Mummers Parade

I somehow forgot to post about this in January....



Ted Passon and I were the Burger Bride and Milkshake groom (costumes made by yours truly) of the Space 1026 Vaudevillains NYD Brigade.

FYI, Ted and I did not get married, but damn what an awesome idea for a wedding huh?

FH in Keystone Edge

Dan Eldridge wrote a great article on the bicycle culture of Philadelphia for KeystoneEdge.com. He talks about our growing community and the people and organizations who help it thrive. You can read it HERE.

Black Friday + Weekend Sale

Now that you all are well fed and in a food coma you can finally start thinking about presents! Let's all agree that receiving presents is not as rewarding as giving them. So if you know that someone you like or love has been eyeing up something but just does not have the money saved up, perhaps you can surprise them this year. Whether it is for you or for someone you like....Fabric Horse will be having our one time annual sale. Starting Friday Nov. 27 and ending Sunday Nov. 29 everything in our store and online will be 15-20% off. (Fabric Horse items only).

Go get 'em!

Fright of Fancy: Halloween Extravaganza

Last month I was thinking to myself, and out loud with Alex and Major Snakes here at the FH headquarters. . . I was pondering how every year around this time I get so excited for Halloween, being my favorite holiday, yet there rarely is anything awesome to do. In fact I got a little angry about it. Too often I find myself all dressed up with nowhere to go.... IF you can relate to this, then get ready to be excited. I decided that Fabric Horse needed to throw its first ever promotional event. Since I am strictly doing Fabric Horse full time now that our store opened this summer, I deemed it worthy of a celebration.....



Fright of Fancy: Halloween Dance Party and Costume Fashion Show
Fabric Horse and Philly art stars re-do Halloween this year!

Contact:
Carrie Collins
215-694-9034
carrie@fabrichorse.com

Fabric Horse (www.fabrichorse.com), Philadelphia’s premier creative design outlet for utility belts, bags, lock holsters, and urban costuming; will be throwing, “Fright of Fancy, a huge Halloween inspired fashion show and dance party on Saturday October 31st at the Latvian Society of Philadelphia. Fabric Horse owner, Carrie Collins, whose new retail space recently opened in the Piazza; has assembled the best and brightest of the Philadelphia art scene to make custom made costumes, games, prizes, and performances for an epic Halloween blowout.

“Fright of Fancy” will feature a runway Fashion show of Halloween costumes with designs from many local artists including: Topstitch Boutique, Kristen Phillips (Safari Anomalou), Carrie Collins and Alex Powell (Fabric Horse), Dave Laverdure (Club Lyfestile), Audra Phillips, Sara McCorriston, Tip Flannery (The Vaudevillains), and more. The fashion show will be hosted by Sweatheart front-woman and former Trading Spaces contestant, Rose Luardo.

All attendees who come wearing a costume will be competing for prizes in categories such as: Best Group Costume”, “Best Michael Jackson”, “Best Inanimate Object”, “Scariest Costume”, and “Most Creative Costume.” The winners will receive custom made trophies by NY-based sculptor and master mold maker Sabrina Lessard.

The night will also feature a “head through the hole” photo-booth painted and designed by Space 1026 artists Thom Lessner and Chris “Salty Snax” Kline.

Lots of party games will be on hand as well including a custom made “Zombie Brain Toss” by artist Gerik Forston (Black Floor Gallery and R.E.Load Bags), a “Bloodsucking” Blackjack table by Roland Burns (co-founder of R.E.Load Bags), and there will even be free food in a “Build Your Own Tostada Bar” by 2009 Pew-Fellowship winner Ben Peterson and custom pastries by Rebecca Flax

The dance party will feature multiple DJ’s including KurtLife (AKA Kurt Hunte from Plastic Little), Hoagie Jawns, and AJ Ready Right (AKA Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Space 1026) as well as video projections with a live green screen dance floor provided by local filmmaker Ted Passon.

There will also be a raffle where people can buy tickets to win fun prizes from Fabric Horse, Print Liberation, ReLoad Bags, Space 1026/Free News Projects, Jinxed, Luna Hair Salon, and many others.

