Thursday’s Jóhann Jóhannsson performance moved to the Rex Theater
Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, featured in last week’s City Paper, will be performing here tomorrow night — but not at Garfield Artworks, as previously indicated. The show has been moved to the Rex Theater on the South Side, in part to accommodate Jóhannsson’s string quartet, and starts at 9 p.m., an hour later. Here are…
Tommy Chong and Cyril Wecht hold joint press conference, so to speak
Now I can retire: World-renowned pathologist Cyril Wecht just asked me what a bong is. Wecht appeared at an afternoon press conference alongside Tommy Chong, the stoner-cinema film star who — like Wecht — was targeted by former US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan. As first reported here, the two are slated to headline a Democratic…
Quantum Theatre’s The Task
Quantum typically makes the most of the sites of its site-specific productions, but the troupe really outdoes itself with the staging for Heiner Müller’s play about revolution, betrayal and disillusionment in 19th-century France and Jamaica. The taken-over locale this time is the Gage Building, an old multi-story brick warehouse in the Strip. Quantum artistic director…
More politics from the borderline
By now, you’ve probably heard the latest Daryl Metcalfe outrage: the Butler County Republican — who just happens to be running for lieutenant governor — is sponsoring a bill that mirrors Arizona’s controversial state immigration law, which critics contend will lead to racial profiling. Joining with him is a Democrat, South Side state Rep. Harry…
About 225 Ross Street …
The Indefatigable Bram is back at it, having more or less restarted the Pittsburgh Comet. And he’s contributing at the Pittsburgh Progressive as well, with a post based on an earlier Post-Gazette piece on Ed Grattan. The comments section of the PP post includes some discussion of 225 Ross Street, a Downtown office building the…
Oh no, not again: Another cop accused of domestic abuse back in the news
Jesus Christ. Local media outlets are now reporting that a Pittsburgh Police detective, Bradley Walker, allegedly accosted a Pittsburgh motorist yesterday, pulling his gun and trying to choke the other driver in a fit of road rage following a minor accident: Police said Walker, who was not on duty, got out of his vehicle to…
MP3 Monday, sort of: Mace Ballard’s new EP
Hey blog-reading public! It’s Monday, and time for an MP3. It’s gonna work a little differently this time, though. Last week, local pop-punkers Mace Ballard released a new EP, The Time It Takes To Rewind. It’s already available for free online — the whole thing. So it would be a little silly for me to…
News flash: Arlen Specter is old
One nice thing about working at a newspaper: There’s still a chance your mail will include something that’s actually interesting. Sometimes it’s a letter from Cyril Wecht, sometimes an anonymous threat (“We’ll see who’s laughing on Judgment Day!”) and sometimes it’s a question like: “Is Duncan Hines a real person? I need to know, and…
Graphic Novelist Rina Ayuyang
It’s easy to take the term “graphic novelist” the wrong way. Even if you’re mind’s not in the gutter, you might picture X supernaturally-gifted hero and Y beautiful/quick-witted damsel roof-hopping between the word balloons. But Whirlwind Wonderland (Sparkplug Comic Books/Tugboat Press), the newest book from graphic novelist Rina Ayuyang, contains neither superhero nor smoldering sex…
In case you missed it …
… the Sestak/Specter Senate debate can be viewed here. It’s nearly an hour long, but to get the flavor for it, you really only need to watch the first couple minutes … so you can see Specter’s remarkable display of chutzpah. In answering the first question from moderator John Baer about why he was the…
Public service reminder: Sestak/Specter
Just a reminder that tomorrow night, Joe Sestak and Arlen Specter will be having, like, their only debate in this entire political campaign. That’s one less debate than the Democrats running for governor had yesterday alone. There have been roughly two dozen debates by the gubernatorial candidates so far. The lack of action in the…
Von Singletary of Venture Outdoors
Singletary, a local environmentalist, ecologist and social activist, is on a mission to bring Pittsburgh outside this summer. Singletary recently joined the staff at Venture Outdoors. The nonprofit group, dedicated to promoting the region’s outdoor resources and opportunities, organizes a myriad of activities: sporty adventures (kayaking, hiking, and biking), agricultural programs and other family-friendly outdoor…
Democrats not QUITE beyond debate
One of the mysteries about this year’s governor race is why so few voters seem to be paying attention to it. Having attended a pair of debates yesterday, I think I know part of the answer. It’s not that four Democratic contenders are all the same — it’s that for much of the campaign, they…
Short List: Week of April 29 – May 6
Thu., April 29 — Music Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring is, famously, not a lilting homage to songbirds and flowers. This classic work, inspired by virgin sacrifices, instead resembles something from the Lost score — eerie, groaning crescendos and anxious, stirring repetition. BNY Mellon Grand Classics continues as pianist Valentina Lisitsa and conductor Manfred Honeck…
The Yellow Handkerchief
Load up the vintage convertible and head south for the Bayou of Broken Dreams! Yes, it’s another indie-movie road trip, and the passengers include a troubled teen (Kirsten Stewart), a troubled twentysomething (Eddie Redmayne) and a troubled middle-aged ex-con named Brett (William Hurt). Brett’s the laconic mystery man, and his backstory unfolds in scattered flashbacks…
