2.8 yards per carry last week, but rushed for 124 yards in a Week 1 victory over the Panthers.
Jalen Hurts
The Bears know what Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is capable of, and they’ll likely have to shut him down if they want to give themselves a chance in prime time.
“Obviously, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL,” Bears defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo said Monday. “They play a physical game, so we have to be at our best on defense as a whole.”
In an area of Pennsylvania known as “God’s Country,” hours from the glowing lights of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo, Cherry Springs State Park is a refuge for stargazers.
On Thursday, Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced the completion of $5.2 million in improvements there, everything from new parking to a larger amphitheater, and “headlight-blocking mounds to prevent light shining into the astronomy field.”
“This park comes alive after dark, and we have a responsibility to conserve that experience for the future,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said there Thursday.
DCNR, in a news release, said the goal of the project was to redesign how visitors “moved through the park at night, reduced artificial light, and expanded facilities to support astronomy, education, and large events.”
The small state park in Coudersport, Potter County, some 250 miles northwest of Philadelphia, is designated as an International Dark Sky Park by DarkSky International, a nonprofit that claims to be the “worldwide authority combating light pollution.”
A sign welcomes visitors to Potter County. MUST CREDIT: Justin Merriman/For The Washington PostJustin Merriman
Despite being relatively small at 82 acres and far from cities — it’s almost four hours from Pittsburgh and a bit more from Philadelphia — the park has become wildly popular with astronomers, campers, and social media influencers. The campground is generally booked out every season, with professional and amateur stargazers alike staring up at the Milky Way, particularly on moonless nights.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when parks and other outdoor spaces were inundated with visitors, Cherry Springs saw the biggest crowds. Between March and September of 2020, the park saw 26,745 visitors, a 231% increase over the same time period a year earlier.
Potter County has just 16,453 residents, and the economy there relies heavily on tourism, much of it during the spring, summer, and fall for camping, stargazing, leaf peeping, and hunting.
The county has taken steps to keep things dark, too, urging home and business owners to implement downward-casting lights, timers, and low-wattage bulbs to preserve the stargazing opportunities.
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced the completion of $5.2 million in new improvements at Cherry Springs State Park, an International Dark Sky Park in Potter County.Jon Ferreras
A Baltimore public school teacher regularly traveled to Parkesburg for the better part of two years to sexually assault a teenage boy he met online, Chester County prosecutors said Friday.
Rogie Legaspi, 56, sometimes took the boy out of school to assault him, unbeknownst to his parents, and also forced him to have sex with another man in what District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe described as “the pinnacle definition of child sex trafficking.”
“Teachers have a special place in our society. We trust them not only to watch our children when we send them to school, but to mold them,” de Barrena-Sarobe said at a news conference Friday. “To teach them life lessons, not just math problems. And this defendant, this man, shattered that trust.”
Legaspi has been charged with child trafficking, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, and related crimes.
He remained in custody in lieu of $5 million bail. He is being represented by the county Public Defender’s Office, which declined to comment on his case.
Legaspi has been employed by the Baltimore the Baltimore City Public School District since 2008, and most recently taught seventh grade science at Hamilton Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore.
In a letter sent to parents last week, Hamilton principal Natasha Pouncey said Legaspi has been placed on administrative leave, and that there were no allegations that his criminal conduct involved a student in the district.
Days before Legaspi’s arrest on Sept. 18, several concerned parents asked the district why he had not shown up to school, unaware that he had been taken into custody two states away.
Investigators in Chester County learned of the alleged abuse in June after a report was filed on behalf of the 15-year-old victim through the state Department of Human Services’ ChildLine system.
In an interview with county detectives, the boy said he befriended Legaspi through social media, and they exchanged cellphone numbers, according to the affidavit of probable cause for the teacher’s arrest.
Legaspi began driving up to Chester County twice a month starting in 2024, when the boy was 13.
During those visits, the affidavit said, Legaspi would fondle the boy and force him to have sex.
Legaspi paid the boy $50 or $100 to “act like he enjoyed it,” the document said, and he often filmed the sexual encounters and send the footage to the boy.
Authorities said the sexual assaults took place in Legaspi’s car, as well as various hotels in Chester and Lancaster Counties.
