Saturday, May 18, 2013

Early Mornin

You've got to get up pretty early in the mornin to catch some of the following scenes. I did and took a few shots for the heck of it, like this bloomin spot in a fellow gardener's plot:

In Dusty's Garden

Not a soul in the place and just the deer and other critters were up stirrin, havin a bite to eat, though I did not photograh them.

Rain splashed hostas

I was able to catch the sun creeping over the Frick Park.

Sunrise on The Path

I also spied a reluctant symbol.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Rising Up



"The Ascension of St. Nicholas" Croatian Catholic Church in Pittsburgh's North Side, circa 1920s. 

In what was considered a construction marvel at the time, Eichleay Engineering moved the church 8 feet up and 20 feet back on a steep hillside, to accommodate expansion of East Ohio Street (now state Route 28).

Monday, May 13, 2013

Do As I Say

We've known for a long time that many of those in the financial industry think they are exceptions to the law. They rig a system based on fake investments, lose billions, cry poor and the government bails them out. Meanwhile, these same rats are using tricks to keep the poor and unemployed down. Which proves once again that elitism--a system through which those who've had the accident of birth to not be in the "mummy and daddy or grammy's trust fund can bail me out" class--is undemocratic and also terrible for our economy.
This New York Times story says more than enough to sicken any fair-minded reader:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/long-shadow-bad-credit-job-185119736.html

Thursday, May 09, 2013

By Jonathan Barnes

When I was a kid at Grant Elementary School in Bellevue, I always signed my name "Jon Barnes." I did it so consistently for so many years that after a while, some teachers didn't know my real name was Jonathan.
I hated the sound of the name Jonathan--it sounded too flowery and girly to me. And girls did seem to prefer the name.
But since before I started writing, I always introduced myself as Jonathan, though I give folks the option of calling me Jon. My family and old friends call me Jonny sometimes, but I don't like people who are not that familiar with me calling me this--them's fightin words.
At Kiski School, they called me the preppy sounding JB (and my family called me that too, long before I went to Kiski).
Why all the jabber about names? I just read an article claiming it's better to go by a nickname, and the piece was written by a guy who used to be one of those pain-in-the-neck Jonathans who insist on being called Jonathan, rather than by any variation of the name. But now he goes by Jon. Whoopdee freakin do, you were a name facist before and you loosened your belt one daggone notch.
I am not aiming to be a Fortune 500 CEO, so maybe I just read the wrong article. But the way I approach it--and I have found myself doing this so many times that I recognized this as an unconscious and adaptive trait--is to go by the longer name Jonathan with folks who prefer a more formal approach to their own first name--with my editor Richard, for example, I usually sign stuff Jonathan. But that unwritten rule goes with others who are strangers, too.
And as a freelance writer, I like to keep my byline --Jonathan Barnes--close at hand to the notion of my brand at all times. Even though it's quite a common name and there's a famous philosopher in England by the name, and a famous novelist of the same name, and others in the busines with my name, I am the only me, and a pretty unique writer, just ask me and I will tell you (or don't ask and wait around and I will tell you soon enough). Plus, I am the only pro writer of that name around these parts. So when I first introduce myself, whether in person, on the phone or by email, I go by Jonathan Barnes. From that point, it all depends upon the audience. But you can call me Barnestormin.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Spring In Pittsburgh

Spring is here again in Pittsburgh and all of the gardeners are happy. It's been in the sixties and seventies for weeks, with little rain until recently.
Following are some scenes I recently caught in The Most Livable Place In The World:

A tree abloom by Waverly Presbyterian Church

Lion keeps the Evil Eye away


Sweet Woodruff in Pittsburgh's Park Place neighborhood

Lambs Ears and friends

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Boy Wheat Meets Girl Wheat

East End Brewing Company has some wonderful brews, though they are not all to my liking. Its wheat beers are not my favorite, but still very good IMHO.
Known for its Monkey Boy Hefweizen, the brewer now also is offering another wheat--Monkey Girl.
Both are tasty (I am more of a dark beer drinker), but I think I prefer the crisp edge of the Boy over the Girl wheat.
What the heck, why not try both? Samples are free, but after you taste, you will surely buy.
Here's a photo I took at the brewery of the two wheats, with Boy to the left, Girl to the right, if I recall correctly:

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Here’s to the Not Just Cops, Firemen, Irish and Italians Party



Pittsburgh Bureau of Police


Months back I was scribblin while ponderin how anyone could ever be elected mayor of Pittsburgh without the Pittsburgh Police union’s and the Pittsburgh Firefighters’ and other city employees' support. This sort of backing caused Mayor Tom Murphy problems with the firemen years ago, when they accused him of reneging on a backroom deal with them. And recently Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has had his problems with the cops who’ve supported him, but thankfully, he’s getting out of politics.

I started to write a piece about how the aforementioned voting blocks (police being number one among them) have had an undemocratic control over Pittsburgh politics, but set the essay aside to do other work. Then the other day I saw a story about how Pittsburgh Police are contesting a Bill Peduto mayoral campaign ad that shows him walking with some actors dressed as cops. The police called the ad “deceitful.”

