Live review: Cantina Patio Opening Fiesta
This weekend’s Round Corner Cantina Patio Opening Fiesta had Lawrenceville bumpin’ for an all-day/all-weekend party that offered more than the standard Cantina fare of Tecate and quality tacos. Beginning at noon and rolling until 10pm, the patio was alive with a diverse crowd of partygoers soaking in the cumbia tinged beats from the guys of…
The Network [hearts] Ricky Burgess
Remember John Verbanac? The guy who was at the heart of investigative reporter Rich Lord’s series “The Network” — a look at how influence works in local government? The guy who literally helped write Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s speeches? And who became a central campaign issue during Kevin Acklin’s quixotic 2009 mayoral bid? Turns out he’s…
MP3 Monday: Sleep Experiments
Howdy! The NRA may have finally left town, but we here at FFW>> are bringing out the big guns today for MP3 Monday. This week’s track comes from the dreamy pop trio Sleep Experiments, whose Flight Takes Thought EP came out not so long ago. The track we get today for free is the title…
NRA convention visited by Tucson shooting hero Pat Maisch
Pat Maisch stood in front of the crowd of more than 200 people she had never met before, and apologized. “I’m sorry I’m new at this. I have to read off this sheet — I haven’t memorized this yet.” The Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network rally, held on Saturday outside the NRA annual convention Downtown, was…
Chris Hondros Memorial
I spoke by phone earlier today with Jeff Swensen. The Pittsburgh-based photographer was in Fayetteville, N.C., for the funeral of his close friend Hondros, the internationally acclaimed conflict photographer. Hondros, 41, was a familiar face in Pittsburgh in recent years, largely due to Swensen. The two had been friends since their first day in graduate…
Gun-rights standoff at NRA convention
The holidays are extra painful for Jacqueline Graham, one of more than 200 people protesting the National Rifle Association convention being held in Pittsburgh this weekend. Graham’s daughter, Shalane, was killed two days after Thanksgiving in 2009. And her little sister, Michelle, was killed on Easter Sunday in 1985. Both died of gunshot wounds from…
Steve Pellegrino’s Accordion Stories
I’ve admired performance artist Pellegrino’s work for years, but until last night I’d never thought to consider him a mutant hybrid. But it’s true: Pellegrino is what you get when you cross-fertilize the son of a Mon Valley coal town with avant-garde theater. Pellegrino, after all, cites as key formative experiences both the instructions from…
Seedling Season
With this miserably cold, damp spring finally breaking, it’s time to think of seedlings, those first steps toward the herbs, fruits and veggies of summer. Thanks to renewed interest in at-home farming, seedlings are widely available. (Even the big home-improvement stores stock “exotics” such as arugula.) But for variety — and supporting local enterprises –…
Short List: Week of April 28 – May 5
Fri., April 29 — Art Sewickley’s Spring Gallery Walk celebrates the season with art openings. Noting that it’s Arbor Day, Élan Fine Art Gallery offers Tree Lines, a group show for artists with local (ahem) roots. It’s glasswork, furniture, painting, digital imagery and more by 15 artists including Clare Ascani, Joan Barenbregge and James Shipman.…
Rammbock
There’s no reason to believe that zombies wouldn’t be a world-wide problem, but the undead seem to favor breaking out in the United States. Now, in Marvin Kren’s economical thriller Rammbock, we see how it looks when Germany is under siege. If you guessed that the Teutonic response to marauding zombies would be organized, thought-out…
Russian Film Symposium
The annual Russian Film Symposium returns, now in its 13th year. The six-day symposium, co-presented by the University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Filmmakers, begins Mon., May 2, and will offer 12 recent films, to be shown on campus and at the Melwood Screening Room. This year’s theme is “Other Russias, Russia’s Others: Films in and…
Nardi’s
Old-fashioned charm can’t make up for uneven menu.
Critics’ Picks: April 28-May 5
Thu., April 28 — Black Metal As U.S. black metal goes, Krallice is something of a supergroup: Founding members Mick Barr and Colin Marston have been in Orthrelm, Behold … the Arctopus and Disrhythmia, among others. The band’s latest, Diotima, was just released on the Profound Lore label to critical praise. (How many other experimental…
CD Reviews
New releases from from German Shepherd, Caleb Pogyor, Hipster Deathmachine and Brad Yoder.
A new artwork recalling casualties of the Iraq war is among the highlights of the April 29 Gallery Crawl.
New art exhibits, music, art cabaret and more take over the Cultural District.
New York’s David Dorfman Dance brings the funk with a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone.
“I like to almost set up the audience into thinking a piece is just about a specific time period, when really I am curious about how we are relating to the issues of that period now.”
Superior Donuts
There’s something about the very predictability of Superior Donuts that only adds to its enjoyment.
Performance artist Steve Pellegrino explores his working-class ethnic routes through the accordion.
“The accordion ties me to everything.”
An excerpt from Kyung-Sook Shin’s novel Please Look After Mom.
The following is excerpted from Kyung-Sook Shin’s novel Please Look After Mom. Since you heard about Mom’s disappearance, you haven’t been able to focus on a single thought, besieged by long-forgotten memories unexpectedly popping up. … Years ago, a few days before you left your hometown for the big city, Mom took you to…
Korean author Kyung-sook Shin is one of three international authors reading here.
“All of these authors are dealing with … stories about immigration, coming into a country or families in a changing society.”
Review: Nosaj Thing at CMU
The CMU Activities Board certainly wrangled in a doozy of a lineup for Easter Sunday. While most people might’ve been working on Grandma’s Easter dinner, a slew of bass aficionados and sonic revelers met up at Rangos Ballroom for Philly-based dubstep producer/DJ Starkey and LA-based beatmaking wunderkind Nosaj Thing. Starkey’s eclectic dubstep set highlighted his…
