Sunday, April 20, 2008

Weekend of Los, Part 1

What a beautiful weekend in the Philly area … with the exception of a Flyers loss on Saturday. The wife and I took full advantage of the great weather, grilling up some burgers and dogs and sitting out on the deck on Friday night, and prepping for the second part of the weekend, by listening to the Rolling Stones Shine a Light cd … excellent, by the way, for Stones fans who want to hear deeper cuts in a live format.

Moving on to Saturday. We got up early, ate breakfast, and drove into the city to see the Star Wars exhibit at the Franklin (it used to be called the Franklin Institute, but since they are no longer conducting any science experiments, they had to get rid of the “institute.”). We probably should’ve taken the omens into account – we tried getting tickets on Friday, but were unable to do so on the Ticketmaster site (I really, really hate that company), as well as calling in (the ticket office closed at 5:00). I called on Saturday morning, and was able to reserve 2 tickets – apparently, this is a hot ticket to get, by the way.

We drove in, and immediately were knee deep in traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway – seriously, is there ever a time of day, week, month, or year that this highway is not congested? We luckily were able to park and get into the Franklin 10 minutes before our “tour” began. Speaking of the parking, if you’ve never parked at the Franklin, you REALLY are in for a treat. It’s especially wonderful if you are looking to get a spike in your blood pressure. First, the garage is uncomfortably tiny – so tiny, that at times they won’t even let SUV’s in – luckily, I don’t drive an SUV, so we were “lucky” enough to be granted entrance. The “hired help” that is supposed to guide one to open parking places obviously isn’t getting paid top dollar – customer service skills are on par with Comcast Cable. Additionally, they have no sense of where to even direct drivers to go, making an already hectic experience all the more hectic.

After finally parking, we went to will call to pick up our tickets … problem was, the lackeys working this booth were apparently also hired by the same people who hired the parking attendants. I gave them my confirmation number, along with my credit card and driver’s license. They asked me if my name was “Ben,” to which I did a double take – they had my id, and my credit card – both with my name on it … and just for the record, my name isn’t Ben. After about 5 minutes of the one guy just staring at his computer, he told me I need to get in the ticket line to purchase the tickets … um, isn’t that what will call helps to avoid? I was pissed, but I’d be getting even more pissed in just a couple of minutes.

The wife and I stood in line, and were finally called up to the ticket lady. We asked for tickets for the 11:30 show … she told us that she didn’t have anything available until 2:30. My wife nearly ripped her head off … we “mentioned” in a not-so-nice way that we had called and had preordered tickets but that the will call guy couldn’t find them. The lady took our confirmation number, and in seconds printed the ticket … she has a real future at the Franklin.

The tour itself was rather disappointing to me … it was more geared towards children, which is fine, showing how science and Star Wars sometimes are connected, and showing some science experiments. There were some Star Wars costumes, and some scant information about different characters and spacecraft, but all-in-all it was just as disappointing as the King Tut exhibit that was held there prior to Star Wars. The only “saving grace” was this one guy who flipped out on security because he lost his kids in the exhibit. He berated security for about 5 minutes, before the security guard said something along the lines of “maybe you should’ve kept a closer eye on your kids as opposed to the exhibit.” The man nearly flipped – typical uneducated South Philadelphian. He sure did his kids proud with his conduct.

This may be the last exhibit I ever go to at the Franklin.

9 comments:

schue said...

Yeah - no more exhibits from now on, it's expensive, overcrowded and a nightmare.

ToddPacker said...

did you bring your light saber to the exhibit?


chase utley needs to stop hitting HRs against the mets

El Padrino said...

what's Star Wars?
Is that like Star Trek?

Jeff said...

As good a time as any for Blue/White highlights:
* Carnival in the parking lot.
* Attendance 73,000. That number seems low. The non-deck sections were full.
* RB Stephfon Green is a blur. And a freshman.
* Both QBs can throw. Both can run -- Clark is a little better runner and more powerful, but Devlin is elusive enough.
* Both QBs are smarter than Morelli -- and also smarter than a tree stump.
* The OL run-blocked well but had trouble pass-blocking in the 2nd half. Hopefully those were subs or our defense is that good.
* Last year's Player of the Game awards were given at halftime. Morelli won for Fla Intl and was booed.
* Unlike the ND game, no fights.

Ink and Stone said...

There was a "science of Star Wars" type show on the History channel (I think there was even a science of Star Trek show too) that probably would have given you the same information without all of the hassle. Though it must have been a little neat seeing the costumes.

minijonb said...

stories like this make me wonder why i ever leave the house in the first place.

Paige Jennifer said...

You said: The tour itself was rather disappointing to me … it was more geared towards children...

Dude, this place has a heart you can walk through, though since I sprung hips and boobs I can't clear the last valve. So, um, yeah. It's SUPPOSED TO BE FOR KIDS.

Lisa said...

I'm still stuck on the fact that the Franklin Institute dropped the last half of its name. Weird. I don't like it.

It's like saying "We went to visit the Liberty." They dropped "Bell" because it has a big crack in it and can't ring so it's not really a bell anymore.

Thanks for the advice on the exhibit -- you saved me some money.

....Babs Peapod

Los said...

Schue - agreed ... except if there's a Stones exhibit.

TP - Only the one in my pants.

Elp - Sort of ... but not.

Jeff - Which PSU QB do you want to start?

Ink - The show would've been plenty.

Minijonb - The rest of the weekend was fun.

Paige - I have no problems with it being directed towards kids ... I just figured there'd be more cool Star Wars related stuff.

Lisa - My pleasue ... that's why I'm here.