I know, I know, you probably don’t want to hear it, but Monday is the last day to register to vote, so I’m being told.

If you live in Pa, click here and you can see if you are registered.  Other states can try this site (although I haven’t used it).

Afterward, you can head to votesPA, to find information about polling location, issues and absentee ballots.

The general election isn’t until November, but please make sure you’re registered, otherwise you won’t be able to vote!  And then you’ll miss out on all those bake sales at the polling locations!  Remember, vote early, vote often and buy lots of pastries for good causes!

Protest outside the Federal Building, taken from the bus.  “Big Brother is Watching” was the only sign I could read as we went past, although some people were clapping, so apparently someone was speaking.

There are just a few days left to help Conflict Kitchen reach their goal to open Bolani Pazi.  It’s a great project, one that I wish I could write more eloquently about.  But since I can’t, I’ll let Kristen take it:

Yet, that’s just what we do. We demonize the citizens of countries the United States is in conflict with.

We act as if people don’t have families they love, jobs to go to, hobbies and interests just the way we do.

We act as if the Russians-Iranians-Syrians-Afghanis, (and the list goes on,) DON’T love their children, too.

…

And think about doing something to change the world we live in today. In a small way. By acknowledging the humanity of someone you’ve never met. By tasting the world they live in.

…

World Peace isn’t some amorphous, impossible thing. World Peace is all of us, doing something, even something small, to make it happen.

Find out more about Conflict Kitchen here, and chip in a few bucks over at Kickstarter here.

Update: Thanks for everyone’s help, Conflict Kitchen reached it’s goal and will be funded!  You can still chip in some money (and get some cool gifts in return).

Time seems to really fly, and I was too busy to go this year, but if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, it’s your last chance to check out the Ren Fest until next year.

Cast in bronze is an awesome performance, and the Washing Wenches were a lot of fun (and strangely not too bad for children while still entertaining enough for the adults).  If you see the joust, either see all the performances throughout the day, or just go to the last one.  Just seeing the middle joust was disappointing.  I didn’t get to see Flourish and Fool last year, but their act looks really good.

And of course, the food.  Soup in a breadbowl is awesome, especially if there is a chill in the air.  Turkey legs are also awesome, and last year and ate in a Pirates Pub area, a new addition since I had been there about eight years before.

So check it out, parking is free, it’s easy to get to, and is a lot of fun.  There might even still be discount ticket coupons available at some 7-11’s.

I’m hearing reports that thre is a fire downtown.

A coworker walked by and said she thinks the Mellon building was being evacuated, and I just read on twitter that the fire is spreading and the county courthouse is being evacuated as well.

The Post-Gazette reports on it here, from their reporting it is just the county courthouse.

Conflicting reports, but I’ll keep looking to see what I can find.

Update: What I gather is the fire was limited to the county courthouse, and smoke travelled through the HVAC system mostly.  The building remains closed the rest of the day, and I’ve heard of no injuries.  Buses are no longer being detoured and service has been restored to Grant Street, but Port Authority warns of residual delays

Penn Station reopened yesterday!  Thank freaking goodness.  The opening was delayed, which all things considered, was not unexpected or too terrible of an inconvenience (it is construction after all).  However, it seems to have (knocking on wood here), reset the bus schedules and brought things back on track.

I say this after one day of having the right bus at the right time.  Which, should not be something to celebrate…but, well, you know…

Since July, my bus has rarely showed up on time (normally one of the three I can catch home doesn’t show up, causing a snowball affect), or so terribly overcrowded that I physically don’t have room to stand.  And again, I have to praise the two hardest working people at PAT that I know of, the two who run @pghtransit, they have helped me out so many times I really should buy them a coffee or something at the very least (I hope their bosses appreciate them…hint hint).

A couple things to praise PAT though, the station looks awesome.  There wasn’t really anything done that I could tell to the two long sidewalks, except new handicap access with the bumpy strips, but the road itself looks pretty awesome.  Over next to the post office/federal court building, the sidewalk was completely redone and looks nice, although I haven’t walked on it yet.

One really nice thing was that there was a crossing guard yesterday.  The pedestrians have this “free for all” mentality at Penn Station, so whoever had that guard there to help direct traffic, I can’t promise that those behaviors will stick, but it was nice.

Once again, I’m thrilled that things are going back to normal, we’ll see how the rest of the week pans out.  We shouldn’t have had to wait four months for a fix, but I’ll chalk it up to a win nonetheless.

Waffle Shop put up a great video showcasing Iranian food, which was being featured at Conflict Kitchen.  Stick around until the end for the cooking-show-esque demonstration:

If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need to install Flash Player if it’s missing. Get Flash Player from Adobe.

Set designer Tony Ferrieri

What do trains, stinkbugs, raincoats, Iron City and umbrellas have in common?  Pop in tomorrow to find out.

Note: once again posting from my phone, I apologize for any wonkiness.  I will be able to clean it up later if need be.

Good gravy, that was strange.  Apparently WordPress did not like my mobile upload, should be fixed now!

Quantum Theater opens it Neighborhood Initiative with their production of “When the Rain Stops Falling,” featuring an all-local cast.  They invited a small group of patrons and bloggers to their technical rehearsal and allowed us the chance to walk around, take pictures, and talk with some of the cast and crew.  Sadly, I didn’t grab the names of any of the other bloggers (I was off looking around) except for Joe and Betsy, but they’ll be posting about it soon I imagine.

I am really excited about the Neighborhood Initiative as a way to engage the local community and as a form of outreach to not only theater goers and patrons, but entire neighborhoods.  I’ll be interested to see where else Quantum will be going over the next 18 months.  During the run of “Rain,” you can stop by Church Brew Works for a special three-course meal.

This production takes place in the Iron City Brewery, a sign with the letter Q marks where to turn off Liberty onto Sassafras Street.  The location, simply put, is awesome.  We got to explore a little bit beyond where the production is, which was a lot of fun.  The space itself is heated, and a bit cavernous, offering seating for 150 at each performance on custom built risers (a tradition of Quantum).  The set is extremely wide, which puts the audience off center, but I really liked the affect.  Other performances of “Rain” around the world have featured rotating stages or giant water machines, making it rain.  Iron City Brewery offers not only the room to create one large set and giant set pieces, but the projection of stars onto the exposed insulation of the walls and ceiling, creating a beautiful scene.

Being a technical rehearsal, lights and sounds were being cued and adjusted, and it was great to see the actors interact with the small audience as things were fiddled with.  There was one stinkbug that got shooed away, and a scene was restarted at one point as we waited for a train to pass.

Set design by Tony Ferrieri

That is one of the hallmarks of Quantum though, being outside of normal theater spaces offers a chance for the world to interact and be part of the production, for good or for ill.  I couldn’t help but hope for rain during at least some of the performances.  The sound and smell of a rainstorm I think would be a wonderful addition to the already water-centric piece.

“When the Rain Stops Falling” opens Thursday and runs through November 21, and special nights with receptions and discussions have been planned.  Learn more and buy tickets online here.  Here is the official blurb to wet (oh, the pun) your appetite:

Seven people, bound together by blood and circumstance, share a story that stretches across time and place, from London in 1959 to the coast of Australia in 2039. Alone in a torrential downpour, one man finds himself on the receiving end of this legacy of secrecy, betrayal… and love. A fish falls from the sky. And the mysteries of his past begin to unfold.

A special thanks to Quantum Theater for allowing me to come to their rehearsal, poke around and interact with cast a crew, it was an absolute blast.  Check out the rest of my pictures here.

Just sayin’