Month: May 2020

Skyline Fine Time: Six Ways to Sunday

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hand made multicolor sign reading "Heroes at Work" over rainbow over downtown Pittsburgh skyline

Rainbow city. UPMC Children’s Hospital, Lawrenceville

There are only so many ways a blogger can say, man, does this city we like to include its downtown skyline on stuff or what? But as long as graphic designers are abstractifying and color-blocking the recognizable shapes of US Steel tower, PPG’s spiky glass horns, the Highmark building’s hypodermic needle, etc., we’ll be there to take the pictures and do our best at pithy photo captioning.

In this, The Orbit‘s (gulp) sixth time returning to this seemingly-inexhaustible well, those general building blocks, often bookended with the Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne bridges, appear in business logos, commercial signage, product packaging, and even one delightful 3-D rendering as tribute for the Heroes at Work essential workers at Children’s Hospital.

Keep well, y’all. To paraphrase the great Casey Kasem, keep your feet on the ground and keep looking at the skyline!

tavern window with reflection of city buildings above a skyline silhouette of downtown Pittsburgh

Skyline on skyline. Howlers, Bloomfield

logo for New City Commons featuring silhouetted buildings from the Pittsburgh skyline

Venn diagram city[1]. New City Commons, Downtown

University of Pittsburgh bus decorated with skyline of downtown Pittsburgh

A city on the move. University of Pittsburgh bus, Oakland

metal logo for Legends of Pittsburgh gym with weightlifter holding barbell with the city of Pittsburgh skyline on it

Clean and jerk city. Legends of Pittsburgh gym, Pittsburgh Mills mall

mural on art supply store with the downtown Pittsburgh skyline

Air conditioner city. Artist & Craftsman Supply, Squirrel Hill

logo for Metro Club featuring silhouetted buildings from the Pittsburgh skyline

Blue city. Metro Club, Downtown

tent sign for For for Thought deli including the Pittsburgh skyline

Black and gold city. Food for Thought deli, Oakland

logo for Pittsburgh Potty including the downtown Pittsburgh skyline and slogan "We run on natural gas"

Fart joke city. Pittsburgh Potty

window sign for Smokestack Glass including the Pittsburgh skyline

Glass city. Smokestack Glass, Lawrenceville

logo for Iron Lung vape shop that features the Pittsburgh skyline inside a pair of red lungs

Smoky/smoking city. Iron Lung, Bloomfield

label for bag of Pittsburgh Pasta rotini including a drawing of the downtown Pittsburgh skyline

Pasta city. Pittsburgh Pasta, Bloomfield Shur-Save

Greater Pittsburgh Plumbing van decorated with two different versions of the Pittsburgh skyline

Double skylines! Greater Pittsburgh Plumbing van[3]

sign for Steel City Line-X including the Pittsburgh skyline

Outline city. Steel City Line-X, Creighton

window painting for Civilization PGH including an abstract skyline

Vague notion of a city[2]. Civilization PGH, Lawrenceville

window sign for Steel City Craft Emporium featuring downtown Pittsburgh skyline

A city with a big heart. Steel City Craft Emporium, Strip District

printed sign for Pittsburgh Fitness Project gym including image of the downtown skyline

Domed city. Pittsburgh Fitness Project, Lawrenceville

sign for Bernard Dog Run with outline of downtown Pittsburgh skyline

Dogburgh. Bernard Dog Run, Lawrenceville

logo for C&M Roofing & Remodeling including image of downtown Pittsburgh skyline

Pittsburgh: the only city with a front door *and* a roof! C&M Roofing & Remodeling

[1] Not sure if this is intentional, but it’s been said that Pittsburgh sits at the Venn diagram between East Coast, Midwest, and Appalachia–and is none of them. If that was the goal with New City Commons’ design, we think it’s pretty clever.
[2] The outline depicted in Civilization PGH’s storefront window may or may not be taken from some neighborhood in Pittsburgh, but it’s certainly not downtown. Though we make it a policy to skip the generic/clip art cityscapes we come across all too often, we chose to include this one because … maybe it’s Pittsburgh?
[3] Orbit superfans will know we included Greater Pittsburgh Plumbing’s black-and-gold city skyline logo in a previous post, but this skyline-on-skyline double image was unique enough to warrant the re-up.