The event will be held in the main party room of the historic Philadelphia Latvian Society at 531 N. 7th Street at 8:00pm on Saturday October 31st. Admission is $10.00 and the bar is open to individuals who are over 21. Drink specials include $2 Lionshead and $4 liquor. Presale tickets available at Fabric Horse.

FH on uwishunuc.om

uwishunu gave us a nice little write up this week.

Call for Artists!

The 7th annual Bike Part Art Show benefiting Neighborhood Bike Works is coming August 28-September 18 at Studio 34 in West Philadelphia, with the silent auction and party on September 18. Hooray! We have a great lineup this year: Music by Kiss Kiss Kill and DJ Ross of Love, beer by Victory and Dock Street, snacks by great local caterers and bakeries, and a super audience of biking and art enthusiasts.

The only thing that could make it better is if we have some of your work for the show. Every year we're amazed by the quality and diversity of the work submitted to the show, but it just wouldn't be the same without something you've made. We'll show it off, then use proceeds from the silent auction to run our free earn-a-bike classes for Philadelphia kids. The strong momentum of cycling in Philadelphia, plus the audience and support the show has earned over the years, promises to make this year's show one of the best yet.

Top three reasons (among many) to be a Bike Part Artist
• Bike Art is awesome! We keep used bike parts out of the waste stream by putting them to use as a fun challenge and inspiration to our work. Past work has run the gamut from assemblage to paintings to jewelry to light fixtures to functional furniture to sculpture. It’s not essential that your submission incorporates actual bike parts. We love any art influenced by cycling! You can see examples of past work at www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org
• Exposure! The Bike Part Art Show has been growing every year, with widespread publicity and high attendance. If you get your work in early (see submission details below), we’ll exhibit it at preview shows around town, like the galleries at Moore's spring and summer exhibition Bicycle: people + ideas in motion, celebrating Philadelphia’s passion and commitment to the bicycle.
• Help Philadelphia kids build their own bikes at no cost to their families! Profits from the auction of the works help pay for free after school programs and scholarships for summer camps, where kids earn a bike by building one, and in the process learn practical life skills, environmental awareness, fitness and nutrition. It’s important to keep the classes free because the families of most Bike Works students couldn’t afford them, much less a bike. Though artists may not have expendable income either, the Bike Part Art Show turns your talent into a direct contribution to making the world a better place for Philadelphia kids, and by extension, for you.

How to be a Bike Part Artist
• Tell us you want in (or even that you're mildly interested). Send an e-mail to artshow@neighborhoodbikeworks.org. Please include your name, phone number, website and address.
• Think about the cool piece (or pieces) of art you want to make from bike parts or about bike culture. If you already have something in your collection, feel free to pull it out for the show.
• Get bike parts if you need them for your work. Join us for one of the “Bike Part Raids” at Neighborhood Bike Works to pick out and take home the parts that inspire you. See below for more info.
• Drop off your work to us at the times and places below.

Bike Part Raids
Need parts for your work? Join us at Neighborhood Bike Works in West Philly to root through our scrap pile and take what you like. You’ll find wheels, bearings, brake cables, frames, derailleurs, grips, spoke nipples, chain, and other sweet components. They’re not solid enough to ride, but they make great art! The next raids are:
Saturday June 13, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Thursday June 18, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Sunday June 21, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
All raids are at Neighborhood Bike Works located in the basement of St. Mary’s Church, 3916 Locust Walk on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Our headquarters can be hard to find, so visit our website for directions.

Participation deadlines and submission details

1. Email Kate at artshow@neighborhoodbikeworks.org to let us know when you’re coming, then submit your work at one of the times and places below. To make alternate arrangements, email Kate at artshow@neighborhoodbikeworks.org.

2. There are two participation deadlines. Early submissions have the opportunity to be featured in preview shows like Bicycle: people + ideas in motion, at the Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design.

Dropoff times/locations for preview shows and the Bike Part Art Show:
Tuesday July 7, 5015 Hazel Avenue in West Philly, 5 pm – 9 pm
Wednesday July 8, VOX Building at 319A N 11th Street, 4th floor, 4 pm – 8 pm.