During one of those assaults, in December, Legaspi coerced the boy to have sex with another man at the Comfort Inn in Gap, and filmed the encounter, the affidavit said. He also pressured the boy to have sex with other men, according to the affidavit.
In announcing the charges Friday, de Barrena-Sarobe underscored the importance for parents to monitor their children’s social media usage.
“You are giving the world access to your child when you give them a phone or you let them have a social media profile,” he said. “And so, you need to restrict the world’s access to your children, and you need to make sure that you are instilling that value in your child from an early age.”
Legaspi is scheduled to appear before a district judge for a preliminary hearing Oct. 19.
After a comeback victory over the Tennessee Titans in Week 2, the Eagles (2-0) travel to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Bears (1-1). As both teams prepare for a Week 3 matchup on Monday Night Football, here’s a look at updated game odds and some interesting prop bets from two of the biggest sportsbooks:
This time around, the Week 3 matchup was looking like the Birds’ toughest challenge to date — especially following the Bears’ 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1. However, that changed in Week 2 after the Bears struggled in a 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings and saw quarterback Caleb Williams get carted off with a hamstring injury.
Williams is not expected to play against the Eagles, forcing the Bears to rely on Tyson Bagent or Case Keenum under center. Meanwhile, the Eagles have escaped their first two games with a win.
Entering the week, the FanDuel and DraftKings sportsbooks have the Eagles as 4.5-point favorites.
As of Friday morning, with questions surrounding the Bears starting quarterback, both sportsbooks only listed the over/under odds for Hurts’ passing yards.
Over the last two weeks, Hurts has thrown for over 200 yards — 203 yards in Week 1 and 264 yards in Week 2. For Monday’s game, his over/under is set at 218 passing yards.
In the Bears’ last meeting with the Eagles, Kyle Monangai rushed for 130 yards, and D’Andre Swift rushed for 125. However, in their Week 2 loss to the Vikings, Monangai rushed for 47 yards, and Swift, a former Eagle and St. Joseph’s Prep product, rushed for 45.
Meanwhile, Tank Bigsby led the Birds in rushing with 33 rushing yards in the team’s Week 2 win over Tennessee. Barkley missed much of the Week 2 win after suffering a stinger, and his status for Monday is unclear.
Receiver DeVonta Smith led the team in receiving with 117 yards on 10 receptions vs. Tennessee. Dontayvion Wicks followed with 74 receiving yards on five receptions.
Swift led the Bears in receiving yards with 54 yards on five receptions last week.
Patel reportedly flew to Pearl Harbor and received a VIP snorkeling adventure near the sacred underwater tomb of the USS Arizona that contains the remains of more than 900 Navy sailors and Marines who died in the attack.
He and his girlfriend used the FBI’s Gulfstream V to fly to Philadelphia to watch a concert from a $35,000 luxury suite at Lincoln Financial Field.
Patel also used the $60 million jet to go hunting at an exclusive resort in Texas named the Boondoggle Ranch that is owned by a Republican donor.
An article in the Atlantic claimed Patel drank excessively, and that hisunexplained absences and carousing put national security at risk. Patel denied the report and sued the magazine for defamation. Drinks aside, Patel is abusing his office.
Patel’s air travel should not be confused with that of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who spent $300 million in taxpayers’ money for a fleet of planes, including two Gulfstreams and a luxury Boeing 737 Max 8 jet that included a private cabin with a queen bed, full kitchen, bar, seating area, and four flat-screen TVs — supposedly for deportation missions.
Noem’s office wasted $220 million on a taxpayer-funded ad campaign that depicted her on a horse near Mount Rushmore. A no-bid contract divvied up the funds between a company created eight days before they were awarded and another company that played a role in Noem’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign.
Noem is gone, but taxpayers are stuck with her bill.
Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid allegations of using her office for personal gain, including personal travel and allegations of drinking on the job and an alleged affair with a member of her security detail.
One staffer accused Chavez-DeRemer of ginning up “official trips” funded by taxpayers in order to see friends and family. Her husband was banned from the Labor Department headquarters after at least two staffers said he sexually assaulted them. Another brief tenure of taxpayer waste and debauchery that contributed scant value to the country.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has used his office to dangle policy favors in return for investments and deals that benefit his family, according to a report in the New York Times.
