philly

what can i say, it had been over a fortnight without going to either Geno's Steaks nor Pat's King of Steaks. I took a trip over to Reading Terminal Market, which may be the greatest spot to get a bite to eat, to have a cheesesteak combo at Rick's Philly Steaks, which is the third generation of cheesesteak stands via Pat's. but back to Geno's- what a cheesesteak. thinly sliced rib-eye steak, Cheese Whiz, and fried onions along with cheese fries and a Sprite. all that for $10.25 and you get one satisfied, "emboldened" [as liz called me] asian. i'll have to go back to 9th St @ Passyunk to try out Pat's and order a "cheese whiz steak, wit" the "wit" means with onions. my first phillyism?

and yes, you'll recognize this photo as being from the same point of view of the Boyz II Men "Mowtownphilly" video from way way back. [dooooooooon't matter, just don't curse]

while walking around the other day on my way to chinatown, i noticed a wall with fake windows painted onto the side of a building. it reminded me of a similar building i took a photo of months ago in soho, nyc. the building in soho actually had a column of real windows going vertically throughout the building, but i guess they decided it should look like the building had rows of windows as well, perhaps for aesthetics? anyways, i snapped a shot of the philly building to compare the two and here they are.

i wonder what the real reasons are behind this phenomenon. i'm sure it happens in other cities as well, has anybody seen something like this in their city? i'd like to see a comparable shot to the ones i've taken and a story behind the windows/doors/whatever if you can find one. i wonder if there are more buildings with fake windows in philly for me to find. anybody in the know about such things?

is there anything in philly that anyone has heard of or is curious about? i'd be glad to take some requests to go check out and take some photos of in philly.

on another note… tomorrow is my first day of work! i'm oh so excited.

some of you may have seen this image from another angle, it's the top of City Hall. but from this angle, it takes on a whole new meaning. what billy penn, the founder of PA is actually holding in his hand, i have no idea, but it sure looks like something it's not supposed to be. i'm sure i'll find many more monuments to share all over town and perhaps some more funny angles, but most likely, none as hilarious and large as this one. i've already taken a couple of trips to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and there's a shot of the 'Rocky Steps' in my photo album first 17 days in philly. it's a great looking museum. it has an odd yellowish tint and i can't figure out what kind of stone they used for it, but there's plenty of time for that, i'm now a member of the PMA and i'll be spending lots of time being all cultured.

so here i am, in the city of brotherly love, Love Park pictured, aka JFK Plaza. i've been down here for 17 great days now and a lot has happenned. perhaps the most important thing is that i got me a job! i'll be working for the philadelphia weekly as a retail sales coordinator. what is PW? it's an alternative news weekly like village voice in nyc, the city paper in dc and i'm sure there's something like this in chitown, but i don't have the foggiest what the name is. what will i be doing there? basically, all the ads that go into the paper each week will go through my desk and i'll be doing ad sales analysis for us and our local competition, the city paper. so much more has happened down here, but there's plenty of time for that. so please check back when you get a chance and i'll give you a feel of what it's like to live down here in illadelhpia.