Snakes on a Bus
“Would you be averse to me bringing a rescued small python in with me?” said the e-mail from Lance Cheuvront. “It would be contained in a sack and safe. Your choice.” I had asked to see some of Cheuvront’s work: The 37-year-old North Sider is an aspiring horror novelist, multi-instrumentalist and persistent blogger, but his…
Aspinwall Grille
Location: 211 Commercial Ave., Aspinwall. 412-782-6542 Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Prices: Starters and salads $3.99-10.99; sandwiches and burgers $5.99-11.99; entrées and steaks $12.99-21.99 Fare: Updated American Atmosphere: Diner on one side, bar on the other Liquor: Full bar Smoking: Permitted throughout We enjoy our urban existence but must confess that,…
Battered Expectations
I learned my lesson a few years ago. I never get sucked into the hype. Not any more. I can beat my head against the wall a few times, but it takes only a couple of resulting migraine headaches for me to get a clue … quit beating your head against the wall. And that’s…
Where was Pittsburgh baseball played before Forbes Field was built?
The whole point of baseball, in case the Pirates have forgotten, is to travel in a giant loop. You start at home, make a few stops along the way, and end up where you set out from. And in Pittsburgh, professional baseball has done just that. For more than six decades, the Pirates played in…
Hits Write
Susan Perabo’s first collection of short fiction, Who I Was Supposed to Be (Simon & Schuster), arrived to glowing reviews in 1999. Surprisingly for a contemporary short-story collection, it sold out its second printing, and this month was reissued in paperback. But City Paper had an ulterior motive in phoning Perabo as the…
Co-op or Co-optation?
For the third time since 1993, workers at the 50-employee East End Food Co-op are mounting a drive to join the Industrial Workers of the World union. This time around, they’ve received a less-negative reaction from management … only to see their efforts stymied in a novel way. “Management has been much more favorable to…
Dr. Octagon
“Hey D … I just got the new Dr. Octagon record!” It seemed only appropriate to call up ex-Pittsburgh dude Invizzible D in Seattle, who introduced me to the first record by this Kool Keith alter ego in between crashing Oakland house parties and pissing off my roommates. “Yeah, well, I…
Watching Our Backs, But on How Many Fronts?
Planned protests at the July 11 Major League Baseball All-Star Game … like the one against sweatshop-produced souvenir shirts (see page XX) … are low on the long list of contingencies for which law enforcement officials are preparing. Fifty-four local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are coming together to keep fans, players and anyone…
First AmendmentHearing About Feds Hearing Too Much
Following reports of the Bush administration’s surveillance of Americans, the American Civil Liberties Union of Greater Pittsburgh will host a town-hall meeting on Thu., July 20. Locals will not only voice their concerns, but also to learn how to fight back. Most recently, in mid-June The New York Times and other papers reported the…
Pittsburgh Swings!
Pittsburgh has been hosting great baseball teams all season long, of course: We just haven’t been giving them much competition. But with the Pirates in baseball’s basement (again), Major League Baseball has a cure for what ails local fans. Our home team stinks, but at least Pittsburgh’s got this year’s All-Star game … a contest…
A Conversation with Steve Peeler
Nobody in town has been revving up for the All-Star Game more than Steve Peeler. The North Carolina native has been head groundskeeper at PNC Park for the past three years. Previously he worked with the Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox. This grass…
Sir! No Sir!
Here comes another shot in the war that never seems to end … that is, the cultural war over the Vietnam War. David Zeiger’s intriguing, if at times murky, documentary Sir! No Sir! uncovers a battleground which previously hasn’t received much attention … the resistance to the war from active-duty servicemen. …
Mountain Patrol: Kekexili
Chiru, or Tibetan antelopes, inhabit one of earth’s most remote regions … a four-mile-high Tibetan plateau amid the Himalayas. One might assume, then, that they could exist in peace, spared the incursion of the modern world. But their harsh environment has condemned them to commercial desirability, as the chiru possess a fur finer…
Small ScreenMonumental: David Brower’s Fight for Wild America
Whether you’ve visited the Grand Canyon in the last 40 years, or just like the idea that it’s there, you’ve got David Brower to thank. Today, we take national parks and preserved wilderness for granted, but Kelly Duane’s documentary about Brower and his tenure as executive director of the Sierra Club depicts his struggle to…
