Why does he have a Delco tattoo on his chest?

I ran into Mark DeVito II, a friend of a friend, at a bar in Secane around Thanksgiving, but figured I'd save this quintessentially Daily Delco item as an early Christmas present.

Mark knows his way around Delaware County. Why? Because there's a freaking map of Delco tattooed on this damn chest. After this was brought to my attention, I asked Mark – an actor/writer/musician and co-owner of the indie film company Average Superstar Films – to explain how this came to be.

He said he met a girl named Rachel who had a small Delco tattoo on her arm with a heart showing her hometown (now that's sweet, isn't it?), which led to a discussion with his friend who said (jokingly, I think, but not sure) that he'd get it inked over his heart.

"So, just to beat him to the punch, I went and had it done for $25 in a Folcroft row home basement," DeVito said. "That's the true story behind this. Of course I have an entire chest piece designed to go around this outline."

Mark, like a lot of Delco natives I know, likes to rip on his home county a bit. There are towns, he says, that are "similar to a dumpster behind a restaurant called 'Philadelphia.' This is where the homeless take shelter from the elements and where IV drug use is rising."

Geez, how do you really feel?

DeVito, who lives in Media, hosts a short film festival every other month at the Trocadero Theatre. The next one will be in January. Film submissions are free. His company is working on documentary films about the Pennsylvania hardcore music scene and surviving drug addiction. More info here and here.