With the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations kicking off this weekend (I have to pull out my big hat), a few items that I’ve recently learned about Pittsburgh drinkers.

First, when you go to a bar and practically empty your pockets/purse onto the bar, that’s a Pittsburgh thing.  And I”m very guilty of this, I almost always have my wallet and cell phone on the bar in front of me, and typically leave them there (even if I go to the bathroom).

Also another dead giveaway that you’re from Pittsburgh: leaving a $20 bill (or some other denomination) on the bar and expecting the bartender to make change from it (and you’ll presumably pull out tips as well) as you order more rounds.

Both of the above items have tipped off bartenders in other cities that the people telling me these stories (bartenders themselves) were from Pittsburgh.  Thankfully, some people are kind enough that if they see you drop dow na $20 bill for a bottle of [insert your favorite beer here], they’ll make some comment about you being a Yinzer and then make change accordingly.  Asshats will take the entire $20 as payment and tip.

Be safe out there this weekend, enjoy the drinking!

The offical site of the Penguins (and Pensblog and That’s Church) is reporting that Sid is back on the ice, skating for about 15 minutes in full gear.

Great news to hear,hopefully he’ll be back on the ice for games sooner than I thought.

Check out the full story and video here.

Coming up later this week, I’m heading to East Liberty for a special preview of Quantum Theatre’s latest production, “Maria de Buenos Aires.”

Quantum has been gracious enough to once again reach out to local bloggers and invite them to a preview of their 2010-2011 season which features their neighborhood initiative.  I’m looking forward to it, and think I’ll be taking a few trips on the East Busway to do it this time, so I’m sure that will provide an entertaining post as well.

Check back later this week for (hopefully) some pictures and a write up of the East Liberty YMCA and Quantum’s latest production.

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.

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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]