Your Mutter

The Mutter Museum is #9 in Radar Online's top 12 Strangest Museums! The Mutter is a medical museum located at 22nd and Market, the museum originated with donations from Thomas Dent Mütter in 1858. The museum displays anatomical specimens, and medical oddities medical research and education.

Check it out:

Street address
19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.

Hours of operation
Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm
Saturday & Sunday, 10am-5pm

First Frizzy

This Friday, which happens to be First Friday, the YoCoPros will be venturing out to Old City for the usual festivities and art, followed by a trip back to Fishtown to stop by V Groove Studios. Groove is located at 306 W Girard Ave, and this first friday they are hosting with a variety of art by local artists which include Carly Herman, Victor Perez, Nina Capellono, Aaron Klingensith and our good friend Kim Arata! Check it out and then head over to Frankford Ave for the later version of First Friday.

Viva Mexico

Finally after living in Fishtown for a few years now we finally remembered to stop by Las Cazuelas when we had some hunger pangs. Las Cazuelas has been around since November 1999, and has been quite successful at its NoLibs location on 426 W Girard Ave. This is a perfect place for authentic Mexican food, we were very impressed by the food and we had flashbacks of a vacation to Ecuador while eating the delicious ceviche. This was the first place we were able to find ceviche made the authentic way in Philly. Las Cazuelas is a cozy BYOB wtih moderate prices, great authentic cuisine, with a relaxed cozy atmosphere.

New Happenings Portfishington

Lots of stuff going on in the neighborhood, and here we go:

Canvas Coffee shop found at the corner of Girard and Colombia has been closed for almost a year now. The former owners moved on to create the greatest burgers around in a little place called Sketch. If you couldn't tell, we love it. Great burgers, anything from your basic American beef to Kobe and Veggie. They have awesome fresh cut fries and shakes too, and they have recently expanded the menu with salads and other sandwiches. Anyway my point was the location of the former Canvas Coffee will soon open up as a Coffee/Record shop. I think this will be a great addition to the area and we kind of miss a coffee shop on this side of the El (besides RocketCat).

We have also heard word of a possible ice cream/soda shop opening on the same side of the street, the outside is painted in green and pink pastels. If this opens up and the rumors are true it has huge potential to be a hit. Not only does it attract the YoCoPros of the Fishtown area but will hopefully bring people in from NoLibs and other areas as well. We can only hope for the span of Girard from the El to Girard Gas to one day look like Second Street in NoLibs.

Third on our list is the construction going on on Front Street, under the El near the Berks stop. Apparently this is going to be home to the new Kensington High School, and their are plans to connect Berks Street with Front. The construction is great and will hopefully help cleanup this strip under the El and allow people to safely walk to and from the El via Berks.

Inagardenofbeera

We are huge fans of Silk City, as we've mentioned many times before, but when we thought it couldn't get any better they throw us the finally completed Beer Garden. We have watched the construction go on all winter and now it is open for business. Upon entering, you feel like you have traveled to a place that is no longer Philly, but with the good old traits of the Silk. Huge decorated walls and metal sculptures adorn the garden and make it a fun place to eat, drink and hangout. I can definitely see Mark's, influence in the design and it reminds me of his other place North 3rd. The garden has a full wooden bar, tons of beach influenced tables and huge chairs that make you feel like your the life guard on duty of Bay Watch.

What A Great Ikea

Well we all know Ikea a pretty f&#cking cool, but often times we have found ourselves modifying Ikea products to use them in a different way then they were intended. We ran across a great blog with tons of Ikea Hacked submissions, great for ideas and even inspiration. We couldn't stop playing around on the site and admiring how creative people been with their Ikea stuff. Not to mention many of the the submissions mention getting the items via the amazing As-is room, in the garbage or on the Craigs. Hope this inspires you to do something cool next time you find yourself with a bit of a Trondheim on your hands. Check out Ikea Hacker!

"Can you pull me into town?"

To go along with my last post of Freakish Bikes, apparently cargo bikes are going to be the next big thing. I have slowly seen the increase of bikes in Philadelphia and I'm sure ill see more and more as the weather gets nicer. I have seen cargo style bikes in Philly and New York but they are a rarity, I know in Europe its pretty common, Ikea has even jumped onboard with rental bikes and cargo trailers for you bike. The idea is pretty sweet and of course green, I just wish Philly along with so many other major cities would get their sh!t straight and make more bike lanes and just increase awareness of and for bicyclists, and prevent horrible things like this.

Freakish Bike

I love bicycles, but no where near the way these people do. Some crazy, crazy stuff going on here.

Free TV!!!

For those of you who aren't as nerdy tech-savvy as we are, yes you can watch free tv online. For a long time we have been hardcore downloaders of music and movies and recently I had an epiphany and almost dropped my crappy Comcast cable. If you don't watch TV all that much Boxee and Hulu are both completely free and you should go get them now! All you need is a Mac or PC and if you want to you can hook that up to your 150" plasma and bam! free high def tv when and where you want it. Check it out now, Hulu has a desktop application that you can download for free and check out their full library. Anything thats free is good, and when its legal TV and Movies its even better.

Keep Your Camera in a Camera!

A Japanese illustrator/puppet stop-motion video artist / crafter who lives in Vancouver, Canada:

Hine [hee-neh] Mizushima. She is an Illustrator, a handmade crafter and a puppet-based stop-motion animation video artist. Hine was born and raised in Japan, she majored in traditional Japanese painting at a University there and worked as a paper product designer/Illustrator in Tokyo. After she met her husband (who is Canadian), they decided to move to Rome, then Paris, then Brooklyn. Two and a half years ago they moved to Vancouver, Canada, with their son. Then they discovered Etsy! At first they just bought things from the site but, Etsy inspired them to create handmade things and she became a seller as well, and have been for a year and a half. Her camera cases are great! It gets the YoCoPros stamp of appoval.

www.hine.etsy.com

Get to the Bazaar this Weekend!!!!

