popplers

Street scenes from Center City

• Best-ever store name: Funk-O-Mart (Market Street, purveyors of DJ equipment). Also offering "the largest selection of vinyl on the planet".
• I am excited to report that I've seen my first Toynbee Tile. If I'd had my camera, I'd have snapped a pic. It was on 8th Street, between Market & Chestnut, and it was one of the smaller ones. Some of the letters were worn away, but I could make out the main message:
  TOYNBEE IDEA
  MOVIE 2001
  RAISE [DEAD]
  PLANET JUPITER
  There was also a side message in a smaller font, that seemed to read:
  You lay tile alone.
• Lunch at Morimoto was incredible. I love the Stanley Kubrick decor (equal parts Clockwork Orange and 2001), and the weird little lights that look like alien phones or sex toys, and the sushi chefs' incredible knife work. Late lunch, sitting at the sushi bar, was everything I wanted and more. The freshwater eel was superb, as was the spicy salmon maki. Clam sashimi, served in a hollowed-out lemon, was refreshing and tasty. I wasn't impressed by the octopus, though— too chewy. More needlefish, please.
• Best sign from a forgotten age: LITS Department Store - "Hats Trimmed Free of Charge".