Boring Pittsburgh

Time-Lapse From Mt. Washington

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:44:06 +0000

Very cool Mount Washington time-lapse video from Ski Man Productions. The music by Rodrigo y Gabriela is perfect for the video and is so upbeat that it almost makes you forget about the cold, dreary winter in Pittsburgh. We would love to see them do another time-lapse like this in the summer when the fountain is on at the point!

Ski Man Productions is a spot to check out all new pictures, videos, and stories from the ski season. You can find their other ski related videos here.

Asia Unreeled @ Winchester Thurston

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:30:00 +0000

South Asia Unreeled: That’s Why I’m Working - Sunday, March 7, 2010, 2:00pm

There has been an ongoing Asian film festival happening at Winchester Thurston School on Morewood Avenue. While there have been other Asian film festivals in Pittsburgh, the films in the Asia Unreeled Film Series are all documentaries. In February they showed a South Korean documentary exposing the high rates of plastic surgery among young women in Korea (Good for Her) and a Japanese documentary about World War II kamikaze pilots (Wings of Defeat). The film series continues this Sunday…

THIS SUNDAY, March 7th: India Unreeled – “That’s Why I’m Working” gives one the insider’s perspective behind the highly controversial issue of child labor.

March 14th: China Unreeled – “Please Vote for Me” showcases an experiment of democracy through the election of a class monitor in a third grade class in central China.

Where are the films being shown?
Winchester Thurston (map)
Hilda Willis Room, Upper School building
555 Morewood Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

How much to get in?
$8 cash for adults
$5 cash for students/seniors

Wendy’s at Pitt on Fifth Ave in Oakland, Closed

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:30:09 +0000

Wendy's at Pitt on Fifth Ave in Oakland has closed!

What used to be a Wendy’s on the corner Fifth Avenue and Atwood Street is now a huge empty space in Pitt’s campus (and heart). The doors closed in February and local fast food lovers where heartbroken when they found out the last day to get a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and Frosty was Valentine’s Day.

There was a time when the spacious burger joint was one of the busiest places in Oakland to grab a meal during lunchtime. College students, doctors, and high-school kids skipping class filled the seats of this Wendy’s every day. Now there’s one less place to grab a bite around Pitt – but maybe it’s not so bad after-all. A great reason to eat a little healthier and support the local businesses like Pizza Sola, Oishii Bento, Red Oak Cafe, Dave & Andy’s, Sweet Berry, Fuel & Fuddle, Joe Mama’s, etc… But don’t forget, it is Oakland so don’t eat just anywhere!

What should open up in this space next?

Breaking hearts... literally?

That was were everyone would sit to eat while waiting for the bus

What to Do at the Airport During a Blizzard

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:50:27 +0000

This is old news but in case you haven’t seen this video from Ashley Klinger (aka productsofhearts) have a look on the TV above. Ashley is a dance major at Point Park University and was on her way to an audition when she got stranded overnight at the airport during Snowmageddon 2010. Her video has become a hit on YouTube and already racked up close to 25,000 views!

Does this remind you of that Tom Hanks movie Terminal?

My adventures in the Pittsburgh International Airport during the worst snow storm of the century. After arriving late for a flight at 7:40 PM to LGA I decided to stick around my gate until my flight at 5:40 and had a BLAST!

Pittsburgh Parking Chair Museum

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:17:30 +0000

The Classic Pittsburgh Parking Chair

Welcome to Pittsburgh’s Official Parking Chair Museum. We’ve compiled this gallery to celebrate a local phenomenon that has become the universally accepted no parking sign in the Burgh – or should we say “sNOw parking” sign. Thanks to the Blizzard of 2010, the streets of Pittsburgh are starting to look like a cross between Ikea and a flea-market. Help us add some witty captions to the pictures below…

If you’re proud of your parking chair, send a picture to snOMG@boringpittsburgh.com and we’ll feature it here!

Watching the sunset

Pittsburgh Parking Ironing Board =/

Pittsburgh Parking Ladder =/

Giant Eagle wants their cart back

What the heck is this thing? Not a chair.

Stupid chair tricks

Pittsburgh Parking Tire

Go Steelers!