Come out to Penn's Landing this weekend, and support HANDMADE!! Some of the YoCoPros pals will be in attendence: Yasha Butler Ceramics, Naomi Cleary Ceramics, Amy Santoferraro, Ryan Kelly and Nate Prouty!!!! Come out and get into the Indie Craft Movement, handmade, reused and recycled, orignal affordable artwork and awsome live music will all be there down at Penn's Landing this weekend in Philadelphia!!


Saturday Music Line-up
11am: Pairdown
12pm: The Josh Olmstead Band
1pm: The Documents
2pm: Gildon Works
3pm: Padre Pio
4pm: Toy Soldiers
5pm: Folklore

Sunday Music Line-up:
12pm: Perkasie
1pm: Photon Band
2pm: Like A Fox
3pm: North Lawrence Midnight Singers
4pm: The Mural & The Mint
5pm: Oh!Pears

The Great Plaza @ Penn's Landing
(on Columbus Boulevard between Chestnut Street & Walnut Street)

click here for 2009 press release.

Wednesday Is the New Friday

Every Wednesday, from June 3 through August 26, 5-7 pm!!!

Enjoy $4 cocktails, $3 wine, $2 beers and half-priced appetizers at the participating bars and restaurants listed below. Individual bars and restaurants will determine which drinks and appetizers are on special.

Download a map of Center City District Sips Participants | PDF (334 KB)

**Also a little insider tip, every Wednesday after 5pm meter parking is free in OLD CITY!!**

Not Your Typical Teacups By DARYL EVANS

Check out this article!


"It’s Friday night and summer is upon us (most days), so where will you be? If you’re smart, you’ll be in Old City at First Friday. If you’re even smarter, you’ll be at the Clay Studio for the opening reception of local artist Melissa Mytty.

To say that Mytty makes teacups is simply inadequate. Perched atop highly designed wall-mounted platforms, and nestled on elaborate saucers, these pieces are more high fashion than functional kitchenware. Mytty's evocative titles including Sweet Cheeks, Tog, and Delicious, suggests that her work be seen as individual vignettes offering a different mix of fashion, design, and abundance.

Mytty describes her current body of work as "Drawing from the rich history of ceramics while injections of contemporary culture, such as haute couture, tattoos, automotive design, ground effects, and licking tongues, are critical and keep my work pushing the boundaries of the material and the format of the cup".

We could of course, go on and on about Melissa Mytty, but your hip and with it, so we’ll see you at The Clay Studio for First Friday!"

June 5, 2009 5 p.m.-9 p.m.

139 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

We Love I Love Grey Skys....

Featured Seller on Etsy!!

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

Well most of my ideas and planning of projects happen at night time, as I put my son to sleep. After reading him a story I lay next to him while he unwinds and gets cozied up. It's then, in that silence that I really focus on the imagery I want my next or current project to take. Sometimes I come out of his room and write it down before I finally get some time to hang out and talk to my husband, but mostly I remember the ideas.

Luckily my son still naps for a couple hours each day and it is then (and only then) that I get the time to actually bring my ideas to form. I usually put on some music, go into my studio and approach whatever I happen to be working on. With the sculptures I make for the shop, there is always many steps and processes that are being worked on simultaneously. For instance, I may start by sanding some wood for the bases and take them out into my shop in the garage for staining. While the first coat absorbs into the wood, I'll then come in and sculpt with clay. Then back to the garage to wipe the first coat of stain off and perhaps start a paper mache mask . I think it's this variety of task that keeps me so interested. I'm also a painter but after painting and concentrating for 2 hours straight I can get a bit drained, but the sculptures are less serious, more fun." - Etsy Featured Seller Interview.

EM Freestyle

Ive always been a big fan of Eminem, unfortunately I find his freestyles to be so much more amazing than anything he has ever put on an LP. Check out this recent freestyle, amazing skills, witty, funny and dirty, Im glad he's back but I could only wish his new album was this good.

Ouch

Beatbox Followup

Well last week we told you about the amazing Julia Dales beatboxing vid. She was entered into the Beatboxing Championship coming up next week as a wildcard. Another Wildcard named Primativ was also selected for the men, and he can beatbox some stuff we have never heard before. From his videos it sounds like he has really good technique and can incorporate some amazing club/trance type sounds into his beatboxing which make for something that is truly unique.

Silk City: Sick show last night

I had the honor of winning free tix last night, to a show filled with Philly acts, at Silk City .

The show started out with DJ Cramske, spinning beats from Philly artists. He was followed up by local MC Rok Bottom and his band the Burndown All-Stars. This was the first time I heard of the group and I was very much suprised. The band kept it upbeat mixing Jazz, Funk and Reggae with Rok's storytelling. It was an awesome set and I cant wait to see them play again, check out his free mixtape too.

Next on stage was the Last Emporer, an amazing Philly MC with unbelivably clear and witty rhymes, hes a legend that has performed with the best in the business. He's a must listen to all lovers of hip-hop. To end the night Black Landlord performed and tore it down, crazy energy and a huge band and fun lyrics. I've been trying to see Black Landlord for about a year now, but it was well worth the wait.

Silk was packed last night and for good reason, this was by far the best tickets I have ever won and one of the best shows I've been too. Check out the bands and mc's and most importantly my second home: Thanks Silk!

Awesome Album Covers

Check out Smashing Mags list of obscure and remarkable album covers!

Oh Snap! I mean Stinger