AAM 2009

2009-05-03
Emily and her boss Sarah headed to Philadelphia for the annual AAM (American Association of Museums) conference. We took some cool field trips, saw some excellent museums (Emily cried, like, 18 times at the Museum of Art), had some excellent food (thank goodness I brought Alka-Seltzer), and did actually attend some very informative sessions. There is a lot of history in this city, and we barely scratched the surface of all there is to do, but after five consecutive mornings of Hampton Inn breakfast and not getting enough green food to eat, we were both really, really ready to come home
One of the cell blocks at the Eastern State Penitentiary. Just about all the cells had been untouched since the jail closed in 1971. Pretty creepy
A barber's chair in one of the cells. Now imagine what this all looked like without the garish light of the camera's flash...
Another cell block, this one with two levels. They had a cart that would roll on rails along the inside of the top level so they could better feed all the inmates
Long row
Several artists had site-specific works thrughout the prison, including several dozen of these cats. There was a large feral cat population that thrived there while it was still in operation, and when it closed, a man who used to deliver supplies kept coming three times a week (for over 20 years!) to feed the cats.
Not the only thing here that has corroded over time
Al Capone slept here... slightly nicer accommodations than come of his fellow inmates
More evidence that nature won out over nurture
Another artist installation, this time with pieces of plaster suspended from the ceiling.
Friday morning I headed to the Academy of Natural Science. I think I was expecting something more than dinosaur skeletons and dioramas of stuffed animals, but it was a fun way to spend an hour or so
OK, so their little skunk was pretty cute
It was a little tricky to get a photo of myself with the bronze Galapagos tortoise, but I tried
One of the exhibitors at the Expo made silicone models (think Madame Toussaud). Barack looked much more realistic "in person" than he does here
Philadelphia's City Hall, with one of the few glimpses of blue sky we saw the entire time we were there. Sarah used William Penn (ironically cropped out of the shot) to navigate her way through the city; William Penn faced our hotel
I have to admit something: I haven't actually ever seen Rocky all the way through, just bits and pieces. This, however, did not stop me (or a bunch of other people waiting in line) to all stand and look like morons in front of his statue outside of the Museum of Art
A slightly more noteworthy and artistically significant statue Little Dancer by Degas
This one is for Sarah: Boy with a Rooster by Adriano Cecioni
One of the bronze casts ofThe Thinker by Rodin
I spied a beautiful sunset through the window of the gift shop as I was walking past. This photo so does not do it justice, but it was too pretty to not try and photograph
Forgive the odd reflections from the glass
Sarah wanted one of these "recycled" metal birds, but Sarah also needs to eat and pay her mortgage
SL380475
It looked like a Lite-Brite, but this was actually the side of an office building with LED lights in every window
Feeling guilty, we walked to the Liberty Bell. We couldn't come all the way to Philadelphia and not see it
Sarah's favorite historical quote from the Liberty Bell exhibit: "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Independence Hall, which was very historically important, but also closed while we were there
Sarah demonstrates good proper technique for eating a cheesesteak: hunched over, juices dripping down your chin, enormous bites, and then washed down with a diet Pepsi
What, you don't have a clear view of the massive stovetop piled high with strips of beef and chopped onions? You can't clearly see the vats of cheez-wiz or the stacks of buns? What, is that grease on the window there? Really?
Geno's, the "other place" where you can get cheesesteaks, situated directly across the street from Pat's
Sure, there's no bacon or fried eggs, but a pepper cheesesteak "wit wiz" is a sure contender for www.thisiswhyyourefat.com. and Oh. My. Gosh. Was it ever good...