Dropoff times/locations for the Bike Part Art Show:
Wednesday August 19, 5015 Hazel Avenue in West Philly, 5 pm – 9 pm
Thursday August 20, VOX Building at 319A N 11th Street, 4th floor, 4 pm – 8 pm

Spread the word!
Forward this email, tell all your art-loving and bike-loving friends, or join our facebook group!

Want to be more involved?
The Bike Part Art Show only gets better when more people help to plan and put it on. We would love to have you along for the ride! If you’re interested in volunteering in any capacity, before or during the show, please reply to this email and tell us a little about yourself. If you have some specific skills or assets you’d like to lend, we’re all ears!

Questions? Ask away! Email Kate at artshow@neighborhoodbikeworks.org or check our website.

Video spot from Planphilly.com

This is a small brief from the opening day at The Piazza at Schmidts where the new FH digs is located. There's a small tid bit from yours truly. . .

Support the Pedal Co-op Next Wednesday!

A shindig to help the pedal co-op become a nonprofit, with bands, a bake sale, a second premiere of of the film Bicycle Cupid and valet bike parking. Fun! April 15 @ 8pm. The Marvelous, 204 s. 40th St. in Philadelphia.

Seriously, Stupidity

I will be showing some work in a big group show opening this Wednesday at a new gallery space above Kung Fu Necktie in Old Kensington. Stop by, check it out. Also, Jamie Dillon will be playing the Jamaican tunes on the first floor so bring some dancing shoes.

Shadow's Space
1248 N Front Street (above KFN)
Philadelphia, PA 19122

+++ Opening Wedensday March 18, 2009, 6-10 PM

Kung Fu Necktie, a new nightlife entertainment venue opened in Fishtown for the local arts community announces the grand opening of a new gallery for the Philadelphia art scene- Shadow’s Space. Operating in tandem with Kung Fu Necktie’s ongoing program of live music, performance and DJ events, Shadow’s Space will be an alternative venue for regional, national and contemporary art.

The premier exhibition at Shadow’s Space, Seriously Stupididity, curated by two of Philly’s most beloved aesthetic savants Adam Wallacavage and Damian Weinkrantz, features a veritable lexicon of emerging and established artists who have come to define this town as one of the great bastions of cultural production in America today.

A counterpoint of the divergent tendencies that make contemporary art simultaneously brilliant and brutal, Seriously Stupid brings together a broad range of visual provocateurs from the multivarious fields of comics, conceptualism, painting, sculpture and skate culture. By contrasting and collapsing the problematic boundaries by which we separate the intellectual and intentionally moronic tendencies inherent in picture-making today, we understand that both are legitimate responses to the complexities of our modern world, and each offers some quotient of sympathy and understanding for the dysfunction of our collapsing empire. For the super-smart and inebriate alike, this is art to get in a brawl over for no other reason than the make-up sex after will be the best you ever had.

Participating Artists Include:
Shelley Spector
Charles Burns
Drew Leshko
David Dunn
Danny Perez
Spencer Wunder
Mary Deevy
Manuel Dominguez, Jr.
Jessica Roberts
Gloria Joan Haag
Brieann Robyn Tracey
Carrie Collins
Jason Goldberg
Issac Lin
Kelly Turso
Adam Crawford
Aryon Hoselton
Andrew Jefferey Wright
Ken Sigafoos
Ben Woodward
Judith Schaechter
Amber Lynn Thompson
Crystal Stokowski
Matt Leines
Jim Houser
Jayson Musson
Andrew Clark
Plankton art co.
Erich Weiss
Dan Tag
Dave Fox
Nick Paparone

Warsaw Made

A new label out of Philadelphia by our friend Elsa, formerly a Black Floor lady, who set out on her own as of February of this year to make a line of things inspired bywell-made goods of the past.
She's called it Warsaw Made.

With a decidedly antique look and feel, her bags could easily transport their wearer to another time and place. And they're all handmade in town, by one visionary lady with an eye for romance. Don't be fooled; though beautiful, each piece is tough as nails and made by hand to endure the ages. There are even quilt references, if you're paying attention. She certainly has her bases covered.


