~yankeedog

In every part of the world and in every language there are different dialects that identify where a person is from and Pittsburgh is no different. Pittsburgh being a massive melting pot of nationalities has developed a dialect all it own. It's kind of fun to listen to, but even for a native like myself it's sometimes hard to understand. For example, I lived in a neighborhood called East Liberty, in Pittsburghese, it sounds like "Sliberty". Even the local football team has become the victim of Pittsburghese, the Steelers end up sounding like "Stillers". My own name, Don in Pittburghese sounds "Daawn".

What got me thinking about this was an article about "Chingrish" and the Olympics in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. [link]

For some fun, there is a web site that been a round for a while called engrish.com [link] This site mostly deals with Japanese English, but I'm sure the Chinese will not be far behind.

I was sitting in traffic the other day and on the car in front of me was one of those white & black oval European style sticker with just "N@", this translates in Pittsburghese to "n'at". N'at is a local way of saying "and that", a meaningless thing tacked on to the end of something else and implies that there is something more... like: "Wure go'n fur a ride n'at." Simply put, "We are going for a ride", but by tacking "n'at" on the end, it implies that there is the possibility that something more could take place than just a ride. It cover a multitude of sins.

It's so profound and so common, that you can tell a Pittsburgher by this simple little twist in their speach. Comedians have made fun of it, but it still persist and has even become stronger.

There are several web sites dedicated to learn'n the local language:
[link] [link]
There's even a Wikipedia page [link]

So the next time somebody says to you, "Ha y'all do'n, wur y'all frum?" throw 'em a curve n say wur frum da 'Burgh n'at!

Reporting live just outside the Pittsburgh city limits in beautiful dawntawn Greentree...
-YD

When I was kid my Irish grandfather used to say "Burn everything British but their coal". Coming from a family who had their land stolen, their country raped, plundered and pillaged by the British, his feelings were deep seated and with good reason. As I grew up I began to understand where he was coming from and why he hated the British with such passion. The McGings fled Antrim and settle in the west of Ireland in present day Sligo and Roscommon, from there, they were forced to flee to America during the Great Hunger. My grandfather was the first of his family to be born in America. He grew up hard and tough in an Irish neighborhood of Pittsburgh called Lawrenceville, met a girl named Mercedes Wallace whose family was from Cork and had followed a similar path to America. They had three children, Eileen, Patrick and Kathleen. My uncle Pat was the first in the family to go to college, he was also the first to serve in the United States Army with the 92nd Armored Field Artillery in the Korean War. They were proud to be Americans, but they never forgot where they came from and the circumstances that put them here.

I grew up in a Pittsburgh in a typical melting pot neighborhood, but I was baptized an Irish Catholic at St. Lawrence O'Toole's Church in Garfield. I didn't really grow up with an Irish identity, but I remember my grandfather speaking Irish in hushed tones with a cousin who was involved in the Republican movement, still I didn't really identify all that much with being Irish, I was and still am an American. It wasn't till I was a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh that I discovered my Irishness and learned of my family's past. It was back then that my grandmother gave me an old round top steamer trunk, this trunk belonged to her father, Michael James Wallace, a hedgerow teacher from Cork. Back then it was illegal for the Irish to be educated, but men like Michael Wallace who had been educated by the Jesuits took to teaching Irish children to read and write, he did this under the threat of death if he was caught. Then came the chance to come to America and a new life there. He loaded all his earthy belonging into that round top steamer trunk and made the perilous journey to America where there streets were paved in gold! He made his way to Pittsburgh working for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad. The P&LE hired Irish Catholics and he did well, working his way up to the position of yard master at the Pittsburgh Terminal. He never forgot his roots and raised his four children with an Irish identity. When my grandmother gave me his trunk it was an epiphany for me and I started buying any book that had to do with Ireland. The more and more I learned, the more angry I became. Ireland deserved better. Having England for a neighbor made Ireland a victim of every atrocity under the sun and were it not for the brave Irishmen who took up arms against the evil empire, these crimes would have gone on in perpetuity.

