(Courtesy @AvtarK)

(Courtesy @AvtarK)

[UPDATE BELOW] Earlier this afternoon, somewhere “in the middle of Ohio,” groundbreaking indie director John Waters was found hitchhiking on the side of a road. We’re trying to find out just what the Baltimore-based director of Pink Flamingos was doing begging for a lift in the middle of the Buckeye State—indie rock band Here We Go Magic says they picked him up! And he’s currently riding around in their van. [UPDATE, May 17:] Here We Go Magic tells us what happened during the six hours they spent with John!

So there you have it! Follow along with van passenger Jen Turner for more on this breaking story—we are in touch with the band’s publicist, and we’ll update when we know more about where the hell Waters was coming from, and why! It’s worth noting that Waters is no stranger to hitchhiking—in an interview last year, he said, “I do still hitchhike – it’s a great way to meet people, and to have sex. I’ve hitchhiked in Baltimore, Provincetown, San Francisco … what, people don’t hitchhike in Australia?”

Update 2:45 p.m.: Band member Michael Bloch tells us, “There’s a hydro-fracking boom in western Pennsylvania. You can’t get a motel room. We had to drive til 4AM, and finally found a Days Inn in eastern Ohio. Getting back on the highway this morning, there was a man at the side of the on-ramp with a sign that read ‘to the end of Rte 70.’ Jen wanted to pick him up, but we drove past him. As we passed by, our sound guy said ‘John Waters’ Luke said, ‘Yep, definitely John Waters.’ We got off at the next exit and circled back. He was still there. We pulled up, opened the door and asked where he was coming from. ‘Baltimore,’ he said. And we said ‘Get in, sir.’ “

Update, May 17: Bloch spoke to us today; when asked how long Waters had been hitchhiking, “Well, that day he had been standing there for many hours. I guess no one recognized him. Not to mention he was wearing a hat that said ‘Scum Of The Earth.’ I don’t know if that was helping him or not. He had been hitchhiking for a few days from Baltimore, I think. He said that half the drivers that picked him up knew who he was and the other half didn’t know who he was.”

Filed Under: baltimore, here we go magic, hitchhiking, John Waters, ohio,