Lutnick’s sons oversee a network of companies, including their father’s Wall Street investment firm, that are involved in a wide range of businesses, among them data centers and cryptocurrency, which overlap with the Commerce Department’s efforts to attract new entrepreneurs.
U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Pa.) accused Lutnick’s investment firm of profiting off the failure of Trump’s tariff policy, which the U.S. Supreme Court found was unconstitutional.
“Your sons figured out how to profit from the high tariffs by buying up refund rights, pennies on the dollar, just as you were out there cheerleading the tariffs,” Dean said at a hearing in April. “As a result, federal taxpayers like my constituents may now owe your family tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Lutnick denied the charge, though his firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, now run by his sons, reportedly posted record revenue last year.
Despite running on a message of reducing prices and helping the working class, Trump’s administration includes 12 billionaires and is the wealthiest ever, if not the most out of touch.
Other Trump administration officials have also found ways to cash in. Several have profited from well-timed investments in the stock market.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares in Trump Media the same day the president announced new tariffs that caused the price to drop. While her tenure was a train wreck, Bondi’s successorhas already demonstrated he will be even worse.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s former defense attorney who replaced Bondi at the Justice Department, owned cryptocurrency investments valued between $159,000 and $485,000 at the same time he shut down investigations into crypto companies, dealers, and exchanges launched during the Biden administration.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy filmed a reality TV show bankrolled by firms he regulates, and sold stock in nearly three dozen companies two days before Trump announced a number of “reciprocal” tariffs.
In all, more than a dozen Trump administration officials sold stocks before the president implemented tariffs that caused stock prices to plummet, ProPublica reported.
The White House routinely defends the actions of Trump’s inner circle, stating recently, “President Trump has assembled the most talented Cabinet in American history who work every day to implement his common sense, America First agenda.”
But Trump’s broker may be one of the busiest traders around. Trump disclosed making 3,500 stock trades valued at hundreds of millions of dollars in just the first quarter of this year, but said his accounts are independently managed. However, the amount of trading raised eyebrows among ethics experts.
“We’ve never seen a president trading actively in the stock market before,” said Richard Painter, the ethics counsel under former President George W. Bush.
Democratic lawmakers called for an investigation into whether Trump or others around him have engaged in insider trading. But nothing will change as long as Trump and the Republicans control all the levers of government.
As millions of Americans struggle with rising gas, food, rent, and healthcare costs, Trump and his cronies have turned public service into a private jackpot.
The emergency order allows states, for now, to use the Department of Homeland Security program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, in their efforts to verify the eligibility of voters on their rolls. But because existing law blocks most states from systematically purging voters from their rolls within 90 days of an election, the immediate impact on the upcoming midterms is likely limited.
States’ use of the SAVE program is voluntary.
The court’s order puts on hold a federal judge’s June ruling that had deemed the Republican administration’s recently revamped version of SAVE illegal. U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan had blocked the use of the tool, saying it violated Americans’ privacy rights and could result in voters being wrongly removed from the rolls.
A federal appeals court declined to pause Sooknanan’s ruling, prompting the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
The SAVE program was created under an immigration law mandating that DHS help federal, state and local agencies prevent government benefits from going to noncitizens. The Trump administration last year moved to significantly expand its search abilities. Since then, at least 67 million registrations have been scanned through the program, but critics worry it could end up purging valid voters from the rolls.
Some registrants have already been wrongly flagged. In Travis County, Texas, for example, officials said they investigated 97 voters flagged by SAVE as apparent noncitizens and found that at least 10% of them — and likely up to 21% — were U.S. citizens. The county urged the Supreme Court to reject the administration’s appeal, while the state of Texas submitted its own brief defending the database.
Even though the use of the SAVE program has been blocked for months, the administration said in court filings that DHS officials have continued using Social Security Administration data “in certain cases to verify information and help determine whether illegal voting may have occurred.”
DHS in August launched its own investigation to find noncitizen voters on state rolls, according to a federal whistleblower statement that said the effort is rushed, filled with errors and potentially violates state laws. DHS has defended that investigation as being conducted “diligently and professionally.”
