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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
 Posted - 03/10/2008 : 7:45:29 PM
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For people who don’t know, I live in Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh is admittedly an acquired taste. Football and Hockey are the only things going for it. But if you attenuate yourself with the rhythms of this town, you can have a pretty descent home here. Such as it is, the people who have chosen to stay here are like a big family.
Of course, this tends to make things a little rough on out-of-towners. West Virginians, in particular, we have a healthy disdain for. But the place is an absolute hell for snob-ish Hollywood types who waltz in to town and think we will bend over backwards to treat them like royalty.
Two cases come to mind. One old and one recent.
The old case regards the rising star Sienna Miller. Sienna came to Pittsburgh to film a movie. But started to run in to problems in the local bar scenes in the south side. Apparently, the bouncers wanted to look at her identification. She flew in to a rage and the bouncers decided to not let her in. The next day, in an interview, she called our town $&!#burgh. This insult made national news at the time.
She later half-apologized and the mayor offered her a tour of the city. She declined. She seemed content to put the incident behind her.
But then she tried to go drinking again.
This time she again tried to enter another bar without showing ID. She was turned away again. Deciding to handle it with grace, she SNUCK in. She ordered vodka but the staff soon recognized that she was the one they already turned away. So they threw her out. She went on a tantrum again with a bouncer. At which point, she said, “'I'm Sienna Miller the actress'!” The bouncer replied, “I'm Dan Kovacs and I'm for real!"
That ended her partying days in Pittsburgh.
Apparently, the local radio stations got a hold of the story. And it really struck a chord. Now the bar that threw her out is selling T-shirts that say “Hi Sienna Miller, I’m for real”
Oh, please. Let Linday Lohan or Britney Spears come this way!
[url="http://kdka.com/seenon/Sienna.Miller.apology.2.385406.html"]Click here to read an article about the incident.[/url]
The latest controversy involves a local casting director who was hired to find extras in Pittsburgh for a recent film. The film needed people with physical abnormalities.
So the call went out in typical Pittsburgh fashion for people with an inbred West Virginian look.
And all hell broke loose.
The governor of West Virginia demanded an apology and the casting director. The local papers were flooded with emails castigating the film company about its “insensitivity.” Hollywood producers, showing no backbone, decided to fire the casting director for her sass. Which I think was uncalled for because Pittsburghers don’t like West Virginians coming further north than Uniontown. We rib them (and Ohio for that matter) and then they only raise a big stink about it when a big Hollywood movie comes to town?
[url="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_554426.html"]Click Here.[/url]
[url="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/26/julianne-moore-movie-cast_n_88559.html"]Click Here.[/url]
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"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
Edited by - Capt. Nemo on 03/10/2008 7:59:16 PM
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2008 : 8:45:48 PM
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OMG, that last one is too funny! I'm a Pittsburgh native too, left in 1978 just prior to the filming of Dawn of the Dead. I get a kick out of telling people that I used to skate on that same ice rink every weekend! And believe it or not I did a corporate jingle last year for CBL, a company based in Chattanooga TN that owns 80 malls, among them- the Monroeville Mall. Doing a Christmas jingle for them was priceless. ("We know- a GREAT place for shopping! Monroeville Mall! Guaranteed mostly zombie free...)" *g*
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 03/10/2008 8:46:18 PM |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2008 : 8:56:37 PM
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I guess I should tell you, They took out the ice rink. They put a food court in it's place(how apropos!).
The good news is that the mall is still a profitable place and will not be closing any time soon.
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"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
Edited by - Capt. Nemo on 03/10/2008 9:03:45 PM |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2008 : 10:11:49 PM
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Oh I know, I've been back a couple times... that just makes having been around back in the old days all the cooler *g* The whole place seems really small now though- it used to feel huge when I was a kid!
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 05:54:29 AM
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"Yesterday's Airport of Tomorrow"
"I reserve the right to look as well as be boring." - Robert Fripp |
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Greenhornet
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1791 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 10:26:33 AM
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Good story, Capt.
When they made "Rosewood" here in Florida, they sent out a call for "Redneck-types" (The actual term) because they wanted the greesy, inbred, racist hick look for the WHITE cast. I haven't heard what happened after that, I hope they had to make the damn thing in Spain or Italy.
I love movies, but I've developed contempt for the people who make them.
"The Queen is testing poisons." CLEOPATRA, 1935 |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 12:14:02 PM
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Other than the rink, has anything else about the Monroeville Mall changed over the years.
(I heard the mall never actually had a gun store. That scene was shot in a studio, not on location.) |
Edited by - zombiewhacker on 03/11/2008 12:17:51 PM |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 9:45:31 PM
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It never had a gun store. The closest thing they had was a knife store where they had everything from MacGyver Swiss Army Knives to Samurai swords.
The animated decorations inside the mall are gone. The now a "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" indoor children's park in it's place.
The glass walled bank is still there. It's changed hands a few times but it's the same old bank.
Anything in particular you wanted to know about?
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"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2008 : 02:54:00 AM
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| I guess my main question is, if I walked through the mall right now, would I recognize it? Which particular locations, if any, would seem to be straight out of the movie? |
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