American Idol
Hello, Dolly.
Board Games
High drama in Pittsburgh City Council today, and for once it didn’t have to do with billboards or who gets to drive city vehicles home from work. It came when — in a gripping moment of political intrigue — Councilor Patrick Dowd named a new member to the Pittsburgh Cable Communications Advisory Committee. I know,…
Primary chords
Musicians rock for Obama
Top Chef Top This
I was glad to see the end of Project Runway’s rather dull season so that finally Top Chef could fire up again. This Bravo hit that pits chef-against-chef-against-clock has been pretty tasty. One thing I’ve learned: Kitchen wizards have proven to be a lot more temperamental than even fashion designers or wannabe models. But three…
Same-Sex, Different Day
Spring! The time of year when a Republican legislator’s thoughts turn to love. Sinful, filthy, homosexual love. Yes, once again, Harrisburg Republicans are trying to enact a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Pennsylvania. It’s an old election-season ritual — like a dance around the Maypole, except with a more rigorous attempt to sublimate…
Health insurance for musicians? For Pittsburgh artists, it’s becoming a reality
It seems like we’re always hearing about benefit concerts for some working musician or other who got caught without health insurance and ran up a mountain of bills. Perhaps it’s questing after artistic immortality that leads musicians to think they’re actually immortal themselves … or, you know, they’re just thinking about riffs and lyrics rather…
Obamania
I don’t want to blame Barack Obama for the fact that his appearance at Soldiers and Sailors today was a SLIGHT letdown for me. The expectations have been raised so high that it’s unfair to judge a Presidential candidate by them. A certain disappointment would have been inevitable for me unless he’d reattached a Roman…
Foxes Wrecking the Henhouse?
At a time when the city has doubled its demolition budget, you’d think demolition companies would be ecstatic. But some of the area’s biggest contractors are considering walking away from city jobs altogether. The reason: confusion and contention about how to handle asbestos concerns during the demolition process. Asbestos is a fibrous material often used…
Breaking Up a Home
For many neighborhoods like Hazelwood, tearing down buildings is all anyone can think to do
Animal Rights: Activist, former animal liberator to speak at Pitt
In 1997, activist Peter Young was part of a road trip from Washington state to Florida with a purpose: to liberate as many animals as possible from fur farms, and release them into their natural environment. After spending two years in prison, he’s still trying to make a difference
Protest: POG plan to ‘cage’ recruiters met with counter-protest
A POG proposal to symbolically invade the facility and “cage” the recruiters inside drew the attention of right-wing bloggers and other media, prompting death threats and wild rhetoric from thousands via e-mail.
Police: Officer ignores review-board subpoena to answer conduct, use-of-force charges
It’s been “years” since a subpoenaed city police officer failed to show up for a Citizen Police Review Board hearing on a citizen complaint. And while showing up is the most some officers will do, Sgt. William Vollberg didn’t even go that far.
Fermentation evangelist Sandor Katz makes his first visit to Pittsburgh.
Fermentation is Katz’s favorite way for people to help themselves, and help the planet, by breaking the corporate food chain.
A conversation with Mike Farrell
Anyone who has seen an episode of M*A*S*H will instantly recognize Mike Farrell as Dr. B.J. Hunnicut. But Farrell, a mainstay of Hollywood films and television for decades, is also known as a staunch advocate for civil and human rights. Most prominently, he has been involved in the anti-death penalty movement since the 1970s. He…
Table Games: Penguins contend city, county represent them in CBA talks; officials say not so fast
As preparations for the new arena continue, so do the talks over a Community Benefits Agreement. Can a deal ever get done without the Pens at the negotiating table?
It’s a whole new “Alice” in Dance Alloy’s Feed Your Head Café.
“It’s a surreal place that on some levels presents itself like a living pop-up book,” says Corning.
Lavender Lizards and Lilac Landmines: Layla’s Dream
This production is lively and colorful, and strikes a few nerves of its own, but also more than its share of jarring dissonances.
