From the depths of Metblogs, once again comes…a kitteh.

As I mentioned briefly before, I’m looking for more writers.

Here’s the deal: We (Metblogs authors) write because we love the cities we live in (now granted, I consider Southwestern PA to be Pittsburgh.  I spend enough time romping through Westmoreland and Fayette counties to know we’re all Burghers).  All you have to do is write about Pittsburgh.  Anything that is related to Pittsburgh.  I tend to write about transportation, culture-type things and fun things I see when I’m walking to and from my bus stop.  If you want to write about those things too, that’s awesome!  I don’t know much about Pittsburgh politics, since I live in the suburbs, and I tend to only follow hockey.  We’re pretty irreverent here sometimes, we have fun with what we write.  If we don’t, what’s the point?

What do you get out of being a Metblogs author?  Well, I keep getting invited to things, for free!  I’ve seen a bunch of special preview shows, gotten to interview awesome people who I would normally not have access to, and also, every now and then, just get free stuff.  I’ve gotten a lot of exposure for my own blog, and made friends in other cities because of the community of authors.

And, here’s the fun thing, since I’m Captain now, I can give you stuff.  Case in point, at least every other month (but I’ll try for monthly), we’ll have an author meet-up, and the first round of drinks is on me (21+ only, younger authors can write, but I’ll be buying you something non-alcoholic).  That’s right, free drinks, just for writing about the city you love.  Seriously, where else are you going to find a deal like that?

What do you need to do?  Write about Pittsburgh.  That’s it.  I try to post at least once a day (sometimes I fail, hence the need for help).  The general rule is to post 2-3 times a week, but if you can’t, that’s okay too.  When we have a lot of authors, we just make sure that we don’t post over one another (that is, letting other posts sit at the top of the page at least an hour, and scheduling of posts does that easily), unless something is happening live.  I post a lot from my phone (you can post from a flip phone, Android, or iOS device).

If you’re interested, send me a message, I’d love to see some previous online writing if you have some, and if you don’t, that’s okay too, I’ll work with you, no worries.

As always, thanks for reading.

I was driving on McKnightmare road when I got pummeled by rain.  However, nothing like this:

Photo credit: @junofive

Good gravy.  Stay dry and be safe out there!

So here’s the big update.   As you can see, we’re not going away!  The servers went down for a few hours, and again later for about ten minutes for some maintenance, but we’re here to stay.

Mobile uploading is up, and I’ll be testing it out tomorrow, so look for a post as I walk up The Hill (I’ll give you a hint, it involves Fleury).

The other big news (at least to me), is that I’m now officially the city captain!  Now I’ll be able to bug people to add them as authors.  I’ll have another post up about that, but basically, I want more people to write for Metblogs.  I’ve gotten all kinds of free tickets and invited to cool events since I’m a writer for Metblogs.  I’ll even throw in author meet-ups (maybe every other month or so), and I’ll buy the first round of drinks.

Authors just need to be able to post a few times a week as they’re able, and the posts have to be about Pittsburgh.  Other than that, you’re free to write about anything.  I write a lot about theater and transportation, as well as things I see as I walk around town, but you can cover whatever you want.  But like I said, I’ll post more about that later.

There are some cool things coming down the pipe, I can’t wait to help roll them out.  In the meantime, if you have any suggestions as to what you want to see, hit me up in the comments, I’m always happy to do a new project (like The July Project), or cover what people are interested in.

Thanks for reading, I’m really glad you’re here.

Image Source

Just waiting for tonight.

I was not able to watch the game on the big screen yesterday, but for those that did: cheese steak!

The Wildside: In need of a new name for its facelift

Last Thursday, the state gaming board awarded  the last resort casino license to Nemacolin Woodlands, a short drive south of Pittsburgh, making way for up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games.

For those unfamiliar, Nemacolin is pretty much the center of opulence in Fayette County, and houses a five diamond French restaurant that I felt poor just walking past, not to mention the polo fields, immense art collection, cigar bar and various other attractions that will empty your wallet, although not as fast as the soon to be renovated Wildside.

The Wildside, which, presumably is where Joe Hardy will put in the new casino was originally built (and more importantly, wired) to be a casino.  It sits on Route 40, easy to access, with plenty of parking. Inside you’ll find a bar, pool tables, a restaurant, climbing walls, exotic bird enclosure, arcade, bowling alley and a giant model train.  The building was first a sporting and outdoor goods store, which has since relocated to downtown Uniontown, so it appears that in the end, everything comes full circle.

However, the name announced is pretty awful: Lady Luck Nemacolin.  This is a world-class resort that resides on Lafeyette Drive, has a restaurant named Laurtec and one (of two) golf courses named Mystic Rock.  The best they could come up with is “Lady Luck Nemacolin?”  Where is the glamor and excitement in a name like that?

I did a straw poll at work and it was unanimous: the name stinks.  Here’s hoping that they come up with something more grand, and soon.

The strangest thing about all of this: there is no mention of the awarding of the casino license on the Nemacolin website.  Some of the neighbors still think they will run into a few snags along the way, but to an outsider, it seems like a done deal.  Let’s hope Route 40 will get a few turning lanes (and better upkeep in the winter)!

Pitt News has an excellent article about the upcoming filming of “The Dark Knight Rises” in downtown:

Before the hype spirals out of control, however, it seems necessary to reevaluate how much Pittsburgh will actually benefit from its “Dark Knight” spotlight and whether that spotlight will be the public relations miracle some have hoped for. I, for one, doubt that the film will lead audiences to revise their perceptions of our city; that — at the risk of sounding like a downer — this film is really our ticket to long-overdue respect.

Tybout continues to discuss the fact that most of what we see of Gotham, at least in the action sequences, are dark alleyways and other small locations, although he thinks (and I have to agree) that parts of Pittsburgh’s skyline, especially PPG Place, will most likely be spotted in the final cut of the film.

As awesome is it is that Nolan and his cast and crew will be in town to film, I can’t imagine Pittsburgh fitting into Gotham, or Batman coming to the Steel City as part of the storyline (on a side note, for those that know, where in the U.S. is Gotham, or is that never discussed in the comics?).

Once again we see more evidence as Pittsburgh becoming a small Hollywood of the East, and it’s great to get the recognition and the publicity that this city deserves.

Now, who else thinks that we should get the Bat Signal?

I’ve been hearing a lot about the Ravens telling the NFL commissioner that they don’t want to play any nationally televised games at Heinz Field this upcoming season.  Most of this week I heard it on the radio every day.

However, I’ve been searching, and the only references I can find are about the 2009-2010 season.  I’ve seen a few forum posts scattered around, and they are current, but they don’t like to any new articles.

Has anyone heard differently?  Or is this a non-story (at least this season)?

I’m not sure if it will embed or not, so just in case, here’s the link to the Star morning show’s Peep Olympics:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aEeUa40tYw[/youtube]

Give me another one to figure out!