Speedwolf and ILSA at Belvedere’s, April 2
“Pittsburgh 666, Pittsburgh 666! I still hate your football team!”
Ravenstahl, Kraus announce initiative to address revelry in South Side, elsewhere
For the last three years, Bruce Kraus has called on Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to help address long-standing quality-of-life issues plaguing bar-saturated entertainment districts like the South Side. Today, the mayor granted the city councilor’s wish. During a press conference this morning, Ravenstahl joined Kraus to announce a city partnership with Responsible Hospitality Institute, a nonprofit…
Tough choices for punks in Pittsburgh tonight
Before we get to today’s MP3 Monday, I wanted to apprise you of three (3) events going on tonight in town that I was unable to highlight, but that are all worthy or your attention, especially if you are a retired punk, or a current punk, or an aspiring punk, or a book punk, or…
Lynn Cullen Live 04/09/12
Video Archive Guests: none. The death of Mike Wallace. Listened to the audio book “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones on my drive to my brother’s house in Michigan. Set in 1800s Georgia. Few slaves were able to buy their freedom. Labor didn’t have a value. It seems current day Repubs have the same…
Lynn Cullen Live 04/06/12
Video Archive Phone guest: Mary Alice Gorman, Mystery Lovers Bookshop/PA Women’s Political Caucus; Timbuktu; does it matter how much we retain from high school education?; tape leak of Saints coach exhorting players to hurt 49ers quarterback; Florida: can’t bring a squirt gun to the Republican Nat’l Convention, but you can bring an uzi; difficulty in…
Last Weekend for Big Teenie Harris Show
Teenie Harris: Photographer — An American Story closes on Sat., April 7, at the Carnegie Museum of Art. It’s a vast show, featuring nearly 1,000 images shot by the iconic, Hill District-based photographer, most of them for the Pittsburgh Courier, and most in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. (On this page is a picture of…
Demolition Man: Ravenstahl kicks of “demolition season” in Homewood
The city kicked off demolition season yesterday, targeting an area of Homewood known as “the killing fields” and signaling what city officials called a “long-anticipated step forward” for the neighborhood. “We made a promise to the community that these houses would come down and today we’re here to make good on that promise,” Mayor Luke…
Lynn Cullen Live 04/05/12
Video Archive Pirates home opener; bomb threats at Pitt; peanut-free sections at ballparks; Mad Men’s historical accurateness; Maundy Thursday — the Last Supper was a seder; Supreme Court doesn’t have any Protestants; finalists in the Imagine Pittsburgh contest; Altmire & Critz campaigning against each other; Allegheny Co. population is rising; gas prices & the recession;…
Preston/Gainey: Too close to call in House District 24?
The stage was set for a showdown between longtime political rivals — friends turned foes. Inside the gymnasium at Homewood’s Faison Elementary School on March 29, roughly 50 residents of the state’s 24th legislative district filled rows of seats in anticipation of a “Meet the Candidates” forum hosted by Homewood community group Operation Better Block.…
Taking stock in the jazz world
MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO 8 p.m. Sat., April 14. First Unitarian Church Shadyside. $15-20. All ages. 412-361-2262 April is designated as Jazz Appreciation Month, and while some might argue that affection for the music continues throughout the other 11 months of the year, the upcoming 30 days offer a chance to truly reflect on the scope…
Diamond Terrifier and Chris Corsano put new faces on improv jazz
DIAMOND TERRIFIER with PATRICK HIGGINS, GREENLANDER. 8 p.m. Wed., April 4. $6. CHRIS CORSANO. 8 p.m. Thu., April 19. Both shows at Garfield Artworks 4931 Penn Ave. Garfield. All ages. 412-361-2262 Sam Hillner makes up one-third of the New York free-improvisation unit the Zs, but he also performs solo under the name Diamond Terrifier. His…
Good Night, States releases its third album with a grand party
GOOD NIGHT, STATES GRAND RELEASE GALA with BRETT STAGGS. 8 p.m. Thu., April 5. New Hazlett Theater 6 Allegheny Square East North Side. $10-70. All ages. 412-320-4610 or newhazletttheater.org When Good Night, States released its first full-length, Short Films on Self-Control, four years ago, it was a guitar record with some synths — evocative of…
Spring Break Beat Party brings live percussion to the Rex
