Lynn Cullen Live 03/20/12
Video Archive Video Archive Currently Unavailable. Guest: Susan!; first day of spring; squashed eyeballs in space; how James Cameron is changing the deep sea diving game; unpronounceable names; placenta recipes: Tennessee’s Life Defense Act; posthumous reproduction; Dancing with the Stars update; there a lot more single mothers than single fathers; Romney: The Obama Administration is…
Reading of New “Maltese Falcon” Stage Adaptation
If you’re looking for something to do tonight, a passel of top local actors is bringing to life Dashiell Hammett’s classic of hardboiled detective fiction. The source material isn’t the great film version, starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. Rather, actor James FitzGerald has adapted Hammett’s novel in the style of a vintage 1940s radio…
New Jasiri X track: Trayvon
Jasiri X’s new track, “Trayvon.”
Review: Rollins at the Warhol
Rollins in Uganda, a photo from his recent book. Henry Rollins showed up at the Carnegie Lecture Hall on Saturday with the same all-black garb and arms dotted with tattoos that he has been sporting for years. One thing about the appearance of the singer/comedian/actor/columnist/poet was noticeable different, though: His signature buzz cut was half-way…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/19/12
Video Archive Guest: Kathryn Spitz-Cohan, J Film Festival; Smithfield St. ice cream wars; Brazil poised to become largest oil producer, criminally charging Chevron for oil spill; KONY 2012 filmmaker in mental institution; US Army Corps of Engineers & their French motto; Doug Shields compares Act 13 to living in Nigeria; baggage vs. body mass in…
HIV treatment, researched locally, takes step forward
A form of an antiretroviral drug to prevent HIV has been found safe, according to the Pittsburgh-based Microbicide Trials Network. Since October 2010, researchers at the trials network, funded by the National Institutes of Health and based at the University of Pittsburgh and Magee-Women’s Research Institute, have been studying a formulation of tenofovir gel, specifically…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/16/12
Video Archive Guest: Sister Susan English; new documentary “We Are All Immigrants” put together by Lynn, Duquesne staff, Benedictine Sisters & others; difference between nuns & sisters; theme of humanity in the documentary; how Sister Susan got into the Benedictine Sisters being a divorcee; Bishops are progressive when it comes to immigration; Stephen Colbert’s Rick…
Ob-gyn doc: Republican posturing over ultrasound “doesn’t make any sense”
There’s been a lot of buzz over remarks Gov. Tom Corbett made recently about mandatory-ultrasound legislation. What does our state’s leading small-government champion think about legislation creating burdensome government regulations on medical procedures? Well, we’re talking about making women jump through hoops before getting an abortion. So not surprisingly, Corbett told reporters that he supported…
Hustlebot a Finalist in Comedy Central Contest
Maybe it’s the slowly recovering economy, or the Republican primaries — or perhaps it’s the 2012 Mayan prophecy — but lately we’ve noticed an uptick in comedy activity in these parts. Every couple weeks, it seems, there’s a new improv troupe or comedy venue. And if there is a Pittsburgh comedy rennaissance afoot, another sign…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/15/12
Video Archive Guest: Tom Sokolowski; the Ides of March; status-hungry people; Greg Smith’s Goldman Sachs Op-Ed in the NYT; Lynn’s parking court update; Jew Pond to be renamed; voter ID requirement passed in PA; secular folk not reproducing in the numbers that fundamentalist Christians, Muslims & Jews are; Republicans don’t want to renew the Violence…
New Science Center Program Not All It’s Fracked Up to Be
Sponsors and creators insist that the Carnegie Science Center’s new touring program on natural gas is all about the science. But students, educators and parents should carefully examine the messages in “Colossal Fossil Fuels,” which explains natural-gas drilling and exploration with help from EQT Corporation — a $1.3 billion company which makes its money selling…
