I flew back to the US from Germany on the same day that Christian, Judith, and Ole came over on their vacation. First they went for about a week to spend time with a friend in New York, and then they came down for few days to see Philadelphia. I think the only thing we didn't do was eat cheesesteaks (next time!)
It was one of the beautiful Saturdays in March 2010 -- the 20th, to be exact. A motley crue assembled itself, almost by accident and made the journey up through Chestnut Hill to walk the Forbidden Drive, which follows the Wissahickon Creek. The Wissahickon Valley Park is part of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park system.
We tried to get ice cream, but the place was closed so we ended up at Bruno's Restaurant instead for a variety of artery-clogging food.
Our merry hikers: Helmut Altneder, Benedikt zur Hausen, Michael, John Sands, Bayrex Marti, and yours truly.
Don't get me wrong, I like Nick Pitera's covers -- I first ran across his video entry in a Disney contest for people singing A Whole New World (he sings both parts).
"Being fat draws a lot of mockery in our society," he said.
To cope with the pain of his exclusion, he locked himself in his room and sang along with the songs of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey .
Update: On the Ellen Show!
The secret to Farmville’s popularity is neither gameplay nor aesthetics. Farmville is popular because in entangles users in a web of social obligations.
Clay Shirky linked to this fascinating speech/essay exploring the popularity of Farmville, and its status as a "game". Definitely worth reading!
Should my Windows Mobile phone work better since we're in Microsoft's offices?