Street Hockey Growing Up

Street hockey (and/or roller hockey) is one of my fondest memories growing up in South Philly. I was an early teen as were most of my friends that played the game with me. These were the days before we had any worries like car payments and mortgages. Our biggest worries were” Where are we going to play hockey today” and “You did what with that girl?” Some times we played on foot (street hockey), but 95% of the time we played in roller blades (roller hockey).

South Philly, at the time, really wasn’t too known for decent places to the game. There were some rinks. Some times we had to play another team to use the rink, or we would schedule a game with them. Imagine we used to do this before any of us had cell phones or computers. We all knew where and when to meet up. We would play up small streets in South Philly or the CVS park lot at 10^th and Reed Streets which would become our home field. I couldn’t even tell you how many times we would get kicked out of there by the CVS employees or neighbors from the back street. We always put up a fight that was because hockey kept us out of trouble.

CVS Parking lot at 10th & Reed Streets

 

1100 Block of S Cross Street

Our team was known as the Snipers and our farm team was the Tyrants (lol). The Tyrants were our friends and I even remember The Titans from 11^th and Jackson. We played teams from all over South Philly, the crew from 6^th & Wharton Streets, 19^th & Johnson Streets, 9^th and Watkins, and many more. These were the days before most of even had a license let along a car, so we would skate all over the city. From 2^nd streets to 30^th streets, we were there!



Columbus Square at 12th & Wharton Streets. The red highlights where we used to play. Now there is a dog park there. 

 

Epiphany Church at 11th and Jackson Streets

Barry Playground at 19th & Johnson Streets

Rizzo Rink located under I-95 on Front Street off of Washington Ave.

When we played at CVS we always had a crowd of girls to come support us. That was always nice. They would even go run errands for us and get us water or Gatorade. They were our girl friends or just some girls who wanted a piece of The Snipers. On the really hot days we would skate to Pop's or Italiano’s to get water ice.When we would play amongst ourselves we would all put or sticks on the ground and some one would throw them to a side to determine the teams. We used to use a roll of electrical tape for a puck. We used roller hockey pucks and balls but it wasn’t the same. We even got our own jerseys made. I think we all wanted to play for the Flyers since we all used to watch them and pretended we were our favorite players. 

As I mentioned earlier we always knew when to meet up, but never wanted to go home. Well most of us. I remember one of our goalies would leave in the middle of any game by 4:55 so he could be home for dinner at five. There would be a puff of smoke around the net and before you knew the goalie was gone. We battled among ourselves but that only made us stronger when it came to playing other teams. Growing up in South Philly was great and I’m thankful that hockey played a major role for me and my friends.



Some of The Snipers- 1996

1000 block of Greenwhch Street- 1996

Scrubbing Bubbles

Got a dirty bathroom? Is soap scum taking over your shower? Then it’s time to take control of your throne with Scrubbing Bubbles. These are a handful of assignments that were worked on as a group. I can’t take full credit for these. I didn’t have anything to do with the art, but I did a lot of the copy. “I work hard so you don’t have to.”

Rubik’s Cube

Although the Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974, it truly is a toy/game of the 1980’s. I’m sure I still have one some where in my back basement along with other toys such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghost Busters, ThunderCats, and Master of the Universe to name a few. Someone bring back the slap bands!

The Rubik’s Cube can be solved, but most of us can not solve it. Unless of course you remove all the stickers to just reveal black. Than why have so many of us purchased this vintage gem knowing that we will not complete it? You decide.

I can not take full credit for the following collection of ad assignments for the Rubik’s Cube. This was a group assignment. I don’t remember who I worked with, but I give credit when credit is due.

Bailey's Irish Cream

Everyone likes a Bailey's. Whether it's in a shot, on the rocks, or a martini, you have to admit that it is smooth and delicious. I don't remeber the direction that I was going with these ad assignments. You decide.

Supercuts

Here are some print ads I did for a class on Supercuts. Keeping it simple! The tagline is "101 Styles and Counting" and each ad has its own title, trying to show individuality.

It's the Idea that Matters

These ad assignments I did made me laugh. As you could probably tell, I’m not an artist in any way. The furthest my software knowledge of artsy programs begins and ends with Microsoft Paint. That being said, here are three ads for different brands. Remember, it’s the idea that is trying to be sold. What are your thoughts/perceptions on these ads?

Ippolito's Seafood

As I’m going through my old college portfolio I came across some assignments I did for a retail seafood company I used to work for. So, here comes the plug for Ippolito’s Seafood. Ippolito’s Seafood is a high-end seafood purveyor located in South Philly. It specializes in fresh seafood from around the world and also has prepared specialties. I still stop in the store to say hi and have been trying their new sushi menu. Delicious!

Sashimi

I remember being a fish monger like it was yesterday. It was a fun experience when working there but a lot of work. I learned a lot about seafood like learning about different grades of tuna, filleting different types of fish, shucking oysters/clams, and much more. Christmas was always fun. I might have carried hundreds of pounds of baccala within a week of the holidays, pulled dozens of live eels out of the tank, and picked out the perfect sized piece of flounder for the older Italian ladies.

Picture from "The Patriot News" when Rocky Balboa was being filmed at the Vicor Cafe

Below are some ads I did for a class on Ippy’s. The tagline for the three ads is “Our fish are so fresh they talk back.” The other ad that the class had to do was for a business but have a title that had nothing to do with the business. Enjoy!

Laying Tile

So over the past week I have taught myself how to cut, lay, and grout tile. Thanks to sites like YouTube you can also learn something like this. The floor had to be level first. The wood board had to be put down first (below the tiles) so the floor could be even. After the ply wood was put down the tiles had to be cut. I used a wet saw to cut the tiles (also figured out how to use a wet saw via the internet). After the tiles were cut I began to lay them down using a tile adhesive and spacers. Spacers are used to evenly separate the tiles from each other.



Laid tile with ply wood exposed



After the adhesive has dried with the tiles you can than take out the spacers and make sure the surface is clean. Next I mixed the grout. Once the grout was mixed I evenly poured it along the lines of the tiles. I used a grout float and sponge. Once the grout has been evenly applied to the tiles I used the sponge to gently clean off the access grout. Not bad for my first time, eh?



Tile laid with grout