Hi,
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the first Continental Congress was convened (1774), Jesse James birth (1847), the first observance of Labor Day (1882) in New York, Babe Ruth’s first pro homer (1914), Arthur Nielsen’s birth anniversary (1897-marketing pioneer), the 40th anniversary of the Israeli Olympiad Massacre in Munich (1972) and the assassination attempt of Prez Gerald Ford (1975).
I have problems with two of my bathrooms since buying The Parador in 2005. Lady Palm’s tub has either overflowed or the guest didn’t close the shower curtain tight and the bathroom doesn’t have a water proof tile floor, so the water flows down into the ceiling of Bird of Paradise’s bathroom directly below it. It has been a consistent problem. Two years ago, I couldn’t patch Bird of Paradise’s bathroom ceiling anymore, so I put a layer of 1/4″ drywall over it. I’ve had problems since and a couple of weeks ago, a big chunk fell down. Chuck, the owner of Metro Classic Builders, suggested a drop ceiling so I could replace panels as needed. I couldn’t see having an industrial looking office ceiling anywhere in my Inn. He showed me a newer look, it looks like a paneled ceiling. I decided to go with it and I will faux it to look like wood this winter. I think I can live with that.
The Pittsburgh Irish Festival is back this coming weekend, Friday from 4 pm until 10 pm, Saturday from 11 am until 10 am and Sunday from 10 am until 4 pm at Riverplex in Sandcastle. They have quite the line up and quite the variety, even Irish ghost stories. Go to their detailed web site for the entire schedule or call 412.422.1113.
Coming soon are two films shot in Pittsburgh. Won’t Back Down is about two mothers fighting a failing school system their children attend and they won’t back down. I like that. 🙂 It is scheduled to be released September 28. In October, Perks of Being a Wallflower is the story of a shy college freshman that is taken under the wings of two seniors. It looks cute.
Have you heard of William Adams, the founder and CEO of Adams Industries? He was a librarian in Pittsburgh Public Schools in 1981 and got fed up with it. He decided to start his own business, much to his wife’s displeasure (at the time). He started with making suction cups and sold them from the trunk of his car from Ohio to Washington, DC. ACE, True Value and Do It Best hardware stores all carried his wares. He has grown this small business up to $50M a year and 265 employees. They now make hangers, patio furniture, Adirondack chairs and his latest is an ergo-dynamic stackable bar stool. He’s now in CVS, Walgreen, even my arch nemesis Walmart. He’s had offers from the likes of Wall Street investors and refuses to even open the letters because he knows they will move the company and take his hometown jobs elsewhere. Don’t you love this country? 🙂
Pittsburgh native, Gina Brown, is becoming quite well known. Her husband Brian got tired of tripping over all the stuff she’s collected from flea markets, yard sales, etc in their basement and asked her to sell some off. So she started re-purposing/re-doing them and was pretty successful at selling them at a profit. It has become her passion. When they moved to a 188 year old farm house in Ohio, she re-purposed the barn and went into production. She hooked up with her agent Caroline Galloway of Mouth 2 Mouth PR and started getting national attention. She’s been on the DIY network several times. She has since made 18 videos “Two Minute Design Tips” and msn has picked them up and they cycle through their web site. Go to the link to see one, Google her if you want to see more. Some are pretty interesting
Shadyside’s A Fair in the Park is having their 43th event this weekend. It’s in Melon Park out there and has over 100 quality craft persons with art from glass blowing, wood working and turning, scherenschnitte (German scissor art), pottery and so much more. It is open Friday from 1 to 7 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. More info at their web site.
In 1972, Edgar Kaufmann Jr Charitable Trust founded Pioneer Crafts Council that later became Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington. It is an art and teaching facility that is open three seasons (closed in winter) and they get students from all over the United States. They teach blacksmithing, ceramics, fiber, glass, metals, jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, weaving and more. They are having an exhibit of over 100 objects in the Speyer Gallery at Fallingwater through October 30 and viewing is included in the price of admission to Fallingwater.
Well, that’s it for this time, talk again soon,
ed
