30 April 2009
Mural and a Sunday ride
Art All Night
It was pretty warm outside to start out with, but it was insane hot inside the warehouse.
Silas stopped to rehydrate.
This is Ryder's piece. It's a good work, but had a very unfortunate location. There was no light on it at all and a big beaming light just over and beyond it, so the contrast made it impossible to see any detail, let alone tell what the scene was. It was definitely in the top-tier of art by quality in the show. It's pretty sad he got such a bum draw on location.
27 April 2009
Saturday ride
Warm weather really hit us this weekend. I went out for a 20+ mile ride around Highland Park and across the Allegheny River to Aspinwall/Fox Chapel, then back up the steep incline around 57th St. I met up with Bethany and Silas at a park in Bloomfield on the way out to play. I didn't get many pictures worth showing, just the entrance of a church on lower 57th.

26 April 2009
North Side heating and cooling plant
Crappy GM part, but nice run
The brilliant engineers at GM designed the plastic thermostat housing to last past the warranty period and not much longer. I hear it's a known problem with the Aveo.
Guthrie and I were on our way to go running at the park. I know, we were driving the car to go running, so maybe it was a suitable penance. Bethany called in the disabled vehicle to the Better World Club, and Guthrie and I ran the 4 1/2 miles back to the house. The Better World Club has been good for the past 2 or so years we've had it. I'd been a gold member of AAA for 19 years (started under the parents), but they lost my patronage because of their anti-bike positions.
Anyway, the light was nice on the Cathedral of Learning on the Pitt Campus.
The light was nice for viewing the new Children's Hospital towering over Bloomfield and Lawrenceville.
This is the Gully. It was probably once a nice valley with some sort of stream at the bottom. The stream has been replaced with trash and car-fluid runoff from Bloomfield, Oakland, and Polish Hill. A dedicated busway, railway, and a road do use the bottom.
Hey, where's your stoker?
I caught up to this person riding a tandem bike solo climbing the Liberty hill the other day. I didn't get to talk to him/her because I met up with my turn just as I caught up. I wonder what the story was. I've ridden our tandem some by myself, but not in the city yet. It's a funny sight to see. Maybe I should do ride it to/from work one day, just to give people something to talk about.
20 April 2009
Not a chile relleno
I can't say this one wasn't tasty. It was also probably healthier, but it didn't quite meet expectations. Overall, though, the food was good. Thanks to my friend/coworker, Butch, for the recommendation.
More bad signage
19 April 2009
Moraine State Park canoeing
We were all feeling sort of pent up, so we decided to spend the day at Moraine State Park. We attempted to get out in the boat for a while, but Silas was uncomfortable in his PFD when he tried to bend in the middle. So, he and Bethany went for a hike while Guthrie and I did a little paddling and then some trail running to catch up to them.
Guthrie really wants to be in the boat when it's leaving the shore, but then changes his mind and would rather be running on land instead. I think he also was sick of being in the sun with his black fur. There's nowhere to escape it in the canoe.
View of one of the spurs of Lake Arthur.
Checking out trailers
15 April 2009
15 years gone by
Kurt Cobain died 15 years ago. That's a long time.
Zen told me the news when I stopped in Jimmy John's to see him at his work that day in 1994. The only other musician I remember where I was when I heard was John Lennon. I was in the back seat of my parents' car, riding home from church. Cobain and Lennon.
His music reached me at the time. It was exactly what I wanted, needed, at the right time. There are other timeless classics of their respective eras in my life that I appreciate all the time, such as Led Zeppelin, the Cure, Modest Mouse, etc, but none hit me the same.
In any case, Pitchfork did a nice write up and linked to a collection of YouTube videos of diverse covers of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Take a look through the videos. They are great, every one in its own way. They are a testament to the power of the song and his being the voice of that time.
http://pitchfork.com/news/35054-kurt-cobain-rip-april-8-1994/
Zen told me the news when I stopped in Jimmy John's to see him at his work that day in 1994. The only other musician I remember where I was when I heard was John Lennon. I was in the back seat of my parents' car, riding home from church. Cobain and Lennon.
His music reached me at the time. It was exactly what I wanted, needed, at the right time. There are other timeless classics of their respective eras in my life that I appreciate all the time, such as Led Zeppelin, the Cure, Modest Mouse, etc, but none hit me the same.
In any case, Pitchfork did a nice write up and linked to a collection of YouTube videos of diverse covers of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Take a look through the videos. They are great, every one in its own way. They are a testament to the power of the song and his being the voice of that time.
http://pitchfork.com/news/35054-kurt-cobain-rip-april-8-1994/
Irma Freeman Center
14 April 2009
Hot dog dam
Guthrie likes to blow bubbles...
Frick Park outing
When Guthrie was a puppy, we got a mature cat with claws from the Humane Society. Buck had lived with dogs before, so he was confident and calm with Guthrie. Of course, he set the limits quickly. Guthrie has an incredible respect for cats still.
Guthrie and the groundhog
Eating is good
13 April 2009
Bike commuters take over the research bay
The flash sets off the reflective sidewalls on Dave's and my bikes nicely. John's got a good reflective strip around his seatpost tool bag.
Banff Mountain Film Festival
This year (at least for the first day), there were two long films that took up most of the night. One was an interesting story about world champion paraglider Louise Crandal and her boyfriend falconer training an eagle to fly with Louise. Eagles are the kings of the updrafts.
The other long film, Red Gold, was a touching movie about the people who subsist, intentionally in two river areas that flow into Bristol Bay, Alaska. It's a story about the salmon and the people who inhabit the region that is the most prolific sockeye salmon spawning grounds in the world. At the headwaters to these two rivers, a huge deposit of copper and gold has been found. Evidently, it's the second-largest copper deposit ever found. The film shows all that is to be risked, if the mining project goes ahead. It's interesting to see people who have chosen or been born into a lifestyle that provides satisfaction and wholesomeness, regardless of the monetary income. The mining company is right in one way, these folks could likely make more money with other jobs, but they're completely shortsighted in that money's not the point of the fishing and living from the land of the people who choose to live there. Subsistance isn't just about surving. It's a philosophical and cultural ideal that is satisfying when all is in balance.
Pedicabs in Pittsburgh
I saw the one above in the Strip District. The other night, Dave and I were admiring another giving folks rides between the Cultural District (downtown) and Station Square on the South Side. It's hiding in traffic outside the Byham Theater.
09 April 2009
Bloomfield church
Sunny morning commute with Dave
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