Nakama out in Garden Theatre block project
Restaurant’s space to be taken by new literary center
Reviews: Mike Dillon Band at Thunderbird Cafe
A body in motion tends to stay in motion, at least when The Mike Dillon Band is supplying the dance music. For two one-and-a-half hour sets, the psychedelic rock group kept the audience at the Thunderbird Café shaking and gyrating with heavy, vibraphone-driven grooves on Friday night, delivering a steady stream of infectious rhythms and…
Rant: After more than 15 years, city apparently still can’t tell cops apart
Karl Marx once said that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. And the third time, apparently, it repeats as an allegation in a federal civil-rights suit against the Pittsburgh police. As the Post-Gazette first reported Sunday, the city’s police brass is on trial in a federal civil court…
Heads Up: Morning headlines for March 19
Here we go again. After the whole freakin’ city saw this video of Pittsburgh police detective Frank Rende going off on some dude during St. Patrick’s Day, Mayor Ravenstahl is taking action. He wants Rende fired. If that happens, it will be only 13 years after Rende was given a “last warning” from a supervisor…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/19/13
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; Jacoby Jones on DWTS, pretty good dancer; young people think it’s rude to ask them something that you can Google; 103 year old woman on Ellen; being good to someone creates obligations; unwanted friendly gestures; Tiger Woods & Lindsey Vonn make it official; Federal judge strikes down Missouri bill to…
City of Asylum venue to anchor Garden Theatre block
“Alphabet City” to open in 2014
Lynn Cullen Live 03/18/13
Video Archive Fun facts about the Irish language; why woodpeckers don’t damage their brains; hypocrisy& politicians; legislator voted against medical marijuana, got pulled over with weed in his car; chihuahua-molesting vet named Katz; penmanship is as good as gone; how handwriting fills a human need; medicating our youth; LBJ’s recorded phone conversations have been de-classified…
And then there were six: Ferlo drops out of mayor’s race
Just days after filing the petitions to put himself on the May primary ballot, Jim Ferlo has dropped out of the mayor’s race. In a statement, Ferlo cited the short amount of time in which to mount a campaign based on “grassroots fundraising and mobilization of people power.” “Others have been running for Mayor for…
Stream This Ish: March 13 Edition
Stream tracks from bands featured in this week’s City Paper.
Heads Up: Morning headlines for March 15
The Tribune-Review’s Salena Zito scores a major journalistic coup by being the first reporter to land an interview with mystery mayoral-candidate A.J. Richardson. Story comes complete with photograph of candidate’s facial tattoos. Sen. Pat Toomey goes to CPAC — a key gathering of right-wingers — and says right-wing stuff. For example, it’s the fault of…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/15/13
Video Archive Ides of March; Obit: Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist, last of the men who plotted to kill Hitler; Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman’s son comes out of the closet, Senator now supports gay marriage; cell phone talkers proved to be irritants; Mika Brzezinski’s career influenced by her family; young people don’t do voicemail; what’s on…
Awesome Books Sold
Garfield location to close, Downtown venue re-open as Amazing Books
Author sets thriller around Pittsburgh Marathon
J.J. Hensley’s debut novel, Resolve — arranged in “miles” instead of chapters — is out this week. We chase down more more about Hensley and his book in Program Notes.
Author sets thriller around Pittsburgh Marathon
Debut novel has notable publisher
Port Authority detours for Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade
The Port Authority has announced detours and temporary stop changes for approximately 45 routes serving Downtown and the Strip District on Saturday for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The full list of temporary route and stop changes can be found here. Here’s a quick snapshot of the changes from the authority:— Routes serving the Strip…
Heads Up: Morning headlines for March 14
Joseph Brimmeier, who just a few months ago nearly became the head of our Port Authority, is one of eight people named in a grand jury presentment alleging a “pay-to-play” scheme at the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Lots of coverage out there, though I’m particularly enamored with this piece about how local firms — including Orbital Engineering…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/14/13
Video Archive Guest: Vanessa German, artist; Pope Francis — first of that name; origin of “holy smoke!”; new Pope is far from progressive; local couple fighting the illegality of a man being able to take his wife’s name after marriage; Cheryl Doubt re-assigned after being quoted criticizing new acting police chief; reading of recently lost…
In mayor’s race, Wagner brings serious out-of-town cash advantage
As former state Auditor General Jack Wagner enters the race for mayor, he is sitting on a sizable stash of campaign contributions. But if his fundraising in 2012 is any guide, very little of the money he’ll use to launch his campaign in Pittsburgh actually came from here. Or from anywhere closer than Harrisburg. City…
Women’s Rights Panel at History Center
The fight for women’s rights is far from won, but you can look back on a high-water mark of the struggle tomorrow night. The Heinz History Center hosts a special panel talk on the movement circa 1968 with several women who were there. Sisterhood in Pittsburgh: Women’s Liberation from the 1960s to Today features civil-rights…
Ferlo: still “weighing the mechanics” of a mayoral campaign
Despite filing petitions, Ferlo says he’s still “weighing” whether he’ll run for mayor.
