This is the first video of our annual spring visit to Philly.
Every year, Pat and I get together four times a year. Springtime is Philly.
In the Fall I visit Pat in Canada.
My birthday in November we revisit Philly. Both Pat and I love Philadelphia, especially the exciting and diverse city that is Philadelphia now, unlike the Philadelphia that rolled up it streets at 6 PM when all the office workers left Center City.
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| Me and Pat in Olde City, Philadelphia (don't worry, my beard is coming back) |
I lived and worked in Center City Philadelphia from 1965 to 1994 when I moved back to Downingtown, Pennsylvania, my hometown from which I was anxious to leave when I graduated from high school in 1959. After a three year stint in the Army, I lived in Pittsburgh, PA for a few months then Coatesville, PA for a couple of years before I met Bill and moved in with him at his apartment in Pennsauken, New Jersey. And there you have my life story in a capsule.
Winter is two weeks in California, one week in West Hollywood and one week in Palm Springs.
I recently discovered that my Photo app on my iMac has this wonderful feature that takes my photos and videos and compiles a short video. This is the first of them.
I've produced some short videos in the past but they are very laborious and take up a lot of hard drive space on my computer, thus I haven't done too many although I like doing them.
This video shows Pat dropping off his rental car in Narberth, Pennsylvania. We took the train from Narberth last Sunday to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Then we walked to our rental suite at our friend Don McKenzie's co-op at 2101 Chestnut Street in center city Philly.
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| Pat taking a rest in Olde City, Philadelphia |
What do we do when in Philly? Probably nothing exciting to the casual observer but for me and Pat, we always have a good time. Pat loves to visit Olde City and the design row of furniture stores. I like to check out some of my favorite restaurants. Pat and I both like to just walk around the busy streets of center city checking out the architecture and all the new building and tear downs.
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| Pat checking out some of the Philadelphia architecture on his last day early in the morning on the way to the bus station to catch his bus back to Hamilton, Canada |
I personally like revisiting many of my old haunts from when I lived and worked in center city Philly. And of course we visit my old friend and co-worker Don.
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| Visiting with our friend Don in his apartment in Philly |
In the evening Pat and I watch TV, "Family Feud" and "Shark Tank" are some of our two favorite programs. We also like Turner Classic Movies but all too often TCM is on a Memorial Day Marathon or some other series that we're not interested in. Our favorite movies are the film noir movies of the Thirties and Forties. This time we saw some old Flash Gordon serials, which was fun. Who doesn't like Ming the Merciless?
This visit I discovered that my endurance isn't the same as it was on previous visits. The heat and humidity during our week long stay sometimes because too much for me and I had to retreat to our air conditioned suite on the 14th floor ("Penthouse") of the 2101 Chestnut Street Co-operative. I left Pat to continue roaming around Olde City and the tourists (who were out in full force) while I did my Old Man Recover routine in time to go out to dinner at the Marathon Grill or Hip Veg City in the evening when Pat returned from his explorations.
Having the best time of my life folks!
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| The Intrepid Duo in Center City Philly, contributing to the local economy |
12 comments:
Great photos, Ron, you two look great too!
Nice to see a city with a big name but not often seen 'in the raw' as it were - i.e. not tarted up in order to feature in a film.
Btw: Did the film 'Philadelphia' feature much of the city you now know or was it perhaps shot in LA? (as sometimes - regularly - happens?). Perhaps it's too long since you watched it.
I don't think Flash Gordon ever caught on big over here. We all know the name, of course, but I certainly never saw or heard of any serial.
Now carry on with experiencing more highlights of your life.
Oh, the Emperor Ming. Did you ever see "Flesh Gordon"? In that movie, Ming the Merciless was Wang the Perverted and he was called "Your Ass-holiness." I loved it. Then again, I was 20 and probably stoned!
Ron,
City certainly didn't roll up th sidewalks when I lived there in the late '60s. We were out to all hours to places.
Lar
Thanks Mike!
Ray,
The movie "Philadelphia" was filmed in Philadelphia. In fact the courtroom scenes were filmed right across the street (at City Hall) from the bank where I worked. I didn't see any of the actors though because the dressing room trailers were connected by tunnels to City Hall to protect we common folk from making direct eye contact with the stars (God forbid).
The Flash Gordon serials was my first experience with sexual fantasy. I was about ten years old at the time but when I saw Ming the Merciless tie up Flash Gordon I had "strange" arousals. That was my secret at that time, never told anybody. I didn't quite understand what was going on with my body but it did feel good. I knew that.
Ron
Mitchell,
I heard about "Flesh Gordon" but never saw it. The original serial of "Flash Gordon" was the first stirrings of my sexual proclivities. I didn't quite understand what was going on a that time but I knew it felt good.
Ron
Lar,
I think city life was different where you lived in West Philly. Center city, after the office workers left for the day was mainly populated with Jewish widows and gay men. A lot different now.
Ron
Goodness me! I would never have guessed that Flash Gordon would have been an intrinsic part of your sexual awakening, Ron.
Like Mitch below, I also saw 'FLESH Gordon' but recall next to nothing about it, which just about sums up the film's (absence of) impact.
Hey Ron - I may have been a little tired in some of those photos but man I've got to smile more!!
Pat
Hey Pat, I'll try to include more photos of you smiling in future blogs!
Ray,
Oh yes, Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe) tied up and under Ming the Merciless control did turn me on. I was surprised at how my young hormones reacted when seeing those scenes.
Ron
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