National Speakers Apprise Arts Group of “New America”
President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, and demographer Manuel Pastor gave provocative keynote addresses at last week’s Americans For The Arts national convention, held in Pittsburgh. A recap in Program Notes.
National Speakers Apprise Arts Group of “New America”
Speakers included Obama’s 2012 campaign manager
Surprise Marriage Proposal Onstage at PrideFest
Dancer and choreographer pops the question in front of hundreds
Lynn Cullen Live 06/18/13
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; lego faces are getting angrier; House of Representatives doing nothing positive; states w/ abortion restrictions; anti-abortionists using male fetus masturbation as an argument; no one but a woman should have dominion over her body; Obama better not let his guard down; Philly closes 23 schools, lays off thousands of workers…
Ceoffe “seriously considering” run to replace Dowd in District 7
Lawrenceville resident Tony Ceoffe tells City Paper that he is “seriously considering a run” to fill the District 7 city council seat set that will be vacated by Patrick Dowd next month. Dowd announced Monday morning that he would be resigning from council in July to head up a new non-profit focused on children’s issues.…
Gov. Corbett signs anti-choice bill
As was expected, Gov. Tom Corbett today signed House Bill 818. As we’ve noted in previous coverage, the bill prohibits health insurers from offering coverage for abortions for anything other then rape, incest or the life of the mother, on state-run healthcare insurance exchanges. The exchanges, which will be created as part of President Barack…
Democrats’ birthday gift ideas for Gov. Tom Corbett
The state Democratic party has noted today is Gov. Tom Corbett’s birthday (he’ll be 64) — and used the opportunity to take a shot at him on their blog. In the post, it says, “Happy Birthday Governor Corbett. Here’s some books we’re thinking about getting for you.” Among the titles: Economics for Dummies, and Getting…
Dowd leaving council to pilot “start-up nonprofit” focused on children’s issues
City Councilor Patrick Dowd will be leaving his elected post to lead a newly established children’s advocacy group, Allies for Children, this summer. “This is just a new form of public service,” Dowd said at a press conference held this morning at Downtown’s CAPA arts school. One in six western Pennsylvania children lives in poverty,…
2013 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival
Pittsburgh City Paper was on-site at the 2013 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival from June 7 – June 16. Three Rivers Arts Festival quickly grew from the “little outdoor art show” to what is today the region’s largest multidisciplinary showcase of visual art and performing arts. This year there were performances by Edward Sharpe…
Lynn Cullen Live 06/17/13
Video Archive Sending aid to Syria / in agreement w/ Sarah Palin for the first time; Louis CK’s brilliance; Americans are loathsome brats; Obama’s approval rates are plummeting / the 2nd term curse; G8 convention happening now; Obit: Paul Soros, shipping innovator / older brother to George Soros; San Diego teacher loses job at Catholic…
Tomorrow at Small’s — Second Empire CD release
If you like your metal with a healthy dose of symphonic bombast, the event for you this weekend is the release show for a new EP from locals Second Empire. The four-piece, which has been around since 2011, is releasing a five-song EP that mixes shredding guitars, strong and sincere vocals and some strings and…
Road closures for Pride this weekend
Venturing downtown this weekend? Remember, it’s Pride weekend and the Three Rivers Arts Fest. And the Pittsburgh Police have announced street closures for Pride weekend festivities. Beginning at 4 a.m., Sat., June 15, Liberty Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic between 9th and 10th Streets and Smithfield Street from Liberty to 7th for Pride…
I
Cycling advocacy group BikePGH launched the I <3 My Bike program with the hopes of making it easier to find stolen bikes by taking photos of owners with their rides, as well as the bike’s identifying information and serial numbers for a private database. And so far, it’s working. On Thurs., June 13, BikePGH posted…
TRAF Wraps up with Variety
Three Rivers Arts Festival ends this weekend
Lynn Cullen Live 06/14/13
Video Archive Phone guest: Vic Walczak, Legal Director of ACLU, PA Chapter; Voter ID rulings & what’s next; ACLU is a non-partisan organization, a non-discriminatory law firm; NSA & national ACLU filing suit against them; 4th amendment — how can it survive the internet age?; reproductive rights of women. Audio Only Archive
City installs more recycling bins
Sidewalk bins coming to Lawrenceville, Oakland, Shadyside, the Strip and Squirrel Hill in coming weeks.
