Time to learn your Zip Codes

So ... I was listening to our News - Jazz - NPR Radio Station here in PGH tonight. They were having their pledge drive so I decided to renew my membership with them over the internet (while a nice Tito Puente track played in the background).

After the song was over, the DJ was giving the usual 'shout outs' to the pledges ... mine was the only one they received during the song so he thanked me, pronouncing my last name correctly (which is surprising) and he went on to say that 'Jason is from Pittsburgh, from the 15206 area code. I believe that is the Robinson Township area ... yeah ... Crafton ... that 15206 area out West is a big area ... he's somewhere out there.'

He couldn't be more wrong. I live on the East Side of PGH. 15206 is in the Eastside. I wanted him to know that. Upsetting! I wanted him to shout 'Morningside Represent!'

The DJ barely finished his sentence before my phone was already ringing. Actually, two different friends who were listening to the broadcast heard my name and my location mix up and decided to call me and have a laugh.

Why I was late for work today ...

I knew the deer liked the myrtle I planted in my backyard but now it appears the turkeys like it too.


I spent about 1/2 hour this morning watching two turkeys acting all confused in my backyard. It appears one turkey made it over into my neighbor's yard, which is completely fenced in, and then couldn't find it's way back out.

My neighbor and I sat on our respective back porches, drank coffee, and watched the two confused turkeys try to figure out the whole scenario.


We finally made a big enough commotion to give the 'caged' turkey a scare to get it airborn and up over the fence. I wish I had tried to get a picture of the turkey while it was in the air ... not everyday you see a bird that big taking flight ... plus their wingspan is pretty impressive.

Visiting Pittsburgh

Hello, my name is Jason and I will be serving as your tour guide for the weekend ...

As I mentioned before, I had friends visiting with me from out of town from last Thursday through today, Monday ... I made sure that there was never a dull moment while they were here.

Our activities included, but were not limited to:

... a few dinners and many martinis at Soba, Thai Gourmet and The Red Room

... shopping at the Grove City Outlet Malls

... a nice stroll through the Carnegie Museum of Art - One friend visiting is currently working on his Masters in Art History (with a focus on American Modernist Stuart Davis) at VCU so we went to the museum to see pghs collection. (nice that we have one Davis painting in the collection.)

... an afternoon visit up to Mt. Washington for the greatest view.

... some time at Phipps Conservatory - Glass artist Dale Chihuly is currently on display there. I encourage anyone to see his work before the show is over.

... lunch at Primanti Bros.- the out-of-towners were intrigued to try our city's famous sandwiches

... and some local beer, perogies and prayer at the Church Brew Works

ATF 2007

So the Alt. Transportation Festival went well on Friday. I ended up working at the Southside Works site from 9am to 8pm. 11+ hours in the heat and sun setting up and tearing down tables and chairs, greeting and helping out programmers, sound equipment people and entertainers, helping with the parking of the display bus and cars, setting up bins and collecting recyclables and just some general goofing off with my fellow ATF staff.

Here are some pics I took during the day at our site.
... and a small video provided by the Post Gazette.

The attendance at our site was a little slow during the day but it picked up nicely once the 9 to 5 workday finished. The other two sites of the ATF did really well though and i think everyone was pleased with the information and entertainment that was provided.

I was exhausted, sweaty and very dirty by the end of the day but I decided to stop at a new art gallery since it was First Fridays over in the Eastside and a friend had some new art she was showing. I figured if I went home first, I'd end up collapsing and not making it back out since I was so tired ... plus I needed to unwind with some free alcoholic beverages. I ended the night over at the Sprout Fund for their open house party which was still pretty crowded at 11pm (it started at 5pm). Sprout funded a good portion of the ATF with a nice sized grant so it was cool to see everyone and celebrate a successful event. More free beer, lots of friends and 'J Mall$' DJing some funk & soul tunes ... a pretty good ending to a very long but fun day.

Still very busy ..

