Local punk rockers pay tribute to their roots while raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
“We just want people to come out and have a great time,” says Doran. “At the same time, they can be doing some good.”
Live Free or Die Hard
John McClane confronts our worst nightmare: a combo-villain who’s equal parts disgruntled employee, disillusioned patriot and super-spammer.(Capsule review.)
Des Ark sails into the Mr. Roboto Project
Speckled with tattoos and more often than not sporting tatters, the singer and guitarist proudly plucks her aesthetic directly from the rougher edges of Durham.
Ratatouille
Kids may enjoy the slapstick, but be mystified by the haute cuisine gags. (Capsule review.)
Go back in time with Detroit rockers The Go
While the band’s earlier records were compared to Exile-era Stones, Howl is more like Metamorphosis.
Making History
Unlike a lot of birthday parties, Pittsburgh’s 250th celebration offers opportunities to be more than a guest. Some of those opportunities are offered by the corporate-sanctioned Pittsburgh 250 initiative; others are more grassroots. Through its “Community Connections” grant program, Pittsburgh 250 is soliciting gift ideas from all over Southwestern Pennsylvania. The program hopes to award…
Multi-instrumentalist John Bigham’s project, The Soul of John Black
The Good Girl Blues tends toward minimalism, showcasing the dark, murky world conjured by the songs themselves.
Naming Rites
Making History If you subscribe to the “what’s in a name?” school of history, Gen. John Forbes’ letter to William Pitt on Nov. 27, 1758 might not seem like such a big deal. True, Forbes was writing from the forks of the Ohio River, a place the British had tried, and failed, to conquer three…
Hedda Gabler
This is old-school theatre for a new audience, a comedy of manners by way of A Clockwork Orange.
Police Statement
This column specializes in offering advice no one pays attention to, and often they have good reason to ignore it. If City Councilor Bill Peduto listened to my campaign advice earlier this year, for example, he’d be wearing a Che Guevera beret and preaching revolution. Instead, he’s spent recent days blaming anarchist groups for vandalism…
Four photographers explore the causes and consequences of real-world conflict at Space.
Hondros has captured amazing images of dramatic events unfolding in war-torn areas around the world, often with a surprising concern for aesthetics.
Oklahoma!
Nobody wrote the kind of songs Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote better than R&H.
Trust Issues
Residents of East Liberty’s Rippey Street might not object to a group of ex-cons moving next door . . . it’s the federal government they don’t trust. “We’ve gotta find out what’s going on,” says East Liberty resident Ronald Smith, 67. “The government is sneaky — it’s treacherous.” The apartment complex at 5620 Rippey St.…
The Boys Next Door
It helps that there’s a great cast, especially Art DeConciliis, almost scarily on target as the obsessive and somewhat hyperactive Arnold.
Random Chaos
The city offered 232 positions, which paid 14-to-18-year-olds $7.15 an hour for 30 hours a week of outdoor maintenance. The pay and opportunity was enough to attract more than 700 applicants — three times the number of available jobs.
The furries are back — just in time for a new musical about them, titled Furry Tales.
As one lyric puts it, “Let people gawk and stare, fun is our one pursuit / Truth is we don’t even freakin’ care, we’re gonna put on our best fursuit.”
Promotion questioned
In March 2006, Eugene Hlavac, then a beat officer stationed at Zone 3 in East Liberty, was accused of yelling and yanking cyclists off their bikes during a mass outing.
This Just In: June 27 – July 4
Squirrel Deferral Summary: An orn’ry varmint shuts down business for a spell. Station: KDKA Channel 2 Reporter: Ross Guidotti When it Aired: June 21 Running Time: 1 minute, 29 seconds Visuals: * A still of a squirrel crawling along aerial power lines under the caption, “Wildlife in the Wires.” * Bewildered Kmart patrons, attempting to…
Suburban janitors hope to clean up under union representation
A yearlong organizing effort by Service Employees International Union Local 3 (SEIU) has resulted in an agreement with cleaning companies who provide services to nearly 80 percent of the commercial office space outside Downtown and Oakland. With this agreement, the suburban janitors will sit down at the negotiation table June 27to start hammering out their…
Pittsburgh N’@
From: http://pghcomet.blogspot.com/index.html Luke Ravenstahl G.P.A. = 2.78 The Post-Gazette has issued letter grades to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. We do not know whether the grades were issued by the Editorial Board, or the Political Desk, or the Committee of Reporters Hanging Out at the Market Street Ale House Last Friday. According to the Comet’s calculations, the…
Local DJ ABZ brings dubstep to Pittsburgh
“Everyone’s heard drum-and-bass, so it’s hard to shock people. But with dubstep, people aren’t ready for it, and sometimes they’re surprised.”
The Library
Whether you find the library theme clever or cloying, the food, with its fearless combinations and successful preparations, is something to check out.
A transplanted Frank Lloyd Wright house becomes a Western Pennsylvania attraction.
Commented one visitor with considerable understatement, “It’s a nice ’50s ranch house.”
Sicko
In his gentlest, least confrontational and most straightforward film, Michael Moore now ponders why so many people in God’s country can’t afford to see a doctor when something ails them.
A Conversation with Robert D. Drennan
“What often happened [with chiefdoms] is hereditary inequalities — some people are just better than others from the minute they’re born.”
Once
If this small, disarming gem isn’t quite a musical, nor is it a typical romance. Your heartstrings will be tugged, but the film’s vibe hews closer to how life really is.
Going Through the Motions
For women and minorities, Pittsburgh political promises have been as worthless as 2007 Pirates World Series tickets. The city’s inability to award public contracts to women and minority-owned businesses has been a serious point of embarrassment for years. The number of promises tossed out to fix the problem is enough to fill up the two…
Day Night Day Night
Julia Loktev’s drama is an “anatomy of” a terrorist. The result is an interesting, thoughtful, well-made film that ends up being more like a thriller than Loktev probably intended.
Savage Love
I would love your advice on how to deal with some news I got recently. At my most recent gyno visit, I found out I have two vaginas. I’d had a number of routine pelvic exams with my old doctor, but she never discovered it. During my first visit with my new doctor, however, she…
Evening
It’s got a dream cast of actresses, divine Newport locations filled with rich 1950s period detail, and the promise of a skeleton in its well-attired closet. (Capsule review.)
Double Down
I suppose we all believe in the game of chance. Sometimes we choose to enter that contest — be it for singing, the local raffle or the interview for which one might not be fully qualified. “Just give me a chance!” we plead … with coaches, bosses, spouses, lovers and friends. We don’t mind taking…
1408
In the intriguing midsection, director Hafstrom makes the most of the story’s restrictions — a single actor in a single room. (Capsule review.)