Flight
This production is lively and colorful, and strikes a few nerves of its own, but also more than its share of jarring dissonances.
Assassins
Director Jack Allison and musical director Jeffrey Sarver get one of the best-sounding Assassins ever out of this fiercely talented student cast.
This Just In: March 26 – April 2
Highlights from the local TV news: A story reporters can sink their teeth into … The quest for the right bra
Piper’s Pub
At this South Side Brit-pub, bangers feature as prominently on the menu as hamburgers.
Teeth
Mitchell Lichtenstein’s indie feature, a dark comedy about a teen-ager named Dawn who discovers she has a toothed vagina, is an off-beat hybrid of ancient myth, domestic horror and female empowerment. Also in the mix, a critique of teen-chastity programs and a wink at eco-thrillers (it may be just a coincidence that Dawn lives near…
Run Fat Boy Run
Don’t be fooled by the poster pimping funny Englishman Simon Pegg, the clever bugger who helped bust open the zombie canon (Shaun of the Dead) and sent up the action-cop genre (Hot Fuzz). This romantic comedy is strictly by the book: Dumb guy (Pegg) loses perfect girl (Thandie Newton), who then finds a new man…
Married Life
Bored middle-aged Harry (Chris Cooper), rather than put his loyal wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson) through a painful divorce, decides to humanely poison her. Then, he can marry his beautiful young mistress, Kay (Rachel McAdams), who has also aroused the interest of Rich (Pierce Brosnan), a committed bachelor and Harry’s best pal. Set in an unnamed…
Paranoid Park
He’s rarely done it as effectively as he does here with Alex (Gabe Nevins), a disaffected Portland skater teen whose dream of riding the rails goes horribly wrong. Van Sant is a maddeningly indulgent director, especially when he breaks faith with his characters. This time, perhaps because he’s working from a novel (by Blake Nelson),…
The Pittsburgh Jewish-Israeli Film Festival
The annual festival offers two dozen films from Israel and around the world representing Jewish experiences from the comic to the dramatic to the inspirational.
The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris to perform at Mr. Small’s, backed by Vetiver
There’s probably little to say about Gary Louris that alt-country fanatics don’t already know.
Free improv duo Audrey Chen and Frederic Blondy perform at Pitt
Both combine traditional playing with what’s commonly called “extended technique.”
Beatrix*JAR brings “fuzzy sound collage” to the Warhol
“You don’t have to do anything except open the machine, get a piece of wire and touch the board.”
Howlin Rain offers a fresh take on ’70s American guitar rock
“There are no sampled beats, no sharp, Pro Tools-y sounds, but I don’t think that makes the band sound old.”
Is it true that the first drive-in service station for selling gasoline was created in Pittsburgh?
A few weeks back, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton came to a Liberty Avenue filling station to grouse about gas prices. There was little mention of it at the time, but ironically enough, our dependence on oil got started just a few blocks away, along an otherwise nondescript block of Baum Boulevard. It’s easy to forget,…
Savage Love
When I was in my teens to mid-20s, I fought a burgeoning weight problem. My heaviest was 235 pounds on a 5-foot-10 frame. Now I watch what I eat and I work out. I have a six-pack. And here’s my problem: I get too much attention from women. When I was out of shape, women…
Ritter’s Fried Green Tomatoes
Listed on the menu under “Tempters” and bearing the “R” designating a restaurant favorite, fried green tomatoes have been a stalwart at Ritter’s Diner ever since Idgie Threadgoode served them up onscreen in the Southern-fried girl-power movie. “We have people drive like an hour to get them,” says Ritter’s manager John Velisaris, whose father and…
Local New Music ensemble Alia Musica releases new CD, Premiere Season
All share a well-planned-out neo-chamber quality, making them very appropriate to be performed by New Music ensembles almost anywhere in the world.
Novelist Junot Diaz, who’s coming to Pittsburgh, discusses the reader as immigrant.
“I think the best books ask the reader to be kind of an immigrant, to try to learn all the rules of this new world as best as possible.”