For the record, I don’t support Peduto. This piece isn’t about him or Jack Wagner, whom I am leaning toward though he may not need my support, given that the cops are backing him. But it’s occurred to me again that for all the residents of Pittsburgh to be truly represented by their city government, the creation of another, viable political party must happen.

Why? Because to become mayor here (or to win re-election as mayor), a politician must be embraced by the local Fraternal Order of Police. So, a mayoral candidate’s mind is consumed with thoughts of police patronage and dreams of spending the fat donations from special interests like corporations, and thoughts of an average voter’s needs are gone once Mr. Mayor To Be descends from a stump speech. Unfortunately, those who protect and serve us also are self-serving, and their leaders believe it’s their right to make cash off-duty by dressing as cops while working in legitimate businesses, like strip bars.

Well, as they say:
"Na h-éisg bheaga a bheathuigheas na h-éisg mhóra."
(The little fish feed the big fish. -Irish proverb)

I really have nothing against strip bars and have visited a few. But when a strip club sues the city to get its off-duty Pittsburgh Police back working to keep order in the club, maybe the club has bigger problems than bad patrons. And maybe the city and its residents have a lot bigger problems than some bad cops and a pretentious know-nothing mayor who is so silly he goes on David Letterman and naively tells the world the steel industry is gone from Pittsburgh.

That’s part of why we need another political party in Pittsburgh—and I am not suggesting we go Republican, since all you have to do is look at Gov. Corbett sleeping with the fossil fuel industry to see that’s no answer. Under his leadership, the rights of the people to govern themselves have been forsaken in kow-towing to the interests of greedy, multinational corporations who claim that more drilling and more political contributions are always the answers.

I don’t like Old Boy Democratic Politics either, which is what we have now in the City Of Champions. That's why to really move Pittsburgh forward we need to create a new political party that is a stronger block of voters than the cops and firefighters combined.

Why, you ask again? If you have to ask this question, it’s a good bet you are employed by, contracted by, or close to someone employed by our city government. The government here in Pittsburgh sometimes seems dedicated to the proposition that all relatives of city employees are more equal than the rest of us, and thus deserve a paycheck if possible. That’s no formula for good government.

If we don’t upset this imbalance of power, you can count on more in-cahoots dealings between the mayor and the cops, as we’ve seen in the past with other mayors and with other police chiefs. We voters must get the message that we only get what we pay for. We non-police, non-firemen, unaffiliated Irish-American and unaffiliated Italian-American voters (and so many others) haven’t bought off the mayor via political block, as the Cops and Friends have, so we can’t really influence the mayor to address our needs. Or at least, we have little influence on him compared to Johnny Law.

But with the Not Just Cops, Firemen, Irish and Italians Party (NJCFIIP), our voices could actually be heard. We could make government work for us, instead of just laboring to keep the city workers employed. Forget about this being a Democratic town and you being a union supporter, a registered Demmy and blah blah blah… Where’s that solidarity gotten the rest of us? As I’ve already said, it’s gotten us crappy government and conceited, foolish politicians.

But there is a silver lining: The one thing Mayor Lukey needed to stay boy king for life, which until a minute ago was a real possibility, was the support of the cops. And that connection took him out of the mayoral race.

I grew up in Bellevue, just outside Pittsburgh’s North Side. The place was full of transplanted Irish-American North Siders, some of whom would follow their kinsmen into the Pittsburgh cops, Allegheny County Sherriff’s office and other local government posts. (Full disclosure: I am part Irish.) There are a lot of good ones out there—both cops and city/county employees. And despite the need for closer control of the cops by council (rather than allowing the Police Chief to be a mayor-appointed position, for example), even such oversight cannot remove the problem of under-representation of the majority of Pittsburgh voters.

Simply put, cops' votes shouldn’t be worth so much more than yours and mine that they are a privileged class of citizenry which effectively negates the voting power of those who are not in their government-affiliated special class. Such a system is bound to be full of crooked dealings, since it is really an oligarchy and not a democracy. The people in charge act privileged, because they are privileged, and in a way not intended by our Founding Fathers, who outlawed hereditary titles and the Nobility.

So in honor of Saint Patrick, patron saint of many of Pittsburgh’s boys in blue (who surely love freedom as much as you and I), let’s banish these crooked ways from our local government, just as Patrick banished Ireland’s snakes. Through the Not Just Cops, Firemen, Irish and Italians Party, we can make every Pittsburgher’s vote really count.

For The Good

Saint Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Pittsburgh's North Side, 1901-2013. This church recently was demolished at the order of Bishop Zubik. 
There was no good reason for this local treasure to be destroyed. Let us make this spot a hot potato everyone refuses to touch, so that the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese can profit in no way from destroying our collective Pittsburgh and American history. Tell your legislator to make sure the land isn't sold and that its artifacts (including the stained glass windows donated from Croatian Fraternal Union lodges across the nation) be restored to the former parishioners and preservationists who've been trying to save them.

And Pope Francis, please make things right with the Croatians here in Pittsburgh. I will remind you of what the Good Book says:
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
(Phillipians 4:8)