South Side fee proposal meets opposition at community meeting
A board of several South Side community groups are still mulling a proposal to create a special fee for additional neighborhood services. But many residents, it seems, have made up their minds against the notion. Susie Puskar, outreach coordinator for the South Side Neighborhood Improvement District steering community, told community groups Tuesday “we are not…
Grimes brings post-Internet jams to Brillobox
GRIMES — SHOW CANCELLED The March 20 Grimes show at Brillobox was cancelled due to illness. Of all the vague genre monikers that get batted around independent music’s current vocabulary ("chillwave" being the most infamous, and "witch house" the most blatantly stupid), "post-Internet" is probably the most bewildering. It’s a simple but deceptively nuanced buzzword…
Introducing City Paper’s Sounding Board concert series
SOUNDING BOARD featuring DAZZLETINE, SOLSIS, HOST SKULL. 7 p.m. Wed., March 21. Peter’s Pub 116 Oakland Ave. Oakland. $6. 412-681-7465 or mypeterspub.com Back in 2008 and 2009, City Paper presented a series of local-music showcase concerts under the banner "CP Remixed." The concerts were curated by local music-scene notables, and featured some of the best…
CD Reviews
Invader Invader (Innervenus) Fast, brutal metalcore from the local five-piece. Complex guitar and bass work that largely manages to stay away from show-offy, wanky territory; aggressive, growling vocals that manage not to be obnoxious. It’s a good balance that results in a great album. Gangwish We Move (Self-released) What began as noted local drummer Sam…
Critics’ Picks: March 16 – 22
[INDIE FOLK] + FRI., MARCH 16 John K. Samson is back with a renewed sense of purpose. The onetime Propagandhi bassist rose to fame fronting The Weakerthans, the indie-folk outfit that quietly expressed Samson’s sometimes bleak, uniquely Canadian outlook. This year, ANTI- Records released his first solo album, Provincial. Of course, it doesn’t stray too…
The Porch
The Porch Schenley Plaza, Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive, Oakland. 412-687-6724 Hours: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun., 10 a.m.-9 Prices: Appetizers, soups and salads $4-11; entrees $9-25 Liquor: Limited bar How many users of Schenley Plaza remember that, until quite recently, this marvelous urban oasis was one of the city’s most-detested…
Savage Love
Thank you for your advocacy of monogamishy. (Monogamishness?) When I fell in love with my wife several years ago, we were honest about our wide-ranging sexual desires and negotiated an arrangement. We encourage each other’s outside crushes, and both want to be present while one of us is banging that outside crush. Your column gave…
Fraudulent Concerns
OK, sure. In the words of the Brennan Center for Justice, "It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls." But don’t tell that to the Harrisburg Republicans pushing a "voter ID" bill. It’ll just give them more ideas … like passing…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/14/12
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; parking court; Judge Motznik goes ballistic; Santorum took Mississippi & Alabama; Republican women prefer Santorum over Romney; John Delano thinks Obama’s chance of re-election is 50/50; global climate change & rising sea levels; 9/11 possibly the last underdocumented event/our lack of mobile technology then; birkini – – bathing suit for…
Fishes and Loaves
The retreat of grocery stores from urban neighborhoods hit Hazelwood hard. Since community institution Dimperio’s closed three years ago, Hazelwood has had no grocery at all. Last June, churches and community groups created a locally unique solution. For a $20 one-time membership fee, Hazelwood residents can join the Fishes and Loaves Cooperative Ministries Buying Club,…
Photography show at the Carnegie mixes nine distinct perspectives on Downtown with some historic ones.