Lunch-hour dance party launched
Putting a new spin on the lunch break, the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater yesterday introduced Friendship to the midday dance party. On Wednesday, the artsy work crowd from the East End neighborhoods descended on Penn Avenue’s Quiet Storm restaurant for Beats n Eats Volume I. DJ Nate da Phat Barber manned the turntables in the vegan/vegetarian restaurant’s…
Port Authority announces detours for Pride
If you plan to ride the bus this weekend, take note: Pride events take place Downtown AND the Port Authority is implementing routine service changes to 70 routes. For Pride, Port Authority has announced several detours and temporary stop changes. You can view Saturday’s detour affected by the closure of Smithfield and Liberty for Pride…
Lynn Cullen Live 06/13/13
Video Archive Guest: Tom Sokolowski; gay lobby at the Vatican; leaks happening all over the world; Kevin Sousa’s not-so-tasty party menu; eyeball licking fetishes; in 30 years, white people will be a minority; eating animal testicles; effect of climate change on song birds; mass extinction on the way; PA loves Flag Day; Callers: Chuck /…
Film about civil-rights activist Angela Davis screening
A new documentary, Free Angela and All the Politcal Prisoners, directed by Shola Lynch screens in Pittsburgh on Thu., June 13. “Angela” is, of course, Angela Davis, an iconic crusader for civil rights in the late 1960s and early ’70s, particularly for politcal prisoners. In time, she herself was jailed — and freed. The local…
Arts Fest Juried Visual-Art Show
We take a look at the Arts Fest’s Juried Visual Arts Exhibition. See Program Notes.
Arts Fest Juried Visual-Art Show
Paintings and installations predominate
Port Authority service changes take effect this weekend
Changes include planned bus-stop eliminations
New Releases
The Sparrows Magnolia Sessions (Self-released) Full-length from the local rootsy trio. Good country-rock that at times recalls Jackson Browne (both in the songwriting and in T.C. Davis’ vocal delivery). With these chops, The Sparrows could easily pick up fans of bands like The Old 97s and Drive By Truckers — it’s that rare record you…
Caldwell Linker’s photos of Pittsburgh’s queer scene becomes an exhibit at The Warhol.
CALDWELL LINKER: ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT runs Sat., June 15-Sept. 15. The Andy Warhol Museum 117 Sandusky St. North Side. 421-237-8300 or warhol.org Peering into artist Caldwell Linker’s LGBTQ-centered photographic world is like borrowing the eyes of a professional spectator who has just fallen deeply in love. On June 15, The Andy Warhol Museum opens…
Health Barrier: From insurance coverage to simply finding a doctor, health care presents challenges for the transgender community
Three hours before Michael David Battle starts his day, he begins thinking about binding his breasts, and the questions he might face. What shirt will best conceal his chest? What if someone addresses him by the wrong pronoun? “It’s much different than ‘I really hate my body,'” says Battle. “It’s that constant fear and dysphoria…
Arts Fest public works fail to fully exploit the rivers.
