Did he say Fuz-E built wheels, yes…he did!
Tony Fast’s plug for Bicycle Revolutions in Philadelphia. If you are in Philadelphia, BR is the only shop you need to stop by. And, if you are looking to get wheels built, go no further.
Video via: ProllyIsNotProbably via: 14BikeCo
Left Out In the Snow
After we got clobbered by two of the biggest snowstorms in Philadelphia history in less than a weeks time, I have been doing a lot of commuting by foot. I prefer to ride my bicycle regardless of the temperature, but the amount of ice coating our city’s streets has made this much less of an option. In my travels around over the past week, I have noticed a sad amount of bicycles that have been left out in the snow, getting covered with the drifts from the plows, some of them you can’t even see other than their seat posts poking up out of the filthy snow piles. This drives me completely nuts, because there are three gorgeous bikes within two blocks of my apartment which have been- for the lack of a better word- abandoned. These bikes, for the most part, are in excellent condition, but not for long as they sit outside marinating in the the winter mix of snow and salt. I feel like there should be some sort of SPCA type of organization that rescues bikes from neglectful owners, and allows less fortunate people to adopt them.
Gary Heidnik aka Brother Bishop: One of Philly’s Finest
Image via: www.newcriminologist.com
While Gary Heidnik is not a product of Philadelphia, he is one of the most notable characters to have called the City of Brotherly Love at one point. Heidnik was born in a suburb of Eastlake, Ohio but made a move to Philadelphia in the fall of 1962. He transplanted here via a transfer from am Army Surgical Hospital in Germany-where he worked as a medic-where he later landed himself in a local hospital and was diagnosed as having Schizoid Personality Disorder.
Here’s the kicker, as well as a prime example of how botched our whole system is; after being discharged from the Army due to his mental diagnosis, he was capable of landing a job as a Psychiatric Nurse as he able to obtain the credibility of being an LPN (Licensed Practicing Nurse). Remember, this all came about after he got “the sickness”. He worked at Veterans Administration Hospital in Coatesville, PA. He was however, fired shortly after for his less than shining attitude.
Later, while living in the Philadelphia area he (like all good psychos) incorporated the United Church of the Ministers of God. He created a bank account for said Church with Merrill Lynch in the amount of $1,500. Over the next several years Brother Bishop made several wise investments (one of them with Playboy) building up his earnings to roughly 5ook, which in todays money would be just shy of a million.
Find out more about one of Philly’s finest… (more…)
Buried Treasure
There is a retaurant at the corner of 6th & Catherine called “Little Fish” in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philly. They recently have been doing some renovations on the building and I happened to sneak a peak under the tarp covering the half finished work. They had pulled down the siding on the building and underneath was this awesome signage from the food establishment that was there long before. The whole side of the buidling was covered in it, but this was the only part I could get a decent pic with my iPhone. This was a nice little South Philly treasure discovered..
5:35am 66 degrees
photo: my iPhone 6:25am 5th & Green 19123
What the shit. I got up this morning at 5:30 and the widget on my desktop stated that it was 66 degrees out in Philly. It’s December 3rd for Christ sake. Don’t get me wrong, I like a nice mild day just as much as the next white guy, but this is a little silly. It was “almost ” 70. I guess enjoy it while we can.
These are the brakes…
Well, in light of Philadelphia’s new police state concerning bike riders with no brakes (track-bikes), I guess I’m safe. I wouldn’t wanna brake the law. I won’t wear my headphones when I ride because I have no where to put my iPod. But, where do I keep my bicycle registration now?
Civia Loring Bamboo Bike Rack
Next on the list of bike upgrades. Because I’m getting older and becoming more of a loser, I felt it was time for me to put a basket on the whip. I am loving this bamboo front mounted rack by Civia. It has nice low profile rails that are detachable and the best part is…it fits a case of beer.
Civia Loring Bamboo Front Mount Bike Rack
It should compliment my cruiser quite nicely.
Masi Soulville Single-Speed
Support Your Local Bike Shop: www.BicycleRevolutions.com
The Living’s Easy
My girl’s brother, Dan Eng shot this footage. This is a little taste of the full length “The Living’s Easy”.
Philly Neighborhood Poster by ORK
 Simply that. 18” x 24” Black soy-based ink White 100% recy’d paper, 105# text by New Leaf Paper |
visit: www.ORKPOSTERS.com
Friends of Triangle Park, Defeated?
So I am extremely pissed off right now. I just left my apartment for a walk down to the local coffee shop and what I saw on my way there was disturbing.
