Abandon Ship!
The photo below was taken June 29, 2000 about 1:45PM across the street from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, overlooking the Schuykill River. As I was waiting for the bus to Valley Forge (to attend Anthrocon 2000), I spotted a barge being pushed downriver by a tugboat. Being that I haven't seen any watercraft plying this waterway before, it made for an interesting diversion. Very soon it became even more interesting than I had bargained for, as the barge apparently hit something or ran aground. Whatever it was, the barge made a loud grinding noise just before stopping itself and the tug cold in it's tracks, and telltale explosions of air and water from the opposite (port) side indicated that things were about to get even more interesting. A few minutes later, the leading port-side (left hand) of the barge began to sink, and pretty soon most of that side of the barge was underwater, leaving the two crewmen on the tug little to do but walk over and stare at the embarrassing situation in disbelief. Sometime this month, I hope to make a little Web cartoon to go with the photo below, as just about everyone I showed the photo below thought it was quite funny. Ironically, I happened to see "Titanic" for the first time at the hotel the following night, and now I can't get it's theme song out of my head whenever I look at this :)