Last month, Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s 54-foot inflatable rubber ducky could be seen floating in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor. Its presence delighted viewers and demonstrated how urban waterways offer dramatic views and public space. This year’s Three Rivers Arts Festival highlights Pittsburgh’s waterfront with the re-opening of the Point State Park fountain. Sitting dramatically at…
The new Go Ape! adventure course in North Park delivers a tree-top work-out
North Park is now home to Go Ape!, an adventure franchise that offers participants a chance to monkey about high up in the trees. Clamber up rope ladders — and descend via zip line! In between, “apers” make their way across various tree-top obstacles 30 to 40 feet in the air that include: tightropes, hanging…
The Public’s Other Desert Cities
OTHER DESERT CITIES continues through June 30. Pittsburgh Public Theater 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $23-55. 412-316-1600 or ppt.org Had you been seated near me at Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of Other Desert Cities, you’d have noticed a puzzled look on my face. Here’s why: Edward Albee won the 1967 Pulitzer for A Delicate Balance, a…
A Conversation with Josh Fox
GASLAND 2 screens at 7 p.m. Thu., June 20, at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, 4141 Fifth Ave., Oakland. A Q&A with filmmaker Josh Fox follows. Free. gaslandthemovie.com/screenings Josh Fox’s 2010 debut film, Gasland, is best known for the image of homeowners setting their own tapwater on fire. And with that footage, Fox, a native…
Throughline’s The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
THE NIGHT THOREAU SPENT IN JAIL continues through Sat., June 15. Throughline Theatre at Grey Box Theatre 3595 Butler St. Lawrenceville. $12-15. throughlinetheatre.org On the bright side, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail is another solid show by Throughline Theatre, and if you have an unconditional love for Henry David Thoreau, this little pageant should…
Power Plants
Growing up, Ola Obasi was a city kid, educated at a British boarding school while living mostly in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. But it was while visiting her grandmother’s Kenyan village, at age 9, that she first learned about herbal healing. “This man was chopping branches off a tree,” she says. The tree was…
The Summer Company’s State of the Union
STATE OF THE UNION continues through Sat., June 15. The Summer Company at Duquesne University, Duquesne campus Uptown. $10-15. 412-243-6464 Can an honest person be elected President of the United States? Industrialist and idealist Grant Matthews is full of plans to go to Washington and fix what’s wrong with America. But will he be willing…
Joint Pain
The first step in addressing a substance-abuse problem, they say, is admitting you have one. But when it comes to our archaic pot laws, that isn’t enough. Americans are realizing that criminalizing pot is a terrible idea. Colorado and Washington have legalized pot; 18 other states permit medicinal use. Even in Pennsylvania, a Franklin &…
Many of the city’s best dancers and dance troupes put on a PrideFest showcase
PITTSBURGH PRIDEFEST 2013 DANCE SHOWCASE 1:30-5:45 p.m. Sun., June 16. Liberty Avenue between Sixth and 10th streets Downtown. Free. pittsburghpride.org A highlight of Pittsburgh’s annual PrideFest celebration is its dance showcase, curated each year by local dance aficionado Richard Parsakian. The showcase offers an eclectic mix of local professional dance talent, from ballet to belly…
Savage Love
I’m a bisexual chick who just moved in with my girlfriend of 10 months. I love her very much, and this is a great relationship. Here’s the thing: I like to smoke pot, and pot makes her very uncomfortable. I’m responsible, and I don’t smoke that often. But I don’t like feeling guilty. I’ve considered…
This Is the End
This Is the End Directed by: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill and Danny McBride Stars — they’re just like us. So when the apocalypse hits Hollywood, they freak out, hunker down, ration food and drop the “I love you, man” veneer to tell each…
Capitalist Poem #1
At the Washington Pike Wendy’s, the line serpentines across a scuffed floor. My turn at the counter, I see backlit signs/list/value meals — the assembly-line cook flips squares of meat, slices of cheese. Strands of the counter-woman’s tied-back hair skim her hollowed cheeks. I order a single with everything and fries, skip the condiment-set-up run-over…
Before Midnight
Traditionally, the “happy” resolution for romantic stories is marriage. But as Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight posits, marriage is the hard part and the earlier falling-in-love story is a lot more fun. In Before Midnight, we catch up with Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke), who met in Vienna in Before Sunrise (1995), and reunited…
