Joe Sestak puts himself on the line
Sat in on a somewhat unusual conference call with Joe Sestak, who will be running against Arlen Specter in next year’s Senate race, though he hasn’t said so officially yet. I’ve posted an audio clip to give you a flavor of Sestak’s talk with reporters from around the state. (Audio quailty is poor, sorry.) As…
Show Review: Yeasayer at Mr. Small’s Theatre, July 21, 2009
Last night’s show at Mr. Small’s may have been the only live-music performance I’ve attended wherein an opening band played longer than the headliner. I understand it’s tough to put together a generous set list when you’ve got a one-LP repertoire, but geez, Yeasayer — that was short! So short that an encore would have…
State Arts Funding Crisis
If you’ve been following the arts portion of the state budget debate, it finally appears to have come down to brass tacks — if you haven’t spoken out, arts advocates say, now’s the time. Last night, the Republican-controlled State Senate approved a version of the budget which includes no funding for the Pennsylvania Council on…
T’ing and Biking to Steve Earle at South Park
The county’s free summer concerts, especially those at Hartwood Acres and South Park, are great amenities. But I’ve gone to relatively few, at least in part because I hate driving that far, then sitting in traffic to park, sitting in traffic to leave, and burning all that gas besides. Last Friday’s Steve Earle concert gave…
Ruth Ann Dailey libels Pittsburgh’s porn connoisseurs
Strangely enough, I don’t feel too much like mixing it up over the latest column about local US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan. She’s in lame-duck mode, for one thing. So if the P-G’s Ruth Ann Dailey was talking about me with her column “U.S. attorney’s critics need history lesson,” I can’t tell, even though I…
MP3 MONDAY: The Takeover UK
Today’s featured MP3 is “Riding Coach” by The Takeover UK, a brand-new song available as a free download exclusively on the CP Web site. The local rock band is in the midst of writing and recording new material at its home studio, which you can read more about here. At their show at Mr. Small’s…
Now THAT’S building a coalition
I’m kicking myself for letting the Post-Gazette’s “Early Returns” blog get this one first, but guess who is one of liberal Democrat Joe Sestak’s biggest contributors? None other than Richard Mellon Scaife: The Tribune-Review publisher and donor to conservative causes gave Sestak the full amount allowed by federal law — $4,800 — in his all-but-official…
Les Mis: An uplifting uprising
I’d never seen Les Misérables before Tuesday night, but I brought a seven-show vet to the Benedum with me, who dished out the following nugget of Les Mis zealotry as we took our seats: “If you don’t like this, you’re seriously not even human.” I did like Les Mis very much, though not so much…
Short List: Week of July 16 – 23
Happy Birthday Pittsburgh Cultural Trust! You’re 25 this week. And what better way to celebrate the Trust’s achievement — transforming Downtown into an arts center over these last two decades — than with Gallery Crawl? Events and activities take place at 25 — natch — locations. Get the lay of the land with a special…
Out In The Cold
With eco-friendly youth among the nation’s biggest voting blocs, why does the GOP refuse to acknowledge climate issues?
Three Monkeys
One foolish decision puts a working-class family of three on the path to destruction in director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s spare, meditative morality tale. A politician involved in a fatal hit-and-run convinces his driver, Eyup, to take the fall; he promises a significant lump sum as payment. During a year stint in jail, Eyup leaves behind…
Every Little Step
Go behind the scenes of the behind-the-scenes Broadway musical in this documentary from James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo. The majority of the film tracks the months-long audition process for the recent revival; that material is intercut with creators and performers from the original 1975 production reminiscing about how this one singular sensation of…
Brüno
It’s an old show-biz truism: What’s wildly entertaining the first time you see it is — meh — not so much the second time. In Brüno, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles head for the same rigged-reality well that produced their 2006 hit Borat. But this time, they don’t drop the bucket in…
Food, Inc.
That pretty much sums up both the message of Robert Kenner’s documentary about the food industry and your likely reaction to it. Food, Inc. is a 90-minute ride through what we eat and how it’s produced. It makes familiar stops — supermarkets, farms large and small — as well as detours into factory food production…
Jimmy Wan’s
This upscale restaurant offers a tantalizing approach to fusing contemporary and traditional Chinese, European and American fare
Les Misérables
Civic Light Opera has done an exceptional job with Les Miz — partly because the stage doesn’t rotate, eliminating the show’s weary gimmick.
Doubt
Just when you’ve made up your mind, Shanley sends something else down the pipeline to — just gently — tip the scales.
This Just In: July 16 – 23
Highlights from the local TV news: The Costa doing business.
Food Under Foot
Learn to supplement your next salad from plants growing in the sidewalk.
Pittsburgh n’@
Dispatches from the blogosphere: Coming up with a new Steelers game plan.
A Chip and a Chair
Despite terminal illness, Hazelwood man plays on poker’s biggest stage
Action Pact
Anti-war organization says more groups need to become involved in effort
Whack-a-Pol
On city authorities, the mayor can knock down opposition wherever it pops up.
Lee Renninger’s ceramic gowns evoke both politics and fantasy
The exhibit’s most clever textural trick comes from “Shag,” three circles of carefully juxtaposed porcelain slivers that, at a distance, look like swatches of polar bear fur.
Rockabilly pioneer Wanda Jackson performs at Howlers this Friday
“They weren’t writing any rockabilly songs for us girls to sing back then, so I wrote my own!”
Squirrel Hill’s 720 Records shop is ground zero for two new vinyl labels
“The most interesting connection is between a person and limited machinery, where you do things the best you can, instead of striving for perfection.”
We confess to liking SALIGIA: Seven Deadly Sins.
The exhibit comes not when the nation is riding high, but when it is beset by political and economic upheaval, a kind of earthly reckoning for overspeculation and excess.
Brooklyn psych outfit Yeasayer says yes to Mr. Small’s this Tuesday
“We can all grab at the chance to be handsome farmers!”
Art-rock guitarist Steve Howe pulls double duty for Yes and Asia show
“Yes is all about not knowing what’s going on. But with Asia, it’s more accessible, toe-tapping and not so weirded-out by time signatures that you wonder where you are.”
Pittsburgh rockers The Takeover UK rekindle their creativity by bringing it all back home
“Honestly, being in a band is a childish thing — we call ourselves a name, like a kid’s gang, and ride around with a bunch of boys.”
What was the name of the burlesque house that used to be on Diamond Street (excuse me, Forbes Avenue) between Smithfield and Wood? What do you know of its history?
The naked truth about a Downtown burlesque house.
Savage Love
You were recommended to me by an acquaintance familiar with your column. Lacking other resources at this particular moment, I have decided to write to you. I am a 20-year-old male, and as such have certain desires that almost all 20-year-old males have (desires of a sexual nature). However, I am deeply religious. Religion has…