The Mother of All Mothers! A Mother’s Day Mary Super Round-Up

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statue of Mary leaning against house

Leaning Mary, Bellevue

And when the morning of the warning’s passed, the gassed
And flaccid kids are flung across the stars
The psychodramas and the traumas gone
The songs are left unsung and hung upon the scars

And does she want to see the stains, the dead remains of all the pains
She left the night before
Or will their waking eyes reflect the lies, and make them
Realize their urgent cry for sight no more

When we met I was sure out to lunch
Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

– Tandyn Almer, “Along Comes Mary”

statue of Mary in front of brick house

Classic “blue robe” Mary, Brighton Heights

Whatever else Tandyn Almer did with the rest of his life[1], he’ll have forever authored one of the greatest bits of twisted sunshine pop and doobie entendre soft rock to harmonize and flute-solo its way onto Top 40 radio and prime time television.

Now, it’s probably safe to say the inspiration for The Association’s 1966 toe-tapper was not the mother of Jesus Christ–and likely not even a woman at all. I think we can all assume that Mary’s middle name is Jane.

But the Mary–the O.G., blessed virgin, greatest-story-ever-told, gettin-it-done-in-a-manger Mary–indeed comes along all over the place, just about any ol’ time. Every front yard is Mary’s potential domain; any porch her possible perch. The city’s backyards are so full of clandestine, hidden Marys that we’ll never have a true accounting of them all. [You don’t know how that keeps a speculative journalist awake at night!] It’s enough to drive a Mary-curious atheist into confession.

So on this Mother’s Day, we return to an old favorite Orbit subject: Mary, the mother of all mothers, in some of her various occasions around town. Links to earlier coverage appear below.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommas out there. While your kids won’t be able to take you out to lunch, may your empty cups taste as sweet as the punch.

house with small statuette of Mary by front steps

Tiny Mary, Troy Hill

statue of Mary with feet buried in garden mulch

Quicksand Mary, Sharpsburg

statue of Mary along alley

No Parking Mary, Sharpsburg

statue of Mary and flowers in pot

Flower pot Mary, Burgettstown

statue of Mary in front of house with condemned notice

Condemned Mary, Garfield

all-white statue of Mary on front porch

Monochrome Mary, Bloomfield

statue of Mary in large garden bed

Garden Mary, Saltsburg

statue of Mary in grotto with other statuary wrapped in black plastic bags

She’s Mary, wrapped in plastic. Bloomfield

statue of Mary in front of brick house

Solitary Mary, Friendship

statue of Mary in front of wood frame house

Sunbathing Mary, California-Kirkbride

older wooden house with statue of Mary by the front porch, Pittsburgh, PA

The last Mary in Larimer?

rear-view statue of Mary behind chain link fence

Have you seen the back? Mary, Bloomfield

Mary and friends

statue of Mary embedded in concrete in flower pot

Concrete shoes Mary, penguin, flag, Lawrenceville

statue of Mary with other lawn decorations

Gas meter Mary, et al., Millvale

front porch with multiple statues

Porch Marys (and friends), Lawrenceville

front yard decorated with many small statuettes, Pittsburgh, PA

Lighthouse Mary I, Morningside

front yard covered with decorative figurines, lighthouse, and Mary statuette, Donora, PA

Lighthouse Mary II, Donora

house with statue of Mary

Mary and daughters, Sharpsburg

house with statue of Mary among lawn decorations

Wagon wheel Mary, Reserve

Pedestal Marys

statue of Mary on pedestal in residential backyard

Backyard Mary, Mt. Washington

statues of Mary and angels in front yard

Bay window Mary, Lawrenceville

statuette of Mary on pedestal of bricks, Pittsburgh, PA

Brick pedestal Mary, Esplen

statue of Mary on cinderblocks in backyard

Up-on-blocks Mary, Lawrenceville

Christmas Marys

statue of Mary in front of house with Christmas decorations

Christmas Mary, Reserve

statue of Mary and large Christmas tree

Christmas/camouflage Mary, Millvale

Empty Mary Grottos

empty Mary grotto in front of brick house

Empty grotto, Brighton Heights

brick grotto created for statue of Mary

Repopulated grotto, Oakland

More Orbit Mary coverage:

statue of Mary painted silver

Mary of the berries, Chez Orbit

[1] Almer’s Wikipedia entry confirms that “Along Comes Mary” is indeed Almer’s biggest songwriting success, but that he “invented a waterpipe called the Slave-Master, described by Jack S. Margolis and Richard Clorfene in A Child’s Garden of Grass as ‘the perfect bong.'” So, you know, there were definitely some other hits.