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Current mood:  quixotic Category: Travel and Places
I've spent a good amount of time in Philadelphia recently and I can tell you 2 things...they love Ben Franklin and Cheese Steaks. In fact, I bet you didn't know this, but Ben Franklin actually invented Cheese Steaks.
Ben Franklin Cheese Steak Recipe Attempt 1: The first of his cheese steaks was made of a large metal Rod which was attached to the roofs of various government buildings and houses in order to diffuse the heavenly electricity gracefully to the ground in order to save many many lives. However, this preliminary cheese steak recipe, although very practical, proved to be unpalatable and indigestible. He instead named this first recipe the "Lightening Rod."
Ben Franklin Cheese Steak Recipe Attempt 2: Made of many glass bowl-shaped tubes attached to a centrally rotating metal rod on which each tube became equally diminished in size from its preceding tube on which water was poured over when applying one's finger to each of the tubes, produced a harmonious sequence of chromatic notes. Again, this yielded a very unpalatable and indegestible cheese steak. Thus, Ben Franklin decided to name this the "Harmonium" after its harmonious sounding audible characteristics and it remained his most favorite invention although it quickly lost favor with musicians of subsequent generations. Yet, he was still in search of creating the coveted Philly Cheese Steak...
Ben Franklin Cheese Steak Recipe Attempt 3: Ben Franklin, living in what is now the "Old City" portion of Philly, repeatedly asked for people to stop ringing the Liberty Bell so much. Even though the first two Bells were cracked in exactly the same spot the first time each one was rung (the first one was actually "defective" and thus melted down completely, poured into a different cast yet still cracked again in the same exact spot...creepy), the people of Philly seemed to love the bell more than life itself. They rung it non-stop. They rung the bell when it rained, they rung it when it was sunny, they rung it because it was xmas, they rung it because it was Easter...they rung it in celebration of ringing it. Well, Ben Franklin could not take the level of this noise pollution and made a point to "complain" and "nag" the authorities. The authorities were not familiar with this new concept of "demanding what you want non-stop regardless of what other people may actually feel," whilst all along hoping to stumble upon what he hoped to be his final cheese steak recipe incarnation. Thus, doing this, Ben Franklin invented the art of "Complaining" and "Nagging" which is still a very prominent practice by many to this day! Sadly, to him it was merely another failed attempt at creating the cheese steak.
I also enjoyed a Boyz II Men, random smooth jazz artist, and John Legend concert while I was there during those few weeks. BUT, my absolute favorite thing in Philly...absolutely favorite thing is this lady who owns a Fruit Stand near the UPENN hospital. She's near Locust Walk on campus. If you can run into her stand on a weekday morning or afternoon, for a few bucks you'll get the most delicious fruit ever piled higher than Ben's Lightening Rod. Tell her I said "hello." She will look at you funny b/c she doesn't know me nor is she completely fluent in English, but you must do this nonetheless. For my last note on Philly pertaining to this: Ben Franklin also invented:
Fruit
Fruit Stands
Fruit Stands run by foreign speaking peoples
Foreign speaking peoples (German notwithstanding)
Philladelphia
Liberty Bells
the SEPTA system
University of Pennsylvania
All religions
Life itself
and finally...Dildos and other assorted adult novelty toys
Thank you Ben...thank you.
5:29 AM
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