Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’
Pittsboids part one
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent endeavor found your humble narrator, in the company of Our Lady of the Pentacle, on Pittsburgh’s North Side at a fundraiser event for the National Aviary. Read all about the Aviary at Wikipedia, or visit their site to hear it from the horse bird’s own mouth.
It was quite a party, with a tropical theme, and there was food and drink and entertainments involved as well. To wit, upon our arrival, a lion dancer troop were busily starting a performance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A locomotive trench, which I often shoot Norfolk Southern rail traffic along, is next to the Aviary’s property which is similarly located in Allegheny Commons Park, so this isn’t an altogether unfamiliar spot to me. Saying that, I knew that the Aviary was here, but circumstance hadn’t carried me and the camera here as of yet. Normally, spots like this are filed under ‘winter stuff’ for me.
Museums, zoos, interior spaces, churches. Winter stuff.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was a pretty well attended fund raiser. After getting the ubiquitous wrist bands, we entered the facility. They had bar and food set-ups, but I have to mention that the ‘way finding’ here was just awful.
Those ‘you are here’ wall maps you often see in public spaces like hospitals and museums would have been helpful to move the crowd along but… alas. There were, therefore, hundreds of people congealing and crowding wherever they first discovered a bar or catering style table.
This sort of event planning thing annoys me, and it is one of the many subjects which I’d jump and down about when doing tours and galas and all that back in the Non-Profit sweatshops of NYC. ‘You enter the event,’ ‘what happens then?’ Where do I send you, what will you find, where are the bathrooms? Where do we want them to leave their money behind?
You really need to figure all this stuff out in advance before the guests arrive. Every time is somebody’s first time there, so plan on that too. Greeters shouldn’t be clustered around the entrance, rather stationed at strategic points along the route you want to the guests to ‘discover.’
I have spoken.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a series of environmental set ups at the National Aviary, with this wetland one hosting a number of smaller critters. They’re flying around, and walking around, in the same area which the guests are. Neat.
If you’re wondering, tomorrow. Tomorrow is when you see all birds. Today is when you see the Aviary.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ok, here’s a few of the birds.
I was walking around with the wide angle 16mm lens on at this particular moment. Nobody likes hearing what I’m carrying in my camera bag more than Our Lady, and she was absolutely ‘rizzed’ by my lens choices. So exciting.
Her husband can be sooooo entirely pedantic when discussing his gear, which is part of why Our Lady is so long suffering.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m told that’s some kind of duck up there in that shot above.
This was a social event, so I was trying to travel light and left the heavy zoom lenses at HQ. I had a very basic kit with me – an 85mm f2, a 35mm f1.8, and the 16mm f2.8. This is the core of my night kit tools, as I figured (correctly) that it would be dark inside – as far as the amount of light that a camera would need. See? Pedantic.
Tomorrow – lotsa boids.
“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.
Done, Dirt Cheap
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Welcome back to Pittsburgh, where a humble narrator recently took a short walk in search of a couple of pints of beer and passing locomotives.
Norfolk Southern’s tracks ride on an elevated berm in this area, carven out of the cliff face of Mount Washington itself. The opening, beneath that trestle it’s riding on, is the transit tunnel normally used for buses and the T light rail. Said tunnel has been undergoing a rehabilitation project for the last few months.
I heard a train coming, and managed to capture a quick peek of #4462 when it appeared in a break through the verge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was about 4-5 in the afternoon as I was moving through this zone, and vehicle traffic was beginning to stack up, in the approaches to various bridges, and tunnels, and the on-ramps to high speed roads.
Me? I was in a mood.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nothing specific was wrong, in terms of triggers, just woke up unhappy and easily angered by minor stimuli. Like an asshole. I’d been trapped by obligation and climate for nearly a week, and really needed a day off.
This post is being written mid month, incidentally, whereas you’re receiving it at the end of July. I’ve managed to rebuild my ‘lead time’ here at Newtown Pentacle in the last month or so, and hope that I’m able to maintain a two to three week ‘ahead of schedule’ posture moving forward. Hate publishing a post when the ‘the pixels are still wet.’
I always strive for lead time here, but it seldom works out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The brewery I haunt, in this area, is found alongside a set of CSX’s Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks and it’s one of the choke points for that rail outfit’s operations here. If one of their train sets is coming through the city, heading east or west, it’s quite likely going to be moving past this spot. What? You’ve never gone fishing? You go where the fish are forced to go and drop the hook there.
That structure on the left is part of a concrete company.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX #7030 appeared, and I wanted to get a slightly different point of view for this photo than I normally do when at this spot.
