The Poverty Jet Set

We’re already on to Episode 2 of the Cheap Dates Video Podcast.

Funny story: Episode 1 got screened in front of 400+ guests (whoa) at the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation’s annual gala the other night. Audrey and I show up fashionably late, totally clueless. We didn’t know anything about them showing it. So we’re all browsing the food and drink when we realize everyone is staring at us. Uh. Weird. Then sure enough, people start coming up to us and introducing themselves. “Hey! Love the video! Can’t wait to see more” etc, etc, etc. Very surreal. And of course awkward. Not to mention that true-to-form, we were way under-dressed.

But that’s what you can do when you’re the “arteests.”

Play Me.

Technorati Tags: uwishunu, povertyjetset, philadelphiazoo, videoblog, Philly, travel, video, cheapdates

[Noah and Sammy bustin' moves]

I go to see a lot of live music. A ton of live music. I usually take my video camera with me. So of course, I have tons of footage from live shows, and will likely shoot a crapload more. So, on a whim, I decided to start a whole new project: a Live Music Journal

I just went and saw Tussle, Professor Murder and Golden Ball at a great warehouse show here in Philly (the fantastically-named ‘Avant Gentlemen’s Lodge’). Everyone put on a seriously good show! And my, what projections! Awesome. I shot a little of each band’s set on my new, albeit slightly annoying and way over-hyped hybrid camcorder Sanyo Xacti HD2. *instert snarky British accent here* “the World’s Smallest High Definition Camera”

Here’s a taste of Tussle:

Tussle Live 5.13.07 from (( magdalenus )) on Vimeo

Technorati Tags: music, parties, povertyjetset, blogging, video, videoblog, Philly, tussle, vimeo, professor murder, goldenball

Just launched (after much blood, sweat and tears) the first episode of our new video podcast series about going on fun dates in Philly. What started as a lil’ nugget of an idea blossomed into this much larger project. We’re having a ton of fun making them and… what the hell? Right? We’re getting to explore every corner of the city! Sweet. They’ll be getting better, too, so stay tuned! Behold: Cheap Dates!

Play Me.

We’re sponsored by uwishunu and Philebrity TV! Thanks, guys. And just an extra shout-out to our good friend Adam from The War on Drugs who supplied the soundtrack!

Technorati Tags: pennsylvania, videoblog, people, cheapdates, travel, restaurants, povertyjetset, philadelphiazoo, philebrity, americana, Philly, uwishunu, food, video

Just had the pleasure of redeeming the NYTimes in my own mind after ranting about them the other day. They did it with a great piece about fixie bikes and urban bike culture. I can tell you this, riding a track bike is really one of the most beautiful things. The machine is so elegant, so simple. It’s almost an art. And the great thing is that fixies were around a lot longer than modern geared bikes.

Truth be told, I no longer ride a fixed-gear bike. I got my front wheel caught in a trolley track and did a front header into traffic a couple years ago. Scared the bejesus outa me. I ain’t got health insurance, after all. Luckily I wasn’t hurt, but I really like the idea of brakes (so does my mama). I sold that bike to my buddy Jay who promptly got plowed by a car and smashed up his face. He still rides it, though. For better or worse!

Now, my bike is only one step removed from fixie. Brakes and a freewheel hub. I might go back, though. It’s so tempting after watching an amazing video - truly sublime - about fixie riding in San Francisco like this [via BoingBoing]:

Technorati Tags: video, trends, bikes, NYTimes, boingboing, trackbike, povertyjetset, fixedgear, biking

Don’t get me wrong, I read the damn thing every single day, clicking on over in between work jams to check up on what the world is talking about (can we even call it ‘news’ anymore? or was ‘news’ always only what people were talking about?).

So today, they have this article that goes on and on about how antlers in fashion and design are the next big thing. God, this is a stupid article. They get various annoying New York designers and fashionistas to chime in and give their two cents on the symbolic nature of antlery and what it means about society at large. If that weren’t enough piss you off, because who can stand New York art elite telling us what’s hip in the first place? most of the people equate the trend to an off-shoot of the eco-chic groundswell.

Nature — or the appearance of embracing nature — is chic these days. Judging by the direction of fashion and home décor and of-the-moment restaurants and shops, you might mistake Manhattan for Montana.

Are you serious? Isn’t it obvious that dead megafauna hanging from the walls is more anti-eco than anything? And let me tell you, most New Yorkers do NOT know anything about Montana outside of Big Sky. If you’ve spent any time in a ski town like Telluride, for example, where I lived for four years, you’d see that antlers are exactly what megarich ski mansions THINK the West is about. Cutting down massive trees in old-growth forests, then bulldozing a few acres for their 15,000ft trophy homes they only come to for two weeks of the year and hanging a ‘cute‘ antler chandalier. So eco, baby! So rustic, Bob!