See for yourself.

Small Change

If you happen to live in the esteemed Southern portion of the east coast, our friends at Small Change are on the road and coming quickly! to a town near you. These friends are of the cinemotographic persuasion and host a series of experimental videos and music videos by Philly based filmmakers. For your viewing pleasure, they're toting...

Fantastical deteriorating video narratives, metaphysical workout videos, music videos, and experimental animations and documentaries from Philadelphia. Curated by the members of the Small Change film screening series you can expect the full range of emotions from sensory overloading trance-party-inducing visuals, deeply personal life-affirming introspection, Wu-Tang dance parties, and TGIF television nostalgia.

An event dubbed the Action News Tour, is one not to be missed! Besides, this could be your only chance to see those fancy nurses costumes in action on the dr. biggles screen.

The films in question are from the talented brains and braun of Ted Passon, Dave Dunn, Chris Ward, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Ryan Trecartin, Sarah J. Christman, Michael Robinson and Clare E. Rojas. The pictures in question are of course, therefore:

2/21: Roanoke Marginal Arts Festival Jefferson Center 541 Luck Avenue, Roanoke, VA * 12:30pm

2/22: NIGHTLIGHT Bar & Club 405 1/2 W. Rosemary St. Chapel Hill, NC * 9:30pm * $5.00

2/23: The Sentient Bean 13 E Park Ave. Savannah, GA * 7:30pm * $5.00

2/25: FLEX (Florida Experimental Film Festival) Hippodrome State Theatre 25 SE 2nd Place, Gainesville, FL * 9:00pm * $5.00

2/26: New College of Florida 5800 Bay Shore Road Sarasota, FL * 8:00pm * FREE SHOW * Outside screening @The Z-Quad

2/28: The Eyedrum 290 MLK Jr. Dr. SE (suite #8) Atlanta, GA * 9:00pm w/ Oicho Kabu

3/01: Green Cup Books Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. South Birmingham, AL

3/03: Church Of Crystal Light 309 N. Adams St. Richmond, VA * 8:00pm w/Cars Will Burn!!

Since there's nothing like a good new-fashioned movie, show these good ones some Southern hospitality please.

Derby Meetin Up

You may remember last year that we hung at the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival, a.k.a. the festivus around the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby. Now, if you're just the spectating type, you have three more months of winter until the actual event.

BUT if you are interested in being part of the derby this year, this Saturday is the Meet N Greet for potential entries to the 2009 Rendition. From 2-4 this Saturday at Philadelphia Brewing Company, folks are meeting up to talk kinetics, probably over some of that fine brew. I imagine the ideas will be flowing like the beer and if you're a derby hopeful, you should try to go! I mean, you probably need a project in your life, right? A new hobby? Maybe bicycle scultpure is it.

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

Old FH buddy and dear dear friend of mine, Ralph over at Via Bicycle has started updating the blog over there more regularly and I thought it deserved an announcement. He's been posting images of some of the rarer clutter in the second floor Museum at Via and talking about some of his own restorative projects, recent acquisitions and just generally, the life and times of a vintage bicycle aficionado. Plus, he's a really nice guy. A veritable fountain of know-how, you've probably seen Joel at a swap anywhere from Michigan to Virginia and didn't even know it. (Hint: he's the one with all the loot.)

Go ahead, give a little peek.

Intense

Let me take a deep breath here. WHEW. Remember recently how I was talking about inventions? The gist was that when someone designs something really well, she should get to call herself an inventor. Well, kids, I'm just not sure this is one of those special times. Behold:

What's hilarious is that I KNEW this was destined for a Don't as soon as I read about it. I could almost read the Snob copy before it was written. It's just, I'm also a sympathetic sort of a person. And I don't like to be snotty, much.