It was the only train that appeared while I was there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The locomotive was heading westwards, likely into Ohio at some point, after passing through McKees Rocks, where the company has one of its corporate outposts. I imagine there’s crew turnover there, but I’m just guessing. This is the POV I normally use when here, as a note.
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.
Sometimes, it’s just odd out there
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On a recent afternoon, your humble narrator just threw his hands up in frustration and announced to Our Lady of the Pentacle that he was going out for a walk. She recognized the look in my eyes, that of a wild beast yearning for freedom, and said ‘have a good time.’
One soon found himself at ‘The T’ light rail’s First Avenue Station, where the Panhandle Bridge spans the Monongahela River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This wasn’t going to be a long walk, at all. It was hot as heck, and I had a lot on my mind. Go to the bar and suck down a few beers sort of thoughts.
I’ve had to pick and choose my battles since returning from NYC, as the weather has been absolutely horrific all month. High heat and humidity, lots and lots of rain, and a set of competing priorities. As described yesterday, I’m currently enjoying a spate of medical tests designed to gauge and document my overall robustness and spot trends.
I don’t like being touched by strangers, let alone stripping down to my skivvies in their presence and letting them irradiate me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As I’ve mentioned in the past, one of my superpowers is the ability to containerize negative emotions while situational stressors are at work, and then allow the stored up psychic pressure to bleed off at a more opportune time. Essentially, I have a ‘rage bladder,’ and every now and then one needs to let off some steam and bleed it out.
I was by myself, of course. God’s lonely man.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My pathway to the beer taps involved a short walk of less than two miles. This wasn’t an exercise day, and I convinced myself that the effort would be worth it if a few train shots were captured. I know that I mention drinking a lot, but I don’t actually drink all that much. A few beers, maybe once every couple of weeks, these days.
Back in Astoria, my crew of knuckleheads and I had a standing Friday night ‘after work’ meetup at ‘the local,’ but again – a couple/three pints of beer consumed over multiple hours is my deal. I sip, rather than chug.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Monongahela River and the Smithfield Street Bridge came into view, and one pointed his toes in the required direction. This is part of the same trail pictured above, incidentally.
That’s when I saw it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A single, abandoned, shoe. Can it be?
Has the Queens Cobbler followed me to the Paris of Appalachia?
Back next week with maximum 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.
Up high, in Allegheny City
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in past postings, your humble narrator has been playing ‘catch-up’ with the wishes of the Medical/Insurance Complex. They have ordered technicians to irradiate me, beam high intensity sound through my flesh, and also sample the various internal ichors sloshing about within for chemical analysis. All of their ambitions are in my best interest, of course, and several of these annual diagnostic tests are overdue, having been ‘put on hold’ during the broken ankle ordeal.
One of the ‘reasons for Pittsburgh’ is the quality of health care here. Absolutely top notch. They literally cured Polio here in Pittsburgh ‘back in the day,’ and the medical system here is fairly well staffed and equipped. Everything in Pittsburgh is ‘easy’ in comparison to the drawn out struggles of dealing with NYC’s health system.
Cannot tell you how many times that I said, during the physical therapy part of the ankle recovery period, that ‘thank god I’m not in NYC.’ To wit: on this particular morning, I had a test scheduled at the main hospital here in Pittsburgh, Allegheny General. It’s the building you see used for exteriors on that HBO show ‘The Pitt.’
I literally drove here in 15 minutes from HQ during rush hour, arrived at their parking lot and then easily found a convenient spot, got into an elevator and was seen at precisely the time which my appointment called for. In and out in an hour. Back at the parking lot, and then back home in 10 minutes. Easy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the setting for these shots. As you can see, it was quite misty out at about 8:30 in the morning on Pittsburgh’s north side this particular morning. The lot is multi-story, the sort which you drive through and the ramps are set up like the threads of a screw. I always head up to the open air top level. Less crowded. Culturally speaking, the locals will go to blows over a spot nearby the entrance on the first level, whereas the ones up top are normally waiting for a car to fill them.
My test results came back as ‘normal,’ although there’s some stuff going on in there that the docs want to ‘keep an eye on.’ I’m at that age where everything the docs want to look at, or warn me about, sounds terrifying.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying all that, I’m nearly 60. The clock, as it were, is ticking. No time to waste. I’m obliging the science stuff here, because it’s colossally stupid not to. Their first name is ‘Doctor,’ and I’m just a schmuck with a camera, so I try to follow the advice of the blue pajamas and white coat crowd as much as possible. If they want photo taking advice, I’m available.
