Joe’s Rusty Nail
Remarkably, the menu has an entire section dedicated to Devonshires, sandwiches inspired by that Pittsburgh original, turkey on toast with cheddar sauce
Mr. Marmalade
How inept is Noah Haidle’s Mr. Marmalade? Well, the production in New York — starring Michael C. Hall and Meryl Streep’s daughter — opened in November ’05 and closed in January ’06.
This Just In: Feb 21 – Feb 28
Highlights from local TV news coverage.
Letters To The Editor: Feb 21 – 28
Conductor criticism unbecoming Re “Passing the Baton” [Feb. 7]: Don’t you think that your comments on the Pittsburgh Symphony’s new music director, Manfred Honeck, might just be a tad premature? While he obviously is not a “name” conductor, neither was Mariss Jansons when he came here. As for charisma, did you attend either of the…
A Children’s Museum design competition proposes remaking the North Side as a “Charm Bracelet.”
The muf team suggested the seemingly unlikely but very clever pairing of the modern practice of tailgating (for football games) with the 19th-century practice of municipal housekeeping.
An Oral History of Islam in Pittsburgh
An Oral History suffers the shortcomings of many documentaries about the past: a heavy reliance on extended talking-head interviews. Al-Qahtani tends to let his experts ramble, which doesn’t make a complex history any clearer.
Savage Love
Too many people believe that a vanilla type and a kinkster can never live happily ever after. Others are convinced that anonymous Internet hookups always end in tears and positive HPV test results. Where do people get these false impressions? Reading columns like mine. Contented couples — twosomes who have successfully incorporated one partner’s kinks,…
A Wider Arena
So let me get this right, Mario Lemieux: You tied the future of the Penguins to a casino operation, Isle of Capri. You sought to build a Hill District/Downtown casino that would have constructed a new hockey arena but would also cause great negative social effects for those who live, work and play nearby. Now…
Fool Disclosure
What do you get the guy who has everything? Consider item #150092522695, up for bids on eBay through Feb. 22. That would be the “Bill Burns Pittsburgh Legendary Newcaster’s Dress Shirt.” Once worn by the saintly KDKA-TV anchor, the Christian Dior shirt is “identified with a laundry mark,” the item description reports. There’s no mention…
At the Carnegie, Jonathan Borofsky’s Human Structures emphasizes structure, glosses over humanity.
Human Structures is essentially a logo for humanity the way it looks from a distance, from a plane (or from the executive suite in an office building): without context, conflict, or identity.
Graffiti Rock Challenge winners Kill the Drama release debut album
“We don’t really necessarily like to get into the details of everything that is being said … it’s really not as important as what people make of [the lyrics].”
PiTTSBURGH N’@
From: http://www.pghlesbian.com/blog/_archives/2007/2/16/2740691.html There is nothing earth shattering in the Valentine’s Day PG chat transcript featuring Jerry Micco. He simply makes a few comments about Penn State retaining Rene Portland as their women’s basketball coach and former NBA player John Amaechi’s coming out. What’s interesting is the opportunity for the rest of us to note that while…
Trans Am employs “obscene strategies” for Sex Change
“Now suddenly everyone has a keyboard in their band again.”
Pittsburghers melt when the snow flies
There was a time when Pittsburghers used to brag about their heartiness in winter weather. They would regale you with stories of trudging five miles uphill to school — both ways –in blinding, crippling blizzards. Those days are apparently long gone. When the snow started flying last week — a storm that forecasters predicted at…
Italian works dominate Pittsburgh Opera’s upcoming season
“I believe in the visceral relationship of the naked voice in a dark space.”
Peduto says Mayor’s abatement plan is non-existent
Pittsburgh City Councilor Bill Peduto wants to use tax abatements to spur development in Pittsburgh. So does Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. But “I can’t compare my plan to his because he doesn’t have one. I can’t debate a press release,” Peduto says. Ravenstahl “took a carefully crafted economic development tool that has been lacking in this…
Newly Pittsburgh-based label releases A Tribute to Integrity
“They were one of those legendary acts that you always looked up to.”
Progressive call center hanging up on requests for union
The telemarketers at Direct Advantage Marketing call on behalf of the Democratic Party, environmental causes and nonprofit art organizations. But so far, some labor advocates say, calls for union representation have not been heard by management. Christian Dupain, an employee of the South Side company and union advocate, says workers have been trying to organize…
Amazing Grace
This prettily made, if predictable, drama will surely satisfy the Masterpiece Theatre crowd. (Capsule review.)
Local supergroup Lohio releases the luminous Sleeping Stereo
Dutton’s songwriting and clear, unaffected vocals are still the primary concerns here.
The Astronaut Farmer
This quirky dramedy is occasionally derailed by some saccharine moments. But it illustrates how our culture clamors for dream-big stories while consistently undermining them. (Capsule review.)
Anything can be a song on Weird Paul’s Medically Necessary
“You choose excitement, you choose glamour, you choose fame.”
Ghost Rider
It’s a mildly entertaining idea stretched far too thin in this unsatisfying adaptation of a Marvel comic. (Capsule review.)
German clarinetist Susanne Ortner brings klezmer concerts and classes to Pittsburgh
“When I first listened, I didn’t even know it was Jewish music.”
STATE OF ART
In almost every way, the house is an ordinary, two-story Pittsburgh dwelling. Perched on a darkened side-street that sees little traffic, it could be any working-class neighborhood’s home to 2.5 kids. Could be, that is, if it weren’t for its eyes. Roving eyes fill the second-floor windows, watching the street like those of a guard…
Factory Girl
Call it “Scenes from the Scene,” or “A Stroll on the Wild Side”: At 90 minutes long, it can’t do much else.
A Conversation With Lareese Hall
From her new office overlooking the Point, Lareese Hall wants to change how we see Pittsburgh’s three rivers — and the land they run through, too. Hall recently became the Carnegie Science Center’s first manager of environmental education. Her new job description entails everything from launching an environmental film festival (this April) to incorporating more…
Breach
Breach sets up Robert Hanssen’s final days at the FBI as a character study, wrapped in a spy-versus-spy cat-and-mouse game.
Local schoolkids try out their Shakespeare in the Public’s annual monologue contest.
“These kids get out there in some dorky school uniform, and all of a sudden they’re Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, arguing,” says Zellers. “It amazes me.”
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
Rev. Jim Jones remains an enigma, but the accounts of former congregants flesh out how perfectly ordinary people end up in a cult.
The Frogs
If I were the lazy sort, I’d activate the thesaurus in the software program and run paragraphs listing synonyms for the word “delightful.” That might make a mockery of my astronomical salary, but it would also, be the perfect review of The Frogs.