Tonight and tomorrow should be my final meetings regarding the programming and scheduling of the Alt. Trans Festival happening this Friday. I have not been too involved with the event planning this time around (my biggest contribution was setting up and coordinating people to do Chair Massages at each of the sites during the all day event). Too bad too since they are paying $35/ hr to the people involved in helping with the coordination and execution of this event.

Tonight is also the first planning meeting for the next step in the 48 Film Project. Another short film must be made, this time competing on a National Level. Hopefully I can contribute some more original music to the project.

I also have a few friends arriving from out of town this Thursday to stay with me through the weekend so we can attend our Alma Mater's homecoming. I'm not too big on celebrating the place it took me 5 years to graduate from due to failing grades ... I go up there for an excuse to hit the Outlet Malls.

I also have been working on a new song:
Untitled #10 (incomplete lo res version)
Contains elements of:
Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks (for the drums - sped up and rearranged)
The Shadows - Scotch on the Rocks (for the bass line - also slightly rearranged)
and some song by the Syd Dale Orchestra (for the horns)

'Uncle Cracker' turns 30

We celebrated 'Uncle Cracker' finally turning 30 the other day at Thai Gourmet in Bloomfield(although his birthday isn't until this weekend ... but he'll be away in Philly and Atlantic City partying it up big time).

Big ups to 'Clover' for coordinating the celebration, having a plethora of appetizers arriving at the table as we sat down and also having the staff bring out an ice-cream cake and party hats she dropped off earlier in the day.

You would think the theme of his party was the Pittsburgh Steelers judging from all of the Steeler memorabilia he received as gifts ... but the 'My Little Pony' place settings indicated otherwise.

After dinner, we drank some over priced drinks at the Red Room ...

then retreated back to 'Clover' and 'Cracker's' house where our friend 'JimmyAndrewForest' pronounced 'Uncle Cracker' the winner of the evening.

Thanks to 'Mrs. Jones' for the photos.

Filler

I have a few things to write about ('Uncle Cracker's' My Little Pony Birthday Party, visits from 'Vince Deadly' and '1/2 Jewish Princess Aprilla' and the last Pirate game I went to) but I don't feel like it right now ... I'm busy and I must gather my thoughts ...

so in the meantime, for some filler, I give you an Eddie Izzard skit (played out by Legos):
(NSFW due to language)

Brazil - 4 vs USA - 0

Oh well. The USA Women's Team's 50 game winning streak is over ... and Brazil moves into the finals against defending world cup winner Germany.

Brazil was the better team even with all of the controversy surrounding the game.

Although, the double yellow card foul that took Shannon Boxx out of the game was still a horrible call. USA should not have been playing the game a player down.

Halftime report

Disastrous first half for the USA women's team in the semi finals against Brazil. Brazil leads 2 - 0 ... with USA actually scoring one of those goals in their own goal by accident ... and one USA player is already out of the game with a double yellow card (horrible, horrible call by the ref), leaving the US playing a person down. Ugh.

USA - 3 vs ENG - 0

Now, back to bed.

Women's World Cup Soccer

I've been watching it lately ... I've caught bits and pieces of many different games and I've watched all 3 games the United States have played so far but this morning is the first game I got to watch live as it was happening.

Since the WWC is taking place in China, all of the games are broadcasted live here in the States at ridiculous hours in the morning. This morning, however, the game started live at 8am so I decided to stay home and watch it. The other two games were played at 5am our time so I had to catch them rebroadcasted later.

(what has having cable done to me?)

USA won 1 to 0 over Nigeria today and have advanced on to the next round to play England this Saturday at 8am.

Fly! be free!

Yup, I let the mouse go last night. I thought about keeping him for a second but then I realized really didn't want to spend any money on buying even the bare necessities it would take to keep some small animal I found in my backyard. He seemed to be in pretty good health - he was way more alert and energetic than he was the day before - so I let him go in the back yard right around the same place I found him.

I wouldn't be surprised if I see him hanging around though. I ended up staying outside to do some weeding last night and the mouse just hung out around me for the entire time I was out there.

oh hai!

Seems my friends are already having fun with this ...

Photo given the "I can has Cheeseburger" treatment by Jack Wilson.

kthxbai

Another Busy Weekend

Saw some bands, ate some great food, hung out with friends.

