Philly Today

The poster shown above was published in 1918 and apparently made us feel victorious in a WWI-era kind of way. Yes, I realize that Daylight Saving Time is ending and it would have been more appropriate to share this with you all back in March. But when DST comes back next spring you had better believe I will be getting my hoes ready (yes, all of my hoes). Actually, if you live in some locations in the Southern Hemisphere, your hoes should already be ready. In the U.S., it’s time to get your, um… flashlights ready. The third option is to get nothing ready and do exactly what you have been doing, if you are in one of those freak states like Arizona or Hawaii, or if you remember the days where some parts of Indiana were too cool to observe DST. No matter where you are or what time it is, this is a classic poster and I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and Happy Halloween!

There is less than a week left in the month of October, but there is still plenty of time to get yourself scared beyond your worst nightmare. The Philadelphia area has all kinds of haunted attractions this time of year, but one of them stands out above the rest. Eastern State Penitentiary, located on Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia, puts together a tour every year called Terror Behind the Walls. This place is considered one of the most historic prisons in America. It was operational from 1829 and 1971, and it’s no surprise that many consider it to be haunted. The place looks scary even during the day, and in fact you can take a daytime tour at the prison (year round). But the Halloween attraction is the talk of the town every year. ESP has been featured on several TV shows, including the MTV ghost show “Fear”. Below is a feature about Terror Behind the Walls from a show on the Travel Channel.

October is here, which means time for pumpkin picking. I went to a farm market today with my family and some friends, where they had their annual Fall Fest. Everything you would expect at a Fall Fest: hayrides, corn maze, pony rides for the kids and lots of crazy looking pumpkins and gourds for sale. I happened to see a sign at one of the pumpkin tables. The sign was a little bit faded so it took me a minute to read, but it said something to the effect of: Due to this year’s extreme weather conditions, all pumpkin sales are final. Okay, fair enough. Wait a sec… does this mean that pumpkins are normally a returnable item? Who knew? I think next year when I buy pumpkins I will try to go back and return them on November 1 and see what they say. Is it okay if it is rotten, has a face carved into it and the insides scooped out? I swear, it was like that when I bought it.