Archive for the ‘Pittsburgh’ Category
Tomato makes everything taste better
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The best thing about the shot above is that I was in a bar with outdoor seating, one which adjoins the tracks, and could just sit and quaff beer while waiting for a train to come my way. The other best part was that the tracks involve a couple of street crossings, so I had ample notice to jump up and get into position with the camera, well before the train appeared, since the signal arms would go down and warning bells start to ring when it’s approaching the spot. Awesome!
The brewery has pretty ok burgers too. It’s called Sly Fox Brewing Co., and I can endorse it as place to drink beer and take pictures of trains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bar is also right next door to a concrete factory which I’ve found myself pointing the camera at more than once.
A ‘T’ light rail station is also nearby, so I also didn’t have to worry about getting back home after pouring alcoholic beverage into my maw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A short walk from the position of the first shot allows one access to a point of elevation, where views of the train tracks are available as well.
Back next week with more from Pittsburgh, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Garlic is good for the heart
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another day, another doctor’s appointment. There’s nothing ‘new’ wrong with me, in case you’re wondering. Instead, after literal decades of ignoring my health, I’m taking advantage of Pittsburgh’s amazing Medical Industrial Complex to do some catch up. My new Doctor here has had me running around the area for various tests and probes. I’ve been magnetized, and irradiated, and punctured multiple times in pursuance of removing the ichor within for testing. Luckily, nothing terribly concerning has materialized from this inspection, and instead the Doc is busily establishing a base line of readings to work from, once things inevitably hit the fan.
Whilst driving about from place to place, I like to stick the camera up through the Mobile Oppression Platform’s moon roof and crack out the odd photo. This one is from Downtown Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Homestead, which I was visiting in pursuance of attending a Costco’s sale on men’s hats, and to take advantage of their fantastic pricing on a rotisserie chicken as well as purchasing puppy food for Moe the Dog, I got stuck in traffic for about a half hour while waiting for an endlessly long Norfolk Southern train to pass by.
Me? I love taking a picture of a train, so much so that I didn’t use the moon roof this time around and just shot it over the hood of the Toyota and through the windshield. I had a devil of a time dealing with the window’s tint while developing the shot, by the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m not always driving, of course, and on yet another one of my walks – this time a long one of about 18,000 steps – according to my phone – I found myself in what’s proving to be one of my favorite sections of the City of Pittsburgh, in the South Side Flats section. My kind of spot, with heavy and light rail transiting about, heavy industry at work, and a series of interesting bridges overflying the waters of the Monongahela River.
Back tomorrow with lots of Choo-Choo.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Onions make you cry
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned earlier in the week, a humble narrator is in the midst of an intractable argument with the guy in the mirror. It’s not fun behind the eyes or between the ears at the moment, but that’s me – I’m like the Kiwi – a fuzzy little fruit with a lot of personality, which doesn’t taste anything like you think it would if you take a bite.
That’s the Heinz factory pictured above, which has been converted over from production of the 57 varieties to housing. I love the aesthetics of the campus, and we actually considered it as a place to land when moving out here. Ultimately, it was too ‘urban,’ and one of the things we wanted, when moving from NYC, was to not share walls with random madmen anymore.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 16th street bridge, which I walked back and forth over a few times on my constitutional short walk – on it and a section of the adjoining Great Allegheny Passage trail (about 8,000 steps, according to my phone) – offers some pretty nice views of the center of Pittsburgh. That’s ‘Downtown’ or ‘D’ahn-tahn’ as the local idiom would call it.
Translating from NYC Brooklynese to Pittsburgh Yinzer – Youse is Yinz. Being nosey is ‘being nebby’ and so on. The Yinz slang thing is commonly embraced here, and there’s a range of products available which embrace the linguistic stylings thereof. It’s odd. Rubber bands are called ‘gum bands’ in Pittsburgh, and they also put french fries in salads.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While scuttling back to the Mobile Oppression Platform, parked in one of the Great Allegheny Passage parking lots on the north side, I spotted a Norfolk Southern train set transiting over the Fort Wayne Rail Bridge in the distance. Luckily, I had a zoom lens on the camera and was able to get a long telephoto shot of it.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Apples are Doctor prophylaxis
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m only joking with that title, but I actually have been eating a daily apple since I moved to Pittsburgh for some reason. Granny Smith kind. Yummy. As I’ve discovered, my new friend Moe the Dog likes the green apples too, so double win.