Okay, and for the record, the trendy antler thing, well, my best friend Norm started it all on Halloween of 2002 when he wore a 15-pointer on his friggin’ chest to a party. People were FREAKED OUT. They’d be giving him high-fives today cuz he’d be the hippest dude there. But, see, we’re past all that silliness. The only antlers you’ll see near us is on a can of good old workin’ class Schmidt’s Beer (so workingin’ class, they ain’t even got a web site!).

Technorati Tags: antlers, trends, fashion, sustainability, funny, schmidtsbeer, NYTimes, povertyjetset, philosophy

Recently, my good friend Sammy got a couple of local guys to do a major bit of springcleaning that he’s been waiting to get done for months, if not years. Namely, he needed to get his backyard tangle of reeds, rust and rubble the heck outa there and start making a decent space for some mid-summer cocktail parties.

I thought about this story because I’ve been reading about my friend Lord Whimsy’s backyard transformations. Though I have yet to see it in person, I’m sure I the gentleman and his wife will throw one hell of a mid-summer cocktail party one of these days soon (*wink, wink, Whimsy!*). At least whenever this hellish N’oreaster blows over once and for all.

But anyways, the backyard adventure of which I speak is the awesome find of a family of gardiner snakes found at Sammy’s. The lil’ critters were startled to be disturbed (and chucked into a bucket), but they sure were fun to play with!

Observe:

Technorati Tags: povertyjetset, Philly, backyards, lordwhimsy, video, videoblog

Recently, I got an email from this fella, Ian Marshall who’s read my lovely lil’ corner of the blogspace and was into my scene enough to send out a copy of his new magazine, Wend. Naturally, I read it cover-to-cover in a sitting and think, “Ah ha!” I get it. A mag that covers travel, adventure and environment with a elegant sense of depth of spirit. I wonder what kind of crazy adventure could I get myself into, write about, and have these fellas publish for me? Hmmm… Stay tuned on that.

These guys also have a blog that’s worth a read. They’re posting up all sorts of cool adventure and culture shit that slides in just beneath the annoying ‘extreme’ label, but high above… WrestleMania, say.

Speaking of WestleMania, my pals and I have taken it upon outselves to hit up Dollar Bowling night deep in the heart of South Jersey on Monday nights at Westbrook Lanes. See, for all the extreme sport out there in the world, nothing says “love!” like dollar shoes, dollar games and a cold frosty one-thin-dollar Budweiser in a plastic cup while yr throwin’ strikes. Well, okay, spares, mostly. Oh, hell. We’re topping out at 140’s. Okay, some of us don’t break 100. Yeah, you get the idea.

So anyways, WrestleMania or some fashion of greasy oiled-up wrestle dudes are always zonking us out with their flashy, flashy up on the boobtube in between frames. They got the tele on full blast in there, and for people who don’t own, much less watch TV these days, it’s hard to look away. What force! What brute! Is this what I’ve been missing! And since when is Donald Trump in on the deal? Weird. It’s almost too surreal to be true. Oh, wait. It’s not true. Uh, oh. Man, what a mind-f**k.

Technorati Tags: bowling, travel, povertyjetset, wend, adventure, wrestling, magazine, westlemania, adventure

Just went to the Phillies home opening game… tailgate. Didn’t make it into the game because ’twas sold out. But here’s the video Patricio and I made from the tailgate!

Technorati Tags: parties, baseball, Philly, philebrity

Man, am I psyched to be home! After a short stay in Salt Lake City with Audrey’s parents, it’s good to be breathing clean, fresh, Philly air!

Check it out:

This is the air pollution hanging over the Salt Lake Valley right now. It is literally the worst air pollution I have ever experienced. And that includes places I’ve been that are considered the to have the worst air pollution in the world: Mexico City, Los Angeles, Bangkok.

They say it’s an “inversion“. Because it’s surrounded by mountains, similar to LA, the cold air sinks and traps air from rising up and out and thereby preventing it from ‘cleansing’ itself (or more appropriately, sending the pollution into the wilds).

The inversion is like a orange, black and grey blanket over the city. Literally, it blocks your view after half a mile. No kidding. It is disgusting. The whole place is wallowing in it’s own shit. And that’s no exageration! Sure is sad.

(photo: e-liz)

I’m not sure what it is about The Poverty Jet Set blog and boats, but for some reason we’re fascinated by them. Have a look at the photos we took this summer at an abandon shipwreck on the Delaware River!

The particular hobo boat I speak of now (pictured above), however, isn’t in Philly. It’s in Brooklyn. I have, on occasion, walked on or over the Gowanus Canal where it is docked, so maybe I have seen it and didn’t know that it is one of the coolest art projects / youth hostels / community / collective around! Dang!

For those of you too poor to stay in posher digs in NYC, you might want to hit these kids up. Looks like they’re good people.

[thanks, Gridskipper]

Technorati Tags: boat, brooklyn, povertyjetset, concept, community, couchsurfing, travel

Mummers in November

Originally uploaded by magdalenus.