Cars and chairs playing hide and seek

A vacuum! LOL

Photo sent in by "mccollum.pa14"

Councilman Bill Peduto's lime green chaise lounger parking chair!

"CHAIR" sent in by Jessica R.

Parking Chair Art sent in by Will Masalehdan

2010 Pittsburgh International Auto Show Recap

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:28:44 +0000

In case you missed the 2010 International Auto Show because of the snow, Pitt News reporter, David Beitzel give us a mini tour of the show – with a great sense of humor.

The auto show ran between February 11th and 15th at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Surprisingly, they kept the doors open all throughout the blizzard.

So what’s it gonna be, the Smart Car or the monster truck?

Creation Rex Snowball Fight at CMU

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:59:48 +0000

CreationRex over at CMU engaging in an epic snowball battle

While everyone was crying about the blizzard, a little bit of snow wasn’t stopping Creation Rex from having fun. The students at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh were being boring, so he took a stroll all the way over to CMU to see “how the smartypants were doing”. He found fun all right… a massive snowball fight with 15 against 1!

Who do you think won the battle?

Shepard Fairey Gone, His Art Still Here

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:30:00 +0000

The Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand exhibit at The Andy Warhol Museum is over but his artwork is still lingering around. If you are wondering how he got those creepy looking faces all over the buildings around town, watch the TV above as he and his crew hit up the Brillobox in Lawrenceville. He also talks a little about the difference between the art community in Pittsburgh and New York (and how the Burgh is better!).

Find all of Shepard Fairey’s outdoor murals on this map.

How’s My Street? Snow Removal Progress

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:37:14 +0000

How's My Street road condition map

The snow plows are doing a lousy job of clearing the streets, don’t wait for the news to tell you which streets are ok. CityZenMobile recently launched a free service called How’s My Street that allows you to instantly report road conditions and snow removal progress in Pittsburgh. Perfect timing in light of the blizzard and countless unplowed streets!

How’s My Street was invented by the creators of YinzCam and iBurgh. It’s easy to use and does a great job of spreading the word about which streets are passable or not passable. Just find your street on the map, click, then fill out the report. Your report is sent to Twitter so all of the @howsmystreet followers are automatically notified of local road conditions.

How’s My Street is currently hosted on a Carnegie Mellon ECE page and displays the Carnegie Mellon University logo at the bottom. We’re wondering if these guys created this site during the blizzard or if it was a product they already planned to release. It’s a great source of exposure for their CityZenMobile project which should be released soon.

At the time of this article, only one street (Beechwood Blvd in Squirrel Hill) was reported as “clear”. Are your roads clear?

This is the report form. Quick and simple so no excuses not to use it.

Brought to us by ECE developers at Carnegie Mellon University

@howsmystreet on Twitter, Pittsburgh road conditions are automatically tweeted.

Update: CityZenMobile updated the link to HowsMyStreet. They also added a counter to the top left that displays the number of reports and time the site has been running.

Blizzard + Military Humvees = G20 Memories

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:37:27 +0000

National Guard called in to help with the blizzard in Pittsburgh

On Monday, the mayor of Pittsburgh welcomed the National Guard to help out in the aftermath of the 2010 Blizzard. About 300 troops were called upon to assist the city’s public safety workers. In addition to lending a helping hand, Humvees have been seen patrolling the streets of city neighborhoods.

This might not be the worst winter storm in Pittsburgh’s history, but it might be the first time the military was called in because of snow. According to the original news report by KDKA, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said:

We will also begin to have the National Guard patrol our neighborhoods to deal with any issues that come up… So city residents, be advised that you will begin to see National Guard Humvees in some of your neighborhoods beginning this evening.

Other cities got hit even harder than us (Philly got 28 inches!) but the Burgh got lucky with the Humvee helpers – as long as the Hummers aren’t equipped with those annoying LRADs. We wouldn’t want kids going deaf over snowball fights and sled-riding. Come on people, this is a snowstorm, not the G20!

How do you feel about the military being called upon to help with a snowstorm?

At the University of Pittsburgh, Forbes Avenue via @Digeratii

At Pitt Campus on Forbes Avenue via @Digeratii