The effort to create a national voter list is among numerous steps Trump has taken during his second term to try to overhaul the way elections are run. Most of those steps have been blocked by various courts, in part because the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to set election rules, but provides no such power to the president. In mid-September, the Supreme Court rejected a bid from Trump to restrict mail ballot procedures before the midterms.
Research shows that noncitizen voting, which is already illegal and punishable as a potential felony that could lead to deportation, is exceptionally rare. But Trump has remained fixated on the idea that massive numbers of noncitizens are voting in U.S. races.
Jenkintown School District will hold homecoming festivities around a coed varsity soccer team game next week after ending the football season early over low participation.
School leaders announced a new homecoming schedule on Friday, days after the football season cancellation.
The homecoming soccer game will start at 11 a.m. on Oct. 3 at the Jenkintown stadium, and homecoming court celebrations will be at halftime. Snack shack proceeds will benefit the senior class.
This coming week will be spirit week for Jenkintown’s upper grades, principal Tom Roller wrote in the announcement to families, ending in a pep rally on Friday.
The teams postponed the match originally planned for Tuesday, according to the charter school’s soccer schedule.
“We appreciate [MaST] Community Charter agreeing to change our game with them so that we could play a Homecoming match,” Roller wrote. “We hope that our community comes out to support our Homecoming court and our Varsity Soccer squad.”
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“I had a tape recorder I would sing into,” said the South Jersey jazz vocalist.
“I was one of those kids holding a brush in the mirror, singing Billy Joel songs. I was that kid.”
But it was a roundabout route to the stage for Farnese, whose debut album, Oh No, I’m in Love Again, was just released on Philly jazz pianist Orrin Evans’ Imani Records.
First, he followed his father, Aldo Farnese — the star of Philadelphia children’s television shows Dickory Doc and Adam Android in the 1960s and 1970s — in pursuing an acting career. After a stint in Hollywood working in production and scoring some small movie and TV roles, he came home to Philly in the mid-1990s.
Since then, Farnese has had a day job — actually, usually a night job — as a TV camera operator for the Phillies, first at Veterans Stadium and, since 2004, at Citizens Bank Park. He operates a super slo-mo camera from the left field power alley in front of Ghost Energy Deck (formerly Harry the K’s).
By 2012, Farnese was long settled into that job, and also working Sixers and Flyers games for NBC Sports Philadelphia. In 2012, he won an Emmy for his work on the World Series.
But then he felt — as he puts it speaking via Zoom from his home in Woolwich Township, Gloucester County, while his golden retrievers Bailey and Oliver lounge on a sofa behind him — “a tap on the shoulder.”
The cover image to Greg Farnese’s album “Oh No, I’m in Love Again.”Courtesy of Imani Records
“When I was a kid, my father would sing throughout the house. We would say ‘Dad, you’ve got a great voice, you should be a singer,’” Farnese said. “And he would go, ‘Meh,’ and kind of blow us off.”
Then one day, he said, “I was singing while putting my son’s air hockey table together.” His wife, Laurie, said “Greg, you’ve got a beautiful voice. You should sing.”
“I started to go ‘Meh …’ — and then I stopped myself. Because I remembered that as a child, I thought my father was wasting his talent.
“So I said: ‘Get me a karaoke machine for Christmas, and I’ll start working on my voice.’ And that’s what I did.”
Farnese, who will perform at Tim McCloone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park on Oct. 4 and the Exit 0 Jazz Festival in Cape May on Oct. 23, is a poised vocalist and skilled song interpreter. Oh No! I’m in Love Again features two originals, including the title cut, both written with Alan Gardner, a former collaborator with Farnese’s father.
Greg Farnese, a television cameraman and musician, is photographed Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2026, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where he works as a camera operator in left field. Farnese, a crooner, recently released his debut album, “Oh No, I’m in Love Again,” on Grammy-nominated Philadelphia pianist Orrin Evans’ Imani Records. Farnese also works as a Phillies television cameraman for NBC Sports Philadelphia, stationed nightly in the left-field power alley.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
‘The magician canceled, can you come down and sing a song?’
