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.

Tonight’s game marks the official home opener of the Consol Center.  Players will be making red carpet entrances at the AE Gate (which I believe is the one closest to Epiphany Church and the Civic Arena) starting at 4:15.

The big screen (AKA, Mario’s TV) will be set up outside that gate as well, free and open to the public.

Those lucky enough (I hate you just a little) to have tickets should get to their seats by 6:30 (some reports say 6:45, but I’d say 6:30 just to be safe) for the pre-game opening ceremony and festivities.

So glad to have hockey season back!

Side note: I tried doing this post with a WordPress app on my new droid phone, didn’t work, but I’ll be on the lookout to make sure it didn’t accidently double or triple post.

Side note 2: Good gravy it posted five times!  I think we’re back down to just one.  Crazy technology!

Just sayin’

When you only have one open window (even though workers are at all the others) and a line of about twenty people, commenting loud enough for me to hear

The line keeps getting longer and longer, but it is their own fault.

Your customers get mad.

And I post it online.

Thought it was a fun sign.

Just a friendly reminder that today is election day.  Make sure to stop by your polling location to vote, as well as (hopefully) pick up some awesome baked goods at a sale.  It’s your civic duty.  You know, the eating.

• Need some help with election day, Lifehacker has you covered. 
• Here is a handy guide to candidates (just put in your address), although I think it only does national candiates, I even found out about a third party candidate who I really like! 
• It apparantly is getting hit with a lot of traffic, but this site is saying it will pull you up a sample ballot ahead of time.  Which is nice, I usually do the interactive one from the Post-Gazette, but they didn’t do it this year (at least, not the one that lets you see the issue of each candidate, then choose one, then at the end print out a ballot to take with you a reference). 
• Need to find out where to vote?  Click here. 
• And find out if you’re registered here. 
• And finally, check out voting machine demos and other information from the State here.

Update: Adding another link and made it a bullet list.