Bomb Scare at Market East Station

This is the bag that caused a bomb scare at Market East Station.

Around 6:45PM, someone alerted SEPTA and police of a suspicious package on the platform of Market East Station. The station was soon evacuated, the police and fire department arriving on the scene to make sure everything was ok. I arrive around 7:40PM to see all the cars and fire trucks, but didn't know what was going on. I went through the entrance  on 11th Street to catch my train that was going to leave in about 5 minutes, and was a little shocked the door was open.

I went down the stairs and was greeted by a completely empty train station. For being nearly 8 at night, it was incredibly eerie to witness. I saw an officer coming my way and asked him if everything was ok. "You just get down here?" "Yeah." "Yeah, its ok. You're fine."

Down on the platform were 2 trains that were simply sitting there, as well as a conductor and two random SEPTA workers. I asked what happened, and they had as little idea as me. Behind me were a few people who arrived on the platform as well. I heard the story second-hand; there was a bomb scare at the station, and the bag that caused it... was right behind me!

Obviously, there was no bomb, just luggage.

In the end, it really is amazing that this was called in, but I'm both thankful and annoyed. Annoyed, obviously, because just like every single time SEPTA and the police are called about a suspicious package is nothing more than... well, luggage. At the same time, considering that there was a call for attacks on trains, not to mention this is a major city during a major holiday weekend, its good to know that people are still being diligent.

Ride the Ducks Boat Crash on South Street

I was walking with my friend down South Street when we were greeted by a Ride the Ducks boat making a left turn on 6th Street. In the 5+ years I've had my mohawk, there's been plenty of people who like to point to it and either praise or dismiss it, and the entire time I saw the boat, all I could think of was "Please don't say it, please don't say it, please don't -"

"HEY, EVERYONE! Check out the Mohawk!"

Fuck.

So I waved back, smiled, and started to cross. That's when I heard a "whack!".

The duck boat hit a cab.

The "crash" was little more than a fender-bender, really. No one was hurt, the cab looked fine from where I was, and that was about it. That doesn't mean me and my friend didn't enjoy the insta-karma we witnessed and the fact we had to comment on what was another Ride the Ducks incident. That's when I realized I had a camera with me.

So remember, folks: If you're going to annoy someone... just be careful.

POST-APOCALYPTIC WATER GUN FIGHT!

Tomorrow we all meet in Washington Square Park at 3:30PM and have a giant "End-of-the-world" Water Gun and Nerf Gun fight!

WHO'S IN?

Republican Mayoral Primary: Will There be a Recount?

The biggest story to come out of the May 17th Primary is this: The future of the Republican Party in Philadelphia rests on the outcome of the Mayoral Primary.

At 11:25PM with 95% of the vote in, John Featherman is winning by only 4 votes.

FOUR VOTES.

He currently has 8,120 votes while Karen Brown has 8,116. Karen Brown is the endorsed candidate of the Republican Party who, until this year, was a life-long Democrat. Its been largely insinuated that the change of party wasn't a change of idolatry as much as it was a real part of the Republican Party of Philadelphia to lose this election. Why that's the case, I have no real idea. 


Meanwhile, John Featherman is completely anti-establishment. He's literally is running against the establishment because the Republican Party heads don't like him. He's a Progressive Republican who's pro-legalization of drugs and is also pro-choice. His ads have made fun of the fact that Philly has become such a one-party town and is pointing out everything wrong with it.

At 11:36PM, the margin is down to only 3 votes with 95% remaining.


Would the Republican Party of Philadelphia actually force a recount? 


If they did, they would be doing one of two things; First, they would be saying that, yes, they did give a damn about this election and they are taking their candidate seriously. The second would be that they see John Featherman as a threat. I think it would be the later, and doing so is just going to make the local party weaker. In either case, we would see a LOT more coverage of the Republican Party of Philadelphia, which more than anything could help spawn a real debate of how to get back a two-party system in Philly.


On the flip-side, John Featherman could demand a recall. Would the Republican's deny him one out of fear?


It's 11:41PM. The total now is John Featherman with 8,121 and Karen Brown with 8,118. Who will win?

Holy Grail - The Troc - May 3rd!

HOLY GRAIL - The Trocadero - May 3rd, 2011

This should be one hell of a show! Holy Grail will be playing the balcony at The Troc, and admission is only $10! So unless you're a starving artist, I think you should be able to make it, have a damn good time, and enjoy some awesome power/thrash metal!

Click here to check out the poster on DeviantArt!

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I sketched out the poster idea about a week before I decided to work on a finish. It wasn't a very developed concept; a woman with snakes. I always like trying to add more and more to a piece like that, and I decided to do an ode to Leviathan.

At the same time, I was looking more and more at the work of my contemporaries, especially Godmachine. His work is consistently amazing, and I wanted to try something in the style he did that seems to be, in fact, the modern illustration style (my opinion, and nothing more). That said, my apologies if its too close!

I'm pretty happy with the result. I worked on it originally as a t-shirt design that I was going to turn into a poster, but I kept running into the same problem; I didn't like how colorful it was, especially on the poster. The original has a LOT of green, and on a whim I decided to make everything red. It worked great for the poster, and so you have this.

A lot of blood, sweat, and annoyance went into this piece. The woman's head was a nightmare to draw, and it's my biggest weakness. I love drawing women's heads, but I suck at drawing them looking up. I think I got it this time. :)