Friday, October 27, 2006

Trader Joe's Comes To Pittsburgh

And gets full.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Painting on 'Ludes


I was happy to discover that my local PBS station is running something called "The Best of Joy of Painting." It's been ages since I encountered the soporific tones of artist Bob Ross, using housepainting brushes to magically conjur trees and fields and mountains from thin air.

He was working on a mountain waterfall, so I didn't see him paint any "happy little trees," but he there was a trippy moment when he told us to "begin thinking about all the mist that would happen down here" at the bottom of the waterfall. "It would hit and splash and churn and carry on. Probably make a lot of noise, too," he said, coincidentally drumming the canvas with the brush, just "a little bit of titanium white on the corner."

It was all so fascinating, the dark studio and the hypnotic voice and the stupid, coarse paintbrushes - and even palette knives - laying on smudges of paint that suddenly turned into such realistic images. I remember sitting on the wall-to-wall carpet in my grandmother's living room and watching this weirdo paint, wondering vaguely what my grandmother (an amateur oil painter herself) thought of him, and why all painters didn't work this way since his technique was so effective.

This particular episode broke up the painting with some strange video footage of two squirrels Bob said he'd raised and released. He said they were brothers, but for some reason they kept mounting each other.

And by accident, I also discovered a great new trick for watching the show: with TiVo you can watch it backwards. All the trees disappear!

Friday, October 06, 2006

My Trip to Venus

Flickr Photo Sharing
After passing this place for years, I finally got a chance to go in last month. (I stopped on the way back from my corn-picking trip near Mars, PA.) It's frequently closed when I'm out here, and I'm usually only there on the way to or from visiting relatives, so I don't get to stop for food.

The Venus Diner is on Rt. 8 north of Pittsburgh, near the PA Turnpike (Butler Valley exit?) and a few miles south of the town named Mars. I heard there's also a town near there named Venus. Various websites say it's from 1957 or 1959.

The exterior has seen better days, but the design is lovely, especially around the entrance.

Flickr photo sharing

Flickr photo sharing

I'd filled up on pastries on the way out that morning, so, uncharacteristically, I ordered a lunch dish - hot turkey sandwich. I know it's not how you're supposed to eat, but it's kind of fun when everything on the plate is the same color.

Flickr photo sharing

The diner makes its own pies. But I overheard the waitress telling another customer that they had to stop selling cream pies. Apparently the health department decided their built-in refrigerator cases aren't cold enough to store cream pies legally. "Everything was fine for 30 years," she said.

Being an old Twin Peaks fan, I ordered cherry.

I've always hoped that the diner was doing well - from the outside it looks pretty run down. Inside is another story - all shiny and beautiful. Next time, breakfast!

The rest of my Venus Diner photos are on Flickr.