Eastern State Penitentiary

The trip to Philly included a visit to the most haunted prison on earth, Eastern State Penitentiary. I won’t bore you with stories; just enjoy the pics:

A decayed doorway at the entrance to cell block #1.

A rather chubby-cheeked and jovial-looking guard tower, also outside cell block #1.

Cell block #1 housed 38 prisoners in 23-hour solitary confinement.

Cell block #8 was the last built, it was also -in my opinion- the creepiest.

Cell block #8 from the catwalk…where I shook my lil tush.

Al Capone’s suite. See the website for more info.

For LOST fans (like me!), I found this Dharma Initiative button.

Who’s Got The Best Cheesesteak in Philly?

Having just returned from Philly, I want to weigh in on the eternal debate:

Pat’s

or…

Geno’s?

According to Google Maps, Pat’s and Geno’s are 150 feet from one another. This made it easy to sample both in less than 30 minutes. Plus, both are the same price, both have the same South Philly service, both serve the same menu.  So, in the end, it boils down to flavor.

And the winner is….

With their zestier meat and softer bread, GENO’S wins my vote. That being said, Pat’s had much better fries.

New Blogs I’m Rolling

Adventures of a Particularly Charming Misanthrope: American schoolgirl blogging from Russia. Doesn’t answer e-mails. Bitch.

Disciple of Joy: A lovable, phrase-turning pain in my ass who I’ve grown to not loathe. Don’t let that go to your head, you.

Everyday Dissidence: Professor. Photographer. Philosopher. In fact, he was my professor. See also his Flickr account: MDT1960

Faith, Love, and Rock and Roll as Told by the Brown Kid: Defies explanation. A wonderful collection of uncategorizable oddities.  See Dec 28th post to understand why I’m a fan.

The Ghost of Mitch: Quippy little random snippets that make me laugh and then cry and then think about why I laughed and cried. That’s a lie. Mostly.

Free Peanuts

This [pictured below] is the guy who couldn’t tear himself away from the free peanuts at FIVE GUYS BURGERS and FRIES yesterday.

He stood there and ate free peanuts without budging or letting anyone else near for more than five minutes.

Never been to Five Guys? Shame on you! Read a recent review here.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn’t seen it)

[via: www.fishrockit.com]

Business as Usual

In 1968, as though he were peering through a crystal ball, Jim Henson created a Cautionary Tale-Sketch called “Business Business.”  Now that I’m *ahem* older, I totally get this.  It takes a while to figure out what is important in life. Jim knew all along.

It makes me think of my 6th grade teachers, Mr. Andrews and Mrs. Larsen. Today, they’re what we’d call hippies; regardless, they were among the most loving, nuturing and inspirational people I’ve even had the pleasure of knowing. The imapct they had upon my life is unbelievable.  Teachers, take note of that!