Scott McNulty prepares before a taping of Fork You Live
I went to a taping of Fork You Live on Saturday. I’ve been a big fan of Fork You since Scott and Marisa started it over a year ago, but this was the first time I’ve attended a live taping. And man was it worth it.
I laughed for a solid hour. Scott is one of the quickest and funniest improv comedians I’ve ever seen. While Marisa cooks and prepares and interacts with the audience (there were 35+ of us there), Scott zings one-liners. It was really fun to watch them do theri thing and get a peek behind the curtain. If you ever have a chance, I’d highly recommend going to one of their shows, which are taped at Fosters Homeware on 4th and Chestnut.
Just a Little Tire Vibration
When I was driving to a client meeting in Northern Jersey last Monday I noticed that I had a little tire vibration when I went above 70 mph. That’s unusual for my car, but I guessed that it was a wheel out of balance and pressed on. I got there and back no problem. I wasn’t so lucky last night.
It Was a Little More Than Just a Little Tire Vibration (or, Frankie’s a Little Slow on the Draw)
As Sheryl and I were driving on I-95 just north of the airport, my right rear passenger tire’s sidewall blew out. At the time I was in the second-to-the-leftmost lane. I had to cross 3 lanes of traffic with cars going 75+ mph and get on the shoulder. Thankfully, Sheryl prevailed on me to roll along a little bit and that took a corner out of play and got us on the early entrance part of an exit. Still, cars were flying by.
I Have AAA, but I’m a Tire Changing Machine…or Fool
Now, you should know this: I’ve changed a lot of tires in my life. And even though it’s a hassle, I know how to make it happen. That’s when my overconfidence kicked into gear. First, I’ve never changed a tire on this car. And in good BMW tradition, every single piece that I needed to make tire changing happen was bolted down and stored in its own special spot. About that time, Sheryl got out of the car with the owner’s manual and crossed the guardrail. She said she’d look out for cars that didn’t realize we were broken down and on the shoulder. I’d have to use my jungle-cat reflexes to jump out of the way in case some idiot didn’t see my fat ass. Ah…but they did.
They Can See Your Crack
I finally got down to business. The lugs nuts were tighter than Britney Spears’ jeans after a Frozen Macchiatto binge at Starbucks. Unfortunately, my dress pants weren’t quite that tight, and when I was hauling and tugging on the lug wrench with every bit of my strength, Sheryl said these words of encouragement: “They can see your crack.”
If I Won the Lottery, the First Thing I’d Do Is Buy a New Ass, Because Mine Has a Crack in It
Just great. I can’t get the lugs nuts off and people driving down the road, already happy that a Beemer is broken down, now see my ass hanging out in the wind. And Sheryl’s embarrassed. At that point I said, “I don’t care! I’m breaking my back doing this. I mean, look, it already cracked my ass.” But I stood up and took a different tack. I couldn’t pull on the lug nuts because I’d be doing a Britney to South Philly, so I decided to stand on the lug wrench.
Sometimes Gravity Is My Friend
I’m glad I get the 3 pancakes breakfast at Paoli Diner, because without it, Sheryl and I would still be stranded on I-95. Instead, it took all my bulk, plus me bouncing on the lug wrench, to get the lugs loose. But it worked. And once that happened, I had the tire changed (carefully concealing my backside) and we were on our way to the ballet. (More on that later.)
A Few Life Lessons I Learned While Changing a Tire on I-95
There’s no such thing as “just a little tire vibration”
I-95 isn’t one of the best places to have a blowout
If you’re gonna go commando, at least wear a shirt that’s long enough to cover your ass in case you have to bend down and change a tire because you didn’t follow Rule #1
A Coterie of Many Colors
40,000 of my closest friends and I went to see Barack Obama speak at Independence Mall last night. The vibe of the place was tremendous. I’ve been to a lot of political rallies, but this one felt different. And it looked different. The mix of colors and ages was…wow.
A Blue Ticket is Like The Golden Ticket at Political Rallies
I had a Red Ticket, thanks to Charlie, who is volunteering on Tuesday, which is election day here in PA. I went with Sarah, and in good Sarah fashion, it wasn’t long before we had Blue Tickets, which meant we were in front near the stage. Small detail: We arrived at 6pm, but Barack didn’t come out unitl around 8:50pm. Lots of standing around.