For quite a while now, the local neighborhood folk have been attempting aquisition of a vacant lot right where Passyunk Ave and 6th St. meet in Bella Vista. For a long time there was simply a vacant gas station there, then not long after that it was just an empty lot. This lot lay dormant for years right smack in the middle of my awesome little neighborhood.
Then sometime last year, I noticed people started to tend to keeping it clean and then over the spring of this year a sign went up, Friendsoftrianglepark.org. I think to myself, awesome! I went home and immediately looked up this site, and much to my amazement, they had quite the little presentation. There were computer generated drawings of potential plans for this park which were super sweet. This was all very exciting to me, and I anxiously awaited its resurrection.
As of tonight, what I witnessed has left me clueless as to the future of this park. The sign was removed, and replaced with a real estate for sale sign. I stood there for a few minutes staring at this sign posted amidst all the plants and tree just placed there by the natives, and muttered to myself…”Fuck me”. Were the “friends of triangle park” defeated? Was the sideshow of our mayor Mr. Nutter planting a tree there not that long ago all in vain? I fell completely let down knowing that more than likely this property will be sold for some ungodly amount so that some developer can build yet another hideous home right smack in the heart of our neighborhood. I love this city, and it stuff like this that re-enforces that the romance of this town is a thing of the past.
Hopefully, I will be able to get the scoop sometime tomorrow when I am out and about. But for now, I am just let down.
Tony Ward’s “The Figure” sells for $18K
CACHAN, FRANCE – A London-based collector has purchased Tony Ward’s 1995 tableaux vivant entitled “The Figure” for 15,000 euros ($18,000). The purchase, made during Ward’s participation in a group show entitled Sexe et Convenance, in the Parisud Gallery in Cachan, France, sets a new benchmark for a large scale Ward work. The print was the first in an edition of five of “The Figure” at the size of 48″ X 72″. The second print in the edition is now being offered at 19,000 euros ($22,000). For information: contact@parisud.net
R.I.P. Philadeli 2.10.08
This past week another Philly institution closed it’s doors for good. If you ever lived or worked in the South Street district in the city of brotherly love, then you have most likely been to this fine establishment more than once. Serving the South St area for 30 years, Philadeli was a second home to neighborhood natives. You could cop all the essentials at this high priced Jewish bodega/diner, from tampons to take out beer. I will miss going in there to buy smokes to only have Lenny bust my balls with his sarcastic, less than friendly sense of humor. Big up to Fran, you’ll be missed too.
The only thing we we’re left with was a cartoon drawing of Porky Pig (wearing a fucking Yamaka) on the door saying “That’s all folks”.
Another pat on the back for Philadelphia
So I just recently read a post on Myspace from an anquiatence of mine who was just arrested on his lunch-break this past Friday. After going to grab a cup of coffee, he came across an old bicycle which he said seemed to be abandoned. Around here this is actually quite possible. He claimed to have stopped to inspect the bike, which was followed by him being handcuffed and placed under arrest. Evidently, this was a “bait bike”, yeah you heard right…a “bait bike”. Your fucking kidding me right? Apparently not.
I guess in a city where the murder rate this year has sky rocketed beyond anyone’s comprehension, this is the only thing the cops can think to do on a Friday afternoon. Now I have no issues with the boys in blue, they really don’t bother me. But c’mon people, people are being shot everyday, including cops. We live in one of the most dangerous cities in the world (statsticaly), and this is what we are doing about it. I love this city, but our priorities are all fucked up.
The moral of this story is, if you see a bike keep walkin’. But if you have a gun in your pocket, you’ll probably be alright.
Chinatown Thanksgivin’
So, we didn’t so much for Thanksgiving this year. Honestly, it was exactly what I needed. We got up this morning and took a walk to get coffee, then just walked around the city and enjoyed an empty Philly. It really is amazing how much more I like this city when there is no one in it. It’s like an urban ghost town whenever a major holiday hits. Just goes to show how many true Philly people live in center city. While everyone treks out to the surrounding burbs to get fucked up on tryptophan, we can simply enjoy a beautiful day off. Unfortunately, I do have to head back to work tomorrow and bear down the hell we all call “Black Friday”. I thankfully do not work in a traditional “retail” environment, dealing face to face with the public. Hopefully it will be quick and painless, and the weekend will be here once again.
For our Thanksgiving dinner, we went to Penang in our Chinatown. For those not familiar, Penang is a bangin’ Malaysian restaurant. We started off with two bottles of Tsing Tao, and two glasses of Malaysian iced coffee. We shared an appetizer of shrimp puffs. Meghan had a healthy portion of fried rice and salted fish, and I went big and did the sauteed frog. Everything was great, and we enjoyed a brisk walk home.
All that was left of my little frog friend…
Leaving the Arches…
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