The album, whose polish belies that it was recorded in a single day at MorningStar Studios in Montgomery County, features Philly jazz players like drummer Leon Jordan Sr. and horn arrangements by trumpeter Elliot Bild.
Along with a delicate version of Johnny Mercer’s “Dream” accompanied by guitarist Paul Bollenbock, the album includes Green Day, Oasis, and Tears for Fears songs, all artfully rearranged to make familiar sound fresh.
It’s been a long road of confidence building for Farnese to work with a musician as accomplished as Evans, a three-time Grammy nominee who this spring was named artistic director of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. (He’ll split his time between Seattle and Philly.)
Speaking between innings during a recent Phillies-Astros game — an 11-7 win, thanks to a Kyle Schwarber grand slam — Farnese calls Evans “so smart and honest, and a great pianist. It’s like having Quincy Jones in my corner.”
Greg Farnese (center) performs at the World Stage in University City on Sept. 18, 2026. Farnese just released his debut album, “Oh No, I’m in Love Again.”Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“I started out singing in pizza parlors,” said Farnese, 62. “My wife is a psychologist and she used to work at nursing facilities. She called me one day and said, ‘The magician canceled, can you come down and sing a song?’
“I told her no, I’m not ready yet. She said, ‘Get the hell down here, just do it!’ I was afraid, and I was so self-conscious about being good.”
But as Farnese sang the 1940s standard “Moonlight in Vermont” to an elderly audience in Egg Harbor Township, he had a revelation.
“The two ladies in the front started crying. I was bringing them back to when they were young. That moment I realized that it wasn’t really about me. It was about the effect the music had on the audience. I saw them crying and I thought: This is what I want to do.”
Since then, Farnese has surrounded himself with first-class musicians and sung in area jazz clubs and private events, while also traveling for gigs in New York and Chicago.
Working with the Phillies suits his ambitions. Knowing his schedule months in advance, he books shows when the team is on the road.
“We’ve brought him on a couple of times to sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame,’” said Phillies TV play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy. “I love his energy. He just brings so much professionalism and creativity and knows how to get the crowd involved. He’s an entertainer.”
Farnese put an exclamation point on one of the Phillies most memorable wins this year.
‘What would Ray Charles do with a Green Day song?’
Evans wasn’t all that familiar with Farnese’s music before he decided to produce Oh No, I’m in Love Again and put it out on his label, home to artists like Philly keyboard player Luke Carlos O’Reilly and Los Angeles drummer Tina Raymond.
Choosing who to work with isn’t about “it has to be the best vocalist, or the best saxophonist. It’s if somebody asks me to help them, and I believe in them as a human being.”
Though he “wasn’t super-duper familiar with Greg’s singing,” Evans said, “I knew some of the people he was playing with. So I know this person doesn’t play with slouches, so he can’t be a slouch.”
The key to success in recording, Evans says, was trust.
“I just like working with people I like. And I know that if we can vibe off the bandstand, there’s no way we’re not going to vibe on the bandstand.
“One of the best things I can say about Greg is his desire and ability to learn. He has an inquisitive spirit. He’s not done evolving. I really love this record, and I’m excited for the next one because of him.”
“I love jazz and swing music,” Farnese said. “You know, Bennett, Bublé, Sinatra. That’s my wheelhouse. But growing up I was exposed to all these different styles. Everything from Simon and Garfunkel and the Beatles to Curtis Mayfield and Puccini.
“So I’m creating a vocal style that combines songs I really love in jazz arrangements. What would Ray Charles do with a Green Day song? What would Duke Ellington do with a Blood, Sweat & Tears song? I want to be my own artist that creates my own music in my own style.”
“I have a great job at NBC Sports Philadelphia. But when I got that tap on the shoulder, that was God saying. ‘This is not what you’re supposed to be doing.’ And being a middle-aged man, this is not a dress rehearsal. This is it. Now’s the time.”
Greg Farnese will perform Oct. 4 at Tim McCloone’s Supper Club, 1200 Ocean Ave N, Asbury Park, timmcloonessupperclub.com and Oct. 23 at the Exit 0 Jazz Festival, Cape May, exitzerojazzfestival.com.