Amid Turnpike scandal, Brimmeier out at Port Authority
Joe Brimmeier, who nearly ended up heading the Port Authority earlier this year, has now resigned from its board instead. The reason: a grand jury presentment naming Brimmeier and seven other officials tied to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in a “pay to play” scheme. Brimmeier was the former CEO of the agency, where state Attorney General…
Heads Up: Morning headlines for March 13
The Disability Rights Network has filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s prison system, alleging that the Department of Corrections has tossed some 800 prisoners with mental-health problems into solitary confinement, thereby “exacerbat[ing]their mental illness. Making things worse, the suit alleges, when prisoners act out as a result of their deepening illness, prison authorities interpret…
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Irish soda bread
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day too often means wearing a lot tacky headgear made in China and consuming vast quantities of beer of any national origin. Even food choices have been reduced to the ridiculous: green bagels and grocery-store cupcakes slathered in green icing. Some venues trot out a “traditional” loaf of Irish soda bread. But…
New Releases
The Turbosonics The Turbosonics (Amerison Records) The point of surf rock is not so much to write songs as it is to shoot around some guitar riffs that encapsulate the rolling waves of the Pacific. The Turbosonics (a surf-rock trio despite being 300 miles from the nearest ocean) manage this well for 32 minutes, rarely slackening from an appropriately…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/13/13
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; Pittsburgh mayoral race — how many candidates there are at this point & who has a chance; Peduto seems to take the job more seriously than others; the cannibal cop was convicted for his role playing; will an American be the next Pope?; the Pope & poop; what’s going on…
Dragged Down?: Promoter wants to bring drag shows to a wider audience, but many worry whether he’s the guy to do it.
Pittsburgh’s drag scene has come a long way. On most nights of the week, enthusiasts don’t have to go far to catch a local performance. Bars like the Blue Moon, Cattivo, Brillobox and There Ultra Lounge all feature drag shows, many on a regular basis. In recent years, that scene has been sustained by performers…
Chip Walter’s new book asks why only one particular variety of human survived prehistory.
The past isn’t what it used to be. Especially in paleoanthropology, a discipline constantly adapting to new fossil finds and, lately, improved DNA testing. Things change this fast: Chip Walter’s engaging new book, Last Ape Standing (Walker and Company), is based largely on research released just since publication of his 2007 book about human evolution,…
Question of Style: District 6 council race becoming as much about how, and not what, things are done
She’s back. Former Pittsburgh City Councilor Tonya Payne, who lost a re-election campaign against newcomer Daniel Lavelle four years ago, is fighting for the seat again, winning Sunday’s contest for the Allegheny County Democratic Committee endorsement for the District 6 City Council seat. Payne followed that 2009 loss with another — a 2010 campaign for…
Photographer Stephen Chalmers captures the snowbirds and desert rats of the Southwest.
STEPHEN CHALMERS: TRANSIENCE continues through April 7. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts 6300 Fifth Ave. Shadyside. 412-361-0873 or pittsburgharts.org Stephen Chalmers’ Transience, at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, focuses on Westerners who fall into two demographics: snowbirds and desert rats, loosely linked by the fact that they reside in homes designed to be mobile. Chalmers,…
Savage Love
I’m an actor in New York City. Last week I responded to a casting call for a film project called Sniff. The ad — on Playbill’s website — called for two male actors to film a scene. The pay was $100 for a day’s work. I was emailed the scene to study. It starts with…
Straightening Combs at Pittsburgh Playwrights
STRAIGHTENING COMBS continues through March 31. Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co. 937 Liberty Ave. Downtown. $15-25. pghplaywrights.com Discontent with hair is just the beginning of the female self-image problem. Oh, I remember only too well the scorching heat and burning chemicals used to try to force some semblance of a curl into my resistant locks. Noted…
Short List: March 13 – 19
Fri., March 15 — Dance Was modern-dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis a racist? St. Denis (1880–1968) introduced Eastern culture into Western dance. For her famous “Oriental” dances of the early 1900s, she donned makeup to change the color of her skin a la Al Jolson, and costumed herself based on museum photographs. In his latest dance…
Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s Children of Eden
CHILDREN OF EDEN continues through Sun., March 17. Byham Theater 101 Sixth St. Downtown. $12.25-44.75. 412-456-6666 or pittsburghmusicals.com Stephen Schwartz, the composer and lyricist who struck gold with Wicked, is particularly fond of his most personal project — Children of Eden. Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s new production of Eden is a mixed bag of striking performances,…