Will.I.Am Says “Yes We Can”
The crowd was in a great mood. At around 7:30, Ed Kowalczyk of Live came out and did an acoustic version of “Lightning Crashes.” Then Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas came out and did a version of “Yes We Can.” The crowd was pumped to a frenzy and lots of people were crying happy tears. Sarah said, “It would be so great if Barack Obama came out right now and started his speech with ‘Yes, we can.'” Unfortunately, we had to wait another 90 minutes for that.
Remember, We Booed Santa
By the time 8pm came and went, people had been waiting over 2 hours. And they were getting restless. First, they went through the entire song book. A guy behind me shouted, “Get the 60 Gig iPod, it holds more songs!” Then a few technicians came out and putzed around with the microphones on the podium. That’s when the booing started. It got more heated when some random woman got up to introduce Barack Obama and the microphones didn’t work. People started to shout her down once they started working with chants of “O-ba-ma, O-ba-ma.” We’d waited 3 hours. We wanted to see the man.
Change We Can Believe In
Finally, Barack Obama jumped up on the stage. The crowd went nuts. We’d waited for this moment and everyone wanted to savor it. There was five minutes of sustained cheering at the beginning. And even as the Senator was talking a couple of times he had to say, “People, listen to this.” There was call-and-response, and “Tell it to them, brother” going on all around. Once super cool thing: People were taking pictures with strangers that night, showing the mixture of colors and ages. It was a real party.
Obama talked for 20 minutes. He was inspiring. And he was only 25 feet away. But what happened after the rally was even cooler.
Touching Obama’s Hand
Since we were close to the stage, we were able to move right upwhen the speech ended. Some people started to leave. But guess what? Barack Obama waded into the crowd. Sarah got crushed forward and practically ended up crowd surfed into him. Because of the crowd surge, Sarah was shoved upwards and had one arm around a woman’s neck (not on purpose) and her other hand ended up being held by Barack Obama. I was back 3 deep and being elbowed by the very nervous Secret Service detail.
(That’s not the first time we’ve seen him. Four years ago we got up close and personal with him at Love Park. See below.) Then we left. But no one really wanted to leave.
Spontaneous Celebration on Market Street
We walked up Market Street. And everyone was in a great mood. Lots of chanting. Placards. Sarah caught a taxi at 9th and Market. I kept heading toward City Hall. And when I got to 11th and Market, there was all the commotion of sirens. Barack Omaba’s motorcade was coming up Market Street. I was walking in the street along with thousands of people. When the motorcade came by, Barack Obama had his window open and was waving to everyone. I waved back. And like many who were there, I thought he was waving right at me. That wave set people off even more. It was like the Pope was leading float during a Phillies championship parade. It was electric. And I didn’t want to lose that moment. I kept walking.
“Yes We Can” at City Hall
Here’s a video of what it was like at City Hall. People had just seen Barack Obama’s motorcade roll by. And this spontaneous chant happened like it was happening across Philly.
Seeing Barack Obama Again Today
Barack Obama is coming to the Paoli train station. He’s due to talk at 2PM. Sheryl, Steve and I will be there. How many times do you get to see the next president of the United States do a whistle stop tour?
It’s significantly lighter in the morning when I walk Snickers the Wonder Dog. Sunrise is 10 minutes earlier a week at this time of year. Soon it will just be sunshine and no more “Good morning, starshine.”
BTW: I wish I could write lyrics like “Gliddy, glop. gloopy/ nibby, nobby, nooby/le, le, lo, lo.”
We ate at Mercato on Sunday before we went to The Odd Couple. (I’ve now eaten at one Merkato in NYC and another Mercato in Philadelphia. Both words mean “market.”) What a great little BYOB. The food was really tasty. We had the “olive oil flight” to start. That included three oils, including one sweet balsamic. Then came the antipasti. Tasty. I asked the waiter what I should have and he recommended the duck.
Now, I normally am not crazy about duck. But the duck at Mercato was tremendous. The fat was rendered off and the duck was mixed in with spinach noodles. Wow, it was really fantastic. Sheryl had the daily special — the butterfish– while Jim had the striped bass and Kim had the braised short ribs with gnocchi. Everyone really liked their meals. A lot. We had some gelati (sea salt, kumquat, and cherry) to finish. The reason I’m telling you all this? Super tasty meal: $157 for four.
Yep, these days I expect to pay $100/person every time I eat great food. The BYOB really helps. I’m going to Mercato again. It was very, very good.
MERCATO
1216 SPRUCE STREET
PHILADELPHIA 19107
P 215.985.BYOB