But like I said, let me take a deep breath. For starters, pretty much anyone could make these with their bare hands, though this is only one of the reasons why I don't count this as any sort of invention. Take a dime-store house key, heat it over a flame, force it through one of those ugly plastic bar ends and you will have these ridiculous accessories, christened Biker's Revenge. The original pitch:

These modified handlebar plugs speak to the disgruntled urban cyclist. By retro-fitting stock parts with up-cycled keys, bikers can now find satisfaction with close encounters. This concept puts an new twist on the timeless tradition of car-keying revenge. by Matt Braun and Jared Delorenzo

Upcycling?! In mere moments, you are now able to turn once lovely handlebars into scary, hideous weapons which could just as easily catch you in the thigh (or worse, the groin) in an otherwise gentle tumble over. The proof left out of this pudding is that bar plugs are meant mostly for drop bars...Which means you'd have keys pointed toward you on your bike. They'd still prevent core-sampling, but may take out both your knees instead.

The real problem comes when you consider their alleged use. Have you ever tried to exert force out the end of your handlebars? From the standpoint of common sense physics, you may as well throw yourself under a bus. Only people particularly learned in the art of counterbalancing will emerge from such an encounter unscathed. A beloved friend of mine once kicked the mirror of a parked SUV only to F his bicycle so terribly he had to replace his wheelset. Yes, Oscar's was involved, but this friend was no freshman to the brew and no rookie on two wheels. I'm just glad that said friend had not employed the use of these death hooks. SCARY.

In sum, this is the most terrible thing I've ever heard of. I'm not even against it from a "destruction of property is no way to get cyclists an equal share of the road" perspective. And I'm not going to touch the dopey mountain bike featured in their relaxed-fit action shot. It's just the most ill-advised solution to any possibly scary situation. It demonstrates little to no comprehension of an urban cyclist's true experience riding in the city and perhaps most embarrassingly, they lack any aesthetic considerations. I know many fine products of Philly's UArts, but I'm sorry Jared and Matt, I'm afraid you should head back to the drawing board. Not just that, but sell that Giant and buy a bus pass. Your Wallabees would be a lot comfier and we'd all feel quite a bit safer.

New Streetsblog SF launch this week

For the latest in policy debate, shifts in traffic patterns and urban planning, the Livable Streets Network is a great web resource. Their more well known ventures, Streetsblog together with the sister site, Streetfilms, has been improving the quality of urban living for years now by circulating valuable information about the plight of urban cycling and transportation issues. Their influence now gets them interviews with the likes of NYC's DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and their films have proven influential in proving to policymakers that changes to car-centric urban planning must happen SOON. They've just launched the most recent locality for the blogging network in San Francisco. Hopefully Streetsblog SF up to code so that the actual climate for cycling in the city can support the avid community of cyclists already in place. Coincidentally, there is a Streetfilms screening tonight in Philadelphia at the Academy of Natural Sciences: an hour of films showcasing bike-sharing programs with all three Streetfilms master documentarians in attendance and available for a Q&A following the screening. Starts at 6:30.

What To Do

With that dusty old tree that's now starting to drop needles like a clumsy junkie? Good thing you asked. Seems that the Philadelphia Pedal Co-Op has you covered. For One Measly Dollar per foot of height, your beloved tannenbaum can be carried with dignity to the local composting receptacle instead of the trash heap. Apparently the City of Philadelphia will landfill all those poor trees left by the roadside, which leaves you with only two alternatives: email Woody from the coop [pedalcoop@gmail.com] or take the tree yourself to the Streets Department Sanitation Convenience Center.



If you skipped the tree this year in the interest of environmentalism or say, Hannukah, you could also rally up some of those curb-ridden trees and do some recycling of your own. For one, you could make a forest installation in your living room like some people. See, it's really up to you.

Heads Up

You're probably pooped out from celebrating, but our pals at Magick Outlaw have a show of their incredible and I'll say it, zany, screen prints going up at the Art In The Age space in Old City tonight. This is the very same Magick Outlaw that's behind those fancy 59ers you've been drooling over. The show will probably be brighter, crazier and better than any other opening you've ever been to, so it would be worth crawling out of your post-holiday cave for. Mr. Pete Whitney writes, "Me and Joel and possibly even Don Vincent Ortega are gonna stop by there this Friday night the 2nd if you, like, want an autograph or something." So, there you have it.



