Philly On Phoot: They Built This City On Beef and Donuts

Ok, so Philadelphia loves classic rock. Today during the course of my three hour walk around the shopping district and surrounding downtown areas, the only music I heard was of the classic rock variety. Methinks Bob Seger has his own church somewhere in this city.

Actual conversation I overheard today on the street (no shit):

Girl: "What's the name of that song about the city?" (girl sings nonsense)
Guy 1: "Fool For The City?"
Guy 2: "No, no, no...I know it..." (humming to himself)
Girl: "It's a girl singing..."
Guy 2: "We Built This City On Rock and Roll"
Girl: "YES!"
Guy 1: (singing) "We built this city. We built this city on rock and roll."

I was truly privileged to be privy to such an exchange. I think I was destined to pass them at that point in the afternoon. It explains why I heard Robin Trower's "Day Of the Eagle", Bad Company's "Shooting Star" and Journey's "Loving, Touching, Squeezing" during lunch today. Now although weaned on classic rock, there are times it makes we want to repeatedly stab screwdrivers into my eardrums. Those times are every second of every day, sans one three minute window in the summer when I want to hear Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone".

At least they can be somewhat selective in their classic rockiness...other than for purposes of performing the song with my band Plonk!, I have never heard a Robin Trower song over public airwaves in my life. Thank you Philadelphia...if I hear a Humble Pie song at dinner tonight I will be looking for Allen Funt.

Speaking of lunch...the food here rules. Aside from there being a Dunkin Donuts on every street corner - I will have two jellies please - the smells wafting from every corner are enough to turn you into one of those fat Eagles fans you see yelling at the camera, jowls jiggling, every Sunday. The overall aroma is an amazing mix of coffee, bread, various meats and an undercurrent of smoke flavoring. This mix changes a bit depending on where you are, but it's pretty consistent. My burger today was a work of art...


There was also some big parade going on today...a Philly tradition known as the Mummer's Parade. I found this info online:

Local clubs (usually called "New Years Associations") compete in one of four categories (Comics, Fancies, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades). They prepare elaborate costumes and moveable scenery, which take months to complete. This is done in clubhouses, many of which are located on or near 2nd Street in the Pennsport neighborhood of South Philadelphia, which also serve as social gathering places for members.

It was actually pretty cool as far as parades go I guess. I watched about 20 seconds worth, which is about double the lifetime quotient of parade watching for any normal, functioning human being. Here, I even snapped a picture of it's noisy, parade-y, weirdness:

The game time tomorrow has been moved to 3pm because the brainiacs of NHL Operations couldn't forsee the chance of sunlight at 1pm in the afternoon. No big deal though, more exploring tomorrow and extra time to sleep in as I have found an absinthe bar three blocks away.

Off for some dinner and cocktails. Cue the Bob Seger.