Sestak continues counterattack
I spotted the latest Joe Sestak ad on TV this morning. (Yeah, that’s right, I like to watch Tricia Pittman’s traffic reports, all right? DON’T JUDGE ME.) It’s yet another reprisal for an ad launched by Senate rival Arlen Specter, which blasts Sestak’s military service. And it builds on a campaign that has been going…
The Losers
An elite group of U.S. fighters in the Bolivian jungle are “killed” by an evil mastermind named Max (Jason Patric). Naturally, they’re too bad-ass to actually die. But now, effectively erased from the rolls of the salaried, these hungry-for-revenge hombres hook up with a mysterious beauty (Zoe Saldana), who outfits them with all the weapons…
Furry Vengeance
If you’re under 5, you probably won’t get this silly comedy about a raccoon-led fight against economic progress, and like the kids at my screening, can just run up and down the theater aisles instead. If you’re over 10, you’ll likely find the endless pratfalls and repeated jokes to be tiresome. Adults will just scratch…
The Back-Up Plan
J. Lo (a.k.a. Jennifer Lopez) reminds me of Madonna, in that they both seem to function best as a celebrity concept. But break ’em down into parts — singing, dancing, acting, choosing movies to star in — and their appeal utterly escapes me. Maybe it’s because she’s now a tabloid mommy that Lopez signed on…
Russian Film Symposium
This year’s examination: “From Art-house to Cineplex: Russian Cinema’s Search for a Mass Audience”
City Island
The hiding — and unveiling — of secrets is the central shtick of writer-director Raymond De Felitta’s family-comedy-with-a-splash-of-drama. Prison guard Vince (Andy Garcia) secrets drive the action: One, he’s taking acting classes, and two, he’s about the rectify a huge boo-boo from his past. Naturally, Vince heads up a quirky and dysfunctional brood, who are…
Palmieri’s
A genuinely old-school restaurant which still trades, successfully, on the dining traditions — and dishes — of the past.
Dalel Khalil explores the world of Arab-American From Veils to Thongs.
“It’s kind of like the ‘Carrie Bradshaw’ for Arab-American chicks.”
Letters to the editor: April 27 – May 5
Feedback from our readers: Can the Center hold?
A Carnegie Mellon professor’s new book tackles some of the whys and hows of science.
“Some things are fixed in science, but not very much.”
Take a road trip through the 1990s and the humorous, brilliant mind of writer David Foster Wallace
“Everything gets lost, except for the stuff that accidentally gets recorded.”
Time of My Life
Scrape away the gimmicks and the comedy, and Ayckbourn is writing about, with absolutely no new insight, bad marriages.
Speech & Debate
Playwright Karam has written Howie especially well, making him secure about being out, even if he’s still learning whom to trust.
The Task
The exemplary Quantum cast is more than up to the task as director Harris pulls them from straight drama to absurdisms both comic and dark.
A British company’s dance work finds both the pain and the dark humor in an emotional trauma.
The two halves represent Vincent’s inner emotional battle, between wallowing in self-pity and maintaining the proverbial British “stiff upper lip.”
This Just In: April 29 – May 6
Highlights from the local TV news: Out of This World!
Language Barrier
City police flesh out vague anti-profiling policy
Club Hopping
New leadership for an LGBT institution
Off Center
Merton Center board acknowledges mistakes, looks for solutions
Office Romance
Borrowing from dating websites, CMU grads seek to provide an online spot for those desperately seeking employment
Sunny Jim’s Tavern
255 Camp Horne Road, Kilbuck Township 412-761-6700 or www.sunnyjimstavern.com Hours: Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Sun. 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Kitchen open Monday through Wednesday until 10 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday until 11 p.m.; and Sunday until 9 PM Date visited: Sat., April 24, and Sun., April 25 Years in Business: 67. That’s an…
Gene the Werewolf knows how the sausage is made
A weird reflexivity happens between the band and venue, as a female bartender struts along the top of the bar, pouring a bottle directly into patrons’ mouths.
Improvised electro duo EOTO appeals to both dance fiends and the jam-band crowd
EOTO gets to explore the weirder corners of dubstep, making the crowd not dance so much as fold in half to the beat.
Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson returns, despite natural and economic disasters
Jóhannsson’s stark, melancholy themes have a cinematic quality that makes perfect sense in light of his extensive résumé of music for film and stage.
Death of a Wedge Issue
Without the choice issue, how do we choose?
Savage Love
I read the letter from the woman who had cheated on her ex and now wants to patch it up. I have a similar situation, except it was my ex-girlfriend who cheated on me. We’d been living together for a few years and then she suddenly moved out “temporarily” to “work out some issues,” then…
Gun-control group has gubernatorial race in its sights
Gun-control advocates CeaseFirePa have issued a voters guide for the upcoming election. The takeaway: All four Democrats are broadly in support of CeaseFire’s reforms — which include a “lost and stolen” gun ordinance, tougher penalties for those with illegal guns, and more funding for a gun-violence task force. CeaseFire called that “an unprecedented level of…
