not technically Bloomfield, but...

...close enough. Yesterday was the (unofficial) Friendship community yard sale event. I woke up fairly early and walked up and down some of the streets, hitting up about a half dozen yard sales.

My bounty included:
-books about subliminal messages in advertising
-a small, ceramic wiener dog
-a yoga mat & holder
-leather moccassins
-"The Royal Tennenbaums" Criterion Collection DVD

All in all, not a bad day! However, once I took everything home, I quickly realized that I needed to have a yard sale of my own. I have way too much junk.

There is a weekly Farmers' Market in the Immaculate Conception parking lot every Thursday from 3:30-7:30 p.m., from now through Thanksgiving.

Immaculate Conception Church Festival

This Wednesday through Saturday, June 25-28, Immaculate Conception Church is holding their annual festival. Aside from the usual carnival games and fair food, this place holds the most cut throat bingo games you'll ever encounter. Stay away from those foul-mouthed old ladies - they will seriously knock you down to get to their chips and call you every name in the book. My favorite part of this festival is the flea market in the basement - and if you go on the last day, you can fill a bag for a dollar or two. Somehow, I always manage to fill my bag.

another good show this week - members of one of my favorite bands

Wednesday June 18
a major event with some stars of Terrastock!
indie-folk from Cambridge, MA - ex-members of Magic Hour and Galaxie 500
DAMON & NAOMI (http://www.myspace.com/damonandnaomi)
with Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh (members of Espers and Ghost, new CD on Drag City)
and Pancreatic Aardvarks
8 pm $10 adv/$12 door
[Advance tickets on sale at Eide's Entertainment, Paul's CDs, Caliban Books, Wicked Discs,
Dave's Music Mine, Slacker, and The Exchange Squirrel Hill.]

researching a cool old building

if you walk across the Millvale Bridge on your way from North Oakland to Bloomfield, you'll notice a creepy building with lots of security cameras, a fenced in walkway, and very few windows tucked away in the hollow under the bridge. I've heard many speculations about this place - that it housed animal experimentation, secret government groups, and generally shady/scary stuff. Recently, my nebbiness got the best of me and I found a way to google it. The proper address is 720 Gross Street. Most recently, it was a research facility for West Penn Hospital, but it was recently for sale. You can see the real estate listing for it here.



So it's current status isn't that exciting but it's past life is actually pretty awesome. This facility used to house the Three Rivers Computer Corporation. They were there from 1980-1986. They were a branch of the computer science dept. of CMU and helped create some of the earliest computers and software. Even better, looks like they really knew how to party. Here's a link to some really fantastic old photos.

take a walking tour

Here's a link to a really great walking tour of Bloomfield, complete with wonderful pictures: click

Oh, the humidity!

For the past two weeks, I've been stuck in Harrisburg for work, but I've been told that they've started filling the Bloomfield pool and it's set to open on June 13!

this is especially exciting for me because it is less than a block away from my apartment. I am anticipating some weekend swimming very soon.

Sunday Night Hayride @ Howler's

I was gonna post my own description of local country drinkin' band the Beagle Brothers, but I think their website says it best:

"Known as Bloomfield's best live band (superlative added for emphasis), Pittsburgh's Beagle Brothers fuse punk rock sensibility with first rate traditional country music. Live performances often consist of three full sets of two-steppin' country twang, followed by a Yuengling fueled set of 80s power ballads. These eclectic performances feature high energy delivery and direct crowd interaction as the Beagle Brothers incorporate numerous sing-along hits from the underground of the American country catalog."

Basically, they're awesome. Every other Sunday, they host the Sunday Night Hayride at Howler's Coyote Cafe. They invite other country/folk groups from all over the place to join them, and there's always some free vegan food. If you hate Mondays as much as Garfield, this is a good remedy for forgetting.

meet me at the big yellow joint

Woo-hoo, A new business has opened on Liberty Ave. right next to the Pleasure Bar- the Banana Stand! Apparently it's all homemade ice cream, shakes, custard, etc., with an emphasis on bananas. Banana (and Arrested Development) fans, rejoice!