The Irish diaspora in America raised money and arms as well as soldiers to fight and take back from the English what rightfully belonged to the Irish people. There were many failed rebellions, but with every failure there was a new generation willing to sacrifice in blood for a free and independent Irish nation. I got involved back then and believe me, I had nothing against the common Englishman, it was their government and the brutal treatment of the Irish that I took issue with. And not from an Irish perspective, but from an American perspective. I live in a free country, I have rights, I have freedoms, I have Liberty, I have justice, why don't the Irish? What has prevented the Irish from having what I and my fellow American have? The British government, be it kings or queens or it parliament has always treated the Irish as subhuman as something less than what they are. Nobody, king, queen, parliament, whatever has the right to do what England has done to Ireland and then they dare show indignation when the Irish rebel against this injustice? Rebellions are not the result of good government, the are the result of bad government. The British government was arrogant to assume that Ireland was theirs. Ireland has and always will belong to the Irish people. To rule a people against their will and with malice like the British government has done in Ireland is something that I as an American, an Irish American, abhor and will do anything to help prevent it. With that being said, it is with great disdain that I view both Dan Rooney of the the Pittsburgh Steelers and Paul Hewson of U2. As an Irishman, an American to be honored by the queen should be something you should find repugnant. Do you have no sense of history? No sense of heritage? What kind of person would accept this honor from the queen? I bend a knee to no man, only to God. To accept an honor from the queen spits in the face of all free people and acknowledges all the British government has done in Ireland as being acceptable. It is not acceptable and never will be and as long as I have breath in my lungs and blood in my veins I will regard the British crown and the Bristish government with extreme repugnance and contempt.

Until the British government and crown come to terms and apologizes for all the horrific crimes they have committed in Ireland, they will always have an enemy in me.

-YD

We are now a few miles southwest of Downtown Pittsburgh and out of the greedy grip of the City of Pittsburgh. I've spent the last 30 years learning and working in Pittsburgh, but now I'm in Greetree. Don't get me wrong, I loved being in Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh's government has a nasty habit of giving away the farm to the rich and powerful, the non-profits and the sports teams, then beats up on the small businesses to to recover loss from their mistakes. In the past few years, they have given away massive tax breaks to some big businesses and non-profits, but nothing for the little guy.

So here I am, deep in the heart of Greentree. For all my railroader friends, I'm real close to the old N&W Rook Yard, now the W&LE RR.

-YD

The other day, I had the humbling experience of getting a Daily Deviation for one of my vector illustrations [link] To get over 3,000 views and a boatload of comments and over 150 's in one day is pretty amazing to me. What also amazes me is the illustration that got the DD, in my opinion, it really wasn't my best work, so I have to attribute this to the love of the car. The Ford Pinto seems to have touched a lot of people for a lot of reasons, maybe it was your first car or your folks had one when you were a kid or for any number of reasons we love cars. A car says so much about who we are from the practical to the fanciful and to the extremes. The Pinto was maybe not the car of your dreams, it was a small inexpensive form of basic transportation, it had it's faults, but it did carry on the Ford tradition of being a car for the common man, but sometimes that isn't good enough and somebody builds something amazing out of the common car! So here is to all the dreamers who never settle for mediocre.

The comedian Chris Titus once said that all anybody wants in life is happiness and a cool car, most of us settle for the cool car.

To all of you who watch and to all the new watchers I just want to say thanks again to let you all know how much I appreciate it.

Well it's off to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix this weekend at Schenely Park in Oakland, if any of you are within driving distance, take a ride to Pittsburgh and enjoy! Admission is free, parking will cost you a little bit, but it's for a good cause and it's a world class event with lot and lots of amazing cars!

Reporting from deep in the heart of the Golden Triangle...
-YD

By now the art world should be flocking to Pittsburgh to find the latest and greatest talent to come out of the 'Burgh.

If you take the time to look, Pittsburgh has spawned some great artists. To mention a few, John Kane, Mary Cassatt, Andy Warhol[a], Philip Pearlstein, Joseph Fitzpatrick, Chuck Connelly...

The hills and valleys of Western Pennsylvania have always been a hotbed of creativity. Maybe it's something in the water, maybe something in the way we are educated, maybe it's just the way we dream and shoot for the stars, but there is something here.

While most of the world sees us for our sports teams, it's our art that they should really be looking at, the sports team for the most part are made up of people from outside the city, but our art is almost all home grown!

This month, HBO will feature a documentary about Pittsburgh artist Chuck Connelly, "The Art of Failure". Exerts from the show are already on YouTube, take some time to watch the YouTube videos as well as the HBO special. Chuck Connelly is a tremendous talent and like most artists, he has his quarks, he may have his faults, but it's in his art that his true brilliance shines through.

I also urge you to take a look at other Pittsburgh artists, (myself included) and tell me there isn't something special here.

Reporting live from the "Aluminum Capitol of America", New Kensington, Pennsylvania...
-YD