Blog of Josh Hall

With every week that goes by, I get so excited to see what Pittsburgh is going to look like in 2 years, or in 5 years, or even in 10 years.  There’s just so much going on, and I love to think about where my house is situated in all of it.

Point Park University is now the second largest realestate holder in the city, right after the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.  There have been tons of performance arts graduates that have gone on to Hollywood.  They most recently purchased the Honus Wagner sports store to keep in line with their plans to bring down the playhouse from Forbes Avenue in Oakland to their downtown campus.  They have so much going on at that school.  They’re converting the YMCA to a student center, they’re planning on building a new sports arena, and multiple theatres for shows.  What a site downtown will be when it’s tied all together with the market square development.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09041/948106-53.stm

I had mentioned the New Granada renovation plan in a previous post.  Shortly after that, they had 2 huge dumpsters lined up outside, lighting wired up inside, and they’re gutting the place pretty good it seems.  One night they had left the lights on, and I could see inside the large room just enough to be excited about one day being able to go in there.  They’ve also lined up all the financing they’ll need for the Kuhn’s super market too.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some movement on that land in the next month or so.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09041/948030-52.stm

Another project recently in the news was the Forbes and Fifth Avenue corridor that connects downtown and Oakland.  The new Consol Energy Arena is showing a lot of progress.  They have about 1/4 of the steel frames in place, and sections for the seating can be seen as well as the tubing for the glass framework side.  here’s a webcam link:  http://penguins.nhl.com/ext/html/webcam4.html   A local family owns a lot of property all around the area, and have been making waves since they’re just using it for parking lots.  they seem to be cooperating now, but they apparently have a history with the mob… http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09032/946197-52.stm 

how long has voicemail been around?  You think we know how to leave messages by now?  I’m on and off conference calls all day, and I waste a lot of time listening and waiting for prompts.  I wish there were options to adjust to avoid the messages.  There is this one that reads out the whole message of waiting for the prompt, then say your name, then press the pound sign.  It doesn’t even matter what you say there, but you have to wait for the whole thing before you can press # to skip it.  Ridiculous.  I want my time back.

Heaven.  That’s the only word I can use to describe Jay Walker’s (the brilliant brain/entrepreneur behind priceline.com) library.  I love it.  Every aspect of it.  The personalization, the M. C. Escher floors, the lighting, the collection, everything.  It’s perfect.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker?currentPage=all

Barack Obama is left handed.  He’s beleived to be only the 8th president to be a south paw.  To think, nuns used to slap our wrists if we didn’t use our right hands!  Sinistre forever!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09026/944465-51.stm

I was on facebook today and saw that Keren updated her website information.  She had made a wonderful website for her wedding.  As I looked through the pictures, listened to the music, and read her words, I cried.  I hope Robbie knows how lucky he is.

http://www.weddingwire.com/robandkeren

As I walk down Memory Lane,
The past runs like a river behind me.
Over the cliff, down the steep hill,
Trees protect us from falling back down.
They block the clear view of the river,
As mental scars block the pain of memories.
If we descend down the cliff of time passed,
And lose our footing, our bodies become like a plinko chip
Tumbling down, but never knowing where we’ll stop.
Some have made it down without a bruise.
Some have even taken out a tree or two.
Though you feel so close to all the river from above,
The view is always better from the top.
Though you think you’ll make it down just fine,
You’ll never make it back up to where you were.
Where you are. Where I am. Where we are.
As I walk further from the cliff’s view,
I look back, and wonder where I’d be without you.
Probably lost, injured, and hungry, somewhere in that valley
Foolishly looking for something familiar, but not knowing what.
With my hands hidden from the cold in my pocket,
I face the future, and begin walking.
Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.
Left foot, right foot…