Other exciting things out of Outlaw this holiday season include some sweet cycle relevant prints by print assistant Don Vincent Ortega, dear Philadelphia collectibles and a new shirt design that may remind you of someone you know.

Blinky Bilenky

Yes, yes, its that time of year again. Better get working on some of that homemade egg nog, whiskey and all, because you'll want to be good and ready to sit out in that cold junkyard up in Olney come Sunday to watch a good clean race around some pretty dirty roughage. What could be better to mentally prepare you for all the mild manners of the holidays? Nothing, really. So grab your favorite long johns, some festive brunchtime beverages and head thee to the Bethlehem of Philadelphia, cycle speaking, to catch some action that Santa probably wouldn't attempt in that billowy old sleigh. Sure to be holly jolly sort of holiday.

Heavy South Street Bridge Traffic this Weekend

How can I be so sure? Because this is the last weekend anyone will be able to cross the South Street Bridge for two whole years! A sad thing, for anyone accustomed to traveling back and forth from South to West Philly. It has long been rumored that the bridge lacks the structural integrity of modern bridges and poses a potential danger without the proposed reconstruction. The closing then, is probably not news, but be sure to give that bridge a proper send off!

For those who know it, the South Street Bridge has long competed with Spring Garden for the most breathtaking means of crossing the Schuylkill. Many a night have I crossed it at dusk, headed into Center City for a night of shenanigans, when the view of the skyline from that bridge has caught the breath in my chest. It's an iconic vista, to be sure. For a while, a crowd of kids used to hang out on the bridge and hassle other people riding by, but even that I sort of looked forward to because it was too, familiar and very of the bridge. It makes me certain that I'm not the only one in tough-guy Philly to have a soft spot.



However pitted and bumpy, the bridge is lighter on traffic than the other four, slowed by the light at the entrance to 76 unlike Walnut and Gray's Ferry and somehow less prone to speeding drivers than the spring garden bridge at night. If you have no other memorial to the crossing planned this weekend, the bicycle coalition has slated a ride at 8:45 am Monday morning, as the bridge closes to traffic at 9:30. The project anticipates disrupting the commuting route for nearly 1,000 cyclists, and I can't imagine that most of them won't take the chance to ride across it one last time.

My Plaid Pony

Following our credo for reuse and penchant for refuse, the ladies of FH sport a good number of vintage ensembles. We all know it's possible to find crazy awesome scores in the bargain bin at Village Thrift in Jersey, but sometimes we all deserve to go into a Vintage store and emerge with a vintage bathing suit in a nice color that actually fits, off the rack. And our very favorite outlet for vintage shopping in Philadelphia is hands down the closet at Plaid Pony, the garage turned living space and vintage depot. Lara, the proprieter of Plaid Pony, converted the auto shop a while back and now their house may as well be plucked from the pages of your favorite magazine. It's seriously that perfect.



From the collection of toasters wallpapering an entire surface of their kitchen to the furniture harvested from a closing mental facility, the place breathes modernism and thoughtful design, creating the perfect gallery for the treasures that Lara collects. How do I know all this? Funny you should ask. Last year Carrie gave me a gift certificate for Christmas and though Lara does most of her vintage business on the internet or through consignment at stores in the area, I managed to get the VIP tour and treatment with my friend Sue one day last spring.





The space has no traditional storefront, but several rooms of the house have been devoted to the business she runs through her website, one for priced items, one for backup, one for housewares and bits and one for decorations and actually doing business in. The former three are packed, packed! full of stuff. If you need further baiting just go look at her website, and imagine that quality of stock but multiply it times at ten. The girl has a treasure TROVE.

Normally, to access Lara's collection, you'd have to go through the website or schedule an appointment, but this weekend is the third annual holiday open house she holds so that everyone gets VIP treatment. Saturday and Sunday this weekend you can go and see her beautiful house and her expansive collection of vintage in person. Hers is one for the ages, I promise you, so if you can manage to hoof it up to Fishtown this weekend, you won't be sorry. A rare glimpse awaits you.