Saw the great psychedlic, organ, funk duo Eymarel play live at the shadowlounge. If you ever get a chance to seem them please don't hesistate.

Hit up the Ellsworth Avenue Arts Festival and caught local friends Soma Mestizo onstage.

Got to see Brother Mike DJing some deep house music outside at the festival.

Checked out the Duke of Ribs competition at the Union Project Saturday afternoon. Got there late so I only got to sample 2 of the 11 chefs competing. Still worth it though. Plus I stuffed my face on some Mac n' Cheese.

I also finally got to put a face with the voice of Tony Mowod, legendary Jazz radio personality, since he was a judge of the rib contest.
He looked nothing like I thought he would.

Netflix Update

I'm still sitting here on the unwatched disc 5 of the first season of Heroes on DVD ... it's been 7 days since I posted about my queue mishap and I am still waiting on discs 3 and 4. 7 Days ... and according to the website those discs aren't shipping until today so I won't be receiving them until tomorrow. 8 days. That's a pretty long turn around don't you think? Damn you Netflix.

Say hello to my little friend ...

I found this little guy yesterday morning when I was watering my newly planted lawn. I apparently doused him with the hose because I didn't see him until he was a small, rolled up ball of wet fur cowering in the corner by my retaining wall. When I approached him he didn't run, instead he just sat there trembling. I must have traumatized him ... plus it was a pretty chilly day so the cold water from the hose didn't help. I felt bad so I picked him up, wrapped him in a towel and put him in a box so he could warm back up before I let him go.

Around 1pm some friends came over and I took them outside to show them my new friend. That's when I noticed another small field mouse sitting over by my retaining wall. This one didn't run either when I approached it. It was weird. I let the first mouse go since he was dry by now, placing him next to the other mouse. Again, they just sat there ... sniffing around looking up at us. It was sort of surreal.

I checked back outside later in the day to see if they were still hanging around but didn't see any sign of either of them.

Then around 7pm, I was telling a friend who wasn't around earlier in the day about the mice ... I pointed outside to where I found them and low and behold, there was one of the little guys sitting by the retaining wall again ... rolled up in a little ball, shaking like crazy.

This time I grabbed him and brought him into the house. The temperature last night was going down into the 40's and it appeared that this mouse was not handling it well. I wrapped him up again (assuming this was the same mouse from earlier in the day) and put him in a tall 5 gallon bucket with some bread and cheese. He was acting pretty lethargic, eyes half closed ... kind of just laying motionless in the towel. I let him rest for a few hours.

Finally, around 10pm I picked the little guy up and shoved a piece of cheese in his face to see if he would eat it and almost instantly the little guy started to come back to life. He grabbed the cheese and scarfed it down.


He was back. He started climbing around, sniffing, looking at me ... I put him down and he started scampering around the bucket. It was pretty funny. I was still amazed though at how tame this mouse was ... not trying to run away ... but rather coming to me when I held a piece of cheese up to him. For a second I thought that maybe I found a new pet ...

Anyway, the mouse spent the night in the bucket and he seemed pretty lively this morning when I checked on him. The temperature is going back up into the 70's today so I plan on letting him go when I get home from work ... unless I get home to find him sporting some khakis and red Chucky T's and riding around in a convertible ... then I think I might just have to keep him.

The End.

Netflix

Wow, did I ever screw up my queue. Since I hardly watch cable TV, I'm trying to watch the first season of 'Heroes' on DVD right now. It's a 7 disc set and I watched disc 1 and 2 through Netflix and then I received disc 5. Huh? Now I have to wait until later this week to get disc 3 and 4 before I can watch 5 ... all because I wasn't paying attention.

Not that it's news worthy ... just pretty dumb on my part for not noticing this before they shipped. I hate having a Netflix movie laying around for a week because I don't have time to watch it ... but this is even worse ... I have the time but I'm out of sequential order.

and actually, so far, the show isn't doing it for me. It's kind of getting there but we'll see.