Just standing on the street the other night, a bus pulls up and unloads close to twenty mummers in costume like clowns out of a Beetle. It was the strangest thing…

By the way, this post is kind of a test… I just figured out how to post to my blog via my phone. That’s hot shit, if you ask me. Ah, the 21st Century. Is nothing sacred?

I think every town should have one of these:

Keep Austin Weird Map

Thanks, Gridskipper.

Technorati Tags: map, povertyjetset, socialgeography, weirdness, mapping, identity

People who know me know I like to ride my bike. “Vehicle of the Gods” I used to say (or did once, on a drunken Freshman year carousal with Norm and his old red GT mountain bike). Come rain, snow and cold, this is actually the time of year I like riding my bike the best. One, because it puts hair on the ol’ chest to be biking around the city when it’s 22′F outside. But also, when it’s cold everyone stays indoors all day, never getting out and breathing the clean winter air. Me, I like breathing.

But anyways, this whole post started because I saw this photo:

I really want to ride that bike. Or maybe they call it a “horsycle“. Heh.

I came across the photo because the other day, I saw my first high-wheel bike at my friend Whimsy’s house. Although I didn’t get to test ride it yet, I will. His looks something like this:

When we got really into the bike conversation, Whimsy told me about the local museum called The Metz Bicycle Museum in Freehold, New Jersey (from whence these photos came). Though I haven’t been out to see it yet, I intend to. Just check out the crazy bikes they’ve got in their collection!

Vehicle of the Gods, people. So simple, yet so powerful. A marvel of elegant engineering. Ah, bikes. I [heart] you, bikes.

Technorati Tags: bikes, biking, lordwhimsy, metzbicyclemuseum, newjersey, povertyjetset, sustainability

Come out and see the show if you’re in the neighborhood! It’s going to be fantastic! First Golden Ball show in six months. Two new members in the band, whole new vibe. Come and get it!

Technorati Tags: goldenball, music, psychedelic, johnnybrendas, Philly

My best pals and I were in need of a little dood action (not that kind of action, get yr mind out of the gutter). Just thought I’d share a couple of late night pics with the ladies in the house. This is what really goes on during a boyz night out on the town.

Technorati Tags: magdalenus, love, povertyjetset

Audrey and I decided a couple weeks ago that it was high time we went and did something totally awesome (for a 10-year-old). We spent the day at the zoo.

It was a total Ferris Bueller day. Ditch work to spend time in the beautiful equinox sunshine. We took the Girard Avenue street trolley down its eastern length, over the Schuylkill River and to America’s Oldest Zoo.

We walked hand-in-hand while surrounded by ankle-biting kids on field trip (yay! field trip!) in swarms around us. We ate ice cream. We communed with the big cats, gawked at the giraffes, meditated on the size of the elephants and laughed at the flamingos standing around on one leg.

Sometimes its hard to remember that there are so many cool little things in life. We tend to forget about field trips in our cynical age. Zoos are awesome. I was completely overwhelmed by the tourist kid I became for a day. How do we get stuck in our hipster scene, slumming it in dive bars all the time? Three cheers for being a kid!

More photos here.

Technorati Tags: adventure, america, magdalenus, philadelphiazoo, Philly, povertyjetset, fieldtrip, zoo

When my friend, filmmaker and artist Marc Brodzik, got ahold of nearly 1000 unused head shots of the actor Jeff Wolfe, he asked a dozen or more Philly artist friends to deface poor Jeff. I got to do a couple of them while hanging out shootin’ the shit with Marc the other week. Go have a look! The project is having its first public appearance now at The Abbaye on North 3rd Street in Northern Liberties. Stay tuned for the digital version of the project! Coming Soon!

See a photo set of the show here.

Technorati Tags: Philly, concept, povertyjetset, magdalenus, art, creative, experiment, NorthernLiberties

Nothing makes me want to go traveling (escape) more than being stuck inside on a beautiful day like today, when it’s in the mid-90’s outside but some dude form the utility company is jack-hammering outside my window all day long.

*sighs*

Day dreaming…. Mexico! - Day dreaming… Laos! - Day dreaming… Brazil!

Here’s a quaint lil’ photo of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico (just for fun, cuz I wanna be there):

There may be a time in your life when “rent-free” living might be cool and seemingly effecient for your wallet, for example whilst couch surfing around Europe. But let’s look at the finer points to consider. In many cases, a free living arrangement is just a fancy way to say you’re still living with your parents. Now, let’s be honest. Staying at one’s parents might be cheap, but it sure as hell ain’t free. The nagging, the eagle eye, the faint whiffs of ma’s whiskey addiction. Oh, wait. *cough* That ain’t how it is.

But seriously, guy, you gotta get out of the house.

“At least it’s free.”

Yeah, so is dirt. So are STDs.

Okay, yeah, you’re right. I still live at my parents. But it’s only two nights a week, sucka!

Technorati Tags: povertyjetset, wisdom, independence, advice, housing, parents