What’s the Rush?
Question: Does this sound like a political party that wants to bring back the Fairness Doctrine to shut up Rush Limbaugh? The bigger [Limbaugh gets], the better, agreed [Democratic strategist James] Carville. “It’s great for us, great for him, great for the press,” he said of Limbaugh. “The only people he’s not good for are…
Harris campaign for mayor — a hoax?
Heh. Don’t know what to make of this, but Franco Harris’ wikipedia entry currently asserts that “Harris’ son F. Dok Harris is about to announce he will be running for mayor of Pittsburgh.” That remark was added yesterday, as near as I can tell. Franco himself has long been active in Democratic Party activities, and…
Interview: SUNSTAR Festival local artist Heather Kropf
Last week I spoke with local singer-songwriter Heather Kropf, who will be participating in the SUNSTAR Women in Music Festival this weekend at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. Watch for my interview with Toshi Reagon, who’s also performing, in this week’s CP. City Paper: When you were growing up and getting into music, were there certain…
Blogging: It beats preparing for the weekly staff meeting
Several quick hits before I go into a staff meeting … It took a little while, but yesterday the Dowd online fundraising campaign topped $5,000. Way to stick it to those nattering nabobs of negativism, Dowdites! ***** In my ongoing attempt to chart the decline of the fishwrap industry, I’ll note this piece from yesterday’s…
MP3 Monday: Nicole Reynolds
Nicole Reynolds is a South Hills native who honed her musical skills at college and in Philadelphia and has since returned, part-time, to Western Pennsylvania. I took a trip to the small sheep farm she lives and works at in Armstrong County last summer, and produced the article seen here. We also made a video…
No Child … at Open Stage Theatre
This show’s title suggests it assails an especially reviled piece of school legislation, Bush’s No Child Left Behind. But the script critiques mostly by inference. Rather, as director David Maslow said in an interview before the show’s run began, it’s a play about an actor on a stage. And as that one-woman cast herself, Rita…
City Paper challenges secrecy in Scaife case
On Friday, Feb. 27, City Paper and an attorney for the ACLU filed an emergency petition to open trial proceedings in the Scaife divorce case … only to find out that, for now at least, no further courtroom action is scheduled.
The Federal stimulus: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do the same old shit
So last Thursday, I spent a couple hours at the CEOs for Cities “salon” discussion of the federal stimulus bill. (I’d have written about this sooner, but I’ve been sick and dealing with some other weirdness. Apologies to everyone who’s been hitting “refresh” every 20 minutes for the past few days: I’ll call next weekend,…
Mid-Winter Reality Round-Up
A throat-clearing of sorts, to catch up on the various realities: Last Restaurant Standing: This British import continues to be entertaining as the wannabe restaurateurs fail to master the most basic principles of running a restaurant. One pair purposely underbooks so as not to get too frazzled; not only do they fare poorly at the…
Campus Insecurity
Duquesne University president gets high marks for burnishing his campus’ reputation — but critics give his management style a “D”
Two Lovers
Joaquin Phoenix says this is his last movie, and if indeed it’s the end of his acting career, his role in James Gray’s low-key drama isn’t a bad finish. Phoenix plays Leonard, a troubled, aimless man who still bunks with his parents in New York’s insular Brighton Beach. Out of kindness, he dates the nice…
A Secret
Claude Miller’s handsomely filmed drama jumps between the 1950s, 1980s and 1940s to show how one extended Jewish family in France was undone and re-configured by the horrors of World War II. For young Francois, born after the war, the revelation of concealed histories spurs a complete re-assessment of his family and his place in…
Remarkable Power!