“Talk About the Passion” and “Sustenance” at 12 Peers
“TALK ABOUT THE PASSION” and “SUSTENANCE” continue through Sun., March 17. 12 Peers Theater at ModernFormations Gallery 4919 Penn Ave. Garfield. $15-20. 412-496-2194 or 12peerstheater.org The 12 Peers Theater bills these two largely unrelated plays as “A Pair of Killer One-Acts,” which attests to the company’s high opinion of (or hopes for) their Pittsburgh premieres.…
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Unspoken
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s UNSPOKEN continues Thu., March 14, through Sun., March 17. August Wilson Center 980 Liberty Ave. Downtown. $25.75-68.75. 412-456-6666 or pbt.org A triple bill worthy of the world’s foremost ballet companies, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Unspoken unites three masterworks by three master choreographers into one gem of a program. This past Sunday’s performance at…
Oz the Great and Powerful
Oz the Great and Powerful Directed by: Sam Raimi Starring: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz In 3-D, in select theaters. It takes nerve to tackle something as beloved as The Wizard of Oz, well known to most of us from the 1939 film. But director Sam Raimi already survived three iterations of…
Rust and Bone
In Rust and Bone, from the French director Jacques Audiard, Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), a single father and champion pugilist, goes to live with his sister to find work. His life crosses paths with Stéphanie (Marion Cotillard), a comely orca trainer who’s mauled when an animal goes rogue. (Some extraordinary digital work removes Cotillard’s legs for…
Faces of Media is the theme for this year’s Carnegie International Film Festival
Faces of Media is the theme for the annual Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival, running from March 21 through April 13. The 14 recent films deal with how media is shaping our culture, whether through the use of social media as an activist tool, the pervasiveness of self-documentation or even the human-rights costs built into…
The Gatekeepers
In this compelling documentary, filmmaker Dror Moreh interviews the six surviving former heads of Shin Bet, Israel’s secretive national-security organization, formed in the wake of the Six Days War. Since then, Shin Bet has served through tumultuous times — the West Bank and Gaza occupations, Palestinian unrest, bombings, two intifadas, Jewish extremists, attempted peace processes…
Ray Dawn goes from law school to lyricist
There are a number of things that set Ray Dawn apart from the current pack of Pittsburgh hip-hop artists who are trying to make it. He’s not only a college graduate, but a former law student. He’s 31 and working a day job at a bank to make his dream possible. He’s mature and businesslike,…
Sieb’s Pub
Sieb’s Pub 3382 Babcock Blvd. North Hills. 412-364-8511 Hours: Daily 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Prices: Appetizers $5-8; salads and sandwiches $8-12; entrees $10-18 Liquor: Full bar Popular images of Irish culture seem divided between familial bonds and drinking, except, of course, for when they’re combined. Sieb’s Pub, in the North Hills, is a family-run bar and…
Austin via Pittsburgh
Besides Ray Dawn, there are a number of other Pittsburgh acts playing official and non-official SXSW showcases this week — in addition to festivities, like the Girl Talk show, that took place last weekend during the interactive part of the week. Here’s a quick look: The Rostrum Records Showcase will feature the non-Wiz-and-Mac offerings from…
Kitchen Help: Springboard Kitchens provides hope through meals, training
Two months ago, Ann Pollard, a 45-year-old living in temporary housing, walked through the doors of Springboard Kitchens, in Uptown, and saw about a dozen people in the commercial kitchen working furiously to finish and serve 2,000-plus meals. “I think I stopped breathing a little bit,” she says. “I like to cook. But this is…
Homeless Gospel Choir is a one-man DIY operation — and wants to show you how
On a recent weekday morning, Derek Zanetti — the solo artist known as The Homeless Gospel Choir — was on a mission. He had boxes of the newly pressed LP of last year’s Luxury Problems, with messages written on them: “Folk/Punk.org’s number 6 record of the times.” “For fans of Metallica, Lisa Loeb, Black Flag…
Narcisi Winery transplants Italian tradition to Pittsburgh
Tucked into the rolling hills just north of Pittsburgh is a family winery that blends Italian traditions with Pennsylvania terroir. Members of Narcisi family, which still operates wineries in Europe, immigrated to Pittsburgh from Abruzzo, Italy, in the early 1900s. According to owner and head winemaker Denny Narcisi, the family started selling bottles of wine…
Critics’ Picks: March 13 – 19
[IRISH] + FRI., MARCH 15 If you love your Irish heritage, but aren’t such a big fan of glittery green clovers strewn, well, everywhere, check out the The Calm Before the Storm, Irish-born songwriter Mark Dignam’s attempt to put on a more dignified celebration of Irish song and verse. Tonight’s show at Club Café will…
