When we went to Uptown for Superman Returns I was suprised to see that the Cleveland Park McDonald’s had closed. I cannot think of any other McDonald’s (other than the “Express-concept” locations from the ’90s) that had closed. I was even more surprised when I read (in a Sietsema chat, I think) that it had been closed for a few years. It must have lost its lease in the shopping center it was in, because I cannot imagine that it failed as a business with so many people regularly lined up across the street waiting to get into Uptown.
Speaking of Superman Returns, I am really surprised it has not done better at the box office. While I don’t need box office totals to validate my liking the movie, but I am concerned that it will mean that any sequels will be done on the cheap, a road we have been down previously.
A while back I had an email exchange with someone about the state of New Jersey. It reminded me of this great essay that argues the Turnpike is misinformation campaign to keep people from discovering the “real” Jersey. I also observed (and contributed to) a post bashing Jersey on Metroblogging Philly. Man, some Pennsylvanians just cannot get over the one-way tolls; which, by the way, are run by bi-state agencies. The one-ways make a whole lot more sense than two-way tolls. I love jughandles too. Why so much Jersey-hate?
Although I believe that mankind’s carbon-based fuel emmissions are a source of some global warming, I am not convinced that it is the only source. I have heard that the nightime lows on the days that planes were grounded following 9/11 were significantly lower than usual. The reason for this was less cloud cover, and it does not take a leap of logic to believe that not having hundreds of jets flying the sky creating contrails meant fewer clouds. I am very curious to find out if this is true.
I still do not have interest in An Inconvienent Truth though, “Powerpoint as entertainment” (as described by fellow Metroblogger Don Whiteside) does not sound that interesting to me.
In fact the next movie that I really want to see in the theater in Spider-Man 3. Clerks II can wait for DVD, though I may see it in the theater.
Last Wednesday Blogger, Flickr, and another Web application I use were I were all down. Tough day. Actually, the tough days have been plentiful for Blogger lately. Also, MySpace.com, owned by Rupert Murdoch, was down for 12 hours the other day.
No Gene Weingarten chat this week 🙁
Pittsburgh is extending their light rail from the Golden Triangle to the North Side sports complex via tunnels under the Alleghany River (Post-Gazette). Good for them.
Speaking of Pittsburgh, we are talking about going out there for a Caps vs. Pengyunz game this winter. If we do, I am going to have to make sure that I talk incessantly about D.C. I might even have to pretend to be a Redskins fan. Call it payback for all the ‘burgh transplants that are here. : )
I am not guilty of supermarket fetishism. While some folks love Wegman’s, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, I am perfectly content with the tiny, “ghetto Giant” in Shirley Park.
Marc Fisher’s constant posts about Google Trends last week were boring.
The CDT has reinvented Blue again. You may recall Blue was a daily section targeted to Penn State students a couple of years back. It even got a lot of trade press, but ultimately, it only lasted a semester before turning into some sort of weekly. Now, it is being pushed again, but to the 18-34 demographic instead of just PSU students. After seeing the first issue, I don’t think it will suceed. Getting local advertisers is critical and if they keep on featuring content about things to do outside of Happy Valley, like they did last week, local advertisers won’t buy in. Who wants to put ads in a publication that encourages readers to leave town?
It was very tempting to subtitle this post “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape”