A number of seemingly unrelated threads intertwine in Brandon Beckner’s wacky ensemble comedy that pokes fun at a bunch of wannabe somebodies in Los Angeles. From the murder of a struggling TV talk-show host (Kevin Nealon) and a self-improvement program called Remarkable Power! to a Jewish gangster with a taste for baseball and a private…
Fanboys
Take your basic road-trip premise — four squabbling buddies head west on an impossible quest — and juice it up with Star Wars in-jokes. Thus, your appreciation for Kyle Newman’s comedy will depend on both your tolerance for the same old comic journey –and what you know about Chewbacca’s home planet. (My tolerance is low…
The Black Balloon
The family of four here is not like every other family, although for the sake of honoring their struggle, it’s tempting to say that they are. Most get along fine, but it’s Charlie (Luke Ford) who creates havoc: He’s autistic, and severely so. In American hands, The Black Balloon would probably have been a more…
Faces of Realism
The questions have echoed since the first grainy moving pictures were unspooled more than a century ago: Can film truly capture reality? Does the medium compromise it, or change our perception of what’s true? Is truth best expressed by so-called documentary, in emotionally accessible narrative features, or in more complex structures, like satire? And how…
Greek Stop
Traditional preparations of familiar Greek dishes mark this attractive eatery.
This Just In: February 26 – March 5
Highlights from the local TV news: A DUI report that is less than sober.
Letters to the Editor: February 25 – March 4
Remedial lessons Increasing rates of gonorrheal and chlamydial infection, as reported in Melissa Meinzer’s excellent piece “Infectious Debate” [Jan. 28], come as no surprise given the inducement of ignorance in the teenage population by abstinence-only “education.” These programs, which have been unequivocally proven ineffectual and counterproductive, are not education in any sense of the word.…
Gang Warfare
Casey introduces gang-violence bill focusing on prevention
Taking It Outside
“We have to be careful, because virtual experiences … that’s what kids are living with all the time.”
Reverse Payout
Could the plan to legalize video poker force the state to pay back casinos?
The London Cuckolds
Cuckolds really is a raunchy show.
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
Because Kushner’s a genius is why, telling something no less than what it means to be an American in the second half of the 20th century in this sweeping, epic drama.
Creative Accounting
“We’re cut to the bone. Now we’re cutting marrow.” — Beth Corning
A new exhibit showcases the remarkable work of Mexican architect Fernando Romero.
For all of the insistence on function, process and study, plenty of these works achieve the status of transcendent visual art as well.
Poet Kristofer Collins and others read at a Six Gallery Press showcase.
Collins is prolific enough that this becomes poetry as journalism, as diary, as the idiosyncratic memoir of a town.
Encyclopedia Destructica’s Flying Destructicate, by artist Jonathan Brodsky and others, is more a kit than a book.
The PowerPoint pamphlets explore the possibilities and push the boundaries of this communication genre more typically associated with the fluorescent buzz of office parks.
Low Water revisits old Pittsburgh stomping grounds
Straightforward, rootsy pop with a thoughtful lyrical bent and a fondness for subtle trimmings that give the music extra depth.
East Liberty’s AVA Lounge is a haven for jazz heads on Monday nights
The audience members chat but mostly listen, nodding their heads like 1950s bebop fans, staring at the musicians and studying the notes as much as hearing them.
Scaife divorce case being tried under veil of secrecy
Last night, City Paper received word that Richard Mellon Scaife’s divorce has moved to the trial stage — but that arguments are taking place in a closed courtroom, with no access to the public or press. City Paper confirmed that information with Family Court judge Alan Hertzberg’s office this morning. And in fact courtroom proceedings…
Tokyo Police Club return to Mr. Small’s on its victory lap
“Mostly we’re gonna just yuk it up and enjoy ourselves.”
Voluto Coffee
A new coffee shop livens up the Penn Avenue Arts Corridor.
Local music highlights for the coming weeks
With March come a few anticipated local releases, follow-ups from artists we’ve covered in recent years.
Savage Love
My boyfriend of 16 months and I have a great relationship. He loves my blowjobs, but he will not kiss me if I have his come in my mouth. It grosses him out. He won’t even try. I have no problem if he kisses me after going down on me. I just want him to…
