Pizzutti’s Restaurant
Location: 709 Bellefonte St., Shadyside. 412-687-1022. Hours: Mon.-Sat. lunch 11:00 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner 5-9 p.m. (10 p.m. Fri. and Sat.) Prices: Appetizers, soups and salads $5-10; entrees $11-24 Fare: Italian Atmosphere: Cozily romantic Liquor: BYOB They say you never forget your first love. In Jason’s case, that would be Miss Pizzutti, the first-grade teacher at…
Windows of Opportunity
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani made his reputation as a law-and-order tough guy, based in part on the so-called “broken window” theory. As described in a March 1982 Atlantic Monthly article, broken windows signify neglect and tacitly encourage more serious crimes. Fix the small problems, the logic goes, and solutions to the larger ones…
The Politics of Place: Contentious Urban Redevelopment in Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently reported on the anguish outgoing Mayor Tom Murphy felt when signing up for his pension benefits. The moment was “bittersweet,” the mayor said. No doubt his constituents feel the same way: The city’s pension debt may yet bankrupt Pittsburgh, which means Murphy will be messing up our finances long…
New Developments
Early in 2004, Eileen Iorio phoned Jim Abraham, a fellow attorney and former colleague. The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, where Iorio served on the board of trustees, lacked legal counsel, and she thought Abraham could help. Some months later, for reasons unrelated to Abraham’s contributions, the Center collapsed financially, and in spectacular fashion. On…
DJ Phinesse
Only one crate accompanies DJ Phinesse to his gig. Normally, a deejay is gonna carry at least five crates with him, with an emergency crate in the car outside. Yet here, one lonely, hazard-orange crate sits on a table. Its only function is to carry a PC monitor on its back. It has…
Rush Delivery
Entering the world of sports is like walking through a cliché minefield, which is why I never flip on ESPN without wearing body armor. One of my favorite football clichés is that you’ve “got to win the battle in the trenches,” because it’s such a colorful turn of phrase and also one of the most…
Science Fiction Idols
Wet, lipsticky kisses; bubbling spoon-water; piss and vinegar, gin and sweat, mascara and witch hazel: Liquid is the state of existence of everything in the music of Pittsburgh glam-rockers Science Fiction Idols. In the Idols’ world, lipstick and tongues mesh with bottles and blood, “Venom Tastes Like Wine,” and New York City is a town…
The Hi-Frequencies
“Hey, money isn’t everything!” bellows vocalist Jayson Brooks, a quarter of the way through the Hi-Frequencies’ latest long-player. “It’s the only thing!” Pull the band’s CD out of its plastic jewel case, and the currency fetish theme repeats itself once again: Hidden beneath the disc is a tiny line drawing of a pile of golden…
The Dying Gaul
The playwright Craig Lucas has been very good before. His Longtime Companion is still the cinema’s best AIDS movie, and The Secret Lives of Dentists is a trenchant relationship drama. But The Dying Gaul, which he wrote for the stage, and now has adapted for the screen in his directorial debut, is more akin to…
Old Towns, New Ideas
For voters in Pittsburgh, there was little new in this November’s election — just a mayoral candidate everyone already knew was going to win. If you wanted excitement, you had to live in one of the region’s hotbeds for change — old river-valley mill towns. While it’s easy to overlook from within city limits,…
First Amendment: Absolutely Cranky
The iconic bottle silhouette of Absolut vodka advertising fame has been parodied by fraternities, sports teams, cities, and just about everyone else. But when politics get shaken into the brand’s identity, the Swedish distillers get a little belligerent, as Pittsburgh bloggers Maria Lupinacci and David DeAngelo found out two weeks ago. On their blog,…
Race: Unwanted Poster
Though the directors of local punk venue Mr. Roboto Project apologized on Nov. 14 for the racist fliers used by a show promoter, it took a local minister to notice the promotion in the first place. Jasiri X, minister of the Wilkinsburg Nation of Islam mosque, was walking through Oakland in late October with…
