Philadelphia "Freedom"

• Looks like I'm the last one to weigh in on that hurricane of laughter and frivolity that hit Philadelphia this past weekend that we called The Gathering. Seven jolly bloggers--most of whom had never met in person--went to the time and expense to meet in the sometimes misnamed "City of Brotherly Love."
• I had my first cheesesteak sandwich. Oh, Lord. That was good. With provolone. Oh, Lord. That was good.
  
• My mother will be surprised to learn that Davis has a long-lost twin brother. Fletcher and Davis must have been pulled from the same cosmic ether and brought to Earth. I'm glad they found each other.
• To the "lady" at the United counter at O'Hare: Fuck you, you rude bitch. I'm glad you likely have a husband who doesn't love you and children who don't respect you. So there. Security can't reach me here. Yet.
• Benjamin Franklin—who invented damn near everything, we learned—once wrote that those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither liberty nor security. I wonder what Ol' Ben would think of people being searched by uniformed officers before visiting the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I'm proud of our group for refusing to participate in such a sad irony.
  
• People in groups are strange animals, but travelers are insufferable animals. What is it about commuting in cars or planes that brings out the asshole in people? These people deserve the rubber glove.
• Speaking of the rubber glove, Davis saw an elderly woman getting a pat-down search. Boy, did that make me feel safe.
• There's a much greater show of police authority in a big city: transit cops, parking cops, regular cops, guards at the monuments, etc. I'm not used to that living in Omaha. Also not used to relying on public transportation so much, but I think I could get used to it.
• Honking is the national pastime in Philly. Boy are they horny.
  
• After dinner one night, the gang retired to the hotel bar across the way for a few drinks. I ordered a drink for myself and a comrade. When the waitress delivered the two drinks, I gave her a twenty for the tab. She brought back $.58 in change. For two drinks.
• We discovered we share an affection for Larry the Cable Guy (or at least a polite tolerance).
• "We went down to that there waterfront, yessir. They had all sorts of ships and what-not. We ate at this place that had the best sammiches right there, I don't care who ya are. Boy, I was happier'n Rosie O'Donnell at a buffet full of Ho-Ho's, I tell ya what."
• We watched a William Shatner film, Incubus, that had been lost for 30 years, restored and transferred to DVD. I think it deserves more respect than the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment we gave it, ha, but it did provide some of the biggest laughs of the trip, so no harm done. It was, however, very atmospheric and contains some interesting camera work. Jim-Bob says "check-it-out."
  
• Well, the weather was great, the food was great, the drinks went down well and the companionship was great. It was amazing to see the fun and joy that followed us around. Waiters and waitresses who were surly and frowning were laughing, smiling and walking with a spring in their step by the time we were done with them.
• Thanks, my friends, for a wonderful weekend.