Silk Screen Film Festival
Nearly two dozen films, a Downtown party and an international guest list is an ambitious start to Pittsburgh’s latest film festival, debuting Fri., May 12. Over nine days, the Silk Screen Film Festival will present 22 films, from North America, the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, representing the diversity of…
Casing Casey Chances
Democratic state Sen. Jim Ferlo isn’t backing Rick Santorum in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate. That’s not exactly news to anyone remotely familiar with the Lawrenceville legislator. But Ferlo wants to make sure that fact is clear … despite a recent e-mail he sent to Santorum’s likely Democratic challenger, Bob Casey.…
More Protest Arrestees Walk … Back to Picket Lines
Two more of the six protesters arrested or cited during the Aug. 20 anti-military recruitment protest in Oakland walked out of court without a trial or any further punishment than time served. “It frees us up to keep doing counter recruitment,” says De’Anna Caligiuri, who prior to taking the city’s plea bargain had faced…
MIDNIGHT MOVIES: FROM THE MARGIN TO THE MAINSTREAM
Stuart Samuels’ documentary lovingly looks back at six films that during the 1970s kickstarted a new pastime among the hip … seeing weird-ass movies at midnight. The impact of these films … El Topo, Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos, The Harder They Come, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Eraserhead, some of which…
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III
Spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has no hope of retiring, not when a baddie (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has a devastating WMD for sale to an unnamed Mid-East country. Crash, boom, bang … there’s the requisite improbable stunts, nifty gadgets and eye-popping explosions, plus Cruise’s steely determination, but what makes this third outing of the M:I…
City Neither Zoning Nor Condoning Methadone Clinics
It hasn’t been easy to open a methadone clinic in the city, and it’s about to get even tougher. Since late last year, Pittsburgh City Council has been pushing for new zoning restrictions for the clinics, which administer methadone to curtail addicts’ cravings for drugs like heroin, opium, OxyContin and other painkillers. At least one…
Doing the Math on Sprawl
Academics from Toronto and London have finally proven scientifically what visitors to Cranberry have long suspected: Pittsburgh tops the nation in sprawl. They presented their findings in the May issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics in a paper called “Causes of Sprawl: A Portrait from Space.” The authors looked at aerial photos and…
P-G Labor Says Union Busting Is Talk of Block
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette union leaders say their talks with owner Block Communications are off … and that the company is trying to get rid of the newspaper’s 10 unions. The talks, set for February, “never even started really,” says Teamsters local head Joe Molinero, who represents the P-G’s drivers and pressmen. Contracts won’t expire until…
Homelessness: Hoping to Avoid Sweeping Changes
A 2003 court agreement requiring the city to give one-week notices before cleaning out homeless encampments expired on May 9 … and advocates for the homeless are trying to get the city to make sure this and other provisions remain the city’s practice. The rules, sought in a federal lawsuit by the Pittsburgh ACLU…
Lot 17
Location: 4617 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. 412-687-8117 Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat. noon-11 p.m. Prices: Starters $5-8; sandwiches $7-9; entrées $13-17 Fare: Refined bar food Atmosphere: Comfortable, casual neighborhood hang-out Liquor: Full bar Smoking: Permitted throughout First impressions, as we all know, can go either way. They can be uncannily intuitive…
A Plaza’s Return
How do you restore a landscape or building that has been many different things over time? Do you freeze it in one particular era, or try to represent its many changes through the ages? Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, the 19th-century architectural theorist and restorer, struggled with this perennial issue in cathedrals such as Notre…
Casey At Bat
I’m beginning to get that sinking feeling that tricky Ricky Santorum is going to stage a major comeback — and perhaps pull off a major-league upset. Despite everything. Despite his shameless public display in Florida with Terry Schiavo’s parents, pandering to the pro-life crowd who expected a brain-dead woman to leap up and river-dance. Santorum…
Rough Draft for Ravens
Will Santonio Holmes provide the deep threat the Steelers want, drawing coverage away from Hines and Ced? Will safety Anthony Smith be able to replace the talents of Chris Hope? Will Florida State’s Willie Reid be a viable kick- and punt-return threat in light of Randal El’s departure? In a word — beats me. Much…
There’s a strange little message tile embedded into Oliver Avenue, by the Saks Fifth Avenue. It refers to “Toynbee” and looks like a mosaic. What is this?
You have stumbled — literally — onto a mystery that stretches from Smithfield Street to South America … a mystery that has bedeviled reporters and pedestrians for years … while staunchly refusing to yield any answers. You won’t find any answers here, either. Embedded into the street, the tile refers to a “Toynbee Idea in…
A Conversation with Ann Rose
Ann Rose believes in getting her hands dirty. The 61-year-old retired Shaler Elementary School librarian started picking up trash near her Squirrel Hill home late last year. But soon enough she was joined by Bicky Goldszer, Ceci Sommers and Barbara Grover from the neighborhood. Together the women founded a litter patrol called Citizens…
Identity Crisis
Search Google for Pittsburgh rabbi Gershon Freidlin and you’ll have to scroll far down the list for the first mention of his work on Irving Howe’s book, World of Our Fathers, the classic account of 20th-century Jewish immigrant life. You’ll have to look further still for the Village Voice reviews of his musical appearances or…
Re-newed Yinzer
When Scott Silsbe announced he was undertaking the transformation of The New Yinzer, a friend replied, “I’ve heard of The New Yinzer. But what the hell is it?” Lots of Pittsburghers are confused about The New Yinzer’s identity, says Silsbe, the new editor of the local literary enterprise. In 2002, it…
