I haven’t actually been able to catch up with Kyle Dunleavy but I knew he existed because the Carters and Jason Roberts have workshops next to him.  And I couldn’t post about him because I didn’t have a picture, and I never post without pictures.  So it was a nice find when I came across an article on Philly.com by Diane Mastrull talking about new uses for industrial sites and Kyle shows up in one of the photos.  So I’ve appropriated it.  The Carters said you could tell how close he was to finishing the drums because the noises that came from his shop would get more and more musical.  He makes steel drums!  That is so neat.  It’s a shame they run to three grand or I’d take them up.

[link] http://www.kdsteeldrums.com/

NEastPhilly.com has a good report on the Northwood Civic meeting last night.  Good to see they are going after the landlords.  Now how can the remainder of Frankford move in that direction.

I just got an email from Jess Carter of Carter Studios at the Dye Works.  Remember the table they put together out of a factory wall? Well it’s heading to the Philly Works exhibition at UPenn.  The event is open Oct 7,8, and 10 with an opening event on Friday October 9th 5:30 to 11.  And is a showcase of locally crafted goods.  Check out phillyworks about page:

Philly Works is an exhibit and installation of functional objects of all scales, quantities, and production techniques that are made in Philadelphia and the region. Philly Works is a survey of design, manufacturing, and craft exhibited through a showcase of prototypes, limited editions, and mass-produced goods. Along with the objects, Philly Works will include documentation of the production spaces and the people who make the objects on display. As part of the opening night event, the show will include a “corner store” where some of the many items can be purchased.

This is an interesting theme developing around East Frankford.  That once thrown away buildings are being refurbished into light industry shops.  STUFF IS GETTING MADE HERE.  Way to go Carters, I am impressed.

[link] Carter Studios

[link] Philly Works

Jason Roberts sent us some pics on his continued work down at the Globe Dye Works on the metal work for Silk City’s Beer Garden.

And here’s video of the early construction of the entire thing:

I’m always suprised but never amazed when I find interesting people living in Frankford.  So to hop on the internets this morning and finding a Technically Philly article of Kevin Kiene, a Frankford resident that is climbing the e commerce world was pretty cool but didn’t catch me off guard.  The article details the founder of ezLandlord Forms and his bid to provide a better way for landlords to keep track of their tenant interactions.  Super cool.

But on top of that, we can hop over to NEast Philly and catch up with his interview with a more northeast oriented perspective.  He talks about growing up in Fox Chase and then ending up at a home around the Smedley School.  But then it turns absolutely brilliant and talks about how he’s building real wealth by living below his means.  Splendid!  I always thought it was really interesting that Frankford has such die hard fiscal conservatives living here, but this is the first case I’ve found of a thoughtful effort to choose Frankford coming from the outside based on the idea of living below ones means.