I took these on the first night of the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival. You can see my more involved post on it here:
Her website can be found here. Please support her in any way you can since she is Pittsburgh awesomeness!
This all took place within a few blocks of our apartment. I think it shows just how much the city has grown over the last few years.
WordPress Photo Challenge link
Hello,
Jess and I had the pleasure of seeing the world premier of Pittsburgh performance art stalwarts Squonk Opera at the Three Rivers Arts Festival last weekend. here is the shot of their stage setup:
Here is a clip of their set. They are looking to play the entire set at summer camps throughout the area for free. Squonk is a Pittsburgh original and is local awesome!
Even though I’ve expanded my content over the last few weeks, I wanted to keep these photography challenges going.
My first submission was taken at a local gallery:
This was at SPACE during the Psychic Panic exhibit that is running currently till June 29th. If you are coming down for the Three Rivers Arts Festival, the gallery is only a few blocks away.
This is one of the icons of Pittsburgh – the Fort Pitt Blockhouse. It is a one room building that is the oldest confirmed structure in Pittsburgh. It’s situated right in the middle of the Arts Festival action at Point State Park.
The North Side Leadership Conference was kind enough to send me some information about some really cool things coming up in the neighborhood. Jess and I try to spend as much time as we can there since it is a short walk away:
First, Ted X Pittsburgh is April 26th at the Hazlett Theater! Are you going?
Here is the event’s website. As I write this…it is SOLD OUT! The theater where the event will be held is coolness in itself:
The Hazlett Theater for the Performing Arts
The Deutschtown Music Festival will be held this year on July 12. Check out their site here. According to the site, they are having a fundraising party at Bill Chisnell Productions (111 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh) on May 18th. I was out of town for last year’s event that showcased 60 local bands, but plan on attending this year!
The Observatory Hill House Tour will be on June 1st from 1-5 PM. Participants will meet at the Riverview United Presbyterian Church at 3505 Perryvsille Avenue.
The Brighton Heights Citizen’s Federation House Tour will be on June 8th this year from 1-5 pm. Participants will meet at Legion Park.
The Mexican War Streets Architecture Walking Tour will be Sunday May 18th from 2-4 PM. Participants will meet at the Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church.
Allegheny City Society’s 150th anniversary of the Sanitary Fair – a civil war remembrance – will be held on June 14th in Buhl Park in the North Side.
Hope this helps if you are looking for something cool to do in Pittsburgh over the next few months!
I have a few submission for this. My first is of a courtyard in downtown Pittsburgh that has a cool piece of public art in it. The Pittsburgh Symphony created this plaza from a former Woolworth’s store in 1982. The sculpture is titled Arpeggio and, according to the Art in Public Places book published by the city, represents the collaborative nature of the symphony.
I was standing on the street in absolute shock.
What did I just see? Did that bolt of lightening just play with my senses in some weird way? I was still staring at the spot where I thought I saw about 30 people in colonial dress standing right in front of me. The image was burned into my brain even though it lasted for a split second.
I started to gather my wits and began thinking I just experienced an end-of-a-long-day-just-need-to-get-some-sleep moment. I wasn’t even sure why I walked over here in the first place. It’s easily a good five extra minutes from our apartment.
I started going over today’s events at the office as I turned to go home. As I took my first step, the sky lit up like it was the Fourth of July.
They were in front of me this time like they knew I was there. It seemed like there were even more this time. They were looking at me in absolute shock. Some of them were pointing. It looked like they were afraid of me. I saw what looked like a colonial long rifle raise and point at me. Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I turned towards the church. A tall, bald man with fire in his eyes was running towards me. As he got closer, the lightening stopped and all got quiet.
All of a sudden an unseen force knocked me on my ass. The street was completely empty aside from me, but it felt like a freight train had rammed my chest and knocked me on the pavement. What in the hell was going on?
As the adrenaline started to tell me to run, my curiosity took over. I knew my fiancée was at home and was probably wondering where I was but I had to see if it happened again. I had to know that I wasn’t going crazy.
Something I took from my phone the Saturday before the latest winter storm. Spring is on its way!
One of the most unique things about Pittsburgh are, of course, the rivers. We love exploring them both from the shore and from a kayak. Venture Outdoors’ Kayak Pittsburgh schedules group kayaking excursions along the rivers throughout the warmer months of the year – which are fast approaching. Jess and I have viewed one of the Pirates’ Skyblast fireworks shows from a kayak and it was AMAZING. In our opinion, it’s one of the most Pittsburgh things you can do!
If you attend of the group trips, you will also get a lot of local history including the origin of an abandoned boat that rests on the North Shore of the Allegheny across from the Cork Factory. For this challenge, I tried to get as close to it as I could:
I know you can’t tell that it’s a boat. The way it capsized, the best detailed pictures are from across the river on the other shore.
Living in downtown, there are many abandoned buildings just like there are in any city. Here are a few recent pictures:
Does anyone know what the above building was for?
Below is an abandoned movie theater in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood:
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For this part of this post, I would like to link to a number of local blogs that are Pittsburgh awesome. Please pay them a visit and show some love!
And here is a list of bloggers that I curate on my Twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/thejunctionman/pittsburgh-bloggers/members
Living downtown makes green space all the more important. This is one of the most beautiful gardens in the corridor- and is an art installation. It’s called “Magnolias for Pittsburgh”, was installed in 2006 and is nice to see during a winter like we’ve had so far.
Hello everyone…
How has your winter gone? It’s been crazy cold here. I’ve seen a few cool winter snowfall scenes but had to pass them up to get inside and get warm.
The theme of this post is not only winter but a contest the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is running. They asked residents to print a sign that says “I love Downtown Pittsburgh Because…” and take a picture using it that shows a reason why. The winners of the contest get all kind of cultural prizes that focus on downtown culture and restaurants – including a gift certificate to nationally renowned Butcher and the Rye. Here is our entry. We took it at the Fairmont in downtown because that’s where I won her heart:
In order to win, we ask that you visit the Partnership on Twitter at @downtownpitt and retweet the photo or on Facebook and like it.
On a different note…
Earlier in the day, I was walking along one of the rivers and saw this scene during the snow flurries. I love how crisp the bridge’s reflection is in the river.
I also found this marker from one of the Pittsburgh floods. I tried to take a shot to give you an impression of how high it is off street level.
I’ve also been recently nominated for a Liebster Award. I can’t say how much I appreciate it! A huge thanks to Birgerbird for the nomination and the kind words! I’ll be spreading the blogging love this week.
Lastly, Jess and I haven’t gone out much since we moved downtown. We’re trying to save money for our wedding. Since she recently had her 30th birthday, we’ve been able to enjoy a few local hotspots that have impressed us a great deal:
http://www.siennapgh.com/mercato/
and
http://www.properpittsburgh.com/
Eat, drink and enjoy, Pittsburgh! 🙂
life in pittsburgh 