That’s the 16th street or David McCullough Bridge pictured above, which spans the Allegheny River. Pittsburgh native McCullough wrote one of my all time favorite NYC history books about the Brooklyn Bridge’s construction – ‘The Great Bridge, the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.’ I can highly recommend the audiobook version available on Amazon’s Audible service, which is free if you’re a ‘Prime’ member. The last time I posted a photo of the 16th street span, interest in the comments section was espoused in seeing a close up of the ornamental metalwork at the top of the bridge towers, so here you go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the north side of the river, there’s a bit of heavy industrial activity going on, including a waste transfer/recycling facility called “Warhola Recycling.’ Yes, they are related to Andy Warhol (his nephews), and yes they are scrappers. There’s an Andy Warhol bridge in Pittsburgh, and a museum, not too far from this spot. I’ve been to the bridge, but haven’t been to the museum yet.
I continued on my merry freaking way, while sweating heavily. It was a very humid day, with atmospheric dew points in the high 70’s, as I was taking this walk. Rain, snow, sun… whatever, I’m still obliged to scuttle about every other day.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the peninsular section of the city, on the Allegheny’s southern shore, is found Pittsburgh’s ‘strip district.’ A cold storage warehouse used to be located where the rubble in the shot above is observed, and oddly enough – given my newness to the area – I’ve somehow managed to document several phases of its demolition. Funny that.
It seems that the bar next door, which is located in the extant red brick building, has been structurally compromised due to the demolition project, which has slowed down the process of building – you guessed it – affordable housing – on the surrounding site. There’s lots of newly constructed housing stock nearby, but I’m told it’s largely occupied by the ‘tech Bros’ from Microsoft and Google who are working on developing self driving automobiles here in Pittsburgh.
There’s someone in Pittsburgh who’s working on what are essentially robot shoes, too. If anyone wants to send me $1,100 to get a pair, I’ll gladly get them and let you know how many bones I ended up breaking.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Pickle faced
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator is in a bit of a mood at the moment. Nothing special is going on, just in the midst waging war with that most intractable and stubborn of all the enemies I’ve ever encountered – myself. Bah.
Forgive any dark outlook or prognostication this week, I’m in a mood.
The good news is that no matter what torrential and self referential hellscape might manifest twixt the ears, life always needs tending to. It was time once again to give the Mobile Oppression Platform a drink of the fuel it craves, and I got lucky when the tracks across the street from the gas station I frequent were suddenly occupied by a passing freight train operated by the Wheeling & Lake Erie outfit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The M.O.P., which is how I refer to my Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, gets an absolutely science fiction level of gas mileage – just as promised by the manufacturer. Topping off the tank gives me an unbelievable 560 miles of range. According to the analytics in the dashboard, which I’ve confirmed by real world reckoning, I’m getting about 39 mpg. This is working out for me, as the car is a necessity in these parts.
I’ve also finally figured out how to get Google Maps to offer me driving route options which use local rather than highway streets to get where I want or need to go.
In the case of the need for a constitutional ‘short walk’ here in Pittsburgh recently, that route involved me driving through the central business district and then over to the waterfront trail found on the north side of the Allegheny River, nearby the former Heinz Factory, from HQ in the South Hills community of Dormont.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Heinz has been converted over to housing, and there’s several attractive but quite expensive (by Pittsburgh standards) domiciles available for lease. I think they also do Condos in there, but who knows. The last thing I want to do in my dotage is live in the center of a city again. HQ is about 6 or 7 miles south of the Heinz Factory Lofts, and it’s a 2 story house, in a suburb with my very own driveway. I’ve got deer regularly walking around in the yard, and there’s a family of ground hogs living under the yard. We’ve got Chipmunks too, and every kind of bird you can think of is regularly spotted – including eagles. Just the other night, something huge skulked through the yard, but all I saw was its shadow. Might have been a Squonk.
As mentioned, a section of the ‘Great Allegheny Passage’ trail runs through this section of Pittsburgh, which also offers up a safe parking spot for that great gas mileage car of mine, so I ended up wandering around for bit and burning up a bit of shoe leather while wandering in this section.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 