This Thursday

Jack's been nimble ... Jack's been quick ... Jack's got a new EP coming out this week.

There will be free CDs of Jack Wilson's latest EP given out this Thursday at the Shadowlounge. The new EP will feature a new remix I did of the song 'One Day at a Time' - an original song Jack and I did together over a year ago. You'll have to come out to the show to check it out.

Jack will also be performing that night with his other collaboration, Wovoka.

... and don't sleep on catching the psychedelic organ sounds of Eymarel from North Carolina.

Plenty of talent and entertainment this Thursday Night ... all for $5 ... plus free CDs and free Hors d'oevres from Kevin Sousa, nationally known for his Alchemy Dinners at the Bigalow Grill.

Alt. Transportation Fest.

I did however meet with Nathaniel Doyno of Steel City Biofuels on Labor Day morning to discuss the Alternative Transportation Fest that he is coordinating to take place here in Pittsburgh on October 5th. This will be the next project/committee I will be working with in my spare time.
The ATF is an event to raise public awareness of alternative means of transportation and advocate for the use of public transportation, car-sharing, alternative fuels, and human-powered vehicles. This project will combine internationally observed events with Pittsburgh’s own innovations and activities.

The combination of a vital public transit system, locally-led innovation in alternative fuels and vehicles, and a growing community of activists and operators makes Pittsburgh an urban center at the forefront of alternative transportation solutions to pressing national and international issues on fossil fuel consumption, carbon-based pollution and urban living.

Planned festival activities (at 3 seperate locations; Southside Works on the Southside, Market Sq in Downtown and Schenley Plaza in Oakland) include bike repair workshops, a “bike-buddy program”, a shower subsidy at the downtown YMCA for cyclists, biodiesel production and straight vegetable oil conversion workshops, free music and food, speakers, alternative transportation art and writing competitions, raffles (with significant prizes like free bus fare for a year, one year FlexCar membership, an expensive bike, one months worth of biodiesel or ethanol, etc.), car-sharing and car-pooling demos, alternative fuel vehicle, hybrid, and “Smart-Car” demos, a themed scavenger hunt, location specific prizes based on size of participants carbon footprints, and carbon foot print inflatibles.

We hope that the event will decrease the number of daily commuters that drive alone, increase public transit rider ship levels and utilization of the “Ride, Rack & Roll” program, strengthen efforts to secured dedicated funding for public transit, increase the number of daily commuter cyclists and participation in cycling programs, increase awareness about bike safety issues, increase the number of participants in car-sharing and car-pooling programs, increase the number of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles, and increase the use of alternative fuels.

Socially Lazy

Wow ... I've been socially lazy these last few days ... and there was so much going on here in 'burgh. I mean ... I've been busy doing other stuff, working on my backyard (given) and visiting family over Labor Day Weekend. I just wasn't feeling like going out and being social ... which is definitely *not* my usual M.O.

Jeez, here is what I missed these last few days:

1. Foghat - Heinz Field free concert - Even without the original lead singer, they are always worth checking out. I got to see them, I think it was in 94, opening up for REO Speedwagon. ah ... you know you can't fight the feeling.

2. The Big Throwback Funk & Soul Party - Brillobox - again, over 200 people there before midnight. Actually, I was okay with missing this month's party. I needed a break from the usual crowded, sweaty, too cool for school dance off.

3. Omega Love with The Mandrake Project and DJ Supa C - Rex Theater - You couldn't ask for a better lineup of Pgh local musicians and Mandrake Project is definitely becoming one of my favorite bands to see live here in the 'burgh. Too bad the show was on the Southside on a friday night. Lack of parking and too many publicly intoxicated college kids keep me away from that side of town on the weekends.

4. Mifune - Shadowlounge - Cleveland Afro Electronique Music - solid music from this crew though I have never actually seen them live. My only exposure to them is their last album, a gift given to me from the lead singer of Kokolo.

5. James Brown vs. George Clinton Funkierweight Champion of the World DJ Battle - Shadowlounge - Enough said.

6. Bad Company - Heinz Field free concert - okay ... this I could miss since Paul Rogers is no longer with them.