SPRING BREAK BEAT PARTY featuring TIMBELEZA, MAN IN THE STREET, GANGWISH 8 p.m. Sat., April 7. Rex Theater 1602 E. Carson St. South Side. $5. 412-381-6811 or rextheater.com The first time Ben Shannon saw Timbeleza perform, the rhythms tickled his senses. “They played at the opening of a local dance school in Morningside,” Shannon says.…
Critics’ Picks: April 5 – 12
[FOLK] + THU., APRIL 5 Last year Honeyhoney released its second record, Billy Jack, to much acclaim; the California duo executes classic-sounding country tunes without coming off as stale or ironic. Singer Suzanne Santo drapes her beautiful vocals over a framework of banjo, guitar and fiddle as provided by Santo and her bandmate Ben Jaffe.…
Lynn Cullen Live 04/04/12
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; taking delight in others misery; yesterday’s speeches: Santorum, Romney, Obama; Santorum wouldn’t acknowledge his loss / Romney’s win; Westinghouse CEO resigns after two days; Melani goes to counseling, his mistress goes back to work; will Santorum win or lose PA?; croquet vs. lawn bowling; racism & sexism rooted in the…
The artists in Factory Installed reflect a new sensibility in installation art.
FACTORY INSTALLED continues through May 27. Mattress Factory 500 Sampsonia Way North Side. 412-231-3169 or mattress.org When installation art first started to become popular last century, its cultural appeal owed a lot to its ability to dematerialize aesthetic experience. You know, to create subjective encounters with non-stuff, back when art’s rising commodity status seemed to…
Political controversies come and go, but anti-choice protesters aren’t going anywhere
In recent months, Planned Parenthood has been under the magnifying glass, with national politics seemingly preoccupied with the topics of abortion and contraception. But not much has changed outside the Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania’s Downtown office on Liberty Avenue. There you’ll still find protesters like Margie Kladny, holding out flyers to anyone who will…
Looking toward the future of the Rust Belt with help from an antique photographic process.
GREENHOUSE 1 continues through April 22. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts 6300 Fifth Ave. Shadyside. 412-361-0873 Christopher McGinnis’s Greenhouse 1 is structured around relatively complex, yet surprisingly accessible, metaphors of struggling communities, history and hope. This pristine-in-places, messy-in-places installation by Pittsburgh returnee McGinnis, back from Tucson with an MFA, is as labor-intensive as a steel…
Harrisburg Republicans not giving up on anti-choice agenda
Abortions are already widely regulated, but Pennsylvania lawmakers have spent a large portion of their time in recent months drafting even more rules. They ended 2011 by passing a controversial bill, SB 732, which requires abortion providers to meet the same costly building-construction and personnel standards as ambulatory surgical facilities. That bill came in the…
The Electric Baby
THE ELECTRIC BABY continues through April 22. Quantum Theatre at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh, Bloomfield. 888-718-4253 or quantumtheatre.com The execution of Quantum Theatre’s world premiere of The Electric Baby is as dazzling as the dialogue is dreamful. Playwright Stefanie Zadravec and director Daniella Topol have collaborated to present the audience with an intimate production…
Pitt bathroom policy surprises, outrages transgender faculty, students
Since joining the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 2003, Emilia Lombardi has never had to worry much about which bathroom facilities she should use on the Oakland campus. The choice was simple: As a transgender person who identifies as a woman, it’s always made sense for her to use the ladies’ room. “I…
Harvest
HARVEST continues through Sat., April 7. Henry Heymann Theatre Oakland. 412-624-7529 or play.pitt.edu For the longest time, the University of Pittsburgh production of Manjula Padmanabhan’s Harvest is an engaging piece of theater. It’s set in a not-too-distant future where wealthy Western nations have begun exploiting the developing world in an even more “hands-on” sort of…
Monterey Pub
Monterey Pub 1227 Monterey St. North Side 412-322-6535 Hours: Mon.-Sat. 5-10 p.m. Prices: Starters, soups, salads and sides $3-11; sandwiches and burgers $9-12; entrees $13-17 Liquor: Full bar When we wandered into Monterey Pub, a North Side Irish tavern, Pittsburgh was still reeling from the most glorious St. Patrick’s Day in local memory. If the…
