Here are some links/articles/blog posts that are worth a look:

• Free Waffles on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 – Free waffles – made with magic – networking and conversation – this Wednesday at the DeepLocal waffles. We stopped by for Waffles at the December waffle Wednesday – great group of people and good coffee.
• Walking to New Orleans – Al Hoff, who is also the brains behind the blog – City of Sad Toys – has started a new project. She is virtually walking from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Each day she logs how many miles she walks and plots that on a map of the route from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Each post includes some history and background about the locations she is virtually walking through.
• Coming this Spring – New Public Market opens in the Strip District – From PopCity Media "The Pittsburgh Public Market will have space for 42 vendors, ranging from fresh and prepared foods to arts and crafts to local, seasonal produce. So far, vendors will include: 21st Street Coffee and Tea, Elysian Fields Farm, Pittsburgh Candy Buffet, Tracy's Treats natural skincare products and more. The market will be open Friday through Sunday each week."

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As you probably know I am a huge fan of the Waffle Shop – what started as a class poject for some student on community interaction has become a year round project.  Each weekend The Waffle Shop, located at the corner of Highlnad and Baum in East Liberty opens its doors for a live talk show and they serve waffles.

On Saturday, August 1 – they are holding another Guest Host Challenge – you can compete agianst others to win the title of Talk Show Host.  Here are the details – if you want to compete – sign up by July 29.
WAFFLE SHOP is an unusual late-night waffle emporium in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood that celebrates the lives and stories of its customers through the production of a weekly talk show on the premises.

We are looking for energetic and engaging Pittsburghers to compete live on SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 at 10 PM for a chance to be a special host of an upcoming episode of the Waffle Shop Talk Show. Contestants will be asked to interview a variety of guests and will be judged on their hospitality, riveting interview skills, and flexibility with
unexpected obstacles (and visitors).

The top three winners will host upcoming shows this summer and fall.

Please contact us at: jonrubin@mindspring.com by July 29th and tell us briefly what would make you a great host for our show. Include your name and contact information.

This August our talk show will start streaming live over the internet. For more information and videos of past episodes, please visit
www.waffleshop.org.

I wanted to make sure to post about this before the spring semester ends.  I have made a few visits to the Waffle Shop in the past few months.

The Waffle Shop is a class project for the undergraduate art course – The Storefront Project which is taught at Carnegie Mellon.  Last semester it was Waffle Shop – a reality tv show.  For the spring semester it is Waffle Shop – The Talk Show.  The venue, which is the former tuxedo shop located at the corner of Highland and Baum in East Liberty has seen quite a transformation this semester.   The professor who was serving up waffles when I was there recently said there are more design students in the class this semester.

I think this project has been great for the neighborhood – what was once a vacant storefront is now filled with a range of people – CMU students, waffle seekers like me and even some high school students from the neighborhood.

The talk show aspect makes this more than just a place to eat waffles but a place to start a community conversation.  I am not sure what will happen to the shop over the summer – but I do hope that this project will continue in the fall – or someone will make this a real waffle shop.

Here are some links/articles/blog posts that are worth a look:

• Penn State Cologne? – This is a funny post. Uncle Crappy looks at THE gift for Penn State fans.
• MINEO’S PIZZA | Dave and Dave’s Excellent Blog – Dave and Dave go to Mineo's Pizza. Even if you aren't a Mineo's fan you have to respect a place that still uses rotary phones.
• Pop City – Carnegie Mellon brings waffles and reality TV to empty East Liberty storefront – I had the choco-waffle last week. Tasty! This is a really great little project and it is nice to see the empty store front being used. Check out their photo booth too!
• Tree Sweaters – Check out the picture of the tree sweaters at the Pittsburgh Children's musuem.

Click here to see more links we like.