Word Games
A deadline approaches on one locally based literary competition while a new contest, reserved specifically for local writers, is taking submissions through Sept. 16. The Autumn House Poetry Prize is chosen each summer from manuscripts submitted by poets of all backgrounds and levels of experience. Entries are screened by judges from…
THE PERFECT MAN
Teen-ager Holly Hamilton (Hilary Duff) has to switch schools every time her mom, Jean (Heather Locklear), gets dumped and makes the family move to a new town. Tired of moving and her mom’s unhappiness, she comes up with the perfect, kooky scheme — she will concoct a secret admirer to make her mom feel special,…
Why is Jackie Robinson’s name and number displayed on the upper deck of PNC Park with the names of famous Pirate players, when Robinson never played for the Pirates?
Hey, stranger things have happened. Derek “Operation Shutdown” Bell never really played for the Pirates either, and they displayed his name and number on first base. More incredibly still, Bell was actually wearing them at the time! If you’ve looked around PNC Park, you may have noticed that all the other…
SAVE THE GREEN PLANET!
A troubled young man kidnaps and tortures the CEO of a chemical company, believing him to be an alien leader mere hours away from destroying Earth. Jang Jun-Hwan’s debut film is a curious mix of dark comedy, police procedural, 1970s-style eco-terror sci-fi brooder and demented personal vision, complemented with a healthy dash of Tarantino-esque violence…
Life Cycles
A Conversation with John Abt Trails Less Traveled Trail Mix Mistress Mechanics Gear of Living Dangerously When you think about it, that first bike you had as a kid was your first real shot at true independence. Maybe it was your last one too. Once you learned how to ride, the distance you could travel…
Monkeying with Monikers
County Councilor Ed Kress imagines county residents jogging in Home Depot Park on the Adidas running trail. After exercising, they might sit down in the shade of Mellon Bank Pavilion for a picnic of an Uncle Charley’s sausage on a Mancini’s roll with Heinz mustard, washed down with ice-cold Pepsi — the official…
Mass Movement: Rack ‘n’ Roll Blues
It began as the perfect day for a bike ride: a sunny, calm 75-degree Sunday. By the end of the afternoon, a deflated tire meant it was the perfect day for a ride home – on a bus. Should this have been possible? Of course! With the Port Authority’s Rack ‘n’ Roll program,…
A conversation with Chris Ivey
Whenever you see Chris Ivey, he’s ready to shoot — if not with his giant video camera, then at least with any number of digital gadgets tucked away in his many pockets. Over the past few years, Ivey’s shot the finest in television advertisements, as well as music videos for local bands, a…
A Conversation with Grand Buffet
Thought-provoking, half-joking and radically vaudevillian, Grand Buffet knows how to put on a show with home-brewed hip-hop panache. As they drop their newest release, a CD/DVD combo appropriately titled Five Years of Fireworks, and gear up for a European tour (“Operation Sour Wine”), Lord Grunge (Jarrod Weeks) and Grape-A-Don (Jackson O’Connell-Barlow) are leapfrogging…
Grand Buffet
It only took something close to a decade, but Bloomfield’s most charismatic indie hip-hop duo finally has its very own record deal. But not to worry, spoilsports: It’s unlikely that Fighting Records, an ultra-tiny label based in Orlando, will be digging up air time for Lord Grunge and Grape-A-Don on MTV2 any time soon. Then…
Howl’s Moving Castle
Since 2002, when acclaimed Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki achieved crossover success drawing adults and non-anime types to his exquisitely made, gorgeously weird film Spirited Away, fans have waited for his follow-up. They’ll surely revel in Howl’s Moving Castle, even if the new film’s similar story means this outing into the fantastic isn’t…
Land of the Dead
In the near future, zombies, walkers, stenchies, are everywhere. An undead majority seems par for George Romero’s fourth foray into illustrating the ongoing crisis between us and them. Sure, a few can be picked off with good head shots, but the undead just keep coming and coming. In Land of the Dead, the remaining…
Bewitched
The remaking of classic TV shows for the big screen appears to have hit a new low this summer: The buzzword is “reimagining,” and fast on the heels of a jiving black version of The Honeymooners comes Bewitched, the not-quite-a-remake of the 1960s sitcom. Bewitched 2005, as strenuously refashioned by director…
Bruce Campbell: King of the Bs
Not content to restrict his sly deadpan talents to the horror genre that jump-started his career, actor Bruce Campbell has spent two decades cementing his position as the A-lister of B-movies, the go-to-guy for straight-faced performances in cult media. Besides handily dispensing zombies in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, Campbell has…
Lack of Minority Contracts in County Comes Partly from Lack of Bids
Minority contractors are missing out on business in Allegheny County because they haven’t been bidding on available contracts, concludes a recent study from the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Urban and Social Research and Center for Race and Social Problems. The report, from researcher Ralph Bangs, found that prime contracts have been made available…
Redfin Blues
Location: 100 Waterfront Drive, Washington’s Landing. 412-32-BLUES Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Prices: Appetizers $5-10; sandwiches, salads and pizza $8-12; entrees, $12-30 Fare: Beachside bar and grill Atmosphere: Beachside bar and grill Liquor: Two full bars Washington’s Landing is one of Pittsburgh’s proudest symbols of its ability to turn decades of industrial…
Not Asking But Telling Pride Parade to Make Room
Two dozen young women claimed a spot of their own aside outrageously tall drag queens and dogs in skirts at PrideFest’s kickoff march on June 18. Their group lacked a name, a gimmick, clever signs and even an official place to march — they hadn’t registered with the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh,…
Getting Static
Ever have one of those surreal experiences that you know was real but it still flips you out because there were famous people involved and a silly set of circumstances that could only take place in a dream … but the whole thing actually happened? I was in New York City…
Two dozen young women claimed a spot of their own aside outrageously tall drag queens and dogs in skirts at PrideFest’s kickoff march on June 18. Their group lacked a name, a gimmick, clever signs and even an official place to march — they hadn
The closing of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office in McKees Rocks is effectively preventing those eligible for this federally funded nutrition program for pregnant women and young children from receiving benefits. “WIC benefited my son,” says McKees Rocks resident Michelle Hart, who got WIC benefits for her toddler until seven months ago,…
Crouch-ing Tiger, Hidden Dyson
The most reprehensible, ignorant-assed joke, or aphorism — depending on who’s using it — is, “If you want to keep something away from black people, put it in a book.” Even more idiotic are the people who believe it. The latest craze among black commentators is the belief that black youth…
HERBIE: FULLY LOADED
It’s about as likely as my dog brokering civil accord in Iraq that a 1963 Volkswagen Bug wins a Nextel Cup NASCAR super-speedway race, but hey, that’s what goofy movies are for. The lovable Bug Herbie is back, and under the tutelage of his new owner, Maggie (Lindsay Lohan), the scrappy import bests all comers…