Pittsburgh hosts U.S. premiere of work by renowned choreographers
Jiri Kylian and Michael Schumacher’s LAST TOUCH FIRST 8 p.m. Fri., April 6, and 8 p.m. Sat., April 7. August Wilson Center 980 Liberty Ave. Downtown. $35. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org/dance We have all seen, in family albums or the dusty bins of antique shops, old photographs of people whose images lead us to imagine who…
A Garden Grows in Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville has lots going for it: distinctive architecture, trendy boutiques and bars, the occasional post-industrial ruin. But one thing it’s short on: arable land. That’s why its organic community garden is located inside Allegheny Cemetery, one of the neighborhood’s few large tracts of green space. “We’re not on top of any graves,” stresses Deirdre Kane…
Mirror, Mirror
Tarsem Singh blows the dust off a classic tale, rebooting Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as Mirror, Mirror. Singh (The Cell, The Fall) is partial to lavish sets and costumes, color-saturated production and plenty of style-in-lieu-of-story, and this film delivers that and not much more. Its prime attraction will surely be Julia Roberts as…
Aged Liquor
James Street Gastropub 422 Foreland St. North Side. 412-904-3335 or jamesstreetgastropub.com On the main floor of the James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy, you’ll find the trendiest of dining options: the gastropub. But down in the basement is a feature that recalls an earlier epoch: a jazz-era speakeasy. “This building has a pretty mad history,” says…
Wrath of the Titans
Sadly, the added dimension in Jonathan Liebesman’s Wrath of the Titans isn’t plot. If this your first 3-D movie, you might be entertained by the ash flying in your face, the tumble into the underworld or Zeus’ mighty beard flowing off the screen. But all the visual distractions — and that includes Sam Worthington as…
Savage Love
I have an awesome relationship with an awesome guy. I’m GGG and he’s vanilla. Which is why I don’t know what to do. I went downstairs late the other night, and he was sitting on the couch masturbating while stroking the cat, which was sitting on his chest. I don’t know if he saw me.…
The Salt of Life
Gianni — forced into retirement at 50, and now in his 60s — has time on his hands and a lot of female troubles: He’s juggling too many of them, and he’s not sure he can handle it any more. Unfortunately, unlike all of his other male friends — young, old and blue-track-suit very old…
Jim Daniels
Buddy, he called, buddy. Speech oozed out his infected eye. I knew the rest — kept walking. I picked at the scab, but still it quickly healed. No comfort in old scars. Don’t scuff those new shoes. The old familiar oops. Stop hurrying and fix me something good. You can’t get a sunburn from a…
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Japan’s most-renowned sushi master does indeed dream of sushi. But it’s not the “fancy” or “modern” sort, tricked out with myriad ingredients. No, Jiro has devoted his life to the ongoing perfection of the simple and sublime — fish and rice. (For instance, octopus at Jiro’s is hand-massaged for nearly an hour, so that the…
Hard Times
Sure, the Chinese are ahead of us in green technology, Japan would lead us in auto production if it weren’t for last year’s massive earthquake, and Mexico leads us in, um, the consumption of Mexican food. But when it comes to locking up its own citizens, we’re still No. 1! Roughly one out of every…
Film Kitchen
Over three decades, the 2010 Pittsburgh Center for the Arts artist of the year has created dozens of emotionally rich and visually potent short films, visionary works full of unexpected angles and hand-held camera movements, overlapping images and more, all in the increasingly rare 16 mm format. Richmond also has a penchant for soundtracks that…
Short List: April 5 – 12
Penn Avenue’s arts corridor gets pretty busy during its monthly gallery crawls. But Christine Bethea was particlarly gratified by a comment about the bustle on Penn during last year’s Geek Arts/Green Innovation Festival. “Somebody said it looked like Times Square out there,” says Bethea, the artist and Artica boutique owner who directs the annual eco-themed,…
Comedy Improv Rock Concert in Town
Area native Missy Moreno returns home from Chicago with a current venture, Reset List — a rock band that makes it up as it goes along Just like regular improv comedy, the band — drums, guitar, keyboards — starts with a suggestion from the audience. Then, on the spot, it creates a whole song from…