East Liberty eatery’s focus will be on raw, healthy cuisine
It wasn’t until after college, while working on Wall Street, that Pittsburgh native Bobby Fry fell in love with food. “I was the only one in my 20s on the trading desk, and we would take our customers out to dinner,” he says. “We’d go to these high-end restaurants, and everywhere I was like, ‘This…
The Purge
In the near future, the United States has solved a lot of its problems, but not rampant crime. To facilitate “fixing” this, the government sets up The Purge, an annual 12-hour period in which killing is legal and citizens are urged to go out and clean up the streets. Or stay home safely. That’s the…
New North Side bar allows you to order off someone else’s menu
As restaurant-goers know, the BYOB eatery is a staple of the local dining scene. But the owners of The Beer Market — now open across from PNC Park — have turned the tables on the concept. They’ll provide the bottles … while you can bring your own food. “We don’t have our own kitchen here,”…
What Maisie Knew
Maisie (Onata Aprile) is a bright and lively 6-year-old whose otherwise enviable life in Manhattan — fabulous apartment, fun school — is continually disrupted by her self-absorbed and selfish parents. Mom (Julianne Moore) is a fading rock diva, alternating wildly between smothering and neglect; dad (Steve Coogan) is simply too wrapped up in his art…
Skinny Pete’s Kitchen in Avalon wants to be part of the community
Over the past two weeks, Danielle Mashuda has spent hours visiting and researching local farms. That’s because as an owner, with Tina Grindeland, of Skinny Pete’s Kitchen in Avalon, she wants the food to be as locally sourced as possible. So far, that means local vegetables, pizza dough from Sunseri Brothers and meats from Pasture…
Music therapists do a lot more than sing
Michelle Montgomery Muth took the long way from her hometown of St. Paul, Minn., to Pittsburgh. The Center Township resident went to college in Boston and got a degree in piano — then took several marketing jobs in Boston and Seattle, while performing on the side. But it was only after moving to Pittsburgh that…
Short List: June 12-20
SPOTLIGHT: Fri., June 14 — Festival With marriage equality being debated by the U.S. Supreme Court, state after state adopting same-sex marriage, and Pennsylvania considering (again) a non-discrimination bill, it’s a banner time for LGBT rights. Celebrate it with Pittsburgh Pride, whose motto this year, naturally, is “I Wanna Marry You.” The annual celebration lasts…
Japandroids put off quitting and produce a critically lauded full-length
JAPANDROIDS with THE CROCODILES 8 p.m. Sun., June 16. Mr. Small’s Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $15.412-821-4447 or mrsmalls.com In 2008, Vancouver two-piece Japandroids had a plan all laid out. After several years of playing to small crowds and failing in their attempts to get some buzz going, guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse…
Tables on the Green
As a general rule, the farther one gets from the bustling metropolis — spiced as it is with immigrant traditions, emerging trends and innovative experiments — the narrower and more predictable one’s restaurant choices get. Suburban country clubs have a reputation for serving some of the most conservative fare of all. Of course, every rule…
Swans’ Michael Gira goes for the groove
SWANS with MICHAEL TAMBURO. 8:30 p.m. Fri., June 14. Rex Theater, 1602 E. Carson St., South Side. $16-20. 412-381-6811 or rextheater.com When Swans released its 12th studio record, The Seer, last year, I emailed my dad a video of one of its live performances. He replied, “I didn’t think I was into it, but at…
Lynn Cullen Live 06/12/13
Video Archive Different voices & thoughts about Snowden & the NSA; rich people run this country, not the voters; what was the actual aim of the leak?; can’t have a country that doesn’t trust the government, at least a little; people COULD stop whining & take action, but they don’t; Siri sucks! new male-voiced helper…
LazerCrunk celebrates 5 years with guest DJ Starkey
LAZERCRUNK with guest DJ STARKEY. 10 p.m. Fri., June 14. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $10. 412-621-4900 or brillobox.net There are parties — and then there’s LazerCrunk. The premise: Take lasers, of course, and add energetic party music of no one single genre. It’s a formula that the monthly dance night’s founding resident DJs Keeb$…
Critics’ Picks: June 12-18
[ALT-COUNTRY] + THU., JUNE 13 Heather McEntire and Jenks Miller have gotten their aggression out through other channels — she in mid-’00s rock band Bellafea, he with his Relapse-repped solo black-metal and drone project Horseback. So when they got together for Mount Moriah, they could concentrate on the pretty stuff. The Durham, N.C.-based trio recently…
