The mayor’s PR “Hail Mary”
Just when you thought Pittsburgh’s sports fans couldn’t get any more devoted — and that its politicians couldn’t get any more shameless — we just received a mayoral press release with the following header: Yes, that’s right — according to the release, “Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced today that he will be ceremonially changing his last…
That’s a wrap: a final note (for now) on the future of the fishwrap business
For the three people out there who are still following my obsession with the future of print media, I offer a link to this recent piece by David Carr of The New York Times. Carr restates a problem I’ve discussed here before. As Carr says: For a long time, newspapers assumed that as their print…
True Beauty: Where Inner Beauty Kicks Outer Beauty’s Ass
Network TV continues to plumb the reality-TV depths. On offer this week is ABC’s True Beauty, another inane contest to see who is the hottest hottie, but with a twist. There’s the usual line up of totally plastic-looking “beautiful” gals and guys — 10 in all — but this show promises to judge not just…
Obituary Section
There’s a certain kind of blogger — well, not so much the bloggers as some of the people who comment on their posts — who relishes every omen that the end is coming for the dreaded MSM. And we at City Paper live to give the people what they want. So I’ll point to Pittsburgh…
Wendy Osher at Fe Gallery
It’s unfair to single out just one piece in Fe Gallery’s impressive In the Making: 250 Years, 250 Artists (which closed Jan. 10). The sheer scope and massing of the exhibit — 250 (mostly) recent artworks by an equal number of local artists, hung salon-style on the Lawrenceville storefront space’s walls — all but precludes…
Transparent Motives
Today, county executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced their new campaign-finance reform measure. And guess what? For a bill that’s supposed to increase transparency, it’s pretty murky. Partly that’s because they didn’t even have the legislation in hand for their press conference today. But we’ll get to that in a moment. I’ll…
Leading Economic Indicators: Pittsburgh edition
How troubled are these economic times? Here’s a bit of anecdotal evidence. My father-in-law — who co-owns a pair of Steelers season tickets — could barely sell his tix to yesterday’s Steelers-Chargers playoff game. The fact that I couldn’t buy them doesn’t signify much: Journalists are supposed to be struggling. But the Tribune-Review is reporting…
Rally for LGBT Rights offers a REAL “big tent”
More than 75 intrepid souls attended today’s Schenley Plaza rally on behalf of equal rights for the LGBT community. Happily, a large tent kept out a cold rain, though it also resulted in speeches being punctuated with occasional avalanches of snow from the sloping roof. We have video highlights from the rally here. (UPDATE: And…
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
For Kurt Kuenne, it was always personal: After his lifelong friend Andrew Bagby was murdered in 2001, he set out to document his late pal’s life — as a eulogy, as a healing process and as a video diary for Bagby’s infant son. But the reflective celebrating of Bagby’s life ran in tandem with increasingly…
Specter Strikes Again!
It seems our old pal Arlen Specter is taking shots at Eric Holder, Barack Obama’s choice as attorney general. Specter has previously expressed doubts about Holder, who was involved in the messy Marc Rich pardon in the final days of the Clinton era. But on the Senate floor, Specter kicked it up a notch, arguing …
Double or Nothing?
Rates of bipolar disorder among children are spiraling — and Pittsburgh-area researchers are trying to figure out why
Film Kitchen
Local filmmaker Michael D. Lies unearths two of his trippy shorts from the 1970s, one a pre-Dawn of the Dead showcase for Tom Savini.
The Pool
In Chris Smith’s coming-of-age dramedy, 18-year-old Venkatesh works in port city in Western India, and becomes obsessed with, first a disused pool at a fine home, and later, the home’s inhabitants. The Pool is a departure for Smith, a documentarian (American Movie), who adapted a short story and used primarily non-professional actors. The film, with…
They like it when she insults them, do fans of comic Lisa Lampanelli.
When critics, commentators and even fans describe comedian Lisa Lampanelli, they almost always use the same words — the “Queen of Mean,” or “one of the best female insult comics.” But gender modifiers are out of place on Lampanelli. The 47-year-old is by all accounts one of the funniest, dirtiest and most irreverent comedians working…
Mirabelle
Local food — even flour — is the hallmark of this Oakmont fine-dining establishment.
Pittsburgh n’@
Dispatches from the local blogosphere: A critical Mass of Pittsburgh Poles.
This Just In: January 8 – 15
Highlights from the local TV news: Dogged reporting at WPXI.
Unusual Prospects
India natives getting used to baseball and life in the U.S.
Legal Trick Shot
Will a new gun law actually do some good or end up shooting the city in the foot?
Black Moth Super Rainbow bassist Power Pill Fist plays Brillobox … and his Atari
“When Black Moth was in its original form, we were more experimental and noisier — that was one of the reasons I liked it so much.”
Conceptual music ensemble HiTEC brings situational games and chance to the Hazlett
“Dictator,” devised by saxophonist Ben Opie, gives one person conducting rights until he or she abdicates or is dethroned in a popular uprising.
Finding a place in local history for the modern women’s movement.
“It seemed to me that clearly these feminists had been highly engaged as activists. And it should be a source of regional pride and lots of people should know about it.”
AJ’s Burger Fries and Peruvian Rotisserie
The big, fluffy, bright-yellow chicken wasn’t working. In need of a human to animate it, the promotional street costume slumped discreetly behind a booth. But other chickens were on the job: spinning on a rotisserie spit, getting deliciously roasted and ready to be served. Central Oakland, home to numerous eateries offering a variety of quick,…
Phillip Thompson launches the Pittsburgh New Music Net
“The main thing is that it’s a tool for the community to use, and the more we use it, the more we raise the profile of concert music in the city.”
Full Court Press
The next chapter in Buchanan vs. Common Sense
Savage Love
Two nights ago, I went to a party. My ex-boyfriend was present, but my current boyfriend was not. I had several beers, and while I wasn’t drunk, I was tipsy. I had to go to my car to get my cell phone, and my ex offered to accompany me. When we got to the car,…
PR Watch: Yet another Pittsburgh-isn’t-so-bad-after-all story
The New York Times provides us with our first “what’s going on in Pittsburgh” story of the new year today. And guess what? We’re avoiding the worst of the economic downturn … in part because of our resistance to change — The big local bank, PNC, was resolutely unadventurous during the housing frenzy. — and…