Nothing new has emerged from the various peeks within, which is actually good news. Homeostasis has always been a goal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My parents were the members of the family who didn’t decamp Brooklyn for Long Island or New Jersey, which meant that they spent a lot of time looking in on and caring for the old timers still in the ‘old neighborhood.’
Take Aunt Vera to the doctor, pick up Aunt Edna on Ocean Parkway and after a few stops, then take them both out for a diner lunch, and then drop off a bag of support hose to Grandma on Linden Blvd. – that would describe my Dad’s average Saturday. I spent a lot of time as a kid around very, very old people and am thereby very familiar with what life’s ‘Act 3’ entails and looks like. The degradations, the humiliations, all of it.
I have no illusions about how my remaining years will play out. Dissolution is the nature of all things. Only thing you really can do for your self is find some way to be as comfortable as possible while you’re waiting on that exit line.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having stated all of that gloomy yet inevitable stuff, I’ve still got a lot of people to piss off and there’s lots of fun that I haven’t had yet. Once I’m done with all of these medical obligations by the end of July, there’s a couple/three destinations which I want to hit in August/September. I’m also pretty hyped to actually be able to shoot ‘leaf season’ in the ‘burning hills of Pennsylvania’ this year.
Two of the outings are railroad specific, the other is a visit to a nearby urban core which I’m interested in seeing. I’m also pretty hyped about actually experiencing Halloween this year, something which has been denied to me by circumstance since prior to COVID.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, after all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was time to get on with my day, after the medical testing was finished.
Unfortunately for me, as I really didn’t want to be doing this kind of detailed and finicky work on this particularly atmospheric day, I had to finish a series of table top product shots back at HQ. Such matters are finicky, especially so when there isn’t a ‘stylist’ to prep the device in question for its portraits. A job’s a job.
Back tomorrow with something different at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
Downtown, where your life’s a joke
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The plan for this walk, from Lawrenceville to Pittsburgh’s Downtown, had a sweet ending planned. Our Lady of the Pentacle and I were going to meet up downtown, and then have a drink at a rooftop bar in one of the big hotels. I’ve developed a list of rooftop bars hereabouts, and plan on checking out as many as I can this summer.
The one we visited on this occasion ended up being a little underwhelming. It sold itself as a ‘beer’ bar, but had a fairly limited menu of options in that category, and the only food they offered was either outlandishly expensive or utterly unhealthy, sometimes both. Also, no umbrellas or other protection from direct sunlight.
They kept on pushing us to order a $28 pretzel.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the U.S. Steel building in the background, with ‘Cherry Way’ in the fore – the last of several alleys I’d checked out on this walk. In yesterday’s post, I included links to a series of roof top tours which Our Lady and I attended last year before all the ankle business happened, scroll down if interested in seeing what this are looks like from up high.
One was about a half hour early at the meetup spot, so I negotiated over to a city park and found a bench to sit upon. I’d been in constant motion for about three hours, and it was warm and quite humid day here in Appalachia. After checking my phone to see if I’ve been cancelled by strangers yet for some newly defined sin, a few things caught my eye.
This is a very busy, and zealously protected by the ‘powers that be,’ section of downtown. City Hall is nearby.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That aluminum gray box with the square windows is the ‘Alcoa Building.’ The corporation had since decamped to a larger, campus style, building on Pittsburgh’s north shore. My understanding is that this Alcoa building is a landmark, but is being converted to some sort of housing.
Me? I was just shvitzing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pictured above is the facade of the 1916 vintage William Penn Hotel, which has a storied history including Presidential stays and resident movie stars. The many windows are an artifact of an era before air conditioning, and were designed to allow air to flow through during Pittsburgh’s warm and humid months. There’s also cold and humid months here. It’s always humid.
By the way, the title of today’s post is yet another song reference.
Yeah, I’m kind of thinking I’m back.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While sitting in the park, I waved the camera about a bit, capturing random shots which it might be handy to have at some future time. A text chimed on my phone, telling me that Our Lady of the Pentacle was nearing. One made his way over to where our predetermined meetup spot was. Happy day! We were reunited and then made our way to the elevators and the bar with the $28 pretzel.
Everything was clean and nice. Most of the seating were bar stools, which were profoundly uncomfortable. As stated, there were no sun barriers, which is puzzling for a roof top bar operating within a pretty swank hotel. Also as mentioned, the list of beers wasn’t anything special or particularly exclusive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We decided to cut it short after one drink, and paid our bill. A few blocks away there’s another hotel bar (not a rooftop) whose ‘shtick’ are great burgers. We got there, and they had Guinness on tap! That’s rare in Pittsburgh.
After dinner, a rideshare car carried us back to Dormont, and that was the story of my big day out.
Back tomorrow – with something different, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“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 