International Poetry Forum Finale
Last night, at what was billed as the venerable IPF’s last go-round, I sat with Michael Simms. The Autumn House Press chief kept calling it “the end of an era,” and the phrase sounded appropriate. IPF founder and director Sam Hazo had announced in February that this season would be the group’s last, making it…
Bill Callahan In-Store @ Paul’s
Bill Callahan stopped at Paul’s CDs last night as part of his in-store tour in support of his new record, “Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle.” I got an insider tip from a friend that Bill Callahan would be performing under the clock, though nearly anywhere in the small space would have been a…
Teabaggin’ the Square
OK, back from the Market Square “Tea Party.” I have a mild headache as a result, and not a lot of time to really describe this event in all its splendor. I will say that for me, the high point was when a small number of black observers began chanting “Obama” in defiance of the…
American Idol: Buy a Clock!
So, I haven’t posted anything about this season’s American Idol, because despite its few tweaks — a supposedly shorter run of try-out episodes; extra Hollywood Week; and the new judge* — it’s been fairly dull. * Last season I argued for new judges, specifically to bring in smart, sharp-tongued, interesting folks to liven up the…
Keyes Shows up at the Wrong Door
Did you miss Alan Keyes’ big speech on the North Side this past weekend? You’re not alone: While the Tribune-Review’s coverage estimates the crowd at “several thousand,” the Post-Gazette puts it at a more modest 1,500. Which sort of sums up our plight as a country: Competing media outlets cover a political rally, but can’t…
MP3 Monday: Jenn Gooch
Welcome to the week. To kick it off, we’ve got your MP3 Monday right here: this week, it’s Jenn Gooch, the banjo-pickin’ arty type whose album our Manny Theiner reviewed last year. Manny offered the following concise commentary on its nature: While tangentially of interest to bluegrass revivalists or neo-cabaret steampunkers, Gooch’s debut CD, produced…
Yerma at Quantum Theatre
It’s notable that Quantum is staging Yerma: It’s a rarely produced work by a famed playwright who is seldom performed in these parts, Federico Garcia Lorca. But the most striking thing about it is likely the presence of Ethan Margolis and Cihthli Ocampo — and how this singer/guitarist and dancer are used in the show.…
This Good Friday, the only blessing is that things could have been worse
I can’t wait until the day when we no longer have to think about Richard Poplawski. But as we pass through one of the worst weeks in city history, it might be worth searching for whatever small blessing we can find, no matter how little comfort it brings. Here’s the best I can do: As…
The Consciousness (?) of a Conservative
As you might expect, being the editor of City Paper means you’ll spend a certain percentage of your day talking to misfits, whack-jobs, and malcontents. And that’s just the staff meeting. There are also plenty of phone calls that come in from various members of the tinfoil-hat community, folks who want you to get to…
New Donora video, check it
Props to Patrick over at speed of the pittsburgh sound for bringing our attention to this one — a cute new video from sugary indie locals Donora. They’re a band I haven’t gotten the chance to see live in quite a while (though through no fault of theirs; they play out quite regularly) and they’ve…
Meeting Richard Weaver
No bones about it: Richard Weaver is the dark horse in City Council District 4. “I know I’ve got an uphill climb,” says Weaver, 66, a demolition inspector in the city’s Bureau of Building Inspection. “Not being endorsed, not being known, is against me.” But Weaver, a native of Clarion who now lives in Brookline,…
Hall of Shame
It would be hard to craft a definitive list of the biggest mistakes the Pirates made over the past 16 losing seasons. But if you were going to compile a roster of the players who most contributed to the team’s pitiful record, here are some contenders. 1B: Kevin Young — Young served two tours with…
Base Motivations
After 16 years of losing, the Pirates’ fan base clings to hope, however faint
Rough in the Diamond
The Pirates have a date with destiny. Is there any hope of skipping it?
Fados
Carlos Saura’s colorful, stylized film completes the Spanish filmmaker’s trilogy highlighting the dance and music of Iberia. Fado has its roots in the folk music of the early 19th century; its songs are laments, heavy with longing, nostalgia and reflective sadness. As depicted in the film, the songs are often accompanied with spare instrumentation, such…
August Wilson, jazz and other avatars of African-American culture spark two vintage documentaries.
Interview subjects include Quincy Jones, Hugh Masekela, and Jesse Jackson quoting Sly & the Family Stone.
Angels in America, Part 2: Perestroika
Part 2 contains two of my favorite moments of not just the play but maybe all drama of the past 50 years.
Tasty Chinese Restaurant
An unassuming Shadyside venue offers Hong Kong Chinese cuisine
Yerma
Most unnerving of all was Ocampo’s dancing — flamenco so seductive, so heartfelt, so defined by rolling hips and tortured eyes, that subscribers in the front rows looked almost ashamed to perceive her.
Adam Zagajewski brings his hard-eyed but hopeful verse to the International Poetry Forum’s swan song.
These poems don’t shrink from evil, but they don’t scramble blindly after good, either.
Renowned writer and activist Peter Matthiessen talks about local filmmaker Jeff Sewald’s new documentary about him.
“I think we will not be forgiven by our heirs for the carelessness about habitat and so forth, about these living things that are going down the tubes.”
This Just In: April 9 – 16
Highlights from the local TV news: Criminals descend on big-box retail!
German industrial icons Funker Vogt play Pegasus Lounge
Despite album titles such as We Came to Kill and Execution Tracks, Funker Vogt’s members always emphasize that they stand against war and deplore social injustice.
Groundbreaking Philadelphia DJ Diplo headlines Diesel this week
Being a DJ of Diplo’s caliber has nothing to do with spinning dusty 45s for a cluster of cloth-eared already-converts.
Doing the Right Thing
Director Spike Lee tells students to do what they love
Bank Holdup
Community groups still waiting for release of District 9 money
Getting Static
After a decade of advocacy, low-power FM stations may finally have their chance
Fear Itself
What, if anything, can be learned from the Stanton Heights shooting?
Giotto
A variety of slices – and a great location – keeps this South Side pizzeria lively
While record stores and labels struggle, two local musicians open shop in a different area of the music business
“The more questions we asked, the more people we asked, it seemed like this area needed a store.”
Two-day Totally Wired Fest showcases national and local punk, garage and psych
McNellie says he’s “excited to see Bloomfield overrun with mutants and weirdos.”
The Hoyt offers a fascinating look at the sometimes-overshadowed abstract-expressionist painter Robert Motherwell.
While the forms may appear radical, Motherwell’s robust intellect and calculated decisiveness are never far beneath the surface.
Savage Love
While moving things out of my 16-year-old son’s room prior to a renovation, I accidentally discovered a cache of my sex toys that had mysteriously disappeared over the past year. While I’ve wondered how it was possible to misplace a glow-in-the-dark crucifix-shaped dildo (complete with Jesus in relief), it never dawned on me that it…
Thad Mosley at the Mattress Factory
The fourth floor of the Mattress Factory was the busy one this past Friday. Well, the lobby was busy, too, because that’s where the drinks were. But the fourth floor was where the museum had arrayed perhaps 100 of the venerable local artist’s works in a sort of sculptural forest. Mosley’s carved-wood pieces and mixed-media…