PICTURING THE CITY: DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH: 2007-2010 continues through March 25. Carnegie Museum of Art 4400 Forbes Ave. Oakland. 412-622-3131 or cmoa.org During the 20th century, Pittsburgh was the subject of four notable photographic surveys. In 1907, Lewis Hine was part of a team of sociologists examining severe working conditions here, taking Pittsburgh as an archetypal…
Gene’s Place has been part of Oakland’s DNA for years
Gene’s Place 3616 Louisa St., Oakland.412-682-2158 It’s not every day you find a bar populated by university students … and that’s run by a professor. But such is the case at Gene’s Place, owned and operated by Carlow University business professor Gene Ney. "I teach in the daytime and do the bar thing at nighttime,"…
LaRoche College’s small but ambitious dance program offers its Spring Gala
THE SPRING GALA Presented by La Roche College Dance 8 p.m. Fri., March 16. Byham Theater 101 Sixth St. Downtown. $25.75. 412-456-6666 or pgharts.org With only six dance majors, La Roche College’s dance program is small. Yet in the midst of rebuilding the program, Maria Caruso, the school’s performing-arts department chair, is offering her students…
Herbalist Moirin Reynolds brews teas, tinctures … and good feelings
It’s the Night of the New Moon here at Buena Vista Coffee in the Mexican War Streets. And that is the most propitious time for making herbal remedies, Moirin Reynolds tells her seven assembled students. Reynolds, the owner and operator of Bridget’s Apothecary, has commandeered this corner coffee shop for what she calls a "Make-and-Learn":…
Freud’s Last Session
FREUD’S LAST SESSION continues through April 1. Pittsburgh Public Theater 621 Penn Ave. Downtown. 412-316-1600 orppt.org It takes a gutsy playwright to attempt theatrical magic from a meeting between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. But with Freud’s Last Session — now making its local debut at the Pittsburgh Public Theater — Mark St. Germain sets…
Activist taking on street violence with a plan — and a gun
As the teen-ager prepares to read a speech off her laptop screen, Dave Adams takes notes. And then he takes aim. “What happens when you give a speech to a Senator or in Congress? You can’t use a laptop,” he barks. “You have to be more prepared.” Clad in a navy blue tactical suit, with a…
The 39 Steps
THE 39 STEPS continues through Sun., March 25. McKeesport Little Theater 1614 Coursin St. McKeesport. 412-673-1100 or www.mckeesportlittletheater.com During its 51 seasons, McKeesport Little Theater certainly has committed itself to challenging, offbeat plays that you might not expect from a community endeavor. Now it peoples 33 loony scenes with four actors representing so many characters…
Short List: March 16 – 22
From attacks on contraception funding to verbal assaults on female college students by talk-radio blowhards, winter’s been tough on women. And whether in business, government or media, women seldom get to frame discussions about them. Not so on SWAN Day, the international holiday created to Support Women Artists Now. Pittsburgh’s fourth annual version, organized by…
Talking with author, blogger and small-press advocate Karen Lillis about her new novel.
Author and blogger Karen Lillis is a keystone of Pittsburgh’s underground literary scene. The Virginia native, 41, moved to Pittsburgh in 2005 after 12 years in New York City. She blogs about small presses and indie bookshops at karenslibraryblog.blogspot.com and organizes readings by visiting authors. Lillis, who works in the University of Pittsburgh’s Cultural Studies…
JFilm
The 19th annual JFilm, formerly known as the Pittsburgh Jewish-Israeli Film Festival, opens its 18-day run on Thu., March 15, with the Pittsburgh premiere of Prima Primavera, a Hungarian road-trip comedy. The festival also offers 19 other films from Israel and around the world representing Jewish experiences from the comic and the dramatic to the…
Crazy Horse
Frederick Wiseman became famous in 1967 with his documentary Titicut Follies, an exposé of a hospital for the criminally insane. The title refers to a pageant staged by the inmates. His latest film also involves pageantry, and this time, titties. In Crazy Horse, Wiseman explores the eponymous Paris nightclub that offers a buffet of nude…
Bear In Heaven is back and it’s cool
BEAR IN HEAVEN 8 p.m. Wed., March 28. Andy Warhol Museum 117 Sandusky St. North Side. $12-15. 412-237-8300 or warhol.org Bear In Heaven’s Adam Wills thought the Brooklyn trio’s new album, I Love You, It’s Cool, was a certifiable dance record. Until some early reviews took him down a notch. "All these people are reviewing…
Op-ed: Ruth Ann Dailey and Chris Potter — allies at last!
“Did you see Ruth Ann Dailey’s column?” a friend e-mailed me yesterday. “You’re not going to like it.” The piece was Dailey’s latest effort to take on the Obama administration, and its requirement that employers offer insurance that covers contraception — even if the employer morally opposes birth control. As my friend knew, I’ve taken…
In state House 24, Gainey alleges forgery by campaign of incumbent Preston
Warm weather is finally here … and so are the season’s petition challenges! In the state House race to represent District 24, the campaign of challenger Ed Gainey this morning trumpeted a legal challenge to the nominating petitions filed by longtime incumbent Joe Preston. Gainey supporters have asked Commonwealth Court to disqualify Preston, and in…
